Hit Dice (1)

In the duel called life, the most important thing is to seize time to rest.
-Napoleon Bonaparte-

After confirming that the density of Yang Qi had returned to normal, I took Watson and Mrs. Hudson and headed to a stylish establishment.
After enjoying lavish fare like a roast dinner and Cantonese siu mei, along with a little alcohol, we returned to the lodging house, and the clock was already pointing to eight in the evening.

“After rolling around in bed, staring at flowers, and eating delicious food, the day is already over. Seriously, I did nothing. And you worked so hard.”

Back on the second floor, Watson muttered that.
She was blaming herself for not contributing at all to London regaining its peace, yet clear relief could be found on her face.

“What did I do? It’s thanks to the people who ran around busy here and there. More than anything, dealing with criminals is the work of a consulting detective, isn’t it?”

It was only that what we would lose if the case wasn’t resolved was far too great, and in truth, what I did was not much different from usual.
No matter that she was my assistant, if Watson, an excellent doctor, had to deal with criminals, that surely wouldn’t be right.
A proper society would be a place that ran properly as long as each person did their best at the work given to them.
A London that could only be protected if not just the consulting detective and police, but even the postman and cabinet ministers had to run while prepared to die, was a city with many shortcomings compared to the status and glory it currently enjoyed.
Even if it was a situation where Her Majesty the Queen and the British government couldn’t mobilize all their capabilities for diplomatic reasons, someday, if multiple coincidences and conspiracies overlapped as in this incident and a massive calamity covered London without giving time to respond, then truly countless common folk would lose their lives.

“…One way or another, it’s a city that takes a lot of effort. For me, that part is enjoyable, though.”
“Somehow you look like you cherish criminals.”
“You know me well.”
“That’s because I’m Sherlock Holmes’s attending physician and assistant, isn’t it?”

Watson said that and flopped down onto the sofa.
After saying something obvious, she lowered her head as if embarrassed for some reason, and it seemed that perhaps from the alcohol, her emotions were more volatile than usual.

“Maybe because the tension is gone, I feel sleepy.”
“If you want to be perfectly fine after guzzling that much wine, you have no conscience.”

Relieved that she had survived the Vermilion Phoenix’s fire, she ended up drinking to the point where she was on the verge of barely exceeding her limit.
Still, perhaps because she was a Kung-Fuist, she didn’t show the disgrace of slurring her tongue from drunkenness, but just how bad was it that Mrs. Hudson, worried, actively intervened and tried to take Watson’s glass away.

…That’s what I say, but in truth, Mrs. Hudson also came back after pouring down plenty of expensive alcohol.
Thanks to that, my wallet was ruined.
Of course, I wasn’t worried, because I believed that before long, those who had received my help, including Her Majesty the Queen, would provide financial support.
In any case, I wanted to say that for a duelist to get drunk to the point of unconsciousness, a few glasses of ordinary alcohol would be far from enough.
At the very least, unless it was some special liquor made at certain famous distilleries in the Highlands…

“By the way, today I feel like it’s a bit easier to walk. Is it just my imagination?”

Sitting on the sofa, Watson began vigorously massaging the leg that troubled her, her face flushed.
“No. It’s true that your leg is better than usual.”
“Hm. Even such strange things happen.”

Earlier, I saw that her walking speed was a tiny bit faster than usual.
I had confirmed that her condition improved after she began favoring the Ancient Vicuna Wool shawl, but the fact that her walking speed had improved meant there was another cause.
It seemed that the reason Watson’s condition had improved was, as expected, because for these two days the air had been filled with Yang Qi.
I had told her to stay put in the lodging house because I thought that if she went outside when the Yang Qi was excessive, her meridians would not be able to bear the strain, and now that the balance of Yin and Yang had returned to a relatively normal range compared to earlier, Watson’s condition was far better than usual.
Though the Nine Yin-Qi Nails had decreased to Eight Yin-Qi Nails, most of the energy flowing inside her body still leaned toward Yin.
Therefore, it could be said that it was only natural for her health to improve in a season like summer, when the nature of the Natural Qi flowing between heaven and earth leaned toward Yang.
At this rate, taking advantage of the strengthened Yang energy to remove one more Yin nail embedded in her meridians would not be a bad idea.
On the summer solstice, when the day is the longest of the 365, I should carry out Essence Conduction once more.
As it happened, I also had an elixir I obtained from Alfred Nobel.
I would test its efficacy on my own body first, then use it for Watson’s treatment.

“It begins now. Because the Vermilion Phoenix’s influence has caused a change in the balance of Yin and Yang, this summer will be hotter than usual. And the fact that the Yang Qi will be stronger than in past summers means it’s Meissen Bespoke for solving your meridian blockage disorder.”
“That’s joyful to hear. For the Vermilion Phoenix’s visit to help me, isn’t this exactly a blessing in disguise.”

