(I call it a summary, but it’s so detailed that it’s more than 6,700 words lol oops.)
This is the first short story in A Study in Scarlet, the first official novel of Yuukoku no Moriarty. If anyone’s interested in translating the full story and needs the raw text, please message @kumoriyami-xiuzhen!
Story description: Moran asks William for some monetary help. William decides to invite himself to Moran’s high-stakes poker game the next night “just for fun”. He also gives a short masterclass on how to cheat at poker.
Sebastian disturbs William in his study in the middle of the night, apologetically asking if he could borrow £100 (Around ¥2,400,000 by today’s standards). He claims that a girl named Marie at the bar he frequents plans to get married, but needs a large amount of money for the dowry. She came crying to him about it, and he wanted to help her out.
William mulls over his words for a few seconds before asking, “When your sleight of hand was discovered, did the opponent already reveal his cards?” To which he replied negatively since he was called out right after he revealed his hand. Then he realizes that William saw right through his lies, and can’t help asking how William figured it out.
William says it’s obvious since even though it seemed to be urgent business as Moran asked about it in the middle of the night, it looked like he didn’t want Louis to hear about it. The £100 part seemed sincere enough, and there’s only one place Moran would get into trouble in at night– the pub downtown. Additionally, Moran smells like cheap alcohol.
Based on Moran’s personality, there are only 2 ways he could get into trouble at the pub– either because of women or gambling on card games. It can’t be the former since it’s hard to imagine Moran arranging a ton of money for a woman based on what William knows of his association with girls. If it was only to help shoulder the cost of marriage, they would be no need for Moran to come to him late at night. Moran’s lies were a little too far-fetched for William.
That would mean Moran encountered a problem while playing cards. Normally, losing a normal card game wouldn’t have cost £100. Therefore, something must have happened to force him into shelling out that much money. William can only conclude that Moran’s frequent cheating has finally been found out.
Hearing William accurately reason out what had happened, Moran finally gives up, admits that William got it right, and apologizes for lying so badly. William doesn’t mind but is frankly a little surprised that Moran simply agreed to prepare that much money. Moran says he’s just paying for how much he’s swindled up until now and asks William to at least give him credit for not pummeling the other guy to the ground when Moran got exposed. He then talks about figuring out how to collect that much money somehow and walks back to the door, resigned.
William, however, stops him and asks Moran to talk about it in more detail. Moran totally misunderstands what William means by this, and thinks William wants to know more about how he decided to be mature this time around and pay up instead of just solving the answer with his fists like he usually does. He rambles on about how mature he has become and how he’s not barbaric all the time until William finally ruefully clarifies that what he wanted to know more about was about the cheating incident.
It’s a well-known fact among their group that Moran’s sleight of hand is top-notch. It’s surprising that he got found out, so William wanted to know how exactly Moran ended up in that situation.
It is then that Moran realizes how embarrassing he was for insisting on how mature he has become and tries to cover it up by pretending he was just testing to see if William would come to that conclusion. What matters isn’t that he didn’t lay a hand on the other person, but how his swindling was found out! Moran claims this makes him proud to be on William’s side.
William awkwardly agrees and thanks Moran for his words. It was clear to see that William was just forcing himself to go along with Moran’s words. As much as it pains Moran to see William be so considerate, he keeps up his facade and asks William to forget the way he acted like he was all grown up now.
William reluctantly reassures him and finally gets Moran to talk about everything that happened that night.
Four players were playing Texas Hold'em and Moran had just revealed that he had a Full House when someone asked him to wait. It was the final round and everyone had bet most of what they have. Two of the players were regulars of the pub. They looked visibly hopeless even before they revealed their cards and were easy prey for Moran.
However, the thug sitting in front of Moran was different. His name is Johnson and had a round bearded face with shrewd eyes.
Moran had just laid down his cards, on the cusp of gloating about his Full House, and was thrown off by his interruption. Johnson accused him of cheating and Moran was slow to react, especially upon seeing how sure Johnson seemed to be of his accusation.
Seeing him forget to object to this, everyone in the pub started staring at him in suspicion. Then Moran finally came to his senses and protested vehemently as he attempted to slam his fist on the table, but he drank a little too much that night and only skimmed the edge of the table.
Johnson scoffed at his pathetic state and looked at him with assessing eyes. Then he reached out and raised Moran’s gloved hand. Several cards started falling to the floor from inside Moran’s glove, and Johnson turned smug. Everyone watched as he picked up the cards and observed how Moran wore out his cards so it would look no different from the pub’s own deck.
The other players of the game felt indignant and one of them grabbed Moran by the collar. While these guys were no match for Moran, violence would just make things worse so he tried convincing them with words instead. He weakly tried to placate them by telling them he was just joking around, but that just made everyone’s tempers rise even higher.
While two of the players surrounded Moran, Johnson inquired triumphantly how he plans to settle this. Several options popped up in Moran’s head, but before he could speak, the guy holding Moran insisted he give back all his winnings today.
Moran was absolutely fine by this and the other two seemed to have decided the matter was settled, but then Johnson once again jumped in and pointed out how Moran must have been cheating them for some time now judging by how smooth Moran executed it. This made two of the players rear up again in anger, insisting that Moran pay £100 for all the other days he cheated.
Moran countered that there wasn’t even any proof that he cheated on those times, but no one believed him. At this rate, Moran could either pay the price or flee the pub. However, he doesn’t really have the patience to go through the effort of collecting that much money for some small-fry so the former was out. The latter option would be the easiest way to handle this. He could beat these guys up and leave. However…
This guy Johnson was clearly enjoying seeing Moran get cornered by these small-fry after stoking their anger. It was obvious that Johnson was going to ask the other players to give him a little reward for seeing through Moran’s cheating. While he didn’t particularly care about that, Moran really didn’t appreciate how this guy kept looking down on him.
