Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 5 - Chapter 36

That is how I ‘live’ 

"Siesta, you will not fulfill your last job." 

Assistant said and pointed his gun at me. The other three followed Assistant's lead and surrounded me. The four of them lined up in a diagonal formation as if to say that I couldn’t escape. 

"…Are you all fools?" 

Even if they did it, even if their wishes came true, the future awaiting me would be that I would be consumed by the?seed?and turned into a monster. There's no way to prevent that. 

"Don’t you understand—that my disappearance is the last job I can do?" 

It’s my last job, but really, it should have been over. A year ago, when I died and sealed Hel, I entrusted my last wishes to Assistant, Nagisa, Yui, and Charl…and through Noches, I freed them from their problems and spells. My work should have been complete then. 

However, Assistant and Nagisa overturned the ending I had envisioned. It created chaos in the world, and Nagisa became a victim of that distortion. Even so, Hel, whom I had sealed as my final act, defeated the?Primordial Seed?, and the?Bible?that was compiled by the Priestess…showed a new ending to this story. 

That's why I'm still here now, just as overtime. No, it's an addendum. This is an epilogue…that does not need to be told. Still, as long as I stand on this battlefield, now that I have this gun in my hand again, I will. 

"I will never give up my job. I will risk my life to fulfill my duty as a famous detective." 

A few shots rang out, and the final battle began. 

"I'm tired of seeing the same bullet speed since four years ago." 

The lead balls flew in all directions, but by grasping the angle of the muzzle to the millimeter, a man could overcome the speed of the gun. I ran with the wind, leaving behind the few bullets that were going to be fired into the void and gravel. 

There were four of them, but they were already wounded. If I dealt with them one by one, I’d be fine. First, I'm sorry— 

"Yui Saikawa...your left eye is a nuisance." 

"…!" 

That eye already has a level of dynamic vision beyond the reach of ordinary humans. On the battlefield, it would be more useful than any heavy weapon with firepower. I ran straight up to Yui to mitigate its ability, and she seemed taken aback. 

Of course, I didn’t intend to kill her, nor did I intend to hurt her blue eye. This musket I raised was brought by Assistant, so it should contain a tranquilizer bullet…no, it's possible that he only loaded the first shot in case I took the gun. I had to try it first. I would let the bullet graze Yui by a few millimeters, and hopefully, she'd sleep for a while. With that thought running through my head as quickly as possible, I put my fingertip on the trigger and— 

"—!" 

Just then, Charl crossed behind Yui. At this angle, the bullet would have hit Charl who was behind…in the head. If it hit her in the shoulder, that could also be a fatal wound. 

"…It's so unlike you, Charl." 

I lowered my weapon and stepped away, complaining to my apprentice who had misread the situation. 

"Master Siesta. This is a battlefield, a place where lives are exchanged, isn't it?" 

I suddenly felt a sharp killing intent and ducked, only to find Noches' sword cleaving the spot where I had been a moment ago. If the tip of the sword that was coated with an anesthetic caught me, it would all be over. The number of restrictions almost overwhelmed my head, but I quickly aimed my gun at Noches. She had a mechanical body, so she could shoot anywhere she wanted. This time, I could be sure that— 

"Noches…!" 

Just then, Assistant leaped forward to protect Noches. 

"…! Are you a fool? 

I made a last-minute decision to fire a bullet into the void. Assistant’s movements were beyond my expectations, and a bad hit could still be fatal. 

"…You still have bad instincts as always." 

The most recent case I remembered was the battle with Chameleon on the cruise ship. Again, Assistant was in the wrong position and took the full brunt of the enemy's attack. It was obvious that I was much better at taking enemy fire than he is…in this case, Noches should be much better at taking enemy fire than him. 

"…Is that what you mean?" 

In the moment, a bad premonition flashed through my mind, and at the same time, a bullet passed right in front of me. 

"I'm sorry, Charl-san, but Siesta-san might have noticed earlier than we thought." 

"Yeah, because Ma'am is the first and last master I've decided to respect until the day I die." 

A few meters away, Charl smiled triumphantly and pointed her gun at me again. 

"Evade or you'll get hit." 

I knew right away that that wasn't a line she'd said to me. 

"Yeah. But I'll be fine, more or less." 

"—!" 

Pam! The moment the gunshot rang out. I grabbed Assistant by the chest while he was standing behind me, and we dodged Charl's bullet, falling together. 

"This is how Siesta will save us." 

The Assistant, his back to the ground, gave a faint smile, and picked himself up to point his gun at me again. 

"Are you all fools…!" 

I turned around at my four enemies. 

