Moments before the gunshot rang out from Caroline’s mansion…
“…………”
Two silhouettes, their faces hidden by masks, were loitering in front of the mansion’s window.
– Thump, step…
“Are you alright?”
These masked individuals were none other than Isaac Adler and Doctor Rachel Watson.
“… Just hurry up.”
Trying to ignore her racing heart as she chewed on her lips, Watson whispered to Adler, standing before the window, with a feigned calmness in her voice.
– Swoosh…
A slight twinkle coloring his eyes, Adler extended his finger towards the glass of the window.
– Creak...
Smoke rose from the quartz as the glass was neatly cut in a circle, and Adler, with practiced ease, slipped his hand in to open the window.
“Isn’t there an alarm…? Did you use magic?”
“No. Alice just disabled the security for this particular spot before we arrived, that’s all.”
“Pardon, but it was that easy?”
Watson, a voice crawling with incredulity, questioned his all-too-proficient actions, to which he responded in a calm, almost nonchalant, tone.
“Everything’s much harder to penetrate from the outside, but once you’re in, it’s all too easy to break.”
Finished with his speech filled with confidence, Adler stepped through the open window, beckoning for Watson to follow. However, her breathing only turned ragged and heavy at his gesture.
“Miss Watson?”
“………”
“Are you alright?”
Adler’s voice came out softly, tinged with concern for Watson.
“If you’re too nervous, you can always come in later…”
“… No.”
However, the reason for Watson’s quickened breath wasn’t exactly due to fear as Adler might have suspected.
– Badump, badump, badump…
Standing in front of the window, which gaped like the maw of a frenzied beast, the initial fear in Watson’s heart had cleanly vanished without a trace.
What she felt instead, was the slightest notes of thrill and excitement at the realization that she who had been a guardian of the law alongside Charlotte had now turned into a clear violator— a criminal, so to speak.
“Haah…”
“… Pardon?”
A severe case of thrill addiction.
The disease she’d acquired from her time at war had all but gone already, but faint traces of it still remained with her. The addiction erased any and all traces of guilt she might have felt, adding a gambling-esque excitement to the adventure.
The only flaw of the number one, elite Lady of London had now become an advantage for her, heightening all of her senses and filling up her veins with thrill and excitement.
“… Let’s go in, together.”
“Why are you sweating so much though?”
However, her appearance, drenched due to her excessively secreting adrenaline, unavoidably looked quite perverse to the eyes.
“It’s rude to talk like that to a lady, mind you.”
Retorting back, Watson stepped into the mansion, her body, already damp from excessive sweat, pressing against Adler’s in the process.
“Congratulations.”
“… Huh?”
Playfully, Adler tapped on her lower abdomen and whispered in Watson’s ears in a mischievous tone.
“You’re officially a criminal now.”
And then, holding her hand, Adler began to navigate through the darkness of Caroline’s mansion.
– Shiver…
Her lower abdomen trembled with the vibration of the sigil and the physical touch; coupled with Adler’s provocative words, delivered in a mischievous whisper, it caused a sense of depravity and guilt to wash over Watson’s mind. Engulfed in the strange amalgam of feelings that were evoked by Adler’s actions, Watson couldn’t help but bow her head, trembling, a sense of thrilling depravity coursing through her, as she walked alongside the man.
‘… Why is he so skilled?’
Meanwhile, Adler moved through the thick darkness as though it were his own home.
Due to that, Doctor Rachel Watson found herself being utterly dragged around by the man.
By the time they reached a space filled with furniture, passing through a corridor faintly scented with cigar smoke, her hand had already been soaked with sweat.
“………”
Was it perhaps due to the extreme tension of relying solely on Adler’s hand in the darkness?
The sensation of Adler’s slender hand being enveloped, coated and mixed in sweat, with her own felt all too familiar to her.
“… Hmm.”
The more she felt it, the more her mind activated, and by the time they reached the end of the corridor, she could even sense the slightest movements of his hand vividly.
“Excuse me.”
“………?”
Due to her concentration, as Watson involuntarily began to flinch, quietly, Adler stopped walking at that very moment and gazed at her.
“Please stop fiddling with my hand.”
He murmured with half-closed eyes, and only then did Watson quietly release the hand she had been holding.
“Do you like my hand that much?”
“… It’s familiar.”
And then, staring back at Adler, she began mumbling in a low voice.
“Like a hand I used to fiddle with for hours a long time ago.”
“You must be nervous, that’s all.”
Adler, wearing a momentary blank expression, made a fluid excuse and moved forward.
“Now, shall we get started?”
“………”
“Keep watch here.”
As they moved forward, a secret vault covered in heavy security became visible to the duo.
“What are you planning to do?”
“Crack this safe open. According to Alice’s testimony, it’s highly likely that the letter is inside the safe.”
