NOVPUB“...Hold on. Then, you weren’t the one trying to incite a war?”
The James Moriarty known to the world was a villain who had seized control of Delica’s arms industry to spark a war.
But the truth that came from Ludger’s own mouth was very different.
Even when Violetta voiced her shock aloud, Ludger didn’t respond.
After all, it had been necessary for him to take on that image—deliberately.
“Anyway. That’s the story of how Arfa and I came to meet in the past.”
Though the memories of that time still lingered vividly in his mind, in the end...
It was all in the past.
* * *
“Anyway, that’s how I came to meet Betty. From the moment I pulled her out of that burning factory, our paths became intertwined.”
Casey spoke with her eyes closed, as if retracing old memories.
Of course, Betty hadn’t woken up until quite some time after her rescue.
Chasing down Professor Moriarty had taken priority.
“At the end, I fought that man in our final showdown. And as everyone knows, I leapt off the cliff with him.”
A dizzying drop beside a roaring waterfall.
There, she had driven James Moriarty back with every ounce of strength she had.
But he wasn’t called the godfather of crime for nothing—he blocked all her attacks, and even turned the tide against her.
She remembered it vividly.
Her pathetic state, drenched in sweat, utterly drained of mana, on the verge of collapse.
And him?
He stood tall, composed, staring down at her like he still had room to spare.
She had lost—not just in battle, but in magic too.
Casey was furious.
Maybe that’s why... 𝚗ovp𝚞b.𝚌om
She’d hurled herself at him with the last of her strength, even though her body could barely move.
Moriarty must have been caught off guard.
No one would’ve expected a mana-depleted mage to make her final move by leaping to her death—dragging him with her.
And so, she had fallen from that cliff alongside him.
If she was going to die, she would take him with her.
If she could erase the evil from this world with her life, then so be it.
But Casey didn’t die. She was still very much alive.
That day... I didn’t die.
When she regained consciousness, she was on dry land, covered with a blanket.
It hadn’t been luck. It wasn’t some kind passerby who found and saved her.
After falling from the cliff, somewhere during her fading consciousness, Casey had briefly opened her eyes.
Her vision was clouded by stress and mana exhaustion, but...
She still remembered that brief moment.
Crackle. Snap.
The sound of a campfire, and the silhouette of a man sitting beside it.
The man who had wrapped her in the blanket and lit the fire... he could’ve killed her.
But he didn’t.
The one who saved her—was that man.
Professor James Moriarty.
Why?
She’d tried to speak, to move her lips—but no sound came out.
Sleep had pulled her under before she could say a word.
When she fully woke up, only the ashes of the fire and the morning dew remained.
No trace of him.
And just like that, the infamous Professor James Moriarty vanished from Delica.
He abandoned everything he had built.
“...Though now, he’s alive again.”
Recalling that day from three years ago, Casey let out a slow sigh.
The final act Moriarty had shown her was completely at odds with the vicious man she had known.
Moriarty spared me. Even though I was the one who ruined everything for him.
Casey couldn’t stand not knowing why.
Why did he save me?
Hadn’t they been trying to kill each other all along?
He’s definitely a villain. A man who tried to start a war behind the kingdom’s back.
So why?
Her clenched fists trembled.
Part of it was the humiliation of her defeat—but a deeper part was consumed by the question of his actions, which made no sense.
And maybe, just maybe, a thought she refused to acknowledge...
—What if the man blamed for all those crimes wasn’t the real culprit?
No. That’s just a ridiculous theory. He saved me because... yeah. Just a whim. Criminals are unpredictable like that.
But even she couldn’t shake the discomfort of brushing it aside like that.
She needed to know.
What really happened that day—who he truly was.
Which means I have to find him. And beyond that... I have to find the organization he belongs to. The Black Dawn Order.
Casey Selmore’s new goal was clear.
To find the Black Dawn, that secret society hidden somewhere in the Empire.
And through them, she would find him.
I’ll do it. This time—I’ll arrest him, no matter what.
Her unwavering blue eyes flared with burning determination.
“Detective Casey... Are you all right?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
Enya asked, thinking about Betty, who was still absent.
“If Miss Betty is really evidence herself... shouldn’t she be in the Kingdom of Delica?”
“Oh, that?” Casey nodded nonchalantly. “You’re right. Technically, Betty belongs in Delica.”
“Then why...?”
“I kept it secret.”
“...What?”
Casey playfully stuck her tongue out, leaving Enya momentarily speechless.
“Y-You kept it a secret? You mean... you didn’t report it?”
“Nope. I hid everything.”
“Isn’t that illegal?!”
“Come on, it’s not technically illegal. I just haven’t submitted the evidence yet. No deadline was ever posted, right?”
“...You do realize that’s a total stretch, right?”
“I know. But look—everything that happened that day isn’t over. James Moriarty’s still alive, and he’s up to something in some faraway country.”
To sum up her reasoning:
Since the case wasn’t closed, she had the right to keep Betty with her as long as she needed.
“And besides, I can’t trust the Kingdom of Delica. So many government officials were involved in that mess—who would I trust to take care of Betty?”
Right on cue, Betty came into view in the distance, arms full of luggage.
When Casey waved, Betty scowled with obvious annoyance.
Neither Erendir nor Enya could believe that someone so expressive was an automaton.
Inside that slender frame was a complex clockwork machine made of steel.
“Well, Betty’s packed up. I guess it’s time we get going.”
“Where are you headed?”
“Our hotel got completely wrecked, so we need to find somewhere new to stay.”
The time to part ways had come.
Erendir fidgeted nervously as she bowed her head to thank Casey.
“Thank you so much for saving me. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“No need to thank me. I just did what needed to be done.”
“Please visit me sometime. I’d like to thank you properly.”
“Ah, I’ll be looking forward to that.”