Sure, he could just beat Johnson up right now, but Moran personally wouldn’t be satisfied until this guy suffered a more humiliating defeat.
So Moran came up with a third option and carefully pretended to be a guy driven against the wall with no way out. He first got them to see reason and convinced them that this was his first time trying to cheat. That’s why they shouldn’t insist that just because he seems used to it doesn’t mean he cheated all those other times.
Johnson saw the momentum fizzling and tried to interrupt, but Moran spoke again before he could. He told them that they should prove he’s weak when he didn’t cheat and proposed to play another round. If he won, then that proved that he truly was that strong all those other times he played cards with them. However, if he lost, it would be solid proof that he has just been winning through cheating all this time.
His reasoning was pretty absurd, but the two men he played against were easily manipulated by Moran since they were easy prey who were already worked up from his cheating. They agreed to another game and Moran added that he’d play £100 if he lost. However, as much as he wanted to play against them immediately, he had to prepare that amount first so he asks that they delay the game to another night. He would play against one of these two men, deliberately leaving out Johnson.
As expected, Johnson of course protested being left out of the game. Inwardly smiling at successfully baiting his target, Moran visibly glared at him. He pretended to be faintly uneasy as he opposed Johnson’s inclusion since he wasn’t even present the other nights he played with the two regulars.
Johnson took this to mean that Moran is planning to cheat again, and Moran weakly denies it. Seeing Moran’s unconvincing protests, he designated himself as the one to play against Moran in the next game. The two regulars of course objected at this, but Johnson gave them a fierce glare as he reasoned that they would have never realized that Moran was cheating them out of their money if it weren’t for him. He’s just going to get a small portion of the prize money, so they should just shut up and let him. The two regulars were dejected by this.
Johnson looked like a violent man and it was clear that he was used to intimidating people. Moran speculates that Johnson must have done a lot of dirty work before.
Seeing that no one else was protesting, Johnson wrapped up the matter and declared he’ll be the one to go against this cheater. He usually didn’t play against the same people twice, but he would make an exemption for him. They will play again tomorrow night and the game will be poker. The winner gets £100. Hearing this, Moran bitterly complained that he wouldn’t get any prize for winning. Johnson naturally shut him down by saying Moran should be glad this game could clear the suspicions on him.
Moran looked unhappy at this, but things actually went just as he planned. His goal was to see Johnson in tears tomorrow. Although he was trembling like some prey that about to get shot down on the outside, he was like a hunter who has set aim on his target on the inside.
Moran finishes talking all about the incident. He and William have moved to the living room and Louis, Fred and Albert were also there listening.
Louis and Fred are the first to react, talking about how he shouldn’t be so smug when it was only natural he would get caught cheating and in the end, Moran clearly just wanted revenge on the guy for seeing through his tricks.
Meanwhile, Moran just insists that they should praise him for his maturity and skill in manipulation, but Louis drags him further by pointing out that Moran didn’t even have that amount of money so he had to ask William for it.
Moran then changes targets and angrily scolds Albert for drinking wine elegantly while Moran told his story, as if it was just something to listen to as he drank wine. Albert neatly sidesteps his accusations and calmly claims that he’s actually agonizing over the fact that Moran’s sleight of hand was discovered since this might mean Will can’t depend on Moran to carry through tasks successfully. They might just assign menial work for Moran from now on.
Unfortunately, as much as Moran wanted to talk back to Albert, Moran only has himself to blame for getting caught, so all he can do is clench his fist in bitterness. Seeing him vexed like this cheers Albert even further.
Meanwhile, Louis is exasperated at Moran’s sulking. He uses Moran as an example for Fred, telling the latter not to gamble lightly like Moran does. Fred agrees with Louis and treats Moran’s story as a cautionary tale, making Moran even more annoyed.
Compared to the other three, William is sitting somberly on the sofa in deep thought, until he suddenly straightens up and inquires Moran if it was his first time meeting Johnson.
Moran confirms it, saying that he only thought Johnson was a guy who was oddly good at playing cards, but apparently, there have been rumors about this guy for a while now downtown.
When asked why he thinks he lost, Moran answers that it was a combination of a lot of things– he had too much to drink that night, got carried away since there were women around, and became too complacent at doing sleights of hands.
However, William once again emphasizes that Moran is a master at sleights of hands so ordinary people should not have caught on to it.
But Johnson did, which can only mean either of two things– that Johnson is extraordinarily observant, or that he was also cheating like Moran was. It can’t be the former, otherwise, he would’ve pointed out Moran’s sleight of hand right when he did it instead of after he revealed his cards. Which means it can only mean the latter. Something in Johnson’s own cards must have alerted him that Moran was cheating and so he called him out with certainty.
Unfortunately, Moran wasn’t able to check Johnson’s cards since he was being interrogated by everyone else at the time.
Moran is impressed at William’s ability to deduce everything that happened, and William gives credit to Moran’s detailed retelling of the event, saying that his memory is perfect even though he was drunk at the time.
Moran looks like he’s enjoying his banter with William even though it didn’t completely sound like William was complimenting him, so Louis spoils his fun by pointing out that William wasn’t really complimenting him. The fact of the matter is, Moran did get outwitted by Johnson.
William cheerfully watches them bicker, before asking Moran if for his game tomorrow night, William is correct in thinking that you either win in poker by going all-in or getting more chips than your opponent. Moran confirms it, but in his opinion, Johnson might make it an unconventional game.
William then says they should get ready for the game, and Albert jokingly offers MI6’s assistance. This makes William smile, answering that it isn’t necessary but he does enlist Fred for help.
Louis and Moran try to convince William not to meddle since this is Moran’s personal matter and has no contribution to their plans for Britain, but William just grins broadly in response and explains that he is just using this matter to cut loose and relieve his boredom.
Moran feels both amused and chilled at William is playing a high-stakes game just a way to relieve his boredom, while Louis smiles in resignation. The latter tells him to have fun and not to drink too much.