“That’s reckless.”
“If we’re talking about recklessness, then breaking into this mansion was already far more reckless.”
Watson, gazing at the huge vault with dark eyes, muttered; to which Adler retorted with a smirk on his face.
“Even if we crack it open, there’s no guarantee the letter is inside, right?”
“Then we’ll have no choice but to break into Miss Caroline’s bedroom.”
“… Sigh.”
Watson, with a hand half-mixed with Adler’s sweat, slipped it into her coat and began to caress the holstered gun, taking deep breaths to calm her strained mind.
“The worst friend to ever exist…”
– Crack…
“I’d probably be willing to share a cell if it were Holmes, but with you? That’s the last thing I’d want to do in my life.”
Soon, Adler’s hand touched the vault and Watson muttered quietly, sweating at the scene.
“…….?”
However, no matter how much time passed by… the expected alarm did not sound.
“What the…”
– Click… Click-click…
The high-performance vault, which must have weighed at least a thousand pounds and fitted with high-powered magical stones, was being stroked by Adler’s hand without setting off any alarms, only emitting small distinct sparks.
“What did you do…?”
“It’s nothing much.”
Watson, knowing all too well how surprising this situation was due to Holmes, who had a hobby of cracking vaults, asked with eyes opened wide in astonishment; only to be met with Adler’s cheerful and nonchalant reply.
“I merely charmed the safe.”
“….. That’s impossible.”
Watson’s eyes, which had momentarily clouded due to her astonishment, quickly sharpened once more as she heard his nonsensical reply.
“I believe hacking and flirting virtually have no difference.”
“… Pardon?”
“Bypassing this level of security, I’ve done it so many times that it’s become tiresome.”
Adler continued sprouting nonsensical things to her.
“… Didn’t I explain about my past earlier?”
“……..”
His logic was sound, it was just that her brain couldn’t quite keep up with it. It was as though her mind was unwilling to accept this situation.
“What on earth are you really…”
It had not even been a century since humans became capable of fully embracing the concept of mana; and, it has merely been 20 years since scholars worldwide have created the concept of magic after putting all of their minds together in a comprehensive collaboration.
Yet, here lay an individual who was not only interfering with the system of magic but even daring to modify it on a whim, creating something entirely new that deviated from the existing notion.
It was no exaggeration when Holmes, who had just begun grasping the basic concepts of mana, said that it would be extremely difficult even for a genius like her to catch up to Adler’s prowess and proficiency in magic.
“I should be able to disarm it in about 10 minutes. Such an intricate and complex security system even in this day and age. There’s always a genius, no matter the time.”
“… Hmm.”
Then, how remarkable must Holmes and Professor Moriarty be, who were constantly able to outwit Adler with their mental gymnastics?
“Well, your capabilities are remarkable indeed.”
Still bewildered, Watson felt like smoke was rising from her head from all the thinking, even though she had only ruminated briefly on this matter, and decided to avert her gaze from Adler to the end of the dark corridor.
“……..!”
Immediately, her gaze was met head-on by a pair of glowing red orbs shining ominously in the darkness.
“What, what’s…”
– Meow.
Feeling the hairs on her body stand on end, Watson drew her gun forward, eyes opened wide at the sound emitting from the distance.
– Meow.
“… What?”
Soon, she realized that it was merely the sounds coming from a red cat and she couldn’t help but sigh in relief at the sight.
– Bang!!!
“… Gasp.“
At that very instance, the distinct sound of gunfire echoed through Caroline’s mansion.
“Hmm.”
“I, I didn’t shoot.”
Watson, sweating at the thought that she might have accidentally pulled the trigger, soon realized that her gun was still fully loaded and hurriedly tried to explain herself to Adler; his head already turned toward her.
“I know.”
Adler, a frown that was soon followed by a dark smile etching his face, removed his hand from the safe and distanced himself from the vault.
“It seems the time has come to discipline them, as planned.”
“… Eh?”
“Miss Watson, keep watch over the safe.”
Relaying those words, Adler disappeared into the darkness of the mansion; a deep silence thus settled around Watson.
“…… Ugh.”
Suddenly left alone in the hallway enveloped in utter darkness, cold sweat began trickling down Watson’s forehead.
– Creak…
At that moment…
“Huh?”
With a suspicious click, the safe behind her began opening by itself.
“……… Huh?”
Startled, Watson’s head jerked up and her gaze immediately became vacant soon after.
“”…………””
The reason being, inside the safe, Charlotte and Professor Moriarty, both donning frigid expressions, could be seen holding each other by the hair as they turned their heads to look back at Watson; their gazes as vacant as Watson herself.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at that time…
“Who, who are you… you guys…”
“”……….””
“Why are you doing this…”
Struck by a bullet out of the blue, Caroline found herself sprawled on the floor of her own bedroom.
