༺ The Worst Criminal ༻
When Isaac Adler vanished from her side, Charlotte Holmes didn’t really feel much concern about his sudden disappearance.
At most, he must have gone to destroy some evidence or create another riddle for her. Or maybe he just wanted to see her reaction as he disappeared right under her nose.
In truth, either was fine for her. Contrary to her expectations, this riddle was a bit too easy for her liking. If a bit more entertainment was added on top then she would definitely welcome it with open arms.
“Gurgle, gurgle…”
However, she certainly didn’t wish for anything remotely similar to what was transpiring before her eyes to occur.
“No!!!”
As Adler finished speaking, while vomiting blood incessantly, he soon collapsed on the ground. Meanwhile, a frozen Charlotte Holmes rushed to him with unbridled desperation accompanying her every step.
“Hey, snap out of it.”
“…………”
“Wake up, Isaac Adler!”
Before long, holding the blood-soaked Adler in her arms, she began to plead like a beggar, stroking his ice-cold cheek with her hands.
“I’m feeling sleepy, Miss Holmes…”
“No! Don’t close your eyes on me. If you do then I’ll kill you!!”
“……….”
“Please… I beg of you…”
But despite her best efforts, Adler’s eyes slowly closed shut.
“……….”
And then, silence ensued inside the room of horror.
“Call a doctor… get a doctor…!”
“From what I see, it might already be too late…”
“Now!!!”
Charlotte, terrified out of her wits end as she held a dying Adler in her arms, shouted at the police officers behind her with a trembling voice.
“Mr. Adler, I’ve called for a doctor. So please, hang on for a bit longer.”
Then, with the police officers rushing down the corridor to get a doctor, she whispered to Adler with a voice that she had been forced to calm down through her sheer willpower alone.
“There’s still hope. Once the doctor arrives, you might get better. So…”
However, as soon as she looked down, Charlotte’s voice faltered and her body stiffened…
“So…”
Adler’s injuries were far too severe for him to survive this ordeal.
Blood was incessantly oozing from the mercilessly slashed and mangled abdomen, and his internal organs had already been ruptured.
“Ah… ah…”
Upon witnessing that dreadful sight once again, Charlotte, with trembling hands, reached out to try and stop the incessant bleeding.
But given the size and intensity of the wound, it was, unsurprisingly, a meaningless endeavor.
“… What’s this.”
A new wound reflected in her eyes— eyes that were slowly being encroached by the hues of despair.
“……….”
Bright red handprints, as though someone had violently choked him, were clearly visible on Adler’s neck.
“Who did this…”
The peculiar thing about it was… only the marks of a left hand remained on his neck.
That could only mean that the assailant had choked Adler’s neck with one hand alone while stabbing him in the abdomen with the other.
Isaac Adler had fought against such a powerful being all alone.
“What kind of abhorrent bastard would do something like this…”
Charlotte, shaking uncontrollably, murmured as she buried her head in Adler’s chest.
“… Even if they held a grudge, there’s a limit.”
Only now was she able to get an inkling of why Adler had suddenly disappeared without a word, leaving her behind at the crime scene.
“There was no need to go this far…”
The image of Isaac, murmuring in relief at seeing her safe and then subsequently losing consciousness, was flashing in her mind.
“Miss Holmes…”
“………!”
And at that exact moment…
“… Run away.”
From the lips of Adler, whose eyes remained closed even now, a faint voice began to emerge.
“Adler? What are you even talking about…?”
Charlotte, clutching his hand and choking up at the realization that Adler was still alive, couldn’t help but don a look of confusion as she intently listened to his words.
“She’s still… here…”
“……..”
“Runnn…”
And then, her gaze slowly gained a chilling light.
“You’ve finally noticed…”
A sinister voice began to echo from behind the duo.
“Sorry, but I’m not done yet.”
The shadowy figure that had reappeared in the room out of the blue moved forward with a chilling smile on her face, veiled in the cloak of darkness.
“Could you move aside?”
At the figure’s playful request filled with mock laughter, Charlotte Holmes silently rose from her position.
“… Is it you?”
In her metallic-grey gaze, directed at the mysterious being before her, there was an undeniable presence of unadulterated fury.
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– Whoooosh…
The room was soon filled with a dark and murky energy.
“You’re quite something… little one.”
“……….”
In this absolute darkness, where no trace of light could be found, the voice of the being veiled in shadows resonated clearly.
“You use black mana. I’ve killed many, but this is a color I’ve never seen before.”
“… Shut up.”
“It’s powerful and discreet. The range of the attacks is also very wide. Most mages wouldn’t even stand a chance against it. However…”
“…….!”
Just as the incessantly chattering voice seemed to momentarily pause, a sharp attack suddenly flew in from right beside Charlotte.
“… The user is still inexperienced.”
“Ugh.”
Narrowly dodging the attack, a shallow cut appeared on Charlotte’s cheek.
“… How did you dodge that?”
Looking puzzled at the sight, the being disappeared in an instant once again.
