Chapter 200: The Five Orange Pips (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 200: The Five Orange Pips (6)
Charlotte stared at Adler in stunned silence for a long moment as he suddenly appeared before her. Finally, she asked in a low voice,
"…Mr. Adler, what brings you here?"
"What brings me here, indeed."
A cheeky smile played on Adler’s lips as he muttered softly, "Because I love you."
"……."
"I just wanted to see you."
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed slightly at his audacious response.
"How did you manage to find me? I was in disguise and had erased all traces of my presence."
"…Miss Holmes, surely you aren’t asking me that?"
Ignoring her skepticism, Adler clung to her side. His expression suddenly shifted, turning serious as he answered her question.
"Those who track others are always at risk of being tracked themselves. It’s the ultimate blind spot in surveillance."
"…….."
"As long as Miss Holmes and I maintain our contract, I can find you with my eyes closed."
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed even further at his boastful reply.
"So, you’re saying you came to see me in the middle of the night just because you love me?"
"Yes."
"I see…"
Despite his persistence, a glint of doubt remained in her eyes.
"…Really?"
Eventually, her expression softened. She quietly avoided his gaze and asked, "You know, there’s something romantic about a date at dawn."
"…I’d agree, but I doubt we can find much romance around here."
At Adler’s response, Charlotte let out a quiet sigh.
"Actually, this is where Silver Blaze was attacked."
"…What?"
As soon as he heard that, Adler’s expression turned cold.
"You knew that and still came here in the middle of the night?"
"But that’s my job, isn’t it?"
"…….."
"Why are you being so sensitive all of a sudden?"
Charlotte looked at him quietly and then slowly reached out her hand.
"…Come to think of it, now is not the time for you to be worried about me."
Swoosh…
"Have you even fully healed from that terrible explosion? It was featured in almost every newspaper and magazine in Britain. How can you be walking around so freely?"
Charlotte naturally slipped her hand inside Adler’s clothes, feeling around. Her expression soon darkened.
"…You still have bandages on your body."
"……."
"You haven’t fully recovered, have you? That’s it, isn’t it?"
"Ah, ouch. Ow, ow, owww."
"Shouldn’t you be the one lying in bed? Or did Watson just let you out, telling you to go die or something?"
As Charlotte Holmes tightly grasped the area covered by bandages, Isaac Adler let out a faint groan. With a troubled expression, he found himself cornered by her sharp probing.
"This won't do. I need to call Watson right now and have her take you back—"
Peck…
"…Ah?"
He quietly sighed and kissed Charlotte’s cheek. She, who had been lecturing him in a stern voice, was left dazed.
"Omph."
"…Mmm."
Seizing the moment, Adler nipped at her lips before slipping his tongue inside.
"………"
Time seemed to drift away as they shared a passionate kiss.
When they finally broke apart, Charlotte’s words had noticeably failed her. Adler naturally linked his arm with hers.
"Why so talkative? Let’s just take a night walk together."
"…….."
"…Can’t you understand what I’m saying?" Adler whispered into her ear, his voice slightly lower than usual.
"Um—uh… yes."
Quietly rubbing her lips with her hand, Charlotte nodded, her face flushing as she matched his pace.
"…If you were capable of this kind of thing, why didn’t you try it at the hotel that day?"
"I would have, but a certain someone drugged me before I could make up my mind."
"…Actually, I didn’t drug the bath. That was a lie. You were just overly lustful because you were excited."
"Don’t lie to me."
"…Well, think what you want. It’s in the past anyway."
Sticking close together, Charlotte and Adler began to leave the back alley.
Sshh…
As they departed, a shadowy substance that had been following them quietly disappeared into the darkness.
"Haaa…" Charlotte let out a sigh. "Thanks to you, finding the culprit is now impossible."
"…You knew something was following us, didn’t you?" Adler asked in a chilly voice as they walked.
"Culprits tend to return to the scene of the crime."
"……."
"In fact, it’s more accurate to say it has been tailing me for several days already."
Unlike Adler, Charlotte remained calm.
"Of course, it doesn’t seem like an ordinary person. They saw through my hiding spots and disguises, and I couldn’t even properly detect them."
"And yet you were walking the streets unprotected?"
"No. On the contrary, I was waiting for it to attack me."
She began to mutter with a slightly annoyed look, glancing at Adler.
"It’s a presence I can’t physically grasp through normal means… but I could still feel its overwhelming malice toward me. That’s why I tried to make myself seem defenseless—to bait it into attacking."
"……."
"I was planning to take advantage of the ambush and capture the being. Even if it was incorporeal, the moment it attacked, it would have to reveal a physical form."
As she spoke, Adler’s expression crumpled further.