Watson smiled purely, without a single crease.
Watching that face, a Russian folktale suddenly came to mind.
A firebird is a bird that brings both blessing and calamity at the same time.
The fool who often appears as the protagonist of the folktale receives the firebird’s blessing through his purity, while the crafty are deceived by their own schemes and meet calamity.
“…It’s not for nothing that the Vermilion Phoenix is called a divine beast. Isn’t it a spirit beast revered as a mysterious being since ancient times?”

Even without dropping a single feather, the Vermilion Phoenix breathed a new wind into Great Britain.
This summer, the divine beast’s heatwave might have a negative influence on countless people, including those of farming households, but at least for the pure woman sitting before me now, it was trying to push her from behind so she could move forward.
In someone’s eyes it might look like a trivial chance encounter, but this too was a new fortuitous encounter for Watson.
“Perhaps this is also a small recompense the Vermilion Phoenix gives us.”
When London welcomed a new season, Watson would be able to smile more brightly.

It was only after noon that I leisurely woke from sleep.
As for the acupoint-struck Irene Adler, last night, before I left to eat dinner with Watson and Mrs. Hudson, Mycroft and Yan loaded the coffin she was in onto a carriage and departed.

/<As you know, everything that happened today is classified.>

The Mistress of Green Willow would be transferred to an SIS safehouse without drawing anyone’s eyes and would be confined.
Mycroft would exploit her thoroughly. Irene Adler would periodically have her internal energy nullified by Pursuit Powder, and she would have to hand over the resources she possessed for Great Britain’s security.
Naturally, the Afternoon Tea Party members who worked under her would meet the same fate.
Of course, the human resources and various abilities Irene Adler possessed could not be used while she was locked up somewhere, so after negotiations she would have to be released again.
In any case, the fact that Irene Adler’s person was detained by the SIS meant that going forward, I too could exploit her as much as I pleased through Mycroft.
I did not know what the person concerned would want, but to me it was a welcome development.

“To be tormented by Mycroft, that Irene Adler of all people…”

However, when I thought of the Mistress of Green Willow being taken away, the first thing that came to mind was pity.
Irene Adler is not an easy woman.
But Mycroft is a persistent and gloomy man.
He would surely stop at nothing to pry out the secrets Irene Adler had extracted from the martial world’s big names and the royal houses, families, and nobility of European Murim.
For the Afternoon Tea Party Leader and her followers, time with the SIS would be something like hell, no doubt.
Given the nature of the SIS as an organization, they would not use vulgar torture, but rather more elegant, more cruel, more efficient methods.

“Well, it’s not something I need to worry about…”

What mattered now was cutting off at the source any room for Irene Adler to attempt retaliation against me.
No matter that yesterday I wiped out the leadership of the Afternoon Tea Party including Irene Adler, considering the organization’s scale and influence, there might be followers somewhere else who could still issue orders besides them.
In the bodies of the three people living in this house now, each and every one had poison Irene Adler had administered flowing within.
From what I confirmed yesterday, unless exposed to a special Qi Frequency, the poison’s efficacy would not gnaw at the body, but there was no telling when a follower seeking the leader’s revenge would come.

“The White Worm needs to spit out the antidote pill in time…”

Seeing that it still hadn’t vomited up the antidote pill for the corpse poison made by Frankenstein’s black worm, it seemed the stronger the poison, the more time the White Worm needed to analyze it and create immunity components.

“Right. Look at me.”

Come to think of it, I had forgotten something important.
Right after feeding the White Worm one of the two drops of Blue Eyes White Snake’s explosion venom that I had obtained, I was summoned here and there and couldn’t properly look after it.
After feeding it the explosion venom, only once, to neutralize Irene Adler’s poison, I fed it a poison I had imitated without even knowing the mixing ratio with my blood.
That was already two days ago, which meant the White Worm hadn’t eaten anything in the meantime.

“So it’s been starving since the day before yesterday. Poor thing.”

I carefully pulled out the flowerpot I had hidden under the bed with a metal cover over it.
I had no poison to give it right away, so I wondered if I should pluck some toxic leaves from somewhere and feed it—

“…Huh?”

I fell into confusion.
“This is…”

There was a hole in the flowerpot.
With a bad feeling, I carefully lifted the cover and saw something that seemed to be the antidote pill for the explosion venom rolling around on the soil.
And also a finger-sized hole bored into the soil of the pot.

“…Oh, Blimey.”

The White Worm was nowhere to be seen.
That’s right. Unable to endure its hunger, it had bored a hole through the pot itself and escaped.

“Did it store part of the poison it ingested, then use it…”

My admiration for the White Worm’s cleverness lasted only a moment.
When I lifted the bed up and pulled aside the curtains, I saw faint marks left on the floor.
They were traces of where the White Worm had crawled.
The marks led to the bedroom door.

“No. Please.”

Yan trusted me and entrusted the family treasure to me.
If it were discovered that I lost the White Worm through negligence in managing it…

“…”

I muted my footsteps and began carefully following the trail.
And the next moment.

“Kiyaaaaaaak!!!!!!”

A horrific scream rang out from Watson’s bedroom.