༺ The Three Garridebs (5) ༻
Moments after Isaac Adler lost his freedom of movement at the hands of the two women…
– Creeeak…
“… M, Mr. Adler?”
Isaac Adler entered the room, bound tightly in chains conjured by the mana of the dangerous duo. And seeing Adler in such a state, Neria Garrideb, who had been sitting sullenly on the bed, couldn’t help but stumble back in surprise and shock.
“That child is the wicked wolf that has been devouring Mr. Adler every night.”
“Seems like you’ve been watching again, haven’t you? How impressive.”
Charlotte Holmes and Professor Moriarty began their conversation, gazing intently at the shocked woman.
“Unfortunately, it seems like my assistant can’t go a day without getting stabbed or kidnapped. So, some special management is bound to be employed to prevent them.”
“Using Romanian rebels like your private soldiers and surveilling someone’s every move 24/7 isn’t management; it’s a serious crime, Professor.”
“But thanks to those precautions, we’ve prevented crimes that could have happened to Mr. Adler— crimes that already number in the double digits, mind you.”
“That’s…”
“Of course, that’s something you detectives can’t do. Detectives are the sort who cheerfully chase after incidents that have already happened, rather than preventing them.”
The voices of the two women grew colder and colder the more they conversed. Meanwhile, Adler, realizing that a silent war was unfolding behind him, was slowly turning paler by the minute.
“… You might think I’m not making any effort, but that’s, in fact, a great misconception of yours. If that’s what you think, I have no desire to converse further.”
“You mean the so-called Baker Street Special Forces? Really? Those beggar brats? Sigh. Don’t be mistaken. They’re not worth keeping in check, so I’ve simply ignored them.”
“No matter how weak those children might be individually, when united, they still form a strong group. Moreover, they have a complete understanding of the complex back alleys of London, which are like a different world, so don’t you dare look down on them.”
With the last exchange, the glares Charlotte and the Professor directed at each other became increasingly intense, rising to a dangerous level.
“As I said before, you’ve got a knack for crime. You’ve already taken the lead in exploiting children, something even I haven’t done.”
“Simply surveilling one person allows them to earn enough for a month’s meals and a warm blanket to keep them comfy; I fail to see how that’s considered exploitation. Perhaps it’s more akin to child welfare? Yeah, that seems right.”
“What it seems to me is that… you’re not really in a position to criticize me now, are you?”
“I’m not like you, employing those scums with impure intentions. My aim is purely for the safety of London…”
“Um, excuse me…?”
Just when the two women, still fiercely glaring at each other, started emitting the faintest trickles of grey and black mana from their bodies.
“Why have you come to my room?”
“”………””
“Why is Mr. Adler tied up…?”
Neria Garrideb, sweating profusely and apprehensive of this whole situation, mustered the courage to interrupt their conversation with a question.
“I came to check on something.”
“… It’ll only take a moment.”
Only then did the two women cease their argument and turn their attention back to the apprehensive girl.
“What, what is it…”
“Before that, I have a question for you.”
Professor Moriarty stepped forward, casting a frosty smile at the girl as she posed her question.
“…Have you ever heard of the legends of the werewolves?”
“…… !!!”
The moment she heard those words, the girl’s body froze in place.
“What, wha… what’s that?”
“A monster that transforms into a wolf under the moonlight, a creature that vanished after the Great Demon Purge of the early 1700s.”
“… I, I don’t really know.”
As she spoke with obvious terror in her voice, a look of intrigue appeared on the professor’s face.
“Have you been taught to deny anything related to the word wolf outright?”
“………”
“Indeed, it would be quite the predicament for the rest of the family if it were discovered that there has been a werewolf among them for the past century who never showed their face.”
The professor then circled her, murmuring with a hint of laughter in her voice.
“Perhaps, they could even be eradicated by the ruling body.”
“When they commissioned us, they deliberately avoided using the term werewolf to minimize information leaks, didn’t they?”
“Look here.”
As Adler joined in, Charlotte Holmes frowned and interjected into their conversation.
“Excuse me, werewolf?”
“Indeed. Didn’t you hear the stories before coming here?”
“Sporadic madness. The sight of blood inciting a frenzied leap. Strength that becomes several times greater than usual. Don’t these clues give you a hint?”
Then, Moriarty and Adler, both with a wry smile, spoke.
“Have you both ingested something wrong? Or did I perhaps overestimate you both?”
