Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 7 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3

  At this train’s final destination…

When I woke up at the hotel the next morning, I was the only one in the room.

“…Did they go out?”

Nagisa and Siesta had occupied those two empty beds when I went to sleep.

Last night, after talking things over with Stephen, I’d given the origin text to the messenger from Another Eden. When I’d gotten back to the hotel, Siesta and Nagisa were already in bed. However, Nagisa had heard me come in; she’d sat up and asked how my talk with Bruno had gone.

I told her I hadn’t been able to convince him to stay away from the ceremony. I thought maybe I should tell her about meeting Stephen, too…but I wasn’t sure I wanted to. In the end, I couldn’t bring it up. Nagisa had seemed like she still had something she wanted to say, but I’d climbed into my own bed and shut my eyes.

“So this isn’t going to be one of those ‘They weren’t actually all that mad’ things?”

…Probably not. Siesta and I still hadn’t made up over our argument at the bar yesterday. Nagisa had wanted to tell me something, but I hadn’t let her do it. Maybe I was lucky they’d gone out; the morning could have been pretty awkward otherwise.

“Nah, I’ll hurry and go meet up with them.”

Then I’d tell them everything was all right now. That there was no need to worry about today.

Deciding to get changed and go look for them, I got out of bed, but then—

“The two detectives have only gone to have themselves formally dressed.”

When I turned around, Noel de Lupwise was standing there. Instead of her earlier Gothic Lolita costume, she was dressed in an aristocratic gown, which was normal by comparison.

“That’s not your Federation Government uniform.”

“No. I’ve been tasked with running the ceremony and guiding people today.”

Ah. So that was why she’d come to get me. “That aside, Noel, this is breaking and entering.”

“I’m sorry. I’d intended to come a little earlier and wake you, but…”

That was not at all what she needed to apologize for.

“I’d meant to give a perfect performance as an admirable little sister who gently wakes her brother, but…”

Actually, I may be sorry I missed that.

“Heh-heh. That was a little sister joke.” Noel smiled faintly.

So, she’d said Siesta and Nagisa had gone to get dressed up?

“Since there is a ball before the Ritual of Sacred Return, the female guests must begin their preparations a little early.”

…Oh, was that why? Then they hadn’t stormed out because they were furious with me?

“By the way, when I came to fetch those two, Miss Siesta looked more out of sorts than I’ve ever seen her. Did something happen yesterday?”

“So they’re mad after all.”

Damn. I was starting to want to see them less.

As my mood deflated, I sluggishly began getting ready to go out.

“The day has finally come.” Apparently, Noel was planning to wait in the room with me, although she did have her back turned toward me. “Did you sleep well last night?”

“After that cruise, I drank a bit, so I slept like a rock.”

“That’s good. You met Grandfather again, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I had the honor of drinking one-on-one with someone with the world’s wisdom.”

“You tried to persuade him again, then. Thank you very much.”

Noel seemed to have a vague notion of what we’d talked about.

Talking hadn’t changed anything, though: Bruno was still planning to attend the ceremony. That couldn’t be what Noel wanted. She gazed out at the distant scenery from our room on the thirty-fifth floor. Reflected in the window, her eyes wavered uneasily.

“Mr. Kimihiko, if you knew there was a bomb on a train you were riding, would you stay on that train?”

What an abstract question. I didn’t really get what she was trying to say, so I asked a few questions of my own.

“There’s no telling when that bomb is going to explode?”

“No.”

“Are we on that train of our own free will?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a reason we absolutely have to reach our destination?”

“Yes.”

In that case…

“I’ve been riding trains like that for years now.”

Noel turned, waiting for me to go on.

“The fuse on that bomb was still lit, too. I thought it had gone out—or that I’d put it out—several times. And yet the next thing I knew, the flame was always right up close. There’s no avoiding that, though. That proves how big my wish was.”

I’d experienced trials, been tormented by its price, and even regretted making the wish at all—but that all meant the will behind it was strong.

“Is it all right for us to have our own selfish wishes?”

“Wishes can become more solid goals, and if you have one of those, you can take action. Without them, you can’t pull yourself out of your routine.”

It had been a long time ago now, but until I’d encountered Nagisa’s boiling passion, I’d spent the year after Siesta died soaking in tepid routine.

“Then, wishing for something at the cost of something else isn’t a bad thing?”

“It might not even have a shot of coming true until you’re bad enough that you’d sacrifice anything for it.”

A former enemy had told me as much before he died. He’d said if I didn’t care what my wish cost, then I should keep moving forward. So even if the world called that evil, we’d—

“Thank you.” Letting a faint smile suffuse her usual doll-like expression, Noel bowed her head to me. “Now, shall we go? I’ll escort you to the venue.”

“Yeah, please do.”

Once I was dressed, I grabbed my bag, which had something precious in it.

The ceremony, in which many different intentions were at work, was about to begin.