Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 7 - Chapter 1.9

 What I can do to end this story

The next day, Noel de Lupwise visited the Shirogane Detective Agency as a client.

We’d contacted her to tell her there’d been a development in the government official killings case the previous evening, and unexpectedly, she’d come to see us in person.

“Tell me at once, please: What new information have you found regarding the unknown crisis?”

Siesta and Nagisa sat side by side on the sofa, while Noel sat across from them, gazing at them seriously.

…Where was I? Making tea for the three of them. That’s an assistant’s job, you know.

“Before we get started on the main topic, Noel, may I ask you a question?” I set a cup of black tea in front of her. “I’m really curious about your outfit. Are those your casual clothes?”

“My outfit? Yes, I changed before I came. I didn’t want to seem discourteous.”

Noel was wearing an extremely ruffly, highly embellished black dress. Was it one of those Gothic Lolita things? With her European features, it was a good look for her; she really did look like a doll. But what had brought this on?

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do. You have a similar proverb in Japan, don’t you? I’ve studied Japanese fashion in addition to traditional Japanese dress.”

“Where did you study to end up with those results? Did you visit a subculture hotspot or something?”

“At the café I visited yesterday, all the waitresses were dressed like this.”

“That’s just a themed café. You picked a hyper-unique place to visit.”

Geez, so she could have showed up as a maid or a ninja? Her commitment was laudable, but I was concerned that someday, she might be tricked when the stakes were higher.

“Noel, are you wearing a different perfume this time?” Siesta asked abruptly.

“I’m not wearing perfume. That’s odd…” Noel sniffed at her own arm, trying to pick up her scent. She looks like a small animal, I thought, gazing at her. I pulled a chair over and sat down.

All right, that was enough small talk. On to the main topic. When I cleared my throat, Noel got the hint and asked her question again. “Could you tell me about the development in the case?”

Siesta, Nagisa, and I exchanged looks. After that incident at the prison yesterday, the three of us had talked it over and come up with a certain theory.

“Right up front, I should clarify that the development wasn’t in regard to the case itself. It’s more fundamental than that,” I said, speaking for the detectives.

Noel cocked her head as if she didn’t understand.

That was weird, though. She had to know.

“When the Federation Government gave Siesta and Nagisa authority as Ace Detectives, it wasn’t actually so they could investigate the government official killings, was it?”

Several things had made us suspect as much. The first had been those copied documents they’d sent us, which were supposed to provide details on the killings. No matter how hard we tried, there was no way to investigate using information that had been censored that heavily. They’d said the situation was urgent, but they really didn’t seem serious about their request.

Second, the setup was just too neat. Yesterday, right as we were at the prison visiting Ms. Fuubi, an enemy who reminded us of a certain pseudohuman had attacked. In another bit of exquisite timing, Nagisa had picked up the musket from a nearby Man in Black, and Siesta had used it to take down the attacker, completing a job that was a whole lot like what the Ace Detective used to do.

It was all too perfect. We didn’t think the Federation Government had actually sent the guy with the snake-sword, but they might have known more or less what was going to happen around then, and also deduced that, if they gave us Tuner notebooks, the first thing we’d do was use that authority to get an interview with Fuubi Kase. The government had intentionally put us on a collision course with that man.

“Why would we do that?” Noel asked, once I’d explained.

“To make us Ace Detectives in both word and deed again, correct?” Siesta said. “Thanks to that, I’m completely in the mood for it now.” She gave a small sigh.

This was how it had worked: Two days ago, they’d told us multiple government officials had been killed, and called this an unknown crisis. Then they’d given us information that suggested the incident was related to a global crisis the Ace Detective had taken care of. That meant Siesta and Nagisa had practically been forced to agree to investigate, since it was portrayed as cleanup for an old crisis.

At that point, Siesta and Nagisa had only been carrying out the Ace Detective’s work as temporary proxies, but then yesterday’s incident had happened. By making them encounter and resolve an incident similar to one they’d lived through previously, the Federation Government had attempted to reawaken Siesta and Nagisa’s instincts as Ace Detectives and bring back those old feelings.

That meant the government official killings had only been bait to get the two of them interested in the role again. We didn’t know whether the crisis was entirely manufactured, but Siesta thought the elements Noel had told us about that sounded deliberate—such as the “tentacle fragments”—had probably been falsified.

“…In that case, why would the Federation Government wish to return the two of you to the post of Ace Detective? Are you saying we had a reason to go to such lengths?”

“We called you here today to ask about that,” Nagisa responded. “What is the job you really want us to do? Something’s coming that will require an Ace Detective, isn’t there?”

Silence fell. Siesta lifted her cup of tea to her lips, and the quiet clink when she returned it to its saucer was the only sound in the room. The ball was in Noel’s court now, and all we could do was wait.

