Chapter 356

AD1874 · Autumn · County Durham, England

"I heard that the rent of Count Moriarti's territory has been reduced again." Lansemero, who found an excuse to leave London to meet another self, stood by the window and said this with his back to Moriarti, who was then a professor of astronomy at Durham University.

"So 'we' have also lowered the rent." Moriarty's body began to shrink, and her face became younger and softer. A girl who looked exactly like Lansemello appeared here, and she also answered with her back to Lansemello, "In this way, Viscount Belver's territory is the only one in Durham County that still maintains an extremely high rent."

"That viscount will surely invite you to his manor for a chat soon." Lansemero retracted his gaze from the window, "However, he will probably invite 'you' and Count Moriarty's family separately - after all, the so-called 'nobles' are creatures who look at the upper class with envy and glance at the lower class with contempt."

"At times like this, I feel that Kirsh and the others' fake identities are better - I say, how about 'we' exchange identities? We are the same person anyway, and there is no difference between you and the old man's Moriarty staying in Durham and me and him staying here, right?" The other Lancermello turned around and said to Lancermello.

"You have all the memories of my direct contact with the three of them. If I come over to take over, I'll be exposed." Lansemello spread his hands and calmly pointed out the facts to his other self. "But, it's true... the value of an earl is higher than that of a baron - although if possible, I would rather get the title of marquis, so that no one can stop us except the queen and the duke."

"But the difficulty of getting a marquisate is compared to that of a dukedom... maybe it's easier to become a member of the British royal family."

"Let's not talk about this anymore." The other Lancer Melo shook his head, crossed his arms and looked at himself standing by the window, "What are you doing here? Let's get to the point."

"Then I'll be frank." Lansemero nodded and made arrangements for the other self's future actions. "There are two cases in Durham that need to be 'recorded'. One is related to Viscount Belver, and the other is related to Durham University. You can ask Moriati to check it out. If he has any inclination to directly intervene in the crime, tell me."

"Even if Kirsh was asleep at that hour, I would have dragged him out of bed and made him take Holmes straight to Durham."

"Do you have so little confidence in 'yourself'?" another Lancermello asked unhappily.

"No, but Holmes itself can be considered a special attack weapon against Moriadi, right?" Lansemello replied, "It's not enough to just stop him, so I want to use Holmes to deepen his psychological shadow..."

"Have you been led astray by those underworld gods?!" Moriarty, who had been silent for a long time, stood up to resist and shouted in the voice of Lansemello, "You were a pure and deceitful fairy before--"

"I've said it out loud." The other Lancer Mello who regained control of his voice exchanged glances with him, "Although I don't know when my position... or image became that of a 'pure and deceptive' fairy, even when I was a human, I had nothing to do with the word 'deceptive', right?"

"Although I was indeed deceived by Mr. Merlin, I have already avoided most of the traps that time, right?"

“Maybe he thought that ‘our’ actions in stopping the teacher in the Grand Temple of Time looked easy to deceive—after all, the teacher’s actions were obviously a convenient and direct solution.” Lansermelo spread his hands and shrugged at his other self. “After all, in the eyes of such guys, those who put other people’s lives above their own are all idiots.”

"Although we never acted to save the world."

"Yes, Chaldea says it's to protect the future of this world, but in reality, everyone who comes to work in Chaldea is not for this goal - of course, except for the teacher." Another Lancer Mello sneered and echoed his own point of view, "After all, even the savior Fujimaru, his initial motivation was just to save someone, Mash."

"We're just trying to save the people we love - saving the world is just a byproduct."

"Okay, the next job here will be handed over to you. I'm going back to London." Lansemero said goodbye to the two people who had completed the synchronization again, "I look forward to your subsequent record reports. After all, if I'm not mistaken, when the case at Durham University happened, you would have received the invitation from the Lord of Crime."

As Lansemero expected, Viscount Belver, the Lord of Durham, quickly sent an invitation to the Baron, who was a professor of astronomy at Durham University, and at the banquet he arrogantly asked the Baron to raise the rent. In the end, he ended the banquet with contempt for the new nobility and the lower class.

