Episode 10 – The First Client
“Mr. Adler.”
“Yes, Professor.”
A few hours after we’d plastered the academy with notices for the “Mock Crime Consulting Club.”
“I’m the one who trusted you and stamped the authorization, and I’m the one who agreed to sit in on interviews at your request.”
Professor Moriarty, who’d been handling the students coming for interviews with me in her office, addressed me in a low voice.
“However, I’m starting to regret that choice.”
Twining a lock of hair around her finger, she clicked her tongue and turned her gaze forward.
“After watching those pathetic antics.”
“Eee—ek…”
The student in front of us was straining with all his might to wield mana.
“H-how is it? Isn’t this red enough?”
“Do you not know the difference between orange and red?”
At Moriarty’s bored remark, the student dispelled his mana and began to scratch his head.
“I—I tried my best…”
“Next.”
“…Tch.”
Receiving the rejection, he grumbled and slouched out of the office.
“Thanks to that strange condition you insisted on, the interview room has turned into a mana demonstration stage for students angling for club bonus points.”
“……….”
“How many more hours do I have to watch those idiots break their backs trying to manifest red mana—which doesn’t even exist in London?”
With sleepy eyes, Professor Moriarty lay her cheek on the desk and stared at me.
“Here, have one.”
“Mhm.”
She looked rather worn out, so I took a sugar cube from the pack I’d confiscated for her health and handed it over.
“Just a little longer. The one I’ve been waiting for will come.”
“Hmmm…”
“I’ll give you one more cube, so please wait nicely.”
She still looked unconvinced, so I put another cube in her palm. Only then did she toss them into her mouth, chew, and nod.
— 끼이익…
Just as I was getting an odd feeling—as if I’d become her dedicated handler—
“Uh, h-hello?”
Without being told to enter, the interview room door opened and a girl stepped inside.
“Is this the Mock Crime Consulting Club?”
A neat, diligent-looking girl with short dark-red hair hovered by the door and asked.
‘Speak of the devil and he appears.’
I took a quick measure of the student who looked every inch the model pupil, then smiled inwardly.
“Second-year, Student Affairs division. V-Victoria Spaulding.”
‘Of course you couldn’t resist coming.’
“I look forward to working with you!”
Because the fourth-smartest girl in London—the one whose “Red-Headed League” case I’d stolen for myself—had finally appeared before us.
“Professor. What are you doing.”
“Hm?”
“I told you—when you first meet a client, you start by analyzing.”
I gave the girl a brief nod in return, then tapped the still-prone Moriarty and murmured to her.
“As crime consultants, it’s basic to grasp the client’s information, Professor.”
“…Understood, Mr. Adler.”
In that instant, her eyes began to glow quietly.
“Please sit, Senior Spaulding.”
Watching her gaze sharpen like a predator’s for a moment, I turned back to the girl before me.
“We’ll begin the interview.”
Time to add one more volunteer to help me cure the Professor’s boredom.
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.
.
.
.
“First, would you demonstrate your mana for us, Senior?”
“…M-must I?”
The girl who introduced herself as Victoria Spaulding flustered at Adler’s request and asked back.
“You don’t have to—but any reason to avoid it?”
“Is there a reason, student?”
Moriarty parroted Adler’s words beside me, head tilted.
“I—I’m still not very good at handling mana… hehe.”
“If that’s all, it’s fine. As long as there’s enough color to see.”
“T-then… I’ll try.”
Glancing between Adler and Moriarty, the girl finally yielded to their urging, held out her right hand, and began to rouse mana.
— 츠즈즈…
A moment later, a match-flame’s worth of orange-red aura faintly kindled over her hand.
“A-as you can see… this is my limit.”
““……….””
“M-moreover, a person’s inherent mana color follows their hair color. In a London where no red hair exists, it’s… impossible, isn’t it?”
Watching us for our reaction, the girl pointed to her own orange hair and offered excuses.
“B-but… why did you put in such a strange condition?”
“Even if it’s ‘mock,’ this is a crime consulting club. We need someone who can stage a crime scene using red mana.”
At Adler’s answer to her timid question—
“…So that’s it.”
The girl murmured and abruptly stood.
“…I just remembered something urgent.”
“Is that so?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll be go—”
“Then before you go, one question, Senior.”
As she hurried to leave, Adler tossed her one more.
“If you were to join our club, what crime would you want consulting on?”
She paused, then answered with a sunny smile.
“Mm… who knows? Robbing London’s finest bank has been my childhood dream.”
“Truly?”
Adler’s mouth curled; he lowered his voice and whispered to her:
“Lady Joan Clay, of royal blood—what could you possibly lack that you’d resort to that?”
Silence fell.
“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She stood stock-still and stared at Adler, then broke the hush with a blank look.
“I’m just an ordinary farmer’s daughter. I only got into this academy because I happened to be born able to use mana, and…”
“Student, it’s not a great habit to stick your hand in your pocket and focus all your mana there.”
Moriarty’s amused voice cut in.
“Someone might mistake you for preparing to fight.”
When the girl shut her mouth at that, Moriarty tapped the table with a finger and went on:
“Especially when vampires—said to have been hunted to extinction across Europe—show that behavior, it’s most inappropriate.”
“……….”
“Even if you’re a duke’s daughter concealing your status. At least within this academy, a professor’s authority is greater.”
And the moment those words ended—
“…Hah.”
The girl let out a cool sigh and sat back down.
“How did you figure it out.”
The slightly dim-witted air vanished; legs crossed, she asked with hauteur.
“A faint whiff of dye. Untrimmed red baby hairs at the nape. Unlike the other idiots trying to force their mana to look red, you tried to make yours look orange at all costs. Put those together and there’s only one answer.”
