Chapter 252: Family Gathering
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 252: Family Gathering
“…Uh, Miss Mycrony.”
It had already been several minutes since I’d entered Mycrony Holmes’s house.
“I understand you’re happy to see me, but could you, you know… let me go now?”
I was still pinned in her embrace, unable to budge an inch.
“…….”
“It’s starting to get a little… scary, don’t you think?”
If it were just a simple hug, I might have managed, but as Charlotte once described, ‘ample’ didn’t even begin to cover it. Her chest was practically smothering me, and I was genuinely starting to run out of air.
“I’m going to die of suffocation at this rate…”
“…Oh.”
As I muttered faintly, my face turning a worrying shade of pale, she finally seemed to snap out of it. She released me and stepped back slightly.
Am I really being overpowered by Miss Mycrony now?
The realization was dejecting. I had become weak enough to be manhandled by someone who hadn’t so much as jogged in over twenty years. I glanced up, only to meet Mycrony’s trembling, questioning gaze.
“You… You definitely… disappeared from this world…”
“…I came back, I guess.”
“So… how…?”
I wanted to explain everything to her, but Miss System was already flashing red warnings before my eyes. Besides, I wasn’t sure I could give her an explanation that would make sense even if I tried.
“Does it really matter?”
“…Hah.”
I gave her an awkward smile. Mycrony, who had been staring at me tearfully, suddenly broke into a soft laugh.
“Well, I suppose that’s not what’s important, is it?”
Swoosh—
“I think I already know why you’ve come to me.”
Quickly drying her tears with her sleeve, she trotted over to her desk and sat down. Even though I hadn’t said a word, she already seemed to know what I wanted. As expected, Miss Mycrony was always several steps ahead of everyone else.
“I’ll come up with a perfect plan for you.”
“Oh.”
“A perfect escape plan, that is.”
“…Huh?”
I had been watching her with hopeful, expectant eyes, but her next words made me tilt my head in confusion.
“I’ll make sure that no one—neither the professor nor my sister—will ever be able to track you down again. Ever.”
“Excuse me?”
“If I’m by your side, it’s possible. Starting today, you’ll live as a completely different person, with a new identity and all…”
“Uh, hold on.”
Something about this conversation was going horribly wrong.
“You don’t need to worry about the lifespan issue either. I’ve already started pushing the British Prime Minister to fund research on vampires. Within twenty years, the secret to immortality will almost certainly be achieved in complete confidentiality.”
“Wait a minute.”
“Oh, and if you’re worried about the impending world war, that’s not a problem either. I’ve already calculated measures to ensure the safety of the British Empire… All I need to do is deal with that professor directly myself…”
“…Wait, how do you even know about that?”
I stared at her blankly for a long moment before finally letting out a panicked shout.
“Or maybe I should just take over the government entirely? If I want to, I can. That would probably be the cleanest solution to hide your identity and resolve the lifespan issues…”
“That’s not it!”
“…E-Eh?”
Finally, she stopped her monologue and looked at me with wide, confused eyes.
“You didn’t come here because you wanted to live with me?”
“Well, that’s… I mean…”
Faced with Mycrony Holmes’s innocent yet somehow far more ominous and sharp demeanor compared to Charlotte’s, I found myself stammering, completely at a loss for words.
“…That’s impossible, big sister.”
“Huh?”
Before I could even attempt to explain, Charlotte, who had been waiting behind the door, swiftly robbed me of the chance.
“We just came to ask for your help, that’s all.”
“…..Charlotte.”
“What? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all the times I begrudgingly swallowed my pride and came running to you whenever I was stumped by a case?”
An unbelievably icy tension began to fill the air between the two sisters.
“This time, too, we just need a little help from you.”
“……..”
Charlotte’s cold smile accompanied her murmured words, but oddly enough, the usual shivers her smile sent down my spine were nowhere to be found this time.
“Sister.”
Mycrony, who had been eerily quiet while observing Charlotte, finally spoke.
“…You’ve never seen me be serious before, have you?”
Her voice was so soft it was almost a whisper, yet it carried an unfamiliar chill that made every hair on my body stand on end.
“Shall I show you for the first time today?”
Resting her chin on her hand, her eyes narrowing to crescents as she smiled sweetly, the aura she exuded was unmistakably predatory. But unlike the calculated control of Charlotte or the professor, there was an underlying, almost serene madness radiating from her.
I need to do something—fast.
As my survival instincts blared alarms in my head, I desperately racked my brain for options. Unfortunately, I didn’t have many. I was no longer a vampire, nor a devil, and without someone else’s help, I couldn’t even use magic anymore.
Given my current circumstances, there was only one thing left I could do—a fact that was as depressingly pathetic as it was clear.
Swoosh—
Fully aware of this, I let out a resigned sigh and subtly approached Mycrony’s desk.
“……..”
