Chapter 68: The Beginning of the War
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 68: The Beginning of the War
“Brother Adler~”
“…Huh?”
A few days had passed since Charlotte Holmes’s feigned illness incident. Thanks to Gia Lestrade’s hospitality, we had been staying in her somewhat cramped, modest house for several days.
“Let’s play house today!”
As I gazed blankly out the living room window at the pouring rain, Lestrade’s younger sister ran up to me, tugging insistently at my sleeve.
“Playing house?”
“Yes! Last time, we played hospital. This time, let’s play house!”
“Alright. I don’t have anything else to do anyway…”
“Yay!”
With no pressing matters and a genuine fondness for children, I gave her a small smile. Upon hearing my answer, she began racing around the room, her face lit up with a bright grin.
I had started looking after Lestrade’s siblings as a way to repay her for letting us stay, but in that short time, this little one had taken quite a liking to me.
“You’re the best, big brother!”
“…Heh.”
Unlike her older sister, who always seemed cold and wore the same stoic expression twenty-four hours a day, this girl was cheerful and full of life.
It was like comparing a cat to a dog.
Despite their strikingly similar features, watching the younger sister’s diametrically opposite behavior often made me imagine Gia Lestrade acting the same way, and I’d find myself stifling a laugh.
“Well, let’s move to a different spot first…”
“Sister, what are you doing?”
As I watched her energetically bounce around, occasionally tugging my sleeve, a voice echoed from across the room.
“…Huh?”
“Didn’t Elder Sister warn you to keep your distance?”
It was the youngest sibling, the boy of the Lestrade family, speaking with a deep pout.
“And Sister said it clearly: that big brother is a bad man.”
Perhaps because he had lost his parents at such a young age, he seemed to view his eldest sister, Gia Lestrade, as a mother figure. The reason he looked at me with such disdain—unlike his sister—was likely because he took Gia’s warnings to heart.
“…So, play house with me instead.”
Or perhaps he simply felt I had stolen Gia’s attention from him. Judging by the hostile glint in his eyes, the latter seemed more likely.
“But Brother Adler is kind, isn’t he?”
“What?”
“Think about it. If Elder Sister really thought he was a bad person, she wouldn’t have dated him or left us in his care.”
Knowing the reality of the situation, the second sibling just scratched her head before approaching her younger brother, retorting in a cheerful voice.
“Still…”
“Listen, just lend me your ear for a second.”
As the youngest continued to grumble, looking thoroughly displeased, the girl smiled slyly and began to whisper something into his ear.
“Hey.”
“Um, yes?”
I was too far away to catch their conversation, but watching their expressive little faces reminded me that they were still just children.
“Pay attention.”
“……..!”
“If you interfere one more time…”
This was why I liked kids. In both my original world and this one, human relationships were always a headache. However, children with pure hearts always reciprocated when I helped them and never made things unnecessarily difficult.
“Let’s do our best, shall we?”
“…Yes.”
“Big brother! Come over here!”
With a soft smile, I looked up to see the second sibling signaling me over with a triumphant grin.
“Hey, you play the son.”
“…Okay.”
“Big brother, you’ll play the dad, and I’ll play the mom—”
As the girl briskly assigned roles and designated her younger brother as the son, I watched the boy’s expression darken in real-time. Just as I was about to nod in agreement…
“…No, that’s not right.”
“Tsk~”
“The age difference is too great.”
Rubbing her eyes, Charlotte Holmes emerged from the bedroom and approached us with a cold, thin smile.
“I shall play the role of the mother.”
“Bu-but…”
“The role of the daughter suits you much better.”
“………”
The second child fidgeted with her fingers, looking pitiful, but she eventually found herself staring into Charlotte’s eyes—and Charlotte didn’t back down an inch.
“…Tsk.”
For a fleeting second, the girl’s eyes turned cold, and she clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“Making that face won’t help. A mother should know the process of making a child, shouldn’t she?”
“…I hate you, Sister!”
