Chapter 011

"ah!!!"

"The curtain on the stage has been drawn." After hearing the sudden scream, Lansemello looked at the Scottish Field Police and the Citizens' Police Force who were about to clash and asked the people standing behind, "Mr. Watson, and Grey - are you ready to start chasing the footsteps of the crazy shadow?"

"Don't expect Sherlock and I to provide any effective assistance." Watson said, "You two are already very special. You already need to be careful not to destroy this special feature. It's unnecessary to give you two stacked auxiliary magic, right? Besides, we ourselves are not magicians."

"But many Doctors are Casters." Lancermello cast a hint spell on himself and Grey, left the house, and began to use strong magic to lure Jack the Ripper who was about to be awakened. "Speak in a reliable way - Watson, is it okay to leave the logistics of the medical part to you?"

"Oh, well, of course - who made me the only Doctor here?" Watson grumbled.

In the alley, the police and citizens are chasing "Jack the Ripper" with great momentum - however, in the dark and quiet secret meeting place on the other side, eight corpses with their hearts taken out are lying quietly.

"Huh." El-Melloi II lit the candles on the round table while looking at the eight corpses lying here in all directions. "How strange! According to common sense, the Holy Grail only summoned 'Jack the Ripper', so there is no way that there is a problem of insufficient magic power - but 'Jack the Ripper' still took away the 'heart' of so many people's hearts..."

The moonlight fell through the window, casting shadows on the buildings and separating the corpse from the blood.

El-Melloi II sighed, transformed himself into his 19-year-old self, and avoided the corpses and blood before anyone else could get there. He followed the trail left by Berserker and entered the sewers once again.

——It’s too quiet.

William and Louis were walking one after the other in the dark passage leading to the meeting place of the criminal gang, but they felt unusual because of the overly quiet environment nearby.

"Louis." William stopped, holding his cane tightly. "There is no sound ahead... no sound at all."

Louis frowned slightly, gripped the knife tightly, half-blocked William behind him and prepared to open the door.

After Louis opened the door, both of them were shocked to see the bodies lying on the ground in front of them and frowned.

"...Tsk, I'm a step late."

William turned his eyes away from the body and saw the blue-haired consulting detective and his white-haired assistant standing by another door.

"John..." Sherlock was about to ask John to inspect the body while biting his cigarette when he noticed William standing on the other side. He smiled and waved at him, "I caught you - Lord Criminal."

"Yes, you got me." William laughed helplessly, "Mr. Holmes."

The only person who hadn't reacted yet was John.

"Eh!? What!? Professor Moriarty is the Lord of Crime!? Sherlock!!!"

"...Damn it, in this case, wouldn't the criminal be a chivalrous thief?" Sherlock crushed his cigarette and gritted his teeth, squatting down to observe the corpse. "This method... is much more brutal than the one in the Scottish field."

"Louis, put the knife down." William motioned Louis to put down the dagger, then walked past Louis very calmly and went to where Sherlock was. "Oh my, it seems that Mr. Detective is not here to catch the Lord of Crime this time."

"Isn't this an obvious fact?" Sherlock stood up, patted his clothes, and looked at William. "The reason why Lian came here is obviously 'Jack the Ripper' - although the commission I received was not to find Jack the Ripper, there is some connection. I guess Lian should not have received a commission for crime consultation, so he came here for Jack the Ripper."

"Unfortunately, although I guessed most of it right, I still got one thing wrong." William smiled and tilted his head towards Sherlock, "I received a commission related to 'Jack the Ripper' - so, Mr. Holmes, are you going to notify the Scottish Yard first, or... Mr. Holmes!?"

"... I was tricked." Sherlock looked at the empty chest of the corpse and laughed angrily, "Two commissions - different clients, different commission contents, different receivers... but in the end, they are both related to another 'Jack the Ripper' who appeared in Whitechapel."

In the room full of corpses, Sherlock looked at William calmly, his tone firm -

"Your commission is related to another 'Jack the Ripper'."

Somewhere in Whitechapel there was a burst of large-gun fire.

William's expression changed slightly when he heard the gunshot. He looked out the window, but found that the thick fog outside the window had dissipated without him knowing when.

"Louis." William frowned and nodded to Louis, handing over the matches. "Finish it early - the remaining time for us to act is this period of time before the Scottish Yard arrives here... We have to solve the commission before the Scottish Yard arrives -"

"I think..." William smiled at Sherlock, "You shouldn't be in a hurry to take me away tonight, Sherlock?"

