Chapter 67: The Blooming Detective (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 67: The Blooming Detective (5)
“Adler.”
“Mr. Adler.”
The moment I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Professor Moriarty and Charlotte Holmes locked in a standoff, their pistols leveled at each other’s heads.
“I’ve already administered first aid. Fortunately, it was a minor hex—easily dispelled with my mana alone.”
“Actually, I was the one who neutralized it with my mana. I trust you won’t believe such a blatant lie from her, Mr. Adler.”
As I stared blankly at them, the soft whispers of the Professor and Charlotte overlapped, drifting into my ears.
‘…How did they do it?’
I had bitten into the most potent magic capsule I possessed. It was supposed to be powerful enough to buy me at least a week of time, albeit at the cost of an agonizing experience.
Yet, they had repelled the curse simply by channeling mana into my body? Was such a feat even possible?
“Mr. Adler, do me a favor and tell me the truth. This girl manipulated you into opening that box because of her own delusions, didn’t she?”
“The real reason you’re in this state is because of Professor Jane Moriarty, isn’t it, Mr. Adler? We both already know the truth here.”
Because my mind had been so thoroughly revitalized by their mana transfer, I couldn’t even pretend to be in pain anymore. I curled up quietly, listening to their incomprehensible murmurs as they tightened their grips on their weapons, fingers hovering over the triggers.
“…Tell me that you like me.”
“Please, tell me you love me…”
“What on earth are you both doing…?”
The scene was so terrifying that I couldn’t help but ask in a trembling voice. The two women, who had been smiling menacingly at each other with clear murderous intent, answered simultaneously.
“It’s a death game. Under the circumstances, it is the most logical and efficient solution.”
“Mr. Adler, you simply have to name the person you prefer. No pressure, right?”
“…What?”
For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend their words. When I asked for clarification, their chilling voices returned with an explanation.
“Both of us are focusing all our strength on the tips of our fingers, holding the triggers.”
“If one of us applies force first, the other will inevitably fire back in reflex.”
“But, what if Mr. Adler sincerely chooses one of us?”
“Then, even for a split second, the one not chosen will inevitably show a moment of vulnerability.”
How was I supposed to respond to such a chilling proposal?
“However… isn’t this merely my personal preference?”
“”………….””
“Can my choice really have such a profound impact on the two of you?”
I tried to speak in a light, cheerful tone, but the moment their glares shifted toward me, I had no choice but to fall silent again.
“…I see.”
These women were dead serious.
“Mr. Adler, make your choice quickly.”
“My arm is starting to ache.”
“…Do you realize that this is a crime?”
I clung to common sense in a final act of desperation, but the reply that came back was predictably bleak.
“I’m simply trying to save you from a psychopath who thinks you and I are the masterminds behind the troubles marring London. Naturally, this is an act of self-defense.”
“I’m just trying to defeat the monster that’s slowly draining the life out of Mr. Adler. Besides, we’ve already drawn up a duel agreement. It is completely legal.”
“That can’t be…”
A duel agreement? Even in a world dominated by magic and the paranormal, such a medieval practice shouldn’t have survived into the 19th century.
“…The Queen is attempting to abolish the law, but for now, it remains perfectly legal.”
“Do you intend to ignore this sport between ladies?”
Come to think of it, duels were customary in the England of my original world until the mid-19th century as well.
I was practically doomed. Was this a potential Game Over scenario?
‘…I definitely can’t take sides.’
If the protagonist, Charlotte Holmes, dies, it will undoubtedly lead to the end of the world.
[Probability Warning!]
[Probability Warning!]
[Probability Warning!]
On the other hand, my primary mission since arriving in this world was to mold Professor Moriarty into the most plausible final boss. If she were to die before the final scenario, that would also result in an instant Game Over.
“Make your choice.”
“Choose.”
What the hell was I supposed to do?
“If you won’t choose, we’ll settle it ourselves.”
“Do you feel confident?”
“I doubt I’ll die at the hands of someone suffering from delusions of grandeur.”
“I feel the same.”
Sweating coldly, I watched their trembling guns.
—Bang! Bang! Bang!
“”…!?””
Suddenly, a heavy pounding on the door made both women turn their heads simultaneously.
“Huff.”
Taking a deep breath, I lunged at them with all my might.
“”…………””
Silence fell.
“Are you in there…? Mr. Adler? Charlotte?”
“…Whew.”
Hearing Inspector Lestrade’s voice from the hallway, I heaved a massive sigh of relief. Then, in a hushed voice, I whispered to Professor Moriarty and Charlotte Holmes, who were now sprawled on the floor after I had tackled them to snatch their guns.
“Please, never do this again.”
“”………….””
