"The innkeeper is running late..."
"That does seem to be the case, yes."
"Now that I think about it, sothing definitely seems off..."
As suggested by Professor Moriarty, Isaac Adler entered the inn alongside her. Now, they were waiting for the innkeeper in the lobby, who was reportedly away only for a brief period.
"What do you an?"
"Oh, well..."
Scratching his head, Adler mumbled to himself in an incoherent jumble. However, when asked by the professor, he answered in a whispery voice.
"You know, everything that happened after coming here. None of the events we have faced occurred as I had anticipated.”
"Is that so?"
"Yes, honestly... until now, I was able to predict and respond to the cases and events to so extent. But this case, it’s completely unpredictable..."
"Hmm..."
His response made the professor glance at Adler with narrowed eyes.
"Why do you think such a difference has occurred?"
"... Um. I'm not sure. This is the first ti this has happened."
Adler muttered not noticing the suspicious gaze she directed toward him. A frown soon crossed his face and he opted to seek her opinion.
"Could it be that the mysterious entity we encountered is involved?"
"Adler. Didn't I tell you earlier that you don't need to worry about that?"
"But I can't think of anything else..."
Seeing him look so anxious, an amused look montarily crossed the professor’s face, her facade breaking. However, she imdiately adjusted her expression and began speaking, feigning a serious voice.
"Let be frank, Adler, I ca here on a whim after receiving the letter of request. So to , your claim about being able to predict the flow of events is even more incomprehensible than your ramblings."
"........"
"Adler. I've been considering a hypothesis for so ti..."
She paused deliberately for a mont there, only continuing when Adler gazed up at her.
"Can you see the future?"
"... Pardon?"
Eyes wide open, Professor Moriarty leaned in toward Adler, pressing him as he showcased a subtly perplexed look at her claim.
"If not that, perhaps you're from the future?"
"........"
"There must be so ans by which you can peek into the future, right?"
"I really don't understand what you're talking about."
"Don't try to squirm your way out of this topic."
Eventually, her head began bobbing rapidly in her usual cute manner, and she looked Adler in the eye before laying out her thoughts.
"I still rember what you said during our monuntal first eting."
"That..."
"You knew what kind of person I would beco in the future, and how people would refer to , didn't you?"
Adler tried to speak, opening his mouth to counter her. However, her sharp questions made him think otherwise and he closed his mouth shut.
"... If that's true, I have one question."
She inched even closer, a cold smile stretched her lips as she asked him the question she had on her mind for the longest ti.
"I've done so personal research, and I found out that Reichenbach Falls is a waterfall located in Switzerland. Though I admit I'm not sure why I would end up there..."
"......"
"So, referencing what you said at the ti, will I die at the Reichenbach Falls?"
Hearing her, Adler looked at her with a dull gaze before smiling wryly.
"I see, so even Professor fears death, huh…”
"Oh, please. I have put such fear behind a long ti ago.."
To his playful comnt, she answered in a subdued voice, her tone grave.
"Then why is your voice trembling?"
"Because I might not see you anymore."
For a brief instant, a heavy silence befell the lobby.
"Honestly, the thought is a bit scary to ."
In that silence, Professor Moriarty quietly whispered, leaning her head on Adler's shoulder. A faint sll of costics and perfu emanated from her, entering Adler’s senses.
Apparently, she had put in the ti to brush up on her makeup skills.
"Rest assured, Professor. You won’t be dying there."
"... How can you be so sure about that?"
The realisation sinking in, Adler briefly fell silent. Soon, however, a firm voice rose from the depth of his heart as he replied to Professor Moriarty in a tone filled with endless conviction.
"Because I will ensure that happens."
"......"
"So don't worry too much about all that, Professor."
Hearing his staunch reply, a blush began creeping up her face.
"I’m sorry for making you wait for such a long ti..."
Just then, the missing innkeeper returned to the inn.
"Ah, it’s fine..."
Sitting next to the professor, a radiant smile lingered on Adler’s face. However, he got up at the innkeeper’s arrival and made his way toward the counter.
"By any chance, do you have two separate rooms available? If not, a room with two beds at least..."
Professor Moriarty quietly watched his receding back. For so reason, it seed particularly more reliable than usual.
"Pardon?"
Quietly, her lips quirked up.
"Is there only one room left?"
… Isn't that obvious?
Her plan, nurtured over the past few weeks, was on the verge of fruition.
"... Yes, well. Just give us the available room for now."
All the rooms in this inn have already been rented out by , after all.
.
.
.
.
.
"Haah, haahhh..."
"Miss, you have to pay before you leave!"
anwhile, at that mont… at the border leading toward the entrance to Cornwall,
- Ding-a-ling...!
"... Oh my."
Charlotte threw a handful of coins at the coachman who tried to stop her. Not willing to waste even a single second, she started running toward the county entrance with fiery eyes.
"What on earth is going on..."
"Such a bizarre phenonon has never been reported before..."
"I wonder if the people inside are safe..."
