༺ Prelude to Confrontation ༻
– Screeeech…
“Ah, Holmes!”
As the tightly closed door to the basement was forced open, Watson, who had been restless outside, hurriedly moved in.
“The police have already been called. They’ll be arriving here shortly.”
“………”
“By the way, are you really okay? That black aura around you…”
She had no choice but to stutter upon seeing Charlotte and Isaac Adler emerging from the very insides of the basement.
“What……”
Charlotte and Adler, covered in dust, avoided each other’s gaze and wiped their mouths off using their sleeves.
“…Holmes?”
Noticing the faint blush on their cheeks, Watson’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“…Ms. Holmes, this is a crime.”
In the midst of this, Adler, as he softly spoke those words, bowed his head and exited the room soon after.
“Don’t do it again next time.”
“”…………””
And then, there was utter silence.
“So… you… umm, uh…”
Should she first ask why Adler was wiping his mouth as if he had rolled on the ground for a while?
Or should she first ask why a faint black smoke was still emanating from her partner’s body?
“Watson.”
“…Huh?”
Caught in such a dilemma and wearing a bewildered expression on her face, Watson snapped back to reality at Charlotte’s voice originating from in front of her.
“I have a question.”
“You, you do? For me?”
“…In terms of general knowledge, you’re more knowledgeable than I am after all.”
Surprisingly, Charlotte was seeking an answer from her.
“In all my life, I never thought that something like this would happen.”
Momentarily surprised by this fact, Watson soon approached Charlotte with a gentle smile on her face.
“So, what does our genius girl want to know?”
To that, Charlotte posed a question to Watson with a low and serious voice.
“How do you establish a Fait Accompli?”
“…What?”
Watson doubted her ears for a moment, but Charlotte inquired with her usual steady voice without a hint of fluster.
“How do you establish a Fait Accompli?”
“A, a Fait Accompli?”
Caught off guard by those words, Watson was about to ask back when Charlotte quietly touched her lips and muttered with a sigh.
“I couldn’t make further progress because I don’t have the relevant knowledge.”
“………”
“I asked because I thought you might know.”
Her only rival in this world— Professor Jane Moriarty.
A criminal consultant and an investigative consultant— contrasting professions, a relationship of opposites. Yet, both geniuses possessed similar abilities, considered to be neck and neck by Isaac Adler.
Perhaps it was due to this peculiar relationship they shared…
…That the conclusion Charlotte reached in this case was almost identical to the one Professor Moriarty arrived at.
“Maybe you don’t know either?”
Regardless of what kind it was, she needed to create a Fait Accompli, a permanent bond holding the two, that Isaac Adler couldn’t escape from, and she had to do it as quickly as possible.
“…Are you high, perchance?”
“I quit a long time ago…”
That was the key to ending the enormous blood feud that enveloped London.
“…You’re insane.”
It was the moment the two geniuses, having simultaneously comprehended the same truth, began their direct confrontation.
“Sometimes you have to be insane to obtain what you desire.”
.
.
.
.
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After leaving the basement, I wandered around the mansion for a while, but I was ultimately unable to discover the reason behind the increased erosion rate.
“Professor, you’ve been waiting for a while.”
“Mr. Adler.”
Having left the mansion without much gain, Professor Moriarty, who had been waiting outside, waved at me.
“What were you up to?”
“No, it’s just… there’s something slightly bothering me right now.”
As he climbed into the carriage where she had been waiting for him, Professor Moriarty began to scrutinize him all over.
“Are you talking about Charlotte Holmes?”
“No, not her…”
“You’ve never been good at lying.”
She smirked and reached out to me.
– Zzzzzt…
Then a electrifying black spark blocked her hand.
“I’ve painstakingly infused each of your mana circuits with my mana, yet now half of them have been tainted black.”
“………”
“You’ve essentially lost half of your ownership rights. Isn’t this a breach of our contract?”
I had already anticipated that I would be found out, but I didn’t think that it would be so immediate…
It was a perilous situation that would have made me sweat with nervousness just a few days ago, but by now, I was slowly beginning to see what needed to be done in order to save myself from the professor’s wrath.
“Charlotte Holmes is…”
“Charlotte Holmes is your nemesis, Professor. It’s quite a mistake to disregard her now.”
“……….”
Just as I was about to speak some more with my eyes tightly shut, Professor Moriarty interrupted my speech.
“Wine becomes more delightful the longer it’s aged. So, are you suggesting that now is not the time to open it? Do you want me to wait for the wine to mature? Is that what you’re implying?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
“Hmm.”
I glanced at her, slightly taken aback as she seemed to have snatched away the words I was about to say to her. Professor Moriarty then gave a dark smile and bowed her head slightly before uttering.
“Mr. Adler.”
“…Yes.”
Then, she quietly locked eyes with me.
“To be honest, I don’t fancy Charlotte Holmes.”