William thanks him, assuring Louis that he is worried for nothing. William is just doing this for his enjoyment.
The next night, a lot of people are in the pub waiting for Moran to arrive. Johnson is one of them and he is sitting arrogantly with his feet up. When Moran enters the pub, boos come from the people inside, along with thrilled screams from the ladies.
As Johnson tries to rile Moran up when he appears, Moran announces that he wants to introduce Johnson to someone, and two people come forward. He calls one of them “Willy” and says that the other person is just some boy they bumped into outside.
William formally introduces himself as “Willy”, claiming that he is an old friend of Moran’s who loves gambling, and apologizes for the mess his friend has caused.
As everyone else has figured out from William’s looks and clothing, Johnson points out that William is a noble. He definitely sticks out in the pub that has mainly working-class people as its customers.
Moran explains that he could only ask William to borrow money that large. Additionally, William was way too interested in the kind of poker people downtown play so he insisted on coming along.
William backs this up and politely asks if he could also join their game.
Johnson outwardly glares at him while thinking of how to scam more money out of this easygoing fellow. He finally agrees, but then starts talking about how he is at a disadvantage because he is not like William is. William must be able to calculate the odds of which cards would appear better than Johnson.
To even the odds between them, Johnson proposes they play only a single round of poker instead. Moran is opposed to this, as there is no point even betting with poker chips if that was the case. It takes all the fun out of playing poker.
Johnson pretends to be disappointed by this too but insists this is a necessary measure to even the odds between them. He then goes on to insist that they won’t be playing Hold'em anymore but something akin to Draw Poker instead.
They’ll each draw 5 cards instead of 2. Each player has one chance to throw away up to three cards to draw some more from the deck to replace them. Compared to Hold'em where there are community cards (cards shared by all players in the center of the table), it is much harder in Draw Poker to predict your opponent’s cards since all cards in the opponent’s hand won’t be revealed until the end of the game.
William is intrigued by his proposal. True enough, this type of game does rely more on luck and the probability of certain cards appearing is harder to predict.
Although William denied being able to calculate the probabilities of cards appearing earlier, the truth is back when he was a child, William had been able to do exactly that the moment he saw the cards on the table.
Whether it was truly just because of William’s appearance that he proposed to do this, it does prove to William and Moran that Johnson’s a little different from the average player. However, that doesn’t exactly mean that he is an extraordinary player.
They have already expected Johnson to prepare some sort of plan like this beforehand, but for appearance’s sake, Moran to protest for William, claiming it’s unfair that he’s suddenly changing the rules when the rest of them are all here to play their usual game.
Johnson just tries to provoke William in response, asking if the esteemed noble will be backing out now since he would become a laughingstock if he were to lose that much money to a punk like Johnson.
At this, William just shows a faint smile and takes a seat in front of Johnson. He politely thanks Johnson for letting him play and adjusting the rules for him at short notice, while also adding another £100 to the table aside from the one Moran borrowed for him as an entry fee to his own participation. He agrees to the rules and offers Johnson to choose another person to join in since William and Moran being friends gives them an unfair advantage, and Johnson does just that.
William then proposes that they have the young man he and Moran bumped into the way here as their dealer, but Johnson is opposed to it, saying only an idiot would believe that William and the boy aren’t acquainted. So Johnson looks around the pub a few times for someone who didn’t look invested in their game, then chooses a young man located outside the pub whose face cannot be seen because his hat was pulled down too low. William and Moran evaluate the young man for a bit before agreeing.
The young man was called into the pub and was just asked to be the dealer without any explanation. He seemed uncomfortable with the unsettling atmosphere within the pub and turned his gaze downwards, making his expression harder to make out.
Right as they were about to start the game, William speaks up again, saying that he heard that the £100 was supposed to be his friend’s payment for his suspected cheating on the other days he played with them. Johnson confirms it and calls this high-stakes game an occasion for the cheater to be sanctioned. He then claims that criminals are doomed to be put on trial like this. Small fries like Moran cannot win without cheating and are sure to meet an ugly end in his opinion.
Clenching his fist at Johnson’s cheap remarks, Moran is glad he set up this game to get revenge. He’s very much looking forward to the moment the lowlife Johnson goes from looking triumphant to dismayed.
Meanwhile, William tries to urge Johnson to be more lenient in giving sanctions on Moran. After all, the Bible clearly states that one must not judge others. There’s no need to make large bets when they could all just play for fun.
The crowd jeers at this, and naturally Johnson does not agree with him either. He insists that destiny will be the one to decide the winner of this game. In other words, the fate of this game is in God’s hands.
At this, William asks if whatever the result of this game will be considered divine providence and Johnson confirms it, saying that evil people will receive divine punishment. The cards are going to show this to them and he likens it to an amusing tragicomedy.
Then William asks if Johnson is prepared to acknowledge the results, Johnson finally gets annoyed at all the questions William keeps throwing him, and angrily answers that yes, he is obligated to accept whatever outcome there is.
William smiles ominously at this, claims he’s relieved to hear it, and talks about looking forward to this divine punishment.
Satisfied that “Willy” is finally amiable to the game, Johnson acts all devout, preaching about God in the Old Testament would even burn whole cities to death if its people would do wicked things.
William knows they too will be judged for their actions someday. However, he’s going to prove who is more sinful among the two of them. He keeps silent as he tries to push down his dark side that almost showed on his face.
The game begins and the young man deals the cards among the four of them. The panicked way he distributes 5 cards to each player makes the onlookers jeer at him.
First up is Johnson, who looks at his cards expressionlessly. Meanwhile, the person he picked to play with them grimaced as soon as he saw his own cards. It is clear that he doesn’t have the deceptive skills to win the game.
On the other hand, Moran doesn’t show any reaction to his own cards like Johnson. He starts observing his opponents right after checking his cards.
