༺ The Blooming Detective (4) ༻
In the streets of London, the late evening sky that had turned a deep shade of red, because of the sunset, gradually began to darken.
Within a few minutes, as the streets were about to be enveloped in dense fog, residents began to head home one by one, dodging the outlaws lurking about, to avoid this inexplicable phenomenon.
– Clomp, clomp…
Bravely, a woman was strolling down Baker Street with quiet steps.
– Click…
Of course, thanks to the presence of the renowned girl prodigy, Charlotte Holmes, Baker Street had recently been considered one of the safest streets in all of London.
Nevertheless, because of the strange incidents that occurred sporadically all over London and the rumors of a serial killer even Charlotte Holmes couldn’t capture being out in the open, the once bustling street from a few years ago was now noticeably quieter during the late hours.
“… Sigh.”
However, as if such stories had nothing to do with her, she shook the sugar cube that was in the small flask she pulled out of her belongings before putting it inside her mouth…
“Mm~”
She moved forward, momentarily munching on the sugar with a contented smile on her face, with her grayish long hair flowing as she walked and her eyes shone in the darkness of the late evening.
“Is this the place?”
“… It’s my first time coming here.”
Her face looked both adorable, like a young lizard, and somewhat shrewd, as she habitually blinked while tilting her head from side to side. Eventually, her eyes darted toward a sign… a sign that signified the place that had saved countless crime victims.
– Creeeak…
As she took in the address and opened the door to step inside the boarding house, she was met with a heavy atmosphere.
“Is anyone there?”
She quietly adjusted her clothes and called out in a soft voice for the caretaker of the property, but there was no response.
“… Well then, excuse me.”
Nevertheless, she murmured softly and began to ascend the stairs.
– Squeak…
For some reason, the door at the top of the stairs, which squeaked ever slightly probably due to the frequent visitors that went through this very door, was slightly ajar.
“Hmm.”
She stood still in front of it for a moment and then, with a cold smile, she gently opened the slightly open door.
“… Is that you, Moriarty?”
Not long after, a voice, akin to that of a dying girl, began to reach her ears.
“Charlotte Holmes.”
“Ah, I didn’t expect you to come.”
“Your current appearance is quite something, isn’t it?”
The visitor, Professor Jane Moriarty, looked on with an expression filled with curiosity.
“Who contacted you to come here…?”
Charlotte Holmes, lying in bed and dripping with cold sweat, asked in an almost lifeless voice.
“I just came to visit my cherished student. Is there a problem?”
Professor Jane Moriarty, with a voice tinged with sorrow, looked at Charlotte with eyes filled with pity.
“… Thing is, there is a little issue.”
“What do you mean?”
“No one knows about the fact that I’ve become like this yet…”
However, a faint smirk of ridicule passed over the professor’s face after hearing those words.
“So, you still enjoy making deductions, even in this state?”
“……….”
“You don’t think I’m behind this now, do you?”
But soon after, she wore a concerned expression and sat down beside the bed.
“Sorry to disappoint, but I was informed about the situation by Isaac Adler a few days ago.”
“That’s strange… Adler has been with me 24/7 for several days…”
“Are you trying to tell me that you even dealt with your physiological needs in bed? Of course, he must have sent it at that time to avoid provoking someone who is out of their mind like you.”
“… Why would he do that at that time?”
Professor Moriarty’s eyes glinted coldly.
“Well, it’s probably because your paranoia is quite severe.”
“……….”
“If you had witnessed Adler writing me a letter in that state, you’d surely have assumed we were plotting some dark conspiracy to seize the world and would have stabbed him in the back.”
– Cough, cough…
Upon hearing those words, Charlotte Holmes quietly furrowed her brow and started to cough lightly
“… I want to argue, but I’m in so much pain that I can’t even use my head.”
“There’s some slightly unethical research suggesting that when delusional patients experience pain, their symptoms lessen. Seems like it’s true.”
“You know, Professor…”
Charlotte paid no attention to Moriarty’s sarcasm and reached out to her.
“… Please save me.”
Then, a brief silence ensued.
“I know you planned this whole matter.”
Charlotte’s hand waved in the air dripping with cold sweat.
“I will destroy all the evidence I’ve gathered and act as if I know nothing, so please…”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“The ivory box, you intercepted it, didn’t you?”
Then, barely, her frail grip managed to clutch onto Professor Moriarty’s sleeve.
“You knew that I was investigating Clarissa Smith for alleged illegal sorcery practices, right?”
“Spare me of your baseless delusions.”
“So, using that as leverage, you approached Clarissa Smith, intimidated her, and planned this crime.”
“I’m starting to miss your once sharp and brilliant brain.”
“Killing with a borrowed knife. If someone wants to get rid of me, wearing the guise of a crime consultant, they’d naturally choose that method.”
Her hand, clutching Professor Moriarty’s arm, began to tremble.
“If not, there’s no way such a horrendous sorcery would be inside the box containing the ring meant for Adler.”
“That’s your weakness…”
Then, coldly brushing away her touch, Jane Moriarty leaned in and whispered.
“While you’re quite intelligent, you let your emotions cloud everything and mess things up.”