“……….”
“Why can’t you just be my assistant, play the detective role, and be my nemesis as well?”
“You’re being too greedy, Professor…”
“But I like you, not Charlotte.”
Had we been lovers, this would’ve been a profoundly flirty statement.
However, given that the one saying it was Professor Moriarty…
“…You’re blushing.”
“What?”
Lost in thought, I unwittingly touched my cheek in response to her words.
“………”
My cheek had indeed gotten warm.
“This is indeed strange.”
Unable to respond, the professor whispered in a soft voice with a slight smirk on her face.
“What are you… talking about?”
“When you’re by my side, you flatter me, saying Professor is the best. But when you’re next to that young lady, you sing praises, claiming Ms. Holmes is the best.”
I wanted to offer some excuse in response, but she had hit the nail on the head leaving me speechless once more.
“…Anyway, It seems to me that you’re fond of both her and me.”
“I think of you, Professor, as…”
“Don’t tell me you think I haven’t noticed you’re walking on a tightrope with your lifespan?”
Then, a moment later, a gentle voice reached my ears.
“Still haven’t made up your mind?”
Hearing that voice, I closed my eyes and quietly sank into my thoughts.
“On which side to lean on?”
‘…It seems like that’s the case.’
Although I had no intention of playing both sides, I still hadn’t decided whose side to take.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was without purpose.
My ultimate objective, at the moment, was to prevent the erosion of this world and save it from inevitable destruction.
‘I absolutely cannot allow a game-over scenario.’
I wasn’t entirely sure through what mysterious machinations I had come to be here, but this world was a masterpiece that encapsulated everything that was my broken life.
From Charlotte Holmes to Professor Moriarty, and even the magic system and all the extras that were added in between, there was scarcely a corner untouched by my influence.
Hence, if they were said to be obsessed with me, then I was obsessed with the entirety of this world, including them.
It was almost as precious as a child to me.
‘…Things have been going relatively smoothly so far.’
To prevent the erosion of such a precious world, whose side should I ultimately take?
Right now, as the Professor said, I’m barely managing by walking on a tightrope.
But the tightrope I’ll have to walk from here on will likely stretch even further and make it even harder for me to balance.
“Professor, I…”
“Mr. Adler.”
Wearing an awkward smile, as if I had become the protagonist of a cheap romance novel, I was contemplating whom to choose when Professor Moriarty suddenly spoke up with a gleam in her eyes.
“I finally understand the complete rules of the game you’ve created.”
“Excuse me?”
With that, she grabbed both my arms and pinned me against the wall.
“Ultimately, the person who fully possesses you becomes the master of London.”
Held tightly and pinned against the carriage’s wall, Jane Moriarty leaned in toward me.
“Isn’t that right?”
Had I gone mad already?
“…I’m not sure.”
If not… why was my heart suddenly fluttering while looking at the smiling face of Professor Moriarty?
“I really don’t know.”
I was certain my favorite was Charlotte Holmes. Then… why?
“…Well then, let me enlighten you.”
Caught in an inexplicable mood with my expression growing increasingly numb, her tongue naturally penetrated into my mouth with practiced ease.
“Heup…”
With eyes shut tightly, the professor swirled her tongue inside my mouth for quite some time. Eventually, she pulled her head back and spoke again.
“Although I might not know how to love someone, I believe I can make you fall in love with me.”
“…Professor.”
“Don’t worry. My ambition is strong. A little bit of this is nothing if it’s for the sake of victory.”
With that said, she stole another kiss from my lips leaning in closer once more.
“…And Isaac, remember this.”
I flinched, thinking she was going for another kiss, but instead, she whispered softly into my ear.
“The curse upon me ensures that every crime I commit becomes a perfect crime.”
But the impact of that whisper was far greater than the previous kiss.
“Be prepared, anytime, anywhere.”
“…….”
“If things go awry, even I’m uncertain of what I might do.”
Slowly, I was beginning to get a sense of what this probability was all about.
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Meanwhile, at that moment, in Lady Roylott’s room,
“…Ha.”
Even though Isaac Adler had thoroughly searched the place, for some reason, an unidentified black shadow still stood at the very heart of this whole case.
“Ha-ha.”
A moment later, the shadow reached for the securely locked safe.
“It even withstood an explosion. Not even breaking after all that.”
From that safe, the shadow effortlessly pulled out something wriggling like a snake and began to display a chilling smile on her face.
“I love you, Isaac Adler.”
Simultaneously, a message appeared in front of Adler, who was riding away from the mansion in a carriage with the professor.
“…Bloody hell…!”
“What’s the matter, Mr. Adler?”
The shadow, which had stood there for quite a while, quickly melted into the floor and hid its presence when the footsteps of the guards began to echo from the staircase.
“…I will definitely slaughter and kill you.”
The shadow spat out that single sentence in an ecstatic tone in its raspy voice.
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