Becoming Professor Moriarty’s Probability

– Ah, hello.

“……..!?”

Rewinding time to the moment when Adler had just subdued both Charlotte Holmes and Professor Moriarty and soon stepped out of the room… 

“What, what is it?”

– Why are you so surprised, Miss Lestrade?

Near the bushes of the Garrideb mansion… was Gia Lestrade, hidden in a crouching position while holding her breath tight. However, once the familiar voice resounded in her ears, out of the blue, she immediately stuttered out in shock. 

“Ch-Charlotte Holmes. I’m currently in the middle of an important business, so it’s difficult for me to respond to your call.”

– Does Miss Lestrade have the conception that shirking off the police work to creepily stalk your boyfriend is part of your duties, perchance?

Charlotte’s voice, laced with a deadly chill and delivered in a low voice, soon reached her ears. 

“It’s just part of an investigation process that plays a role in the protection of London. No, but how did you…”

– Since you are a policewoman, shouldn’t you at least improve your tailing skills a bit? Hiding in the bushes and crouching down doesn’t automatically make you hidden and out of sight. 

“……….”

– There’s even a joke among London’s criminals that… to check if Inspector Lestrade is around, one just needs to look in the bushes. 

“… I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Chastised, Lestrade picked herself up from the bushes with a sheepish expression on her face. 

– Well, regardless of your motivations, it’s a good thing that you’re here. I happen to be in quite the predicament inside the mansion that is before your eyes right now.

“Is this really the great Charlotte Holmes speaking to me?”¹Lestrade is asking this question because she can’t believe that Charlotte is asking for her help and is in a predicament.

Brushing the leaves from her hair, Lestrade was forced to tilt her head in utter astonishment once she heard Charlotte’s words. 

– Isaac Adler got the better of me.

“Ah, now… I understand.”

– Understand? Understand what exactly? Listen to the very end at least. I have fallen into this predicament because of an unforeseen variab…

“Just get to the point. If you’re asking for my help, it must be urgent, right?”

With her pride grazed, Charlotte began mumbling under her breath. A brief silence followed before she sighed and started speaking— to the point this time. 

– Right now, I’m tied up in a room with my mana sealed.

“Oh dear.”

– But I’m not asking you to rescue me. No, you need to stop Isaac Adler. He said something really ominous about the case being compromised before he left the room, so, I’m worried about his safety.

“Will you be alright?”

Once more, a sigh leaked out of Charlotte’s lips as she heard Lestrade question her with a hint of concern in her voice. 

– Right now, with my mana sealed, I’m of no use. It’d be more efficient for you to stop Isaac Adler instead of wasting time rescuing me from this place. 

“… Hmm.”

Lestrade’s face twisted as she heard her words, dripping with clear sincerity. 

“I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but I am Isaac Adler’s legal girlfriend. Please, show some restrain…”

– Shouldn’t you be saying… a fake girlfriend, built on lies and pretense instead?

“Pardon…?”

– Going forward, if we are to maintain this pretense for the peace of London, I believe you should be maintaining some boundaries instead, Miss Lestrade. 

“…….”

– You aren’t the only one who can play that role anymore, Miss Lestrade. 

However, Charlotte Holmes didn’t pay any heed to her words. She just cut off the communication after saying her piece. 

“… No.”

Lestrade’s voice, dark and brooding, leaked out as she continued to linger on that spot while mulling over Charlotte’s words. 

“In London, no one other than me can handle Isaac Adler.” 

With a look of determination in her eyes, Lestrade muttered those words to herself and quietly marched toward the mansion. With each step, she slowly recalled the complex ties she shared with the man named Adler. 

“Even if it’s you, Holmes…”

However, before she could even take a few steps… a strange scene caught her eye. 

– Wriggle, wriggle…

“….?”

Not far from her, the bushes continued to tremble ever so slightly.

“… Who’s there?”

Confused by the sudden anomaly, Lestrade cautiously approached the scene and spoke up… And at that very moment… 

– Flick…!

Something, accompanied by the sound of air being released, flew out of the bushes and headed straight for Lestrade.

– Crack!

“That’s quite the violent way to greet someone, don’t you think?” 

Just before the strange thing could hit her face, Lestrade, in a showcase of her superhuman reflexes, deftly dodged to the side. And immediately after, as she saw the rock behind her shatter into a million pieces, she swiftly drew out her baton— her gaze frosty like the depths of an icy hell. 

“………..”

From the quietly rustling bushes, a barely perceptible killing intent, imperceptible to an ordinary person, could be felt…

“The sound of gunfire as faint as an ant’s, a gun that leaves no trace of bullets, and a killing intent that goes fully unnoticed if you’re not paying close and careful attention…” 

“……….”

“Minus the rather pathetic camouflage skills, you seem to be an exceptionally skilled individual, I must say.”

In the precarious atmosphere, Lestrade tensed and readied all of her muscles as she spoke, muttering words that applied to herself as well.

“You’ve picked the wrong person to mess with.”

With that, someone peeked out from the wriggling bushes.

“… A kid?”

For a moment, Lestrade couldn’t help but be stunned. She was utterly dumbfounded by the sight of a young girl with messy sky-blue hair covered in foliage and innocent-looking purple eyes getting out of the bushes. 

– Swoosh…

All of a sudden, a sniper rifle, obviously dangerous, popped out of the bushes. 

“…….!”

At that sight, Lestrade’s eyes widened, and the girl pulled the trigger while muttering in a dark voice.

“… Don’t call me a kid.”

Celestia Moran and Gia Lestrade.

It was the first encounter between two of London’s most powerful women— women… who were soon about to compete for the positions of London’s second and third most powerful forces.