“Because next time, I will be truly, genuinely furious…”
However, something felt off.
“…Adler?”
Professor Moriarty, meeting my eyes for the first time since she entered the room, stared at me blankly. She didn’t even resist as I pulled the gun from her hand.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?”
“Eh? Ah…”
Reflected in her gray irises were my own eyes—stained a deep, obsidian black.
“That’s…”
It was my original eye color, so I hadn’t thought to hide it while "unconscious." I couldn’t help but look flustered at being caught.
“…Professor Moriarty.”
Charlotte Holmes, who had been lying still without resistance, began to whisper with a triumphant smile.
“I always choose battles that I am certain to win.”
“……….”
“It’s a pity. If Mr. Adler had shown just a bit more courage, I could have eliminated you right here.”
“…You’ve crossed the line this time.”
The Professor, listening with a vacant expression, hastily reached out to me and murmured, “How dare you artificially color my assistant’s eyes…”
However, before she could finish the sentence, the Professor’s hand, which had been gently reaching for my face, stiffened.
“You’ve seen it for yourself now, haven’t you?”
“…This.”
“I didn’t use colored lenses or infused mana to trick you…”
Professor Moriarty’s eyes began to waver.
“Isaac Adler’s eyes were dyed in my colors long ago,” Charlotte Holmes whispered coldly into her ear. “Unlike you, who could never hope to dye him in yours.”
“………”
“So, why not admit it already?”
Gazing at the frozen Professor Moriarty with a mocking smile, Charlotte stood up, pulling me by the hand.
“There’s no need for Adler to say it directly. The answer is already clear, isn’t it?”
After a brief hesitation, I allowed myself to be pulled along by her grip.
“This time, the victory is mine, Jane Moriarty.”
The Professor, staring blankly at us, reached out toward me again, but Charlotte Holmes swatted her hand away, a smirk playing on her lips.
“So, for the time being, could you stop meddling in our relationship?”
An utter, heavy silence ensued.
“Wha—what’s going on in there?”
“It’s nothing, Inspector Lestrade.”
Professor Moriarty, blinking in disbelief as if unable to grasp the reality of her situation, stood up and staggered toward me as I prepared to leave the boarding house with Charlotte.
“…Isaac.”
She called my name in a dazed, hollow voice.
“Professor, the thing is…”
I hesitated, sweat beading on my forehead as I tried to explain, but the attempt was cut short.
—Tug.
“Just leave it. Let’s go.”
Charlotte Holmes, who had been gently caressing my cheek, quickly wrapped her arm around my waist and urged me forward.
“…We need to make a baby soon.”
For a brief moment, she shot the Professor a look, mimicking the exact sly smile Moriarty had worn when she had stolen Adler’s first kiss.
“I’ll be away for a while… until the end of the vacation.”
I mumbled in a soft voice with my head bowed, then began to walk away quietly.
“…Since you were the one who lost this time, Professor.”
It was the only way to prevent the imminent Game Over looming on the horizon.
“……???”
“Don’t look so troubled. I’ll need you to escort me for a while, Miss Lestrade.”
“Huh?”
“A monster, unaware of its own feelings, is targeting Isaac.”
With that, accompanying Charlotte and her victorious smile, I hurriedly left the room, leaving Professor Moriarty behind.
—Creak.
Soon, a deep silence enveloped the boarding house.
“………”
Only the ragged, irregular breathing of Jane Moriarty echoed through the empty room.
.
.
.
.
.
“…Ha.”
How much time had passed since Charlotte and Adler left?
“Defeat?”
Jane Moriarty, staggering as she found her footing, began muttering in a frighteningly calm voice.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
However, contrary to her tone, her usually composed smile was hideously distorted.
“There is no way I would lose to a child like her.”
Yet, despite her words, the Professor had already begun to accept the truth.
“Isn’t that right, Mr. Adler…?”
She realized in her heart that, for the first time in her life, she had been utterly defeated.
—Shiver.
She clenched her pale hand so hard that blood began to drip from her palm. A sensation she had never felt before dominated her entire body.
—Groan…
Just a few months ago, she had been wandering the world, searching for someone who could defeat her. At that time, she thought that if someone could make her taste defeat, she would be consumed by overwhelming joy, dedicating her life to tearing down their existence.
But now, her teeth were grinding together so hard that an eerie sound echoed through the room. She felt no pleasure, no happiness—none of what she had expected.
The emotion Professor Moriarty was experiencing after facing her first-ever defeat—the very thing she had spent her life searching for—was the exact opposite of what she had longed for.
“…Isaac.”
An immeasurably deep rage, bewilderment over the unexpected, a sense of loss for what should have been hers, followed by a crushing emptiness…
“………”
Although it was merely an assistant who had disappeared from her sight, Professor Moriarty, ensnared by these complex emotions, was trembling violently. She slipped a shaking hand into her coat.