Soon, a crowd gathered in the entrance entered her vision, murmuring among themselves.
"Hey, young miss. There’s no point in trying to go inside."
"........"
"Since this morning, no matter how much we walk or how further we get, we just can't enter Cornwall..."
As Charlotte rapidly made her way through the crowd, a resident called out to her after noticing her.
"Move aside."
"No, miss... I'm telling you it's futile..."
"Move."
Irked, Charlotte emitted a terrifying murderous aura and started moving again.
"W-What the hell? I was just trying to give so advice, that’s all..."
Overwheld by her aura, the resident stepped aside by the slightest margin, clearing himself off her path. With an obviously displeased look on her face, Charlotte passed by the overwhelming resident, not bothering to say anything.
"Isn't this bizarre phenonon sothing that person should be resolving? Who was it again...?"
"Inspector Lestrade?"
"Yes, her! I have heard she has a 100% solving rate for bizarre cases…”
Keeping her silence, Charlotte kept her pace, all the while listening to the murmurs of the people surrounding her.
"Just a mont, this area is currently..."
- Gooooooooooo...
"... Eek?"
A few people rushed in to stop her advance, however, a terrifying wave of black smoke arose from Charlotte’s body at their sudden intrusion.
"If you don't want to die, move aside."
Faced with her nacing expression, the ddling people slowly, cautiously stepped away from her path, imitating the resident before them.
"Haa..."
Finally standing at the boundary line that separated London from Cornwall, Charlotte took a deep breath and imdiately stretched her hand forward.
- Crackle...
Imdiately, sparks scattered everywhere for a brief instant before her hand slipped through the barrier like passing through a layer of bubble, surprising her for a mont.
"... Are you inviting to co in?"
With a look of disbelief, Charlotte murmured under her breath before quietly inserting her body into the dinsion.
"Oh, by the way, you folks."
Suddenly rembering, she turned toward the chattering residents behind her and spoke.
"How about you improve your acting skills while you wait here?"
Imdiately, the chattering of the idle residents ca to an abrupt stop, as if on sync.
"Well, even if your acting was on the sa level as Adler or even … I would be a total imbecile to be fooled by the acting of guys I t on the train the other day. Not to ntion, they are the sa guys who take turns to tail every week. There’s no chance in hell I’ll be deceived.”
Leaving those words laced in frost behind, Charlotte stepped inside the barrier proper and disappeared from the residents’ collective view.
""........""
Total silence ensued in the scene for a while.
"... Yes, she has just entered, Professor."
Amid the eerie silence, the man who had blocked Charlotte first started communicating with soone.
"It seems that she has a grasp over the general situation here. Additionally, she was already aware of our true identity…”
Apart from the communicating man, the other silent residents soon turned into red smoke and dispersed in all directions.
"... But, for so reason, her breathing was ragged, laboured even?”
.
.
.
.
.
"Hmm..."
Lately, every ti I wake up, I seem to have a headache and feel so groggy.
Why did I faint this ti...
It was not due to insomnia or because of my sleep schedule. The root cause is getting caught in specific situations that cause – soone in perfect health – to faint.
"......."
Perhaps that was why I had already beco adept at handling it.
To start, whenever sothing like this happens, it is essential to not open my eyes straight away. Instead, taking deep breaths and ntally preparing myself for any situation takes precedence.
… I rember receiving the room key from the counter and entering with the professor.
Recalling the situation just before the blackout also tended to help to so extent.
What happened after we entered the room...?
Despite trying to recall, nothing specific ca to mind.
- Swoosh...
Nevertheless, I managed to calm myself successfully and, curious about my current situation, cautiously opened my eyes.
"........"
The scenario unfolding before made start gaping with a blank expression.
"Ad-Adler..."
"Professor?"
For so reason, the professor, missing her top, was straddling on the bed while mumbling sothing exceedingly embarrassing for soone like her.
"My body feels hot..."
"Yes, yes?"
"... Help ."
I couldn’t help myself from blinking incredulously at the absurd scenario.
"... Uh."
Soon, a heat started enveloping my entire body, making shudder. The realisation dawning on , I hurriedly began glancing at my surroundings in a panic.
"Ah..."
Soon, I found the culprit.
"... Shit."
The incense burner on the desk in the room, emitting suspicious pink smoke and looking almost identical to one from the novel, was the cause.
"This can't be..."
I tried to cover my nose and mouth urgently, but it had already been too late.
"........"
Both the professor and I had been steeped in this smoke in the enclosed space for far too long. The drug was already in our system.
"Professor... we need to get out of here..."
"Adler..."
Even in that situation, I tried to drag the professor outside sohow.
"... Aren't you going to overpower ?"
Registering those words, what little sanity I had left completely vanished.
"Fucking shittttt... I can't take it anymore...."
"... Ahhh!"
I must have been seeing things in my delirium. Why else would I think that the terrified look that contorted the professor's face as I pounced on her like a ravenous beast… had montarily taken on the form of an eerily bone-chilling expression of triumph…
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