Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 5 - Chapter 8

That's how we did it. 

I looked up from the scramble intersection and found an eight-story fashion building. A large tree extended through the building in a straight line, and its thick branches broke through the walls and windows. 

"Saikawa…" 

Atop of the tree that had basically become an integral part of the building was a prominent looking?fruit?with ripe skin. Civilians, including Saikawa, were supposedly trapped instead. 

"Guess it’ll be difficult to climb the building from the outside, won’t it?" 

"Looks like we’ll have to do it from the inside, huh?" 

The building was pierced by the trunk of a large tree that had suddenly grown out of the ground. I didn’t know what's going on inside. And even if we went inside and reached the?fruit?, we might not be able to save everyone at once. If we could separate Saikawa first though, we probably could stop the supply of nutrients through the fruit and save the other civilians. 

So I thought about this, looking up at the building again, and saw a helicopter flying in the night sky. Are they checking the damage to the city from above? 

"…Hmm?" 

And right at that moment, a long, thin?feeler?grew from somewhere, reached into the sky, and eventually grabbed the tail of the helicopter. There’s only one possible outcome thereafter. 

"Assistant!" 

Siesta's sharp voice rang before I could move my body, and I tumbled on the ground, seemingly protected by her. A deafening explosion happened thereafter. 

"…! Siesta!" 

We’re a long way from the crash site, but the hot air struck us. Due to the black smoke, I was unable to open my eyes, and I called out to the detective… but there was no reply. The next thing I knew, she's gone too. I looked up, thinking it was impossible, and a moment later, a gunshot rang out. The bullet ripped through the wind and cut through the black smoke. 

"It's still a hundred years too early for you to worry about me.” 

Siesta, implying that I would never be able to catch up with her, held the musket before me while I was on my knees. And in the distance, beyond the flames of the explosion, was the silhouette of the enemy I had seen days ago. 

"—It's been a while, but you haven't changed." 

The black smoke cleared, and the?Primordial Seed?said to Siesta. SEED shouldn’t be able to distinguish between humans, but it seemed to think of Siesta, a former vessel candidate, as a special existence. 

"You look different every time I see you." 

Siesta replied to SEED with a blank look. Six years ago, Siesta first encountered SEED, and most probably had seen her enemy transform. 

At this point though, SEED looked almost exactly the same as it did when I met it a week ago. Its long hair was a contrasting mixture of white and dull, and armor covered up to its neck. Its expression was lifeless and neutral, and its eyes appeared devoid of emotions…as if it had abandoned them completely. 

"I think there used to be a bit more of a human side to you." 

However, Siesta unexpectedly said this, as if to say that even though SEED was a seed that came from outer space, it used to be more human to some extent. 

"What are you talking about?" 

But SEED, of course, tilted its head at an unnatural angle, as if it couldn't understand human language. 

It was not playing dumb, being selectively oblivious about them like Hel did. The fact that Nagisa Natsunagi couldn't defeat it even after such passion was proof that emotions didn’t exist in the?Primordial Seed?. 

"That's enough discussion. I've already given the order." 

Four?feelers?grew from SEED's back, and thick thorns sprouted from the ripped ground. The?seeds?that were already cast across the world were starting to bloom. 

"The vessel will be completed soon. For now, let's first eliminate the foreign enemies that hinder this survival instinct." 

And with that, the tips of the plants SEED controlled, including the?feelers?, all turn towards us at once. It’s right in the sense that there’s no room for discussion. What awaited us was truly the last battle. 

Even though it got damaged in the battle days ago, could we actually beat it in a straight fight? Now that night has fallen and the sun had set, we can no longer expect the sunlight that was SEED's weakness. 

"What do we do, Siesta?" 

I ask my partner, the most reliable person in the world, as we stood side by side. 

"Don't worry, I've got an idea." 

Ah, there it is. Such a relief. That's how I was protected under her big umbrella for three years. Yep, so while I got carried up like this… 

"…Hmm?" 

Siesta picked me up on her shoulder and moved forward, darting through the?feelers?. 

Then, leaping through the air, she threw me behind SEED. 

"That's unreasonable …!" 

I rolled straight into the entrance of the building directly in front of us. 

But that building was the very one we were heading towards. 

"Take care of Yui for me." 

"…Your words and actions always never match up."