Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 5 - Chapter 22

The detective’s completely defeated. 

After the Federation Conference, Siesta and I went to a cafe near our lodgings to have a light dinner. As we ate pasta and scones, we tried to discuss further about the conference. 

"So, what's the story, Siesta?" 

I ask her as she neatly rolled up the pasta with her fork. 

"Are you serious about quitting the role of?famous detective??" 

About an hour ago, at the Federation Conference, Siesta announced that she would be stepping down from her position as?famous detective?and appointed Nagisa Natsunagi as her successor. However, upon hearing this, the reactions of the other?Tuners?(except for Mia) were subdued. 

"Oh, you're talking about that? I thought you would talk about the?Singularity?part." 

Siesta wiped her mouth with a napkin, looking as clear as ever. 

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me at all, but…I have more important things to do right now." 

"Heh. I thought you were going to get angry again and say, 'You should have told me about those important things beforehand’." 

From the way she said it, I guessed Siesta was aware of my existence as such. But at least now, that information was relatively meaningless to me. 

"Suppose I really do have some kind of influence on the world, that still wouldn’t affect my actions." 

I've been living with this annoying nature of getting into trouble my whole life. Giving it a different meaning wouldn’t change my thoughts or my way of life. I had only one thing to do, one wish to fulfill. 

"…I see. You've really grown up, haven't you?" 

Siesta sat down to eat again, seemingly satisfied with herself. 

"So? What I want to ask is, why did you suddenly decide to quit being the?Famous Detective??" 

It sounded like a good story, but Siesta's specialty was to obscure important stuff like that. 

"My mission as the?famous detective?is to eradicate and destroy?SPES?. Now that I've accomplished that, I don't think it's so strange that I'm resigning my position as a?famous detective?, right?" 

"…But I thought you were born with the nature of a detective?" 

I asked Siesta, staring at the glass in my hand. 

I could see my distorted face on the water surface. 

"That's right. That's why, now that I've defeated my sworn enemy, I'm going back to being a normal?detective?. That's all." 

Siesta's mouth eased up as she stared at me. 

"So, from here on, it's your story." 

Her tone was soft, but she didn't allow any room for objection. 

"…I see." 

But yes. Even if Siesta stopped fighting the enemies of the world, she would still be challenging the mysteries and evil that lurked in everyday life. She wouldn’t just disappear from my everyday life just because she quit being the?famous detective?. 

"Assistant?" 

I suddenly noticed that Siesta was peering into my face. 

"…No, it's nothing." 

Even though I had already decided to stop relying on the detective, I was surprised at myself for assuming that Siesta would be next to me, I coughed and cleared my throat, 

"So you're saying that Natsunagi will take your place?" 

"Yes. It's all thanks to Nagisa that I'm able to move my body like this now and that we were able to defeat the?Primordial Seed?. I'm sure she can take up the role of the?Famous Detective?better than me…no, Nagisa deserves this role more than me." 

I've lost, Siesta said, leaning back in her chair. 

It was as if she was admitting defeat to Natsunagi (Alicia), whom we had met in London just last year. 

"Of course, that's if Nagisa still wants to be the?Famous Detective?. The Nagisa now might have lost the power of the?seed?and returned to being a normal girl." 

"…Ah. That's why we need to ask Natsunagi herself about it." 

We nodded at each other and confirmed our future plans. No matter how much Siesta wanted Natsunagi to take over the position of?famous detective?, that wish would not be fulfilled until Natsunagi herself woke up. 

"That's right. I don't have much time, but I'll make sure Nagisa wakes up." 

In fact, as a condition for Siesta's resignation to be formally conveyed to the higher-ups at the Federation Conference, Nagisa Natsunagi’s attendance was mandated. In other words, unless Natsunagi wakes up and takes over Siesta's will, Siesta will remain the?Famous Detective?. 

"But we didn't get to see Scarlet." 

Siesta tried to meet the vampire to get a clue on how to awaken Natsunagi, but unfortunately, he didn't show up at the meeting after all. 

"I guess it's too early. I was sure it would be safe indoors." 

Yes, vampires only show up at night. Like the?Primordial Seed?, it didn't like the sun. 

"But in the end, there were only seven?Tuners?in attendance." 

The remaining non-attendees were the?Vampire?, the?Inventor?, the as-yet-unseen?Phantom Thief?, and two more…no, one of them was the?Executioner?that Siesta had mentioned. 

"It's rather unusual to have more than a majority in attendance. We were also lucky enough to meet the new?Magical Girl?." 

Siesta muttered, moistening her mouth with tea. She was somehow able to remain calm after all the intimidation. 

"Did she say she took over as the?Mage?? Is it really that easy to replace a position?" 

Well, in this case, it might just be a change of title. 

"Yes, it happens. There are more than twelve roles for the?Tuners?, and they are chosen according to the time period. There used to be an?Exorcist?and a?Swordsman?, I think." 

"They're being replaced all the time, aren't they?" 

"That's what fighting the?world's enemies?is all about." 

Siesta's mouth twisted into a slightly lonely expression. 

I was talking about a simple reshuffling of positions, but Siesta probably interpreted it differently–the death of the?Tuners?. It seemed the?Tuners?would be replaced on a regular basis. 

"In fact, the?Executioner?I knew seemed to have disappeared in the past year." 

…I see. It's not that he didn't participate after all. Maybe another person had already taken over the role of?Executioner?, or maybe the whole position has been replaced. 

