༺ The Red Mana League (7) ༻
“….Hmm?”
Adler, who was lying on the floor, frowned and got up from his place.
“What’s this?”
Then he wiped the damp corners of his mouth with his arm.
“……!”
A red liquid could thus be seen smeared on his arm.
“… Miss Holmes?”
Upon realizing that the liquid was someone’s blood, Adler looked surprised and was able to immediately notice Holmes sitting in front of him.
“What is that wound?”
“………”
“Don’t tell me, you fed me your blood?”
Only after discovering the wound that was trickling blood from her arm did Adler understand what had transpired.
“Miss Holmes, human blood isn’t brandy.”
“To you, it’s as good as brandy now, isn’t it?”
Holmes, who had been wearing a somber expression on her face, responded to his dull voice.
“You’ve become a vampire, after all.”
“…You noticed, I see.”
Adler then scratched his head and spoke with an awkward smile on his face.
“I suppose I got bitten while subduing Princess Clay?”
“………”
“But don’t worry. I managed to seal her inside here after all.”
“Why?”
Holmes then posed a question as Adler shook the red ring that was on his finger.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Miss Holmes?”
“Don’t pretend you can’t perform magic. You could have easily lifted the sleeping spell I was under.”
Her piercing gaze was directed at Adler.
“We could have fought together, explanations could have waited. But why didn’t you…”
“You’re asking as if you don’t know?”
Adler pointed at her as he answered; as if his actions were obvious from the start.
“Didn’t I tell you? Protecting the detective is the assistant’s job.”
“………..”
“And as anyone can see from those eyes of yours, Miss Holmes, you’re currently in a severe state of mana poisoning. If you engaged in combat with a formidable opponent like Princess Clay, you would undoubtedly overuse your magic stones. That would surely endanger your life…”
“In the end, it’s my fault again.”
“…Again?”
Only then did Adler read Holmes’ expression and wore a look of concern as a result.
“Are you alright, Miss Holmes?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that, Mr. Adler?”
However, she dodged his concerned look and threw the question back at him.
“Your life is going to be difficult now that you’ve become a vampire.”
“Oh, that’s fine.”
Adler then spoke with a buoyant smile on his face.
“Anyway, my body isn’t normal as is. It’s practically a corpse, wouldn’t you say?”
Upon hearing those words, Charlotte’s eyes shook violently.
“And my mana is a bit special, you see. So there shouldn’t be any problem.”
With that, Adler took her hand, stood up, and spoke again.
“So don’t worry. At this point…”
However, in the middle of speaking, his hand began to tremble weakly.
– Drip…
The red blood still trickling down Holmes’ arm was reflected in Adler’s eyes.
“…If you want to drink, then drink.”
“Excuse me?”
Charlotte, who had been watching him keenly, weakly extended her arm toward him.
“If you want, take it all.”
“………”
‘If it could extend your life, even just a little.’
Charlotte lowered her head, unable to voice that last thought.
“…Miss Holmes.”
Caught in an overwhelming impulse while holding her arm, Adler clenches his eyes shut and responded.
“It’s fine.”
Then Adler, turned away while wobbling.
“Life extended by your blood is not worth having.”
He, who glanced back at her, added with a pale smile on his face.
“And besides, I won’t die.”
He then took the lead and began to walk forward.
‘…A lie.’
Holmes, who was still handcuffed to him, followed behind with faltering steps and suddenly took out an hourglass from her pocket.
‘You’re going to die soon.’
The golden hourglass, now half-filled with red sand, was still trickling down.
‘…Because of me.’
.
.
.
.
.
Some time later—
“Miss Holmes, it’s already this late.”
“……..”
“How was your cross-examination with the suspect?”
In the darkened streets of the dawn-lit London.
“If you’re having fun, how about you finally unlock these handcuffs?”
Adler, who had been walking in sync with Charlotte, who still had her head bowed, spoke up in a sharp tone.
‘…I was wrong.’
But she was too deep in thought to hear him out.
‘It’s all because of me.’
Isaac Adler had never considered her as a plaything or a mere object for his amusement.
Rather, it was Charlotte who had misunderstood him as a form of amusement. And the price of that arrogant misunderstanding was the life of a man who had not much time left in this world— a man who had chosen her over everything else in the world.
“Miss Holmes, why have you been acting like this since earlier?”
The man, whose condition had worsened thanks in part to her, was even holding back his vampiric urges, worried for her health.
“If you can’t hold back and just want to attack, I’m confident I can give you all my blood willingly.”
“You have a good sense of humor.”
And that made Charlotte feel even worse.
“As I said earlier, I’d rather not harm you…”
“Mr. Adler.”
And at the moment when her agony surpassed its threshold.
“Why do you go so far for me?”
“Pardon?”