"However, thanks to someone’s devilish interference, the operation turned out to be a complete waste."
Nevertheless, Charlotte continued speaking without a care. "It might have been an excellent opportunity to solve the case—"
"Look at me for a moment."
"……Huh?"
Suddenly, Adler roughly grabbed Charlotte’s wrist.
"What are you doing—"
Squeeze...
"…Ah!?"
He pushed her against a nearby wall with force, causing her to let out an uncharacteristic, girlish scream of confusion.
"…Hic."
"……"
"A-Adler?"
Leaning against the wall and gasping for breath, Charlotte looked at Adler with a dazed expression as he cornered her.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?"
"…Shut up for a second."
"Uh?"
She frowned slightly, but Adler wedged his knee between her legs, pressing her even closer. He began to whisper in a cold voice.
"Do you think you’re the only one who loves me? Just as you love me, I love you too, damn it."
"…Is this a sudden confession or something?"
"It’s not a joke, so listen carefully."
Surprised by his words, she tried to speak, but Adler let out a low growl that made her shut her mouth.
"The reason I’m enduring all this, planning all this, burning through my remaining life… it’s all because of you."
"……."
"If things continue this way, you will definitely die. I will do anything to change that nonsensical ending."
Her eyes began to waver as she listened. "I am going to die?"
"Like I said, I’ll do whatever it takes to prevent that ending. But… but you know…"
Adler leaned in close, his expression chilling as he confronted her in the silence.
"What are you trying to do by putting yourself in danger?"
"…Are you underestimating me? Despite how I appear, I am now on par with that professor—"
"I don’t believe you’re foolish enough to call surviving for a mere minute being 'on par' with her."
"……."
"You still have much to learn, Charlotte. The exact probability of you dying just now was 37.75%."
When he called her by her first name instead of her surname, Charlotte, who had been about to retort, fell silent and bit her lip.
"Are you telling me to give up on my work?"
"…I’m asking you to stop gambling with your life."
As she asked him in a low voice, Adler looked directly into her eyes and whispered, "Step away from this case. If you don't, I will kill you myself."
"…….."
"…It’s not just you who can make threats. Remember that."
After saying this, Adler finally eased the pressure. Charlotte, still pinned against the wall, spoke in a tiny voice.
"Even you can be serious, huh."
Turning away, Adler sighed. "…There’s just something off about this case."
He began muttering in a low voice.
"The Professor and I should be behind every case… Who is behind this one? It’s the first time we’ve been completely left out of a case’s unfolding…"
"……."
"Even the entity that was in the darkness just now felt ominously abnormal. To say it was bizarre is an understatement… It doesn’t make sense for the KKK to be moving such a being…"
Turning back to look at her, Adler said, "Just remember what I said, Charlotte."
Flickering quietly in the darkness, he began to disappear.
"…I—I can’t live without you. Please."
With those words, Adler vanished completely.
"Lies."
In the ensuing silence, Charlotte stood still for a long time before murmuring in a low voice.
"His right eye is still distinctly grey, yet he's so shameless…"
Despite her prickly tone, her cheeks were redder than they had ever been.
.
.
.
.
.
An unknown amount of time after their confrontation...
"…Still, today you were somewhat impressive…."
"Miss Holmes~!"
"Ahem-hem…"
Charlotte, who had been murmuring to herself in a shy whisper, spotted Lestrade running toward her from afar. She quickly composed herself with a cough.
"Hahhh, hahh…"
"You did well following my orders, Inspector."
She quickly returned to her usual demeanor, praising the officer who was gasping for breath.
"Thanks to you following me for the past few days, we were able to narrow down the target. It seems the Professor and Adler were not involved with the KKK after all."
"…Pardon?"
"Then there’s nothing to hesitate about. I may not know who’s behind it all, but I have a very good method to eradicate the KKK in Britain—"
"Miss H-Holmes. Wait."
However, as she was engrossed in discussing her next plan, Lestrade interjected with a puzzled look.
"…Are you not upset?"
"Everything has gone well. Why would I be upset?"
"But… I just completely messed up the operation, didn’t I?"
"…….?"
Charlotte tilted her head at the officer’s nonsensical remark.
"While I was following you as planned, I somehow got lost. I thought I had a perfect grasp on the geography of these back alleys. It’s really strange…"
"What did you say?"
"I just barely found my way back and ran straight to where you were, but I guess I'm too late?"
Charlotte's complexion turned pale.
"I’m sorry…"
"You mean to tell me… you weren’t the one following me all this time?"
Breaking out in a cold sweat, Charlotte turned her gaze toward the entrance of the back alley behind her.
"Then, what the bloody hell… has been following me this whole time?"
By then, nothing remained but the thick fog that had settled into the night.
Footnotes