Becoming Professor Moriarty's Probability

“Mmm…”

It seems I had dozed off for a moment. Opening my eyes, the sight of the darkened eyes greeted me, a stark contrast from the last time I had seen it.

Adler… is still here, huh…

Immediately, the thought that Adler might have run away when I had dozed off came to mind. However, the scene of him dozing off with his head bowed in front of me soon entered my vision, making those thoughts dissipate.

“………”

The cheeky kid who had somehow naturally joined our group wasn’t sleepy, it seems, as she was glaring daggers at me while practically glued next to Adler.

“What are you looking at, huh?”

“… Why do you smell like my master?”

“Are you a dog… or what?”

Why were all the women around Adler like this?

I was not one to talk, but this seemed a bit too excessive even to me.

“… But why are you speaking informally?”

“Why is my master’s scent so deeply embedded in you?”

I thought about scolding this cheeky kid for a moment, but the conversation seemed to be going nowhere, so I just let it be.

Besides, scolding someone much stronger than me was like asking for a beating.

“Uh… ugh…”

“……..?”

Just then, a muffled groan suddenly echoed in the cabin.

“Ah… ah…”

“Adler?”

Was he having a nightmare? Adler, who had been dozing off, was now sweating profusely as he made a pained expression.

“No… This is… entirely…”

“Why are you like this?”

“It’s for you all…”

Then he started talking in his sleep.

“I’m not abandoning anyone…”

“Look here.”

His condition was concerning, I couldn’t just leave him alone like this. So, I shook his shoulder, trying to snap him out of his state, but Adler showed no signs of waking up.

I thought he had just dozed off for a moment there. Now, it seemed to me that he had fallen into a deep slumber, seeing that he wasn’t waking up no matter what I did.

That being said, I had never seen this wretched man make such a pitiful expression before.

Even when his limbs were severed and crushed, he would only grin like a fool.

To think that just a nightmare could make him look so worn out and frail.

Could it be a trauma? 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Based on my experiences, as both a soldier and a doctor, those who make such expressions always have an unspeakable past haunting them.

But to think that there was a kind of trauma which could make a man who grins even when stabbed on the street or diced by a serial killer look so pained.

Even for someone like me who had experienced countless horrific and brutal scenarios due to my job, such trauma was hard to imagine.

“Master.”

“Uh…?”

“Are you alright?”

While I was drowned in those thoughts, Moran, unable to watch any longer, shook Adler vigorously to wake him.

“Ah…”

A momentary dazed look on his face, Adler just gazed at the kid for some time before reaching forward to pick up a cup of water, his hands trembling nonstop.

… I kinda like this look.

Isaac Adler, the handsome, charming boy, the boy of many women’s dreams… made such a dissolute expression while his hands trembled so pitifully…

This unusual appearance of Adler, different from his usual self, subtly began stirring my tastes.

Now, I think I could ever so slightly understand why so many women wanted to harass him so much.

Maybe even I should try out my hand at teasing this bastard a bit.

… No, god, what the hell am I thinking?

After briefly entertaining such frivolous thoughts, I vigorously shook my head to escape from these absurd musings.

I realised that using the contents of my bag for portable use had already far exceeded mere teasing, but that wasn’t the concern at the moment.

“What were you dreaming about to look so sickly, huh?”

“… It’s nothing.”

“Your expression says a different story though.”

Hearing my words, Adler directed a forced smile towards me.

“It really is nothing.”

However, I could tell that there was no sincerity in that smile of his.

As he sweated coldly, pale-faced, forcing the corners of his mouth up only made him look more pitiful.

But why am I more drawn to him than usual?

… Calm down.

I never could have imagined I had a taste for this sort of thing.

The sight of Adler looking so distressed, so pained kept nagging at me.

Has living in a boarding house with an anomaly like Holmes made me abnormal?

“Hehe?”

While pondering this, I found myself unknowingly poking Adler’s ribs with my hand.

“… Why, why are you doing that?”

Adler, shivering all over due to that, asked me with a puppy-drenched-in-rain expression as I leaned in closer towards him.

“… Stay away from Master.”

But not feeling the need to answer, I just kept staring blankly at him, only to hear a chilling voice from nearby.

“Before I kill you.”

Moran, fiddling with the air rifle on her lap, muttered while glaring at me with a dangerous glint.

“No killing, Moran…”

“Correction, before I cripple you.”

“That’s not allowed either…”

Although it was a terribly perilous scenario for me, I just could not stop looking at Adler for some reason.

Maybe this appearance…

While there was personal preference involved there somewhere, there was another reason why I couldn’t take my eyes off him this time.

… Maybe this is his true self?

Since this wretched, pitiful appearance, unlike his usual aloof and fake demeanour, started seeming like what Adler really was deep inside.

