Chapter 256: Debugging
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 256: Debugging
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“……?”
As I stood there dazed, watching the children I had only ever glimpsed in dreams gaze up at me with curious expressions, I belatedly sensed a presence behind me.
“…Ah.”
Instinctively, I turned my head to see who it was. I immediately tensed, cautiously watching the figure approaching.
“…Professor.”
There she was—Professor Moriarty. She was looking down at me with the same expression of disbelief she’d worn since our reunion.
“Uh, um… well…”
What was I even supposed to say?
This was the face I had missed so much it had kept me awake at night, yet now that she was standing right in front of me, I couldn’t find a single word.
“…Adler.”
She spoke first, her voice trembling slightly as I hesitated and fumbled.
“Is it really… you, Adler?”
“……..”
“Truly?”
Her golden eyes quivered as she asked, looking as if she were on the verge of tears.
“Well, you see…”
Honestly, I couldn’t quite grasp the situation.
I’d seen her cry a few times in the nightmares of the real world, but seeing her like this in person left me stunned.
Professor Moriarty… crying? Making a face like that?
It felt as if the version of her I knew had been stripped away.
“Uh… yes.”
Still, I couldn’t just stand there in silence forever. I nodded quietly, trying to gauge her reaction.
“…You can tell by looking into my eyes, can’t you?” I added, pointing to my right eye, which remained dyed grey even after my return.
Thud!
“Keuhk.”
Without warning, the professor dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms tightly around me.
“Cough, cough… um…”
Unlike before, I was now practically an ordinary person. A simple hug from her was enough to make it hard to breathe.
“Professor…”
I tried to gently push her away while nervously stealing glances at her, but when I finally met her gaze, I froze.
Drip…
Tears—tears I never thought I’d see from her—were streaming down her face.
I had assumed she wouldn’t actually cry, even when she seemed on the verge of it earlier, but here she was, truly weeping. Even though I’d seen this in my nightmares, I was completely at a loss.
“D-Don’t cry, Professor…”
Perhaps that’s why, despite wanting to console her, that was all I could manage to say. I sounded like an utter fool. I had never been good at comforting others to begin with, and comforting the professor? A woman who, until just a few years ago, I couldn’t even imagine feeling emotions? That was an even more daunting task.
Slide…
For reasons I couldn’t quite understand, I found myself pulling her into an embrace.
“…Professor Moriarty.”
“Hic, sniff…”
“Have I kept you waiting too long?”
I didn’t know why, but it felt like the only thing I could do.
“I’m so sorry for leaving you behind and disappearing.”
As I whispered those words and gently patted her back, she slowly lifted her head from my chest. Her tear-streaked face looked up at me.
“Ah…”
Only then did I realize, just as in a certain dream I once had, that her eyes had turned a brilliant golden hue.
They were the same eyes that had, for so long, maintained their dignified grey even when she was obsessed with possessing me. But now, as I gazed into those eyes—now overlaid with my color—my heart ached inexplicably.
…So, you’ve finally realized, haven’t you?
I had thought she might never realize it in her entire life. The fearsome dragon, unmatched in her ferocity, had finally come to understand the meaning of love.
And the ultimate reason for that is…
“Kyaaung…”
“Uunng…”
As I wiped away the endless stream of tears, that thought lingered—until disgruntled babbling came from near my feet.
“Ah…”
Lowering my gaze, I was suddenly jolted back to reality.
“”……..?””
There they were. Two tiny children, already so unbearably adorable and beautiful it was almost unfair, squinting up at me from the floor with curious frowns.
“Professor, these children… they’re…”
My voice trembled slightly as I looked at them, then turned to the professor with a questioning glance.
“Yes… that’s right.”
Before I could even finish my sentence, her reply came, thick with emotion.
“They’re your children…”
Of course. Even just looking at the color of their hair and the gleam in their eyes, it was obvious. I had only asked because the reality of it still felt so far away.
“Yours and mine. Our children…”
As the professor lifted them up, tears mingling with a soft smile, the reality slowly began to sink in, seeping into every corner of my being.
“…Do you want to hold them?”
These weren’t just any children—they were my children. The ones who carried both my blood and hers. The most precious beings in the world to me, so priceless that even the thought of them being hurt felt unbearable.
With that dawning realization, I reached out and carefully took the children from her, cradling them gingerly in my arms.
“Da!”
“Dada!”
They giggled brightly, tugging at my cheeks with their tiny hands as if this was the happiest moment of their lives.
