Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 2 - Chapter 4.1

Side Siesta 

There may be some time until my consciousness vanishes completely. 

I spend my last moments caressing my assistant's head that is lying on my lap. 

My assistant is sleeping like a child, the tear marks still on his cheeks. 

"Are you a fool?" 

I wipe them off with my index finger, and the cheeks regain softness. Goodness, he's not a child, he's a baby. 

"…That's why I wanted to say goodbye on the bed." 

Assistant will surely cry. For my sake. 

That is why I didn't want him to see my last moments…I wanted to say goodbye on the boat that was headed for this island. But he caught up to me here. Did Charl not get angry at him? 

Goodness?? 

"Aren't you too fond of me?" 

I repeat the joke I once mentioned and pry aside my assistant's bangs with my thumb. How could he show such an adorable sleeping face? I show a slight smile, feeling strangely incensed for some reason. 

"I'm sorry." 

I know you can't hear me. 

"I'm sorry that I end up dying first." 

But I have to say this no matter what. 

"Actually, there's another reason why I came up with such a reckless strategy." 

That was when you held the celebration over my recovery back in London. 

Do you still remember? 

Back then, Alicia said??she wanted to attend school. 

I was prepared to fulfill this wish. 

"It's not difficult to defeat the enemy. It's easy to kill. But she??Alicia, she said that." 

She wanted to live. She wanted to attend school. 

That's why I bet my life…to reclaim victory after defeat. 

So that once Alicia awakes in this body again, she can attend school. 

Yes, why do I want to go this far? It's because?? 

"It's a detective's job to protect the interests of the requestor." 

I answer the question Assistant will ask the moment he wakes up. 

"But I’ll need a little more time for that." 

For Alicia to go to school, or in other words, for her to spend her daily life normally, we have to first stabilize her mentally. It’s triggered by a split personality, but she may find it unacceptable if she knows that she has blood on her hands. 

And that’s why, first, we need to modify this part of her mental state, and her memories, and give her a new identity. I left these matters to that red-haired policewoman. She’s probably headed towards Charl, providing Assistant at this point, but she’ll be back to retrieve Assistant and me soon. 

"I also made a fake wish to you, but please don’t get angry." 

To be precise, once I defeated Hel, the threat of ?SPES? will be nullified for now. And once Alicia is fine, she’ll be living in a distant country. This is the wish I made to you to get you to act…otherwise, you would have recklessly taken on ?SPES? alone. 

That is why I have to prepare everything…it may be for a short while, but I hope you will return to your daily life. 

To the ordinary, stable, peaceful daily life that you yearn for. 

"I’m sorry for dragging you along over the past three years." 

Again I caress Assistant’s head. 

I caress him over and over again, thinking this surely will be the last time. 

"I’ve always been arguing with you." 

Appearing in my mind now is that sidelong face of yours, muttering with a sigh that this is unreasonable. 

Am I really that unreasonable? Is there a reason for you to be this perturbed? I did just say "Aren't you too fond of me?" in the spur of the moment, but maybe that’s not the case at all…I’m a little worried. 

"But at the very least, I enjoyed myself." 

You may laugh if I said that. You may even get angry at me, telling me to stick to my character…but please forgive me at my final moments.. 

The apple pie I ate with you was sweeter than when I had it alone. 

I felt like we were a couple living together when we stayed together in the cheap apartment . 

I enjoyed myself at the casino…ah, but I remember you lost lots. 

Speaking of which, you probably peeked at the photos of me in the wedding dress a few times, didn’t you? 

The time when we had alcohol was the first and last. That was disastrous… 

What time will we wake up? What shall we eat? Where shall we go? Will we have new work requests? If possible, maybe it’ll be easy to look for a cat. Oh yes, I found some nice teacups. I’ll buy them next time, and brew some nice tea for us to enjoy together. It’s fine, there’s still time to drink tea. The day after, a week later, a month later?? 

"I still wish to have some tea with you a month later." 

I want to see your sidelong face when you sigh and go all “this is unreasonable”. 

And I want to see…your smile, again and again. 

"I don’t want, to die." 

But I want to protect. I want to protect you. 

After all, this is my mission as a famous detective?an existence to protect the interests of the requestor. 

We promised back then, didn’t we? I’ll protect you. I’ll stand up and protect you, even though your nature caused you to get into incidents and trouble. 

So, please sleep soundly as you are now. Sink into your dreams with that slightly adorable face of yours. It’s fine. One day, someone shall wake you up from your sleep. 

And that person shall embrace you in my stead. 

"I lost the chance to hand over. I’m sorry." 

At the very end, in the middle of the battle, I retrieved the red ribbon from Hel’s army uniform and tied it to my head. Will she wear that a year later? 

"…Oh yes. I need to think of a name." 

It’s the last spell to seal Hel’s consciousness. 

By binding a new name, this physical body shall be reborn again. 

"Hel??is the name of the cold queen who ruled the country of ice." 

In that case, I should choose a new name, a warm one, one that can melt the hearts of Man?? 

A name befitting Alicia’s smiling face that resembles the dazzling summer sun?? 

"Say, Assistant." 

Finally, I called out to him. 

"Remember the name of the person who shall wake you from your sleep??Nagisa. Nagisa Natsunagi."