Then why does this person hide this appearance, even wearing a mask in front of the people he truly loves?

- Click…

If I had Holmes’s deductive skills, I might have discerned the reason by now. Alas, the sound of a gun being loaded nearby forced me to turn my head away from Adler.

“… Moran, where are we now?”

“We’re almost at Canterbury station. We’ll stop there briefly before departing again.”

“Hmm…”

Finally relaxing, Adler turned towards Moran and posed a question to her.

“Watson, I think we should get off at Canterbury Station.”

“… What?”

I couldn’t help but doubt my ears at what I heard from him a moment later.

“Wasn’t our destination the pier? If we continue like this, we’ll arrive safely, right? Even the professor can’t catch up with the speed of the train.”

“… The professor is not to be underestimated. She probably boarded a special train as soon as she lost our tail. If you calculate the stop and arrival times, there was no way she couldn’t catch up to us.”

“Then…”

“So, we need to get off at Canterbury Station first. Then we’ll cut across the field to… where was it? Ah, to Newhaven. Let’s cross over to France from there.”

His intentions were understandable. If they were dealing with a dangerous individual like Professor Moriarty, it was right to be cautious.

But, there was just one problem.

“What about our luggage? I have quite a bit, and I left it all in the luggage compartment…”

“… Let’s just give up on it. We’ll purchase a cheap bag and just buy what we need as we go.”

“Ugh…”

“Isn’t it romantic?”

Adler, smiling thinly, still looked quite pale.

It was quite obvious to me that he had a really bad nightmare, worse enough to overwhelm him so visibly, so I couldn’t even complain anymore.

“Let’s get ready to move. It’s better if we start moving as soon as the train arrives… Kulluk”

“…? Master?”

“Kulluk, kullu…”

Just as he was about to get up as planned, Adler’s pupils shook and erupted into a sporadic coughing fit.

“Ugh…”

“Blood, there’s blood. Are you alright, Master?”

“… It’s just fatigue. Nothing more.”

“Don’t overdo it. Shall I carry you?”

“It feels rather sinful being carried by a 12-year-old… It’s alright, I’m fine.”

Despite his excuses, Moran looked worried but somehow convinced herself by his words. However, as a doctor, Adler couldn’t fool my eyes.

If the paleness of his face was due to his deteriorating physical state, he must be reaching his limits by now.

Well, being a centuries-old demon, he probably had a way to resurrect himself, so there was no need to worry.

- Clank, clank

“Kulluk, kullu… Let’s move now. I’m fine…”

“It’s okay to rest for a bit, isn’t it? Let’s just rest until the coughing stops.”

Trying to ignore the unnecessary anxiety that was subtly growing within me, I helped Adler disembark at Canterbury station. Even though he was trying to make us hurry, I couldn’t help but persuade him to rest for a bit, seeing as his coughing wasn’t stopping.

“Ah…”

But, just minutes later, we were frozen solid upon seeing a locomotive, with only one coach, passing by on the same track as the train we had been on.

“….. What did I tell you?”

There sat Professor Moriarty in that coach, alone, looking at us with a cold expression. Strangely, fresh scars ran all over her face and arms.

“Kulluk… Before the professor jumps off the train, let’s get up quickly.”

“……….”

I’m afraid this encounter would haunt me as one of the most horrific and chilling memories of my life.

.

.

.

.

.

Thus, the morning after narrowly escaping life-threatening danger multiple times,

“Ugh…”

Suddenly, due to Adler’s sudden whim to head to Belgium instead of France, we boarded a Belgium-bound boat. I had to groggily open my eyes due to the sunlight pouring in through the window.

“… Everyone must be exhausted.”

The cabin was exceedingly small because it was hastily boarded, yet Adler, pressed close beside me, and Moran, who squatted near the entrance, were still deeply asleep despite that.

“It seems like we’re about to arrive…”

The port was beginning to come into view, so I tried to shake Adler awake.

“Ugh, uh…”

Seeing him sweating profusely and groaning like he did on the train yesterday, I hesitated with my hand stretched out towards him.

“I miss you… my friends…”

“……..”

And then, while watching Adler in that state for a moment,

- Swoosh…

I quietly offered him my shoulder.

“…….”

Upon which, the groaning Adler grunted once before relaxing, comfortably nuzzling on my neck.

This isn’t right.

It wasn’t really my intention to help him. I just wanted to observe the beauty that lay in this young man suffering up close.

“… There’s still time before we arrive.”

But now that it had come to this, it couldn’t be helped.

“Haaah…”

Leaning back in my seat with these thoughts, I sighed and got lost in thinking,

I know he belongs to Holmes but… what in hell should I do now?

The feeling of starting to slightly like someone I truly despised was quite strange.

… Come to think of it, does Adler really belong to Holmes /genesisforsaken