Emily Hunts Monsters - Chapter 27
“…Father?”
He called to him before he knew it, but Edward Hyde didn’t look back. Forgetting that he shouldn’t get caught, Little Henry approached his father. He saw the red, bloodshot eyes full of madness.
“What are you doing—”
His words were cut off when he saw the object in Edward Hyde’s hand. On the altar in front of his father lay the body of a young animal with its stomach split open.
Edward was sprinkling a black substance on it.
“…!”
Little Henry fainted immediately.
***
Mr. Henry, who finished the story, scratched the back of his head. “It sounds silly now, but I was very shocked at the time.”
It was clear it couldn’t be considered a funny story in the first place. Listening to his experience, there was something that suddenly came to mind.
There was a story Helena told me the other day.
“…Cultists are often obsessed with bizarre rituals that ordinary religious groups wouldn’t do.”
“Among them, the Church of Starry Wisdom is infamous for its grotesque religious ceremonies.”
“They split open the stomach of a dead body and use its guts for ceremonies. They even hold blood rituals using livestock such as sheep and cattle while the animal is still alive.”
“The difference that distinguishes them from other groups, however, is…”
Yes, the Church of Starry Wisdom that Edward Hyde belonged to.
Since we had been investigating them.
“The Faceless God, the Crawling Chaos. They worship Nyarlathotep.”
Nyarlathotep was said to be associated with earth, one of the four elements. That meant…
The cemetery also belonged to the Church of Starry Wisdom!
***
“Baron Moriarty?” Jimmy mumbled after biting into a strawberry cake.
“Yes. Have you heard of him?”
“He’s a socialite.”
I had to ask just in case. But as expected, Jimmy didn’t know much about the social world. Helena had the most information about it among the people around me. Seeing that even she regarded him highly, Moriarty in the current timeline managed his reputation well.
“Aren’t you going to eat? This is really good.” With his fork, Jimmy pointed to the strawberry cake.
After taking a bite, the sweet taste in my mouth was pleasant. “It’s delicious.”
“See? This place is really like a hidden treasure in Edinburgh.”
The two of us were in a tea room near the university. In terms of my previous life, a tea room was similar to a café. It was one of the few places where women could talk freely during a break or lunch. The difference between tea rooms and modern cafés was that tea rooms mainly served a variety of teas instead of coffee.
“Have you been to the ABC tea rooms or Lyons?”
“No, I haven’t.” Those were the popular tea rooms in London, but I didn’t have a personal connection to either of them.
“What a shame. If you’ve been there, you’d know the difference. This isn’t like a tea room under a company. The owner has his own aesthetics and philosophy.”
As he said, the store was wonderful. The sunset poured through the wide window, turning the entire place red. The antique chandelier in the middle lit up the spacious room with a subtle light. The few tables were decorated with a white lace tablecloth that showed the owner’s taste.
“With you, I can come to places like this. The monkeys around me don’t understand how relaxing a cup of tea is.”
Come to think of it, Sally said something like that before.
“Ma’am, have you visited the recently opened tea room in London?”
ABC was on the cheaper side, so Sally had been there once or twice to save money. She never went to a luxurious tea room. She said such things while her eyes were sparkling.
“We should bring Sally with us next time.”
“Oh, Miss Melbourne would love that.” Grinning, Jimmy soon changed the subject. “Now that I think about it.”
He told me that the sexton of Greyfriars Kirkyard was a different person.
“Really?”
…Of course, I knew that already, but I nodded anyway.
“Yes, he’s quite creepy.”
“I see.”
“I’ve known him because he was introduced to me by…”
The moment Willy’s name came out of his mouth, I flinched.
…Because I remembered the sad body I saw in the morgue. I couldn’t tell Jimmy about Willy’s death. If he saw Willy in that state, he’d be devastated. It was best to become allies with Moriarty, and at least let Jimmy know of his friend’s obituary while properly recovering the body.
…It won’t be easy for a while. I stared at Jimmy who was talking about Willy without knowing anything.
I didn’t know if it was my imagination, but he looked like he was blushing.
“Jimmy, you must be very good friends with Willy.”
“Oh, that’s…” Jimmy trailed off once he recounted his first meeting with him.
Other boys were laughing at him, telling him that if he wasn’t a girl, he should take off his shirt so they could check. Willy was the only one who stood by Jimmy’s side.
“Since then, I’ve relied on him a lot.”