“Oh my…”
I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I’d hallucinated that brief flash of maturity. The second sister screamed, grabbed her younger brother’s arm, and bolted out of the room.
“………..”
A heavy silence descended upon the living room.
“Miss Holmes, regardless of the circumstances, how could you say that to a child?”
I tried to reason with her, a forced smile plastered on my face, but Charlotte simply tilted her head and looked at me.
“It is strange.”
“Yes?”
“I spoke with confidence just now, but perhaps I am mistaken about the biological process of creating a child.”
An unsettling statement spilled from her lips.
“That can’t be…”
“Look.”
I attempted to placate her, but Charlotte’s tone turned dark as she pulled a long, thin stick from her pocket.
“It has been weeks since the first attempt, yet there is no news.”
“That… could it be?”
“It is the test kit I requested from Watson. It is state-of-the-art technology, powered by neutralized mana stones, so the probability of a defect is extremely low.”
The single, solitary line on the stick in her hand looked incredibly menacing to my eyes.
“What do you think the problem is?”
“…Well, I’m not entirely sure.”
“……….”
As I trembled slightly and answered in a low voice, Charlotte’s eyes began to gleam with an intense, obsessive light.
“…I believe I need to visit the library.”
“Pardon?”
“I seem to have taken the methods of procreation too lightly. There must be a way to better understand genetics; I shall likely require the help of the literature…”
“Wa-wait a minute.”
I hastily grabbed Charlotte’s shoulder, considering it a miracle she hadn’t been involved in any sexual offense cases until now, and whispered urgently in her ear.
“When a man and a woman sleep together, they just need to hold hands.”
“…What?”
“That is the most reliable method.”
I said it hoping to buy some time until the system was fixed.
“…That didn’t work, though.”
However, Charlotte’s response was entirely unexpected.
“When I was young, my parents and sister told me the same thing several times.”
“Really?”
“So, I tried doing it today, behind Miss Lestrade’s back, but I didn’t feel anything different.”
“…Miss Holmes.”
Feeling as though I were trapped in a dire situation, I mustered my strength and spoke quietly.
“It’s not something that works immediately. There is always a possibility of failure.”
“……….”
“And, this is Lestrade’s house, isn’t it?”
The corners of Charlotte’s mouth began to curl upward.
“It’s quite rude to do such things in someone else’s home.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. And after all, Miss Gia Lestrade is officially my lover, in a sense. So…”
“I understand.”
She interrupted me smoothly, her voice a soft whisper as she gently stroked my hair.
“You mean to say that we should come to an agreement, right?”
“…Pardon?”
“Oh, there you are. You’ve arrived at the perfect time. It seems it’s not just devils who know how to make an entrance.”
Hearing her words, I turned slightly and was met with a cold, impassive face.
“Mr. Adler.”
“…Miss Lestrade?”
For some reason, Gia Lestrade—who should have been at work—was approaching me with a terrifying expression.
“I heard you were going to be late because you had to interrogate Clarissa Smith, the woman who was recently arrested.”
“She was scared out of her wits and confessed on her own, so there was no need for a formal interrogation.”
“I see. But that doesn’t explain why you’re home at this hour…”
“Enough. I’ll ask you directly.”
Caught off guard, I took a step back from her abruptness. Her cold voice echoed through the room.
“Are you the one who paid off my family’s debts in full?”
Upon hearing those words, Charlotte’s gaze, gleaming with a dark and ominous light, turned toward me.
“About that…”
“………..”
“So…”
I felt the conspicuous absence of the system. Without it, the situation ahead seemed even more daunting.
.
.
.
.
.
“I need the truth. Otherwise…”
“You’re right.”
Lestrade, who had been pressing Adler for an answer as he hesitated, was momentarily silenced by his sudden, blunt response.
“I paid off your debt.”
“……….”
A palpable silence filled the house.
“…Why?”
Lestrade, stunned, asked with a look of pure incredulity.
“Why? Well, that’s because…”
Isaac Adler answered nonchalantly, breaking into a slight chuckle.
“Because you’re my lover.”
“…Ahem.”
