Chapter 227: The Final Problem (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 227: The Final Problem (2)
“Haaah…”
A few days after Watson and Adler had departed from the United States.
“Ahem.”
Watson, her face flushed a deep crimson, emerged from the ship’s lavatory dragging a heavy trunk. She let out an awkward cough as she hurried along.
“Did you hear something strange coming from the washroom? What was that noise…?”
“Could it be a rat?”
“Do rats make creaking sounds like that?”
Ignoring the murmuring bystanders, she ascended to the deck, where the rising sun bathed the sky in brilliant light.
“…Why would you even attempt to escape?”
“…”
“You know we’ll be charged with smuggling if we’re caught, right, Mr. Adler?”
She leaned over the sporadically trembling trunk and began whispering in a low, dangerous voice.
“If you do this again, shall I just toss you into the sea?”
“That would be… an actual crime…”
“What? Is that luggage talking?”
A heated voice drifted from inside the trunk, but it was abruptly cut off by Watson’s chilling mutter.
“Good.”
“Um…”
“……!”
As Watson stood up with a satisfied expression, a hesitant voice called out from behind her.
“…What is that?”
“Oh, it’s nothing much…”
Watson’s hand instinctively twitched toward the pistol concealed in her coat as she turned around. Standing there was a lady in elegant attire, her face bright red.
“That… it popped out…”
“…Ah.”
Watson looked at the lady with clear suspicion, but she soon realized what the woman meant when she glanced down at the trunk.
- Wiggle…
Flushed to the tips of her ears, Watson shoved the flopping organ back inside the trunk—the very source of the strange noises that had been emanating from the stall earlier.
“Ahem. Well…”
Meanwhile, the noble lady hid her face behind a fan, peeking over the edge before leaning in to whisper in Watson’s ear.
“…Just where were you able to procure something that big?”
“Eh?”
“The, uh… thing that was protruding. I mean… that remedy for nerve relaxation.”
Watson’s eyes flickered.
“Did you buy that in the States? Or perhaps in Britain? I’ve never seen one of that size before…”
“…It’s homemade.”
“O-Oh, I see…”
As Watson quietly averted her gaze, the lady’s face only grew hotter.
“Th-Thank you for the answer…”
Barely audible, the lady squeaked out a word of thanks and dashed back into the cabin, her head bowed low.
“………”
Silence fell over the deck.
“Now you’re seducing women with nothing but your useless cock…”
In the sudden quiet, Watson, finally relaxing her tension, sat down on the trunk and muttered in a voice so cold it made the air shiver.
“…It’s not my fault.”
“I suppose not. It seems you need to be socially isolated for the good of the world.”
Adler’s timid rebuttal came instantly, but Watson was far beyond the point of regaining her conscience or her sanity.
“I’m all you need, right? That’s what you said, isn’t it?”
“I trusted you…”
“Why is the trunk talking again, I wonder?”
Watson muttered to herself as she gently cracked the trunk open once more, having long since abandoned any pretense of being a dignified Lady.
“Please, stop now, a—”
“Shut up before I cut that useless stick off.”
Of course, this was simply the karma of the trembling vampire trapped inside the trunk, so there was really nothing more to be said.
*
That afternoon, in a suburban area just outside London.
- Peak, whoosh…
Standing in front of the mansion registered under my name, I scanned the surroundings with a tense expression.
- Creak…
Soon, I stepped into the mansion, doing my best to make as little noise as possible.
…No one’s here, right?
Upon entering, the first thing I did was draw every curtain over the windows.
Although I hadn’t faced any direct threats to my life on the way here, there had been several suspicious occurrences. For instance, I had almost been entangled in a drunken brawl in broad daylight, and a recklessly speeding carriage had missed me by a hair’s breadth.
And while I was momentarily distracted, some beggars in an alley had even tried to steal the trunk containing Adler.
While each incident was ambiguous on its own, my instincts as a former soldier screamed that these were no coincidences.
“Phew…”
Thus, even if blocking the view seemed excessive, it was necessary. Of course, in fin-de-siècle London, where criminals and detectives alike engaged in daily espionage, such measures might be futile. Still, it would at least allow me to avoid the airgun-wielding menace that Adler commanded.
“…….”
After securing all the windows, I felt a flicker of relief.
…Is this really the right thing to do?
But at the same time, a new wave of worry began to flood in. Could I really escape London without being detected by Professor Moriarty’s criminal organization or Holmes? It was a miracle I had escaped Lupin’s notice in America; I had no idea how many more times I’d have to repeat such a feat to escape everyone’s clutches.
“…Fucking hell, I don’t know anymore.”
