Chapter 162: The Mask
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 162: The Mask
“… Adler.”
After a long silence, Professor Moriarty, who had abruptly stormed out of the office, finally returned.
“Sit down. We need to have a serious talk…”
“You’re cute, Professor.”
“………”
As she poked her head through the door and muttered in her usual flat tone, Adler’s flippant remark left her dazed.
“… Do—do you just want to die?”
“Never mind that. Just come inside already.”
Despite her icy tone, Adler simply grinned and gestured for her to sit beside him.
“Well done, Professor.”
“… What?”
“Now, let’s hear it.”
The professor hesitated for a moment before quietly moving to sit beside him. Adler, sitting in an elevated position to level his gaze with hers, spoke again.
“What’s bothering you?”
“What are you even saying…”
“If you have complaints, speak up now. That way, I can fix them.”
As he boldly asked while stroking her grey hair, the professor began to murmur in a low voice.
“… I already know you have something on your mind.”
“Yes, and?”
“But still… haven’t we spent too little time together lately?”
“Pfft.”
Adler burst into a snicker at her remark.
“I do not find my words funny.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
“… Sometimes, I miss the time when we first met.”
Giving him a disapproving look, the professor continued to fidget with her fingers, mumbling softly.
“Didn’t you say it yourself? That the way to quench my thirst was through criminal consulting.”
“… Yes, I did.”
“And just as a detective always needs an assistant, a criminal consultant needs one too. You said you’d be mine.”
She paused, staring dazedly at Adler for a brief moment.
“Back then, my heart truly raced like an overexcited child’s.”
“……..”
“The possibility of failing to kill someone… and the thrill of using my mind to eliminate that possibility. What a delightful pursuit, wouldn't you agree?”
Her gaze gradually darkened.
“These past few months have indeed been some of the most meaningful and enjoyable days of my life.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“However… it seems that sensation is starting to dull.”
Adler couldn't help but flinch at her sudden remark.
“In fact, in your absence, I’ve privately consulted on a few cases.”
“… What cases?”
“Nothing major. I advised some fools who attempted to rob a bank disguised as stock exchange employees, and gave instructions on how to kill an informant disguised as a long-term hospital patient, and so on…”
“So, you handled those matters alone.”
Despite Adler not intervening in the cases featured in the Sherlock Holmes series, the erosion rate had not decreased.
As Adler, puzzled by this fact, muttered under his breath, the professor continued in a whisper.
“Yes. Yet, for some reason, it was neither fun nor enjoyable.”
“… Why is that?”
“What do you think the reason is, Adler?”
Both Adler and Professor Moriarty knew the answer.
“Because Charlotte Holmes wasn’t there?”
“Because you weren’t there, you fool.”
The answers they reached were slightly different.
“………”
A heavy silence settled between the two.
“… Adler, I’ll be frank.”
“Go on.”
“I need you.”
Breaking the silence with a sullen voice, Professor Moriarty muttered lowly.
“Advising on those cases alone made me realize something. Cases without you are far too easy for me to manipulate.”
“………”
“No variables occur, and clients follow every instruction diligently. It’s like a well-scripted play. It's boring.”
Her complexion had grown so dark that Adler wondered if her mood had ever been worse.
“That sense of omnipotence turning into displeasure instead of pleasure… it’s been some time since I felt that.”
In the somber atmosphere, Adler watched the professor as she continued to mutter to herself.
“Adler, I…”
Swoosh…
“…….?”
He reached out and began stroking Professor Moriarty’s smooth grey hair. The action only served to confuse her.
“Why do you keep touching me?”
Swoosh, swoosh…
“… That’s sexual harassment.”
Eventually, she muttered with her eyes cast down.
“… Have you only just realized?”
“That you’ve been sexually harassing me for some time now?”
“No. You’ve noticed it already, Professor. Why even pretend not to know?”
Whispering softly into her ear, Adler began, “Don’t you think our relationship is slowly turning upside down?”
“………”
“Think about it. If I were to disappear overnight, who would be at a loss?”
Hearing his query, Moriarty responded immediately, an uncharacteristic tremble in her voice.
“… Me.”
“Right. It’s not me, but you, Professor.”
“But if I don’t let that happen…”
“Do you still not understand?”
As Adler leaned in close, his whisper echoed in Moriarty’s ears.
“The Professor is no longer in control, don’t you see?”
“…….”
“If you try to force anything on me, I will disappear forever. You already know I can do that, right?”
At his words, Professor Moriarty’s eyes began to tremble.
“And Professor, your life would become several times more miserable than it ever was before.”
“Adler…”
“If the only one who can neutralize your curse disappears, you’ll never feel a sense of accomplishment in anything you do ever again.”