"…So this is your last-ditch effort to push me over the edge?" 

It's a foolish strategy full of seeming contradictions: if I was about to attack someone, someone else will step in to protect them, and yet, these friends wouldn’t hesitate to shoot each other. At first glance, it's hard to tell whether they wanted to protect their friends or prioritize their goal of stopping me. But if there is an answer to this contradiction— 

"Yeah, Siesta, you'll never let us be killed." 

A moment later, a bullet was fired by Noches towards me…or rather, Assistant who was standing behind me. 

"…!" 

I flung my musket to the side and deflected it, but at the same time, the pistol in Yui's hand took aim at me and Charl, who was on the opposite side. 

"That’s why…!" 

I didn't have time to speak. I pulled the trigger at about the same time that Yui fired and shifted the trajectory of the bullet that was aimed towards Charl with my own bullet. 

—Yes, this is war, so I told myself, but I was going around, ensuring that they wouldn’t die. I instinctively knew that the countless bullets flying around the battlefield would eventually cause them fatal wounds. I instinctively avoided them, but the four of them were taking advantage of my hesitation, daring to put themselves in dangerous situations and trying to limit my actions by rattling me. 

"You’re especially hesitant when attacking Saikawa who’s not used to fighting, and you’re a softie who unintentionally saved me from a motorcycle accident. Your inability to kill your comrades is your strength and your only weakness." 

…I didn't hesitate at times like this in the past. I put the utmost emphasis on completing my work, and I also believed that I could achieve the greatest happiness of the greatest number by doing so. In fact, I was proud of the fact that I had protected the interests of many clients by doing so. 

That was why I used to think that such hesitation was 'naïve'. To someone else though, it was 'kindness', and to another, it was 'passion'. And unknowingly, I knew them all. That's why my heart was still beating loudly, because of that hesitation—at this moment, this heart right now. 

"…That’s a cowardly plan. Don't you think you're taking your lives for granted?" 

"Well, it’ll be rude not to risk our lives if Ma'am's life is on the line." 

Charl said firmly as an agent. I shot her in the shoulder once for the same reason before, so I couldn’t think of anything to say back. Then what I should do at this moment— 

"I won't let you escape!" 

Yui's?left eye?foresaw my next action. I was about to leap and leave this elevated train line, but I was momentarily distracted by a sudden, loud explosion. Then I felt a loud vibration under my feet. It sounded like the earth was rumbling, and in the blink of an eye, the scaffolding was collapsing. 

"…Explosives." 

I wondered if it was something Noches had planted beforehand. But there was no time or reason to check. The scaffolding that held up the railway until a moment ago suddenly turned into rubble, and my body was thrown into the air, mixed in with the gravel and scrap iron. 

"—!" 

I was in free fall for about ten meters. Usually, I could have landed without any problems if I had been prepared to jump from the beginning, but I was taken by surprise, and as a result of being swallowed by the avalanche of gravel, I hit my body hard on the asphalt while taking cover. 

Even so, their plan was based on a certain level of trust that I would survive this fall due to a certain seed…even if I did, they weren’t going to— 

"…Assistant!" 

"…Seriously…you’re really more concerned about other people than you are about yourself." 

I turned my musket in the direction of the voice and saw Assistant standing behind a cloud of dust, holding a gun with his left hand. I don't know how many times I've seen this scene. Behind the Assistant, the other three also stood up from the rubble. Noches was probably protecting Assistant, and Charl was protecting Yui. 

"…Haa……you look really, awful." 

Assistant's right arm was slumped and weak, and his head was bleeding. His black jacket, his pride and joy, was in tatters. 

"…Haa…you too." 

Doesn't he know that he's not supposed to say that to girls? Goodness me. 

"…!……Haaa!." 

But I couldn’t fake the ragged breathing and heart rate. 

Worst of all, I sprained my foot. I couldn’t escape either way. 

"…Why is this happening?" 

Finally, I made up my mind, and got on the plane again with Assistant to travel around the world, where we got caught up in an unexpected incident and encountered a new enemy. Assistant thought that the battle against the enemy named?Phantom Thief?was an extension of the crisis surrounding the?Primordial Seed?. That’s why, for a moment, I wondered if I could continue to be the detective, and that Kimihiko Kimizuka would continue to be Assistant, and that the two of us would continue to fight against the?world's enemies?, including the?Phantom Thief?in the future…I'd be lying if I said I didn't imagine such a future 

—But still, I couldn’t go any further than that. I couldn’t just remain in this half-hearted epilogue forever. I would fulfill my role as a player of Route X, as a?famous detective?. It was already a miracle that I, who should have died a year ago, could be involved in this route at all. 

