Chapter 280: Side Story: The Adventures of Isaac Adler (14)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 280: Side Story: The Adventures of Isaac Adler (14)
“I-If you surrender quietly, I'll spare your lives.”
“Surrender?”
As Lovecraft, who was aiming her pen at us, spoke with a sinister smile, the professor beside me tilted her head and asked back.
“Y-Yes. Of course, surrender. Can't you see the situation you're in?”
Lovecraft shook her pen more violently, her eyes darting around frantically.
“I-If I... just give the order... those things will wrap around you, and, huh? Just... huh?”
But contrary to her bravado, she seemed unaccustomed to dealing with people, judging by her severe stutter. A sigh escaped the professor's lips.
“She's so inarticulate, it's frustrating.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
I was thinking the exact same thing, so I nodded in agreement. It was at that very moment.
“You—you shut up. You yellow monkey mongrel bastard.”
“Excuse me?”
A remark that would have caused quite a stir had this been a century earlier just came out of her mouth.
“What did you just...”
“I-I know you're of mixed Asian descent. I can see everything...”
“...Oh, dear.”
For the record, there isn't really any racial discrimination based on skin color in this world.
That's because, in this world, the racial discrimination of our original history has been mostly replaced by species discrimination against demi-humans.
In that sense, you could almost say it's impressive how steadfastly Lovecraft clings to racial discrimination.
“If you weren't handsome, I would've fed you to the octopuses long ago.”
“...That's harsh.”
Of course, that didn't mean it was pleasant to hear.
If I were 100 percent Korean instead of mixed, wouldn't I have thrown a fit by now?
No, perhaps to her, my being of mixed British and Korean blood was even more horrifying.
“So, it's you.”
As I was scratching my head, lost in thought, the professor, who had been observing Lovecraft intently, spoke again.
“The apostle of James Moriarty. A girl with the power to command beings from the outer world.”
“……”
“I'm certain I locked you in the basement. How did you escape?”
For a moment, Lovecraft's eyebrow twitched.
And seeing how the pen in her hand drooped slightly, it seemed the professor had hit the mark.
“D-Do you think I'd tell you?”
“...Well, I can make a rough deduction. There were red letters written in blood on the floor of the empty basement.”
Despite her pathetic attempt at a bluff, the professor immediately began her deduction.
“Did you not use that to summon the tentacles currently floating in the sky?”
“……”
“From that, I can infer your ability. Is it the power to summon beings from the outer world using writing as a medium?”
As if she never expected the professor to deduce that much, a dumbfounded expression appeared on Lovecraft's face.
“...Yes. It's proof that I am the chosen one.”
“The chosen one, you say.”
“The fact that the events of this world unfold according to my writing is the proof.”
But that was only for a moment. She soon began to ramble on with a triumphant expression.
“Those things were all created just as I imagined them. I possess that much power...”
“……”
“S-So, all of you. If you get on your knees and beg for your lives right now, I won't kill you...”
It was right at that moment, as she raised her pen high into the sky to threaten us again.
- Ruuuumble...
Suddenly, the tentacles that filled the dark sky began to squirm.
“H-Huh?”
And then, they began to slowly approach not us, but Lovecraft.
“How could a mere human possibly command a being from the outer world?”
The professor, who had been watching the scene unfold, suddenly began to speak in an icy voice.
“If that were possible, shouldn't I have been under your control long ago?”
“W-Wait. You...”
Just then, Lovecraft began to back away as if she'd realized something.
“Don't tell me you're also from the outer world...”
“A hybrid, to be precise.”
From that point on, a conversation I found difficult to understand began to unfold.
“Let me tell you something.”
“……”
“In the old days of this world, the beings called dragons all came from the outer world.”
However, while I couldn't understand it intellectually, I could roughly guess how things were unfolding.
“Little girl, you were just lucky.”
“...What?”
“Your delusional novel merely happened to resonate with the nature of these outer beings by pure chance.”
In other words, the one on the defensive wasn't us, but Lovecraft.
“And cases like this have happened quite often in the past.”
“N-No... That's not true...”
“And for those who unintentionally summoned beings from the outer world in such a way, the end was never very pleasant.”
