Chapter 46: The Professor and the Slave
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 46: The Professor and the Slave
“… Mr. Adler.”
Jane Moriarty looked down at Isaac Adler. His eyes were already closed. She spoke his name quietly, her voice a low tether to the waking world.
“Get up.”
Usually, her assistant would respond to such a command with a subtle smile or a slightly tense, endearing expression—a look she found quite charming.
“………”
But now, there was no answer. He lay before her, as still as a corpse.
The cause of his condition was glaringly obvious to Professor Moriarty; she needed no investigation to understand what had happened.
“… Isaac.”
Kneeling beside him, Moriarty’s hand brushed over his brutally mutilated abdomen. She felt the ruined organs beneath his clothes and saw the angry red handprints bruising his neck.
｢Please save me, Professor.｣
Then, her eyes fell upon the message. It was a frantic scrawl, nothing like Adler’s usual elegant script, soaked through with the blood that continued to leak from his wounds.
“Well, look at this…”
A voice, thick with laughter and bloodlust, drifted from behind the Professor as she stared blankly at the scene.
“Who might you be?”
A silhouette wrapped in layers of shifting shadow tilted its head, flashing a chilling smile.
“… That doesn’t really matter.”
Professor Moriarty, who had been silently observing her fallen assistant, finally stood up.
“There is only one thing you need to know.”
The flicker of emotion that had crossed her face when she heard Adler’s faint, dying whisper was gone. In its place was a void.
“… Today, you will not be leaving this place in one piece.”
She took a brief moment to survey the surroundings, but the sight only served to fuel the turmoil churning within her—a rage more intense than she had ever known.
“For the first time in my life, I feel something more powerful than mere concern…”
In the very next heartbeat—
“”……….!!!””
A powerful grey aura erupted from Professor Moriarty’s body, a pressure so immense it was hard to believe it originated from a human.
“…So, this is the true extent of your power.”
“Wait, were you even human?”
Charlotte Holmes, who had been glaring at the mysterious figure while waiting for an opening, quietly retreated. She could feel the crushing weight of the mana Professor Moriarty was leaking into the air.
Meanwhile, Jill the Reaper, who had been laughing until a moment ago, showed a flicker of surprise behind her veil of shadows.
“What, are you turning into a dragon or something?”
“………..”
“Guess not. You still look human enough to me.”
Jill clicked her tongue, looking disappointed.
“I’d love to stay and fight, but… it’s not the weekend yet. It’s just not feasible.”
Jill the Reaper chuckled, her eyes twinkling as she gave a mocking wave.
“Well, I suppose I’ll see you on the weekend…?”
With those words, her legs began to liquefy, merging into the ground.
—Gwoosh!
Professor Moriarty’s grey mana surged toward her at a terrifying speed. However, Jill the Reaper was a fraction of a second faster in her escape.
“Be careful on the dark roads until then…”
Jill whispered the threat in a chilling tone, directed at the Professor who was glaring coldly at her.
—Bang!!!
“…Huh?”
Jill’s pupils suddenly constricted at the echoing crack of a gunshot.
“I should have… from the start… Cough—”
Colonel Rose, who had been collapsed on the ground, managed a faint smile at the sight.
“I should have aimed for the head…”
Charlotte Holmes had forced a bullet through her malfunctioning pistol by infusing it with her black mana. The shot struck Jill the Reaper directly in the skull.
“Ugh…”
Whether it was the wisdom of aiming for the head or the unique properties of Charlotte’s mana, the result was the same. The shot was enough to momentarily snag Jill the Reaper, halting her descent into the shadows.
“What did I tell you?”
Jane Moriarty murmured. Her expression suggested she had anticipated this exact outcome. Her voice, usually devoid of feeling, was now unexpectedly thick with emotion.
“Didn’t I say you wouldn’t be leaving in one piece?”
“…Cough—?”
Moriarty’s mana began to seep into Jill the Reaper, who hadn't been able to fully submerge her body in time.
—Clench, clench…
“Isaac Adler is mine.”
After a moment of violent struggling, Jill finally managed to melt into the earth, vanishing like smoke in the wind.
“You’ve touched something you shouldn't have.”
Professor Moriarty continued to obsessively flood the area with mana even after all traces of Jill the Reaper were gone. Only when the surroundings finally grew still did she withdraw the grey energy.
“…The next time we meet, you will pay the price for your transgressions in full.”
“Stay back!”
In the distance, the sounds of police officers and doctors rushing into the room began to fill the air.
*
“Mr. Adler.”
A soft voice echoed in his ear.
“Mr. Adler…”
“…Hmm.”
The voice was pleasant, but it carried an underlying tone that demanded an immediate response.
“Professor.”
Without even realizing it, I answered. I opened my eyes to find a familiar, welcoming face looking down at me.
“…Is this heaven?”
“Stop talking like an idiot.”
I stared blankly at her enchanting face for a moment. When I asked my joking question, the Professor let out a small chuckle, her lips curving slightly.
“There is no way we would be in heaven.”
The dark circles under her eyes were more pronounced than I had ever seen them.
“To be precise, you didn’t die. It has been a week since I rescued you.”
“So, I’ve been in this hospital bed for an entire week?”
“Yes. You were quite close to never opening your eyes again.”
