LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 154: The Crawling Human (5)
"..........."
Two women quietly watched their backs as the group of girls slowly boarded the carriage heading towards Cambridge University under the gloomy sky.
"... How unusual for the lizard, so engrossed in playing pretend, to be here. What business might you have?”
"Personally, I think it’s far more surprising that the shadow power behind the British government, famously known for tucking herself away in her small hideout and living the life of a recluse, has shown herself here."
The two observers were none other than Professor Jane Moriarty and Mycrony Holmes.
"I did faint a few times on the way here owing to a few sudden bouts of anaemia. Perhaps due to overworking, my health has started deteriorating recently."
"... Or perhaps, it’s not the overwork, but rather due to someone forgetting about you completely while leaving you to starve in a basement for weeks?"
"Oh, how mischievous of you, dredging up such unpleasant memories..."
Letting a smile manifest on her face – a face several times paler than usual, perhaps because of her extended non-exposure to any form of light – she glanced sideways at the stoic professor standing beside her, before mumbling under her breath.
"... At least I’m less miserable than the poor professor, desperately clinging to a prospective spouse just shy of marriageable age, only to have a young student snatch the partner away at the very last moment.""... Oh, I fully intend to go to court on this matter. There is ample proof that the marriage certificate was tampered with by someone else. So..."
"Oh dear, making such an unsightly display despite being so… ancient."
Mycrony Holmes’ mumbles were met with Jane Moriarty’s calm retort, her tone flat and emotionless. However, hearing the small murmur at the end, her words ceased, lips pursed, and a frown contorted her previously calm face.
"If it really was tampered with, why would Adler remain silent~?"
"........."
"Perhaps a certain lizard is either too naive or too stubborn to admit defeat~"
"... So, what is the reason you appear before me now, challenging my patience?"
A sudden crackling of lightning lit up the sky, just as she asked the question while looking at the taunting Mycrony with empty eyes; the elder of the Holmes sisters had covered her mouth, hiding the derisive smirk that Moriarty knew the insufferable woman was sporting.
- Krrrrung...!
"Oh my, how terrifying~!"
As the deafening thunder rumbled and roared all around them, Mycrony Holmes began to step forward, blatantly displaying the smirk that had been covered till now.
"I'm merely here to help a poor little kitten who must be shivering as we speak."
"... That's coincidental. I too have come here for that very reason."
Exchanging those words, their eyes narrowed and simultaneously darted towards each other’s hands.
｢Please, you must come as soon as possible. You MUST…｣
"It seems my assistant has made a mistake while asking for help."
"... Indeed. Calling only in urgent times yet always failing in explaining the situation… so typical of him."
As if in sync, both of their voices grew colder with each passing moment.
"It also seems that he's completely forgotten the disaster that transpired the last time around."
"I guess Mr Adler doesn't think locking a frail patient in a dark basement is a crime~"
Heading towards the mansion, the footsteps of the pair of women began to quicken with each step forward.
"If we clash now, I have a feeling that the entirety of London would be blasted to smithereens. So… shall we achieve our goal first~?"
"... I'm not keen, but the situation is urgent, so I'll bear with it."
A dramatic agreement had seemingly been made between them amid their hastening steps.
"Excellent, you guys heard that, right? Everyone can retreat now."
"........."
"Oh my, why make that expression? How could a frail patient like me possibly confront a being straight out of mythology by myself?"
With the agreement finalised, Mycrony immediately dismissed the numerous forces she had kept on standby in the surrounding area. Winking at the quiet professor, they soon reached the mansion.
"... Just as I can't deceive your eyes, you can't deceive mine either."
"Hehe~"
Of course, the heightened tension, enough to chill one’s soul, continued lingering between the duo. Even as they opened the mansion’s door to enter, the tension showed no signs of wavering.
"I don't quite understand what you're saying..."
"........"
However, the instant they entered the mansion proper, and witnessed the scene inside, the tension winked out as though it never existed in the first place. A heavy silence replaced the once chilling tension.
"Meow."
In that prolonged silence, a piercing sound was soon heard— the sound of a cat.
"... Blackmail."
The pair of women stared blankly at the originator of that sound, unable to speak for a long time. The originator – sitting demurely on the desk, while mimicking the behaviour of a real cat – was none other than Adler. Their blank gaze lingered at the absurd scene before shifting to the lengthy message that was left in front of the cattish man.
"Your precious Isaac Adler has been replaced with a cat."
"Meow."
"If you want to turn him back to normal, reconstruct the case written below into a plausible crime..."
With time, their gazes grew increasingly more vacant as they read through the threatening letter.
"... The deadline is tomorrow."
"If you fail, Isaac Adler will remain a cat forever... apparently?"
As if in sync, their gazes simultaneously turned towards Adler.
"Me-Meow~"
After a moment of silence, Adler rolled over on the desk, raised his hands while mimicking the shape of a feline paw, and made a typical cattish pose.
- Lick, lick...
"..........."
However, as Professor Moriarty and Mycrony watched on without any reaction whatsoever, he started licking his hand, grooming himself like a typical cat once more.
- Swoosh...
"Ah, mrrrow-hiss...!"
Quietly, Professor Moriarty soon extended her hand toward him. Seeing her move, Adler bared his teeth and began hissing in desperation, still keeping up his cat-like behaviour.
"You are a fine actor, but even the greatest of the great can’t embody the character once they start overacting.”
"Eh?"
"... And it may also make you want to kill yourself again.”
"Ah..."
Blankly, Adler gazed at Professor Moriarty, smiling back at him with an eerie expression as she muttered the words he monologued not long before.