However, Johnson isn’t looking at his own cards, but rather staring stupidly at someone with his mouth agape instead. And this someone is William.
William did not look at his cards, let alone touch them. He doesn’t seem to sense everyone else’s bewildered reactions and just kept grinning calmly.
Johnson asks him why he isn’t checking his own cards and William keeps his smile pasted on his face as he replies that since Johnson said God has already decided on the winner, then William would rather just wait and see what the outcome was.
Betting a large number of chips without even checking one’s own cards is actually a technique some poker players use to make their opponents falter. However, it’s pointless to use this technique to make their opponent back down on a one-round game like this one.
Johnson then informs William that those words are just a metaphor and wonders if William is giving up his right to change some of his cards.
Williams confirms that he will do exactly that and will simply accept God’s will.
Johnson is utterly flabbergasted by this indulgent noble. He doesn’t know if “Willy” is just an incredibly easygoing character, so if £100 is nothing but small change to him. Either way, it’s easy money for him.
He then goes on to put down 2 of his cards to exchange for new ones. Afterwards, his friend also asks the dealer to change 4 of his own cards. He goes pale as soon as he sees his new cards. His reactions are so plain to see that it makes Moran suspicious of him.
Meanwhile, Moran only changes one of his cards. William of course doesn’t move to change his own cards. It’s as if he’s already thrown the game.
This game should be relying only on luck, making it a fair game for everyone regardless of their social status… if he weren’t involved.
Johnson glances at the young man chosen to be their dealer. His victory had been set the moment he was chosen, that is why he can say this is an occasion to punish Moran.
First up to reveal his cards is the player Johnson picked, who had a High Card. In other words, none of the suits or even numbers match. Moran is relieved to know that this man wasn’t just putting up a weak act.
Next up is Moran’s hand– 4 of Hearts, 4 of Spades, 4 of Clubs, 2 of Spades, and 2 of Diamonds. A Full House.
Seeing him miraculously pull of the same thing as yesterday, the two other players he went up against yesterday stand up and want to accuse him of cheating again. However, they were monitoring Moran’s hands the whole time and did not see any suspicious movements. So they could only dejectedly sit down.
Since Johnson claimed the results are all set by God, Moran declares that God must love him then for him to get these cards.
If this were truly just a game based on luck, it should be next to impossible to get anything better than Moran’s hand. However, Johnson is unshaken by this. He proceeds to say that winning against all odds is the real miracle and reveals his own hand– 2 of Diamonds*, 6 of Hearts, 6 of Clubs, and 6 of Diamonds. It’s a Four of a kind, which is considered one rank above Full House.
*T.N.: This seems to be an error by the author, since 2 of diamonds already appeared in Moran’s hand…
Moran grinds his teeth at this. Johnson gleefully talks about how cruel God is to give Moran hope to think he’s won only to bring him down like this. He then gives his cohorts behind him a thumbs up. This dramatic development is something Johnson and that person cooked up.
This trick has a big weakness so he has to pick his opponents carefully when carrying it out. However, when they do execute it successfully, the rewards are rich.
At first, he only tried doing this trick once as an experiment and got his friend to pretend to do “it” on coincidence. He was a little worried about pulling it off again here, but it looks like no one caught on to their trick.
While inwardly mocking all the intelligence of the crowd hyped by the turn of events, he starts glaring at the sole calm noble in the pub and loudly prompts him to reveal his hand. As he does this, Johnson was already making plans to drinks with his cahoots somewhere else, assured of his victory.
William calmly declares that the judgment which Johnson beckoned has arrived and turns over his cards for everyone to see.
At that moment the whole pub went speechless. “Willy” has 7 of Hearts, 8 of Hearts, 9 of Hearts, 10 of Hearts, and J of Hearts. It’s a Straight Flush.
It’s turnaround after turnaround. If we’re talking about winning against all odds, William has achieved just that. The crowd in the pub was going wild, while William and Moran are staring at Johnson.
Stunned by William’s Straight Flush, he then grabs the dealer by the collar, accusing him of fixing the match. Everyone was bewildered into silence by his reaction.
William stands, asks him to unhand the young man, and reveals that he is a good friend of his. Johnson is shocked by this, and the dealer uses that opportunity to take Johnson’s hand off him and beckons someone else to come into a pub– someone who has the same face as him and looks ashamed of himself.
Johnson and his cohorts went pale as soon as the man went in.
William then explains that the newcomer is someone who should have been the dealer, while the dealer they had used in the game (Fred) was William’s friend who dressed up to look like the newcomer.
He reveals that they were aware of what Johnson was going to do right from the start. That’s why he lost in such a spectacular fashion. He knew right from the moment Johnson pointed out that his friend (Moran) cheated that Johnson was tricking everyone. He heard that only his friend had revealed his cards and no one else, so William suspected Johnson had the same cards.
Johnson argues that it doesn’t prove that Johnson was cheating, but William quickly shoots him down by saying Johnson should have questioned his friend why they had the same cards if that were the case. Instead, Johnson groped around Moran’s hand. He obviously knew he would also be expected of cheating if he revealed that he also had the same cards.
To clear himself out of suspicion, Johnson didn’t reveal his own cards and instead searched at the place Moran would most likely hide the cards.
Johnson steps back and groans upon hearing “Willy” accurately deduce his actions. Willy then goes on to explain that he figured out how Johnson cheated when Johnson uttered that he never plays against the same people twice.
On one hand, you can just interpret this as some rule Johnson personally set for himself, but you could also take it to mean that his method is more likely to be seen through if he did it twice. William only needed to think of which methods can’t be used multiple times.
Taking the deck of cards from Fred, he starts smoothly demonstrating different kinds of tricks, such as Second Dealing (dealing the second card in the deck, instead of the top card) and Bottom Dealing (dealing the bottom card instead of the top), while making it look like he’s dealing normally.
