Becoming Professor Moriarty’s Probability
Chapter 247: The Adventure of the Empty House (6)

“Hah, hah…”

With a strange, laboured breath, Lovecraft stepped out of her room for the first time in ages, her face flushed red after clumsily finishing her makeup.

“… Mr Sherinford must be waiting downstairs.”

- Creak…

“It’ll be nice if he’s a pretty boy… but maybe a sturdy, imposing figure with that superior physique of an Englishman wouldn’t be so bad either…”

Descending the creaky stairs – though they seemed perfectly intact to make such noise – her mind ran wild with fanciful delusions.

“Ehehehe, hehehehe…”

With a creepy smile spreading across her lips, Lovecraft finally reached the first floor. Instead of stepping out immediately, she peeked her head around the corner to take a look.

“… Huh?”

“I’m sure I was told… that he’d be waiting in the living room…”

However, the living room, where she was certain Mr Sherinford would be, was inexplicably empty.

… C-Could it be, he left because I was too late!?

She stood frozen for a moment, her expression blank, before she began mumbling internally, her lips trembling as her eyes welled up.

F-For today… I tried so hard…

Flashes of her grand adventure came to mind— going all the way to the library to borrow books on making friends and applying makeup.

“I should’ve just… just come out earlier… Why did I even apply makeup…”

- Sssshh…

“… Huh?”

Then, all of a sudden, she felt an ominous presence next to her, making her shiver from head to toe.

“Eeek!?”

Turning her head instinctively, she let out a shriek, lost her balance, and fell flat onto the floor.

“”………..””

Three women, who had been hiding in a corner of the living room, stared down at her with expressions of utter disdain.

“… Just to clarify, it’s not her, right?”

“For someone who is behind the supernatural anomaly that plagues the world, she looks utterly pathetic, ridiculously so.”

“W-Wha… huh?”

Their gazes, narrowing at the sight of the awkward and gloomy girl sprawled before them, betrayed their growing doubt.

“She’s kind of cute, but… I don’t feel like getting anywhere near her.”

“Agreed.”

“W-W-W-What do you mean, barging into someone’s home just to insult them…!”

Lovecraft, now on the verge of tears, glared at them with a mix of indignation and despair.

“… You know Sherinford, don’t you?”

“W-What?”

The frosty tone in Charlotte’s voice froze Lovecraft in place, her eyes widening in shock.

“Wait, y-y-you… don’t tell me…”

“My plump sister used to say, back in the day, that if I were born a boy, she’d name me either Sherlock or Sherinford.”

“A-Ah…”

“But, alas, I was born a girl, and thus I became Charlotte Holmes.”

As soon as the name Charlotte Holmes left her lips, Lovecraft froze entirely, her breath catching as she stared up at the detective in a sort of dazed terror.

“Then… you all are…”

“It’d be better if you didn’t resist, okay?”

“With that frail body of yours, we could shatter you into pieces in less than ten seconds.”

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkkkk!!!”

Lovecraft’s eyes darted between the grim-faced inspector, the sharp glare in Watson’s eyes, and the menacing, nigh-ominous aura that Charlotte exuded from her entire being. Her face turned ghostly pale as she finally scrambled to her feet.

- Thud, thud, thud!

In a panic, she bolted back toward the staircase she’d just come down from, her footing clumsy with desperation.

“Where do you think you’re going…”

“… Hold on.”

Watson, her eyes flaring, moved to chase after her, but the inspector suddenly grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

“It’s dangerous.”

“What? What do you mean, dangerous?”

“… You can’t see it, but…”

The inspector muttered darkly, her uneasy gaze fixed on the staircase.

“That’s no ordinary staircase.”

“Then… what is it?”

“It’s covered in a slimy, gelatinous substance, with bizarre tentacles and feathers sprouting all over.”

Watson shuddered, taking a cautious step back as a wave of revulsion swept through her.

“Actually, the entire place is like this. I just refrained from mentioning it for the sake of your sanity…”

“Ugh, that’s disgusting.”

“You might see sofas, chairs, or a fireplace, but to me…”

The inspector’s voice grew tense as she continued, her expression stiff.

“… It’s nothing but an empty, desolate, sticky ruin.”

As she finished speaking, an eerie stillness hung in the air of the living room, sending chills down their spines.

“… But even so, we can’t turn back now, not after coming this far.”

“Wait, hold on…”

Charlotte broke the silence, stepping forward with determination.

- Goooooooooooooo…

The tentacles littering the staircase immediately reacted, writhing and shifting in unsettling movements. The inspector swiftly raised her gun, shouting in alarm.

“Danger!”

“Don’t make such a fuss.”

“What…?”

The writhing tentacles stilled and retreated without incident, leaving the inspector momentarily dumbfounded. She tilted her head, visibly confused.

“As long as you precisely follow the same steps Lovecraft took when she went up, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Oh…”

“But how do you even remember that?”

“I’m always observing. Everything…”

Charlotte delivered her response with confidence before picking up her pace, her eyes blazing with fiery determination as she ascended the stairs.

“… Whether I’m in my right mind or not, that’s just who I am.”

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“E-Excuse me… Inspector.”

“… Yes.”