—Crunch.
She quietly took a sugar cube from her flask and began to chew.
“……….”
However, the magical crystals that had provided the vitality for her life for decades betrayed her expectations.
“…Uh.”
Instead of a rush of sweetness spreading through her body, a bitter, lukewarm sensation swirled in her mouth, sharply reminding her of the reality she now faced.
“…This isn’t it.”
The threshold of stimulation set by Isaac Adler was a simple fact that nothing else could ever replace.
—Crash!!
As the frustrated Professor gritted her teeth and clenched her fist, the flask shattered, scattering sugar across the floor.
“…I’ll believe that this is yet another one of your tests.”
Stepping over the spilled sugar, she began to move.
“Before the vacation ends, I just have to retrieve you from her, right?”
She aimed her gun at the portrait of Charlotte Holmes on the far wall and pulled the trigger.
—Bang!
“Then I’ll show you.”
She murmured while staring coldly at the portrait, which now had a hole right between the eyes.
“But after that.”
—Bang!!
Suddenly, she caught sight of her own gray eyes reflected in the mirror. Without hesitation, she shattered the glass with a bullet and stepped out of the boarding house.
“…You’ll have to endure my wrath.”
She murmured in her signature low voice, her killing intent radiating in all directions.
—Rumble!
At that precise moment, a storm accompanied by thunder and lightning began to pour down from the darkened London sky.
“It won’t take that long.”
The unexpected weather phenomenon continued for several days.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, Adler was walking down the darkened night streets with his head bowed.
“…It’s raining.”
“I know, right?”
As he reached out a hand into the sudden downpour, Charlotte responded with a smile.
“It feels as though a dragon who lost its treasure is weeping somewhere.”
“…What?”
“Don’t you know? Such stories are common in fairy tales. Haven’t you ever read them?”
Adler knew nothing of British fairy tales, and he was even more clueless about the fairy tales of this world. He simply blinked blankly.
“…We should find shelter.”
“That’s right.”
“Then back to the boarding house—”
“No.”
He began to suggest it as the rain grew heavier, but Charlotte interrupted him urgently.
“We should hide for the rest of the vacation.”
“…Why?”
“Are you asking because you truly don’t know?”
Charlotte clung close to Adler, cautiously scanning their surroundings.
“You never know when the Professor’s minions might attack.”
“…With all due respect, I am one of those minions.”
“You victims certainly have a sense of humor, don’t you?”
“No, really…”
Adler, wearing an awkward expression, spoke cautiously.
“Then, my hideout, I suppose…”
“…Hideout?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Adler quickly realized that his hideout—a core location for the organization—should never be exposed to Charlotte Holmes. He hurriedly shook his head.
“…Then should we stay at an inn?”
“An inn?”
“I don’t really have anywhere else to go…”
At that, Charlotte spoke in a slightly shy voice and reached out her hand.
“There is a place nearby…”
She gently brushed her fingers against the back of Adler’s hand and whispered in a hushed tone.
“…But do you have any money on you?”
“What?”
“I’m out of money right now.”
At Adler’s awkward reply, Charlotte’s expression suddenly turned cold.
“Aren’t you a fairly successful actor, Mr. Adler?”
“…I recently had some major expenses.”
“But you must have some left, right?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m broke right now.”
Upon hearing his response, she muttered with a disappointed look.
“…I also left in a hurry and didn’t bring any cash.”
An awkward silence settled over both Adler and Charlotte.
“…Um.”
Lestrade, who had flinched upon hearing that Adler was broke, spoke up softly.
“…How about my place?”
“What?”
“You can stay there for the night, if you don’t mind…”
With her head hung low, Lestrade fidgeted with her fingers. Charlotte stared at her for a moment before speaking.
“Are you sure we won’t be a bother?”
“……….”
“…You know, having Isaac Adler sleep in the same house as you?”
Lestrade slowly lifted her head, meeting Charlotte’s gaze.
“There’s no need to go to such lengths…”
“It’s fine.”
“Why?”
As Charlotte tilted her head, the girl averted her gaze and murmured in a cold, business-like tone.
“…Because I like him.”
Upon hearing those words, the light in Charlotte’s eyes darkened slightly.
“Well, there’s no need to push yourself.”
“I told you, I’m fine.”
“……..?”
Right before Adler, who was tilting his head with an innocent expression, an unusual red message appeared.
[SYSTEM ERROR!]
[ERROR CODE 256 — OVERFLOW]
[System check will now commence.............]
“…Fuck—!”
Caught between the two girls silently staring at each other under the rain, a feeble groan escaped Adler’s lips.