For a moment, Charlotte discreetly cleared her throat, exuding an icy chill, but Adler did his best to ignore it.
“As lovers, you should love me regardless of what I do, and in return, I should only have eyes for you. That was our agreement, wasn’t it?”
“How is that related to the debt…”
“Isn’t it common sense to at least repay the debt of someone you’re in such a relationship with?”
Lestrade trembled at his bold statement.
“It was an amount of debt I might not have been able to repay even if I worked as an inspector for my entire life…”
“It doesn’t matter. I might be broke now, but I have plenty of backing.”
“That’s not the point here.”
Her voice rose, and she clenched her fists tightly.
“I appreciate you paying off the debt, but why did some of the debtors tremble at the mere sight of me?”
“Did you personally visit them?”
“I took a vacation and went to investigate the truth.”
At those words, Adler quietly averted his gaze.
“Well, I didn’t want Miss Gia’s parents—or Miss Gia herself—to be insulted.”
“That doesn’t mean—”
“There were also a few people who insisted on collecting the debt directly from you.”
His eyes grew colder as he continued.
“…Some even demanded something other than money.”
“……..”
“As someone who should have eyes only for you, I couldn’t just let something like that slide, could I?”
Adler murmured with a faint chill in his voice, followed by a discreet cough.
“I made sure to instill an adequate amount of fear and trauma in them so they would never dare approach you again.”
“That’s a crime.”
Gia Lestrade interjected firmly, but her voice lacked its usual stability.
“Some of them wet themselves and rolled on the ground the moment they saw me.”
“Just as I planned.”
“Are you insane?”
In the face of her interrogation, Adler simply flashed a crooked smile.
“…Are the missing people also your doing?”
“If I were to confirm that here, both you and the young detective next to you would undoubtedly detain me. Therefore, I will refrain from answering.”
“You truly have lost your mind.”
Lestrade stepped closer, her expression stern.
“I can detain you right now and start an investigation.”
“I don’t care. At best, a few thugs from the back alleys would get arrested.”
“Ha…”
She let out a cold, weary sigh.
“I’m sorry, but this is who your lover is.”
Adler whispered softly to her, then turned and headed toward the bedroom.
“Of course, there’s no need for Miss Lestrade, the embodiment of justice, to understand such sentiments.”
“……..”
“Naturally, you know the reason behind it, right?”
“…Yes.”
When he turned his head and whispered, Lestrade responded with her signature icy expression.
“Nonetheless, I still like you.”
Upon hearing that soft whisper, Adler wore a bright smile and entered the bedroom.
“……….”
Silence returned to the room.
“…Miss Holmes.”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you going to investigate?”
Lestrade, staring out the window, asked in a soft voice.
“It’s an incident where the culprit is clear to everyone.”
“Even if we investigate, as he said, the only ones getting arrested would be a few back-alley thugs, so…”
“Even so…”
Lestrade began to rebut with a displeased expression, but she was interrupted by a leisurely remark from Charlotte, who was smiling quietly.
“…I’m not sure if punishing those lowlifes who planned to kidnap your siblings was such a bad act.”
“……..!”
At Charlotte’s comment, Lestrade’s eyes widened, and she found herself at a loss for words.
“While I might be a bit distant from police officers who pursue absolute justice, Adler always goes one step further whenever he acts.”
“……….”
“Sometimes he seems like a devil who could grasp the world in his clutches, yet at other times, he appears like an angel offering salvation to someone lost in despair. Truly, he is an enigmatic man.”
Lestrade’s eyes wavered.
“That’s the kind of person Adler is.”
“……….”
“As he mentioned, it might be difficult for you—the one nicknamed the Holy Knight of Justice—to understand.”
Charlotte gazed intently at her and whispered in a soft tone.
“Therefore, I have a proposal for you.”
From her slightly moving lips, a smooth voice emanated.
“…Hand over the official position of his lover to me.”
Lestrade turned her head and fixed her gaze squarely on Charlotte.
“You asked me before if I could handle him…”
“……….”
