At the unexpected remark from the blond-haired male student before her, Moriarty, who had stopped tilting her head in puzzlement, stared at him intently and thought,
'Interesting.'
It had truly been a long time.
In this boring world where even committing crimes had eventually grown tiresome, here was a being who had made her feel this entertained.
'What exactly is his goal?'
He was the first being to slip from her grasp. She had even committed a murder that wasn't part of her plan just to see his reaction.
It had been a rather impulsive decision, but since the victim was the dean who had always been a nuisance to her, it turned out to be quite a satisfying kill.
'It seems he isn't entirely incapable of feeling fear.'
There had definitely been fear in his eyes when he first saw the prepared corpse.
Judging by that, he didn't seem to be the same type as her at all.
However, the expression of the student standing before her now, caressing the mana condenser placed on the table, was astonishingly calm.
It was a situation where a novice appearance and a veteran demeanor seemed to coexist.
To Moriarty, this too was fascinating.
'I'll need to talk with him a bit more.'
Not even as a professor did she have any way of knowing what purpose he held or what he was thinking.
But the one holding the advantage in this current situation was clearly the professor herself.
It was time to make the most of that benefit to understand the unknown existence before her.
"Why should I?"
"Huh?"
Moriarty, who had been quietly tilting her head to the side as she sent her gaze toward him, soon posed the question.
"Why must I accept you?"
"That's..."
"I can roughly guess what benefits you would gain by becoming my graduate student. But what benefit do I obtain by taking you in as one?"
It was a perfectly valid argument.
Of course, graduate students were excellent resources for professors.
But in Moriarty's case, she hardly felt the need for subordinates.
Because of her innate criminal blood, she had always been alone until now.
She had never even considered keeping someone by her side.
"If you cannot explain that point..."
Thus, Moriarty had been about to press the student before her with a penetrating stare.
"...Hmm."
But then, she abruptly stopped speaking and her eyes sparkled as she fell into thought.
'What on earth has this student been looking at all this while?'
Ever since he declared he wanted to become her graduate student, his gaze had been fixed not on her but on empty space.
At first, she thought he was intentionally avoiding her eyes.
But his pupils were periodically contracting, and his expression harbored an unmistakable bewilderment.
His appearance looked as though he were reading something from the empty air.
"Student, is there something to read in the air?"
"Ah, no?"
"Then why have you been staring blankly into space since earlier?"
"...It must be my imagination."
Having asked the question due to that sense of incongruity, she quietly furrowed her brow at the student's flustered voice.
'I mustn't reveal my cards so soon.'
He was an oasis discovered for the first time in a barren desert.
She wanted to immerse herself in it at least until her thirst was quenched.
"Honestly, it is difficult for me to accept your proposal as things stand now."
"...Is that so?"
"But if you were to resolve my longstanding worry, I might be able to accept that proposal."
However, before plunging in, it seemed necessary to determine whether the being before her was truly an oasis or merely a mirage.
"What is it?"
"It's simple. What should I do from now on?"
For that purpose, Professor Moriarty began to unburden her old worry to the student before her.
"Thanks to this cursed talent dwelling within me, every crime I commit becomes a perfect crime."
A deep darkness began to settle in her eyes.
"At first, it was quite amusing. It felt as though everything was in the palm of my hand."
"........"
"But it grew less and less entertaining, didn't it? It felt like winning a game by cheating."
"Have you never tried breaking that curse?"
"Of course I have. I tried various actions to break the curse and met countless people. But not a single one could break my curse."
In those eyes filled with thick darkness, the image of the blond-haired student before her was reflected.
"With the sole exception of you."
The hand gripping the student's mana condenser quietly flinched upon hearing those words.
"Frankly, I had hoped you would stand in opposition to me."
"........."
"Yet for some reason, instead of opposing me as a detective, you say you wish to enter my service."
The peculiar undercurrent flowing between the two was now churning wildly.
"Thanks to that, I have lost my will to live once more."
"That's quite unfortunate."
"Therefore, I will ask you again."
To the blond-haired boy quietly wiping away cold sweat, the professor posed the question in a low voice.
"How can I quench this burning thirst?"
Depending on the boy's answer, it could be the final question-and-answer of the day.
".........."
As Moriarty, having finished speaking, stared holes into the student, a chilling silence began to flow.
"So... if I understand correctly, Professor, you wish to wage a breath-taking battle of wits with a detective."
"Precisely."
"But because of the curse that makes every crime you commit a perfect crime, that cannot come to fruition, and that is your worry, correct?"
"Exactly."
Soon, as the student broke the silence and began to speak, Moriarty started tilting her head with a slightly expectant gaze.
"Hmm....."
'Is it beyond his ability after all?'
But as his words briefly faltered, Moriarty's expectation-filled eyes slowly began to cool.