With hands slick with cold sweat, she reached out and tightly gripped Adler’s hand.
“Enough of this.”
“You would live yet again in a helpless eternity, all because of the absurd mistake of trying to force someone’s hand…”
“Please, stop…”
“If that’s what you want, I can disappear anytime…”
As Adler finished speaking, Moriarty, now desperate, pulled him into a tight embrace.
“Don’t go.”
“Hmm… What should I do?”
“… I will treat you better from now on.”
Hearing that, Adler immediately frowned.
“No. It’s not about you taking charge.”
“Then…?”
“It’s not about you treating me well. It’s about me treating you well.”
At the same time, Adler began to exert his influence.
“… Adler?”
“What are you doing, Professor?”
“Why are you trying to topple me…”
“Your assistant is trying to do something nice for once. Why are you resisting?”
Hearing his remark, the professor, her expression turning shy, finally relaxed her body.
Thud…
“Well done, Professor.”
She was helplessly pushed down onto the bed by Adler.
“Just so you know, I will pounce like this whenever I want.”
“……..”
“Answer me.”
Unable to meet his gaze, she turned her head to the side, her voice leaking out in defeat.
“Understood…”
“Excellent.”
Adler’s gaze as he looked down at her was tinged with a faint sense of conquest.
“… Good.”
“Ugh…”
“Stay still.”
Adler sank his teeth into the professor’s neck, his eyes bleeding crimson.
“I haven’t fed in a while. I’m famished.”
“……..”
“I find your blood the most delicious, Professor.”
“Is that so…”
For a while, the sound of bloodsucking echoed through the office.
. . . . .
“H-How does it taste?”
“Hmm…”
“Recently, my magic has been a bit unstable, so it might not taste good…”
After finishing his long-awaited meal, Adler wiped his mouth with a satisfied grin. On the other hand, the professor, still lying on the bed, whispered a question in a hesitant voice.
“It’s edible.”
“Well, that’s a relief…”
Upon hearing Adler’s response, the professor blushed heavily.
“If you wish… you can be rough with me, like you were last time.”
“……”
“Do you want to punch me?”
At her words, the sense of conquest in Adler’s eyes intensified.
“Never mind.”
“… A pity.”
However, as he responded sensibly, she buried her head in Adler’s chest, murmuring with a flushed face.
“By the way, Adler, there’s some good news…”
“… What is it?”
As she began to whisper softly, Adler, feeling the tingling sensation in his chest, caressed her cheek.
“A criminal consultancy request has come in…”
“Hmm…”
“If you’re free… shall we consult on it together?”
Jane Moriarty asked, her face growing increasingly heated.
“Ah, why are you so cute?”
“……..”
“Are you really the homicidal professor I knew?”
“So… are we doing this or not?”
Kissing her cheek, Adler whispered in a low voice, then chuckled.
“If the Queen of Crime wishes for something, how could I refuse?”
“……..”
“Still, it’s a bit of a pity.”
“What do you mean?”
Adler added in a low voice, “… I’ll save the devouring for next time, Professor.”
Upon hearing that, the professor covered her face with her hand, turned away, and whispered in a tiny voice.
“The… the request is on my desk…”
“…….”
“No, it’s right there… Uhh.”
Gently biting her neck once more, Adler finally released her, a long thread of saliva connecting his lips to her skin.
“… Well, I’ll be damned!”
As he walked to the desk, he paused and muttered under his breath.
“Why is this actually working……?”
The fact that the "reckless bad boy" strategy had worked perfectly was causing serious cognitive dissonance.
...It worked, so does it really matter?
With a dazed expression, he made that judgment as he picked up the request from the desk.
“…..!?”
However, his expression soon went stiff as a board.
“The address is… Cornwall?”
Swoosh…
“… The Devil’s Foot, huh?”
The case he was about to take on was one of the most dangerous in the entire Sherlock Holmes series.
[This case is critical, so I’ll remind you again.]
[The probability of being killed is not limited to strangulation or shooting.]
Due to the sudden shock, Adler had missed a small hint thrown by the desperate system entity—a violation of the amount of information she was allowed to give him. It was a mistake he would bitterly regret in the near future.
[Death by overexerting yourself during intimate activities can still be seen as being killed, right…?]
…I’m not in the mood for jokes right now.
. . . . .
Meanwhile, the professor, who had been lying on the bed with her face covered, peeked through her fingers.
“Hmm.”
She silently observed Adler’s back. Her shy demeanor vanished, replaced by a bone-chilling smile as she murmured to herself.
“… I should have done this from the start.”
Driven to the brink, Professor Moriarty’s final plan was on the verge of commencing.