A Study in Gray · Chapter 8

Deliberately Sloppy

Gwen

Ugh... I wanted adventures into the unknown and thrilling chases...

Why am I still stuck doing paperwork even after leaving Public Security?!

Lily

Boss. This is what investigators actually do.

Gwen

My eyes are going crossed!

Professor M

Please sort through the documents you brought back from the Research Institute.

Anything that looks useful will do.

Gwen

Found one! How about this?

"Four reassigned as Baskerville Research Institute researchers. Approved by Charles Baskerville."

"Eight appointed as Baskerville Research Institute guards. Approved by Henry Baskerville..."

Oh, come on. They're all just signed by some Baskerville.

Professor M

Records of personnel appointments. I'll hold onto those.

Lily

Professor. I found some suspicious records.

Forty vibrating shafts, two crates of self-vibrating screws, six sacks of dark red spotted mushrooms...

Gwen

Two crates of young Wendigo manes, one crate of Voidborn fragments, ancient construct slime tissue... Ugh. Even reading that feels gross.

Lily

What could they possibly use all of this for?

Professor M

Classical magicology held that all things possessed mystical properties.

And that power could be obtained by adding or combining those properties.

For example, in magicology, beasts represent strength and wildness.

The Professor quickly pulled out documents listing Wendigos and other monsters.

Professor M

Minerals, meanwhile, represent purity and permanence.

A paper listing stone fragments, altar fragments, and more came out along with the others.

Professor M

So when metal is ground into powder, it's considered to lose permanence in exchange for refined purity.

The Professor rapidly sorted through the piles. Large quantities of salt appeared on the purchase lists.

Lily

So that's why they bought so much refined rock salt.

Professor M

Yes. Magical scholars use refined rock salt for purification and catalytic rituals.

It isn't the purest substance, but it's the cheapest among materials considered pure.

So we can exclude things like Voidborn fragments.

They contain uncontrollable power, but classical magicology doesn't deal with such materials.

Explaining the rest would get tedious and overly academic, so I'll handle the broader categories.

Gwen

Huh? Nothing we can help with?

Professor M

I'll appreciate the thought. Besides, this is relatively easy work.

The task I need you two to handle is much more difficult and important.

Gwen

Oh? What is it?

Professor M

Check the items listed in the records you collected.

Focus especially on dates when Director Stapleton visited in person.

Gwen

That's it?

Professor M

No. There will also be days when someone ran errands for him instead.

Lily

And days when he visited but bought only ordinary materials.

Gwen

Got it. Sort everything by quantity and date, right? All right, let's do it, Lily.

Lily

Okay. Leave it to me.

Professor M

Yes. I'll leave it to you two, then.

Gwen

Finally done...

Professor M

Good work. You've sorted them quite nicely.

Among the materials Director Stapleton bought, the ones with suspicious dates and quantities are...

The Professor began rapidly scanning the materials Gwen and Lily had sorted.

Professor M

Refined rock salt for efficiency, silver to conduct magic... This must be for biological restoration.

The Professor flipped briskly through the documents.

Remembering Rachel staggering away while clutching the doll, Gwen and Lily bit their lips.

Professor M

The rest is... ordinary. Hmm. Quite ordinary.

Applying magicology to dolls, mixing compounds... magic reaction extraction reagents...

The Professor casually flipped through the records, then suddenly stopped.

Professor M

Ah. How interesting.

Lily

Did you find something?

Professor M

First, look at these quantities. Were they planning to open a zoo?

This combination of beast-aspected magical materials is unusual.

The ratio of wildness to strength stays constant... but they've mixed in knowledge.

Gwen

So what? They were trying to make animals smarter?

Professor M

No. In magicology, knowledge opposes wildness and is also at odds with strength.

But a magical scholar with truly devilish talent might be able to circumvent that rule.

The Professor's voice dropped ominously. Lily felt a chill of instinctive dread.

Lily

...So?

Professor M

A beast capable of speech... or understanding it.

Gwen

That's...!

Professor M

Given that this is House Baskerville, I can't think of anything else.

What about you two?

A heavy silence settled over the room.

Professor M

So, what will you do now?

Gwen

I feel like marching over and knocking Jack Stapleton's jaw sideways...

Gwen fell into thought.

Gwen

But there's one thing bothering me.

Lily

Yeah. Honestly, me too.

Professor M

What's bothering you two?

Gwen

House Baskerville is forbidden from creating even simple chimeras, right?

And they're even trying to create the Hound of the Baskervilles?

This would be huge if word got out... but it doesn't feel right.

Lily

Yeah. We got attacked at the black market, but... honestly, it was no big deal.

And these documents are so straightforward. No code or anything.

