A Mark Left Behind

Within the next two days, the morning news further expanded on the unusual phenomenon and the people who became blinded two days prior like feasting dogs who starved.

I read the morning news with twitching lips.

'...Reporters are scary creatures.'

"Hah…"

It had been two days since I had met Saint Martin in the hospital, since then I had analyzed the letter thoroughly. It was to the point where calling it an obsession would not be an exaggeration.

Though there was a piece of news that made me so erratic.

Charlotte Holmes had entered this race.

It wasn't a surprise to me.

But for everyone except Holmes, it was a death sentence.

Like a looming blade over one's neck, she was the blade while everyone else was the person to be chopped.

It was only a matter of when.

That was the disparaging difference between us and the high pedestal named 'Charlotte Holmes'.

I would not be surprised if the news tomorrow was featuring the resignation of several of my competitors.

Truly the protagonist of the world, the enigmatic Charlotte Holmes.

The letter I had gotten from Miss Martin was handwritten and with such penmanship that it appalled me all the more that the perpetrator had sent this to their victims.

I myself had thought that they had done it just to mock their victims, but that is only looking at the penmanship and not the contents of the paper.

As one of my 'fellow colleagues' had given the contents of their letter to the morning news, I was able to find out that mine and all the letters had all the same content.

It was as follows:

｢ To whom this may concern madam or sir.

I am the reason behind your blindness.

In this letter there will be no flowery words nor wasting time.

My demands for you all are simple, come to ■ and you will have your sight once more after fulfilling a single task.

The reason for the empty space for the location is that, when the day comes, I have made it so that the blanks will fill themselves in. Giving a precise location as to where to find me.

Though for my own benefit, gather at London, if not, you'll miss the location of where my address will be.

There you may arrest me after a certain period of time, the period of how long will not be disclosed in this letter.

I bid you a fine day.

– C ｣

The letter was short and decisive.

'Perhaps Charlotte Holmes has already found some clues on the culprit.'

I was currently ordering some butlers and maids on their tasks, though I was soon reprimanded by the head maid for messing things up.

At each given moment of rest I meticulously studied the letter.

From what I found, the seal was a cluster of musical notes hazardously put together, though it looked as if many lines and dots were randomly put together.

The origin of the letter was unknown.

As the letter itself held no stamps or any discerning features that could point in any location, I put rest to this pointless hunt.

The letter's contents were interesting but they as well were nothing but words and faint mana traces.

There was a certain part of the letter that the mana traces were in clusters but I merely put a mana stone to tell when the mana was activated.

In the end, the traces of this unidentified person were simply too much.

It was unknown just how that person had taken the sight of a hundred musicians around the world.

Though I have noticed one point. The musicians who were said to be within the United States were spotted within London for at the very least a week.

It was unusual, I had never truly lost sight of the present and my mind before.

For the first time in this life, my mind was in disarray.

In previous lives, I had died in a relatively fast manner, each life not even consisting of even a month. Sometimes even dying as fast as a single day or even the hour I had gotten there.

It was the chaos unfolding around myself that I had always had my mind on alert.

'This life… truly, I don't regret fighting for this life.'

I was getting sentimental.

My findings on the letter itself was little to none. If I had Charlotte Holmes' expertise that might have changed though I was not her nor did I have her experience.

I knew the kind of ink used, a guess on the kind of person who wrote this letter based on penmanship and the words used, and some more minute details that aren't worth mentioning.

The only true clue as to the location of the perpetrator was the only location given, London.

But even that may be a red herring as the location of when this perpetrator will reveal themself is on the precise day where all musicians have to gather.

The larger picture however, was easier to encapsulate.

The task, no doubt, was going to be related to music.

Among the musicians who were blinded, there were violinists, cello players, brass players, and some more. All string and brass instruments were present, it was the composition of a perfect classical orchestra.

There were many things I should have done to investigate further into the case, such as where the letter came from and the various other tasks that would further help this case. 

'...Hmm, even though I sincerely want to conclude this case on my own, I realize with Charlotte Holmes that is simply not possible. Should I just watch Charlotte Holmes and assess her?'

It was perhaps against my nature to be so submissive and willing to give up my own personal pleasure in solving this mysterious case, but Charlotte Holmes is one of the key components in securing my future.

'This would also help with various things in the future as well…'

A conflict arose, between this new addictive feeling of solving a case and my plan for the future.

Almost subconsciously, a sigh came out my mouth as I brewed tea for Jill the Ripper.

"Ha…"

"..."

A cold stare seemed to freeze my melancholy as I felt Jill the Ripper's intense stare at my troubled look.

"After this, I'll need to leave for my 'lesson' with Miss Garrideb."

"Yes, I understand. It's already quite late, I hope you can convince her to give you more of those failed products of hers."

"...Of course."

***

Alvis was sitting inside a carriage, waiting for his destination as he contemplated the crazy woman who lived inside the Garrideb mansion.

'A madman… no, madwoman would be more accurate.'

A graduate of August Academy and also a professor who quit the Academy some years ago, the head of the Garrideb family was a woman obsessed with immortality.

Using her connections at the start, she looked for the famed Dragon Tears to make a potion of immortality but failed for several consecutive years.

Once her connections had dried and no more tears could be found using them, Jill the Ripper with her access to the Royal Treasury of the United Kingdom, started to support her with the Dragon Tears within the vault.

Alvis around two weeks, or a week after the Bloody Sunday Riot, asked one day to Jill the Ripper to introduce him to the potion maker which she obliged.

'That's how it is now.'

A dark and gloomy mansion was now in sight.

"Welcome…"

The butler was a young man, though pale and looked to be slightly mad.

As Alvis and the butler quietly walked through the mansion, the butler couldn't help but ask.