“……….”
“I don’t know how my cute assistant knows it, but red mana is a trait possessed only by vampires. Or am I wrong?”
When Moriarty finished, the girl spoke with a grudgingly impressed look.
“I thought you were just fools, but you’re not ordinary.”
“And you are not ordinary either. You used a very particular perfume to mask your scent and shaved your body hair so cleanly that I nearly missed it.”
“Hmph.”
“But that, instead, doomed you. A poor farmer’s daughter wouldn’t use such distinctive perfume, nor shave so neatly.”
Moriarty’s face was alight with excitement.
“For the record, the ‘dye smell’ was a lie. Your perfume was so distinctive I just tried a probe. Next time, cultivate a habit of worrying it to the end.”
An expression like a child on her very first ride at a fair.
“…Annoying.”
Fixing that look in her eyes, Lady Joan Clay muttered in a chilly voice.
“To think a hunter would be in this academy as well.”
And in the next instant—
— 고오오오오오오…
A blazing-red aura surged out around her.
“For someone who’s quick, you’ve made a rather stupid choice.”
Filling the room with mana that burned like red blood, Clay whispered with scorn:
“If you were going to face me, you should have brought at least a hundred hunters. What do you think you can do with just two?”
“Did you come this full of openings because you’re sure you can escape?”
“I’ve no desire to bandy words with hunters.”
Clay’s mana began to heave in waves as she flatly swatted away Moriarty’s question.
“Hm.”
At the same time, Professor Moriarty raised a finger, a chilling smile on her lips.
“Beg pardon, Lady Clay.”
At that desperate moment, I hurriedly caught the Professor’s hand and began to speak.
“We’re not hunters.”
“Doesn’t matter. Now that you know what I am…”
“We’re crime consultants who will, with utmost sincerity, help Your Ladyship orchestrate the revival of vampires in the nineteenth century.”
Clay’s brows knit as she looked at Adler.
“The reason we lured you here in the first place was to take your case.”
“I can do it by myself. Why should I take your help?”
“Because London’s genius girl will stand in your way.”
“What?”
“Even if not that—now that we’ve learned of your plan, carrying it out is impossible.”
Clay snorted at Adler’s words.
“As I said, I can just kill you both here and—”
“Unless we send a cancellation order, tomorrow morning’s papers will be plastered with articles about you.”
“……….”
Adler did not yield.
“Ah, of course, that’s just life insurance. We won’t force the commission. If you walk out without hiring us, there’ll be no penalty.”
“But let me be clear: without our help, your plan will fail.”
When Adler finished, Moriarty added with a smile:
“Your plan is flawed at its root.”
Silence flowed again.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’ll tell you after you hire us, student.”
At Moriarty’s unruffled tone, Clay, eyes bright with irritation, opened her mouth.
“The fee?”
“I have plenty of money, so I’ll need something special. How about Your Ladyship becomes my familiar.”
“I’ll take that to mean you want to die right now.”
“In exchange, if you’re even a little dissatisfied with the result, I’ll become Your Ladyship’s thrall.”
Clay’s mana thrummed again—but at that proposal, she grew thoughtful.
“If you put exactly what you just said into the contract and sign, I’ll grant you the privilege of my commission.”
“Agreed.”
“Of course—with a contract under ‘contract magic.’”
“But of course.”
When Adler accepted too easily, Clay eyed him with suspicion, then murmured with a sneer:
“If you’re that eager to be my thrall, I could make you one right now.”
“It’s more certain by contract than by mere enthrallment.”
“Ha.”
She drew a quill from her breast and spoke under her breath:
“Making London’s scoundrel heel like a dog might be rather fun.”
A few minutes later, the crime consulting contract bearing Adler’s and Clay’s signatures was complete.
.
.
.
.
.
“Th-then… g-goodbye!”
At some point her usual simple air had returned; Clay called out loudly and stepped out of the office.
“…Professor, you may rejoice now.”
Only then did my tension unwind. I sighed and spoke quietly to Professor Moriarty at my side.
“Our first case has finally come to us.”
Our first case—later to be called the “Red Mana League.”
“Indeed.”
At last facing it head-on, Professor Moriarty smiled faintly and replied in a low voice:
“If you become someone else’s, I’ll kill them, Mr. Adler.”
Not an answer—a murder notice.
How can a person wear such a fresh, bright smile while saying something so terrifying?
“Me? Or the other person?”
“Assume both will die.”
“…If I want to stay alive, I’d better work hard on this one.”
Even as I thought that, I had to marvel at myself for starting to handle this sort of situation with ease.
“By the way—why did you grab my hand earlier?”
I was smiling wryly to myself when the Professor suddenly asked.
“No need to get hurt in a pointless fight.”
Of course, the one who’d get hurt in a pointless fight would have been Lady Clay.
No matter who she was, there was no way she could defeat this world’s final boss—Professor Moriarty—whose power I still couldn’t even guess at.
I didn’t particularly want to make her my fellow top-grade slave to the Professor this early, only to break her.
“Why are you tilting your head and staring at me like that?”
“You’re delightful.”
“Looking at me that way is sexual harassment too, Professor.”
“Pfft.”
Trading just enough banter, I began to rise—
— 끼이익…
“……?”
The office door opened again. I turned, thinking Lady Clay had come back—
“…Ah.”
—and let out a death rattle as I froze.
“This is the Mock Crime Consulting Club, correct?”
Charlotte Holmes, in the Auguste Detective Academy uniform, stood before me with a cool smile.
“Mr. Adler.”
Why the hell is she here now.