Then he demonstrates another method by putting the deck on the table and then flipping his hand, only to reveal another card still in his hand. This method is called Palming.
The crowd is very impressed with his smooth execution and explanation of these tricks and claps for him, much to Moran’s strained amusement.
True enough, William certainly was doing this for his own enjoyment. Day by day, William has been orchestrating crimes and death in London, but now he was just having fun by entertaining these people in the pub.
William thanks the crowd for the applause, and then continues on to say that this would only be effective if he himself was the dealer. There are other factors to take into consideration such as the atmosphere of the betting place, and if he could even get the opportunity to be the dealer.
However, if he could somehow manage to get an accomplice pretending to be a stranger to be the dealer, claiming it was to make sure it was fair for everyone, then he could get that accomplice to fix the game for him.
This makes the two easy prey he played against yesterday remember that Johnson did choose someone outside the pub to be their dealer. This newcomer looks remarkably like that youngster, now that they looked more closely at him.
The newcomer gave a big reaction after being found out, which just further proved it. This also explains why his method could not be used twice.
Moreover, if Johnson truly wanted to play a game purely based on luck, it would have been much simpler to just draw the cards in order and bet on who has the bigger card, but he seems to be insistent that it has to be poker. Even the day before he made sure that cards would need to be dealt.
William then thanks the crowd for listening with a bow. The crowd starts staring at Johnson with the same loathing and scorn he had for them earlier for not being able to detect his trick.
Johnson then asks about the boy William and Moran brought with them from the start, and William reveals that this boy really was just some stranger he met on the street. If Johnson chose him to be the dealer, then it would have become a game truly based on luck.
Will tells him that God saves those who have faith. Johnson lost because he doubted someone else’s kindness.
When Johnson claims that his mistake was in misjudging Willy, William corrects him, saying it was his friend (Moran) he misjudged. He then compliments Johnson for seeing through his friend’s cheating and his unerring skill of observation that helped him get away with his trickery up until now. It must have been tough to choose his opponents so he could change the dealer without protest from them.
Johnson made some fatal errors last night– he dismissed Moran as some weakling, got greedy and volunteered himself as the rematch representative, and used the same method again.
Then William asks if he hasn’t realized how Moran purposely pretended to be driven to a corner last night so he can lure Johnson into playing a match with him again, aiming to reveal Johnson’s own trickery.
Johnson stares, stunned at Moran, while Moran tells Johnson off for getting overconfident after pulling it off successfully too many times and his habit of looking down on his opponents. His cheap pride made it easy to pull the rug from underneath him.
Moran then ends his speech by calling him a damn rat that had just a bit of cunning. This sentence coming from someone he viewed to be lower than him hurts Johnson’s pride and makes him see red.
He signals at his subordinates behind him with his eyes, and they all stand up menacingly in unison. The crowd backs up in fear while William, Moran, and Fred stay calm in the center of the ring the crowd ended up forming.
William comments on how appalling it is that Johnson is resorting to violence now that he’s lost in an argument, and Johnson replies that he did not grow in luxury like William so he does dirty work on an everyday occurrence, which taught him that physical threats are useful at negotiations.
Then they pull out knives from their pockets and break the bottles in the pub to use as weapons to attack William’s group.
William is disappointed at their response and starts preparing for a fight, but Moran interrupts and asks him to leave the fighting to him. This was his mistake to begin with and he wouldn’t be satisfied until he beats them up himself.
Upon seeing the fierce smile on Moran’s face, William and Fred stand back to let him do as he wants.
Their unfazed demeanor gets on Johnson’s nerves. At his signal, Johnson’s subordinates rush to attack Moran. The numbers are against him but Moran is not bothered by this at all. He showed the kind of ferocity that would scare even tigers into fleeing.
The four of them are in a carriage on the way back home and Moran feels all happy and refreshed after the fight. Judging by his good mood, you can tell that he had no trouble fighting all of them alone.
Johnson and his subordinates were beaten up so badly that they could only trudge away from the pub in silence. Johnson’s dealer seemed to have sensed their defeat coming a mile away and ran right before the fight even started.
The pub became a mess because of the fight, but the onlookers were satisfied with the exciting turn of events and cheered on happily for Moran. Only the pub owner seemed to be in despair.
Moran is in high spirits after venting his anger as he got on the carriage with William and Fred. The latter looks exasperated at Moran’s satisfaction from beating up his target. After all, Moran boasted about he was all mature now yesterday but still ended up acting like a brute today.
William looked a little worried because, in the end, Moran’s matter wasn’t really wrapped up properly so he can’t go back to that pub again anytime soon.
However, Moran is not bothered by this since there are many other bars in London. He does think it is a bit of a shame though since he considered the ladies in the bar top-notch.
William is amused at Moran’s obstinate personality. Meanwhile, Fred and Moran comment on how William seemed to have a lot of fun tonight. Moran talks about how William usually operates in the background, so it’s rare to see William enthusiastically giving a speech as he shows off his skills.
Their comments make William reflect on his actions and admit that he was a little too flashy earlier, but it should be okay to do it for just one night. He sounded rather riveted as he said this though, perhaps from being able to cut loose for the first time in a long while.
Moran mischievously asks if William actually wanted to join in on the fight earlier, but William denies it, saying he was invigorated by just watching Moran go wild. Playing cards just to have fun was satisfying enough for William.
William and Fred believed Moran would succeed so they just watched the fight go on from the sidelines, but those who don’t know him would definitely find it odd to see a noble calmly watching a fight closeup.
Although this all started because of a mistake he made, Moran feels accomplished that he got to provide a way for William to relieve his boredom.
However, he then noticed that they left empty-handed. Apparently, William gave all the money to the pub owner to compensate for the mess they made. Moran then regrets going all out in the fight earlier since was the one who caused all that mess that had to be paid for.
Placing a hand on Moran’s shoulder, William asks him to be Louis’ assistant if he wants to compensate for it. Shuddering in fear at this, he says he’d rather be suspended than do such a thing.
