Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 5 - Chapter 31

Where this muzzle is pointed. 

After the meeting with Natsunagi, I made all the preparations I could, and the next day, I went out to a certain city. 

"It's almost exactly the same." 

I crossed the barricade tape and entered the now uninhabited city. I walked on, paying attention to the cracked ground…and soon came upon a tall tree that had swallowed up the fashion building that had once stood here. 

It was the city that was overrun by plants two weeks ago when we fought SEED. This city was surrounded by barricade tape, with many collapsed buildings fallen within, so civilians weren’t allowed to enter. There's only one reason why I stepped into this place. 

"Hey, what a coincidence." 

I called out to a girl who had her back turned towards me. 

She was standing there, looking up at the big tree. A silvery-white short cut, a dress that resembles a military uniform. I couldn’t have mistaken her for anyone else. The girl’s name– 

"What are you doing, Siesta?" 

I called out to her, and she turned around with her usual relaxed smile as if she had been ready for a while. 

"Nice to see you again, Assistant." 

Codename, Siesta. 

My partner, who had once disappeared, now appeared in front of me again. 

"What are you, a cat?" 

It’s said that a cat about to die will leave its owner before its demise came. 

"Who's my owner?" 

Siesta gave me a dumbfounded look. 

Then with a frustrated sigh. 

"It looks like I’m being set up." 

Looking up at the towering giant tree, she blurted out. 

"I heard that the seal on the?Primordial Seed?was going to be broken?" 

That's one of the preparations I made. If I were to persuade Siesta, I would have to find her first. I knew that it would be pointless for me to just call Siesta and say "I want to see you again," so I thought I should call a famous detective instead of Siesta. 

As long as Natsunagi hadn't taken her place, Siesta was still the?Famous Detective?, and would never abandon her job. That's why I lured Siesta here by having the?Priestess?Mia Whitlock lie that there were signs that SEED would be unsealed. 

"I did say there's a possibility of that happening someday." 

"So, at least there is no immediate danger?" 

"Yes, it might become indispensable to us humans instead." 

I told her what I heard from Fuubi-san the previous night. 

"Apparently, some unknown atoms not found in the existing periodic table were observed in the tree. Looks like people are busy analyzing it now." 

That's why the area was off-limits to all interested parties. What will this great tree where the?Primordial Seed?was sealed really bring to us humans in the future? 

"I see. So there's nothing for me to do." 

That's good, Siesta muttered…trying to end the story here. 

"What is?" 

Just as Siesta was about to turn around and leave, I called out to her. 

"Are you going to die?" 

I said to her from behind, and she stopped. 

"In the not-too-distant future, I’ll be a monster." 

Siesta looked back at me and smiled, somewhat forlornly. 

"It dawned on me that I might not be the most suitable vessel for the?Primordial Seed?when I saw the?Bible?that was written long ago. The?Primordial Seed?that lies dormant in my body may one day consume me." 

"…Are you saying that you were carrying that bomb all by yourself during the three years you were traveling with me?" 

"My?seed?rests in my heart. That's why, somehow, I knew the time limit myself. I'm okay for now, but I know it will come." 

Saying this, Siesta put her hand on her left chest. 

"And in the not-too-distant future—I won't be able to see you, or hear you, or quarrel with you. I will forget you.” 

And someday, I'll kill you. 

So, Siesta said, smiling beautifully even at this moment. 

"Before then, I'll be gone from this world." 

That was my hypothesis that I didn't want to be true. 

But that theory had been proven by Siesta's own words. 

"I'm really glad to hear how you guys feel." 

Siesta said to me, who remained silent. 

"I can't express myself in simple words, but I'm just happy. I'm just happy that you guys got mad at me, that you cried for me. Surely, I'm…happy." 

Because of this, Siesta sometimes puts reason before emotion, seeking only the result while ignoring emotions. She was such a person that the words she said to me felt genuine, not embellished. 

"Do you have any regrets?" 

I knew how terrible of a question that question was, but I asked it anyway. 

"A year ago, I might have." 

Siesta smiled wryly, her silvery hair flowing in the breeze. 

"There were still things I wanted to ask you then." 

But, Siesta said, tucking the hair strands behind her ear. 

"I knew you cared about me. I knew you enjoyed those three years. And I unexpectedly got to go to your house again, eat pizza with you…fight enemies, take flights, solve crimes, see musicals, and hug you. So, no more regrets." 

There was no hesitation in Siesta's expression as she said this. 

Then, my answer to that was— 

"So, why are you trying to stop me?" 

Siesta's cold gaze shot through me as I grabbed my gun. 

"Sorry for being an assistant who doesn’t always do what you want." 

"—Now then." 

But right after that, we gave each other cold stares. 

I'm here to stop you. Not to kill you, not to wound you. I’m here to keep you alive, to protect you, so I pointed my gun at Siesta. 

"Why do I have to deal with you?" 

But Siesta didn’t want to deal with my resolve. And rightly so. There's no reason for Siesta to go along with my defiance. If I lowered my gun, or if this conversation broke, Siesta will walk away from us for good this time—so. 

"I will pursue you with every means at my disposal, with the help of the Saikawa family fortune, with the help of Charl's unit. I will chase you to the ends of the earth, the bottom of the sea, even 10,000 meters above the ground—everywhere." 

I wasn’t going to lose to a famous detective when it comes to giving up. 

"It's too much trouble, but you want to fight me here?" 

Siesta, staring at the muzzle of the gun pointed at her and guessed my intentions. 

"Yes, this battlefield will decide everything. If you win, I will no longer interfere with you." 

"There’s no competition between us, right?—Besides." 

But Siesta, seeing that I wasn't really going to shoot her, turned around. 

"No matter how many times you and your friends come after me, I will never be caught. I will complete my story on my own, in an empty place, at a time where nobody else is around." 

She said as she turned her back on me, and started to walk away. 

This was Siesta's story as a famous detective. Did it start as soon as she was born, or did it start six years ago when she made a connection with the?Primordial Seed?at the facility? …I was only her assistant, so I didn’t really know. 

But, yes. I was Siesta's assistant. Then when did my story as an assistant begin? Or when did the story of me and Siesta, the two of us begin? …At the very least, I know that much. It was that day four years ago. 

"Oh, yeah, Siesta, you are." 

That's why for four years, I had decided on the line I was going to say here. 

"You're so scared of your assistant that you’re bluffing, saying that the game has already been decided without a fight, and you're trying to end this by saying I’d already lost. You’re just scared, aren’t you?" 

As soon as I said this, Siesta, who had turned her heels, stopped in her tracks. There was no way she could forget when or who had first provoked her. 

"Are you a fool?" 

Siesta taunted me with her usual words. 

But her voice sounded a little chippy on this battlefield. 

"You're a thousand years too young to taunt me." 

Turning around, Siesta had a small pistol in her left hand. 

"Come to think of it, we've never really killed each other, have we?" 

"No, though I did almost get killed by you." 

Even in this situation. 

No, I'm sure it was precisely because of this that Siesta and I laughed together. 

"Are you ready, Siesta?" 

"That's my line, Assistant." 

And so, at the foot of the great tree overlooking humanity, Siesta and I pointed our guns at each other. 

"I'm gonna stop you." 

"You can't stop me." 

It was the first and last big fight between me and Siesta.