Becoming Professor Moriarty's Probability

“... I must remind you again that our purpose is to dismantle the gang.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“We are not setting up blind dates or group orgies for you, so please keep that in mind.”

“Got it.”

After repeatedly driving the point home to Adler, the director finally sighed before she began organising the documents before her.

“I feel uneasy...”

“You’re the one who suggested it first.”

“I’m kind of regretting it now.”

Watching her with a sullen look, Adler decided to get up from his seat.

“... By the way, what’s that for?”

“What?”

“The ring on your finger.”

Abruptly, he pointed to the ring on the director’s hand and asked, to which she replied with her usual businesslike manner.

“It’s an engagement ring. Since I’ve retired from active duty, I thought it’s time to settle down.”

“Ah, I see...”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

At her words, Adler opened his mouth with a look of regret and a faint wistfulness in his voice.

“I was thinking of having tea with you when you’d get some free time...”

Muttering so, he timidly tapped the ring on the director’s finger, which quickly turned her gaze icy.

“You already switched to a younger detective, and even married a young inspector, and now you’re flirting with someone else’s woman? You’re as vile as ever.”

“That’s...”

“Take your hands off before I lose my patience. Why are you touching the back of my hand in the first place?”

As he gently rubbed the back of her hand with his fingers, a stern warning flew out of the director’s mouth. Not willing to piss the director off, Adler pulled his hand back with a deflated expression.

“...... Tsk.”

With a depleted sigh, he stood up after some time. Meanwhile, the director gave him a cold glare before she started rummaging through the drawer with a drawn-out sigh of her own.

“Listen.”

“... Yeeees?”

“Stop slurring your words, it urges me to bury you six feet under.”

“... Yes.”

“Here, take this.”

Eventually, she pulled out a small piece of paper from the drawer before thrusting it at Adler.

“What is this?”

“A business card.”

“A business card...?”

“My contact details are on the back.”

Nonchalantly, Adler took the card from her only for him to give her a perplexed look at her following words. Seeing that look, she quickly added in a barely audible whisper.

“... You said you’d treat me to tea, didn’t you?”

Avoiding Adler’s gaze, she eeked out with a slight pink tinge to her cheeks.

“Contact me after you solve the case.”

.

.

.

.

.

“Hey, don’t get the wrong idea. I really just want to have some tea with you, that’s all......”

- Creak...

It was clear from her tone, still professional but with some notes of shyness and embarrassment hidden within, that the director was making excuses to hide her desire to spend time with Adler. Smirking at the director’s words, Adler opened the office door and stepped out, keeping his silence.

“What in hell did I just see?”

“Ah, Miss Lupin.”

Almost immediately, Lupin materialised next to Adler, as if coming out of thin air, and linked arms with him.

“It’s great that you’re so willing to be kidnapped by me but, why are you flirting with another woman all of a sudden?”

“... I’m simply making connections. It’s good to have someone familiar in influential places like Pinkerton, don’t you think?”

“But why do you only make connections with women then?”

Faced with her sharp question, Adler was forced to a momentary state of silence.

“... Speaking of which, is it really okay for you to appear so calmly in front of the Pinkerton Detective Agency?”

“Are you trying to change the subject now?”

“No, I was just worried you might get caught...”

The pause over, Adler desperately tried to change the topic as soon as possible. However, Lupin only smirked, her grip on his arm tightening with each passing second.

“I may look like this, but I’m the world’s greatest thief. I could escape even if you brought an entire army to capture me. A mere detective agency is hardly anything in my eyes.”

“... I suppose that is the case.”

“Are you mocking me? That’s really upsetting...”

Abruptly, she tilted her head mid-speech and then whispered,

“... Do I usually use formal language with you, or informal?”

“Sometimes you use formal then switch to informal midway then back again. It’s a bit of a jumble, to be honest.”

“Really...? Then did I speak in English or French?”

“When you speak informally, you always use French.”

“... Oh, clever, aren’t we? You know French too.”

“But why are you asking that suddenly?”

A troubled smile appeared on Lupin’s lips at those words as she responded to his question,

“I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve been going through a severe bout of identity crisis lately. It’s because of all the disguises that I’ve gone through recently...”

“Isn’t your current form as Lupin your true appearance?”

“I’m not quite sure, honestly. I’m not even sure if my real name was Lupin, to begin with...”

Her voice trembled ever so slightly as she spoke about her insecurities. But it did not take long for her eyes to refocus on Adler.

“... Well, it doesn’t really matter anymore.”

“Huh?”

“Since I now have someone by my side who will always make me shine, no matter what appearance I take...”

Her eyes gleamed ominously in the dark as she spoke those words to him.

Warning! – Probability of being Preserved — 99.9999999...“Now that we’ve visited the detective agency, shall we head to the Castle of Cagliostro?”

“Ah, uh... that’s...”

Sensing the danger hidden within her words, Adler could not help but stammer, cold sweat dotting his forehead.

“... There is still one more stop we need to make.”

“What?”

“There’s something I need to do over in Vermissa Valley... ugh.”

Calming himself forcefully, he continued his speech as steadily as he could.