A slightly red face. Even I could sense the strange feeling behind the embarrassed voice. “Jimmy, you like him, don’t you?”
“…What?” Jimmy’s face turned pale. Surprised, he looked around before breathing a sigh of relief when he realized there weren’t many customers besides us.
“That’s… That’s ridiculous!” Despite lowering his voice, Jimmy looked agitated. “And I… It’s not the same… thing.”
“It’s not?”
At this point, I felt it was necessary to attack Jimmy’s secret. There was no better way to recruit this talent to my side.
“It must be because you’re a woman.”
“Yes, I’m a normal… Huh?”
I lowered my voice, but said each word slowly. “You’re actually pretending to be a man, James Miranda Barry. Your real name is Margaret Anne Bulkley.”
Jimmy’s eyes widened.
“Am I wrong?”
“…It’s… It’s…” He, no, she didn’t speak. She didn’t expect to hear her real name in such a place. “How the hell do you know that?”
“…”
“You could guess just by looking at my face, but my real name? Don’t tell me you looked into my background…”
Before there was doubt in her eyes, I immediately spoke. “As you have your secrets, so do I.”
I remembered the conversation I had with Henry when I first met him. What he did so that I knew him better and gain my trust.
…Was to tell a secret that no one else knew about.
“You… remember your past life?”
My old secret that I told Helena. In my previous life, I lived in a future that existed a hundred years from this current time period, and I learned in history textbooks about an outstanding surgeon named Margaret Anne Bulkley.
At first, Jimmy didn’t believe me.
“In the future, medicine will have progressed wonderfully.”
Sterile surgery would have been further developed thanks to the creation of disinfectants. Not only will syphilis treatments emerge, but diphtheria will also be overcome by humans. I then listed some more medical information I heard in my past life.
“Well, I can only say it’s quite amazing.” She seemed to reflect on what I said.
“I don’t expect to win your trust by just telling you my secret,” I whispered into Jimmy’s ear. “I also don’t plan to use your secret as a weakness. It’s just…”
I looked at her.
A shirt with a high collar even in warm weather.
A chest that must have been bound together with a bandage.
“You’ve been doing very well. Even so, it must be hard at times…”
A handsome face that wasn’t so unusual but still couldn’t be hidden by using masculine speech or behavior. She may not believe what I’m saying, but I continued to talk while looking at those brown eyes wide from shock.
“I thought you might want someone to know.”
Although this was a strategy to have Jimmy on my side, I was sincere about my words. If I hadn’t met Helena in the past, if I hadn’t told her one of my little secrets…
I might not be here now.
Jimmy’s expression slowly changed from a look of surprise to a face colored with complex emotions. “Are… you serious?”
Instead of answering, I nodded quietly. Jimmy, who was staring at me as if to confirm the truth of my words, bit her lip.
It was a long time before she spoke.
“Ma’am, no… Emily.” She made eye contact with me. “What I’m about to talk about now… Can you keep it a secret even if a knife is pointed at your throat?”
Of course.
After giving him an answer, Jimmy began to confide in me. She was so direct that it overshadowed her hesitation.
…It seemed like she was waiting for someone to tell.
I understood that feeling. Everyone needed such an important confidant.
Jimmy smiled after his confession. “Emily, I hope the future you saw in your previous life will happen.”
***
The next day, in the afternoon.
I was going to meet with Baron James Moriarty. While riding in the carriage provided by Mr. Henry, Jimmy’s words lingered in my head.
“Are you wondering why I did this?”
“It’s unfortunate to be a woman in this damn society.”
“I don’t know if it’s harder pretending to be a man in front of everyone or lying to everyone.”
It was much easier to live as James Miranda Barry. Even if he was a clown, it was better than being reserved, which was society’s image of a woman.
He chose this path.
“I would be lying if I said it was easy.”
“Thank you for taking the initiative, for looking into my heart, Emily.”
Was it because of our heart-to-heart conversation? I felt closer to Jimmy. While lost in thought for a while, I heard the coachman’s voice.
“Ma’am, we’re almost there.”
With his help getting off the carriage, I looked around. The villa, which Baron Moriarty inherited from his grandfather, was smaller than Mr. Henry’s country house. Yet it had a more antique look.
“Thank you.”
Even before ringing the doorbell, a footman who seemed to be waiting for me, opened the door.
“Are you Mrs. Emily Carter?”
I nodded. Then, he guided me into the villa.
“The baron is waiting inside.”
