Episode 14 — The Red Mana League (3)
“…And who might this be.”
“Mm, well.”
A few hours before the plan’s execution.
Acting on Professor Moriarty’s orders, I’d been poking around to uncover what Lady Clay was hiding from us—
“If I’d known this job would wrap up so blandly, I should’ve charged Senior Wilson a higher fee.”
—only to run smack into Charlotte Holmes, who, of all people, had taken a request to find me.
“So then, why were you loitering around the pawnshop run by my client’s family?”
From the look of her, she’d just kicked off her investigation into the case.
‘…A good opportunity.’
In that case, I couldn’t let it slip.
Because this was the perfect chance to accelerate Charlotte Holmes’s growth—by helping the Holmes standing right in front of me.
Honestly, the idea of me helping her is a little funny, but circumstances are circumstances.
In the original, Holmes solves her very first case at an age about three years from now.
And only about twenty years later, after piling up gravitas, does she wage a fierce duel with Moriarty and eke out a narrow victory.
But Charlotte—though her keen mind and powers of deduction are intact—lacks the experience and seasoning the original Holmes had.
So she suffers a few failures in the game.
And one of those is the first case of the game: the “Red Mana League.”
‘I should help.’
Yes, it’s an event where she grows a great deal mentally, but as things stand, the chance of a game over is pretty high.
Partly because her antagonist is Lady Joan Clay, whose intellect and raw power are top tier even this early on.
And partly because, for some reason, Dr. Rachel Watson—whose presence or absence matters more the more dangerous the case—didn’t come along.
‘…Over-leveling only Moriarty would be a problem, too.’
Only by letting the two geniuses oppose each other and strike a proper balance can we keep London at peace.
Right now, with my full support, Professor Moriarty is growing at a terrifying pace.
So at this juncture—where the balance could tip—I should start to intervene.
If the last incident was Professor Moriarty’s introduction to crime—
Then this one will be Charlotte Holmes’s coming-of-age.
“Judging from your silence, you’re quite flustered?”
“Miss Holmes.”
Having settled my thoughts, I spoke low to Holmes, who wore a confident look before me.
“What a coincidence. I happen to be investigating this case as well.”
“Your own disappearance?”
“Miss Holmes, you’ve already noticed, haven’t you—the tangled inner workings hidden in this case.”
She smiled, intrigued, and asked,
“Then why is a self-styled criminal consultant looking into those workings?”
“Because my client is hiding something from me. So I’m going to find out.”
“Hmm…”
“If the work gets compromised, that would be trouble.”
She knit her brows and tilted her head; I was just about to gently propose we investigate together—
—clack!
When a sudden chill of metal bit my wrist.
“Then let’s investigate together, Mr. Adler.”
Holmes snapped a cuff onto my wrist without warning, locked the other onto her own, then folded her arms.
“I’ll hire you, specially, as my assistant for the day.”
“…And this is?”
I was a little happy to be granted the august title of “one-day assistant,” but what was with the restraints play.
“A co-conspirator in the case, or a decisive witness. I’ve secured a key figure.”
“You don’t need to secure me; I won’t run. And detectives don’t have the right to arrest.”
“You never know. You might leave a letter and slip away again, like last time.”
She gave her cuffed wrist a playful shake.
“And there’s no issue about arrest powers. Worst case, I can testify I was threatened by a mage and forced to take a hostage.”
“You’re ruthless.”
“Well then, shall we get started, my assistant-for-a-day?”
And so, Charlotte Holmes and I—wrists locked together—started down the street in broad daylight under everyone’s stares.
[Villain Maker: Professor Moriarty’s advent plausibility satisfied]
[Progress 15% -> 17%]
“What the fuck.”
“Pardon?”
Meanwhile, why had the main quest’s progress ticked up just now?
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“By the way, why did you come to the pawnshop?”
“Here?”
Charlotte, keeping step with Isaac Adler she’d “secured,” answered his question.