Casey turned to Enya as well.
“You too. Take care, Enya.”
“Yes. Oh—Detective Casey!”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“The Captain said... she wants to see you again, sometime.”
“The Captain? Oh, you mean Terrina?”
Casey’s expression brightened as she remembered the old acquaintance.
“Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be staying in Rederbelk for a while, so tell her she can come find me anytime.”
“Of course. I’ll tell her.”
“Well then—we’re off.”
Casey and Betty gathered their belongings and left. Of course, the one carrying the bags was Betty.
As they walked away, Casey casually turned her head and glanced toward the half-destroyed Kunst Auction House.
At the center of the ongoing reconstruction site, a man was slumped to the ground in utter despair.
That was Ivan Luk, wasn’t it?
Executive Director of the Luk Corporation, and son of the Chairman. Also, the person in charge of this Kunst Auction.
Of all people, it had to be him—the one running the whole thing when it went to shit like this.
On top of everything else, the valuable items scheduled for Day 3 had all been stolen.
The Beast of Jévaudan had appeared, the building was half-demolished, and amidst a crowd of dignitaries and nobles, a terrorist attack had unfolded.
The damage? Impossible to calculate.
The reputation of Kunst, built over twenty years, had been ground into the dirt.
After something like this, who would ever want to buy or sell items at Kunst again?
Sure, the Luk Corporation itself wouldn’t go under—it was too large—but one entire branch of business had been wiped off the map.
And who was going to take responsibility for that?
Who else? The one at the top, of course.
Ivan Luk looked like he’d aged ten years overnight. His hair had turned completely white, and he looked so lifeless it was hard to believe he was even breathing.
But Casey felt no sympathy for him.
She’d heard he was an entitled brat who caused disasters simply because he thought his status protected him.
Personally, I can’t stand guys like him.
Casey Selmore had resolved many cases and solved countless mysteries as a detective.
She’d arrested more criminals than she could count and had received thanks from all kinds of people:
High-ranking officials. Wealthy merchants. Renowned nobles.
But she knew the truth.
Those people weren’t all that different from the criminals.
They hadn’t committed murder with their own hands—but through greed and power, they’d caused immense suffering to countless people.
So there was no reason to feel sorry for them when they fell apart.
No point thinking about this crap. I just need to do my job.
She decided she’d stay in the city for a while and plan her next move.
Although... it wasn’t like there was anything to “plan.”
She’d stay in Rederbelk and continue tracking the Black Dawn.
“Looks like things are about to get busy.”
“Huh? What did you just say, Casey?”
“Nothing.”
* * *
The incident at the Kunst Auction House had been too big and too public to cover up.
But strangely, not a single newspaper headline said anything about Kunst being robbed.
That wasn’t the focus.
[The Nightmare Returns—Is the Night of Blood Back from the Dead?]
What caught the public’s attention most was the appearance of the Beast of Jévaudan.
So many had seen its terrifying form with their own eyes.
Its howl had echoed through the entire city of Rederbelk.
People probably woke up in the middle of the night wondering what was happening.
So it’s no surprise the headlines came out this extreme.
Every front page was filled with stories about the Beast of Jévaudan.
Columns analyzing the Night of Blood from five years ago in the Kingdom of Durmang... Speculations on how the beast had reappeared... It was all anyone talked about.
Even Rederbelk’s city government had launched a formal investigation.
The only saving grace is that no trace of my organization was left behind.
I folded the newspaper neatly and set it aside on the table.
Just remembering what happened that day made my eyes ache with exhaustion.
Of all people, Casey Selmore showed up in this city.
I felt a bit cornered.
After all, the name I used when I first took over the underworld in this city... was James Moriarty.
Sure, since then I’d gone by “Owner,” and kept my real name hidden from most—but still. I couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
How could I have known that woman would chase me all the way here?
And she clearly had done her homework—she even knew about some of the aliases I’d used.
The only bit of luck was that she mistakenly assumed I held a high position within the Black Dawn.
Well... it’s not exactly wrong either.
I let out a wry laugh and looked toward Sedina, who was diligently reviewing documents.
Whatever the case, I was—at least officially—a First Order of the Black Dawn.
So really, Casey’s guess wasn’t far off.
Let’s just hope none of this splashes back on me.
As I was thinking that, Sedina finished sorting the files and approached me.
“Professor. The classification is complete.”
“Well done. Take a break.”
She glanced at the headline on the newspaper I’d just set down and asked casually,
“Was this the incident from yesterday?”
“Yeah. I heard a massive cryptid showed up downtown.”
“The Beast of Jévaudan. That’s a well-known cryptid.”
“It’s caused quite the uproar. Seorn is a mess again too.”
Maybe it was because of the recent werewolf incident—but now that the Beast of Jévaudan had made an appearance, Seorn was flooded with rumors again.
Most of them weren’t even worth listening to.
“Even so, it’s surprising. According to the article, the Clockwork Knights subdued the beast. I didn’t think they were that strong. I might need to ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) reassess their ranking.”
“Maybe so.”
Honestly, that part caught me off guard too.
I’d fully expected Casey Selmore to go around shouting that James Moriarty was still alive.
But nowhere in the news did his name appear. The only report was that the beast had been defeated by the Clockwork Knights.
She didn’t say anything? That Casey Selmore?
What’s her angle?
Whatever it was, if she kept quiet, then I could breathe easier too.
Still, I should contact Kirkus and the Old Kids and order them to keep the name “James Moriarty” tightly under wraps.
“And did you hear the other news?”
“What news?”
“They’ve started to move.”
“Who?”
“The Holy Knights of the Bretus Theocracy.”
The Bretus Theocracy.
The moment she said that name, I couldn’t help but frown.
My expression twisted with open hostility.
Those bastards... What are they doing here?
