26 – Don’t Bring in the Chinese (2)
However, the first problem Moriarty had to solve after returning to the pub managed by Porlock in West End, was indeed, taming the newly acquired wolf pup.
Of course, Moriarty knew that this would be a task requiring considerable time. Even dogs took some time to domesticate. Especially, a wolf pup still untouched by civilization was much more of a trouble.
But that’s why it was satisfying. Perhaps it was even more so because the creature was impulsively taken in, which was uncharacteristic of his usual behavior.
Above all, the reactions of the people greeting Moriarty and Porlock upon seeing the wolf pup were satisfactory.
“Holy… holy sh*t, what is that, Professor!”
“No… No way it exists, it’s the spawn of Satan created by a devil! How… how could a human have beast ears! Those… those ears! That tail! Ahhhhh!”
Those who could be considered the executives of the organization had similar reactions. It was as if they had planned and conspired about it with Porlock.
However, those left in the pub were not wizards like Porlock, so they had relatively less information about those who had stepped out from humans, and they seemed unaware of the wolf pup’s exact identity.
But still, they all looked at the young wolf brought by Moriarty as if they were observing something ominous and fearful.
The wolf girl, who was standing quietly next to Moriarty, dissatisfied with the familiar sights, growled, revealing her fangs, and members who were usually fearless started to fuss in fear.
It looked like watching actors in a third-rate theater. But Moriarty didn’t really stop them.
Maybe each of these people’s reactions could be a mental wound to the girl he brought in. No, they would be. Even though Moriarty was an emotionless, cold-hearted individual, he wasn’t incapable of reading other people’s feelings.
If he wanted to open the doors to the girl’s heart, the correct answer might be to see her as a girl and not a monster like them.
However, he did not. He simply observed the girl’s reaction while enjoying his subordinates’ reactions.
He liked it. He had to. It was his plan to make the girl one of his followers, and for that, she had to be a subject of fear to others.
The girl was already fully capable of meeting those conditions.
Of course, there was a long way to go. Moriarty knew why the wolf girl had been quiet on the way to the place, unlike when she first came. He also knew that the reason was not due to him, but to Fumanchu.
He didn’t like it.
From noble mtl dot com
However, he had enough generosity to sympathize with the stupidity of the stupid ones, and had a conviction that human behavior could be altered through education. He intended to gradually teach who was the real object of fear, the one they should follow— the leader of the wolves.
“Mac, tell Jenny to take this little wolf and clean her first. It stinks.”
“Grrr! Bark! Bark!”
“You… You’re not going to bite, are you, boss?”
“A guy who gets knifed all the time, what’s there to be afraid of, just take her. And little one, although you need gradual education, if you are a human, you should speak like a human. Otherwise, you will need to be disciplined.”
When Moriarty handed the girl to Knife-Handling Mac, who was playing with a knife alone at the closest place, Mac complained in surprise.
The wolf girl growled again as if to object to Moriarty’s words.
But he ignored Mac’s complaints, pushed the girl to him, and coldly looked down at the girl and spat out words.
Did she sense something from his demeanor? The girl hesitated then whispered in human speech.
“Me…do not smell.”
“No, you stink terribly. Is it because of your fur? If you’re going to be under me, you’ll have to maintain cleanliness always, little one. Take her quickly, Mac. Tell them to wash her tail properly, too.”
With that, Moriarty ordered Dozer, who was sitting next to Mac, to go out immediately and buy clothes for the girl, and Dozer quickly disappeared outside.
It took a while for the girl to come out cleaned up with the help of Jenny and in the meantime, Moriarty sat in his seat again instructing about the few tasks that needed to be done next.
The appearances of his minions gathered around him were diverse. Many, befitting those who survived the streets, looked rough, and occasionally boasted a size or fierceness that was incomparable even to Moriarty.
But they all obeyed the professor’s instructions, squirming like tame sheep following the shepherd, and once again Porlock spoke to the professor.
“So Professor, are you really planning to raise that little one?”
“I told you, I intend to raise you as my secretary. A secretary and a bodyguard.”
“I see you’ve already decided, but really? If you simply want a werewolf, wouldn’t it be better to kidnap or hire one? We make a good living.”
“Forest, I hate repeating myself. You have to tame a cub to truly make it useful as my ally. Whether it’s weaker than a werewolf doesn’t matter. After all, we’re humans, right? We can utilize tools. As for the brain… well, with proper education, it can be made useful.”
