――A few hours ago――

The fire in the setting sun was so dazzling that Sherlock was finally willing to put down the binoculars in his hand, and she was the only guest left in the empty teahouse, perhaps fearing that the disaster would affect the nearby building, so she chose to leave. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Info But it was okay, the empty and quiet attic was also a good place to watch, and the food and tea that had cooled down on the table had not been touched, and she returned to her seat without caring and picked up the cold celery. At this time, she noticed that in addition to her accident, there was another person watching the tragic situation near the square.

It was a girl dressed quite gorgeously, with a skin that could be broken by blowing, long soft hair clinging to her neck, and a neatly combed Liuhai looked like she had wasted a lot of effort. But what really caught Sherlock's attention was only because she was in a wheelchair. In this cold weather, she wore only a fine dress on her upper body, which was too large for her to cover her knees, revealing her snow-white legs and collarbones. The girl staring at the square noticed Sherlock's gaze and raised her head slightly as if she had just woken up from a dream.

"Are you interested in what is going on over there?" she asked.

“... Are you human?" asked Sherlock, uninterestingly.

"Also, when I wear clothes like this in winter, most people think that I am not human, and there are still many customs of the past in this country, and girls like me are often considered prostitutes. ”

Is that so?" Sherlock frowned, glancing at the table beside the girl, with nothing but a jug of wine and a small glass.

"I envy you," the girl's expressionless face was as dull as a doll, and her godless eyes looked unfocused, "You've been to a lot of places, you've been to England, you've won a lot of honors, you've been to most of Europe, you've been to Monte Cristo, you're a man with a lot of stories." Like what's going on over there, it's a world I can't touch. ”

"Oh, really?" Sherlock smiled and put down his chopsticks, which he wasn't used to, "I'm very picky about this kind of thing, why do you think I've been to so many places?"

"That man... Is it called "Dio Connor"? is an interesting guy, and you're here because of her. ”

Although the girl answered the question, Sherlock was still taken aback. She stood up, rubbed her chin and looked at the girl again, finally finding something 'extraordinary' about her. She had to wear her fine garment, pinned to a golden waist tag. On the other side hangs a cigarette stick.

"You're... The people of the West Factory?"

"Did you finally notice?" the girl turned her wheelchair to face Sherlock, "I'm Wakatsuki White, and that's the name my adoptive father gave me. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sherlock Holmes. If it weren't for my physical disability, I would definitely go to the UK to see you in person. ”

It's no wonder that this guy is from the West Factory. It's not surprising to know about her, it's just... Is she really human?Sherlock raised an eyebrow, picked up the flask on his table, and placed it on the table next to Wakatsuki, and then she sat down opposite her, took her pipe out of her pocket, and asked symbolically:

"Mind if I smoke?"

"You should have noticed, don't ask such pointless questions, it will disappoint me very much in you. Wakatsuki looked a little annoyed, as if she was very dissatisfied with Sherlock's formality.

"Then if I didn't ask," Sherlock narrowed, "why did you come to me? I guess it wasn't the Emperor's order." ”

"Why do you think so?" Wakatsuki tilted her head.

"He didn't want to see me, it had been three days since I asked for an interview, but he still didn't reply, and if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't want to see me, I really can't think of any other reason. ”

"No wonder you think so," Wakatsuki sighed, "The 'Emperor' is not the president of a country, have you ever seen him attend the inaugural meeting of the United Nations Conference? Those who are qualified to see him at any time can almost be counted on two hands. Maybe you're famous in England, but this is the Ming Empire, and you're nothing here. ”

"Is this a demonstration?" Sherlock frowned.

"How come, my wording is a little inappropriate, please bear with me," Ruoyue Bai shook his head, "The Ming Empire has more than 800 million people and more than 10 million square kilometers of land. If there is any famous fishing and patrol in any province, it will take a week to reach his ears, and most of them will only sink into the common people, and there will never be a day when a fish will become a dragon. It's a world of the jungle, and Dio Connor knows better than you do. It is impossible for the Ming Empire to participate in your stupid plan, Europe is far from the Ming Empire, even if you participate in the war there, win it, and occupy a larger land, the Ming Empire will not gain anything in a hundred years, but will lose countless losses because of the war. ”

“......”

"Don't you still understand? Why did Britain openly ally ally with the Ming Empire and the Soviet Union, but secretly negotiated peace with the United States?"