Charlotte, her eyes half-closed, soon began to mutter in a frosty voice.
“Werewolf? That’s utterly nonsensical.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s illogical for a werewolf to still exist in Britain.”
Then Adler, with a slight smile, gestured to himself.
“If vampires exist, why not werewolves?”
“That was an exceptional case. This is different.”
“How can you be so certain? Do you have any evidence?”
“Of course.”
Charlotte firmly countered his point and began to rummage through her belongings.
“Here, this should confirm it…”
“… Eek.”
Just as she pulled a shiny, silvery object from her pocket,
“… Adler?”
– Trembletrembletrembletremble…
Suddenly pale, Adler quickly clung to Moriarty, trembling violently from head to toe.
“Why are you acting like this? Like a mouse soaked in the rain.”
“That’s scary…”
“The silver cross?”
“… Hold me right, Professor.”
“Hmm…”
The professor, tilting her head in curiosity, patted his back with a slightly satisfied expression on her face. Meanwhile, Charlotte, holding the silver cross in her hands, momentarily looked on at the scene with a dazed expression.
“I failed to take Mr. Adler into consideration.”
“It’s alright, continue what you were doing.”
“… I’ll be quick.”
Murmuring in a slightly darkened voice, Charlotte brought the cross close to Neria Garrideb.
“How does it feel?”
“……..?”
“Does it sting or cause any sort of discomfort?”
Garrideb shook her head as she intensely gazed at the cross held against her flesh. And Charlotte, as though expecting such a reaction already, soon put the cross away.
– Swoosh…
“Sorry, sorry, I was wrong, Miss Holmes.”
As she extended the cross slightly towards Adler, he started crying out in a fit… Even his black tail which he always hid had now revealed itself.
“Stop this nasty joke right this instant.”
“… This could come in handy, hmm.”
“What’s the intention behind that action?”
The professor, stroking Adler’s head to calm him down, asked in a monotone voice.
“Silver has been known since ancient times as a deadly weakness to vampires and werewolves. Indeed, there are records that the Hunters in the early 1700s carried bullets or blades made of silver.”
“Put, put that away…”
“As you can see, Mr. Adler, being a pureblood vampire, has such an intense reaction to silver.”
Charlotte continued her explanation in a low voice.
“And yet, a werewolf came into direct contact with a cross and remained completely unaffected? Odd, isn’t it?”
“Ah…”
“There’s only one conclusion. That person is not a werewolf.”
The girl, sitting on the bed, opened her mouth in a daze, looking like she had been hit with a hammer to the head.
“That can’t be… I, I am…”
“Sporadic frenzy. Seizures that occur at the sight of blood.”
However, Charlotte naturally interrupted her words and proceeded with her own explanation.
“While it’s not the Lycanthropy Syndrome, there’s another disease that can cause nearly identical symptoms.”
“… What?”
“Well, you, who’ve lived your entire life confined to your home, wouldn’t know about this. The name of that disease is…”
Just as she was about to explain in a rare kind tone,
“Hydrophobia. A disease with a 100 percent fatality rate for which no vaccine has been developed yet.”
“Also known as rabies. According to recent reports, Dr. Louis Pasteur is working on developing a vaccine as we speak…”
“… Is that so? That’s the first time I have heard of that term, but somehow it does fit.”
This time, Professor Moriarty and Adler chimed in, cutting off Charlotte’s words.
“Hydrophobia…? Rabies…?”
“See, you both knew about it already.”
“Your know-it-all attitude is always amusing, isn’t it?”
“What, what are you all talking about?”
Charlotte Holmes muttered in a subdued voice, as if she had already expected such a scenario. Meanwhile, Neria Garrideb couldn’t help but ask them with a panicked voice.
“Confusion, delirium, seizures. To use Mr. Adler’s term, these are the primary symptoms of Rabies.”
“But…”
“Moreover, more than half of the patients exhibit an extreme fear of water. Even on the brink of dying from thirst, they convulse and suffer terribly at the sight of water.”
She fell silent once she heard Professor Moriarty and Charlotte’s detailed explanation.
“… And the same goes for the sight of blood flowing out of a human body.”
“You speak as if you have experienced it?”
Meanwhile, Isaac Adler, subtly posed a question to Charlotte as she muttered to herself with clear exhaustion in her eyes.
“Howling Cemetary and Reconstructed Wolf. The culprits of these two low-level cases I recently solved both had hydrophobia.”