"Um, well… You see…”
"Mr Adler, cats don't speak in the human tongue."
His complexion paled at the revelation, and he tried to speak, desperately trying to make an excuse. However, Professor Moriarty gently stroked his head and whispered, shutting him down before he could even say anything coherent.
"If you speak normally now, I just might kill you."
"......."
"So please, act like a cat instead of a bloody scoundrel who proposed to one woman, beat her up, and then proceeded to marry someone else. At least, keep up the act for a while, okay dear?”
A silent nod was all Adler could conjure up in response. His whole body shivered at the pleasant notes of Professor Moriarty, containing a bone-chilling threat.
"... Cats don't nod when humans talk to them either."
"Meow, meow."
"Nor do they cry out in response.”
Jane Moriarty leaned close to his face and whispered in a tone colder than glacial ice.
"Do you want to die? Or would you rather I make you beg me for a swift death, hmm?”
"........."
"If you're going to do something, might as well do it right, don’t you think?"
Trembling, Adler began whimpering like a saddened cat.
"Don't push him too hard."
"........"
"You can’t deny that Adler looks adorable right now, doesn’t he?”
Squinting from the side, Mycrony finally spoke up in a subdued voice.
"But isn't it too dangerous to keep Adler, who has turned into a cate, in such a mansion?"
"........!?"
"I happen to know a good magic spell..."
At Mycrony’s interjection, Professor Moriarty directed a sharp look towards the nosy woman. However, when she heard her words, her stern face soon broke out into a faint smile.
"Is that perhaps a shrinking magic?"
"Oh my, do you also possess mind-reading abilities, Professor?"
"I know a rather decent magic spell myself."
"Really? May I ask what it is?"
"... Eh?"
Realizing the situation was taking a turn for the bizarre, Adler tried to push himself up from the ground. However, he soon found out that his body was oddly devoid of all strength.
"It's a type of magic that turns humans into animals."
"Hmm..."
Before losing consciousness, the last thing Adler saw was the almost identical smiles plastered on both Jane Moriarty and Mycrony Holmes’s faces while their eyes shone in an ominous colour.
"Meow."
"Now even if you want to speak like a human, only cat noises will come out of your lips."
"... Oh my, let’s pretend I didn’t hear that. Hehe~”
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Several hours had passed,
"So, why have you come here?"
"... Do I really need to share information with you?"
Poised to knock on the door of a small research lab attached to the university town, Professor Jane Moriarty glanced towards the smiling Mycrony as she posed the question.
"It's not necessary, but I'm having trouble understanding the purpose of your visit, especially when we should be busy manipulating the scenario.”
"... I'm here to meet someone essential, someone that will bring a sense of balance and diversity to this mundane case."
"In this shabby, unremarkable lab?"
At her reply, a smirk formed on Moriarty’s face.
"It seems you don't know everything after all."
"I'm quite a lazy woman, you see. Apart from what I get from the newspapers, I find it bothersome to acquire any information. In fact, I hardly know what's happening in the world."
"A woman who holds the world in her palms claims to be ignorant of it... That's as ironic as anything can get."
Chuckling to herself, a low murmur escaped Professor Moriarty’s lips while she stepped forward.
"The crux of this case lay in the cause of the professor’s absurd behaviour. For some reason, our dear kitten is adamant about blaming something other than Dr Frankenstein’s magic potion as the cause."
"... The potion doesn't have such effects, does it?"
"Exactly, and that suggests there's a hidden mastermind behind this strange case."
An imperceptible gleam radiated in Professor Moriarty’s eyes as she continued her explanation.
"... I've recently read a rather interesting book containing unheard-of terms like psychoanalysis as well as intriguing concepts such as dream analysis."
"Oh, is that so? Strangely, there's a book even I don't know about."
"Well, it only came out a few days ago."
Hearing so, an intrigued look manifested on Mycrony’s face.
"In my personal opinion, it’s a book with immense academic value. It just might take the whole world by storm very soon.”
"But what does that have to do with the case?"
"The poor professor who ended up crawling around like a vulgar dog in the depths of night has a young fiancée, remember? That very fiancée just so happens to be the son of the author who wrote that book."
"Aha~"
"I believe these two facts are closely related to the case."
The eyes of both women began to gleam in a frigid light.
"Indeed... that might be the case."
"Well, since I have been forced to take on the consultation of this case, despite my reluctance, due to some irresistible circumstances, I have no choice but to do my best to solve it. That's why I've come here."
"You believe, the person inside is closely related to the cause, right?"
"If not, I’ll just have to make it so."
Relaying those words, Professor Moriarty started knocking on the door with a composed face.
"... Of course, it seems highly unlikely that there really is no connection."
- Who is it?
"I've come looking for a certain researcher called Gregory."
- Could you please repeat that?
As she sensed the thick scent of crime wafting out from beyond the door, her lips soon curled into a sinister smile.
"Would you understand if I were to say Gregory Freud instead?"
- … Please, come in.
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"... Meow!?"
"Hush."
As they heard the man’s reply, a small cat with golden eyes peered out from between Mycrony's breasts, its eyes opened comically wide for a mere kitten.
"... Do you perhaps want to go lower?"
"......"
"If not, then just shut up and keep sucking my blood."
As soon as those chilling words were whispered, Mycrony's gaze met with the cat’s and the small feline hastily buried its head back inside; a sullen expression was etched on the small cat’s face, something that no normal cat should be able to make.
"... Mmmm."
"It's going to be my turn about now."
"There's still one minute left."