And Siesta, knowing what her future would be, had been fighting the?world's enemy?those three years. I had been standing next to her all these years, but I couldn't notice her determination. 

"More importantly, I'm thinking about Nagisa now." 

Then, as usual, Siesta returned to the topic as if she had read my thoughts. 

"As I said before, I think Nagisa's consciousness is in a deep sleep." 

Holding her fingertips to her chin, Siesta tried to contemplate Natsunagi's current situation. 

"I thought I'd done my job, and I fell asleep, satisfied and relieved." 

That's what happened to me, Siesta spoke of her past experiences. 

She too had the experience of her consciousness living and sleeping in Natsunagi's heart. 

"…Hmm? Then how did you do it back then?" 

"Back then?" 

Siesta tilted her head slightly at my question. 

"You know, on that luxury cruise ship, when I fought the berserking Chameleon, you came to my rescue, borrowing Natsunagi's body, right?" 

At least that time, Siesta woke up and came running to me. 

"…Did that ever happen?" 

"No, you can't play dumb like that." 

But for some reason, Siesta looked away from me and twisted her head unnaturally. 

"Oh, I see." 

And that's when I thought of a possibility. It seems that I acquired a bit of reasoning power through my years of working as an assistant. 

"In other words, you woke up in a hurry and couldn't keep calm when I was in trouble." 

"…" 

"On an unconscious level, you just couldn’t help but worry about me." 

"……." 

Siesta's eyebrows twitched as she tried to maintain her composure. 

I remembered back to the time when I was abducted, and she rushed over to me in a robot, trying to act natural. So, in other words, 

"Siesta, you like me too much, don't you?" 

After a year of waiting, I got my chance for revenge. 

"……Are you a fool?" 

And the result was the feeblest abuse I had ever heard. 

"…Huh." 

Then Siesta sighed loudly, 

"Are you sure you want to be having this conversation with me? I'm sure Nagisa would be very upset if she hears us talking like this.” 

She said and looked at me in disgust. 

My partner, whom I met again after a year, seems to have a slightly more changeable expression than before. 

But that's probably due to the fact that…she spent a year with a girl with a fiery passion, never leaving her side. So I thought, and I answered her, 

"Yeah, she'll be mad." 

—That’s why. 

"That's why I want her to wake up early and scold me." 

That's all I wanted at this point. 

"…Aren’t you too fond of Nagisa?" 

Siesta gave me a wry smile. 

As I pondered how I should respond to such an act of quick revenge. 

"Everyone, freeze!" 

Suddenly, there was a man's voice and the sound of a gunshot in the store. When I turned around to see what was going on, I saw several masked men pointing their guns at the clerks and customers. 

I see, another incident. Come on, you guys can’t read the mood for a moment? I thought and withheld a wry smile as I waited for the detective's instructions. 

"Assistant, shouldn’t it be time to do something about your nature?" 

"Yeah. That's my second wish right now." 

In the past, the Phantom Thief made some deal with the world's enemy, the?Primordial Seed?, and stole Mia's?Bible?. Of course, this was a betrayal that the?Tuners?, supposedly allies of justice, should not have committed, and as a result, he was imprisoned in an underground prison. 

"Well, it seems that there have been a lot of terrorist attacks here in New York recently, with the aim of freeing Arsene, and Flip's guys are busy dealing with them." 

Fuubi-san then exhaled smoke from her cigarette and mentioned the name of Flip, the?Revolutionary?who also works as a politician in the public world. 

"And it's not just New York, I heard that such incidents are being reported here and there all over the world now. Do you remember any of them?" 

Then Fuubi-san's sharp eyes turned to me. 

"…Don't tell me the bus hijacking in London is one incident too?" 

It happened about three weeks ago, when I was riding a bus with Mia in London. There was a man with a gun demanding the police to release his friends. Was he referring to the?Phantom Thief?Arsene… 

"Are there that many of Phantom Thief's friends?" 

There were people in New York and London…or around the world trying to rescue, even if they had to hijack a bus and cause incidents. 

"I've heard that?Phantom Thief?had a lot of help." 

Siesta answered my question. 

"But perhaps it was…" 

"Yeah, those liberation activists are definitely not Arsene's friends." 

This time, Fuubi-san followed Siesta's words. 

"The proof is that they didn't know any concrete information about the?Phantom Thief?, except for the alias Arsene." 

If Fuubi-san was so certain, it wouldn’t be that these men were lying to protect the?Phantom Thief?, right? If that’s the case, 

"So they weren't?Phantom Thief?'s friends, but just pawns to be used?" 

"Or..." 

Fuubi-san interrupted, extinguishing her cigarette with an ashtray. 

"Or maybe Arsene has them at his mercy." 

To save him from this prison. 

He shall order the rest of the world. 

"…How is that even possible?" 

Did Arsene have some skill to control a complete stranger as if he were a puppet? 

"I don't know exactly how. But," 

Siesta replied with an unusually grim expression. 

"He's the Phantom Thief—he can steal a human's mind and will too." 

"…But if Arsene is planning to break out of prison now, isn't there anything we can do about it?" 

It’s said that Arsene was still imprisoned deep underground in some country. If that's the case, we should take strict measures before anything else happens— 

"Yes, that’s right. I wish I could do that at least." 

Fuubi-san replied on Siesta's behalf, exhaling smoke towards the ceiling. 

"According to my incompetent superiors, the?Phantom Thief?Arsene has already escaped from prison."