“Mmm…”
It seems I had dozed off for a mont. Opening my eyes, the sight of the darkened eyes greeted , a stark contrast from the last ti I had seen it.
Adler… is still here, huh…
Imdiately, the thought that Adler might have run away when I had dozed off ca to mind. However, the scene of him dozing off with his head bowed in front of soon entered my vision, making those thoughts dissipate.
“………”
The cheeky kid who had sohow naturally joined our group wasn’t sleepy, it seems, as she was glaring daggers at while practically glued next to Adler.
“What are you looking at, huh?”
“… Why do you sll like my master?”
“Are you a dog… or what?”
Why were all the won around Adler like this?
I was not one to talk, but this seed a bit too excessive even to .
“… But why are you speaking informally?”
“Why is my master’s scent so deeply embedded in you?”
I thought about scolding this cheeky kid for a mont, but the conversation seed to be going nowhere, so I just let it be.
Besides, scolding soone much stronger than was like asking for a beating.
“Uh… ugh…”
“……..?”
Just then, a muffled groan suddenly echoed in the cabin.
“Ah… ah…”
“Adler?”
Was he having a nightmare? Adler, who had been dozing off, was now sweating profusely as he made a pained expression.
“No… This is… entirely…”
“Why are you like this?”
“It’s for you all…”
Then he started talking in his sleep.
“I’m not abandoning anyone…”
“Look here.”
His condition was concerning, I couldn’t just leave him alone like this. So, I shook his shoulder, trying to snap him out of his state, but Adler showed no signs of waking up.
I thought he had just dozed off for a mont there. Now, it seed to that he had fallen into a deep slumber, seeing that he wasn’t waking up no matter what I did.
That being said, I had never seen this wretched man make such a pitiful expression before.
Even when his limbs were severed and crushed, he would only grin like a fool.
To think that just a nightmare could make him look so worn out and frail.
Could it be a trauma?
Based on my experiences, as both a soldier and a doctor, those who make such expressions always have an unspeakable past haunting them.
But to think that there was a kind of trauma which could make a man who grins even when stabbed on the street or diced by a serial killer look so pained.
Even for soone like who had experienced countless horrific and brutal scenarios due to my job, such trauma was hard to imagine.
“Master.”
“Uh…?”
“Are you alright?”
While I was drowned in those thoughts, Moran, unable to watch any longer, shook Adler vigorously to wake him.
“Ah…”
A montary dazed look on his face, Adler just gazed at the kid for so ti before reaching forward to pick up a cup of water, his hands trembling nonstop.
… I kinda like this look.
Isaac Adler, the handso, charming boy, the boy of many won’s dreams… made such a dissolute expression while his hands trembled so pitifully…
This unusual appearance of Adler, different from his usual self, subtly began stirring my tastes.
Now, I think I could ever so slightly understand why so many won wanted to harass him so much.
Maybe even I should try out my hand at teasing this bastard a bit.
… No, god, what the hell am I thinking?
After briefly entertaining such frivolous thoughts, I vigorously shook my head to escape from these absurd musings.
I realised that using the contents of my bag for portable use had already far exceeded re teasing, but that wasn’t the concern at the mont.
“What were you dreaming about to look so sickly, huh?”
“… It’s nothing.”
“Your expression says a different story though.”
Hearing my words, Adler directed a forced smile towards .
“It really is nothing.”
However, I could tell that there was no sincerity in that smile of his.
As he sweated coldly, pale-faced, forcing the corners of his mouth up only made him look more pitiful.
But why am I more drawn to him than usual?
… Calm down.
I never could have imagined I had a taste for this sort of thing.
The sight of Adler looking so distressed, so pained kept nagging at .
Has living in a boarding house with an anomaly like Hols made abnormal?
“Hehe?”
While pondering this, I found myself unknowingly poking Adler’s ribs with my hand.
“… Why, why are you doing that?”
Adler, shivering all over due to that, asked with a puppy-drenched-in-rain expression as I leaned in closer towards him.
“… Stay away from Master.”
But not feeling the need to answer, I just kept staring blankly at him, only to hear a chilling voice from nearby.
“Before I kill you.”
Moran, fiddling with the air rifle on her lap, muttered while glaring at with a dangerous glint.
“No killing, Moran…”
“Correction, before I cripple you.”
“That’s not allowed either…”
Although it was a terribly perilous scenario for , I just could not stop looking at Adler for so reason.
Maybe this appearance…
While there was personal preference involved there sowhere, there was another reason why I couldn’t take my eyes off him this ti.
… Maybe this is his true self?
Since this wretched, pitiful appearance, unlike his usual aloof and fake deanour, started seeming like what Adler really was deep inside.
Then why does this person hide this appearance, even wearing a mask in front of the people he truly loves?
