"I knew you'd do sothing like this."
After surveying the Professor's mansion for so ti Charlotte returned to the lobby, only to witness Adler and Lestrade standing near the doorway. A scornful look flashed in her eyes as she gazed at the duo before she said,
"Well, at least you didn’t kill him. The inspector must have held back quite a bit."
Lestrade's police uniform was torn and tattered, loosely hanging off her body. anwhile, her face was redder than a ripe tomato, highlighting her sha and embarrassnt.
As if that wasn’t enough already, the red handprint on Adler’s face was a dead giveaway of what had transpired between the two.
"It was my first ti..."
"..."
"It was my first ti, dammit..."
Charlotte smirked, almost mockingly, bowing her head to hide her expression. Lestade, on the other hand, continued her mumbling in a whispery note, barely audible.
"I agreed to accept your affection, but... not like this... I never wanted it like this."
"Look, it wasn't on purpose that I..."
"Don't talk to right now... I just might kill you..."
Lifting her scorching hot face, Lestrade whispered with such ferocity that Adler was forced to shut his mouth imdiately.
"When I think about my first kiss from now on, I'll always rember today..."
"..."
"I wanted to set the mood… be ladylike for my first kiss..."
"... What?"
"Didn't I tell you to shut the fuck up, you bastard!?"
Charlotte gave them a sidelong glance, a gleam in her eyes.
"Now that I think about it, it's quite strange."
"... What?"
"Inspector Lestrade’s curse… why didn't it affect Isaac Adler's transformation magic?"
Curious, she tilted her head and murmured in a whispery voice.
"Um, Miss Hols, I didn't cast that spell..."
"No, what I an is… if the inspector’s curse nullifies all anomalies and oddities without exception, then it should have undone the magic cast on Adler too. It's odd that it only broke after a generic fairy-tail-like kiss."
"... Does that really matter anymore?”
"It definitely does, Inspector. It gives a decent opportunity to review one of my oldest theories."
Face flushed and head bowed, a puzzled look soon washed over Lestrade as she heard Charlotte’s words.
"My curse, which prevents from loving anything or anyone, didn't have any effect on you, Mr. Adler."
"That is..."
"It was the sa in my sister’s case. She, who was cursed never to feel any stimulation, was able to feel it because of you."
anwhile, Charlotte slowly walked towards Adler and whispered, her voice dangerously low,
"And now, you’re even openly resisting Inspector Lestrade’s ability. An ability so absolute that even Professor Moriarty can't completely resist.”
"Th-That’s true, I guess..."
"Shall I make a guess then?"
"Su-Su-Sure?"
Having reached right in front of Adler, she narrowed her eyes and whispered right into his ear with a tone laced with arctic chill.
"... Professor Moriarty's initial interest in you was due to her curse being nullified solely by you, right?"
Cold sweat started beading on Adler’s forehead, soon dripping down like a waterfall.
"Looks like my speculation was correct."
"......."
"Honestly, I thought you were just an incubus who had luckily survived the Crusades. Seems that isn’t the case, however."
Charlotte Hols, wiping the cold sweat dripping down his face with her sleeve, began prodding Adler with her summoned black mana.
"You are still hiding a lot more from , aren’t you?”
"........"
"I'll forgive you if you confess here and now. Okay?"
At that mont, a red warning window appeared in front of Adler.
I’m sure you understand the extent of what you can reveal to her.
"........"
Especially, keep everything about a secret.As he read the content of the warning window, Adler made up his mind to speak, a resigned expression on his face, but,
"Miss Hols, as I ntioned before..."
- Swoosh...
"... What are you doing?"
Charlotte Hols, quietly observing Adler, suddenly grabbed his arm with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
- Swish, swish...
"Hey, my arm isn't a toy..."
Adler, looking at her with a troubled expression, soon froze on his spot.
"Uh..."
Voice trailing off, he realised that the system window that had appeared before his eyes had disappeared, dissipated with his flailing hand under Charlotte’s control.
"... So, you were there after all."
At that mont, a dark smile crossed Charlotte’s face as she murmured.
"The being that issues commands to you.”
Chills ran down Adler's entire body and even his hair stood on end.
"Why the face? Did you really think I wouldn't notice sothing so obvious?"
Indeed, Charlotte's actions just now ant that she had already deduced the existence and significance of the system and had even theorised on how to interact with it.
"I, I don't quite understand what you're talking about..."
"... That flustered look of yours, it’s cute.”
Adler, the chill on his spine spreading throughout his body and mind, looked at her with abject terror in his eyes. A smile was the reaction Charlotte conveyed, witnessing his horrified visage.
"Well, I'll be going now."
"... Pardon?"
"The case is closed anyway. There are a few nagging points that still don't sit right with , but I have no grounds to delve deeper into a case that’s already solved."
Charlotte Hols, muttering to herself, trotted toward the mansion’s exit.
"... But, I must admit that my curiosity is piqued.”
"What..."
"I just went and asked Professor Presbury and Mr Freud so questions, and I received so very interesting answers."
Then, she suddenly stopped walking and started muttering in a barely audible voice, as if talking to herself.
"What did you hear that prompted your intrigue?"
"Well, you see..."
Adler, montarily puzzled, could only widen his eyes at Charlotte's following response.
"Mr Freud never ordered the professor to crawl around the house naked every night nor did he order her to pounce on the dog.”
“Uh…”
“Not to ntion, he didn’t order her to climb up to the second floor and eerily glare at her son for nearly ten minutes. He was actually surprised that a woman her age was even able to pull it off. Even the professor seed dazed after hearing that question.”