"Here - I haven't passed your exam yet." Sherlock threw the commission letter to William and lit another cigarette. "Is it written by your client? I guess you only need this part of the information to solve the problem - in addition, can I know what the termination signal you prepared is?"

"Originally, the explosives were prepared to prevent the eight people here from escaping." Louis had already lit the fuse and returned to William's side. "Now, in this situation, it seems that it can only be used as a signal bomb."

——The Holy Grail, magicians, the Magic Association, Heroic Summoning, and the Holy Grail War.

William took out a cutout of the morning paper from his pocket - what was written on it was exactly the last missing piece of the whole incident.

"Sherlock, there should be only two brothers in your Holmes family, right?" William refolded the letter of commission and handed it to Sherlock along with a corner of the newly taken out morning paper. "My client claims to be Leah Holmes--"

"Excuse me, my name is Leah Holmes."

"Don't tell me you can't tell that's a pseudonym." Sherlock's eyes fell on the black cursive signature and his thumb lightly brushed across the paper. "Lord Lansermelloi - now it's right."

"...I think, for that person's status, a more understandable title might be - Her Highness."

"...But, in this case, isn't the problem obvious?" John raised his hand and asked, "They can obviously find the 'Holy Grail' directly, solve the other 'Jack the Ripper' in Whitechapel, and solve the fog at the same time - then why do they have to entrust Sherlock and Mr. Moriarty?"

"Because they need to solve the problem secretly." William looked out the window. The gunpowder at the exit of the passage had exploded, and the Lord of Crime's accomplices had received the signal to retreat. "Our making a big fuss in public also helped them attract attention... But there is more than one reason - she must have thought of developing a situation that deviates from the norm."

"The bodies lying here indicate that some developments have been advanced." William laughed. "Which side do you choose for the next job, Sherlock?"

"Of course, I will continue to search for the Holy Grail—" Sherlock replied with gritted teeth, "The situation here has further proved my speculation about the location of the Holy Grail. Besides, I will not be able to swallow this anger if I don't settle the account with the real client."

"Then let us evacuate the people of Whitechapel." William pulled up his hood, glanced at Louis, turned around and went back along the way he came. "Notify everyone to find a way to guide the citizens and the police officers of Scotland Yard away from Whitechapel, Louis."

"I understand, Brother William." Louis followed William and left. "What are we going to do after the evacuation is completed?"

"To meet our client."

Sewers are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria, rats, and pests. They are also the unnoticed, interconnected secret passages favored by those who operate in the dark. El-Melloi II lit a cigar in the dark and humid sewer. His hearing, enhanced by magic, keenly captured the overly heavy footsteps of someone entering the sewer.

"Nice to meet you. I am Lord El-Melloi II." El-Melloi II stopped in front of the old man with gray hair and removed the magic of suggestion that had covered him. "I came here at your request. The purpose is to bring you to meet the Lord of Crime, William James Moriarty."

"Excuse me...do you have any questions about this?"

The white-haired old man sitting by the wall widened his eyes, pulled out a dagger and stood up——

"Master William, it seems that your confidentiality work is not up to par... Really, don't always let the elderly work overtime - this time, as a teacher, you can finish the work for the students." Master Jack smiled and looked at El-Melloi II, "Although there is no need, out of courtesy, I will still introduce myself to you in return."

"Jack Renfield, former British soldier, current butler of the Moriarty family. Of course, in the past, whether colleagues or enemies... they all preferred to call me Jack the Ripper."

The sudden explosion attracted most people's attention. Even Lancermello, who was personally in the alley as bait to lure Jack the Ripper out, lost his sight for a moment and looked towards the area where the explosion occurred - this also gave Jack the Ripper a perfect opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

Jack the Ripper used this moment to pierce Lancermello's body with his dagger, but Lancermello seized Jack the Ripper's wrist that was holding the dagger tightly, and stabbed the blade deeper into his abdomen.

“Isn’t the information about Jack the Ripper shared with the Heroes?” Lancermello looked expressionlessly at Jack the Ripper’s transformation from a little girl to a strong adult male, tapping his heels. “Well, seeing how you’ve lost your rationality… you can’t share the information even if we have it shared—Gray!!!”

A girl in a grey cloak holding a huge sickle appeared behind Lancermello, with a determined look in her eyes, and swung the sickle at Jack the Ripper.

"Yade! The first phase of restrictions has been lifted!!!"