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Some moments later…

“Hah, hah…”

“Eek…”

After a goosebump-inducing clash of the ages, two girls ended up rolling in the bushes, gnashing their teeth as they confronted each other with their weapons drawn.

“You’re pretty good for a runt.”

“… Don’t call me a runt.”

Moran muttered, pushing back against the baton with all the might in her small body while clutching onto her air gun. Her weapon was already rendered powerless due to Lestrade’s curse that nullified any and all oddities and supernatural abilities.

“How old are you now?”

“12… years old.”

“… Then you really are a runt.”

“Eeeek…”

As she exerted force with an angry expression on her face, Lestrade opened her mouth with an approving look in her eyes.

“Quite strong and skilled in hand-to-hand combat for your age. Did you undergo some sort of special training?” 

“… It’s none of your business.”

“But, you’re a sniper, at the end of the day. You’ve lost the moment you entered close combat.”

Moran grimaced at those words for a moment, and then murmured as though she was spitting out each and every word.

“… No, I just need to push you away for a moment, and victory will be mine.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because the emergency pistol in my possession will pierce your head in less than a fraction of a second.”

She said with a cold look in her eyes, but her arms began to tremble under the pressure that had now become several times more intense than before. 

“… Sorry, but do you think I’d allow you to do that?”

“We’ll see who takes the upper hand.”

“Hmm.”

However, Moran took a deep breath, and soon… began enforcing more force into her hands to withstand the amplified pressure. 

“This is troublesome.”

Realizing the fight wouldn’t end as easily as she thought, Lestrade sighed under her breath as she looked at the mansion in front of her.

“Hey.”

“… What?”

“How about we call a truce?”

Turning her gaze back to Moran, pinned beneath her still, she casually offered the suggestion.

“A truce…?”

“It seems you might be one of his subordinates, given your skills… I have business in that mansion related to him.”

Moran quietly tilted her head as she gazed at Lestrade.

“I don’t really have time to be doing this with you. It’s urgent.”

“… Something’s happening inside?”

“Yes, something extremely dangerous.”

Hearing those words, Moran’s eyes began to waver ever so slightly.

“Part of me wants to arrest you right here and now, but if we drag this fight out, it might be too late for us to do anything.”

“………”

“So, let’s postpone this skirmish for now, and we can resume after the incident inside the mansion has been resolved.” 

As Lestrade relaxed her strength first and slowly backed away, Moran paused her movement, her hand reaching for her bosom halting, and gazed intently at Lestrade. 

“… Wise choice.”

“……….”

“It would be quite foolish to pick a fight with me again unless it’s a ranged battle, given your exhausted state.”

Quietly, she observed Moran for some time before walking toward the mansion. 

– Pitter-patter…

“……?”

However, she had to soon turn her head back, and at the end of her vision… she saw the figure of the girl following her in the distance with gentle taps of her feet. She couldn’t help but be puzzled by her actions. 

“Why are you following me?”

“… I have business inside, too.”

“Weren’t you ordered to wait here?”

Finally, she couldn’t stop herself from asking. And hearing her question the girl’s face, which had been masked with utter calm and cold apathy throughout the fight, suddenly crumbled.

“… He promised he wouldn’t abandon me, but he hasn’t contacted me for days, so I followed him here on my own.”

“Ah.”

Upon hearing her somewhat disheartened response, a dazed expression appeared on Lestrade as she held onto the doorknob of the mansion. 

“By the way, pardon me for asking but, do you know my master?”

“……..”

“… What’s your relationship with him?”

Silently observing her, Moran asked with a dark glint in her eyes. Meanwhile, after hearing her question, Lestrade glanced at her once more and replied in a calm voice.

“Girlfriend.”

“…………..”

“It seems these days, Adler has been messing around with little kids too.”

“Watch your words.”

Amidst the strange atmosphere, just as the two girls were about to step through the opened door, their gazes directed toward each other became far frostier than ever before. 

“He’s just raising me.”

“That’s a typical tactic of Isaac Adler…”

An ominous realization soon dawned on their faces, and their expressions gradually darkened.

“This is…”

“My god.”

Since… despite the mansion’s considerable size, it was filled with a pungent smell of blood.

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Just a few minutes later…

“…………”

Gulping drily, the two girls entered the basement of the mansion and began staring blankly at the scene unfolding before them.

“… Cough.”

Isaac Adler, on the brink of death, was on his knees in the middle of the blood-soaked basement. All around him, endless mutilated corpses could be seen as he vomited copious globs of blood. 

“… You’ve killed all the masterpieces that I’ve been creating over the past few decades.”

“Ugh…”

“I had creatures that could’ve taken over London in a matter of days if set loose… And you’ve destroyed them all in an instant…”

Meanwhile, Dr. Frankenstein, with a voice that indicated her being halfway on the cusp of insanity, gently caressed his cheek while muttering.

“There’s no helping it now…”

“………”

“Now you’ll have to help me create my masterpiece…”

Tears began to flow from Neria Garrideb’s eyes as she shivered in a corner of the room, watching the horrifying scene unfold.

“Sto—, stop it…”

“After Jill the Ripper cut off the supply of bodies, I’ve been repeating experiments with nothing but these worthless failures…”

“Please stop, Mother…”

“But with the superior genes from you and me, we won’t need to keep repeating the process with the test subjects…”

But paying no heed to her words, Dr. Frankenstein pulled Adler close and brought the saw she had been holding all along toward his arm. 

“So, help me bear my masterpieces.”

“…….”

“… I’ll modify you to perfection.”

Lestrade and Moran’s eyes, which had been watching the scene with a distinct numbness of disbelief and shock, began rapidly brimming with murderous intent at the same time.

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  Lestrade is asking this question because she can’t believe that Charlotte is asking for her help and is in a predicament.