Chapter 88: Do or Die
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 88: Do or Die
“…Huh.”
When I opened my eyes, the familiar ceiling of a hospital room came into focus.
“Ugh…”
Blinking dizzily, I tried to piece together my last memories—the sensation of being drenched in blood and the warmth of Lestrade’s soft embrace.
Did I pass out from blood loss in Lestrade’s arms…?
Having a rough idea of how I’d ended up here, I tried to sit up quietly, but for some reason, my body wouldn’t budge.
“Heh, don’t bother. It’s a waste of effort.”
“……?”
“You’ll need at least two more days of rest before that battered corpse of yours can move again.”
As I lay there looking puzzled, a familiar voice drifted from beside me.
“Princess Clay?”
“Don’t look so shocked. It’s creepy.”
Princess Joan Clay, currently in her human form, was sitting right next to my bed.
“What are you doing out of your cat doll form?”
“You ungrateful brat. I’m the one who’s been nursing you since you collapsed. You’re such a nuisance…”
When I tilted my head and questioned her, Princess Clay frowned and began to mutter irritably.
“…Ah, I see.”
Looking at the wet towel in her hand and her slightly swollen fingers, it seemed she was actually telling the truth.
“Don’t look at me with those eyes.”
“………”
“If you died, it would complicate my position as your servant, so I had no choice but to look after you. So, stop smiling like that, or I’ll gouge your eyes out before you can even blink.”
When I looked at her with renewed curiosity and flashed a broad grin, she immediately flared up in a fierce reaction.
“Yes, yes. I understand.”
“Annoying brat.”
“Oof.”
Muttering under her breath, Princess Clay tossed the towel onto my face and added in a low voice, “…Try not to get beaten up so much from now on.”
I wanted to pull the towel off immediately to see her expression, but I refrained, fearing she might actually follow through on the eye-gouging threat.
“If you have a subordinate like me, you should keep me by your side instead of sending me off on reconnaissance so abruptly…”
She really was the textbook definition of a tsundere vampire princess.
“That annoying smile of yours… you should have shown it to that Moran brat instead of me.”
“Huh?”
“When we came back from scouting, you were on the brink of death, gasping for life. That girl was so distraught she cried all night; she didn’t sleep a single wink.”
I smiled silently at Princess Clay’s cute mannerisms, but cold sweat began to bead on my forehead as I listened to her next words.
“Where is she now?”
“She’s probably with that talking animal maid of yours. They’ve both lost their minds. They’re scouring the back alleys with every demi-human under their command, swearing vengeance for their master—you—and screaming about joining you in death if anything happens to you. Or something along those lines.”
“Ah…”
I felt a shiver run down my spine. It felt as though my karma was accumulating in real-time. If those two, who were especially loyal to me, truly went off the deep end, there would be no turning back for me.
“I’ll make sure to talk to them later.”
“…Thank you.”
“Hmph.”
As my complexion paled, the princess glanced at me, muttered something under her breath, and turned her head away with a sharp flick of her hair.
“…By the way, you guys were the only ones who came looking for me, right?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Having raised her favorability a few notches in my mind, I asked out of curiosity. She looked at me with an expression of pure incredulity.
“There have been over a dozen people visiting you over the last few days.”
“…What?”
“And that’s excluding the ones I couldn’t identify—the ones I saw while watching over you in my cat form.”
She paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and began to list them off.
“That annoying detective spent all of yesterday nursing you with Lestrade before leaving with her head hung low to handle a case. Then her assistant snuck into the room like a thieving cat, pecked at a typewriter for a bit, and left while shaking her head.”
“Ah…”
“Besides them, there was a mysterious woman who was definitely from Bohemia, some Romanian renegades who are somehow still at large in London, the hounds of Mycrony Holmes, Lestrade’s younger sister, and even Colonel Rose from the back alleys, to whom I once owed a favor…”
“………”
As she listed the visitors—some of whom I could guess—the cold sweat on my forehead turned into a torrent.
“By the way, I didn’t even count the silhouette in the silk hat and monocle who appeared briefly at the window late at night, the noblewomen of London’s upper class who once trembled before my authority, or your ex-girlfriends who showed up with dead eyes and knives hidden in their bodices, only to be chased away.”
“I’m scared, my lady.”
“The truly frightening one is you, for driving all those people mad.”
As I murmured with a trembling smile, the noble princess looked at me with icy eyes.
“Why do you even do it? Now that I think about it, don’t you think this is a bit too much for you to handle?”
“…It’s still within acceptable limits.”
“…Madman.”
She shook her head in disapproval at my candid response and muttered in a low voice.
“…You should’ve just served me. We could’ve conquered the world together. It would’ve been far easier.”
“……..”
“If you want to change your mind, the offer is still open. I always have an escape route prepared in America…”
The princess, feigning a frosty smile, leaned closer to me.
“How about it? Just run away and conquer the world with me…”
“…You’ve worked hard, so I’ll give you a reward.”
“Tch.”
Honestly, it was probably the most my heart had wavered since arriving in this world. However, I hid my feelings and replied, causing a cloud of disappointment to cross her eyes.
“Here. Feed.”
I quietly loosened my collar to bare my neck. The princess’s eyes unconsciously glowed crimson as she inched closer to my throat.
“…Never mind.”
“Huh?”
“I have no interest in the nutrient-poor blood of someone who collapsed from anemia.”
Just before her fangs could sink in, she suddenly stood up and trotted toward a corner of the room, muttering under her breath.
“I’ll eat you when you’re a bit tastier, you buffoon.”