“Ah…”
“They were so trivial and boring that even Watson gave up writing about them. Still, the knowledge gained from investigating the came comes in handy at times like this.”
Isaac Adler nodded in understanding, and behind him, Neria Garrideb, with a ghastly pale face, spoke up while trembling violently.
“Then I…”
“You’ve been deceived all your life into thinking you were a werewolf when you were actually just a patient of Hydrophobia.”
“………”
“I don’t know what reason your family had for deceiving you, but It’s truly regrettable.”
Having finished her words, Charlotte Holmes quietly turned to walk away.
“Then, it’s about time to hear the reason from the two Garridebs who have been lying for more than 10 years…”
“Stop right there.”
However, Professor Moriarty, with a gleam in her eye, stopped her mid-sentence.
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s too early to jump to conclusions.”
At those words, Charlotte tilted her head as though asking for an explanation.
“As I said before, rabies is a disease with a 100 percent fatality rate.”
“……..”
“Most patients die within a week of showing symptoms. Yet, Miss Neria Garrideb has survived for over 10 years.”
But as the professor continued her words, Charlotte’s expression slowly distorted into a grimace.
“Moreover, even if the disease makes one exhibit violent behavior, the aggression that the girl showed towards Adler is extremely excessive.”
“That could vary from patient to patient…”
“In the two cases you encountered, the patients attacked bloodied individuals to escape their pain, but they didn’t bite and tear their flesh, did they?”
Professor Moriarty, looking at her with a leisurely gaze, softly whispered.
“And what about the unreasonably increased strength with each fit? You skipped over that without explaining the phenomenon properly.”
“………”
“Can you explain these three points of doubt I have, Charlotte Holmes?”
“What’s your angle?”
“I feel a certain kinship with you.”
“… That’s positively horrifying.”
Feeling an inexplicable disgust from her words, Charlotte Holmes, with a nauseated expression, took a step back.
“And like Adler, I’ve become interested in seeing how far you, still a raw and unrefined gem, can grow.”
“Spare me the bullshit.”
“Oh dear, was my lie that obvious?”
Professor Moriarty’s gaze turned slightly cold as the curse leaked out of Charlotte’s mouth.
“Adler wants that.”
“……..”
“He wants you to become my arch-enemy, so I’m sincerely offering you my help.”
Professor Moriarty moved toward her and whispered into Charlotte’s ear; her voice dark and ominous.
“Do you understand, little girl?”
Hearing those words, Charlotte quietly bit her lip and clenched her hands hard.
“The reason why Neria Garrideb has survived a disease with a 100 percent fatality rate for over 10 years, the reason she harbors this unknown brutality within her, and the reason she can exhibit such tremendous strength.”
“…………”
“Look them up.”
The professor, provoking her, quietly shifted her gaze from her.
“Personally, I doubt it whether you’ll be able to find out the reasons by the end of the day.”
And then, with a smile in her eyes, she spoke to Adler.
“Don’t you think the same, Adler?”
And the room was drenched in utter silence…
.
.
.
.
.
“Ahaha…”
“What’s with the sudden laugh?”
I, who had been asked the question by the professor, flashed her a slightly awkward smile.
“… Excuse me.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Do you often meet with your mother these days?”
Dragging my uncomfortable body, bound in chains, I sat down quietly next to Miss Garrideb and began to ask her some questions of my own.
“Yes, yes… She sometimes comes into my room before I go to sleep.”
“I see…”
“Somehow, every time she does, my eyes automatically close and I quickly fall into slumber. But I distinctly remember the touch of her hand stroking my forehead…”
It was all to derive the one answer that could explain the points of doubt Professor Moriarty had raised just now.
“By any chance, what is your mother’s name?”
“Vi, Victoria Garrideb… Why do you ask?”
“Do you know her maiden name as well?”
“What? That is… Oh, I remember.”
After hearing my question, she pondered for a moment before looking up at my eyes as she answered.
“My mother comes from a noble family in Switzerland. Thanks to that, she has a rather unique surname, if I recall.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, as far as I remember, it’s…”
Gulping hard in tension, I watched her as she slowly revealed the information I desired.
“… Frankenstein.”
Upon hearing the name that slipped out of her lips, which eventually confirmed my hypothesis, I involuntarily clenched my eyes shut.
“Mother’s former name was Victoria Frankenstein.”
‘… Damn it all!!’
The beings whose very existence was a paradox were slowly revealing themselves, having established their foothold on London.
