Chapter 71: Good Shall Be Repaid (1)
A martial artist who fully commits to righteous actions will receive abundant rewards.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Stop running around. Your leg just started getting better.”
“Got it!”
Although Watson sat back down, she couldn’t hide her excitement.
The reason I permitted her to write the manuscript was simple.
If my conversation with the Home Secretary proceeds as anticipated, I see no harm in allowing her to wield the pen for a while.
If we could temporarily fend off Moriarty’s looming threat, it might be possible to embellish our exploits and publish them.
Given the current necessity of seeking out and utilizing intelligence networks, gaining social renown through Watson’s contributions would be a welcome advantage.
Since Moriarty has shown his hand by sending Sebastian Moran, the next move must be to retaliate. Now that the duel chess match with him has begun, we can’t afford to be picky with our methods.
“Once you finish at the hospital, return straight home. I shall recount the events that transpired in your absence.”
Having completed my preparations, I descended to the first floor.
It was time to claim my due from the Home Secretary and discuss the greater game at hand.
The place I headed to, leaving Watson behind, was Westminster Palace.
With no direct underground line connecting Baker Street to Westminster, I was once again resigned to taking a carriage.
“…Cleared away already, have they? Just as expected.”
Seeing the protesters who had occupied the bridge disappear was both surprising and a testament to Moriarty’s audacity.
“It’s Mr. Sherlock Holmes. His Lordship has been expecting you. This way, please.”
Following the guard’s guidance, I went up to the office and saw Sir Harcourt, who was busy handling his duties today as well.
“You didn’t strike me as the sort to be out and about early.”
“Well, today is rather important, wouldn’t you say?”
I quipped with ease, prompting the Minister to sigh and cease his use of Poltergeist.
The documents and seal returned to their places silently.
“Have a seat first.”
Once again, the Minister’s attendant appeared without a sound, preparing tea and refreshments.
It made me wonder where he had mastered such stealth techniques.
“Little Heavenly Demon Sherlock Holmes. I’ve already received your help three times.”
Sir Harcourt spoke with an expressionless face.
He spoke with such unwavering composure that, upon first hearing it, I nearly failed to recognize it as an expression of gratitude.
“Help, you say. Upholding the principles of the martial world and acting chivalrously is a gentleman’s duty. Please, think nothing of it.”
As I recall, the Home Secretary promised through his subordinates to bestow a reward for solving the last Dead Man incident.
Unfortunately, shortly after, the Phantom Fist murders took place, delaying the reward.
Today’s summons was likely to present the postponed reward and acknowledge my contributions to that case.
Before entering the office, I thought the Home Secretary might downplay my contributions, as the Chief of Police had.
However, the fact that he began by expressing his gratitude for my help meant my concerns were unnecessary.
‘Above all, if I remember correctly, this is the first time the Home Secretary had personally requested an investigation and capture.’
What troubled me was that my involvement with him had only occurred twice.
The Worm Poison Immortal’s Dead Man case and the Phantom Fist murders.
The Home Secretary had stated I had assisted him three times, hence I was curious about the third instance.
Could it be referring to solving the Debutante Ball case?
“I never thought of you as a humble man, but this is unexpected.”
“You are quite straightforward, Minister.”
“I simply dislike unnecessary words.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he quietly observed me before finally opening his mouth.
“…I read the letter you sent at dawn.”
“The urgency of the matter compelled me to forgo the usual formalities.”
Was what he just said an indication that he would get straight to the point?
As the Minister had indicated, upon discovering traces of Sebastian Moran, I had the Baker St. Irregulars deliver a letter.
The content was related to a new clue I learned through Timothy Young.
“Intriguing. The idea that those demonstrators in front of Parliament were instigated by the mastermind behind this case.”
At the Minister’s response, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment.
This was a matter of grave importance, yet he summed it up with nothing more than a mere “intriguing”?
If we were this out of sync, there was no way we could work together against Moriarty.
I might as well take my reward and ensure that from now on, we meet only for formal commissions—
“So, I looked into it. And everything was exactly as you wrote in your letter.”
“…?!”
His expressionless face turned even the most ordinary exchange into an unexpected twist.
But at the very least, I no longer had reason to be disappointed in Sir Harcourt.
That alone was a worthwhile revelation.
“When you say you looked into it, in what manner—”
“I had already sent a spy to observe them once before, to see if they were up to anything suspicious. At the time, they showed no signs of anything unusual, so I set the matter aside. But now that there is reason for suspicion, I couldn’t simply let it slide without taking any action.”
The Minister fell silent for a moment before continuing.
“The protestors were followers of a newly emerging religious sect known as the Church Of Asteroid.”
“The Church Of Asteroid…! It is them!”
The Church Of Asteroid.
A name unfamiliar yet oddly resonant.
That was only natural, since before my regress, Moriarty, in his guise as a professor, had published a paper titled The Dynamics of an Asteroid.
