Becoming Professor Moriarty's Probability

- Squeak…

“……?”

For a long, long time, I just looked at the message that popped up on the system with a vacant gaze.

“Professor? Are you still here…?”

“…….”

“I thought you had already left. Did you forget something?”

Catching sight of Professor Moriarty, who had been peeking through the partially open door of the hospital room, I asked with a perplexed look on my face, curious about how long she had been there.

“Professor?”

“……….”

However, for some reason, she just stood there, silently looking at me.

“What’s wrong with you so suddenly…”

- Click…!

Just as my face washed over with puzzlement, Professor Moriarty quietly entered the room and closed the door behind her.

- Thump…

Then, she waddled over to the bed where I was lying and quietly sat down beside me. Then she gazed at me once more, not saying a word like moments before.

“Is there something wrong?”

I tilted my head, looking at her, and cautiously asked. However, no answer came from the professor.

- Swish…

I wasn’t sure just how long passed just like that.

“Adler…”

Lifting my head slightly upon hearing her voice, I was suddenly taken aback.

“Is this how it’s done?”

“…..!?”

Tears were streaming down from the eyes of Professor Moriarty, who sat demurely beside me.

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“There is nothing I cannot solve.”

“Pr-Professor!?”

Even though she was shedding tears from her eyes for the very first time, she did so with a confident expression on her face, a disorienting contrast.

“You claim to know all sorts of secrets of this world. But, do you really think it’s hard for me to shed a mere drop of tear?”

“Uh…”

“Well, then, Adler.”

Isaac Adler and that rookie investigator, who had turned into a greater source of irritation for Moriarty lately, mentioned that she was unable to shed tears throughout her lifetime.

“Lick it.”

“What?”

But here she was, shedding a perfect droplet of liquid from the eyes. Anatomically and chemically, no one could deny that droplet of liquid was a tear.

“Lick.”

Even if history recorded these as the most authentic tears ever shed, the professor knew it wouldn’t be enough.

“Uh, um…”

- Swish…

“Ye-Ye-Yes…”

As the victorious professor gazed intently at Adler with her head held high, Adler, who hesitated for a moment, closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue.

“… Lick it thoroughly.”

“Yes…”

“What are you talking about? These are scientifically perfect tears.”

An unknown amount of time passed like that.

“Hmm?”

“Yes, that should be enough.”

“… For?”

“For your treatment, of course.”

Playfully, she bit on Adler’s tongue as he licked the corners of her eyes while looking at her cautiously. Her cheeks slightly reddened as she began to murmur.

“You’re terminally ill, I know… but they said that consuming dragon tears can extend one’s life, right…?”

“………”

“Ah, I’ve actually been researching that for some time and I have finally succeeded today.”

Adler listened to her words in a daze.

“The tears I shed just now… should be identical in composition to those of a dragon.”

“Professor…”

“So, your lifespan issue is resolved. Now, we just need to focus on how we’ll transform London into a kingdom of crime…”

“You’re wrong…”

He soon shook his head vigorously, interrupting the professor’s triumphant statement.

“What do you mean wrong…?”

“Well, those aren’t tears.”

“……?”

The professor, momentarily baffled, then smiled and asked.

“What are you talking about? These are scientifically perfect tears.”

“… That may be true. But magically, they have no effect.”

“Why is that?”

At her puzzled expression, Adler sighed and replied.

“Dragon tears… only tears that dragons shed from genuine sadness contain magical power.”

“………”

“It seems that dragons themselves don’t quite understand this— no, I think they understand but can’t comprehend it fully. It’s quite rare for dragons to feel sadness after all.”

Upon hearing this, Professor Moriarty wore a momentarily stunned expression.

“Is that… so?”

“……”

“So… you mean to say, if one cries out of sadness, that works?”

“Exactly. The tears must be induced by sadness. Not like you, Professor, forcing fluid from your eyes through magic.”

“… Just wait a moment.”

She then fell silent, gazing at her student before her.

“………”

And the silence stretched on for quite some time.

“……!?”

In the midst of this silence, the Professor, whose eyes had reddened from all the concentration, suddenly made a flustered look.

“I can’t understand it…”

“What?”

“I was just imagining you disappearing from my side. My breath was caught, and my chest felt tight.”

Then, sweating coldly, she started to mutter.

“But, for some reason, no tears came out…”

“……”

“Why? I need you. If you were gone, I would surely be sad…”

Observing her, Adler with a wry smile, spoke up,

“You don’t need to push yourself too hard.” 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

“But…”

“There’s no need to force yourself to do something you can’t do.”