Whether by luck or misfortune, Mycrony seemed too preoccupied with staring at Charlotte and silently calculating something in her head to notice my movement.
“…Hah.”
Worried about the aftermath, I hesitated for a brief moment before taking a quiet breath and leaning my head toward her.
Chomp.
“……!?”
With my eyes tightly shut, I sank my teeth into the nape of Mycrony’s neck as hard as I could.
“”………””
Silence. A short, heavy silence followed.
“Haaaaaahhh…”
Within that brief stillness, Mycrony’s entire body seemed to lose its strength. Her head dropped onto her desk as she let out a soft, breathless moan.
Shudder… Tremble…
“…….Hngh.”
A shiver ran through her body as she let out a stifled, heated sigh, her breath catching in her throat.
“…Damn, this is it.”
Her eyes glinted with the same predatory sharpness as before, but now, a grin tugged at her lips as she looked back at me, her voice tinged with a strange sort of delight. The act of her prey desperately biting her neck seemed to have sparked something profound within her.
I’d suspected she might have a taste for something like this, but I hadn’t expected it to be this effective.
“…I have one request.”
“……..”
“In return, I’ll grant you one wish as well.”
It was the perfect moment to throw out a deal, even if they were entirely empty words.
“Any wish at all? No matter what it is?”
“…Yes.”
Of course, I cared about what that wish might be, but at this point, I couldn’t afford to show it.
“…..Even if it’s doing something with me in front of my little sister?”
“………”
I’ll just let future me deal with this shit.
*
Meanwhile.
Tap, tap, tap…
The dimly lit halls of Auguste Academy, now unusually tranquil after the disappearance of the supernatural phenomena, echoed softly with the footsteps of an enigmatic elderly gentleman strolling leisurely through the corridors.
“Wh-Who are y—urk?”
“H-Hey, you, what are yo—guh?”
It wasn’t as if the halls were empty. However, whether professor or student, everyone who crossed his path met the same fate—foaming at the mouth and collapsing at his feet within mere seconds of encountering him.
“…The caliber of the youth these days is truly abysmal.”
The old man looked down at their pitiful forms, his voice dripping with disdain, as though he were observing insects.
“I suppose a lesser race will always remain a lesser race.”
“…I-It’s an intruder!”
“Damn it! Things have been peaceful for so long, why is this happening now?!”
As the old man continued his leisurely stride, fully armored guards finally began rushing toward him, weapons raised in a desperate attempt to subdue him.
“Halt—! Gaaahhh!”
“…Ugh, blearghhh!”
With a flick of his hand, as if swatting away a nuisance, the guards were instantly struck by a searing agony that coursed through their bodies like fire. They writhed on the ground or succumbed to panic, vomiting uncontrollably.
“…Tch.”
Casting a glance of utter contempt at their fallen forms, the old man walked past them without a hint of hesitation.
“…Hmm.”
Eventually, he came to a halt in front of an office door, a chilling smile curling his lips.
“My daughter has done something rather adorable here.”
Reaching out, his fingers gently brushed against the surface of the door.
Crrrackkk—!
“…However, it seems you didn’t get enough time, did you, dear daughter?”
The intricate magic circle locked into the door—composed of what must have been hundreds of interwoven seals—began to fracture and crack apart.
“Unless, of course, you truly believed this level of work would be enough to stop me.”
Crashhh!
“That would be… rather disappointing.”
In the blink of an eye, the seal—so complex it would have taken decades for a master to unravel—shattered like fragile glass.
Bzzzzzzz—!
“…Oh?”
A spear of gray mana surged forth from the broken seal, flying straight at the elderly man’s face with unerring precision.
“Hooh.”
Fwoooosh…
But the old man merely exhaled softly, the faintest smile on his lips, and the spear dissolved into harmless vapor, dissipating into the air as though it had never existed.
“”………””
A heavy silence descended upon the room.
“James… Moriarty.”
“…My, my.”
A voice thick with hatred broke the silence, echoing through the hall. The old man, his expression calm and unbothered, clasped his hands behind his back and began walking forward.
“I killed you. I made sure you were gone… erased from existence…”
“My dearest daughter, mind your manners. Such language does not become you.”
For the first time since his return to the world, his serene expression cracked, his features twisting slightly.
“Gyaooh…!”
“Kyaah…!”
It was then that his gaze fell upon them—two infants clinging stubbornly to Jane Moriarty’s arm, resisting with all their might to avoid being dragged into the pocket dimension she had summoned.
“…….What?”
For a moment, the old man’s face went blank, his thoughts derailed. Then, slowly, his head bobbed from side to side, as if trying to process what he was seeing.
“…Kyaa?”
“…Kyaah?”
The babies, noticing his peculiar habit of bobbing his head, mimicked him with uncanny synchrony, bobbing their own small heads in unison.
And so began a long, strange silence.