Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 5 - Chapter 18

On a journey to read the fortunes of the world. 

Three days have passed since then. In the meantime, Siesta and I, along with Saikawa and Charl, continued to discuss and brainstorm ways to wake Natsunagi up. 

Stephen, the attending physician, has already withdrawn. He said something like "there is nothing left for me to do," but that shouldn’t mean "there is nothing left for anyone but Stephen to do." 

With that in mind, Siesta mentioned the name of an expert who could replace the?Inventor?, and the two of us immediately went to the place where he was…or so. 

"Hey, can I order some snacks?" 

Siesta asked me, looking at the in-flight meal menu. 

I never thought I'd be taken on a flight the day right after I got out of the hospital… 

"No, it's too expensive. I told you to buy it at the store." 

"Well, what can we do when we barely made it due to the train trouble, so what can you do? Mainly because of you." 

Siesta's stern eyes turned to me. I'm sorry, but working with me means you're bound to get into unexpected trouble. Don't you remember that? 

"Anyway," 

Siesta looked at me as if she's switching sides. 

"It's been a while since we've been on a plane together." 

We're in the sky, 10,000 meters above the ground. It’s how I met Siesta that day four years ago. 

"Yeah, how many times have I flown with you since then?" 

"I can't believe how many miles we’ve accumulated." 

We giggled, remembering those three years. 

Today's destination was New York, where we were traveling to a dizzying world for the first time in a year, to meet someone and attend a conference. 

"But are you sure we're safe?" 

I inquired again about Siesta's condition. Siesta was more seriously injured than I was, but as soon as she was able to walk, she immediately discharged herself from the hospital and took a plane ride. 

"Yeah, I'm in a bit of a hurry." 

"Yeah, about Natsunagi and that meeting." 

Then I asked Siesta about the purpose of this trip. 

"So? What exactly is this conference about?" 

—The Federation Conference, which Siesta urged me to go along to, was where all the?Tuners?in the world gathered. It's said to be held at random places, this time in New York, and Siesta, the?famous detective?of the?Tuners?, was required to attend. 

"To put it simply, it's a place for the twelve?Tuners?to gather and talk when there's a major turning point in the world." 

Siesta says as she bit into a piece of long, thin chocolate candy. When did she buy that? 

"It's also a place to decide who will deal with the new?world crisis?, or in this case, a post-mortem on the?Primordial Seed?crisis that was just over." 

"I see, so it's a place for the?famous detective?to announce the results." 

Apparently, we're going to play a leading role in this Federation Conference…though, in this day and age, a face-to-face meeting seems rather analog. 

"Are you nervous?" 

"Shaking like a warrior." 

"You’re actually shaking." 

Imagine being thrown into such an important discussion that could determine the future of the world. 

"But I have a lot of allies. You know, like that guy." 

"Ah, Fuubi-san. I was wondering why she’s involved, but I didn't expect that." 

Four years ago, after the hijacking, Siesta handed Bat over to Fuubi-san. As comrades protecting the world from behind the scenes, they were related without me even knowing it. 

"Does that mean Mia's coming too?" 

"I doubt it. She’s never been to one, at least not until now." 

Well, it's certainly hard to imagine that lazy girl attending such a tense meeting. Come to think of it, Fuubi-san did say that she never met the?Priestess?before, right? 

"But it seems Mia was allowed to not attend." 

It would be harsh on her if it's a conference to divine the state of the world. 

"Except for me, all the other?Tuners?have their own quirks, or rather, few are the harmonious type." 

"You make it sound like you're the only one who's not weird." 

I say, and Siesta sips her tea with an indifferent face. Don't bring in your own teacup as a matter of course. 

"But we're going to see the most annoying person of them all." 

…Oh. There's another reason why we're going to New York, I mean, to the Federation Conference. 

"The vampire—Scarlet." 

I muttered, and Siesta gave a small nod. 

"You know about him already, don't you?" 

"…Not that I'm too fond of seeing him." 

As rumoured, the?vampire?was the most abnormal existence of the?Tuners?. I personally felt something unfathomable in the way Scarlet's eyes looked at me. He also hinted that he had some sort of connection with Siesta… 

"It looks like something bad happened to you. Did he bully you?” 

"…I just kind of don't like him. More importantly, do you really think Scarlet knows how to wake Natsunagi up?" 

Yes. That vampire was the key person Siesta mentioned, who we needed to wake up Natsunagi. In anticipation of that, we were heading to the Federation Conference where the?Tuners?, including Scarlet, were gathered. 

"Well, it's only a possibility, though. However, he's still an expert on life and death, so he's got a lot to say about human consciousness." 

"…I, see?" 

He’s a vampire who has the ability to bring the dead back to life with only their strongest living instincts intact. He certainly has insight into human life and death, consciousness, and the soul… 

"But can we really rely on a vampire that’s supposedly fantasy-like existence?" 

"Are you a fool?" 

"That's unreasonable." 

It's been a while since I've heard this. 

"Vampires aren't some imaginary entity from folklore, and they didn't spontaneously appear anywhere." 

Siesta said as she sipped her tea again. 

"Things happen for a reason. There are causes. Don't ponder over them and rely on convenient words like 'chance' and 'coincidence'." 

I looked at Siesta’s sidelong face while she said something that I had heard somewhere before, and that face was similar to someone I wanted to meet most. 

"The origins of these vampires are…" 

Siesta then tried to continue her vampire-related story. 

"Oh, by the way, did you see today's horoscope? Taurus’ the worst." 

"No, you're not very good at diverting the topic." 

And you're only talking about unnecessary stuff. It'll just make you feel depressed for the rest of the day. 

"Goodness sake, don't hide important information for no reason. Explain the situation to me from the start." 

"Because it's fun to watch you freak out when you don't know anything." 

"That’s for the worst reason."