“Still, you must be low on energy after maintaining your human form for so many days.”
“…It’s none of your business.”
She quietly picked up the cat doll lying on the floor.
“I suppose I’ll have to endure this detestable body for a while longer…”
“Surely, you didn’t share the blood you were digesting with me, did you?”
“Quiet.”
I watched her, puzzled as to why she was avoiding my gaze. Scratching my head, I suddenly remembered something and asked another question.
“By the way, the visitors you mentioned… were they the only ones you knew?”
“…Why do you ask?”
“Well… did the Professor… not come?”
She turned her head with a snicker, giving me a sidelong glance.
“Are you talking about your advisor? The one I suspect might be going senile?”
“That’s a bit harsh.”
When I retorted with a hint of irritation, she looked at me with a curious expression.
“…Aren’t you afraid of her?”
“Why would I be afraid of the cute Miss Moriarty?”
“It’s understandable that you’d say that, since you haven’t heard what she’s been asking girls my age recently.”
“You really don’t mince words when the Professor isn’t around, do you? As a woman, you should respect her privacy.”
“What are you talking about? She hasn’t left your side for a single moment since she entered this room.”
“Huh?”
As she pointed toward my side, I strained to lift my head and check. Only then did I realize why my body had been feeling so heavy.
“Ah…”
“She’s been sitting by your side without sleep for days. She only just fell asleep a few moments ago.”
Turning my head, I saw Professor Moriarty hunched over the bed. Her hand was resting on my stomach, maintaining a restraining spell.
“……….”
“Yeah.”
Contrary to what Princess Clay had said, the Professor was now staring at me intently, her grey eyes wide open.
“…She really is a strange woman.”
As Princess Clay prepared to possess the doll, she muttered those words. The atmosphere in the room seemed to turn slightly colder—or was it just my imagination? I couldn't be sure.
“See? Recently, she’s even been trying out makeup techniques to make herself look younger…”
“I don’t know what you’re about to say, but it might be best to stop.”
“Huh?”
“I’d hate to lose a reliable subordinate so suddenly.”
“Hmph, what nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden…”
Professor Moriarty’s chilly gaze remained fixed on me as Princess Clay dissolved into red smoke, possessed the cat, and fell asleep.
.
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“Mr. Adler.”
“…Professor.”
An unspecified amount of time passed.
“I have two concerns at the moment.”
“…Is that so?”
After staring into my eyes for what felt like an agonizing eternity, Professor Moriarty finally spoke. I barely managed to keep my head up, cold sweat seeping from my forehead.
“That sounds quite interesting. But right now, I’m a bit sleepy…”
“The first concern is that people around me have been increasingly mocking my age.”
Ignoring my attempt to divert the conversation, Professor Moriarty continued.
“It’s quite strange. I’m in my twenties. Not even my late twenties. I am at the ideal age for marriage by British standards.”
“……….”
“There is absolutely no reason for me to be ridiculed for my age. It’s those ignorant young ones who…”
“…Have you been wearing makeup?”
Gazing at her blankly, I tilted my head and asked in a soft voice.
“So that’s why you’ve been looking more youthful lately.”
“………”
“Truth be told, you’re cute even without it, Professor.”
The Professor paused, staring at me in silence for a brief moment.
“…Let’s move on to my second concern.”
As she easily skipped over the first point, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.
“Listen to this.”
“Yes?”
With a sly smile, the Professor pulled a miniature phonograph from her pocket.
“It seems about time that I take London into my hands.”
“Do you realize what you’re saying?”
As she caressed the magic stone embedded in the center, the phonograph began to softly play the conversation I’d had with Lestrade in the secret hideout a few days ago.
“Step by step, I’ll expand my influence, and eventually, even the cute Professor will be in the palm of my hand. After that, I’ll mobilize various criminal organizations simultaneously…”
“…That should be enough.”
The moment the problematic statement played, the magic stone and the phonograph shattered into pieces, crushed by the overwhelming mana suddenly flooding from the Professor.
“Uh, Professor. That…”
“During this vacation, I’ve endured a great deal, Mr. Adler.”
“……..”
“You’ll have to acknowledge it yourself. Haven’t you seen with your own eyes how far I’ve lowered my pride for the sake of my cute little assistant?”
The Professor flicked away the smoke rising from her hand, tilted her head from side to side in her characteristic manner, and leaned toward me.
Listen.
The system, which had been silent for a long while despite my repeated summons, once again appeared before my eyes.
“…I’ll give you five minutes, Mr. Adler.”
[Warning: You are currently at a branching point between the Ending and the Hidden Route.]
“Explain within five minutes why you should not become the victim of my Perfect Crime curse today.”
Beyond the message, I gazed at the Professor. She wore a frigid smile, and I tried to hide the creeping dread by forcing a smile of my own.
“…By the way, the perfect crimes my curse allows me to commit involve a variety of methods, Mr. Adler. Not just murder.”
[Choose wisely.]
The system message, which had lowered its transparency to partially obscure the Professor’s face, sent one last message before slowly beginning to fade away.
.
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“Ah, and there’s something I’ve been curious about for a long time.”
“Yes?”
Thanks to the system’s intervention, I managed to regain some composure.
“The messages you’ve always been checking… the ones floating in mid-air…”
Professor Moriarty’s voice, filled with pure curiosity, burrowed into my ears.
“…Are those, by any chance, sent by a woman?”
My mind, which had been racing to find an excuse, suddenly went blank.
“…May I have a drink before we talk?”
“No.”