At the blond male student's unexpected remark before her eyes, Moriarty stopped tilting her head and stared at him, thinking.
'Interesting.'
It had truly been a long time.
In this boring world where even committing crimes had, in the end, grown tiresome, it had been ages since someone made her this entertained.
'What on earth is that fellow's aim?'
A being who, for the first time, had slipped from her grasp. To see his reaction, she had carried out an unplanned murder.
It had been a rather spur-of-the-moment decision, but since the victim was the headmaster who constantly annoyed her, once she did it she found it quite a pleasing kill.
'He doesn't seem completely unable to feel fear.'
When he first saw the prepared corpse, there had definitely been fear in his eyes.
From that, he clearly wasn't the same type as she.
But now, standing before her and stroking the mana condenser set on the table, the student's expression was astonishingly calm.
As if a novice's mien and a seasoned veteran's coexisted.
To Moriarty, that too was curious.
'I should talk with him a bit more.'
As a professor, she had no way to know what goal he had or what he was thinking.
But in this situation, the one holding the upper hand was plainly the professor herself.
It was time to use that advantage to the fullest to size up the unknown right before her.
"Why me?"
"Pardon?"
Still quietly cocking her head to the side as she looked at him, Moriarty posed the question.
"Why should I take you?"
"That's…"
"I can roughly guess the benefits you'd gain by becoming a graduate student. But what benefit do I gain by taking you as one?"
It was, in fact, nothing but sound reasoning.
Of course, graduate students are excellent resources for professors.
But in Moriarty's case, she felt little need for subordinates.
Because of the criminal blood she was born with, she had always been alone.
She was someone who had never even entertained the idea of keeping someone at her side.
"If you can't explain that…"
Thus Moriarty, staring straight at the student before her, was about to press him.
"…Hm."
Then she abruptly fell silent, eyes gleaming as she sank into thought.
'What on earth has this student been looking at since a moment ago?'
Ever since he declared he wanted to be her graduate student, his gaze had been fixed not on her but on empty air.
At first she thought he might be deliberately avoiding her eyes.
But his pupils were periodically contracting, and his face held an unmistakable fluster.
It was as if he were reading something from the empty air.
"Student, is there reading material in the air?"
"N-no?"
"Then why have you been staring blankly into space?"
"…Must be your imagination."
At that incongruity she tried a question; at his unsettled voice she quietly knit her brows.
'I mustn't show my hand yet.'
This was the first oasis she had found in a barren desert.
She wanted to sink into it at least until her thirst was gone.
"Frankly, as things stand, it's hard for me to accept your proposal."
"…I see."
"But if you can solve my dilemma, I might be able to accept it."
Before plunging in, however, she needed to determine whether the being before her was truly an oasis or just a mirage.
"What is it?"
"Simple. What should I do from now on?"
To that end, Professor Moriarty began to lay out her long-standing concern to the student before her.
"Because of this curse-like talent dwelling in me, every crime I commit becomes a perfect crime."
A deep darkness began to pool in her eyes.
"At first, it was quite fun. It felt as if everything were in my hands."
"..."
"But didn't it become less fun as it went on? It felt like winning a game by cheating."
"Have you considered breaking that curse?"
"Of course. I tried various things to break it, met countless people. But no one could break my curse."
In those eyes heavy with darkness, the blond student before her was reflected.
"Except for you alone."
At those words, the hand with which the student held the mana condenser twitched slightly.
"To be honest, I wanted you to oppose me."
"..."
"And yet for some reason, instead of confronting me as a detective, you're saying you want to come under my wing."
The odd current flowing between them was now roiling.
"Thanks to that, I've lost the will to live again."
"That's truly unfortunate."
"So I'll ask you again."
To the blond boy quietly wiping the cold sweat trickling down, the professor posed a low-voiced question.
"How can I quench this burning thirst?"
A question that, depending on his answer, might be their last exchange of the day.
"...…."
As Moriarty finished and stared a hole through the student, a chill silence began to flow.
"So—in my understanding, Professor, you want to wage a breathless battle of wits with a detective."
"Correct."
"But because of the curse that turns any crime you commit into a perfect crime, that can't come to pass—that's your dilemma, right?"
"Exactly."
When the student finally broke the silence and began to speak, Moriarty tilted her head with a faintly expectant look.
"Hmm….."
'So it's beyond him after all.'
But when his words stalled for a moment, the expectation in Moriarty's eyes slowly cooled.
'…I got excited, so unlike me.'