“So, I’m… their dad.”
“……..”
“…And the professor is their mom.”
As that fact settled, an almost paralyzing fear suddenly gripped me. Would London be a good place for them? Should we move somewhere else, maybe even emigrate? What about their education? Should I steer them away from the path the professor walked? Could I ever truly be a good father to them?
“…Adler.”
As I stared blankly at the children, lost in thought, the professor’s voice—now calm and steady—snapped me back to my senses.
“Ah.”
At some point, she had composed herself and was now gazing at me with her familiar, impassive expression.
“S-Sorry…”
It struck me then. In the urgency of the situation, I had completely overlooked something crucial. Sure, I was the victim in some ways, but that didn’t change the fact that I was the bastard who had abandoned the professor—pregnant, no less—for over two years.
I wasn’t there for her during childbirth, nor did I even properly say goodbye when I left. In short, she had every right to snap my neck right now, and it would be considered justifiable.
“I’m sorry… truly.”
With a pale face, I offered a feeble apology, my voice barely a whisper as I glanced nervously at her.
“I mean… I shouldn’t have tried to resolve things the way I did, but…”
“…Isaac.”
But the words that came from the professor’s lips after two long years weren’t a scolding. She didn’t question my choices or express resentment for the loneliness she must have felt. I couldn’t even begin to understand the depth of that loneliness. She didn’t say a word about it.
“I love you.”
What she said was simply that.
“I love you—so, so much.”
Even during our brief yet intense relationship, it was something the professor had never been able to say with such honesty.
“I love you so much that if you weren’t here before my eyes, I’d be consumed by an agony so unbearable I’d burn the entire world to ashes before ending everything, including myself.”
It was a confession brimming with absolute sincerity.
“I love you, Isaac Adler.”
Our reunion reached its crescendo as she whispered those words, sealing them with her lips pressed against mine.
.
.
.
I lost track of how much time passed.
“…Excuse me. Are you two done now?”
“”………””
As I finally gasped for air, my breath sticky-sweet from the professor’s kiss, a curt voice broke through from behind us.
“Then it’s about time we start coming up with a plan.”
“…Holmes?”
Charlotte stood there, arms crossed, looking down at us with an icy glare.
“That monster we barely managed to seal away for just twenty to thirty years, even with all of us working together.”
For a moment, seeing her like this reminded me of how she was years ago, which oddly put me at ease. But that comfort quickly dissipated as her next words sank in.
“He said it himself—once he breaks free from the seal, Adler, he’ll be coming straight for you.”
“That’s… true, isn’t it?”
“Which means we need to prepare. But the problem is…”
“…That my father’s abilities surpass anything we can imagine.”
Cutting into Charlotte’s words, the professor muttered with a similarly grim expression.
“Honestly, if not for the children, I could’ve fought him on even footing this time. But… if he emerges again after amassing his strength for another twenty years…”
“…Then a monster we can barely stand against, even together, will reappear in London.”
And then, all at once, everyone’s gaze turned toward me.
“And that monster will target Adler first.”
“So, the solution is…”
Just as their gazes began to darken once more, a message from the system appeared before my eyes.
[Would you like to know the solution?]
“……!”
[It’s actually quite simple.]
What… what is it?
[Who is the only person capable of defeating James Moriarty?]
As I asked with renewed hope, the system, uncharacteristically kind, began to respond.
…Sherlock?
[Exactly.]
But Sherlock doesn’t exist in this world!
I had made sure of it. Once, out of desperation, I had ordered my subordinates to scour all of London, but there wasn’t a single detective or investigator by the name of Sherlock. In this world, the role of Sherlock Holmes belonged to none other than Charlotte Holmes, standing right behind me.
So how the hell was I supposed to summon Sherlock?
[This is your final task as this world’s probability.]
[Fix the bug that prevents Sherlock Holmes from appearing in a game based on the Sherlock Holmes series.]
Wait, what? How?
[Fix it.]
No, but how am I supposed to fix that?
I asked again, my confusion growing, only for the system to deliver its reply with unwavering firmness.
[Oh, I misspoke. Get it fixed.]
“……?”
[If Sherlock doesn’t exist, then create him.]
My face grew steadily paler as Charlotte, the professor, and the other women gathered in the office observed me with sharp, scrutinizing eyes.
…So, does that mean I just need to do it with Charlotte? Since she’s technically Sherlock Holmes?
[Warning!]
[Probability of being Gangbanged — 100%]
[You must face your karma.]
“…Fucking hell.”