“I am convinced that the leader of the Church Of Asteroid is the true mastermind behind this incident. As for my reasoning, I have outlined it in my letter, but the crucial clue was uncovered during the assassination attempt I thwarted at dawn.”
The term Asteroid was not a word one encounters often.
Given the prevailing suspicion that Moriarty’s public identity might belong to either the clergy of the Zion Clan, the National Church, or even the head of an emerging religious order, the name of the Church Of Asteroid appears.
I do not believe this to be a mere coincidence.
Based on what I confirmed after crossing over to this side of the world, London and the London Murim had a relationship akin to reflections in a distorted mirror.
Not perfectly parallel, but akin to fraternal twins like John Watson and Jane Watson, these two distinct worlds shared numerous commonalities.
Comparing and analyzing the differences between these two worlds would surely aid in locating Moriarty.
“A reasonable argument, I must admit.”
The Home Secretary nodded gravely.
“How about beginning the investigation at once?”
I clenched my fist.
With no concrete evidence in hand and no clear assessment of Moriarty’s level of Kung-Fu, capturing him or ending him outright was beyond reach for now.
However, if I could bring the Home Secretary, who wielded the immense authority of Scotland Yard and other enforcement agencies, over to my side, it would deal a significant blow to Moriarty.
Even something as simple as tracing and freezing the assets he had deposited under his own name and aliases at the Bank of England would severely hinder his activities as a Kung-Fu crime consultant.
“That will be difficult.”
But it seemed the Home Secretary’s stance differed from mine.
“Minister! Why do you hesitate to act?”
I was about to press him further on his indecision, even in such a pressing matter, but Sir Harcourt slowly shook his head.
“I assure you, I have no reason to delay such a critical decision.”
“Then what, pray tell, is preventing you?”
The answer I received was beyond anything I had anticipated.
“The moment I received your letter, I mobilized experts from The Royal Combat Society and The League of Gentlemen and made my way to Southwark. That is where the Church Of Asteroid is located.”
“…!!”
To think that the Home Secretary himself would take to the field in pursuit of the culprits was beyond my expectations.
He must have been profoundly vexed to realize that, despite uncovering the existence of the Church Of Asteroid, he had still fallen prey to their deceptive tactics, allowing the true mastermind to elude him.
“And as to what we found there…”
I sharpened my focus, hanging on to his every word.
“There was nothing at all.”
“Nothing at all, you say?”
“Precisely.”
The sheer absurdity of his statement made me question my own ears, yet Sir Harcourt remained entirely unfazed as he continued.
“The church building, the congregation, the young priest who led them, all of them vanished without a trace. Only days ago, when I sent my spy to observe, they were very much present.”
The Home Secretary cast a subtle glance toward his attendant, who had just begun pouring his second cup of tea.
It seemed the spy he had mentioned was none other than this man.
That explained why he had exuded such an unusually faint presence. He had not been employed merely to serve tea and handle menial tasks.
A true master who has achieved Social Facade would have no reason to remain in servitude.
Therefore this man was not someone who had mastered Kung-Fu, but rather someone who had mastered an extraordinary stealth technique or possessed an innate talent for erasing his presence.
“You have a rather capable man in your service.”
“I would not have employed Clarke if he were anything less than deserving of his pay.”
The Minister’s attendant placed a hand over his chest and inclined his head slightly, a faint smile playing at his lips.
“In any case, though our investigation persists, there is no sign of the congregation, nor any trace of the young priest who once led them.”
Another clue has emerged.
A young priest.
Moriarty might be a master who, like Her Majesty, has achieved Rejuvenation.
“We attempted to interrogate the residents living nearby, but they insisted that such a church never existed from the start.”
It seemed that those who had lived near the church, like the Phantom Fist, had fallen victim to the same insidious sorcery that erased their memories or subtly warped their perception.
“A most peculiar development.”
Deceiving the experts of The Royal Combat Society and The League of Gentlemen through mere Civil Engineering alone would be no simple feat.
I could not yet discern the exact method employed, but with Moriarty deliberately concealing himself, tracking him down would prove no easy task.
“It seems our only course of action is to discreetly circulate a composite sketch and proceed with a quiet investigation.”
The Home Secretary gave a solemn nod.
“The villain is not only adept in sorcery but also a master capable of imparting assassination techniques and Demonic arts through mere instruction. He will not be an easy adversary.”
“Agreed. We may well be witnessing the rise of a new archfiend. If possible, I shall seek the cooperation of the European Murim Union and law enforcement agencies abroad.”
“A wise course of action, Minister.”
It was a course of action that made sense.
I had successfully disrupted Moriarty’s plans and, more importantly, drawn attention to the sheer scale of his threat in its early stages.
Even if we can’t launch a large-scale enclosure movement that encompasses the entire European Murim, if we can restrict his activities, that alone would be a satisfactory outcome.
That said, having once slipped into the shadows, he would not return to the light so easily.
It was regrettable that I could not strike preemptively before he had fully prepared himself, but under the circumstances, I had gained something far more valuable—time.