Then William proposes doing the chores while he’s in suspension, and of course Moran is also opposed to this, saying that’s practically the same thing as being Louis’ assistant. He then reminded William about how he earlier preached about not judging others earlier. Moran felt as though William seems to have ill intentions as he proposed these things, and asks if he has done something to warrant it.
William denies it, saying he’s actually thankful to Moran for the opportunity to have fun tonight. He proves this by declaring that he’s having so much fun right now.
Hearing William say those words sincerely made Moran realize exactly what he means. He grows pale at the thought of being the target of William’s teasing for the rest of the night.
William then brings Fred into the conversation, informing him of how Moran gave a passionate speech about how mature he’s grown last night and cheerfully asks if he wants to hear all about it later, much to Moran’s protest.
It’s rare that Moran gets teased to death like this, so Fred takes him up on the opportunity.
Moran is disappointed at Fred’s betrayal (and William’s, for telling Fred about it when William promised him yesterday that he’d keep it a secret), but he sensed that resistance is futile once he sees William direct a gentle smile at him.
And that’s how the Lord of Crime had fun the whole night.
Note: It wasn’t very clear here in the summary since I wasn’t translating their lines word per word, but Moran and Fred’s names were never revealed to anyone in the pub. Johnson just kept referring to Moran as the “damn cheater” while Fred was always just a “young man” for everyone else. William just kept referring to Fred and Moran as his “friends” (or whatever term you prefer for the word nakama). William was the only one who used an alias (Willy).
Also, for a demonstration of Second Dealing and Bottom Dealing, check out 2:45 onwards of this video:
I started watching Moriarty the Patriot/Yūkoku no Moriartyi and just instantly fell in love so had to have a go at some playlists for my favourite lil crime boys.
I’ve recovered from covid-19 for awhile now, but right after that I was hit with sudden panic attacks and went back into my depressive times. Along with that, I have presentations every week and I can barely ever find time to update and post.
I’m also considering to stop writing for Moriarty the Patriot as I have people suddenly coming after me on FB, Twitter and my personal tumblr because I don’t write anything for SherLiam.
I have this thing to say and it will get me and my sister cancelled,
We’re not comfortable writing romantic same gendered relationships. The least we can do is gn reader x character. Other than that, we mainly write fem reader x male character and vice versa.
So please, stop going after me. Your constant unnecessary anger and hate to me will do nothing but harm me, the writer. If you don’t like my content, don’t read. Simple.
If you cannot accept and acknowledge my comfort zone, then feel free to block. I’ve blocked so many people in my personal tumblr, FB and Twitter.
If you want me to write for the MTP fandom, then try to convince me why should I do it.
hey guys, it’s been almost a month? since I last posted. I just started uni so I’m getting busier these days. Another bad news, I’m positive for covid, so please understand that your requests are currently on hold as I’m focusing on getting better and focusing on my studies more than being in social media.
Other than that, requests are still open. Though as I have mentioned above, posts and answers will be delayed. I hope everyone understands that.
Should I make a series about Wilhelmina’s life as William’s daughter? It does seem like my stories about her are rather … bunch of sequels after the one shot of William returning home…
Freya’s questions had gotten extremely questionable as she grew up. Every time you’d have tea time with your dear husband and little girl, she’d suddenly pop some very questionable questions for the both of you. Such as…
~~~~~~
“Mommy, Daddy, where do babies come from?”
Louis almost choked on his tea from the question. You, on the other hand, literally choked on the cookie you were munching on. Poor little Freya panicked and lightly patted your back with her small soft hands.
Your dear husband had a huge blush spread along his cheeks. He looked down at Freya with a rather forced smile, “My dear, what’s with the sudden curiosity?”
“Mommy’s belly suddenly grew big and she said my little sibling is growing inside. But how did little bean get inside mommy’s belly?”
‘Oh God…’ Louis sighed. He was rather conflicted on how to answer the little girl. Before she’d go to one of her uncles or heck maybe even Moran or Jack, he’d better try to convince his little girl.
Before he could speak, you had already regained your composure and pulled Freya into your arms.
“Dearie, it’s a bit of a complicated process about how a baby is born. Let’s just say, after a few weeks or months, maybe even years after a couple gets married, the mother will be blessed by God after finding out she is pregnant.
The soul of the baby will be blown into the mother’s belly and slowly the baby will be created and formed for 9 months.”
Freya’s (e/c) eyes shined at the explanation. But then another question came out from her mouth, “But how does the baby come out?”
It’s your turn to turn red. Louis decided to drop the question by telling her that the answer will come when she’s older.
Freya pouted at her father and shot another question to him, “Then how do you and mommy meet? And how did you know that mommy is the one for you? And when did you decide to have me? And-”
“Now, now, honey. Slow down with your questions. Mommy and daddy will answer them one by one.” Louis let out a chuckle as he reached out to pat Freya’s head.
Louis recalled when he first met you at the orphanage. Like him and William, you were an orphan. You came from the working class, but upon the sudden murder of your parents and the fall of their business, you were thrown to the orphanage both he and William were sent to.
You both befriended each other and eventually became close friends. Whenever William wasn’t around, you’d stay by Louis’ side and helped him when he had an episode. After both he and his brother left with Albert, you were left alone to care for the fellow orphans. You helped the caretakers and taught the kids what William and Louis had taught you.
Once in a while, Albert would bring the brothers to the orphanage to visit everyone,
“How are you feeling now, Louis?” You asked with a warm smile on your face. The young man’s ears turned red upon seeing your smile. You had grown finely despite it has only been about 5 months since you last seen each other.
“I’m fine now,” He then took your hands in his, “Thank you, for being by my side.”
You gave him a tight hug, “I’ll always be by your side, I promise.”
He returned your hug. Suddenly the head caretaker came rushing to where you and Louis were.
