Becoming Professor Moriarty's Probability

We had safely arrived in Belgium, but less than a day later, we were forced to leave.

“… We’re being followed. Two pursuers.”

“Here… in Belgium?”

“There are only two following us because we’re in Belgium.”

It was because Adler had noticed some of our pursuers.

The truly regrettable and creepy thing about this situation was that, we couldn’t deduce which faction they belonged to.

The forces pursuing us were not the professor and her subordinates.

“Shall we kill them, Master?”

“Well… I don’t really want to add the Belgian police to our list of pursuers.”

“… And it would be even more catastrophic if it ended up in the newspapers. It would be like advertising where we are.”

“Tsk…”

We had to consider all the possibilities each of our actions would bring.

“On the count of three, we run. One, two… three!”

“Hey! What if we suddenly start running in opposite directions!!”

That’s how we barely managed to shake off our followers, and then we boarded a boat headed for France.

For the record, I was against going because of the presence of Phantom Thief Lupin, but for some reason, Adler still pushed for going to France.

I don’t want to create any variables by proceeding out of order, was his excuse, but I didn’t really get just what he meant by that.

“If only there had been an aeroplane…”

“……?”

Indeed, it wasn’t the first time Adler had made nonsensical remarks.

Would Holmes or the professor have understood? Lately, I’ve felt that there might be some hidden meaning in the nonsense Adler occasionally spouts.

“Hmmm…”

“………”

In any case, after we arrived in France in that manner, we were subjected to unavoidable and conspicuous observation from everyone throughout our stay.

It was obvious, even to someone as insensitive as me, that they were Lupin’s subordinates. They had practically taken over all of France at this point.

“… I really don’t know why we entered the tiger’s den just to avoid two pursuers.”

“Miss Watson. I’ll need to make a quick trip.”

“Eh?”

“The plausibility is still insufficient it seems.”

“Hey!”

So, as I was about to seriously ask him just why in hell we came to France, Adler suddenly left me alone in the hotel and disappeared into thin air. That fact just drained me completely.

“What the hell…”

“… Tch.”

“Look, I don’t want to be with you either, okay?”

Fortunately, the saving grace was that he left Celestia Moran as my bodyguard.

Thanks to that, I was able to hold onto the hope that Adler wouldn’t abandon his closest allies even if he had abandoned me.

“So, I told you I sniped the enemy’s hound on that street, right? If I knew my life would turn out like this, I would have become a marksman instead of a medic. But Alas…!”

“… Utter rubbish.”

“Want to bet?”

Although she clearly disliked the idea of being my bodyguard, we managed to break the ice a bit by talking about the military on the seventh day after Adler disappeared.

“… Not bad.”

“Haaah…”

Of course, in the shooting bet that followed, I was trampled by that kid with a dismal score of 3 to 7.

According to Moran, since no one had ever pushed her beyond a 2 to 8 ratio before, I could take some pride in that, but still…

The feeling of losing to a mere 12-year-old was not pleasant by any means.

If the target had been a dog, I would have definitely won.

“Hey…”

Anyway, we were on our way back after the shooting contest when,

“I handled him with care and left him in a fairly good condition, okay?”

“… What?”

A passerby suddenly brushed past me while whispering softly into my ear.

“……!?”

Startled by the sudden situation, I quickly turned my head back, but the passerby had already disappeared.

“What the…”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing…”

The fact that Moran did not react meant she felt no malice, so I wasn’t particularly worried, but I still hastened my steps back to the hotel as I felt an unnatural uneasiness with the whole situation.

“”……….””

Upon opening the door, Moran and I could only look gravely at the scene that unfolded before us.

“… Miss… Watson.”

Adler, who had returned to the hotel after a week, was twitching sporadically on the bed, barely covered by a bathrobe in a naked state.

“I know I have a lot of karma piled up with you… but this is too much, isn’t it…?”

With unfamiliar handprints, nail scratches, and bite marks on his arms and neck.

“How can you jump on someone who’s sleeping? Next time, let’s agree upon…”

Incidentally, the adventures Adler had with Lupin during that week could later be found in Lupin’s own memoirs, The Hollow Needle, The Crystal Stopper, The Submission of the Countess of Cagliostro.

Of course, these are books that I wouldn’t really recommend anyone to read. Things like Holmes’ name being misspelt or the deliberately misleading interpretation of events are some of the negative aspects of these books which affect my judgement of these works.