“I’ve been feeling this eerie chill ever since we came up… I’m not imagining it, am I?”

Having followed Charlotte up the stairs safely, Watson wiped the cold sweat from her brow and voiced her unease to the inspector.

“It’s probably… because of the terrifying aura seeping out of that room.”

“I see…”

“If even someone like you, an ordinary person, can sense it… then whatever’s inside there must possess powers beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.”

The inspector, also sweating nervously, cast a sidelong glance at Charlotte.

“That’s why I propose we retreat for now. We could formally request support from the U.S. Bureau of Supernatural Anomalous & Aberrant Phenomena Correspondence and prepare…”

“… The bureau’s been practically useless these past two years since no anomalies have occurred. Even if we asked for help, nothing would change.”

“Still…”

“If you insist, feel free to go make your requests. I’m going in regardless.”

“… If you’re that determined, I suppose I have no choice.”

With Charlotte’s unwavering resolve, the inspector let out a resigned sigh, then turned her gaze to Watson.

“But since Miss Watson is an ordinary civilian, we should at least send her away—“

“I-I’m going with you!”

“… Haaaah.”

Watson’s immediate and determined response left the inspector shaking her head. She reluctantly drew her baton from her belt.

“Very well. I’ll open it.”

Approaching the door from which the ominous aura emanated, the inspector’s movements prompted a tense expression to settle on both Charlotte’s and Watson’s faces.

“Huff.”

Taking a deep breath, Lestrade raised her baton high above her head.

- Crash!

“Hands up!!! Don’t move a single…”

With one powerful strike, she shattered the doorknob and burst into the room, her voice booming as her gun aimed steadily at the interior.

“… What the…?”

But her words faltered, her face twisting into bewilderment.

- Drip, drip, drip…

“Ugh… uhh…”

Inside, Lovecraft was cutting into her own arm with a knife. Tears streamed down her face as her blood trickled onto a bizarre magic circle drawn on the floor.

“W-What the hell are you doing…”

“We have to stop her now!!!”

As the morbid and suspicious scene unfolded, the inspector hesitated for a brief moment. It was Charlotte who, with a sharp cry, threw herself towards Lovecraft in an attempt to stop her.

- Whoosh!

“Ugh!?”

However, right that instant, grey flames surged up violently from the ground, forcing Charlotte to retreat.

“What… What’s this? Is it Professor Moriarty?”

“No… it’s different.”

Charlotte muttered under her breath, shaking her head at Watson’s question as she backed away from the flames.

“But… why does it feel so similar then…”

- Rustle, rustle…!

“… What?”

Suddenly, the notebook on the desk began to flip its pages frantically, as if possessed.

Finally, finally!!!

“That’s…”

Charlotte’s eyes widened as the word finally began scrawling itself endlessly across the pages of the notebook.

- Boom!

“Mmff!?”

“Kulluk, kulluk…”

Before anyone could react, the magic circle erupted in a blinding light, followed by a colossal cloud of dust that consumed the entire room.

“Ugh… Wh-What the hell is this…?”

“I… I feel dizzy…”

“Aah…”

Caught entirely off guard, the trio – Charlotte, Watson, and Lestrade – were engulfed in the dust. They collapsed to the ground, their faces pale as though the life had been drained from them.

“Aagh… no… aaah…”

“W-Why… why is this happening… to me…”

“Is… is this… hallucinogenic gas…?”

Their expressions twisted in terror as if they were gazing upon the most horrifying nightmare imaginable.

“… Hmph.”

From within the swirling smoke, an enigmatic figure emerged, watching them with a faint smirk. It was impossible to tell when or how they had arrived, but their presence was chillingly calm.

“Perfect…”

“Gghk…”

With an air of satisfaction, the mysterious figure grabbed the limp and unconscious Lovecraft by the arm and began dragging her across the floor towards the door.

“Sorry, but you all will need to disappear from here.”

They muttered coldly, their piercing gaze glinting as they reached for the window near the door and shut it completely.

“… I can’t have anyone interfering while I go to meet my filial daughter.”

With those ominous words, the figure flashed a sinister smile and quietly exited the room, leaving only the lingering aura of dread in their wake.

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Meanwhile,

“Hey, Miss System.”

Yes.

Isaac Adler, still hidden in the bushes near the mansion, stared blankly at the unfolding events, his face utterly drained of colour. With a voice laden with bewilderment, he asked the system.

“Is what I’m seeing… real?”

You saw it with your own eyes, didn’t you?

“No, but… but…”

He couldn’t believe it. He had just witnessed, with his very own eyes, a figure who should never exist in this world.

It’s exactly who you’re thinking of.

“……..”

In the original ending, they’re also the reason why Professor Moriarty goes berserk.

“… Goddamn it.”

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“… This is impossible.”

At that same moment, in Professor Moriarty’s office in London.

“I’m certain, absolutely certain…”

The Professor stood by the window, staring blankly at the torrential rain pouring down more fiercely than usual. Her expression was one of sheer disbelief as she muttered to himself.

“How is this possible when I killed my father with my own hands?”

“Eek?”

“Eeeeek?”

Clutching her beloved children tightly in her arms, she spoke with a face so pale it was almost ghostly.

***

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