Chapter 166: The Devil''s Foot (4)"The innkeeper is runningte..."
"That does seem to be the case, yes."
"Now that I think about it, something 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 mean?"
"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 aftering here. None of the events we have faced urred as I had anticipated.”
"Is that so?"
"Yes, honestly... until now, I was able to predict and respond to the cases and events to some extent. But this case, it’spletely unpredictable...""Hmm..."
His response made the professor nce at Adler with narrowed eyes.
"Why do you think such a difference has urred?"
"... Um. I''m not sure. This is the first time 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 momentarily crossed the professor’s face, her facade breaking. However, she immediately adjusted her expression and began speaking, feigning a serious voice.
"Let me be frank, Adler, I came here on a whim after receiving the letter of request. So to me, your im about being able to predict the flow of events is even more iprehensible than your ramblings."
"........"
"Adler. I''ve been considering a hypothesis for some time..."
She paused deliberately for a moment 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 im.
"If not that, perhaps you''re from the future?"
"........"
"There must be some means 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 beforeying out her thoughts.
"I still remember what you said during our monumental first meeting."
"That..."
"You knew what kind of person I would be in the future, and how people would refer to me, 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 time.
"I''ve done some personal research, and I found out that Reichenbach Falls is a waterfall located in Switzend. Though I admit I''m not sure why I would end up there..."
"......"
"So, referencing what you said at the time, 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 me a long time ago.."
To his yfulment, 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 me."
In that silence, Professor Moriarty quietly whispered, leaning her head on Adler''s shoulder. A faint smell of cosmetics and perfume emanated from her, entering Adler’s senses.
Apparently, she had put in the time 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 time..."
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 avable? If not, a room with two beds at least..."
Professor Moriarty quietly watched his receding back. For some reason, it seemed particrly more reliable than usual.
"Pardon?"
Quietly, her lips quirked up.
"Is there only one room left?"
<em>… Isn''t that obvious?</em>
Her n, nurtured over the past few weeks, was on the verge of fruition.
"... Yes, well. Just give us the avable room for now."
<em>All the rooms in this inn have already been rented out by me, after all.</em>
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"Haah, haahhh..."
"Miss, you have to pay before you leave!"
Meanwhile, at that moment… at the border leading toward the entrance to Cornwall,
<em>- Ding-a-ling...!</em>
"... 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 phenomenon 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 some advice, that’s all..."
Overwhelmed 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 phenomenon something <strong>that person</strong> 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 moment, this area is currently..."
<em>- Gooooooooooo...</em>
"... Eek?"
A few people rushed in to stop her advance, however, a terrifying wave of ck smoke arose from Charlotte’s body at their sudden intrusion.
"If you don''t want to die, move aside."
Faced with her menacing expression, the meddling 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 immediately stretched her hand forward.
<em>- Crackle...</em>
Immediately, sparks scattered everywhere for a brief instant before her hand slipped through the barrier like passing through ayer of bubble, surprising her for a moment.
"... Are you inviting me toe in?"
With a look of disbelief, Charlotte murmured under her breath before quietly inserting her body into the dimension.
"Oh, by the way, you folks."
Suddenly remembering, she turned toward the chattering residents behind her and spoke.
"How about you improve your acting skills while you wait here?"
Immediately, the chattering of the idle residents came to an abrupt stop, as if on sync.
"Well, even if your acting was on the same level as Adler or even me… I would be a total imbecile to be fooled by the acting of guys I met on the train the other day. Not to mention, they are the same guys who take turns to tail me every week. There’s no chance in hell I’ll be deceived.”
Leaving those wordsced 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 startedmunicating with someone.
"It seems that she has a grasp over the general situation here. Additionally, she was already aware of our true identity…”
Apart from themunicating man, the other silent residents soon turned into red smoke and dispersed in all directions.
"... But, for some reason, her breathing was ragged,boured even?”
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"Hmm..."
Lately, every time I wake up, I seem to have a headache and feel so groggy.
<em>Why did I faint this time...</em>
It was not due to insomnia or because of my sleep schedule. The root cause is me getting caught in specific situations that cause me – someone in perfect health – to faint.
"......."
Perhaps that was why I had already be adept at handling it.
To start, whenever something like this happens, it is essential to not open my eyes straight away. Instead, taking deep breaths and mentally preparing myself for any situation takes precedence.
<em>… I remember receiving the room key from the counter and entering with the professor.</em>
Recalling the situation just before the ckout also tended to help to some extent.
<em>What happened after we entered the room...?</em>
Despite trying to recall, nothing specific came to mind.
<em>- Swoosh...</em>
Nevertheless, I managed to calm myself sessfully and, curious about my current situation, cautiously opened my eyes.
"........"
The scenario unfolding before me made me start gaping with a nk expression.
"Ad-Adler..."
"Professor?"
For some reason, the professor, missing her top, was straddling me on the bed while mumbling something exceedingly embarrassing for someone like her.
"My body feels hot..."
"Yes, yes?"
"... Help me."
I couldn’t help myself from blinking incredulously at the absurd scenario.
"... Uh."
Soon, a heat started enveloping my entire body, making me shudder. The realisation dawning on me, I hurriedly began ncing 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 toote.
"........"
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 somehow.
"... Aren''t you going to overpower me?"
Registering those words, what little sanity I had leftpletely 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 momentarily taken on the form of an eerily bone-chilling expression of triumph…