Sherlock Holmes.
One of the strange beings born from stories, his fame far exceeded that of Lovecraft’s collected works. There were plenty of people in the world who didn’t know Lovecraft, but it was quite rare to find someone who didn’t know Sherlock Holmes.
Perhaps because of that, the abilities Holmes possessed were rather extraordinary as well.
[I reconstruct the scene of an incident. Through a rewind, I confirm once more what happened at the scene.]
“You’re saying you manipulate time?”
[Nothing so grand. I merely reconfirm the circumstances of the incident through professional actors.]
Kneeling before Ian and Alisa, Holmes bobbed his camera head.
[Allow me to explain simply. If I reconstruct the scene of a murder, two people completely unrelated to the case are forcibly summoned to the site. Then one of those two takes on the role of the murderer, and the other the role of the victim.]
“……What?”
[The two assigned roles improvise actions appropriate to their parts. They show me exactly how the murder occurred here, what conversations took place, everything. I then analyze their behavior patterns and confirm the full story of the case.]
Holmes finished speaking in a calm tone. Ian let out a hollow laugh.
“So what you’re saying is, if you use your ability at a scene where five people died, five new victims are added?”
[You could see it that way.]
“You’re one deranged bastard.”
There was something the Bureau always said. There were no strange beings friendly to humans, and every last one of them was scheming to separate human flesh from bone. Thinking about it now, it was an extremely honest statement with not a single thing wrong.
The number of strange beings Ian had encountered so far was probably close to a hundred. There weren’t many types, but in terms of sheer individual numbers, he had run into quite a few over the past few months. And every single one of them enjoyed tearing people apart.
At least Pygmalion had been friendly to Ian, but that was because Ian was male. If he had been a woman, Pygmalion would have immediately thrust a carving knife and hammer at him and ground Ian’s face away while he was still alive.
Like this, some strange beings killed people indiscriminately, while others acted according to their own special conditions. Pygmalion and Holmes were the latter.
But that didn’t mean Holmes was friendly to humans.
‘It’s nice that he doesn’t try to kill people at every opportunity, but even so, the penalty for his ability is far too much. Even if we cooperate, using his ability will be impossible.’
Ian let out a deep sigh and took out a cigarette. Holmes quickly caught on and produced a Dupont lighter. It was a gold lighter with silver embroidery, an object that gave off a distinctly luxurious air.
Click.
With a crisp sound, he opened the lighter’s lid and skillfully ignited the flame. Ian stared at him with a sour look, then slightly extended his head and lit the end of his cigarette.
With a crackling sound, hazy smoke rose into the air. Holmes stepped back, and Alisa opened her mouth with an expressionless face.
“Personally, I think subjugating you here would be the more correct choice. Is there any reason we have to bring you along?”
[It is a bit awkward for me to say this myself, but I have resolved many cases related to mages until now. My personal combat ability is also comparable to that of knights. I have received professional training in hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship, and I handle firearms at a high level as well. If there had been only one mage here, I would not have taken such a humble posture.]
As Holmes said that, he slightly turned his lens toward Ian.
[But that gentleman is…… Mm, never mind. In any case, one thing is certain: I can be of sufficient help to the two of you. You may use me in combat, or use me when deduction is needed. If you wish, I will use my ability at any time as well.]
“No need for the ability. Needless victims aren’t to my taste.”
Alisa crossed her legs. The tip of her thick boot pointed at Holmes’s head.
“Why are you chasing Irene?”
[Because she is Korea’s James Moriarty. I have a duty to deal with every Moriarty in the world, and once I identify someone as Moriarty, I must capture them no matter what. Otherwise, I die.]
“Looks like you’ve already finished identifying her.”
[That is correct. So I have no option other than cooperation.]
Holmes bowed his head deeply. Alisa stared at his smooth metal head, then turned to Ian and exhaled.
“What do you want to do?”
“…….”
Ian was silent for a moment, then answered while exhaling smoke.
“He should be useful enough as a meat shield. Since we don’t know what kind of forces Irene has, having even one more person would help—”
Just as Ian was muttering that, his phone began to vibrate. He stopped talking and took out his phone.
[Mariang]
The name appeared on the screen. Ian frowned, briefly excused himself, then moved to a corner and answered the call.
“What.”
[Master, we have a big problem!]
Mariang whispered in a small voice. Before Ian could answer, she quickly continued.
[Reinforcements have joined Irene’s side! It’s someone with a cloning ability, and they’re using it to provide sacrifices for the magic!]
“What?”
[I’ll send you the location, so I think you need to come right now!]
[Mariang. Stop fucking around over there and kill this one too. Darko, you stop multiplying. How many is that already?]
[It’s twelve! Hoo, please kill me gently!]
Behind Mariang’s voice, a woman’s and a man’s voice could be heard at the same time. Ian furrowed his brow.
“……Send the location. I’m coming right away.”
Click.