Adler, wearing a stunned expression for a long while, soon began to mutter in amazent.
"If that's true, then what do the stories we heard from the client amount to?"
"Honestly, I feel like digging deeper, but when I contacted our client, he had already made up his mind about putting an end to the case.”
Charlotte ntioned and then went on to show Adler the unilateral case cancellation declaration sent by the client a mont ago. Her mood was really down the gutter judging from the look she was giving at the declaration.
"He spoke of his inability to understand the reasonings of his mother and Mr Freud. That’s why he decided to beco independent and study in Arica.”
"Well, that sounds… reasonable..."
"In other words, it ans our chance to delve into this case has officially ended."
Sighing, she muttered in a dejected voice.
"Well, I have faced many such instances when I was still a newbie. And frankly, a few more important cases have co in already, so this case is just a lower priority now."
".........."
"Personally, I'd still like to just thoroughly search this house though."
Charlotte concluded with a regretful look, glancing at Lestrade standing next to her.
"If Miss Lestrade would turn a blind eye, I might just investigate a bit more..."
"... That would be a cri, I’m afraid."
"Tch."
"Let's move if further requests or criminal activities are reported..."
As usual, rejecting her suggestion, Lestrade started following Charlotte towards the exit.
"... Mr Adler, don't just stand there, co along."
".........."
"I'll listen to the explanation thoroughly on the way..."
Her face still flushed, she spoke to Adler. However, when she turned towards Adler, her mind imdiately blanked out.
"... Huh?"
Because Adler, who had been standing behind her until just monts ago, was nowhere to be seen now.
"Where has he gone this ti..."
"... Let's just get out of here."
After staring blankly for a while, Lestrade attempted to head into the mansion, but Charlotte grabbed her arm and shook her head, dissuading her from following Adler.
"It's beco a habit his because we keep paying him too much attention."
"..."
"I have heard that the push is just as important as the pull in a relationship.”
Hearing her sincere advice, Lestrade tilted her head slightly before speaking,
"I don't think I require such knowledge, but... I do understand what you an."
"Why do you not need it? Watson was adamant that it's an essential rule of romance."
She whispered to Charlotte with a slightly wary look and then quietly stepped out of the mansion.
"Well, I... I’m already married after all."
"Oh..."
"... I don't need such shallow knowledge of romance."
Charlotte blinked her eyes, standing still montarily, her expression visibly crumpling in real-ti.
"Is that a challenge I hear...?"
.
.
.
.
.
... I'm still not used to this form.
Watching Charlotte Hols and Gia Lestrade leave the mansion to catch a carriage I, transford into a cat, turned around and slowly started treading down the mansion's corridor.
How the hell does the professor know such magic?
Analyzing the Magic Circle that the professor had shown made realise that… it was not just a simple transformation but a polymorph-level advanced magic.
How she could wield such systematized magic in a world where mana stones were discovered only recently and magic research had just barely begun was honestly beyond , but it was certainly to my advantage.
Just simply drawing the Magic Circle that the professor had sketched on the desk allowed to transform into a full-fledged cat. It was perfect for scouting and even escaping at a mont’s notice when necessary.
I must get to the bottom of this anomaly…
Normally, I would never poke around a case that was already closed, but things were a bit different this ti around.
Warning!
Erosion Rate — 55% → 60%
Warning!
Erosion Rate — 60% → 65%
Warning!
Erosion Rate — 65% → 70%
Despite my direct intervention in the case and crafting a plausible ending, the erosion rate had increased by 30 percent in just a few hours.
This was just like the speckled band case that we had previously solved. I must figure out why this was occurring.
- Lick.
- … Yesshh♡
Judging from the moans leaking from above, it seed Professor Presbury and Mr Freud would be spending a heated night in the laboratory.
Even if it ant staying up all night I had to uncover the reason behind the rising erosion rate today no matter what…
".....?"
With a serious expression, I continued strolling down the corridor when I subtly tilted my head in curiosity.
"ow?"
When I was still in my human form, I had certainly not noticed…
However, through the eyes of a cat, I noticed that the study at the end of the corridor shimred ominously in a sickening black smoke.
"........."
Black smoke that was unlike the chilling, emotionless extension of Charlotte’s mana. It was a black smoke that was viscous, eerie, and filled with negative emotions that would make you shudder in horror. Just like the shadowy Jill the Reaper.
- Thud, thud...
Before I knew it, I started gingerly approaching the study filled with that distinctly ominous smoke.
"... Eh?"
Although I had transford into a cat, my vision remained sharp, and it didn't take long to realise that what initially appeared as smoke was actually undulating, outstretched tentacles of nothingness itself.
.
.
.
.
.
"... No."
"What?"
anwhile, at that ti,
Jane Moriarty sipped her overly sugared coffee at a nearby coffee house, convinced that Adler, who had left her side without a word, would soon return to her embrace.
"You should never touch that, Adler..."
"What are you suddenly talking about...?"
"Not all beings from the ancient tis are like ..."
Mycrony Hols, who had been observing her with interest, displayed a bewildered look when the professor turned pale and abruptly rose from her seat.
"... Isaac is in danger."
Leaving those words behind, Moriarty vanished, dissolving into a puff of smoke.
"Haa, this happens every, single, ti."
Mycrony Hols, who had been staring at the spot where Moriarty disappeared with a flabbergasted look, finally whispered after a while.
"... Why are you all still sitting there looking so stunned?"
"""..........."""
"She said Adler is in danger, dammit."
A few seconds later, the coffee house patrons rose from their seats, returning to their roles as national agents.
:"
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