indianbanksassociation Chapter 183: The Korean Interpreter (7)
Chapter 183: The Korean Interpreter (7)
“Do you undelstand what I am saying, yes?”
“First of all, why don’t you just stop using that weird speech style already? You aren’t fooling anyone with it.”
“... Uh, ok.”1
The man, using broken English with a thick Asian accent and animated gestures to assert that he was just your run-of-the-mill interpreter, abruptly stopped short after hearing Charlotte’s words. The icy chill in her voice made him shiver, warning him to choose his next words carefully.
“I mean...”
“I’m not joking around, what the hell are you trying to accomplish?”
Charlotte muttered, the icy chill in her tone still present, while directing an intense glare toward Adler.
“Your disguise skills are good enough to fool even me. Now you expect me to be fooled by this shitty disguise you’ve put up? Do you think me to be a fool?”
“Look here, Adler. Are you testing my patience?”
“... N-No, I’m not.”
As she leaned forward and snapped at him aggressively, the man, sweating profusely, fidgeted with his fingers and muttered.
“I’m really not Adler...”
Immediately, Charlotte’s eyes narrowed dangerously as she scrutinized his whole body from top to bottom.
“... Or perhaps, you wish to assign me a task that can’t be entrusted to Adler?”
“Kul, kullukk...!”
As she asked with a venomous undertone in her voice, Adler, who had been gauging her expression, nodded slightly after a dry cough.
“... The sun is shining so brightly today.”
“It’s evening now.”
Adler, trying to act nonchalant as he looked outside, was promptly silenced by Watson’s correction. Before he knew it, the doctor had silently approached his side.
- Swoosh...
“Our client must be having trouble seeing, Holmes...”
Watson, sitting right next to Adler, crossed her legs and pulled out the pistol that was lodged in her holster.
“Maybe drilling a hole in his eye sockets would help him see better?”
- Brrrr...
As the loaded pistol rested against the desk, Adler, shivering, finally took notice of the elite doctor sitting beside him.
“Please, don’t do this...”
“... So, what task are you trying to assign?”
Charlotte sighed deeply at his miserable appearance. Leaking another small sigh, she opened her mouth to speak.
“Let’s hear it.”
Adler’s eyes widened, and then a bright smile tugged the corners of his lips into a joyful curl.
“So, you see, what happened in the case I was involved in...”
Soon, his head started bobbing from side to side as a vivid eyewitness account started spilling forth from his lips.
“... Keep your head still.”
However, before his story could even begin, Charlotte’s sharp advice flew right at him, making him freeze.
“That’s the professor’s habit, isn’t it?”
“Have you ended up just like her?”
“No, no! It’s not like that...!”
Adler, momentarily frozen still, quickly shook his head and stammered out an excuse.
“It’s just because I’m happy...”
Trailing off, he started scratching his head in awkward motions.
“Please pretend you didn’t hear that last part.”
“... Shall I start explaining again?”
Between the dark glares of Charlotte and Watson, Adler, feeling the chilling atmosphere intensify several times over, began his testimony with a trembling note to his voice. R̃�
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“... So far, that’s what I’ve experienced.”
“Hmm.”
“How does it feel? Roughly, what do you think...”
After a long talk about his experiences, Adler finished speaking and cautiously asked Charlotte, gauging her reaction.
“It’s just a common kidnapping case.”
Adler interrupted her, scratching his head as he added,
“The moment Miss Holmes decides to intervene in this case, someone smarter than Miss Holmes will forcefully get involved as well.”
“... It’d do you good to take back that remark.”
As soon as he finished, Charlotte, with an expression far more chilling than anything he had ever seen, glared menacingly at Adler.
“Why?”
“I can overlook most insults that come out of your mouth. But if you dare suggest that Professor Moriarty is smarter than me...”
“You should listen to people till the end, Miss Holmes.”
Immediately, Adler interjected with a gentle smile.
“You can’t possibly know the ranking of the smartest women in London I have in my mind now, can you?”
“There’s no woman smarter than me in London.”
“Really?”
Teasing Charlotte with a playful expression, Adler quickly continued as he sensed the killing intent emanating from her,
“Even if we consider Professor Moriarty an exception, you must acknowledge that there are others above you.”
“There can’t be...”
Charlotte, frowning at Adler, started muttering under her breath. However, her words soon trailed off.
“... Have you remembered?”
“Could it be...”
Just as she was about to ask him a question, uncertainly filling her eyes.
- Knock, knock, knock...
“
Suddenly, the sound of knocking echoed from the door.
“Who is it? Didn’t I put up a sign on the door that we’re not taking any more clients today?”
“... Mrs Hudson should be out grocery shopping at this time.”
Alerted by the recent attacks from the professor, Watson and Charlotte shifted their sharp gazes towards the door as they rose from their seats.
“Oh, it seems she has already arrived.”
“What?”
Just then, as Adler sighed by himself,
- Click...!
Surprisingly, the locked doorknob started turning.
And then, a chilling silence descended on the room.
- Creeeak...
Amidst the silence, as the door slowly opened, the expressions of Watson and Charlotte, who had been reaching for a pistol and a hunting whip respectively, tensed simultaneously.
“Hello~”
“Ah.”
The moment they saw the face peeking through the slightly opened door, they were momentarily left stunned.
“Everyone’s gathered here, huh~?”
With a lethargic smile, the identity of the person silently stepping into the room was...
“Adler, could it be the person you mentioned...”
“... Was my sister?”
It was none other than Mycrony Holmes herself.
“Well, that being said~”
As Adler, instead of responding, only sweated nervously at the other Holmes sibling’s arrival, Mycrony Holmes was the first to speak while gazing intensely at him.
“Our dear Mr Adler does not seem to know what a promise is~”
Her eyes, ever so slightly parted, were gazing at him with a chill so intense he felt he was plunged into the depths of the arctic sea.
“... Is it because he’s a devil who interprets contracts as he pleases?”
“Mm, hmm.”
In such a spine-chilling situation, quietly clearing his throat, Adler then turned his gaze toward Charlotte.
“T-Ta-da~!”
He murmured in a low voice with a timid smile.
“Behold! T-The v-v-v-variable... I have prepared for Miss Holmes in this case!”
After that, silence drenched the room in its chilling embrace for a long, long while.
1. From here on out, he will be speaking normally