“So, it really was you…”
“Though I’m not behind this, if I were the one who did this to you, I would’ve said just that.”
The corner of her mouth curled subtly as she spoke.
“A detective, so blinded by love that she couldn’t even notice herself sinking into a quagmire.”
And then, total silence ensued.
“… Water.”
“Hmm?”
“Please, give me some water…”
Watching Charlotte Holmes, who didn’t even argue against her words, but just blinked her deeply sunken eyes and murmured for help, she chuckled and stood up.
“It seems like it’s already too late to have a constructive conversation with you.”
And then, Jane Moriarty quietly picked up a kettle from the table and began pouring water into a cup.
“Coffee? Or tea?”
“Just… cold water…”
“Yes, that’s the best to quench thirst.”
As she was about to hand the water to Charlotte, her gaze quietly shifted to the empty space behind the bed.
“… Truly disappointing.”
Shortly after, Moriarty, with a smirk on her lips, offered her the water.
“Hmm…”
“If it were me, I would’ve hidden someone in the space behind the bed.”
“Pff…”
“The trap you set should at least be that sophisticated for it to be secure.”
As Moriarty watched her gulp down the water, she mumbled something and suddenly raised her hand.
– Fwoosh…!
The dark gas lamp on the desk flared up, enveloped in a thick coat of greyish mana.
“I tried to brighten the room since it was too dark, but unfortunately, the lamp wasn’t made out of mana stones.”
“……….”
“Anyway, is there anything else you need?”
“Well…”
Charlotte, who had been quietly observing her annoyed expression, mimicked the smirk that had been plastered on Professor Moriarty’s lips just moments ago and sat up on the bed.
“I’m quite satisfied just by having tricked someone who looked down on me, thinking I was below their expectations.”
“… Despite facing me after your emergency communication means have been destroyed, you seem quite at ease, don’t you?”
“Oh my, such a terrifying threat doesn’t seem like something a righteous citizen would say..”
Charlotte, quickly regaining her normal state, pointed behind the professor even as she mocked Professor Moriarty, who was exuding a chilly aura.
“Please hand me the matches and cigarettes over there. Not the needle.”
“………”
“On second thought, never mind. I don’t need any of it.”
Then, Charlotte Holmes, wearing a soft smile, gently caressed her lower abdomen.
“I’m carrying his child inside me, so I should refrain for a while.”
Upon hearing those words, Professor Moriarty took a step forward, and with an even colder voice than before, whispered to her.
“Where is Isaac Adler right now?”
“Don’t you feel anything? Even though you were fooled by me?”
“Not at all. I’ve never been fooled by you from the very beginning. I merely played along with you.”
“For all that, the disgraceful look on your face was quite vivid, wasn’t it?”
“It’s not just you who can act in this world.”
And so began a chilling mental standoff between the two women.
“From the moment I received that hasty message before coming here, I had already suspected things would turn out this way.”
“Just consider it as one of the possibilities. If you’re embarrassed, you should have the courage to admit it.”
“I don’t want to argue with you anymore.”
Professor Jane Moriarty spoke with a fearsome aura.
“You have Isaac Adler imprisoned without authorization.”
“Didn’t you say it yourself, Professor? A claim without evidence is just nonsense.”
“Otherwise…”
“You’re not about to say that you lost contact with him over the past few days now, are you?”
Yet, faced with Charlotte Holmes’ sharp question, she fell silent.
“But if you make that claim, you won’t be able to explain the reason for coming here. After all, you came here because you received contact from Isaac Adler.”
“You should know when to stop.”
“That’s what I want to say… Jane Moriarty.”
To her, Charlotte Holmes began speaking with a cold expression.
“Do you really not know where Isaac Adler is, even now?”
“………..”
“I’m disappointed. And I pity you.”
Her voice, a mixture of mockery and anger, echoed quietly in the room.
“… What are you talking about?”
“You mock me for being blinded by love, but I actually pity you for that very reason.”
At those words, Jane Moriarty tilted her head silently.
“It’s actually you, not me, who doesn’t understand what love is, am I right?”
“………..”
“And yet, you pretend to love Isaac Adler. Even though you don’t know the sensation of a heart fluttering or pounding against your chest.”
Her face quietly distorted as Charlotte continued her speech.
“… Take back what you said.”
“Just a monster mimicking emotions.”
“Take it back.”
As she said those words, Jane Moriarty’s hand began to tremble ever so slightly.
“I love Isaac Adler.”
To her, Charlotte’s clear voice reached out.
“That’s the conclusion I’ve reached. Thanks to you, I was able to find my way after wandering for so long and even managed to grow stronger.”
“………..”
“All thanks to you. You’re the one who got caught this time… You got trapped in your own snare, making a foolish mistake just like I did in Reigate.”
Upon hearing those words, Jane Moriarty clenched her teeth in silence.
“But if there’s a difference between you and me, it’s that you can never grow like I have.”
“… Why?”
“Because even now, even at this instant, you don’t understand what love is. You can’t…”
“………..”
“You’re just driven by a desire to possess, to monopolize, to dominate. Like a dragon hoarding treasures in its own domain.”