The young girl waved the white flag and asked.
“Why did you risk your life to save me from the flames back then?”
The girl, who had always considered solving puzzles on her own as the only pleasure in life…
“Why did you risk your life to protect me from the vampires?”
For the first time, demanded the answer to the greatest puzzle of her life.
“Why on earth can you do so much for me; someone who is your enemy?”
And upon being asked for the answer, the one imprinted on her heart as that man readily delivered…
“For a riddle that even Miss Holmes can’t solve, the answer is quite simple.”
As if he had been waiting for this moment all along, he looked at her softly and replied in a gentle voice.
“Because I love you.”
And then silence descended on the streets.
In the fog-laden streets of the night, empty of people, the gazes of the boy and girl met.
“It can’t be that simple.”
Charlotte’s voice broke through the uncomfortable silence, echoing through its stillness.
“How could you possibly have a problem with the straightforward answer that I happened to fall in love with you at first sight, and that feeling remains unchanged to this day?”
“The answer to a riddle I couldn’t solve can’t possibly be just that.”
Having said that, she mumbled with a confused look in her eyes.
“It can’t be that you could do all that just for that reason. You must want something from me.”
“………..”
“You have a curse too, don’t you? Your ultimate goal is to lift that curse. Or else, even this very moment is part of some plan of yours…”
“I do have an ultimate goal I’m pursuing.”
Adler chimed in.
“See, you eventually are…”
“But the reason I’m pursuing that goal is because of you.”
“You are…”
“From the very beginning, the reason I came here and have been going through this insane ordeal without complaint is, in a way, because I liked you a bit too much.”
Adler, wearing a smile on his face, whispered in a soft voice to Charlotte, who was at a loss for words.
“Love is like that, Miss Holmes.”
“………”
“Love is not logical. It’s not rational. It utterly lacks coherence.”
The dim moonlight breaking through the fog reflected in Adler’s eyes, illuminating them in their gentle hue.
“It’s natural that you, who are virtually the embodiment of all those things, would find it difficult to understand.”
As Charlotte remained silent, Adler, sensing her mood quietly added,
“But you don’t necessarily have to understand.”
“Why not?”
“Because it wasn’t done out of a desire for understanding. It’s simply my unilateral feeling.”
Then, Adler quietly shook his arm still bound by the handcuffs.
“I’m confessing for the first time in my life, and now I feel like hiding in a mouse hole.”
“……….”
“So would you kindly unlock these for me?”
Holmes, who had been staring blankly at him, took out a key from her pocket and unlocked the handcuffs. Adler rotated his wrist and waved as he turned around.
“Don’t worry too much about your client, Miss Wilson. I have a solution for her situation.”
“……..”
“Then…”
“Mr. Adler.”
Watching his retreating figure, she hurriedly spoke… thinking that if not now, she might not get another chance.
“Please become my assistant.”
“I refuse.”
But before she could even elaborate, a resolute voice of refusal reached her ears.
“…Why?”
“Miss Holmes.”
The moonlight that had been captured in his eyes dimmed, losing its luminosity as it became obscured by the fog of the city.
“I am a villain.”
“If it’s about the Professor, I’ll deal with her. So…”
“You’ve already realized that it’s not just about her, and you’re not currently in a state to beat her either.”
At the sound of his voice, different from what she had heard before, Charlotte’s gaze began to waver as she closed her mouth again.
“Soon enough, this London will be steeped in a deep shade of dull grey.”
To her, Adler asked in a gentle voice,
“Can you really stop that from happening?”
A heavy silence hung between them.
“…Then I’ll see you soon with the next mystery, Miss Holmes.”
Having said all he wanted to convey, Adler gave a slight bow and began to walk away.
“Let’s enjoy this together, as far as my power can reach, that is.”
As the thick fog slowly obscured his retreating figure, an atmosphere of desolation returned to the streets once more.
.
.
.
.
.
Left alone, Charlotte stood in silence in the street for a considerable amount of time afterward.
Something extraordinary happened to her not long after he left.
“………..”
The first negative outcome was brought about by her actions. The man’s confession that targeted her. Along with it, the ominous challenge he had left behind.
A tangled web of emotions and thoughts derived from these events surfaced, revealing an outcome that no one could have foreseen.
– Rooooaaar…
The dark mana, which should have manifested only in the final stages of the game, years later, was faintly emanating from Charlotte Holmes’ body.
Whether this darkness would swallow the faint light seen in the distant man or become a mere shadow consumed by that light— no one knew.
“…Watson would probably faint if she saw this.”
However, the most significant change was not that.
“Or maybe she would tease me about it for a lifetime.”
From that day on, the grey hues of Charlotte’s eyes began to slowly transform, taking on the color of someone’s hair that had now been completely obscured and disappeared into the fog.
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