“Corretto. That’s right.”

But when the answer finally came, it wasn’t from Noel.

A man had opened the agency door and come in. Raising his hat slightly, he gave us a smile that was framed by prominent white whiskers.

“Oh, I knew it,” Siesta murmured next to me, as if it all made sense now. “I had a feeling you were behind this, Bruno.”

“It’s been a long time, you three.” Our visitor looked at each of us in turn, apparently pleased to see us.

This was Bruno Belmondo, the former Information Broker. It was the first time we’d seen each other since the Great Cataclysm last year.

“Bruno? Why are you…?” Unlike Siesta, Nagisa looked puzzled.

Still smiling, the old man walked over with the aid of a cane and took a seat across from us, next to Noel. He gently laid a hand on her head. “You’ve been a great help to my granddaughter.”

Noel’s expression softened slightly.

“She’s your granddaughter? But your last names…”

Noel’s last name was Lupwise. Bruno’s was Belmondo.

“Yes. As a matter of fact, I was adopted by the Belmondo family for a time,” Noel explained. As she went on, she occasionally exchanged glances with Bruno. “Due to a certain situation, that’s no longer true, but Grandfather raised me for quite a while. I only returned to my current family a year ago.”

In other words, Noel had been a Belmondo longer than she had been a Lupwise? This was apparently news to Siesta as well; she nodded slightly, watching the two of them. Still, why were we being introduced at a time like this?

“Perhaps it’s my age. I’ve wanted to boast to you about my treasure for a while now.”

“Grandfather, are you drunk? That’s embarrassing; please don’t.” Although Noel had always been calm and collected with us, her lips were moving slightly now in an awkward, restless way.

Bruno grinned at his granddaughter. Then his eyes went to Siesta. “However, you seem to have realized that I was behind Noel.”

“I just had a feeling,” Siesta told him. “Noel smelled a bit like you today. Cologne, brandy, and the smell of a wind that’s spent a hundred years traveling.”

Bruno’s eyebrows twitched as if she’d surprised him. Then he laughed, stroking his chin. “Indeed, she wouldn’t have noticed that.”

That was just like the Ace Detective: She had a nose sharper than a wild Cerberus’s.

“Well, Bruno? If you’re here, does that mean you’re planning to tell us what’s really going on?” I got the conversation back on topic. Why did the Federation Government want to make Siesta and Nagisa Ace Detectives again so badly that they’d sent us on this chase? If Bruno was the one behind Noel, explaining this had to be his job.

“First, about your premise.” Bruno’s expression turned serious. “The theory you set out a moment ago is basically correct. The things that happened around you for the past few days were necessary in order to make the two detectives Tuners again. The unknown crisis wasn’t a complete fabrication, though. It will actually occur, later on.”

“Do we know when?” Nagisa asked. Since he was the former Information Broker, she seemed to think he probably would.

“On the day of the Ritual of Sacred Return.”

…Oh, was that it? An occasion that would attract the Federation Government, the former Tuners, and important people from around the world. If an unknown entity really did have a grudge against the world, striking on that day would be logical.

“Is this ‘unknown crisis’ a new enemy? What are they?”

“It refers to a messenger from a certain sanctuary.” Bruno narrowed his eyes, lowering his voice slightly. “That sanctuary is said to be an unknown nation or continent, or perhaps an unobserved satellite. It’s the one place where the Federation Government can’t interfere. However, it occasionally accesses the Federation Government unilaterally, using a transmission method modern science can’t explain.”

Was he saying there was still an undiscovered nation somewhere on the planet? Granted, since I knew of life-forms such as Seed, who had lived on an unobserved satellite, I couldn’t deny the possibility.

“We call this undetectable territory ‘Another Eden.’”

Bruno coughed lightly a few times. “Grandfather,” Noel said, gently rubbing his back.

“…I’ve heard a little about that. I was told the sanctuary’s messengers have tried to attack the world several times before.” Siesta thought hard, one finger on her chin. “Then you mean the next attack will occur on the day of the Ritual of Sacred Return? And that’s what you’re calling the ‘unknown crisis’?”

“That’s right, Miss Siesta.” Bruno was still coughing, so Noel responded for him. “Just the other day, Another Eden made contact with us. During the transmission, they announced that they would attack on that day. They also said they would hear our answer at the Ritual.”

“Your answer? Are they negotiating with the Federation Government over something?”

“Yes, Mr. Kimihiko. To put it simply, they wish to make a certain treaty with us. However…” Noel faltered. Apparently, the negotiations weren’t going well.

As a result, the messengers of Another Eden had resorted to force, over and over. This time was no exception.

“By the way, what is this treaty?” Nagisa asked. I’d been wondering about that myself. The Federation Government was secretive, and I suspected it wouldn’t be that easy to find out; however, Noel told us readily.