“… You’re wrong.”
With her head lowered, she mumbled with clenched fists.
“I love Isaac Adler as much as you d…”
“Pfft~ haha…”
But before she could finish her sentence, Charlotte Holmes burst into a mocking fit of laughter.
“… Before saying such lies, maybe you should do something about those grey eyes of yours, don’t you think?”
Only then did Professor Moriarty notice the permanently golden hue of Charlotte Holmes’ eyes, contrasting with her own grey ones.
“It’s because of my unique constitution.”
“Or maybe your love is fake. I bet it’s the latter.”
“Watch your tongue…!”
“Why? Is it because you failed to kill me so many times that you want to do it with your own hands now?”
While watching this, the professor glared at her while biting her lips. Charlotte covered her mouth with her hand and mocked her even more.
“I might’ve failed in making you confess with your own words, but this could be a good opportunity to get you imprisoned.”
“I told you to shut your mouth.”
“You should shut that vile mouth of yours instead, Jane Moriarty.”
Tension filled the room between the two women.
“No matter how a monster like you mimics love, Isaac Adler loves only m…”
“… It’d be best if you stopped right there!”
And in the next moment, Professor Moriarty’s grey mana detonated like a bomb.
“… No matter what you mumble, nothing will change.”
But before her mana could turn the room into a scene of chaos, Professor Moriarty, who reeled it back just in time, exuded a chilling aura and whispered to Charlotte, who was sitting on the bed.
“No matter how much you claim to love Isaac Adler, the person he loves is none other than me.”
“… Is that really the case?”
“There’s no need for me to prove it to you.”
Then, with all her strength, she yanked away the blanket that Charlotte had been covering herself with.
“We can just ask him directly…”
“Yes, it would be good to confirm the color of the eyes as well…”
However, the triumphant smiles of Professor Moriarty and Charlotte Holmes froze in an instant.
“… Mr. Adler.”
The reason was Isaac Adler, who had been lying quietly next to Charlotte Holmes under the blanket all this while, was now grimacing with flushed cheeks as if in pain.
“”………….””
A heavy silence ensued.
As they blankly stared down at Isaac Adler, different sets of thoughts raced through the minds of Professor Jane Moriarty and Charlotte Holmes.
‘… Did I fall for Charlotte Holmes’s scheme?’
In Professor Moriarty’s mind, there was the logical assumption that Charlotte Holmes, having deduced her plan, had coerced Adler to open the box, turning him into a hostage.
‘His already limited life span has been reduced further because of the professor.’
In Charlotte Holmes’s mind, there was the reasonable deduction that the sudden deterioration of Isaac Adler’s condition, who had been peacefully asleep just moments ago, could only be attributed to the arrival of Jane Moriarty.
“”………..””
It didn’t take long for these deductions to be confirmed.
– Swish…
The hands of Charlotte and Moriarty, who had been glaring silently at each other, simultaneously reached into their pockets.
.
.
.
.
.
‘… Is this enough?’
When I awoke quietly under the blanket, a tense standoff was unfolding between Charlotte Holmes and Professor Jane Moriarty.
Not only that, there was also the hoard of messages containing spine-chilling possibilities that ran rampant in the system.
‘This can’t continue.’
Therefore, the only decision I could make right now was clear.
– Crunch…
I bit into the most suitable magic capsule that I had taken as a precautionary measure before leaving Smith’s mansion.
“”………..””
If the cause of the conflict, me, was in pain, this confrontation that could potentially lead to a game-over situation would likely be diffused.
While lost in such thoughts and lying still, I slowly opened my eyes.
“….. Huh.”
I couldn’t help but give a stunned expression.
“Hand over Isaac Adler right now.”
“Sorry, but unlike others, we share a loving relationship.”
It was because Professor Jane Moriarty and Charlotte Holmes were pointing guns at each other’s heads, all the while wearing chilling smiles.
“Will you be able to speak like that with a bullet hole in your head?”
“A duel then? Shall we start by drafting a contract? The loser will cleanly forfeit Adler in death, and the victor will…”
“… Hic.”
While witnessing this ominous scene, I inadvertently hiccupped, drawing both their intense gazes towards me.
“Adler.”
“Mr. Adler.”
The women, who were gazing at me intently for a moment, simultaneously began to whisper.
“Wait just a little longer. I’ll surely save you from this detestable girl.”
“It’ll be over soon. This time, I’ll save you from this crazy murderer.”
Simultaneously, a series of disturbing messages appeared before my eyes.
“……… Uh, well.”
Trembling as I looked at the bizarre content, the two, who had been tensing their triggers, tilted their heads and threw another question at me.
“Do you, who is exclusively my assistant, desire that too?”
“Surely, my beloved Mr. Adler, you want it as well, right?”
For some unknown reason, feeling as if a black dividing line was being drawn across the center of my body, I unconsciously closed my eyes pretending to lose consciousness, and then faint whispers began to reach my ears again
“Adler?”
“Mr. Adler?”
Come to think of it, perhaps just dying in pain right here and now might not be such a terrible option.
“… First, let’s administer first aid.”
“That sounds good.”
Fucking shit…
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