“(y/n)! (y/n)! Lord Rockwell would like to meet you.”
You were shocked by the name. It was the regular customer your parents once had to serve. Both your parents and the Lord’s family had a friendly relationship. Louis then ushered you to the small meeting room. He had left you with a smile which gave you motivation to face the Lord.
“(y/n) my dear! I’m so glad to see you’re alright. Why didn’t you let us know that your family’s business was ripped away?” The Lady of the Rockwell family gave you a tight hug.
You gave her a forced smile, “No, I can’t allow a noble to get into my family’s problems. It would be a burden -”
“No! We had a promise with your parents to keep the (l/n)’s Floral Shop alive. We looked for you these past few months after finding out Ms and Mr (l/n)’s passing.” The Lord cuts you off.
You were surprised by their search for you. You can tell that they were genuine. They would often chip in to donate money to your parents’ shop for the donation to the orphanage your parents collected. You were thankful for their help. Their next proposal surprised you even more,
“So, (y/n), would you like to stay with us? We would like to provide you a new family, a safe place for you to stay and live happily.”
You accepted their proposal to be adopted into the Rockwell family. There, you met their other adoptive daughter, who is now, William’s wife. Both you and William’s wife were treated equally. You were provided with education and allowed to work at your family’s newly built shop.
The Rockwell family provided both you and William’s wife with everything a child wanted. A loving family, proper education, happiness. It may be hard as you and your adoptive sister were looked down for being adopted daughters. But the two of you pushed the negative away by striving for your goals.
“I knew your mother was the one for me when I saw her handling ungrateful people with kindness and professionalism. She never gets angry unless necessary. Your mother’s patience are what I admire, she never looked down upon me when I was ill. That’s why, dear Freya,” Louis picked up his daughter and placed her on his lap, “I want you to be a good girl and follow your mother’s footsteps. Be kind to everyone.
If one treats you badly, there’s no need for revenge. Forgive them, it may be hard, but that’s what make you a good person. Take your time forgiving them, as long as you don’t take revenge against them. Help them instead. Lend them a helping hand.”
Freya tilted her head slightly with a little frown on her face, “But what if they don’t want my help?”
You smiled at your daughter, “Then it’s okay. Just give them some time. You can help so many people. Help those with good intentions, avoid people who ask for your help for bad deeds.”
The little girl leaned back onto Louis’ chest and looked up to him, “Well then, can I help out at mommy’s shop?”
Both you and Louis chuckled at her cute question. The man caressed her hair gently, “Of course, you can.”
The three of you spend the moment happily and the last question from little Freya was forgotten. Surely she won’t ask the said question after a few months later.
~~~~~~
I decided to write about Louis’ romance with you after rereading the manga. I’ll probably write about Albert’s domestic life after writing a little bit more about Louis soon.
I forgot that I mentioned about Louis having a son. Don’t mind me being a forgetful person.
“Mommy will be going out with your aunties and Miss Hudson. So please behave yourself and be good for daddy, okay?” You asked your daughter as you styled her blond hair into a ponytail.
Your little girl nodded, “Okay mommy! Don’t worry! I’ll be good for daddy!”
You smiled and chuckled. You continued styling her hair and made sure she was comfortable in her casual blue dress. You talked to your daughter a little bit more before walking with her to the sunroom. Her attention soon averted to her father who was drinking tea with his brothers. Her cousins were minding their own business as well.
Wilhelmina lets go of your hand and ran to her father’s side, “Good morning, daddy!”
“Good morning, sweetheart.” William placed his cup down and pulled his dear daughter into his arms.
You watched your husband and child having their moment together and greeted your brother in laws. You sat beside your husband and poured yourself a cup of tea as well.
After taking a sip of your morning tea, you heard William said to her, “Mina dear, I know you’re excited to spend a day with me but would you be a darling and go play with your cousins first? Daddy wants to talk to mommy before she leaves.”
“Okay~”
‘Oh wow… It was hard to get her detached from me before…’ You thought.
You recalled the time before William and Sherlock returned home. Miss Hudson and your sister in laws tried to drag you out to spend a day with them after caring for your little Mina. Poor baby, she never wanted to let go of you that Louis had to pull her off you.
'Noo!! Mommy!!“ Mina cried for you in Louis’ arms.
"Mina, let your mother take a fresh air,” Louis tried to tell her.
The little blond shook her head in disagreement. Her shiny ruby eyes was filled with unstoppable tears. Then, the hero of the day, Grandpa Jack stepped in, “Come here, dearie, let’s go play with your cousins for the day. You love to play with them, don’t you? Let your mom have a day for herself.”
Little Mina looked up from Louis’ shoulder to meet with Jack’s kind eyes and nodded. Her lips still pouty, her chubby cheeks were puffed.
You can’t help but find it cute with her face like that. But at the same time you were worried. Mina was extremely attached to you as her father was absent in her life. She only had her uncles as her father figures. There were even times where she accidentally called Louis, 'daddy’.
Poor man was flustered but at the same time he felt sad for his niece. His dear wife was surprised but understood the little girl’s position and never questioned it. She then ushered you out to the sunroom after assuring you that Mina will be okay if Jack is around.
“Don’t worry, (y/n). Little Mina will be fine.” She then looks at Louis, “We’ll be back by evening, okay? Make sure to look after (c/n) and Mina properly, dear!”
Before Louis could respond, he was being glared by his wife’s murderous eyes, “If we hear the kiddies cries the moment we return, you will be faced by my skillet,” She then smiled sweetly at him, “Okay, honey?”
“Yes, dear…” Louis sweat dropped at his wife’s antics.
“Well then, (y/n), let us go shopping and buy little treats for our babies~” Your sister in law chirped, “We don’t want to make Miss Hudson wait for us too long~”
You sighed at the flashback. But seeing how William was able to discipline Wilhelmina, you were more than assured that everything will be okay.