Ian ended the call, looked at Alisa and Holmes, and shouted.
“Everyone get ready. I think we’ve found where Irene is.”
*
Vroooom.
Two people and one strange being traveled by car. Alisa, holding the steering wheel, puffed on a cigar as she turned it.
“A hotel near Incheon Airport? She was in a much more obvious place than I expected. More importantly, how did you find this out?”
“An acquaintance told me. Don’t try to learn the details.”
Ian answered as he set up his alchemical items.
Clatter.
He poured the oil he had made into a small lantern. The dry wick quickly soaked with oil, and whenever it shook, it made a sloshing sound.
He also took out the kitchen knife that, against primates, was no different from an instant-death button, and unwrapped the bandage. The cold blade was clearly revealed, and Ian handed one of them to Holmes.
“Take it. If you decide someone’s an enemy, stab them all to death with that.”
[……It is a paring knife. Can this even kill a beast?]
“Shut up and do as you’re told. Don’t talk back.”
[Haah…… A detective committing murder. What a contradiction this is.]
Holmes grumbled and put the paring knife into his pocket. Ian turned away from him and handed Alisa a long kitchen knife as well.
“You take one too. It’ll perform better than the weapons you have.”
“A weapon you made yourself?”
“Didn’t you see it on the community? It’s the item I used for verification when I first posted.”
“Hmm…… I don’t think I’ve seen it. Still, thanks. I’ll use it well.”
Alisa accepted the kitchen knife and set it beside her. Ian checked his firearm while adding one more warning, just in case.
“If you get stabbed with that knife, you might die instantly, so handle it carefully. Its durability isn’t that great either, so only use it when you need to.”
“……Instantly die? Seriously?”
“If you don’t believe me, test it on Irene.”
He tossed out the words casually and replaced all the bullets in his revolver with custom rounds. Heavy lead bullets filled the cylinder.
He hung the lantern at his waist. He didn’t like having it exposed, but since he couldn’t pull it out of his bag every time he needed it, there was no other way. This was the best option for lighting and extinguishing it quickly.
‘We can’t openly raise hell in a hotel. No matter how much I’m cooperating with the Bureau, if I casually do something that could harm civilians, I’m no different from a terrorist.’
Click.
He put the revolver into its holster and stared out the window.
‘If possible, it would be best to handle this as discreetly as possible. But if we can’t…… evacuating civilians should take priority over dealing with Irene. If only to keep my relationship with the Bureau from souring.’
Deep down, Ian wanted to call the Bureau as well. If they were there, they would be useful not only for cleaning up afterward, but also for evacuations.
But with his companions present, he couldn’t call them recklessly. That would only create needless trouble.
‘It’s frustrating, knowing they’d help but not being able to use them.’
He let out a deep sigh and took a gas mask out of his bag.
A gas mask he always carried in preparation for the battle with Irene that would someday come.
It wasn’t actually effective; it was just for cosplay. But that alone was enough to cover his face.
Originally, he had planned to substitute it with an ordinary mask, but it would be troublesome if Irene felt inspiration from his eyes alone, so it had changed to a gas mask.
Even if it was just something that got in the way in a chemical, biological, and radiological situation, it should be reasonably useful against Irene, so he had no regrets. Ian roughly stuffed the gas mask into the inner pocket of his coat and waited until they arrived at the hotel.
[Mariang: The room Irene is in is Room 1306 of the hotel. When you attack, please be careful not to drag me into it for no reason!]
Room 1306.
Ian memorized the exact room number and tapped the grimoire.
Irene.
At last, it was time to see the face of that bitch whose name he had only heard until now.
*
They arrived at the hotel around 5 p.m. Ian and Alisa calmly entered the hotel and looked around the lobby.
There weren’t as many people in the lobby as he had expected. It was only the end of March, so it seemed like it wasn’t an ideal time to travel. For their group, that was good news.
“Irene is in Room 1306, right? Then it’ll be the thirteenth floor.”
Alisa said. The huge camera held in her grip answered.
[You must not go in through the front. Unless we know what preparations they’ve made on that side, charging in headfirst will lower our chances of victory.]
The camera was Holmes. Since he could move around with just his head separated, they were carrying him like this so he wouldn’t stand out. If Holmes wished, he could summon his body at any time, so there was almost no loss in combat power.
Ian listened to Holmes’s answer, let out a low hum, and looked around.
“If possible, catching them off guard would be best. But to launch a surprise attack without standing out, and without being noticed by people as much as possible…….”
As he muttered, Ian’s eyes caught sight of one hotel employee.
They weren’t a special employee. Just a room service attendant delivering food cooked in the restaurant to a room. Atop the cart being pushed by the extremely businesslike, bored-looking employee, he caught a glimpse of dishes covered by silver lids.
The dishes and lids were larger than he had expected. It seemed large enough to hide an object the size of a human head.
And Ian knew one predator of exactly that size.
“Ah.”
He smiled broadly.
“There was room service.”