Becoming Professor Moriarty's Probability

Chapter 63: The Blooming Detective

A few days after Charlotte Holmes had collapsed in her boarding house...

"... Hmm."

"Miss Holmes?"

For some reason, they were still in the boarding house, not the hospital, and Isaac Adler was holding her in his arms and lying on the same bed as hers.

"Have you come to your senses?"

He heard a dazed voice near his ear and quickly checked Charlotte's condition, who had been nestled in his arms all the while.

"Hehe..."

Charlotte Holmes, with her eyes open, was smiling widely while gently clasping his hand in hers.

"You're by my side today."

"... Yes, I am."

"That's a relief."

She stared at Adler for a long time in that state and then delivered those words before nestling into his embrace once more.

"I was unable to open my eyes for 30 minutes, fearing that you might not be in front of me once I did."

"But didn't I hold you all throughout yesterday, as you were going through such a chaotic and precarious condition?"

"Still, there's only a 50% chance it would be you, right?"

"... Why do you think that to be the case?"

From within Adler's embrace, her small but confident voice began to flow out at a steady rate.

"Just think about it... When I open my eyes, there are two possibilities— you're holding me or it's someone else."

"..."

"So, it's 50-50. A 50% probability, right?"

With a confident look, Charlotte finished her somewhat illogical explanation and then looked up at me with a calm gaze.

"But now that I think about it, 50% is a perfectly balanced probability, don't you think? It's very stable."

"Miss Holmes."

"Mr. Adler, a human is all about balance as well. So, you should draw a line in the middle of your body in advance."

Not just her forehead, but she was sweating coldly all over, and her condition seemed quite serious as she rambled on some nonsensical remarks.

"It'll be easier to maintain the body's stability this way. You can even use it as a guideline if need be..."

"Please, I beg you..."

Isaac Adler, watching her ramble on like a deranged lunatic with a devastated expression on his face, clenched his eyes shut and spoke in a pitiful tone.

"Let's admit you to a hospital now."

"A hospital?"

Hearing that pitiful voice of his, Charlotte seemed to have snapped back to reality, away from her delusions, and gently tilted her head.

"It's no use."

"But..."

"As you can see, the outcome is already evident."

And then, she gave him a pained smile, filled with resignation.

"What was in that box wasn't magic, but something called Sorcery. It's a uniquely researched form of magic, also known as witchcraft, in parts of India and the East, one of the most difficult to execute."

".........."

"And Watson had already informed me... The mana circuits that make up my body have been damaged beyond repair by the sorcery already."