That's why I was going to face the last enemy, Kimihiko Kimizuka…or rather, the protagonist. I didn’t intend to lose at all, not at all. If I lost, it would mean that I was saved by the protagonist. I couldn’t allow such a half-baked story. 

"You're righteous, I'm evil. That's fine, that's what I want." 

I kicked the ground with only the strength of one foot. This battle would soon come to an end. I sprinted, gun in hand, toward the last opponent I needed to defeat. 

"Kimizuka-san, on your right!" 

Yui's voice said. Once he heard that command, Assistant threw himself out of the way to dodge my gunfire. 

"…! Are you sure you want to do that?" 

Assistant rolled to the ground and fired with his left hand, while I dodge with only the movement of my upper body. 

"Say, Siesta, what's your wish?" 

I heard gunfire again. Noches and Charl were somewhat far behind me. If I got even a graze, I lose. 

"My only wish is for all of you to live, that's all." 

That's why I point my musket at them. To unleash the bullet that will keep them alive. 

"That can't be all!" 

—Ugh, they’re persistent. My hand trembled slightly while Assistant stood in front of me once again, my heart jolted annoyingly, and my shallow breathing blurred my vision. 

"H-how could you possibly know that!?" 

"That day, you told me…!" 

Assistant shouted with an anguished look. A year ago, I said this to Assistant who fell asleep due to the?pollen?after the battle against Hel. It was probably something I let slip just before he lost consciousness, a faint thought I really didn’t want Assistant to hear. 

"I don't remember any of that?” 

I replied and fired to rid myself of the hesitation. I wasn’t really aiming, and I missed the Assistant by a wide margin. I was ready though. I ducked and dodged the bullets from Charl and the others, and challenged the Assistant to a final shootout. 

"You don't even remember what you said, do you?" 

On a battlefield where there was no time to chat, Assistant continued to talk while firing. 

"If you won't tell me, I will." 

……. 

"You don't want to die, do you?" 

No, it's too late for that. 

"We'll take care of it." 

You can't. 

"I'll find a way to keep you alive!" 

I told you it's impossible. 

"The clients you've always wanted to make happy are all the people in this world. It's wrong that…the world doesn’t have you in it!" 

No. I was happy. 

I should have been happy enough. 

I was. 

"Siesta, I want you to live." 

And when you say that, I just— 

"Ah!" 

Assistant fired a bullet aimed at my left arm to keep me alive. But at that moment, I instinctively moved my left arm, swinging the musket to parry the bullet away…still, my contradictory instincts asked my brain the same question. 

What do I really want? 

"—I." 

I asked myself again. I died once, I didn’t need to look good, I didn’t need to be proud. I discarded my shame and pretense, and I didn’t intend to be manipulative or deceptive. 

Let’s ignore for a moment the position and occupation I'm in, and assume that my past career and what I've said never happened. There’s no point in thinking about the future, and I will pretend to ignore my responsibility to this world for now. 

Let's just say that I, a single individual, am here at this moment. What do I want now, what do I want to achieve? It doesn't matter now whether it is possible or impossible. I'm not talking about the unreasonable or reckless stuff. If there's one thing I wish for— 

The answer’s simple. 

"I want to drink tea with you again." 

Which would mean the same thing as "I want to live." 

"Yes, you do. We hear you." 

The Assistant's muzzle was pointed at my face. 

I see, you've learned to smile like that. 

"You sound like a detective." 

I quipped back at him. 

At this rate, the bullet from that muzzle would just barely graze my cheek. 

Then my wish would come true. 

I’d be saved by my beloved partner—the protagonist. 

Surely that's the kind of happy ending everyone wanted. 

So I said, in the face of the bullet that would end it all. 

"But I, the detective, must not let myself be defeated by Assistant (you)." 

Until the end, I won't let him see my back. 

As the detective, I must not let Assistant see me be defeated. 

I dodge the oncoming bullets and point this musket at him, the one that has served me all my life as a famous detective. 

"Yes, you're right. I'm still no match for you, detective." 

So, he said. 

Assistant's mouth moved. 

"Siesta's request will be taken care of by her instead." 

The next moment, I felt a presence behind me and turned my musket back. 

"…Why are you here?" 

Then, unconsciously, my eyes widened. 

"—I command you as Queen of the underworld. You are forbidden from coming to our world." 

I saw a girl in a military uniform, with a black short cut. 

"Why are you…Hel?" 

But at the next moment. 

The girl in military uniform hugged me and said, 

"Sorry for lying to you. I'm Nagisa."