At Adler’s resigned voice, the Professor’s eyes began to quiver.

“Then, then… are you, dying…?”

“What?”

“Even if my kingdom of crime is completed, you’re saying you won’t be there…?”

Her complexion began to pale.

“That, that… that can’t be.”

“Professor…”

“Wa, wait. I have some old… no, useful things in my storage. Let’s experiment with them one by one…”

And then she hurriedly rose from her seat and started walking towards the exit.

“Ah, no, that’s not it!”

“… What?”

“Why would I die?”

Adler, urgently calling her back, started explaining with a calm smile on his face.

“I guess you accidentally heard what I said earlier, but that was all a lie.”

“……..?”

“It was a lie to quickly awaken Charlotte. Why would I die?”

“But if a devil falls in love…”

“Hey, I’m a devil, you know. Knowing that, why would I want to commit suicide like that?”

Then, the professor, already paled from worry, started looking at me with uncertainty in her eyes.

“It’s true that I’ve been feeling a bit unwell lately, but I’ve already prepared a solution for that.”

“A solution… you say?”

“Yes, I have a way to avoid death.”

Hearing that, she spread her palm and quickly invoked a magic circle in the air.

“Say that again.”

“What?”

“Repeat what you just said.”

Scratching his head for a moment, Adler replied as ordered.

“Uh… I have a way to avoid death.”

At that moment.

- Whoosh…!

The professor’s palm began burning with eerie green flames.

“… Hmm.”

Looking at the vivid colour, the usual smile returned to the professor’s face.

“It seems it was true after all.”

“What kind of magic is that?”

“Lie detection magic.”

Then, answering Adler’s question with a broad smile, she spoke,

“Indeed, you are really my wicked assistant.”

“…….”

“That bumbling young detective is just a toy for you, isn’t she? Just playing in your hands from start to finish, right?”

As she asked with a noticeably more excited expression than usual, clinging to his side, Adler smiled while nodding.

“Of course, Professor…”

The return ticket is also a way to avoid death, so it can be inferred as you speaking the truth.

“Ha ha…”

But at that moment, seeing the system message that popped up before his eyes, Adler felt a slight twinge of guilt hit him right in the face.

“Well, enough of this sombre mess… I have some good news for you.”

However, too excited by the fact that his assistant was not going to die, the professor did not notice the change in his expression. Pressing her head against his cheek, she shared a new piece of information.

“I found a new mystery for us.”

“… What?”

“A crime request has come in, something unusual?”

At that, Adler momentarily wore a vacant expression, then tilted his head and queried,

“What kind? A hit on someone? Tampering with evidence? Or to just design a simple scheme?”

“Well… this one is rather unusual.”

As he showed clear interest, the professor responded with a visibly delighted expression.

“We need to find an interpreter.”

“What?”

“The clients have abducted an Asian, and they want someone who can speak that language.”

Adler’s forehead began to sweat as he furrowed his brows in confusion.

Warning!

– Probability of True Identity being Revealed — 50%

“Could it be…”

“What’s the matter, Adler?”

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At that time, somewhere in the increasingly sinister back alleys of London,

- Creak…

“Hey… have you secured an interpreter…?”

A man who had entered through one of the secret passages strewn about the place gave his colleague a salute before responding to his query in a low voice.

“… I have entrusted it to a reliable source.”

“Good, well done…”

Then, another man, appearing satisfied, glanced towards the back of the room.

“… Given that the task was directly commissioned by the government, we should receive a hefty fee this time.”

“Mmph, mmph…”

His gaze fell upon an Asian woman who was tied up with a gag in her mouth.

“It’s unexpected. I thought this was just a request from illegal slave traders to capture a runaway slave…”

“From her appearance and clothing, she must have been from the upper class in her country. She doesn’t look like a runaway slave at all.”

“Then…?”

As they conversed, they casually watched her burning gaze bore on them.

“The requesting nation is also in the East.”

“Ah, then…”

“It must be related to international affairs. Either way, it’s good for us if our client base grows…”

Tears began streaming down the woman’s face as she listened to their conversation.

“Oh, do you understand our language?”

“What’s even the point of asking that, she keeps spouting incomprehensible things anyway…”

“… Maybe a bit more pain will suddenly make some English spill out of her mouth? Worth a try.”

“That’s not a bad idea…”

Shortly after, muffled screams began echoing from the abandoned building in the alley.