“How is this possible? Are our minds playing tricks on us?” These thoughts crossed their minds as their hearts raced, but they didn’t have much time to dwell on that as they suddenly heard gunshots and the smell of gunpowder lingering in the air. They didn’t have time to explore or assess their surroundings. They also heard people screaming. Victor quickly put the artifact in his bag.

They felt as if the gunshots were getting closer, and they hid in a corner of the street. “We need to call the cops,” Victor said. Yuu tried to search for her phone in her backpack while Victor attempted to call the police, but there was no signal.

“Yuu, really? You don’t have your phone at hand?” Victor sighed. He looked at her stuff as she took things out of the backpack and put them on the ground while still searching for the phone. “You have a pan in your bag? Like really, Yuu?” He took the pan in his hands to examine it. “Why on earth do you have it in your bag?”

“You never know what might prove useful. Oh, found my phone and a taser!”

“But a pan? Really? And you even have a taser? What else do you have in that magical backpack of yours?” Victor was astonished.

“You never know what an adventurous lady might need in her travels,” Yuu smiled widely and took her phone in her hands. “Eh? Also, no signal?”

At that moment, a person soaked in blood collapsed before their eyes, diverting their attention to the man. Victor, being a student of a medical course, quickly tried to aid the poor man. The man murmured, as if in a daze, “Help, bleeding, gunshots, madman from the asylum, gunshots, blood…”

“Don’t talk. Save your energy. I will try my best to help you with your wound until the authorities arrive.”

“I will take a look at what is happening,” Yuu said. Victor grabbed her hand. “Are you nuts? This situation is dangerous enough, and you are trying to run into the epicenter of it all?”

“But, but…” Yuu stammered.

“No buts, Yuu. I know you have a good heart, but if it means losing you, I don’t want to experience it again. I just got you back,” he looked concerned and serious. “Better help me with this man's wound. Do you have clean cloth?”

While they were trying to stop the bleeding of the man, their attention was focused on saving his life, and they didn’t notice that the shooting had stopped for a moment. The culprit was now right before them. Yuu tilted her head and saw the man right in front of them with the gun pointed at her. She wanted to grab the taser, and she looked for it with her eyes, which was nearby on the ground, but she knew if she moved an inch, he would definitely shoot, so she couldn’t risk it.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t make a move, missy.”

“Oh, so the madman can talk,” Yuu said, expressing her thoughts out loud in a mocking tone.

Victor murmured, “Don’t provoke him, Yuu. What are you doing?” He knew that Yuu always had this habit of saying what she thinks out loud without even thinking of the consequences, and this was definitely not the right place for that. But what was done was done, so he just closely observed what the bandit might do.

“Are you sure you should talk to someone who has pointed a gun at you like this?” The gunned man said with a cold and mocking voice. He wanted to relish the fear of his victims, as killing for him always gave the pleasure of witnessing people's last moments and how they begged for their lives. “Now, beg for mercy,” he said, looking at Yuu with evident satisfaction in his eyes.

Yuu felt a sudden, overwhelming fear. Her eyes darted around, looking for an escape route. Despite the panic, she maintained her composure. Yuu just whispered to the man, “No, never,” as she was a prideful woman and would never bow my head to another man ever again.

“You seem like you want to be dead, missy. Let me help you,” the man looked at her while pointing his gun at Yuu and jokingly saying those words. He was ready to pull the trigger when suddenly, a figure appeared from behind, slashing through the madman's chest. The man fell onto Yuu, and she collapsed to the ground with his lifeless body on top of her. His blood covered her, and she was terrified. For a moment, she couldn’t say a thing or move. Then, she pushed his body away and stared at her hands, stained scarlet. Afterward, she looked at her brother with a frightened expression. Her hands were trembling, and she felt as if she couldn’t even muster the slightest sound. Victor noticed how terrified Yuu was, as if her soul had left her body. He kneeled beside her and shook her.

“It's alright, sis. Please, come to your senses!” After a few moments, Yuu regained all her senses and looked at her brother, then at the dead body of the madman and the mysterious man who just saved them from a perilous situation. Yuu's heart was racing, still overwhelmed with fear but adrenaline ruling over her body. For a brief moment, Yuu met the mysterious figure's gaze. Even though it was night, she was able to see his stark scarlet eyes.

The mysterious man extended his hand to Yuu.

“Are you alright, my lady? I'm sorry for this scary experience that I might have caused you,” he looked concerned about the lady and her well-being.