Gwen

It just doesn't add up. Even your average guy will use an alias when buying indecent photo books...

Yet Director Stapleton left plenty of leads that might incriminate him.

Lily

Your example's really crude, Boss...

Gwen

Anyway! This information was too easy to find, even for us outsiders...

So did "Young Master Henry" really not know about this?

Lily nodded with a tense expression on her face.

Lily

That bothered me too.

It's strange enough that he's afraid of Director Stapleton despite being the family head...

But could he be secretly working on the Hound of the Baskervilles?

He seemed too kind of a person to do that...

Gwen

The young master isn't creating the Hound of the Baskervilles.

Lily

Then what's the deal?

Gwen

Director Stapleton is the one creating the Hound of the Baskervilles, and the young master is unable to stop him.

Lily

B-but, it's the Hound of the Baskervilles that wreaked havoc in NOA.

Lavistar's finest would've dealt with it as soon as he reported it!

Gwen

He couldn't report it. I saw it often back in my Public Security days.

He's being blackmailed by Director Stapleton.

Lily

With what, though...?

Gwen

Director Stapleton must've found out about his dirty little secret and used it to blackmail him!

Lily

Professor, there's more leads that add to the suspicion.

Like you said, this clearly points to the Hound of the Baskervilles–

Gwen

Quit ignoring me! I'm being serious, you know!

Professor M

That's actually a fine guess, Miss Gwen.

Lily

...Huh?

Gwen

R-really? What kind of crude, vulgar magazines do you think he's–

Professor M

Oh, no, not that part. Fufufu. The guess that he's being blackmailed.

Think about it.

House Baskerville was forbidden from creating chimeras.

But they didn't create any chimera.

They recreated the Hound of the Baskervilles.

Miss Lily. You mentioned that Lavistar's finest would've come running as soon as they heard.

When they do come visit...

Do you think they'd punish Director Stapleton and leave the family head of Baskerville alone?

Gwen

Professor M

Let's go meet Mr. Henry. I believe it's due time for another conversation.

Henry

What is it? Did you discover anything?

Gwen and Lily hesitated for a moment.

But they soon started talking with a determined look on their faces.

Lily

Mr. Henry. We found evidence that the Baskerville Research Institute is trying to create another Hound of the Baskervilles.

Henry

I see.

Gwen and Lily felt certain upon seeing Henry's calm reaction.

Lily

But then, we couldn't help but wonder...

Gwen

If we outsiders could discover the truth so easily...

How could you, the head, not know this?

Henry turned with a gloomy expression.

Henry

This might take a while... So why don't we sit down?

The three sat down, and Henry continued.

Henry

I knew you'd find out sooner or later.

You were probably certain that I wouldn't be able to alert anyone.

Lily

So, when you said you couldn't ask Public Security for help...

...It was because of the Hound of the Baskervilles.

And that's why you requested us to investigate the former family head's death.

Henry

That's correct... If I wanted to stop Director Stapleton, all I'd have to do is expose his activities.

That he was creating the Hound of the Baskervilles in the Baskerville Research Institute.

But once word got out... House Baskerville would be ruined.

So I spent ages wracked in indecision and doubt.

Gwen

But why? It's the director who's making Rachel into a monster.

Henry

Director Stapleton's been working in Baskerville for over 20 years.

Everyone knows that he's the true master of Baskerville.

Even if I deny the family's involvement in his work, no one would believe me.

Lily

We'll testify.

Henry

That won't work either. Even if you defend the new, foolish, amateur-ish family head...

...I don't own anything except this mansion, while Director Stapleton owns all of Baskerville.

Whose word are people going to believe?

I can try to defend myself and claim that I didn't know, but they'd see me and my kin as duplicitous devils.

Lily

That's not–

Lily was about to say that wasn't true, but couldn't finish the sentence. After all, she also used to share the public sentiment toward the name Baskerville.

As such, all she could do was fall silent with a regretful face.

Henry pressed his palms against his face.

Henry

So I was stuck, not sure what I could do.

The Professor broke her silence and spoke in a chilling tone.

Professor M

Something's not adding up.

I see why you couldn't officially report this case.

But then why did you request us to take the case?

Henry

I was searching for someone who could see House Baskerville for what it truly is.

Someone who would be able to see how despicable Director Stapleton is, and the indignity I suffered.

Someone who could see past House Baskerville's stained reputation...

Someone who could save an innocent child being turned into a monster.

You were able to avoid being distracted by the infamy of the Hound of the Baskervilles and pursue the truth.

I could tell, since you didn't immediately notify Public Security.

Gwen

What are you trying to say?

Henry

There is a way to redeem my family and stop the Hound of the Baskervilles to save Rachel.

I just need your help.