My mind wavered, and I found myself searching for the world’s most effective remedy for anxiety, which was stored in the trunk.
“Where did I put the whiskey…”
As I murmured and searched for the pre-stocked liquor, I suddenly realized something significant.
“…What?”
Where did he go…?
Isaac Adler was missing.
What happened? He had been silently curled up inside just moments ago, obediently handing over his seeds…
- Swish…
As I stood there dumbfounded, I sensed an unknown presence behind me.
“Who—”
The moment I noticed it, I reached for the pistol I kept ready to draw at a moment’s notice, but—
“…I don’t know how many times I’ve said it this year, but keeping a pistol in your coat pocket is a terrible habit.”
“……..!”
Chilled by the ominous voice coming from behind, I froze, unable to even touch the loaded weapon.
“A misfire could necessitate a mastectomy. I presume you’d prefer to avoid that, wouldn’t you?”
“Y-You…”
“Is this the first time, by the way? Just the two of us having a conversation? All alone?”
The Queen of the Underworld, the Napoleon of Crime, Professor Moriarty, stood behind me with a chilling smile. My heart turned to ice, and my legs began to tremble so violently I nearly collapsed.
“…I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t care about you at all.”
“…….”
“Of course, I don’t particularly care about anyone, including that young detective you tag along with. But you, specifically, were insignificant in terms of danger.”
As I struggled to maintain a composed expression, Professor Moriarty’s mocking voice echoed in my ears.
“However… it seems I was mistaken.”
The cold aura she exuded with her mere presence made my head spin.
“A good, refined woman, a diligent doctor… kidnapping one of London’s finest actors and stuffing him in a trunk for a bizarre cross-continental kidnapping spree.”
“…Uh.”
“It would make quite the headline if the press got wind of it, wouldn’t it?”
As Professor Moriarty’s threats echoed, my heart felt like it was about to shatter.
“…It doesn’t matter.”
Somehow, despite the terror, I managed to speak clearly.
“Where is Isaac?”
“That is none of your business.”
I didn’t know where Adler had disappeared to, but I refused to back down.
“Aren’t you worried about your life?”
“…If I were to be shaken by your threats, I wouldn’t be a friend of Holmes.”
“So, you’re telling me you’d prioritize your nethers over your life?”
“……..”
Though her verbal assault felt like a punch to the gut, I glared at the Professor with wide eyes.
“Look here, Miss Watson…”
As Professor Moriarty’s patience reached its limit, mana began to gather in her hand.
“I’ve put up with this farce long enough.”
Even if I drew my pistol now, could I even scratch her?
“And I will not hold back any longer…”
My hand, resting atop the pistol, twitched uncontrollably, but my frozen body refused to move.
“So, I’ll ask one last time.”
In that critical moment, as I sweated profusely in a silence that seemed to stretch for eternity—
“Where did Adler go…?”
“…I don’t know, you ancient lizard.”
Finally, I closed my eyes tight and touched the dragon’s inverse scale with my final words.
- Gooooooo…
Immediately, acrid grey smoke began to envelop my entire existence. I had no regrets.
“Haaah…”
Well, except for one thing…
…If I had known I would meet my end like this, I would have just done it without a condom.
“Such an insignificant worm, daring to rise above its station…”
It seemed Rachel Watson was doomed to become another sacrificial lamb of the Professor’s curse—the perfect crime.
“Then, I will end it—ugh!”
“…….?”
Jane Moriarty’s voice, which had been whispering fiercely in her ear, suddenly became muffled. A look of confusion crossed Watson’s face, and she slowly opened her eyes.
- Thud…
“Huh?”
In the next moment, for some unknown reason, Moriarty slumped to the ground, sweating coldly and clutching her lower abdomen.
“What…”
“Professor, you made a promise to me.”
“……!”
Behind her, a teasingly familiar voice rang out.
“Unless I agree, you must refrain from direct murder.”
“……..”
“…It’s a breach of our contract.”
Adler, now dressed in Watson’s clothes, was looking down at the subdued Professor Moriarty with a playful gaze. He wagged his devil tail as a heart-shaped mark appeared above the Professor’s pelvis.
“Adler… no, Isaac.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Isn’t this all just a convoluted plan to get together with me anyway?”
Unable to understand him, Moriarty spoke with a trembling voice.
“Then why…”
- Chuu…
“…Huh?”
Moriarty’s eyes widened in shock as she watched Adler kiss the neck of Watson, who was standing there with a look of utter bewilderment.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve come to like Watson more than you, Professor.”
Adler hooked his fingers with Watson’s, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smirk.
“Right, darling?”
“…But I just raped you, didn’t I?”
“……..”