“Though it’s a bit late, let me give you a clear answer now. My response is Yes, I can handle him.”
Only then did Lestrade’s gaze meet Charlotte’s eyes, which were shimmering with a golden hue.
“However, looking at you, Miss Lestrade, it seems you find him difficult to deal with.”
“That’s…”
“But now, I am here for him.”
Noticing the slight change in her eyes, Charlotte continued with a proud expression, her eyes gleaming in Adler’s color.
“You don’t need to hypnotize yourself into saying 'I like him' just to be with a man you clearly despise.”
“……….”
“So, Miss Lestrade, if you don’t mind, shall we hold a press conference this afternoon to address this matter?”
Just as she was about to turn and walk away with her arms crossed…
“Of course, the content would be—”
“…No.”
Lestrade, who had remained silent until now, spoke quietly.
“It’s not okay.”
Charlotte turned her head at the calm voice.
“…Because I like him.”
Was it her imagination? For a moment, the reflection of Lestrade’s eyes in the window appeared to be drenched in a golden hue.
“Well, there’s no need to deceive our emotions anymore.”
“I believe I am more suited to be his lover, being older than you, who is so young.”
“Are you saying that because of the legally acceptable age difference? If so…”
Seeing that Lestrade’s eyes were still a clear white, Charlotte began to speak, a frown forming on her face.
“Of course, there are more reasons.”
But Lestrade firmly interrupted her.
“Even if it was forced upon me…”
She lowered her gaze and murmured with a slightly trembling voice.
“Because I am in his debt.”
“………”
“With no money left, I have to repay him with my body.”
At those words, Charlotte’s face turned icy.
“People might misunderstand if they hear that, won’t they?”
“I just spoke the truth, young detective.”
Soon, the sharp gazes of the two women crossed in the silent room.
“Wow! It’s snowing!”
“…Snowing?”
At that moment, Lestrade’s younger siblings, who had been playing outside, saw snow falling from the sky and widened their eyes in surprise.
“Brother Adler! Let’s have a snowball fight~”
“…Why is it snowing all of a sudden?”
For reference, it was currently the middle of summer in London.
.
.
.
.
.
“How is everyone doing?”
Just a few minutes before a snowfall so massive it would later be categorized as a bizarre phenomenon completely blanketed London in white—amidst a summer where it had been raining heavily for days…
“You… you are…”
“Who are you?”
“…Lower your voice, Miss Moran.”
In a back-alley hideout, three high-ranking members of the Organization, who had been anxiously waiting for Adler, looked on with tense expressions at the figure that had suddenly appeared at the entrance without a sound.
“I had no intention of meddling with the organization my assistant was so adorably building.”
“””………..”””
“However, given the situation, I have no choice but to interfere.”
Jane Moriarty, leading the vampires dispatched from Romania, whispered to them, her eyes gleaming with a greyish hue.
“Cooperate.”
“If I may ask, in what?”
Unlike the Princess and Silver Blaze, who were frozen stiff with terror, it was Celestia Moran who bravely posed the question.
“In retrieving Mr. Adler.”
“I will cooperate.”
At her immediate response, Professor Moriarty muttered with a spine-chilling smile.
“…I said it wouldn’t take long now, didn’t I, Mr. Adler?”
The massive snowstorm, sparked merely by a change in one individual’s emotions, signaled the beginning of a massive war that would shake London and, soon, all of England.
.
.
.
.
.
“Excuse me.”
Under Inspection.
And the cause of that massive war.
“Even if you’re under inspection, I know you can display simple probabilities. After all, I designed you that way.”
Under Inspection.
“Don’t be like that. I’m just asking for one time.”
Lying in Lestrade’s bedroom while wagging his tail, he poked at the system message appearing before his eyes.
Under Inspection.
“Is it because I only summon you when I need something? Are you upset?”
Under Inspection.
“In that case, should I call upon you every night before I sleep to give you a little pat?”
It was now Isaac Adler’s turn to request something from the system.
The system is under the process of inspection.
“…Really…?”