After having breakfast with your family, you looked to the children once again, seeing that they were also happily talking and laughing together as they ate. You smiled at the beautiful sight and looked up to your husband.
“Will, I’ll be leaving with the ladies soon. Can I trust you with Mina?” You asked him for more assurance.
William gave you a warm smile and nodded, “We’ll be fine. I’ll be taking her to her favorite flower field. Please, don’t worry about us.”
You knew better to trust your dear husband. You nodded with a smile and gave him a kiss before standing up to leave. You went to the kids’ table and gave them goodbye kiss and hugs,
“Mommy will be back soon, okay? Be a good girl for daddy.” You placed a kiss your daughter’s forehead.
“Okay, mommy! Stay safe!” Wilhelmina said cheerfully.
A few moments after you and your sisters left, your dear daughter was getting ready to leave with her father and uncles. She inherited your crafty hands as she styled her long blond hair beautifully.
After feeling satisfied with her hard work, she went out of her room to the sunroom to wait for William. He greeted her with a smile and assured her to come to him.
“You look wonderful today, did you styled your hair alone?” He asked. She responded with an energetic nod, “Yep! Mommy taught me how to tie my hair!”
After waiting for Albert and Louis to get ready with their children, the Moriarty family got inside the carriage to head to the flower field that the children love so much.
The brothers had noticed that their children never really wanted toys. They enjoyed spending time together and engaging conversations with people outside. They were shy, but with their own wishes to explore the public, they are more comfortable to talk to the people on the streets.
The public who recognized them as the Moriarty children, complimented them for their kindness and politeness. The children even made friends with the commoners’ children.
The brothers and their wives couldn’t be more happier than that.
As soon as they arrived at the flower field, Wilhelmina and her cousins ran out of the carriage and started to run around the field.
“Come on, (c/n)! Lets go collect flowers!” Little Mina cheered. Her cousins agreed and started to pick out flowers to bring back home.
About an hour of picking flowers, the children return to their fathers’ sides. Mina sat beside her father and showed him the different types of flowers she got. She had collected daisies, roses, red chrysanthemums and iris. She had also collected smaller flowers well.
William was amazed that his daughter being so knowledgeable about flowers. Fred and Jack must have thought her about the beauty of nature.
He listened to her talking about the flowers she got for her mother. Suddenly, she pulled out pink and white tulips and handed it to him,
“This is for you, daddy~”
William looked at her to the flower in her hands, he couldn’t help but to give her a warm smile. He pulled her into his arms and said to her, “Thank you, sweetheart.. But do you know the meanings to these flowers?”
“Hmm… I’m not too sure… But I do think they suit you!” She replied innocently.
The man chuckled and explained to her, “Pink tulips shows a symbol of caring, attachment and good wishes. White tulips, on the other hand, represents purity, innocence, forgiveness and respect.”
He noticed how her matching ruby eyes shined. The little girl then hugged him tightly, “Then, these flowers are my feelings to you, daddy!”
“Thank you again, dear.”
Later that evening, little Mina and her cousins were tired from playing around the field and making flower crowns. They slept throughout their ride home. The brothers carried their children in their arms, Albert having to carry his twins one in his arms, the other hanging on his back.
They were greeted by Jack and were ushered inside.
“Your wives have returned, Masters.”
“Thank you, Jack, you can leave us now.” Albert said with a smile.
The men entered the sunroom, being greeted by the three women laughing out loud in their conversation. Albert’s wife looked up and chuckled at the sight of her husband,
“Oh dear. Let me hold one of them,” She went up to him and took her child that was hanging on his back.
William took his spot beside you, still holding your little girl in his arms. You caressed your daughter’s hair and your eyes travelled to the bouquet William had placed on the table.
“Oh? What is this?” You asked your husband.
“Just a souvenir from the field,”
You chuckled at his simple answer. You decided to wait for your daughter to wake up from her slumber. About an hour after William’s return, Mina finally woke up. Her blond hair now messed up after tossing and turning between you and your husband.
The girl gave you a tiny sleepy smile upon seeing you. You caressed her hair, making it tidy and proper. The little girl’s ruby eyes suddenly brightened up as she remembered about the flowers.
“Ah! Mommy! I brought you flowers from the field!”
You showed her the beautifully arranged flowers in a vase. While the children were asleep, you and your sisters in law arranged the flowers into separate vases. Mina’s eyes shined as she saw the arrangements. The flowers she and her cousins had collected were now beautifully arranged.
She then looked at you with eyes full of hope, “Do you like them, mommy? I picked them with my cousins!”
You pulled her into your arms and smushing and rubbing her cheeks with yours lovingly, hearing her laugh happily, “Of course, I like it! I love it so much, dear! Thank you, my baby.”
William smiled at the sight of you and little Mina. He never expected to eventually build a family with you, but after you told him that you were pregnant, he started to feel confused and unsure of his choices. A part of him wanted to stay with the plan, the other part wants to stay and be with you and the baby.
Nevertheless, he was thankful to be alive. Being able to see your smile, to watch Mina grow up into a wonderful young lady.
'I promise, I’ll always be with you and our baby girl. I’ll raise her to be a good young lady that we always wish her to be.’
Was what he promised you, and he never broke the promise. His attention averts to your question to your daughter, “Did you have fun with daddy?”
Wilhelmina nodded happily, “Yep! But I hope mommy would come along with us too!”
You and your daughter laughed together in William’s arms. The man chuckled and said, “I had a good day with you too, sweetie.”
Throughout dinner time, the children talked about their day with their fathers. You listened along with the adults, asking them questions at times. It was hard, but listening to the children talk and laugh happily and innocently, made your hearts warm.
~~~~~~
I think I went overboard for this as it took me about 2 weeks to write. I just can’t help but to keep on writing family fics. Its too precious and lovely.
** edited (17/1/2022) : Louis’ child will be revealed in the next story!
