Becoming Professor Moriarty's Probability

WhyThe Five Orange Pips… of all things.

The Five Orange Pips. A case that made me frown just by hearing its name.

It’s one of the few failures mentioned by Sherlock Holmes in the original work, where both the client and the criminal died, leaving the case unsolved.

Of course, as a Sherlockian, I had to defend Holmes. Although the case remained unsolved, it was not his fault.

The client was murdered by the criminals on his way back from commissioning the case, and the criminals, who Holmes had successfully deduced and set a trap for, went missing at sea due to a natural disaster.

But an unsolved case was still an unsolved case, even though it was caused due to force majeure.

Therefore, in this world too, this case must remain an unsolved case.

Otherwise, the already precarious Erosion Rate might just reach its peak.

But… how can I even make it an unsolved case?

The problem here was that, there really was no way to make this case remain unsolved.

Ridiculously enough, Charlotte had already discovered my real surname.

Due to that dealing with just her had become several times harder than before, and it was not like she was not the only one involved in this case either.

Inspector Lestrade, who was at the scene, was probably scouring the back alleys with wrath searing in her eyes by now.

The professor, likely the first to hear the news, would have mobilized her minions, created at some unknown time that eluded me, to start an investigation of her own.

It didn’t just stop there either. Looking at the calendar hanging on the hospital room wall, it seemed that more than a day had already passed since the incident occurred, which meant the pact members who had gathered in Cornwall must have already been informed of the matter.

Therefore, it might only be a matter of time before everything is sorted out within Britain, and it was not impossible for even the whole organization to potentially collapse.

How could these endangered individuals even be saved with odds so heavily stacked against them?

… No, what am even I saying?

After briefly indulging in such frivolous thoughts, I soon shook my head vehemently to regain my senses.

Honestly, I had a rough idea of who the criminals in this case were and what their motives might have been.

I mean, I had already read the original work, after all. Although things might look a bit different in this crazy world, that particular organization must undoubtedly be behind this incident.

The problem here was that these guys were irredeemable scumbags who didn’t deserve anyone defending them.

Protecting them, or letting them get away with the crime while I fought the people who moved for my own sake? That was simply unacceptable.

However, if I just let the situation unfold as is, the erosion rate that had already filled up to 80% might reach its end in an instant.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“….!?”

In a situation with no answers, the burning pain still surging throughout my body, I gritted my teeth and pondered deeply about the case. But at that moment, a soft voice drifted over to my ears from the side.

“… Miss Watson?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

Although it had clearly not been long since we met, it felt like a lifetime ago since I last saw Rachel Watson, who stood askew by the window, quietly observing me.

“What brings you here…”

“Well, this is the hospital where I work, and I am your attending physician.”

“… Ah.”

I was confused by her sudden appearance, but hearing her cold response made me bow my head in awkwardness.

“… I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Uh, that is…”

Honestly, I had nothing to say to Watson.

No, even if she were to draw a pistol right now and blow my head off, I would have to accept it.

“Because of you, Britain has been completely turned upside down right now. Public opinion is violently divided.”

“…….”

“By the way, half think it serves you right that you were attacked, and half are furious, saying that under no circumstances should terrorism be tolerated in the British Empire.”

“Haha…”

“By the way, the latter opinion made by the other half, 80% of them are from your fan club.”

So, as I quietly watched her, a rather chilling story came out of her lips.

Should I feel terrified that half the people in the capital of the British Empire were actually glad about the terrorist incident?

Or rather should I be terrified that my fan club made up most of the other half’s opinion? I honestly wasn’t sure.

“… Anyway. Listen to me.”

“Yes?”

“Honestly, I’ve been fighting the urge to press your face down with a pillow for hours while you were lying down on the bed. But still, I really need to say this.”

Thus, as I sat there terrified, Rachel Watson suddenly opened her eyes drowsily and leaned her head towards me.

“You know, because of this incident, your already short lifespan has been further reduced now.”

“Ah…”

“There really isn’t much time left for you.”

At her words, a sudden ache started to gnaw at one corner of my heart.

I had been fully prepared for this moment. It wasn’t truly about dying, as I could just use the return ticket yet why did I feel this aching in my chest?

“… There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask.”

“Yes?”

As I pondered this, my head bowed, Watson abruptly asked from the side.

“Did you ever truly love me?”

“……..”

“Was there ever a time you sincerely cared for me?”

As I was unable to respond to her question, her expression started distorting.

“I know this isn’t the right time to ask this, but I need to know.”

“…….”

“Because, I… I loved you…”

Her trembling voice echoed quietly in the room, reverberating through the silence.