The very moment the professor finished her sentence.
- Swoosh...
A tentacle that had drawn right up to her nose finally lunged at Lovecraft.
“Hic!?”
Before she could even react, the tentacles wrapped around her arms and legs and lifted her into the air.
“W-What are you doing? Why aren't you listening to me!?”
“You may have controlled those tentacles well until now, but it's different now that the person helping you from behind is gone.”
Lovecraft frantically began to wave her pen in the air, but the tentacles showed no sign of stopping.
“You were too greedy.”
“Kyaaaaaaah!!!”
“It was a great miscalculation to think you could summon that many and get away unscathed.”
The countless tentacles still floating in the sky were squirming toward her.
“The main body of a great being is not very merciful, you see.”
“S-Stop! Stooooop!!!”
“...Well, that doesn't seem to be the main body, more like dregs.”
As the rampaging tentacles began to engulf Lovecraft, the professor turned her head to me as if there was nothing more to see and began to speak cryptically again.
“Mr. Adler, by the way, isn't the brain more to your liking than those disgusting things?”
“...Pardon?”
“Even with humans, isn't the brain the most important part, the very seat of one's personality?”
I still didn't quite understand what she meant, but I had no choice but to nod quietly.
“Help me... Ubghelekbelek.”
“Right?”
The contrast between Lovecraft's dying gurgles in the background and the professor's cold smile sent a chill down my spine.
*
I wonder how much time passed.
“Good, we've finally arrived.”
“...It seems so.”
“The London scenery is always so charming, no matter how many times I see it.”
After a long voyage, the professor and I were able to safely arrive and disembark at a London port.
Of course, a 'safe landing' was a bit of a contradiction for someone who had stowed away, but the professor simply snapped her fingers and everyone's memories vanished, so there were no issues.
“……!!!”
For the record, it felt a bit wrong to just leave Lovecraft behind, so I put her in the same luggage bag Watson used to carry me in and brought her with us.
“……♥♥♥”
I also put the tentacles that had been wrapped around her body in there with her.
I had no idea what was happening inside, but judging by the constant twitching of the luggage bag I was holding, something extraordinary was definitely going on.
“Should I go dump this somewhere?”
“Just keep it. I have something I need to research.”
For some reason, it gave me the creeps and I wanted to toss it in some back alley, but I refrained since it seemed to be a valuable research sample for the professor.
“Anyway, now we can head straight to Auguste Academy and...”
“No, we can't do that.”
“What?”
Just as I was about to head to our main destination, Auguste Academy, some unexpected bad news was delivered.
“You and I are currently wanted in London.”
“...Pardon?”
“Charlotte has mobilized the London Police Department. There's a reason I had to stow away to get here.”
What, wanted? I didn't expect this at all.
“I mean, I can understand it for me, but you're wanted, Professor?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Weren't you the incarnation of the perfect crime?”
How on earth could Professor Moriarty, who possesses the ability of the perfect crime, be charged with anything?
“It seems I was caught off guard this time.”
“What crime did they use as a pretext to come after you?”
As I harbored this curiosity, the professor's subsequent answer left me speechless.
“On suspicion of kidnapping Isaac Adler.”
“What?”
“The current police commissioner, Gia Lestrade, pushed it through with lightning speed. Isn't it ridiculous?”
Right, I finally realized the one weakness in the professor's ability.
No matter how perfect the crime, you can't beat a false accusation.
Wait a minute, is it really a false accusation?
“...So what do we do now?”
In any case, it would be impossible to enter Auguste Academy, located in the heart of the city, like this. As I scratched my head and asked, the professor began to answer with a smile.
“Criminals like us sometimes draw inspiration from past events.”
“……?”
“How about the very first case where you got the better of that girl, Charlotte Holmes?”
And at first, I didn't understand what the professor was saying.
“The Scandal of the Bohemian Queen? But that was...”
“Yes, precisely.”
It was only after reading the cryptic smile on her face that I realized the situation I was in and squeezed my eyes shut.
“I know a good clothing store located in a back alley.”
But squeezing my eyes shut didn't stop me from hearing the professor's soft, whispering voice.
“You're going to cross-dress, Mr. Adler.”