Yuu shook her head and said, “Don’t worry about that. It is all thanks to you that I am alive and breathing. If not for you, I would probably be talking to the angels already.” Yuu hesitated to take his hand as her hands were tainted in scarlet. He saw that she was hesitant, so he took her hand gently in his. The mysterious persona helped Yuu to get back on her feet.

“I must thank you myself too for intervening and helping us,” Victor said in gratitude to the mysterious man.

“No need to thank me. All is good,” the man smiled.

“Dear sir, may I ask for your name?” Yuu asked curiously.

“Certainly. I am Moriarty. William James Moriarty.”

“William James Moriarty? Could it be a coincidence? He has the same name as THE William James Moriarty. Interesting,” Yuu pondered in her head.

“By the way, I am Victor, and this is my sister Yuu,” he said as he took his phone out again. “My phone still has no signal. What about yours, Yuu?”

“Could you take out a towel from my backpack? First, I want to clean my hands.” After she cleaned her hands, she took a look at the screen. “Nope, still nothing.”

William closely observed the duo. They had weird devices they called ‘phones,’ and he had never seen these in his entire life. He closely examined their clothes; the man looked dressed in a similar attire as men usually wore, but the woman wore something he hadn’t seen before, something even considered inappropriate in his time. He thought, “Maybe they are from another country?” He seemed intrigued by the small pieces of information and decided to examine them further.

At that moment, the police and medics arrived. One of the officers with a medic approached them. Victor explained the injured man's condition, and the medics took over, bringing him to the hospital. The policeman asked questions about the incident and the madman. They told the whole story, and when the situation was wrapped up, the medics left. All the spectators who had gathered there after the police arrived to satisfy their curiosity about the situation finally dispersed too.

The policeman who asked Victor, Yuu and William questions, looked at Yuu with a weird expression the entire time while questioning them. Yuu noticed that and felt a shiver running through her spine. Finally, when the questioning was done, all the officers were also getting ready to leave the incident's location and boarded their carriages. Only the officer who asked the twins questions decided to make one last remark to Yuu.

“My lady, your clothes… I understand that we came to inspect the situation, but… your attire is deemed inappropriate. As part of my duty, I must detain you for some time in prison. It is necessary to uphold the law.”

“Huh? What do you mean, inappropriate?” Yuu was confused and shocked.

“It seems you don’t understand, my lady. Your clothes… they reveal too much.”

“Too much, you say? In what way?! I am not naked!” Yuu raised her voice.

“Yes, indeed, you are not naked, but this kind of attire you are wearing… how do I put it… I can clearly see your curves, and your chest is too exposed. Proper ladies must wear dresses.”

Yuu didn’t understand where this ridiculous conversation was going, and she was confused. How could she be dressed inappropriately? She didn’t understand why the officer thought that her sportswear was inappropriate. And wear a dress? She puffed her cheeks out, looking irritated.

“My good officer, please, close your eyes to this, as they are foreigners and have come from another country. Also, this situation must be very taxing on them,” William tried to smooth things out.

“But they have a British accent,” the officer exclaimed.

As it seemed, the officer didn’t believe, and before William could say something more, Victor took the pan and hit the officer with it, knocking him down. Yuu stared at her brother, not believing what he just did.

“The pan indeed proved to be useful,” Victor said, smiling and looking at the pan.

“Victor, really? Is this your solution? You've always been the one with logical thinking, and you just knocked a police officer down with a pan! Unbelievable! I would have never guessed that you would break the rules! You, of all people! Usually, I am the one who never follows the rules, but you, dear brother…” Yuu said, astonished, and even chuckled a bit because she found her brother’s new behavior a bit interesting and entertaining.

“Well, my dear sister, I had a good teacher,” he winked at Yuu. “Besides, now it is my time to protect you, as you protected me when I was a child.”

“You amaze me sometimes, Victor. But the question is: what do we do now?” Yuu exclaimed.

“Of course, we run. Other officers didn’t notice that this one is knocked down yet, and they didn’t see our faces.”

“But this one saw. Won't he come after us later?” Yuu exclaimed and sighed again, pointing with her hand at the lying officer.

“Well, he might. But it is also dark now. And… don’t you think it would be a funny situation if the word got out that an officer was knocked down by a pan?” Victor giggled.

William just chuckled and looked entertained at the banter between the sister and her brother. Wanting to examine them more, he said, “You two sure are an interesting duo.” Moriarty chuckled and added, “Come with me for now.”

Yuu and Victor looked at one another and nodded in silence. Yuu took her belongings, and they followed the mysterious man. The trio disappeared into the dark alleys of London. And this was only the beginning of their unconventional adventure…