She murmured in a somber tone, then gestured toward Princess Clay, which was resting on a distant desk.
“Fortunately, that remarkable child was carrying a large amount of your blood.”
“Ah…”
“That wasn’t all. To save you, I summoned doctors from every corner of the city. It was a major surgery that lasted a staggering seventeen hours.”
“…I see.”
“I’m practically bankrupt because of it.”
Despite her words, Professor Moriarty laughed softly, tilting her head in that usual, cutesy manner of hers.
“…Professor.”
I watched her for a moment before speaking quietly.
“You’re so cute.”
“……?”
“The way you tilt your head from side to side… you look just like a lizard. I find it cute every time you do it.”
Her expression went completely blank at my daring comment.
“…Do you have a death wish?”
“Well, yes, but not really.”
I replied with a smile.
“It’s just something I wanted to say at least once before I died.”
A chilling silence filled the room.
[Warning!]
– Probability of Assassination: 99% –
“Professor, I don’t think I’ll be living much longer.”
In that heavy silence, staring at the unchanged probability of my certain death, I spoke in a calm voice.
“I think I might die soon.”
“Mr. Adler?”
“I had hoped to see you become the Queen of Crime before I went…”
The Professor’s expression didn't change. Of course it didn't. That was Jane Moriarty. Unfeeling. Emotionless. Unchanging.
“I’m sorry, Professor.”
“………..”
“For not being able to stay with you until the end.”
With a heart finally at peace, I offered her my sincere apology.
“……….”
Professor Moriarty, who had been staring at me in silence, slowly rose from her seat. She sat on the edge of my bed and took my hand.
“That won’t happen.”
“…Why?”
A strange gleam entered her eyes as she spoke.
“Because London is my territory.”
Her pale hand reached out, gently caressing my cheek.
“You belong to this territory. You are my possession.”
Her face remained a mask of indifference, even as she spoke those words.
“And yet, you dare think of dying without my permission?”
For some reason, the atmosphere in the room shifted. It felt different than before—heavier, more possessive.
“I will say it again. You will not die.”
Overwhelmed by the sudden intensity, I looked up at her. She leaned in close, whispering directly into my ear.
“Because… I have decided that you won’t.”
At that exact moment…
[Probability of Assassination: 99% → 1%]
…A miracle transpired.
“It is the first time I have genuinely wanted to protect someone.”
As the message flashed before my eyes, I could only stare in a daze. Professor Moriarty gently brushed my hair back, her grip on my hand tightening as a dark smile played on her lips.
“…I will take responsibility for you.”
If the Professor was truly like this, perhaps she really could take responsibility for me for a lifeti—
[Probability of Abduction: 50% → 25%]
[Warning!]
– Probability of Confinement: 70% → 80% –
– Probability of being Tamed: 20% → 50% –
– Probability of ???: 40% → 60% –
No, scratch that. I’m screwed.
*
“…Excuse me, Professor.”
Isaac Adler, who had been sweating profusely under the Professor’s touch for some time, finally spoke up as if remembering something.
“By the way, how was the case resolved?”
“Are you referring to Silver Blaze’s request?”
Jane Moriarty began her explanation, playfully tapping Isaac’s forehead with her finger.
“Naturally, I handled the aftermath. Thanks to Colonel Rose’s ‘blind cooperation,’ it was quite easy to wrap everything up.”
“Oh…”
“Articles detailing the rampant racial discrimination against demi-humans at her racetrack have been hitting the London papers consecutively for the past week.”
“…The atmosphere outside must be intense.”
“The demi-human races across England are on the verge of rioting. And the epicenter of it all should have just finished her interview by now.”
“You mean Miss Blaze?”
As Adler listened, a spark of energy returned to his eyes, causing Professor Moriarty to furrow her brows slightly.
“She’ll likely be here any moment.”
Knock, knock, knock!
“Speak of the devil…”
A knock resounded at the door.
“Prepare the contract magic. Surprisingly, you’re better at it than I am…”
With a smile returning to her face, Jane Moriarty headed for the door, but she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“…What is it?”
She tilted her head, looking out the window with a cold light in her eyes.
Screech…
The door opened, and Silver Blaze entered. Her ears were droopy, and her tail hung low.
“M-Mr. Adler…”
She glanced between the Professor and Adler, her voice trembling.
“I’m sorry…”
With her tail tucked firmly between her legs, she continued, her voice choked with emotion.
“I couldn't hide it… my eyes…”
Only then did Adler notice that her eyes were tinged with a familiar golden hue. His mouth fell open in shock.
“I found out late… what happened to you that day… through my colleagues…”
“Um, excuse me…”
“Before I knew it, my heart…”
Overwhelmed by fear and unable to finish her sentence, Silver Blaze knelt before Adler. She buried her face in her hands.
“…I have committed a grave sin.”
Outside, the swarm of reporters surrounding the hospital was reflected in Professor Moriarty’s eyes as she stared out the window, her face once again expressionless.
“As per our contract, you may do whatever you wish with me…”
[Silver Blaze willingly submits to you.]
“…Please, punish this foolish and worthless demi-human.”
It was the beginning of a scandal that would shake the foundations of England—a scandal that neither the British government nor the Bohemian royalty could ever hope to cover up.