“To see Miss Victoria Spaulding.”
“Why?”
“Well? Because when I barged into the interview room the other day, she was eavesdropping on your conversation through the crack in the door?”
“…Impressive that you noticed.”
“And the sight was awfully familiar.”
Then she drew a circular out of her bosom and waved it.
“Joan Clay. The last surviving member of the ducal House of Clay, whose entire line was annihilated years ago for high treason.”
“……….”
“Currently known as the head of the ‘Red Mana League,’ a group plotting the restoration of vampires—a highly dangerous figure.”
“And?”
“And at the moment, she’s disguised as the simple country girl Victoria Spaulding.”
Adler’s eyes went round; he chimed in,
“As expected of London’s genius girl. Remarkable.”
“Heh-hehm.”
“How did you figure it out?”
Charlotte shrugged and began to explain.
“When you spend a lot of time in disguise for cases, you learn. The mismatch between a natural hair color and one altered artificially with mana. The awkwardness that arises when you’re hiding your natural build.”
“Oh-ho.”
“And under the fringe she always keeps over her forehead—there’s a white spot, like a burn scar, isn’t there?”
When Adler nodded, she added, as if she’d expected it.
“A girl like that isn’t going to work at this pawnshop for half pay just for fun.”
“Right.”
“If we speculate on the reason, it can only be the bank pressed right against the pawnshop. Organizational funds, a relic vampires have coveted for generations… London’s largest bank gives plenty of motive.”
With that, Charlotte drew her cane.
“So I came to investigate… but the pawnshop’s closed. Well, can’t be helped.”
Then she lifted the cane high and murmured,
“But there’s always a way.”
Holmes began tapping the paving stones.
“Miss Holmes. What are you doing.”
“………”
“Is it because you can’t hear a hollow ring from the ground?”
She paused, tilted her head, and Adler asked in a low voice; Holmes shot him a quiet glare.
“That’s not it.”
“For the record, poking the ground with a cane won’t make it ring. If the hollow below were that obvious, the street would’ve sunk already.”
“They might have stabilized it with mana stones.”
“In that case, the mana stones you’re carrying would have reacted by now, wouldn’t they, Miss Holmes?”
Holmes stared at Adler.
“Mr. Adler, you already know how this trick works.”
“No. As you know, I’m handling Miss Wilson; I don’t know the trick.”
“…………”
She fell into thought as she followed behind him.
‘Not taking the bait.’
In truth, she’d taken out the cane and tapped the ground to draw a reaction from Adler.
With the pawnshop shut tight, and no grounds to walk into the bank’s security office—
The remaining method was to watch the reactions of Adler, who grasped the case.
“So, what will you do.”
Adler only smiled slyly.
“Will you give up verifying the presence of the tunnel like this?”
A look and a glint that bordered on provocation.
“No.”
“As expected of Charlotte Holmes. That you can discern whether a tunnel exists even in this situation.”
Brows twitching at that look, Holmes dropped her gaze and thought.
“…I’d better prepare to fight vampires.”
Watching her with a fond gaze, Adler cleared his throat and murmured,
“If our client really is up to no good, we’ll need a way to counter the red mana of the vampire clan…”
“…That’s it.”
“Eh?”
In that instant, Holmes’s eyes began to shine.
“A vampire’s mana is several times stronger than other mana, but you can’t regulate its force. That’s why crimes committed by vampires are easy to read.”
“And?”
“Miss Joan Clay only started working here a month ago. For a tunnel to be complete already, she must have used magic.”
Holmes’s expression brightened.
“But then the nature of mana becomes a problem. Excavation requires fine control. If you pour in that kind of immense mana, this whole area would likely collapse.”
“But what if, as you said, they used mana stones to keep it from caving in?”
“In that case, when I tapped with my cane, the ground would have rung.”
Holmes finished and declared, brimming with confidence,
“There is no tunnel, Mr. Adler.”
