༺ The Blooming Detective (5) ༻
“Adler.”
“Mr. Adler.”
As soon as I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Professor and Charlotte Holmes glaring at each other with their guns aimed toward one another’s heads.
“I’ve administered first aid already. Thankfully, it was a weak sorcery that I could drive away with my mana alone.”
“I neutralized it with my mana actually. I believe you won’t trust such an obvious lie from her.”
While I blankly stared at them, the soft whispers of the professor and Charlotte overlapped and reached my ears.
‘… How did they?’
Of course, I had bitten into the most suitable magic capsule I had on me, and it was potent enough to buy me at least a week’s worth of time in exchange for going through an agonizing experience.
Yet, they repelled it just by channeling mana into my body?
Was such a thing even possible?
“Mr. Adler, do me a favor and tell me the truth, of? This girl manipulated you into opening the box because of her delusions, didn’t she?”
“The real reason why you are like this is because of Professor Jane Moriarty, right, Mr. Adler? Both of us already know the truth here.”
Because my mind had been so energized by their mana transfer, I couldn’t even pretend to be in pain any longer. Curling up quietly, I just heard their incomprehensible murmurs as they tightly gripped onto their weapons, holding the trigger.
“… Tell me that you like me.”
“Please tell me you love me…”
“What on earth are you both doing…?”
The scene was so terrifying that I couldn’t help but ask in a slightly trembling voice. The two women, who had been smiling menacingly at each other with all the intent to kill the other, began to answer simultaneously.
“It’s a death game. In this situation, it’s the most logical and simple solution.”
“Mr. Adler, you just have to name the person you like. No pressure, right?”
“… What?”
For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend their words. When I asked again, their chilling voices returned with their replies.
“Both of us are focusing all our strength on the tips of our fingers, holding the gun triggers.”
“If one of us applies force first, obviously the other will also fire back.”
“But, what if Mr. Adler sincerely chooses one of us?”
“Then, even for a split second, the one not chosen will inevitably show a moment of vulnerability.”
How am I supposed to respond to this chilling proposal?
“However, isn’t it merely my personal choice?”
“”………….””
“Can my choice really have such a profound impact on both of you?”
I tried to murmur in a slightly cheerful tone, but the moment the glares of the two women shifted to me, I had no choice but to go silent once more.
“… I see.”
These women were truly serious.
“Mr. Adler, make your choice quickly.”
“My arm is starting to hurt.”
“… Do you realize that this is a crime?”
I clung to common sense in my act of desperation, but the reply that came back was, expectedly, bleak.
“I’m just trying to save you from a psychopath who thinks you and I are the masterminds behind the troubles marring London. Of course, it’s merely self-defense on my part.”
“I’m just trying to defeat the monster that’s slowly draining Mr. Adler’s life. And, we’ve already drawn up a duel agreement. It’s completely legal.”
“That can’t be…”
A duel agreement? Even in a world dominated by magic and paranormal events, such a medieval practice shouldn’t have survived and transitioned into the 19th century.
“… The queen is trying to abolish this law, but for now, it’s completely legal.”
“Do you intend to ignore this sport of us ladies?”
Come to think of it, duels were customary even in the original world’s England until the mid-19th century.
Then, I was practically doomed.
Wasn’t this a situation where I could face a potential game-over scenario?
‘… I certainly can’t take sides.’
If the protagonist, Charlotte Holmes, dies, it will definitely lead to the end of the world.
On the other hand, my biggest mission after coming to this world was to make Professor Moriarty the most plausible final boss.
If she were to die before entering the final scenario, naturally, it would also lead to an instant game over.
“Make your choice.”
“Choose.”
But then, what the hell should I do right now?
“If you won’t choose, we’ll do it ourselves.”
“Do you feel confident?”
“I doubt I’ll die at the hands of someone with delusions of grandeur.”
“I feel the same.”
As I was sweating coldly all over my body, I looked at their shaking guns.
– Bang! Bang! Bang!
“”…!?””
Suddenly, a rough knock from outside the room made the two women turn their heads simultaneously.
“Huff.”
Taking a deep breath, I lunged at them with all my might.
“”…………””
Then, there was silence.
“Are you there…? Mr. Adler, Charlotte?”
“… Whew.”
Hearing the voice of Inspector Lestrade from beyond the room, I heaved a deep sigh of relief. Then, with a hushed voice, I whispered to Professor Moriarty and Charlotte Holmes, who were now on the floor alongside me, falling when I had pushed them to snatch the guns out of their hands.
“Please never do this again.”
“”………….””
“Because next time, I’ll genuinely get angry…”
However, something was off here…
“… Adler?”
Professor Moriarty, who met my eyes for the first time since she had entered the room, was looking at me blankly, not even resisting as I pulled the gun away from her.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?”