Because he was the first alien presence she'd ever met, she'd been uncharacteristically excited.
But once she calmed down, what stood before her was, after all, a student who had only just entered the academy.
Since he wanted to be her assistant rather than a detective, there was no way he could solve her chronic problem.
"It's simple."
That was certainly what she thought.
"Begin crime consulting."
"…Crime consulting?"
The statement that popped out after he finished a brief bout of thought and set his expression as if resolved was—
"If the problem is that the crime becomes perfect when you commit it yourself, then the operative shouldn't be you, but someone else."
Even to her, it was a rather attractive and persuasive suggestion.
"To those who need a perfect crime, use your knowledge to provide crime consulting."
"..."
"That is the only way to slake your thirst."
Finishing, he gave a quiet smile, then added as if remembering,
"And that is why you should take me in."
At those words, Moriarty burst into loud laughter for the first time in ages and thought,
"Just as detectives need assistants, crime consultants need assistants too."
"H-ha."
"Isn't that right, Professor?"
"Ahahahaha!!"
It seemed she had discovered not an oasis, but a vast sea.
.
.
.
.
.
"Regrettably, I can't make a freshman like you a graduate student right away. That would violate procedure."
"Yes."
After laughing for quite a while, Professor Moriarty wiped the tears pooled at the corners of her eyes and resumed.
"But remember this one thing."
Despite still being splattered with blood, her expression showed the utmost favor.
"From this moment on, you are the assistant to Moriarty, the crime consultant."
The moment Moriarty finished and lounged back in her chair—
[Villain Maker: Plausibility of Professor Moriarty's advent fulfilled]
[Progress: 10%]
Once again, mysterious messages surfaced before my eyes.
"Ha."
Looking at the top of those messages, I couldn't help a dry laugh.
— You are the world's plausibility.
— Risk your life to fill in lacking plausibility and prevent the world's collapse.
'Those sons of—'
Was it that they took such offense at my bluster that I'd block approval even at the cost of my life?
I had become the "plausibility" of this world itself.
[Quest List]
— Villain Maker: Plausibility of Professor Moriarty's advent fulfilled.
— Love-Hate Relationship: Become "That Man" to Holmes.
— Lady of London: Complete one sham marriage with Watson.
— Phantom Thief's Treasure: Get kidnapped by Phantom Thief Lupin.
— Don't Move: Receive a confession from Inspector Lestrade.
(omitted)
The quest list continuing at great length at the bottom proved it.
I had no sense of when I could possibly finish all of this.
As I blankly skimmed those vast, daunting quests,
"…Hm?"
I quietly scratched my head at a question that surfaced in my mind.
'Why isn't Irene Adler here?'
One of the few who made Holmes—who had no equal as a detective—taste defeat. And the only woman Holmes acknowledged. Thus an exceedingly popular character who gets paired with him in derivative works day in, day out.
There were all sorts of people as quests, yet somehow her name alone didn't appear in the quest window.
'A bug?'
"Ah, you."
I was about to rise with a faintly queasy feeling when Professor Moriarty's voice suddenly came.
'Right, I'm still in front of this person.'
Though she had just now become an ally, she was not someone I could ever relax around.
"If you're going to carry such an important photo on you, be more careful from now on."
So, tense to the hilt, I straightened—and she pulled a photograph from my breast and handed it to me.
"…..!?!"
Taking it without thinking, I could only freeze with a look of shock.
"T-this is…"
A dazzlingly beautiful woman wearing a tiara was crouched like a dog, a collar around her neck.
And beside her, the blond boy—now my body—was stepping on her head.
"A man who can put a leash on the neck of the ruler and Grand Duchess of the Kingdom of Bohemia and take her for a walk—there's likely no one but you."
"…Pardon?"
As I stared, aghast, Professor Moriarty said so in a voice tinged with amusement.
"Isn't that so, Mr. Adler?"
Wait—what did she just call me?
"Ah."
Cold sweat broke out as I thought, No way. Then I read the very last line of the message floating before my eyes and had to squeeze my eyes shut.
— Good luck, Isaac Adler.
I was Irene Adler.
"But remember this."
"...…."
"Even a dog, driven into a corner, will bite its master."
As my mind reeled, Professor Moriarty's counsel echoed in my ears.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at that very hour, on a London street over which the sunset had fallen—
— Plod, plod…
A woman, hidden beneath a black robe and mask—yet unable to conceal the vintage elegance that emanated from her—hurried her steps.
[221B Baker Street]
The shabby boarding house on Baker Street came into her view.