- Knock, knock, knock…!

At that moment, urgent knocking sounds began to come from the door.

“Who is it?”

Interrupted by this, Watson turned her head to ask and the door opened just then as two individuals entered the room.

“… You two?”

To my surprise, the ones who entered were my loyal subordinates, Princess Clay and Moran.

“You two…”

“… Master.”

“There is… some bad news.”

I tried to greet them with a forced smile, but soon after, I couldn’t help but wear a blank expression.

“Silver Blaze… she has been attacked.”

“She was just transferred to this hospital… Her condition isn’t good. Maybe even worse than yours right now.”

The world hadn’t seemed this dark and lonely since the professor was shot.

.

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“You! No, if you move now…”

“Ma-Master…”

“Hey, just wait a moment…”

Despite the shouts pouring in from all sides, I got up from my bed and recklessly swept through the corridor, eventually halting in front of a waiting room.

- Creak…

There wasn’t even a nameplate, but I instinctively knew she was there.

I would have been disqualified as a master if I couldn’t even sense her being this close with a seal imprinted on her stomach, after all.

“Ah…”

As I stepped through the door that opened, a horrific sight unfolded before me.

“Pa-Patient…! You can’t do this!”

“If you move now, it will be disastrous!”

“Mo-Move aside…!”

Covered in ghastly lacerations and bleeding, Silver Blaze was struggling to shake off the nurses clinging to her.

“Agh!?”

“I must get as far away from Master as possible…”

Thus, despite being in a more critical condition than me, who could heal from most wounds as long as I was alive, she finally shook off all the nurses and stood up while muttering those words.

“Ah…”

As she faced me standing at the door, our eyes met directly, and she collapsed to the floor, her complexion turning pale.

“”……..””

In the ensuing silence, as I stepped forward, Silver Blaze’s eyes began to waver.

“I… I’m sorry. Master…”

“……”

“This incident… it’s almost entirely my fault…”

As I tilted my head at her words, Silver Blaze, sweating coldly, fumbled to pull out an envelope from her bosom.

If you don’t stop what you’re doing now, the people precious to you will start disappearing one by one.

Taking the envelope in my hand and checking its contents, the message written on a slightly crumpled piece of paper caught my eye.

- Plink, plink…

A bit belatedly, five orange seeds dropped from the envelope into my hand along with it.

“I… I didn’t know about that… I was just running around trying to catch the culprit…”

“… And you were attacked?”

“I-I’m so sorry. I’ve committed a crime worthy of death.”

As I quietly opened my mouth after staring at the letter for a while, Silver Blaze bowed her head with a pale, terrified face.

“Ugh…”

“Patient…!”

She seemed dizzy due to anaemia and began staggering.

“I… I know these people well. They’ve been tormenting me for a long time…”

“……..”

“No matter how many times they are dismantled… they come back to life like cockroaches. Even if we wipe them out now… we never know when they might become a threat again…”

With her last bit of strength, she raised her head and began to whisper to me.

“So… I’m going to leave, Master.”

“… Miss Blaze.”

“You have to establish it. The kingdom…”

Tears filled Silver Blaze’s eyes as they slowly began to dim.

“Without my role as the representative, I’m hardly of any help anyway… So maybe if I leave a will…”

- Wobble…

“… Master.”

Yet, even in her final moments, as she looked at me before collapsing powerlessly to the floor, she left these words—

“I like you…”

“”………””

“… And, I loved.”

Her words abruptly stopped, and a deep silence began enveloping the waiting room.

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“Miss Watson.”

“… Ah.”

The silence that had persisted for a long while was broken by Adler, who had not made such a sound since the professor had been shot.

“How is Blaze doing?”

“Wa-Wait a moment.”

Watson flinched at the eerily calm and chill in his voice.

“… She is still alive.”

Then, checking the feeble pulse of Silver Blaze, she slowly spoke in a low voice.

“If we operate on her right now… there might be some aftereffects, but there’s a significant chance for her to live.”

“… Then, please.”

Adler nodded quietly and turned around, causing Princess Clay and Moran to flinch as Watson had.

“If you can save her without any aftereffects, I will do anything you want. I swear it on my name.”

“……..”

“… I’ll also answer the question you have asked earlier.”

Standing before them was not the usually clumsy boy any longer.

“… You two, follow me.”

As he muttered coldly and moved out of the room, they felt a chill run through their very bones as they staggered to follow him.

“Disband all the forces deployed so far. Especially the demi-humans. The three of us are enough…”

Adler murmured in a low voice, steeped in cold fury, giving orders to the two.

“… If we just erase everyone without exception, it will eventually remain as an unsolved case, right?”