“Eh? Ah…”
Reflected in her gray eyes were my own eyes, tainted in black.
“That’s…”
It was my original eye color, so naturally, I hadn’t thought to hide it all this time. I couldn’t help but wear a flustered expression on my face as I got caught.
“…Professor Moriarty.”
Charlotte Holmes, who had been lying down without resistance just like the professor, began to whisper with a triumphant smile on her face.
“I always choose battles that I am certain of winning.”
“……….”
“It’s a pity. If Mr. Adler had shown just a bit more courage, I could have eliminated you as well.”
“… You’ve crossed the line this time.”
The professor, who was listening to that voice with a blank expression, hastily reached out to me and began to murmur.
“How dare you artificially color my assistant’s eyes…”
However, even before she could finish the sentence, the professor’s hand, which had been gently caressing my eyes, began to stiffen.
“You’ve seen it for yourself now, haven’t you?”
“… This”
“I didn’t use colored lenses or artificially infused mana to trick you…”
Professor Moriarty’s eyes began to waver.
“The eyes of Isaac Adler have long been stained with my colors.”
Whispered Charlotte Holmes coldly into her ear.
“Unlike you, who could never dye him in your colors.”
“………”
“So, why not admit it already?”
Gazing at the stiffened Professor Moriarty with a mocking smile, she stood up, holding my hand.
“There’s no need for Adler to say it directly, the answer is already clear, isn’t it?”
After a brief hesitation, I had no choice but to be pulled along by her grip.
“This time, it’s my victory, Jane Moriarty.”
The professor, who had been staring blankly at us, reached out to me, but Charlotte Holmes swatted her hand away, a smirk playing on her lips.
“So, for the time being, could you stop meddling in our relationship?”
Then, utter silence ensued.
“Wha, what’s going on?”
“It’s nothing, Inspector Lestrade.”
Professor Moriarty, who had been blinking in disbelief, unable to fully grasp the situation that had befallen her, stood up and staggered toward me as I was about to step outside the boarding house with Charlotte
“… Isaac.”
And then, in a dazed voice, she called out my name.
“Professor, the thing is…”
I hesitated momentarily, sweat building on my forehead, trying to say something, but the attempt didn’t last long.
– Tug…
“Just leave it, let’s go.”
Charlotte Holmes, who had been gently caressing my eyes, quickly wrapped her arm around my waist and urged me to move on.
“… We need to make a baby soon.”
For a brief moment, she shot the professor a look, mimicking the sly smile Moriarty had worn when she had stolen Adler’s first kiss.
“I’ll be away for a while… until the end of vacation.”
With a bowed head, I mumbled in a soft voice and then began to walk away quietly.
“… Since this time, you were the one to lose, Professor.”
It was because this was the only way to prevent the imminent game over that was hanging on the horizon.
“…… ???”
“Don’t look so troubled. I’ll need you to escort me for a while, Miss Lestrade.”
“Huh?”
“A monster, unaware of its own feelings, is targeting Isaac.”
With that, accompanying Charlotte, who had a victorious smile brimming on her lips, I hurriedly left the room, leaving Professor Moriarty behind.
– Creak…
Soon, a deep silence began to envelop the boarding house.
“………”
Only the ragged breathing of Professor Jane Moriarty, who was left alone, echoed irregularly
.
.
.
.
.
“… Ha.”
How much time had passed since Charlotte and Adler left the boarding house?
“Defeat?”
Jane Moriarty, staggering as she stood up on her feet, started muttering in a frighteningly calm voice.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
However, contrary to that voice, her usually composed smile was considerably distorted.
“There’s no way I would lose to a child like her.”
Yet, contrary to what she was muttering, the professor herself had already somewhat accepted the truth.
“Isn’t that right, Mr. Adler…?”
She realized in her heart that she had, for the first time in her life, been utterly defeated by someone.
– Shiver…
She clenched her pale hand so hard that blood began dripping down her palms.
A sensation she had never felt before dominated Professor Moriarty’s entire body.
– Groan…
Just a few months ago, she was wandering around, looking for someone who could defeat her.
At that time, if someone could make her taste defeat, the professor was ready to be consumed by overwhelming joy, dedicating her life to tearing down their existence.
But now, her teeth were grinding together so hard that an eerie sound echoed throughout the room. She felt no pleasure, no happiness at all, like what she had expected.
The emotion Professor Moriarty was experiencing after facing her first-ever defeat, the defeat that she had spent her whole life searching for, was entirely opposite to what she had longed for.
“… Isaac.”
An immeasurably deep rage, the bewilderment over something entirely unexpected, a sense of loss for what should naturally be there, followed by an onset of emptiness…
“………”
Although only a mere assistant had disappeared before her eyes, Professor Moriarty, ensnared by these complex emotions, was trembling violently. She slipped her shaking hand into her bosom.