The girl picked up the sandalwood cigarette stick and held it in her mouth. It was obviously extinguished tobacco, but a trace of smoke came out, and she exhaled the strong-smelling smoke and lowered her head.

"Just because it's close. The United States was much more reliable than the Ming Empire and the Soviet Union, which had to cross the Arctic Ocean and all of Europe to provide some supplies. For the Ming Empire, Britain also had no special "use", so it was laissez-faire. Of course, if the "business" aspect is good for both parties, then it can be discussed. But why do you want the Ming Empire to risk losing the war and help you deal with the so-called threat of war?"

"Are you really human?" Sherlock clenched his fists.

"I'm seventy years old this year," Ruoyuebai said for no reason, "My adoptive father gave me the position of governor of the West Factory before he retired, and most people don't know about it except for the people inside the West Factory and the emperor. Although the West Factory has a wide variety of yokai and quirky humans, both the West Factory and the East Factory have a tradition since their establishment. The Governor must be human. ”

"You...?" Sherlock finally looked surprised.

"You don't look old, do you?" she laughed to herself, "that's what everybody is looking for." I have never practiced internal strength, and I was born with my legs disabled. Unfortunately, I can't support myself physically like most people, so that's the only way left for me. Judging from the degree of organ aging, I can live for about 30 years at most, and I am also an "old man" who rarely lives long. Dio Connor's life is still very long, and I can see that she has gone to countless places, leaving countless traces, and even if her body decays, her soul will not be annihilated. In this world, her name will always be left behind. ”

"I think so too. ”

Wakatsuki pushed the wheelchair to the table, pinched the neck of the flask and poured a small glass of wine into the glass, tilted her head and shook the bottle at Sherlock, as if asking her if she wanted a drink. Sherlock didn't refuse, and the two were silent until the night gradually surrounded the teahouse, and it wasn't until there was another explosion in the square that Wakatsuki Bai put down his glass.

"She won. ”

"Oh?" Sherlock furrowed.

"The members of the West Factory are helping her, her plan has succeeded, and that "Yuguang" doesn't know that there are many monsters in the West Factory who hold a grudge against her. Once the feeling of jealousy spreads, it will become a feared monster, and it will only be a 'gesture' to fight against one's compatriots. To be honest, when Jiang Liuer approached me and wanted me to help Dior Connor, I was a little hesitant. ”

"Why?"

"I don't think she wants to help. That's what I thought at first, but I immediately thought of the reason why she had gone to great lengths to lay it out. ”

Ruoyuebai picked up the wine jug, there was no wine in it, so she had to put it down helplessly.

She knew that the real enemy wasn't the youkai. ”

“.....”

"The real enemy will not put on the appearance of an enemy, they will only hide in the shadows, quietly carry out everything about themselves, waiting for the other party to reveal their flaws. If even that bad monk bowed his head and asked me for help, how could I refuse? ”

A smile appeared on Wakatsuki's white and frosty face, which was a more penetrating smile than the baby face that appeared in the window in the horror movie.

"What are you talking about?" Sherlock smiled helplessly, putting down his glass.

"Don't move," the smile on Wakatsuki's face disappeared for a moment, "to the right of your coat is your usual 357 caliber revolver, and your crutches are sitting next to the table over there. Deliberately dressed so thick in the winter that in fact a bulletproof vest was worn underneath. Moreover... You have a little phosphorus powder on your clothes, and of course you can't see it, because that's where you accidentally stuck to the inside of the cuffs and you couldn't even notice it. And this..."

She reached into her cuff and pulled out a note.

"This is the note that Dio Connor handed me, and it has nothing written on it except a date, and Dior himself does not know what it is. As a matter of fact... Just rub some low-concentration silver nitrate on it, and something black will appear. For example, "S・H", these letters. I didn't think of it before, because my subordinates reported about Youguang's abilities. ”

"You've been acting very strangely, Miss Sherlock, if it's the real Sherlock Holmes, she's going to do her favorite reasoning the first time she sees a stranger, and not only do you do nothing, you don't act like an Englishman at all, and what you don't know is that Sherlock Holmes, though he likes to smoke, but... She smoked no ordinary cigarette. She's an addict. ”

"Don't make any small moves in front of me, 'Wild Boy Yuguang', you can't escape. ”