“It seems like I’ve been a bit too considerate, huh?”

“Wh-What are you doing?”

“You seem to have forgotten something...”

Arms crossed and head resting on Adler’s shoulder, Lupin whispered in his ear in a voice colder than the arctic gale.

“... I’ve kidnapped you.”

“......”

“I have no reason to listen to your demands.”

Her reply made Adler tremble in silence.

“Ah, so cute...”

A smile tugging her lips, Lupin was just about to caress Adler’s chin with her other hand when—

“... I’m not usually like this, but I just want to torment you.”

“That’s enough.”

“What?”

A bone-chilling voice echoed out from behind them.

“... You, from back then?”

“If you don’t want to be torn to shreds here and now... you’d better remove that hand.”

Startled by the voice, Lupin turned her head back to identify the originator of that voice; her eyes only widened when she spotted the girl with eyes glowing eerie blue, seemingly materialising out of thin air.

“W-Where did you pop up from?”

“... As long as Master’s shadow exists, I can appear anywhere at any time.”

“Tch...”

“This is your last warning. Remove your hand.”

Frowning for some time, Lupin eventually lowered her hand down, separating from Adler.

“Poppy!!!”

Freed, Adler immediately rushed towards the girl-in-suit with a wide smile full of joy.

“You came to save me!”

“....... Woof.”

After a brief hesitation, the girl started to make puppy noises with a dull expression.

“Good girl, good...”

“Haaaah... haaah...”

“... How can you ever believe that to be a puppy?”

The terrifying entity that could exterminate all the supernatural beings residing in London if it just desired— that very entity exposed its bare belly to Adler so that he could rub her as he desired. Seeing such a sight was so revulsing that Lupin immediately walked away from the scene with a disgusted look on her face while muttering.

“It seems that I have been taken advantage of...”

“.......”

“... Being used like that once in a while isn’t too bad, but it’s still a bit sad.”

Trying her very best to hide the brimming tears and the quiver in her voice, Lupin attempted to distance herself from the two.

“Hey.”

“.......?”

“If you help me with this job... I’ll go to the Castle of Cagliostro.”

She paused, listening to the words Adler spoke from behind her.

“H-How can I trust you on that?”

“I’ll write you a contract.”

“... Really?”

Following Adler’s offer, she hesitated for a moment before slowly turning her head towards him.

“... Really, really?”

Seeing a tear streaming down her cheek, Adler quickly nodded.

“Of course.”

Seriously, just how much of this overpromising are you gonna do?

... Quiet, Miss System.

Ignoring the system’s words, which gave a rather disdainful feel, he confirmed his promise.

“So, what do I need to help with?”

Immediately, Lupin sneaked next to Adler in a moment.

“... Grrr.”

“If you need my help, you must have something you want to steal, right? If it’s that, just leave it to me. I can steal the target within 24 hours...”

She began to rapidly make her pitch, watching the uneasy hound lying on the floor.

“Cross-dressing.”

“Eh?”

“Basically, I need to dress as a woman.”

However, when Adler spoke, Lupin gave him a dumbfounded look and closed her mouth.

“That’s... What do you mean by that?”

“I need to disguise myself. I need to infiltrate an all-female gang and cause infighting, but I can’t do that as a man, right?”

Calmly, Adler started explaining his plan.

“So, I planned to disguise myself, but... while I am quite skilled at disguises, I can’t do it as perfectly as Miss Lupin. That’s why I wanted a bit of help...”

“Ah, is that all?”

Lupin exhaled a long breath, looking especially relieved after hearing Adler’s explanation.

“I thought you had changed sides for a second there...”

“So, will you help me, or not?”

“... That’s my speciality, yes.”

She smirked and started dragging Adler to a nearby clothes shop.

“Are you ready to take part in the creation of the world’s most beautiful girl?”

“... No, not to that extent. I don’t want to stand out too much.”

“Let’s go!!!”

.

.

.

.

.

A few days later, in the Vermissa Valley, USA,

“Oi, there! Stop!”

At the entrance of a village in the valley, a carriage was forcibly halted by a group of menacing women, fully decked out in rough outfits.

“Gonna need to check yer identities.”

“Only women allowed to enter.”

Soon, they knocked on the carriage window, demanding identification.

- Creak...

A moment later, the window of the carriage slid down, revealing the passengers inside.

“Umm...”

“Don’t look like there’s any man.”

The guards soon observed Watson – sitting by the window with a mixed expression of annoyance and amusement – and Lupin who was smiling ear to ear at something she seemed to have found extremely amusing.

“... That woman there. Feels like I’ve seen her somewhere.”

“Really now?”

Their gazes then shifted to a blonde girl sitting at the far end of the carriage.

“Hey... what’s your name?”

“Ah, yes. So... um...”

As one of the guards asked, the girl, her face completely red and beaded with sweat, stuttered.

“I, I am...”

But this girl was in fact a boy.

“... M-My name is Irene.”

With a trembling voice, the boy disguised as a girl answered and then bowed his head deeply in shame. He had just become the very character of the original story whose gender-bended self he had possessed in this twisted world.