– Crunch…
Then, she quietly took out a sugar cube from the flask and started chewing on it.
“……….”
However, the magical crystals that had given vitality to the professor’s life for decades, betrayed her expectations all too lightly.
“… Uh.”
Instead of the sweet happiness spreading throughout her body, a bitter and lukewarm sensation swirled in her mouth, sharply reminding her of the reality she was facing now.
“… This isn’t it.”
The threshold of stimulation set by Isaac Adler was a simple fact that nothing else could ever hope to replace.
– Crash!!
As the frustrated professor gritted her teeth and clenched her hand, the flask shattered, scattering the sugar across the floor of the boarding house.
“… I’ll believe that this is yet another one of your tests.”
Stepping over the sugar, she began to move.
“Before the vacation ends, I just have to retrieve you from her, right?”
She aimed a gun at the portrait of Charlotte Holmes on the faraway wall and quietly pulled the trigger.
– Bang…!
“Then I’ll show you.”
She then began to murmur while coldly staring at the face of the portrait, now with a hole right in the middle.
“But after that.”
– Bang!!
Suddenly, she glanced at her own still grey eyes reflected in the mirror beside her. Without hesitation, she shattered that mirror with a bullet too, and began to step outside the boarding house.
“… You’ll have to endure my wrath.”
She murmured with her unique low voice, spreading her killing intent in all directions.
– Rumble…!
It was precisely at that moment that a storm, accompanied by thunder and lightning, began pouring down from the darkened night sky of London.
“It won’t take that long.”
The unexpected and unidentified weather phenomenon continued for several days.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at that time, Adler was walking down the darkened streets of the night with his head bowed.
“… It’s raining.”
“I know right?”
As he reached out his hand into the sudden downpour and murmured, Charlotte responded with a smile.
“It seems like a dragon who has lost its treasure is crying somewhere.”
“… What?”
“Don’t you know? Such stories are common in fairy tales. Haven’t you ever read them?”
Of course, not only did Adler not know about British fairy tales, he was even more clueless about fairy tales from this world, so he just blinked his eyes with a blank expression on his face.
“… We should find shelter somewhere.”
“That’s right.”
“Then back to the boarding house…”
“No.”
He started murmuring while watching the increasingly heavy downpour, but Charlotte interrupted him urgently.
“We should hide for the rest of the vacation.”
“… Why?”
“Are you asking this because you really don’t know?”
Charlotte soon clung close to Adler, cautiously looking around.
“You never know when the professor’s minions might attack.”
“… With all due respect, I am one of those minions.”
“You victims sure do have a sense of humor, don’t you?”
“No, really…”
Adler, wearing a slightly awkward expression, cautiously began to speak.
“Then, my hideout, I suppose…”
“… Hideout?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
However, Adler quickly realized that the place, which was a core location of the organization, should never be exposed to Charlotte Holmes and hurriedly shook his head.
“… Then should we stay at an inn?”
“An inn?”
“I don’t really have anywhere else to go…”
At that, Charlotte spoke up in a slightly shy voice and quietly reached out her hand.
“There is a place nearby…”
Saying so, she gently brushed her fingers against the back of Adler’s hand and whispered in a hushed tone.
“… But do you have any money on you?”
“What?”
“I’m out of money right now.”
However, at Adler’s awkward reply, Charlotte’s expression suddenly turned cold.
“Aren’t you a pretty successful actor, Mr Adler?”
“… I recently had some major expenses.”
“But you must have some left, right?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m broke right now.”
Upon hearing his response, she muttered with a slightly disappointed look.
“… I also left in a hurry and didn’t bring any money.”
At that moment, a slightly awkward expression appeared on both Adler’s and Charlotte’s faces.
“… Um.”
Lestrade, who flinched upon hearing that Adler was broke, then spoke up softly.
“… How about my place?”
“What?”
“You can stay there and sleep for the night, if you don’t mind…”
With her head hung low, Lestrade fidgeted with her fingers and spoke up, and Charlotte stared at her for a moment before opening her mouth.
“Are you sure that we won’t be a bother?”
“……….”
“… You know, having Isaac Adler sleep in the same room as you?”
Then, Lestrade slowly lifted her head, looking at Charlotte before replying.
“There’s no need to go to such lengths…”
“It’s fine.”
“Why?”
As Charlotte tilted her head to the side and asked, the girl averted her gaze and murmured in a cold, business-like tone.
“… Because I like him.”
Upon hearing those words, the expression in Charlotte’s eyes began to darken slightly.
“Well, there’s no need to push yourself.”
“I told you, I’m fine.”
“……..?”
Right before Adler, who was tilting his head with an innocent expression, an unusual red message appeared.
“… Fuck—!”
Caught between the two girls who were silently staring at each other under the rain, a feeble groan escaped from Adler’s mouth.
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