'...I got excited unlike myself.'
Because he was the first heterogeneous being she had ever met, she had been considerably excited, unlike her usual self.
But calming her excitement, the one before her was ultimately a student who had just entered the academy.
Since he wanted to become her assistant rather than a detective, there was no way he could solve her chronic worry.
"It's simple."
That was certainly what she had thought.
"Begin criminal consulting."
"...Criminal consulting?"
The remark that spilled from his mouth after he finished a brief deliberation and took on an expression of resolve was:
"If the problem arises because you personally commit the crimes, Professor, doesn't that mean the perpetrator simply needs to be someone other than you?"
It was a proposal she found considerably charming and persuasive even to herself.
"Use your knowledge to provide criminal consulting to those in need of a perfect crime."
"........."
"There is no other way to quench the professor's thirst."
After finishing his words, he quietly smiled, then added as if he had just remembered something.
"And that is the reason you must take me in, Professor."
Hearing those words, Moriarty burst into loud laughter for the first time in a long while.
"Just as detectives need assistants, so too do criminal consultants need assistants."
"Ha, haha."
"Isn't that right, Professor?"
"Ahahahaha!!"
It seemed she had discovered not an oasis, but a vast ocean.
.
.
.
.
.
"Unfortunately, I cannot make you, a freshman, my graduate student immediately. That would go against procedure."
"Yes."
After laughing for a long while, Professor Moriarty wiped away the tears welling in her eyes and began to speak again.
"But you must keep this one thing in mind."
On her still bloodstained expression appeared the utmost fondness.
"From this very moment, you are the assistant of the criminal consultant, Moriarty."
The moment Moriarty finished speaking and leaned back leisurely in her chair,
[Villain Maker: Professor Moriarty's Appearance Probability Fulfilled]
[Progress: 10%]
Again, an unidentified message floated before his eyes.
"Ha."
Looking at the top of that message, I couldn't help but let out a scoff.
- You are the probability of this world.
- Risk your life to fill the lacking probability and prevent the world's collapse.
'You sons of bitches.'
Had my threat to refuse the confirmation even at the cost of my life been so twisted?
I had become the 'probability' of this very world.
[Quest List]
- Villain Maker: Fulfill the probability of Professor Moriarty's appearance.
- A Love-Hate Relationship: Become Holmes's 'That Man'.
- The Lady of London: Complete one sham marriage with Watson.
- The Phantom Thief's Treasure: Get kidnapped by the phantom thief Lupin.
- Don't Move: Receive a confession from Inspector Lestrade.
(Omitted)
The quest list stretching quite far down at the bottom was proof of that fact.
I had no idea when I would be able to finish all of this.
Thus, as I blankly scanned through the overwhelmingly vast and difficult quests,
"...Hm?"
At a single question that arose in my mind, I quietly began to scratch my head.
'Why isn't Irene Adler here?'
One of the few beings who had made Holmes, who had no equal as a detective, taste failure. And the only woman Holmes acknowledged. Therefore, in secondary creations, an extremely popular character constantly entangled with him.
All sorts of people existed as quests, yet for some reason, her name alone could not be seen in the quest window.
'Is it a bug?'
"Ah, you."
Just as I was about to stand up with a slightly uneasy feeling, Professor Moriarty's voice suddenly rang out.
'Right, I was still in front of this person.'
Even though she had just become an ally, she was someone I could never let my guard down around.
"If you intend to carry such an important photograph on your person, you best be more careful in the future."
Thus, as I straightened my back rigid with tension, she pulled a photograph from her bosom and handed it to me.
".....!?!"
I took it reflexively, and soon I could only freeze with a shocked expression.
"Th-this is..."
A dazzlingly beautiful woman wearing a tiara on her head was crawling on all fours like a puppy with a collar around her neck.
And beside her, stepping on her head, was the blond-haired boy who had now become my body.
"The man who can put a collar on the monarch of Bohemia and the Grand Duchess and take her for a walk is probably none other than you."
"...What?"
As I stared at that sight in astonishment, Professor Moriarty spoke in a voice laced with amusement.
"Isn't that right, Mr. Adler?"
Wait, what did she just call me?
"Ah."
Sweating cold sweat with a sense of disbelief, I soon read the last line of the message floating before my eyes and could only squeeze them shut.
- We wish you luck, Sir Isaac Adler.
Irene Adler was me.
"But do keep this in mind."
"..........."
"Even a dog will bite its master when cornered."
Within my fading consciousness, Professor Moriarty's warning echoed in my ears.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at that same time, on the streets of London where the sunset was descending.
—Clack, clack...
A woman concealed by a black robe and mask, yet unable to fully hide the antique elegance flowing from her person, hurried her steps.
[Baker Street, 221B]
The old boarding house on Baker Street was coming into her view.