“Well done, Miss Holmes.”
She gave a small shrug; Adler chuckled, patted her head, and murmured gently,
“Shall we head to our next stop?”
“Yes, Mr. Adler.”
Heart fluttering at his words, Charlotte followed after him.
‘…Wait.’
She realized he had just patted her head.
‘He said he didn’t know the trick.’
And that he had provoked her, then deliberately leaked a hint.
‘…There’s a good chance that was true.’
Who knew if it was or not, but according to Wilson’s testimony, Adler had been stuck to her nearly all day.
But if so, how had he realized there wasn’t a tunnel before she did?
Could he… have finished the deduction sooner than she did?
“Miss Holmes?”
Holmes, staring blankly at his back, heard Adler’s gentle voice.
“What are you doing, not keeping up?”
“………….”
“The next riddle is waiting for us.”
Adler flashed her a quick smile.
—thump…
Charlotte’s heart began to pound at that exact moment.
‘He’s my kind after all?’
Isaac Adler’s eyes, calling a case a “riddle,” were full of delight and anticipation.
And those eyes were so very like her own excited eyes reflected in the bank’s glass across the way.
So though their ends might differ, at bottom he and she were likely the same kind.
“Hello?”
An understanding—one she had never found, and thought didn’t exist anywhere in this world.
A prime candidate stood smiling before her eyes.
‘He’s even a match for me in skill.’
And that understanding was, astonishingly, someone who had even bested her once.
‘…Maybe more.’
No—perhaps more than that.
If she wasn’t imagining it, he’d just now, like her older sister, finished the deduction in a flash and, unlike her sister, gently handed her the thread.
And that process—unlike her sister’s—was wonderfully kind.
—thump, thump…
Thinking that far made Charlotte’s heart beat still harder.
Nothing was certain yet. It could be coincidence, and at the next stop she might meet a cheap trick and be disappointed.
But if her guess proved true, countless riddles lay ahead of her.
Riddles from a criminal consultant meant only for her—the very thing that might free her, at last, from the “curse” of ghastly boredom and ennui that had hounded her since childhood.
‘…But why is he doing criminal consultation?’
Head bowed to hide her face, quietly following Adler, Charlotte thought.
‘He seems good at heart.’
Her gaze drifted to Adler’s burned left hand—a riddle still unsolved.
‘…No.’
She shook her head.
‘Obviously, it’s not for me.’
Only her sister and Watson knew the facts related to her “curse.”
There was no way Isaac Adler could know—and even if he did, there’d be no reason for him to sacrifice himself to solve it for her.
‘…Professor Moriarty, was it?’
Just then, the image came to mind of the young professor who’d sat beside Adler in the office.
‘I should dig into her.’
Remembering the professor’s name with a slight frown, Holmes murmured inwardly.
[Villain Maker: Professor Moriarty’s advent plausibility satisfied]
[Progress 17% -> 20%]
“I’m going to lose my mind.”
“What was that?”
“…Nothing.”
A firm plausibility was taking shape between Charlotte’s and Jane’s narratives.
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“Are you all right?”
“…Yes. Just a bit dizzy.”
I stopped for a moment, staring into space and breaking into a cold sweat; at Holmes’s question from behind, I put on a smile and answered.
“That’s odd.”
But something about him looked off. Holmes muttered, suspicion budding.
“……Ah.”
Then she remembered what had happened a few hours earlier and quietly slipped a hand into her pocket.
“………”
The sand in the hourglass she drew out was almost spent—only a fingernail’s worth remained.
“Um, I need the restroom.”
Adler—who’d been scratching his head as if nothing were wrong—asked with a bright face. Holmes, stunned by her late realization, stared at his pallid features for a long moment and then spoke, softly.
“…Let’s go together.”
“Sorry?”
“I need to stop by, too.”
It was the moment her long obsession with Isaac Adler began.