"Look at you. You have accepted so many poor creatures from the lower class. You are a baron, but you exude the same filthy stench as them... Ah, I forgot - Baron Frankenstein was promoted from the lower class by the Queen. No wonder no matter how you pretend, you have a stench that is incompatible with the nobility."

"Thank you for your reminder, Viscount Belver." The man who called himself "Frankenstein" said goodbye to Viscount Belver with a fake smile, "I will carefully consider your proposal. Well, I will take my leave first - thank you for taking the time to invite me to your manor for this matter. It is an honor for me."

After Baron Frankenstein completely left Viscount Belver's territory, he finally relaxed and listened to the complaints of his unknown companion.

"What you said is still so disgusting that I want to vomit, Moriarty." Lansemello, who was deep in his consciousness, commented on the terrible banquet tonight, "I really want to go back and continue to reduce the rent and directly confront that damn viscount."

"Although the current rent is too low for Viscount Belfort, it is still within a reasonable range." Moriarty sighed, taking on the responsibility of calming down the fairy species who were upset because of the cloudy vision, "If it is lower, we will be suspected of malicious intentions by "that side" and tricked into moving our people."

"So what are you going to do?" Lansemello asked him.

"Since I have promised the Viscount, I have no intention of breaking my promise." Moriarty winked slyly and walked on the dark and deserted street. "The rent must be raised, but before that... we have to spread the news first. After all, those bigwigs don't care about the lives of the people who are like worker ants, so of course they won't pay attention to the news circulating among them."

"I'm good at framing people - what's more, I'm telling the truth. Who would have the heart to blame a poor person whose life was threatened by someone in a high position?" Moriarty chuckled, "I'm just an ordinary, innocent, poor university professor whose life was threatened by Viscount Belver."

"Humph, I hope you can handle this before they meet Viscount Belver." Lansemello snorted coldly, put forward his request to Moriarty, and then said no more.

Viscount Belver seemed to have put more thought into inviting the Earl than the Baron, and was even considerate enough to allow the Earl's family, who had just moved to Durham, a week of rest and recuperation - of course, this also gave Moriarty ample time to build momentum and prepare, and even gave Moriarty time to write a letter to Viscount Belver to show that he had listened to the advice and increased the rent of the territory.

——Of course, no civilians who moved into the territory of Baron Frankenstein suffered any damage.

——Because they all moved into the Count’s territory after hearing the news that Moriarty had leaked in advance.

Moriarty completed all the preparatory work just in time for the banquet for the Viscount and the Earl's family.

"Well, in that case... Moriarty over there should have known about this." Moriarty exhaled slowly in the study, "Let's wait and see who the sickle of death will take away today. No, let me see how the young me in this world will plan this crime."

The next day, a blond man knocked on the door of Baron Frankenstein's mansion.

"Excuse me, Baron Frankenstein." The blond man handed a gilded invitation letter to Moriarty. "Viscount Balfour passed away last night due to a heart attack. Your life will no longer be threatened. In addition, Brother Albert and Brother William want to discuss the future of Durham with you. I hope you can go to the Earl Moriarty's house for a dinner on Friday night."

"...I understand." Moriarty accepted the invitation and watched the blond man turn around and leave. "He has a heart attack...It looks like he's taking drugs."

"A good medicine that can save lives can also become a poison that kills people." Lansemello chuckled. "By the way, I am very interested in the viscount's garden—"

"We need London to pay for it." Moriarty quickly interrupted Lansemello, "We can't raise so many precious and rare plants here - and we have other uses for the money here."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell the "me" in London." Lansemello sighed helplessly, "But the matter of pulling the strings on the surface is left to you. If nothing unexpected happens, the Moriarty family will directly annex Viscount Belver's territory and all the industries on this land - I hope you can confirm the handover at the next banquet and pull the strings for London."

"I hope London has not become the bad nobles in the eyes of the three Moriartys." Moriarty wished maliciously in a rather exaggerated tone.

"A-choo!!!" Kirshtalia, who had just put down her coat, sneezed violently.

"? You caught a cold just as autumn began, Kirsh?" Olgamari, who was sitting in the living room, looked up at Kirshtalia and asked suspiciously.

"...I think it's Durham who's saying bad things about me." Kirshtalia took a deep breath and answered Olgamari in a subtle tone.