"...Dear guest, though it is against my etiquette and training, may I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

A sigh came out the butler's mouth, "You do have a way to help the young miss correct? Please, please help her quickly."

It was not out of consideration but madness.

The young Neria Garrideb was suspected to have lycanthropy, or in other words, werewolf syndrome.

She went feral at moonlight, feared holy water, had abnormal strength, and had tendencies to bite as well.

Locked in her room, she was trapped since her childhood but Alvis knew the actual truth that not even the son of the madwoman who managed the estate and various other tasks knew.

She was a kind of homunculus, an artificial kind of human who failed at the woman's experiment to create an immortal human being.

What she truly suffered through was a special kind of hydrophobia, a kind of birth defect because of the madwoman's experiments.

Though due to her issues, the staff of the mansion have gone half-mad due to her countless incidents of scratching, breaking, pounding on the door, the list goes on.

"Yes I will. No need to worry, she will soon be put into a hospital that will accommodate her needs."

"I see… Thank you."

Alvis was now in front of the master bedroom doors.

'Strangely enough, that woman doesn't reside here, she has a secret passageway into the basement which is where she truly resides.'

Going into the empty room, Alvis looked at the various books on the bookshelves until a certain book caught his eye.

It was a book called 'The Modern Prometheus' and upon trying to take the book out, the bookcase clicked open to a hidden passageway.

'A hassle each time. There are perfectly fine pairs of stairs leading to the basement but making me go through this hassle each time…'

With a grumble, Alvis descended into the stairs as a large laboratory was soon in view.

"Oh, you're here."

A woman with chaotic black messy hair stated, in her hands were test tubes and various bubbling liquids in glass test equipment everywhere.

"Yes Mrs. Garrideb, I'm here for my 'lesson'."

Her eyes were glued to the test tube but an eerie smile soon formed on her face.

Alvis heard her mutterings.

"I told you to call me by my other name…"

The woman's name was Victoria Garrideb or better known as…

"Yes… Dr. Frankenstein."

The trial soon ended and Dr. Frankenstein walked to Alvis who was patiently waiting and looking around the laboratory.

"How much can you 'donate' this time, my disciple?"

The look that Dr. Frankenstein gave off was one that made Alvis think he was a mere walking, talking, and breathing blood pack for the woman.

"It's been a few days, I should be able to donate the same amount as last time."

"Hehe… that's enough for at least ten trials…"

Alvis rolled up his sleeve where Dr. Frankenstein then brought out devices, the same one used in a blood donation.

A few minutes passed as 500 milliliters of blood filled two blood packs as Dr. Frankenstein gleefully looked at them with joy.

Like this, each time Alvis visits he donates blood to her as she becomes his teacher. A give-and-take relationship that was the only way for a mad person to deal with an ordinary one.

Hours passed by as the day soon turned to night and night turned into midnight.

"I see… I understand now why the mana color theory is so hard in practice…"

One of his long awaited questions about the 'mana-color theory' had been answered by the previous professor of the August Academy.

'Are my emotions for her so intense?'

His eyes had already turned half-black. It was a strange phenomenon as the mana-color theory stated that it should have been instantaneous rather than a long period of eyes being 'dyed' by someone's color.

'...She must know something.'

Alvis wryly smiled thinking of the emotionless woman.

"Dr. Frankenstein, I have a last question about a current case I'm working on."

"You're very foolish."

Ignoring her harsh words, he went on.

"There is a person who blinded a hundred musicians around the world, the culprit. What kind of person do you think they are?"

"Hate… I hate those kinds of people the most… Hate…"

The words formed fragmented sentences, it told Alvis that time was running out. Someone who was within madness could not coherently form sentences. In the first place, it was the deal that allowed Dr. Frankenstein to teach using a language that was understood by the common people. Unless of course, something had caught her attention.

"I see…"

Alvis replied.

"I'll see you in a few days, Dr. Frankenstein."

As Alvis left the underground basement through the hidden passage, all he heard was the mad laughter of a woman who furiously experimented without a care in the world.

* * *

Though this may be a bit sudden, have you ever felt… 'off'?

Like in a way you cannot describe except being uncomfortable and eerie like someone is watching you?

This world in particular has me feeling that exact feeling multiple times in the same day at times.

Some are because of Jill the Ripper, others because of beggars in Whitechapel…

Though, nothing, not even Jill the Ripper's apathetic gaze, quite comes close to what I am currently experiencing.

'...What is this?'

I was making my way back to Buckingham Palace where I would have slept…

The winter made the surroundings freezing and I saw several beggars in Whitechapel shivering while sleeping.

Gazes…

Several eerie and strange gazes watched me.

It was not the beggars, nor was it any rats.

'...It feels like a Mad God is in my presence.'

Surely enough, that was the only thing these gazes compared to.

A God.

An entity not as benevolent as the God I knew, but nevertheless, something akin to a God was watching me.

The already colorless snow crunched under my feet like brittle bones.

My breath suddenly felt laboring.

'Is it mana?'

It wasn't.

I was oppressed by Jill the Ripper's masterful use of mana several times, this… this was something beyond my current comprehension.

Until the very end of my walk back, the oppressive gazes were always everywhere.

Unlike how people have two eyes focused on a singular point, this gaze watched my entire being.

'...Why?'

My head was underneath my pillow, Buckingham Palace, my home, has become my stronghold against this unknown.

Not even the euphoria of solving my current case could shake my head from the strange and vivid feeling of being watched.

It was only at that time, that singular time that I was watched.

The next day, everything went back to normal.

My plans resumed, the case was still being studied, and I was still Jill the Ripper's butler.

That was the second day my mind had wandered, two days in a row where my mind was not in sync with my body.

My shining record as a genius butler with no scars in my portfolio was damaged.

Though it was that day where I realized, I could never look at the world the same again.