In short, it was a peace treaty between the Federation Government and Another Eden. However, as a condition of the treaty, the sanctuary’s messengers had demanded the transfer of a certain thing in the possession of the Federation Government which had been declared a global classified matter. The government had said they didn’t know what Another Eden was talking about and rejected the request, and as such, the treaty was still in limbo.

“Therefore, right now, all we can do is prepare.” Once he’d recovered from his coughing fit, Bruno spoke emphatically. “In roughly two weeks, the unknown crisis will occur at the Ritual of Sacred Return. In the time that remains, we would like you to learn as much as you can of the world, and to steel yourselves. Be ready to throw yourselves into the horrors of war once more.”

“And that’s why you want Siesta and Nagisa to be Ace Detectives again?”

“Exactly. I am old, and what I can do is limited. I want to acquire as many comrades as I can.”

I knew it. This was what the events of the past few days had meant. What did Siesta and Nagisa think of all this?

“Let’s do it.” Siesta answered before anyone else. I’d known she would agree, after I’d seen her with her musket yesterday.

“Yes. After all, we’re detectives.” Having known Nagisa since she was still a proxy detective, I knew full well how much pride she took in the job.

I shot another glance at the two detectives. Their eyes were fixed on tomorrow. That meant there was only one answer I could give.

“I’m your assistant. Take me wherever you want to go.”

If the year after the cataclysm was a peaceful epilogue…

Then let’s go find the future—the credits that will let us keep those ordinary days.

A certain day at a certain detective agency

Nine in the morning.

That was around the time days at the Shirogane Detective Agency began, at least when we didn’t have class.

The agency was on the second floor of a mixed-use building. When I unlocked the door and turned the knob, I was greeted by the familiar sight of the office.

I opened the curtains, then booted up my computer. After taking a quick look to make sure none of the new emails were urgent, I started to do some basic cleaning.

That said, since both the chief and the detective were neat people, the office stayed pretty clean anyway. I ran a broom over the floor, and I was starting to organize documents when the door opened.

“Good morning. You’re early, Kimihiko.” Nagisa Natsunagi came in, yawning a little. She hung her overcoat on the coat rack, then sat down at her desk and stretched.

“Didn’t get enough sleep? I bet you spent all night watching foreign dramas again.”

“No, my lab had a drinking party that went late yesterday. The professor stayed, too, so it was hard to duck out early.”

“We’re in the same lab, right? How come nobody invited me?”

Did the grad students and the professor just not know I existed or something? Would I actually manage to graduate? A little uneasy, I sat down at my desk as well. “I guess I’ll get to work.”

Nine thirty AM.

Now that two employees were present, we gradually got down to business…or that’s what should have happened.

“Have we gotten any new cases?”

“Just marketing emails from a printer rental place.”

“So it’s the same as usual. I wonder if we’ll get paid this month…” Nagisa slumped apathetically.

We hadn’t gotten any proper cases since that infidelity investigation, aka “the stalker incident.” That was partly inevitable, though.

The Shirogane Detective Agency didn’t have a website. The only way we advertised was by posting a flyer on the bulletin board at the train station, and most people probably didn’t even know we existed.

“Well, if that’s the chief’s policy, we can’t complain.”

According to Siesta, the service industry was all about assigning the right jobs to the right people. There were already plenty of places where regular people could ask for help and get it. She said our job was to be a place that would help the irregular types.

“I’ll think I’ll make a shopping run,” Nagisa announced. “I’m bored. Do we need anything?”

“Snacks to serve clients with tea, maybe? Although we’ll just end up eating them ourselves.”

“True,” Nagisa said with a laugh. Standing up, she grabbed her coat.

“Want me to go with? I can carry stuff.”

“Mm. If you’re there, something weird will happen to me, so no thanks.”

“Not fair.”

Nagisa left, and I was on my own again. The chief still hadn’t come by yet.

Ten AM.

I made myself some coffee, and when I got back to my desk, an email had come in.

It was from Noel de Lupwise, the Federation Government official. She hadn’t contacted us since her visit two days ago. The email had a link for a video chat, and I got my headset out and responded to the call.

“Good morning, Mr. Kimihiko.”

On the screen, Noel was primly dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono. She nodded to me. She seemed to be in her room; I could see European-style furnishings behind her. Had she gone back home? (She’d said she was from France, right?) If so… “It’s the middle of the night over there, isn’t it? You’re sure this is an okay time for you?”

“Yes, I still have heaps of work to get through.”

Apparently, the Federation Government was even harder on its staff than the detective agency was.

“Well, what did you need? If you want to talk to the chief, I’ll go wake her up.”

Siesta was probably upstairs sleeping peacefully right about now.

“No, that’s all right. Grandfather told me how much the detective sleeps. He said she sleeps a lot, eats a lot, and she’s still growing like a weed.”