– Whizz…
“Ah, I see now.”
However, as Charlotte managed to block the next attack when the shadowy figure reappeared, the corners of her lips curled up into a knowing smirk.
“… You’re a genius, aren’t you?”
– Whizz…
The knife of the being, veiled in multilayered shadows, blocked by Charlotte’s mana, was trembling ever so slightly.
“In this limited space, I can see your every move, even those that you haven’t even made yet.”
“Hmm…”
“I’ve already calculated two steps ahead.”
“… Is that so?”
The moment she finished speaking, the knife, clutched in the hands of the mysterious being, flew toward Isaac Adler, his frail body still leaning against the wall.
“So, why not surrender now?”
Yet, without faltering, Charlotte conjured a hunting whip with her black mana, batting away the knife that was headed toward Adler.
“I’ll commend you for compensating your lack of practical experience with your brilliant intellect.”
However, Charlotte’s gaze couldn’t help but waver.
“… But you see, I am… a variable.”
That was because the knife she had most definitely deflected with her whip was now, inexplicably, aimed at Adler’s throat once more.
“And I’m more confident in combat than anyone else.”
“… Stop this.”
“Why should I?”
As Charlotte hastily opened her mouth and took a step forward, the ominous being’s knife wriggled once more, lightly grazing Adler’s cheek.
“Today, I’m going to kill Isaac Adler. I have no intention of killing you, so would you mind stepping aside?”
“… Why…”
“Killing someone else on the day I kill Adler feels wrong, you know? Besides, I’m not even sure if I can kill you.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Charlotte, who clenched her fists as she watched the blood trickle down Adler’s cheek, gritted her teeth and posed the question once more.
“… Why are you trying to kill Isaac Adler?”
“Huh? Isn’t that obvious?”
The being veiled in innumerable shadows responded with a faint laugh.
“… Because I love him.”
“What?”
“I love Isaac Adler.”
The body of the being began to tremble.
“There might be many in this world who like him, but I’m probably the one who likes him the most. No, I’m certain of that fact.”
“If that’s the case, then why…”
“To become the only one.”
Then began her rambling justification…
“By killing Isaac Adler, I would be reborn as the sole holder of his identity. The final destination of the man called Isaac Adler… The final destination of his life and fate will all converge onto me, I will become it all.”1Basically, as I said in the previous chapter, it pertains to this being’s ability to take on another person’s form after killing them.
“………”
“I want to torture Isaac again. I want to strangle his neck once more. I want to disembody his cold, lifeless body and carry the pieces with me. I want to make him into a doll and embrace him for all eternity…”
“… What are you?”
Charlotte Holmes, who couldn’t bear to listen to that rant any longer, asked with an icy cold voice.
“I love him, I love him, I love him…”
“What are you?”
“… Me?”
Then the shadowy figure, playing coyly with her fingers, murmured shyly and tilted her head to the side.
“Well, I’m not really sure anymore.”
“Stop talking nonsense…”
“Oh, there’s a name the newspapers have been calling me lately.”
The mysterious being’s eyes glowed ominously as she spoke,
“Jack the Ripper… was it?”
“………!”
“It’s a strange name, isn’t it?”
After saying that, the shadowy being, scratching her head, soon added with a chuckle.
“I’m a woman, but they call me Jack?”
The serial killer who swept through Whitechapel, plunging all of England into a cauldron of terror…
Despite all they had done, the identity of the worst criminal in all of history had never been revealed to the world even on modern-day Earth…
Hence, their very existence directly contradicted the theory that Sherlock Holmes was a real person, serving as the sole evidence against the famous detective’s existence.
“Wouldn’t Jill the Ripper be a better fit?”
And thus, Jill the Ripper made her appearance in this twisted world.
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Barely clinging to my fading consciousness and observing the situation, I couldn’t help but chuckle when I saw the message appearing before my eyes.
‘… She’s really crossing the line here.’
The one who had not even been screened, who wasn’t even supposed to appear in the game in the first place, was, for some inexplicable reason, smiling at me— standing right in front of my eyes.
– Crackle, crackle!!
“… Hm?”
However, that smile of hers had now met its end.
“What’s happening?”
When the door, which had been sealed shut due to Jill the Ripper’s machinations, was suddenly shattered, she tilted her head and shifted her gaze to that place.
“Who are you?”
Silently passing by her blurry figure, a familiar face started approaching me.
｢Please save me, Professor…｣
“… Mr. Adler.”
From the hand of Professor Moriarty, who seemed to have hurried to this place and was thus heavily panting, the faintly glowing messages that I had sent out as a last resort just before falling into Jill the Ripper’s clutches, glowed with a dim light.
“Professor…”
Gazing at the message with a faint smile on my lips, I, lost consciousness while murmuring in a feeble voice. By that point, the professor had already reached right in front of me.
“… There seems to be an error in the riddle.”
The last thing I remembered was Professor Moriarty’s contorted face, holding an expression I could never have imagined she’d wear on her face.
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