“I, I’ve never even killed a fly. Though I’ve toyed with some foolish men… that’s all.”
Pale and shaken, she pleaded to the veiled pair of assailants. Assailants that she had failed in taking out with her self-defense handgun.
– Click…
“Do you realize the trouble you’ll be in if you kill me now?”
However, seeing the gun pointed at her once more, her voice grew more desperate as she tried to dissuade them.
“The servants of the mansion would have sounded the alarm by now. And the London Metropolitan Police Department must have received the distress signal. The only way for you to escape would be to run without looking back.”
“”……….””
“And, the letters aren’t here. Specifically, if I don’t give the order in person, by next week, every journalist in Britain will be reading the letters I’ve collected over the…”
“Bluffing won’t work on us.”
However, as the assailant with a dark gleam in their eye whispered those words, Caroline couldn’t help but trail off.
“The servants have been deep asleep from the sleeping drugs mixed in with their dinner for some time already, and someone like you wouldn’t entrust such vital letters to anyone else.”
“What do you want?”
“One of your legs.”
As she began to sob and plead, the owner of the frigid voice continued continued.
“If it’s money you need, I can give you many times more than your employer. So please…”
“… Sorry.”
The assailant with their finger on the trigger murmured in a calm voice.
“What I can gain by neutralizing you far outweighs something as trivial as money.”
“Ah…..”
At those words, Caroline’s eyes were filled with despair.
– Clack!
Suddenly, another gun, loaded and ready to fire, popped out from behind her.
“Because of bastards like you, I never carry just one…!”
“…….!”
“Die!!!”
In a panic, Caroline pointed her handgun forward haphazardly to shoot the assailant, while the said assailant swiftly pulled the trigger of the long gun they were holding.
– Bam…!
– Bang…!
Two shots were fired, just fractions of a second apart.
“This is troublesome.”
“”……..!?!””
At that very instant, the blond-haired boy abruptly appeared at the scene; calmly, almost nonchalantly, he positioned himself between the duo who had shot each other.
“Wait…”
– Kwajjik…!
The dazed assailant reached out their hand as they dashed forward, but the body of the boy was already brutally punctured by the impact of the two shots colliding against him, leaving gaping holes in his frail frame.
“… No.”
As the boy slumped sideways and fell, the assailant knelt to the ground and caught him mid-fall, taking off her veil to examine the boy.
“Uh, ugh…”
Similarly, the companion of the assailant, similarly disguised, quickly took off her veil and wrapped it around the boy’s chest, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.
– Drip…
However, the boy’s blood rapidly stained the veil in its blood-red hue despite her best efforts to stop the blood flow.
“It can’t be… Master…”
“………”
Beside the sobbing companion, the small girl who had fired the shot wore a blank expression as she looked on at the boy in her arms.
“… Look at this.”
A voice tinged with frigid ice began leaking out of the boy’s pale and shivering lips.
“See what happens when you only fight each other.”
“…….!”
Their eyes shook at the clear but pale voice.
“If you had gotten along with each other, none of this would have happened…”
Adler murmured to them in a voice tinged with sorrow.
“… Huh?”
His eyes soon became dim and unfocused.
“……..!?!””
Instead of Charlotte Holmes and Jane Moriarty, as he had expected, the boy saw the scene of the petite and cute Celestia Moran and Silver Blaze with ears drooping low in sorrow, looking down at him with tears welling up in their eyes.
“I, I…”
Moran’s voice tinged with deep sorrow soon reached Adler’s ears as he looked on blankly.
“I heard that Mr. Adler had been kidnapped, so…”
“………”
“I tried so hard because I wanted to get you back…”
Before him, Moran knelt blankly, her face soon twisting in overwhelming grief as tears dropped incessantly from her eyes.
“Uh, uh-huh.”
“… Um.”
“Uhng…”
And then, she buried her face in Adler’s chest and burst into wailing tears, showcasing the despair and sorrow overwhelming her mind.
“Don’t die…”
‘I was sure I’d been informed that they wouldn’t be here…?’
– Click…
“Uh-oh.”
Adler’s eyes, which were colored in confusion due to the situation veering far from his expectations, started trembling violently.
“Hehe.”
It was due to the scene of Silver Blaze holding a gun against her temple with crazed eyes that seemed to have lost all reason and desire for living.
“Have you gone insane?”
Watching this horrific scene, Adler immediately got up and snatched the gun away from her before she could do something irreversible.
“”…………..””
Immediately, the girls stopped crying, their eyes blinking rapidly as they watched Adler looking remarkably intact and healthy even though there were literal holes in his chest.
“Oughh, arghh.”
However, Adler’s eyes rolled over once more, his mouth leaking awkward groans and wails of misery, as he lay down on the floor again. A heavy silence settled in the room as everyone looked at Adler with unfocused and blank eyes.
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