“What is she, a kid?”

While we were talking, a new email came in. This one had airplane tickets to France attached to it. They were for the Ritual of Sacred Return, ten days from now. For the Federation Government, this was unusually generous.

“I would like you to read through this email. We’re also reserving a hotel for you. Do you have any requests regarding the type of room?”

“Nah, anything’s fine. We don’t care if you put all three of us in one room.”

Back when I was wandering around with Siesta, just having a place where I could stretch my legs out and sleep was plenty.

“You three really are close, aren’t you? Which of the two are you courting, Mr. Kimihiko?”

“If I were dating one of them, we wouldn’t be sleeping three to a room. What kind of ethics do you think I have?”

“It’s all right. I’ll put together a list of countries and regions that allow polygamy for you right away.”

“I know you’re a government official; you don’t have to show off,” I retorted.

Noel dropped her cool, blank expression in order to smile just a little. “You three really do seem like family, though. I envy that.”

“Like family, huh? As categories go, ‘colleagues’ is still more accurate.”

Besides, if we were talking about family, Noel also had… I was about to say it, but instead of finishing my sentence, I decided to go with something else. “What are your living arrangements like now?”

“I’ve reassumed the Lupwise family name, but I live alone… To be honest, my memories of that house aren’t very good ones.”

“…I see. You still see Bruno, though, right?”

“Yes, we dine together and talk about unimportant things once a month, every month.”

Considering their respective positions, they probably couldn’t talk about work most of the time. Bruno had been the Information Broker for much of his life, and he said he almost never shared his knowledge. Even members of the government or his family wouldn’t be exceptions to that rule.

“I don’t know whether Grandfather really enjoys those meals. We simply make small talk.”

“I doubt Bruno would meet you every month if he wasn’t enjoying it, don’t you think?”

“I…hope that’s the case,” Noel said evasively, averting her eyes.

“Still, yeah, you never do know what the other person’s feeling, do you?”

Noel tilted her head slightly. “You don’t either, Mr. Kimihiko?”

Nope. I didn’t know what Nagisa and Siesta were actually thinking now.

“You can only vaguely guess what somebody else is feeling from memory and the time you’ve spent with them. No matter how much you think about it, you ultimately have to let your ego make the call.”

For example, They must be thinking along these lines, so if I do this, it’ll probably make them happy. People are self-centered creatures, and that’s the only way we can live. That’s why we at least need to build relationships that can survive the clashes of our egos.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m sorry; that was an odd thing to say.” Noel looked just a little happy. “And thank you… If I’d had someone like you in my family, I think I could have held my head a bit higher.”

“Is that a dignitary joke, too?” I asked.

“That’s a good question,” Noel said, smiling slightly.

“I’m sure you’ve got a lot going on, but for now, we need to focus on the Ritual of Sacred Return and stay alert.”

We had ten days before the unknown crisis was supposed to occur. In the time we had left, we needed to figure out what we could do.

“For starters, could you send us the guest list for the Ritual? We’d like to get a handle on who’s going to be attending, just in case. If you can’t reveal information about people connected to the Federation Government, then just information on the people who aren’t would be fine.”

“Very well. I’ll send it right over. At the moment, we’re working to contact the other former Tuners. As Grandfather said, he wants to have as many comrades as possible.”

Right—the more allies we had, the better we’d feel. After arranging to contact each other again, we ended our chat.

“Huh. You worry about some surprisingly delicate things, Kimi.”

I’d thought I was alone in the room. But when I turned around, I saw Siesta standing there.

“How much of that did you hear?” I asked.

“I came in at the part where you were worrying about love.”

There hadn’t been any such scene. Probably.

“If you’re wondering, I hear there are many polygamous nations in West Africa.”

“Huh. Is that right? What I am wondering is, when and why did you check into that?”

“…I just know it as general knowledge.” With a rather pointed cough, Siesta crossed to her own desk. As she booted up her computer, she commented, “I don’t think you’re wrong, Kimi.”

I knew we were on a different subject now, but I had no idea what she was trying to say. I waited for her next words, and then—

“After all, there’s a detective right here who was set in motion by one boy’s ego.”

Siesta’s expression didn’t change at all, but she was definitely looking at me.

“I see,” I murmured. I took another sip of my coffee, which hadn’t quite gone cold yet.

“I’m hooome— Oh, Siesta’s up.” Just then, Nagisa came back, carrying a shopping bag.

“I’ve been up for ages. I was just late because I took a shower and did some reading and had my tea and watched a movie.”

“Ah, mm-hmm, sure. Never mind the excuses.” Parrying Siesta with well-practiced ease, Nagisa set the things she’d bought out on the desk. “I picked up some yummy-looking bread at the station. Want to split it three ways?”

Ten thirty AM.

It would be a while longer before we actually got down to business.