- Click…
If I had Hols’s deductive skills, I might have discerned the reason by now. Alas, the sound of a gun being loaded nearby forced to turn my head away from Adler.
“… Moran, where are we now?”
“We’re almost at Canterbury station. We’ll stop there briefly before departing again.”
“Hmm…”
Finally relaxing, Adler turned towards Moran and posed a question to her.
“Watson, I think we should get off at Canterbury Station.”
“… What?”
I couldn’t help but doubt my ears at what I heard from him a mont later.
“Wasn’t our destination the pier? If we continue like this, we’ll arrive safely, right? Even the professor can’t catch up with the speed of the train.”
“… The professor is not to be underestimated. She probably boarded a special train as soon as she lost our tail. If you calculate the stop and arrival tis, there was no way she couldn’t catch up to us.”
“Then…”
“So, we need to get off at Canterbury Station first. Then we’ll cut across the field to… where was it? Ah, to Newhaven. Let’s cross over to France from there.”
His intentions were understandable. If they were dealing with a dangerous individual like Professor Moriarty, it was right to be cautious.
But, there was just one problem.
“What about our luggage? I have quite a bit, and I left it all in the luggage compartnt…”
“… Let’s just give up on it. We’ll purchase a cheap bag and just buy what we need as we go.”
“Ugh…”
“Isn’t it romantic?”
Adler, smiling thinly, still looked quite pale.
It was quite obvious to that he had a really bad nightmare, worse enough to overwhelm him so visibly, so I couldn’t even complain anymore.
“Let’s get ready to move. It’s better if we start moving as soon as the train arrives… Kulluk”
“…? Master?”
“Kulluk, kullu…”
Just as he was about to get up as planned, Adler’s pupils shook and erupted into a sporadic coughing fit.
“Ugh…”
“Blood, there’s blood. Are you alright, Master?”
“… It’s just fatigue. Nothing more.”
“Don’t overdo it. Shall I carry you?”
“It feels rather sinful being carried by a 12-year-old… It’s alright, I’m fine.”
Despite his excuses, Moran looked worried but sohow convinced herself by his words. However, as a doctor, Adler couldn’t fool my eyes.
If the paleness of his face was due to his deteriorating physical state, he must be reaching his limits by now.
Well, being a centuries-old demon, he probably had a way to resurrect himself, so there was no need to worry.
- Clank, clank
“Kulluk, kullu… Let’s move now. I’m fine…”
“It’s okay to rest for a bit, isn’t it? Let’s just rest until the coughing stops.”
Trying to ignore the unnecessary anxiety that was subtly growing within , I helped Adler disembark at Canterbury station. Even though he was trying to make us hurry, I couldn’t help but persuade him to rest for a bit, seeing as his coughing wasn’t stopping.
“Ah…”
But, just minutes later, we were frozen solid upon seeing a locomotive, with only one coach, passing by on the sa track as the train we had been on.
“….. What did I tell you?”
There sat Professor Moriarty in that coach, alone, looking at us with a cold expression. Strangely, fresh scars ran all over her face and arms.
“Kulluk… Before the professor jumps off the train, let’s get up quickly.”
“……….”
I’m afraid this encounter would haunt as one of the most horrific and chilling mories of my life.
.
.
.
.
.
Thus, the morning after narrowly escaping life-threatening danger multiple tis,
“Ugh…”
Suddenly, due to Adler’s sudden whim to head to Belgium instead of France, we boarded a Belgium-bound boat. I had to groggily open my eyes due to the sunlight pouring in through the window.
“… Everyone must be exhausted.”
The cabin was exceedingly small because it was hastily boarded, yet Adler, pressed close beside , and Moran, who squatted near the entrance, were still deeply asleep despite that.
“It seems like we’re about to arrive…”
The port was beginning to co into view, so I tried to shake Adler awake.
“Ugh, uh…”
Seeing him sweating profusely and groaning like he did on the train yesterday, I hesitated with my hand stretched out towards him.
“I miss you… my friends…”
“……..”
And then, while watching Adler in that state for a mont,
- Swoosh…
I quietly offered him my shoulder.
“…….”
Upon which, the groaning Adler grunted once before relaxing, comfortably nuzzling on my neck.
This isn’t right.
It wasn’t really my intention to help him. I just wanted to observe the beauty that lay in this young man suffering up close.
“… There’s still ti before we arrive.”
But now that it had co to this, it couldn’t be helped.
“Haaah…”
Leaning back in my seat with these thoughts, I sighed and got lost in thinking,
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I know he belongs to Hols but… what in hell should I do now?
The feeling of starting to slightly like soone I truly despised was quite strange.
… Co to think of it, does Adler really belong to Hols /genesisforsaken
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