After all, humans are all foolish. Moriarty didn’t bother saying that aloud. It was too obvious a fact.
The only people who weren’t foolish were Moriarty himself and Sherlock, and perhaps that child.
Above all, it wasn’t difficult to possess the mental capacity of his secretary who sometimes stood in for him in managing and leading the entire organization.
At least, the little wolf he had brought had a good sense of intuition, pride, and stubbornness.
Having already calculated all the tasks to be done for the time being, some meaningless time had arisen. Moriarty quietly took out a pipe and began to fill it with tobacco.
Naturally, Forest was ready at his side, fingertips sparking, and soon the smoke from his tobacco filled the room.
Only then, as if permission had been granted, everyone who had hurriedly extinguished their cigarettes when the professor returned, quietly began to light new ones.
Even after Artful Dodger, who managed the pickpockets and beggars of the West End, hurriedly bought several rather luxurious dresses suitable for girls and delivered them to Jenny inside, more time passed.
Knife-wielding Mac’s lover, Jenny, who managed the pub women, emerged trembling alongside the freshly cleaned and beautified little wolf.
Some of his lecherous subordinates sighed briefly. But they soon remembered the beastly part of the girl and shivered unconsciously.
These were naive reactions that Moriarty could not comprehend.
He couldn’t understand why they were filled with perverse desires yet treated a mere wolf with ears and a tail as if they were witnessing a sacrilege.
However, he could understand their initial reactions.
The little wolf, who was already sufficiently alluring even when dirty, had turned into a pretty girl that anyone would be charmed by after being cleaned and dressed up.
Despite her life on the streets as a vagabond, her gold hair shone like silk and her blue eyes sparkled like gems; she was definitely blessed with features that English men would favor.
She was a girl with a promising future comparable to his beloved first disciple, Sherlock, whom he still missed.
‘She’s said to be 10 years old, a year younger than Sherlock.’
Recalling the personal information about the wolf kindly provided by Fu Manchu, Moriarty gestured, and Jenny carefully led the girl to him, patting her back lightly.
The young wolf was really simple. Just as there is no one who dislikes cleanliness, the girl, able to clean herself thoroughly for the first time in a while, inadvertently swished her tail in contentment.
This caused her bushy golden tail to hit Jenny standing behind her, although Jenny dared not reveal her fear.
However, as soon as she faced Moriarty again, she scowled, putting on a deliberately ferocious expression. It was a small act of rebellion, a plea of, ‘I might have followed you here, but I refuse to acknowledge you as my superior.’
“You don’t have a name, do you, kiddo?”
“Grrr!”
The girl tried to bare her teeth again. However, before she could, she flinched at the sight of the frail human in front of her looking down at her coldly. It was strange because she could easily topple him with her strength.
Unhappy that she had flinched, the girl nonetheless remembered the man’s words and finally spoke in human language.
“…I don’t have one.”
“Good, luckily for you, I’m going to give you a name for myself as your master. Hmm…….”
He seemed to ponder for a moment. Despite it being a silly decision, Moriarty could strangely feel confident in the name, and he uttered it out loud.
“It turns out we have a dead man’s name and identity we were planning to use someday. That’ll suit you. From now on, you’ll be Sebastian Moran, Moran Junior, kid.”
“…I’m a girl, I don’t like that name.”
When he said he would name her, Moriarty noticed the girl’s ears twitching. Had she disliked being nameless?
However, as soon as she heard the strange name, she bared her teeth again in discontent.
All her resistance was in vain. Moriarty was her master. Even his subordinates beside him, while finding the situation strange, could not voice an opinion.
“That’s just how the world works, Moran. You weren’t born this way because you wished for it, were you?”
“Grrr!”
The girl, who had turned back into a wolf, made a threatening gesture, but Moriarty, unfazed, took a puff from his pipe and blew out the smoke leisurely towards the girl.
Coughing, the girl glared at the professor, but had no choice but to hold her ground. It wasn’t out of fear of Moriarty. She could sense the people around her, who served Moriarty, preparing for an emergency situation.
Moran couldn’t understand it. The man in front of her, Visily, was not a strong person like Fu Manchu. Then why did those bastards follow the man in front of them?
Puzzled, the girl, being young and not adept at concealing her thoughts, immediately voiced her confusion.
“I don’t follow anybody weaker than me.”
“That’s why you should follow me, Moran. Because I’m stronger than you.”
Laughing as if he had heard a funny joke, Moriarty responded.