Especially, Lupin’s records of the recent incident in The Last Love of Arsène Lupin is better left unread.

It’s not that I feel jealous.

Putting aside her uniquely vulgar and crude narratives, it is, after all, an unfinished book.

I’ll be explaining just why now.

.

.

.

.

.

“I-I’m really the victim this time you know…”

- Beep! Beep…!

“Ah, um… just a moment.”

He had held my hand suggesting a trip together and then spent a week rolling around happily with Lupin, and just moments ago, he was physically tumbling around with that thieving bitch. That same bastard had now received a message in this frosty atmosphere under our watchful eyes.

“… Hmm.”

Abruptly, Adler’s expression turned unnaturally serious and grave.

“The detectives have gone missing…? Seriously, even personnel from the Pinkerton Agency?”

“… What now?”

Seeing him muttering with a pale expression, I, despite planning to sulk for a while, reluctantly pouted and asked.

“I’m not sure if you’re aware of Lovecraft.”

“Love… Craft? Is that a person’s name?”

“… Anyways, it seems the detective agency I hired to find this individual has instead suffered a hit.”

He answered, his voice eerily calm.

“I wanted to secure the bitch before ending this…”

But, as usual, he spoke in words only he could understand, which were accompanied by his eyes trembling nonstop.

“… Is it a woman?”

“That’s not the issue. Listen carefully, Miss Watson.”

“……”

“When this trip is over, warn Holmes. Tell her to be cautious of the name Lovecraft.”

Curious, I threw the question, but Adler’s expression was so serious that I don’t think I had ever seen him make such a grave expression.

Seeing no trace of jest in that expression, it seemed that this Lovecraft Adler was pursuing amidst his busy schedule was indeed a dangerous individual.

“What exactly does this person do?”

“… In today’s newspaper, there’s a front-page article about bizarre phenomena being on the rise all across France.”

My curiosity heightened, I asked another question and Adler suddenly thrusted a newspaper that was on the table towards me.

“The news is similar to the newspaper you bought in Belgium, isn’t it? Let’s not even mention about Britain.”

“Now that you mention it…”

Although I wondered what this was all about, it was something Holmes often did when explaining something, so I just quietly watched him as Adler continued with a grave expression.

“Some say, if this rising trend of bizarre phenomena continues, it won’t be many years before the whole world is in danger.”

“I’ve heard those speculations, yes. Personally, however, I’m not quite convinced…”

“Lovecraft is the individual behind it all.”

“… What!?”

If what he said was true, it was indeed astonishing.

To think there was a mastermind behind the sudden rise in bizarre and supernatural phenomena. It wasn’t just the detectives, but the entire world itself that could be turned upside down with such news.

“Then, doesn’t this mean this individual is even more dangerous than Professor Moriarty?”

“They walk different paths. If the professor rules the human realm… that guy rules over the monsters. Their territories are vastly different.”

“Ah…”

“Of course, if things continue this way, they will inevitably clash. And… that day might just be the beginning of the end of this world.”

However, the analysis put forth by Adler was quite bleak.

Even I, who usually didn’t care about the state of the world, was frightened by the idea.

“So… is there really no way out of this?”

“Of course there is, that’s why I’m so busy.”

Fortunately, it seemed Adler had a solution.

“I know how to seal the monsters. This journey isn’t just a game of tag; it’s meant for that.”

“……..”

“But, it’s not that easy…”

It was only then that I realized,

“That’s alright. We’re almost there.”

I realised that, for the very first time, Adler was revealing the truth to me, a truth that he probably hadn’t shared with anyone else.

“Just a little bit more to go…”

To me. Not the professor, or Holmes, or even the Inspector.

- Thump, thump…

“… Why, why are you telling me this?”

Despite the disastrous news, I felt a thrill spreading through my body, a sensation I only experienced briefly on the battlefield, as I asked in a quiet voice.

“Well…”

As Adler, who had since sat down beside me, gently stroked my neck and whispered, I had to admit.

“… Because you are the last piece of my puzzle— to fulfil my goal.”

That I had grown quite fond of this son of a bitch.

“You, you’re definitely going to hell.”

“… Is that a compliment? I’m the devil after all.”

“Ha…”

After sending Moran out of the room for a moment, we stayed in France for about another day before agreeing on our next destination.

“… Watson, don’t you want to go somewhere cool?”

“Huh?”

Soon, a waterfall located in Switzerland, a place I had never even heard the name of before, was chosen as our next destination.

***

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