Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 8 - Chapter 1.8

 A pale sequel

The next day, bright and early in the morning, two guests showed up at the apartment where I lived alone.

I only had a handful of friends and acquaintances, and having two of them stop by at once was rare. I felt like we should take advantage of this opportunity to get a pizza or pie and have a party, but…

“I understand the situation, but I’m not happy with it.”

Nagisa Natsunagi was lying on the tatami flooring, hugging a cushion moodily. The cushion was shaped like an odd creature; someone had bought it somewhere on their travels abroad. Random stuff like that was all over the place.

“And if you can’t completely accept reality, that means you’re a child.”

Meanwhile, the other visitor wasn’t moody, per se, but was clearly making the mood in the room worse. Reloaded, who was dressed in her usual Magical Girl outfit, was drinking coffee out of one of my mugs and acting like she owned the place.

“I’m a child? How old are you, huh? I bet we’re about the same age.”

“Oh, caring about actual ages is childish, too.”

“Ngh! You picked a fight with me the first time we met, and I worked really hard to respond maturely!”

Dropping a spoiler about herself, Natsunagi hurled the cushion she’d been holding…at my face, not Rill’s. Unfair.

“And you, Kimizuka. Why would you just go to her?” Natsunagi glared at me reproachfully.

Apparently, she had a problem with the fact that I was helping the Magical Girl when I was supposed to be the detective’s assistant. Part of it was probably due to the way we’d parted the previous day. The three of us had assembled here today on Natsunagi’s request.

“Kimizuka’s my… And yet—”

“Kimihiko is your what?” Rill asked, sounding bored.

“K-Kimihiko is my…”

“Natsunagi, you just switched to using the name she uses for me,” I pointed out.

For some reason, Natsunagi huffed. “Then you don’t care if I cheat, Kimizuka?!”

Why was she acting a little like a girlfriend?

“Don’t worry—she’s not forcing me to do this or anything.”

“That’s actually the part that feels weird.” Natsunagi sighed. “But you’ve made up your mind, so I can’t complain about it.”

At least she was going to respect my decision.

“What’s this discussion for, then? Rill would prefer not to waste time.”

“There was one thing I wanted to say to you, no matter what.” Natsunagi turned to face Rill, her expression serious. “If anything happens to Kimizuka, there’ll be hell to pay. And I won’t be the only one angry; I’m speaking for one other person as well.”

Natsunagi didn’t specify who that other person was, but what she was saying came through loud and clear. Although, I dunno whether that Ace Detective would have said it straight-out like that, I thought with a little smile.

Rill seemed mildly annoyed by this, but she accepted Natsunagi’s statement. “All right. Well, he did do decent work for Rill yesterday. As his master, it’s Rill’s duty to keep him out of danger as much as possible. That will do, won’t it?”

This was a significant improvement over the first time we met, when she told me I’d be expected to keep myself safe.

But Natsunagi wasn’t satisfied. “No, not ‘as much as possible.’ No matter what.”

“Nobody likes needy girls.” Rill got up, came over, and sat down next to me. And then… “Rill thinks guys prefer more practical relationships.” She took my arm and leaned her head against my shoulder. I felt her softness and her warmth, and her beautiful eyes threatened to pull me right in. Her pink lips seemed to be breathing hot sighs and sweet nothings that were oh so convenient for guys.

“…Huh? What happened last night? She was already here when I showed up today; don’t tell me she stayed over…”

Natsunagi seemed to have gotten the wrong idea about something; she’d started to tremble. Explaining seemed like the decent thing to do, but just as I started, the phone I’d set on the low table beeped.

“A video call?” What was that about? When I saw the caller’s name on the display, though, I had a sneaking suspicion. Specifically, a not-so-great one. Setting my smartphone on its stand, I took the call.

“Hello, Kimihiko?”

A girl in a shrine-maiden outfit appeared on the screen. Mia Whitlock.

In the background, I could make out the clock-tower room I’d seen a few times before. It was the middle of the night in London right now, but she’d still called me. Did that mean this was an emergency? One look at her stiff expression was enough to clue me in.

“Mia, what’s up? What happened?” I asked, squeezing my hands into fists. However…

“…Kimihiko, why are you with the Magical Girl?”

Come to think of it, Rill was still clinging to me.

“Oh, him? He’s Rill’s familiar.” Explaining carelessly, Rill patted my head as if I were an actual pet. “Rill won’t let you complain about it. He’s going to help her complete the job you foisted onto her more efficiently.”

“I am the one who predicted Pandemonium, but the Federation Government is the one that assigned the job, so…”

“Huh? You’re mumbling; Rill can’t hear you.”

“Hey, Olivia, how do I end this call?”

On the screen, Mia turned to Olivia in tears. This was giving me déjà vu from the Federal Council a few months back.

“It’s been a long time, Mia.” Pushing her way between Rill and me, Natsunagi peeked in at the phone’s screen.

“What? Hey, Kimihiko, exactly how many girls do you have at your place?”

“Three counting you, Mia.”

As we were talking, Rill got up and went to refill her coffee. Apparently, she was going to stay awhile longer. In fact, was she planning to take me on a patrol after this? She’d shown up in costume.

“No, this isn’t the time to talk about that,” I said, mostly to remind myself, and I asked Mia why she’d called again. What had happened?

“The Ace Detective’s next mission has been decided.”

Knew it. I’d vaguely suspected as much. I’d thought Ice Doll or some other high-level bureaucrat would issue the order, but apparently, the Oracle had been charged with relaying it this time. Natsunagi and I exchanged looks. “Who’s my next enemy?” she asked.

Mia drew a deep breath, then said:

“Vampires.”

The first thing that word brought to mind for me wasn’t imaginary monsters, but the white demon I’d actually met several times: Scarlet, one of the twelve Tuners.

“Specifically, the Ace Detective’s next mission is to prevent a vampire rebellion.”

Mia was holding an open volume of the sacred text, and I caught a brief glimpse of the words Vampire Rebellion on the cover. I had the feeling I’d seen them somewhere before.

“This crisis was predicted by the previous Oracle about thirteen years ago, actually.”

“Thirteen years ago… Then why are they sending it to me now?” Natsunagi asked.

“Because Oracles don’t necessarily see crises right before they occur,” Mia told her. Apparently, there was a lag between seeing the future and the arrival of the actual crisis. “The Oracles’ prophecies must be relayed to the government, but after that, government officials keep an eye on the global situation, then decide which crisis should be assigned to which Tuner and when.”

…Ah. So thirteen years later, the time had finally come, huh? Still… “Is the vampire in the prophecy Scarlet?”

“I really don’t know. There’s a whole race of vampires, so there are several possible interpretations.”

The sacred text really wasn’t an omnipotent tool, then; it didn’t foretell everything about the future in detail.

“Hmm,” said Natsunagi. “If I met with Scarlet, he might tell me something, but…”

“You never know where that guy’s going to turn up,” I finished for her. “Could we meet him if we wanted to?”

The last time I’d seen him was when Siesta and I had gone to the Federal Council. Not at the council itself, though—we’d run into him on a deserted street, late at night. Siesta apparently had some kind of deep connection to him, and I’d only managed to meet him because I was with her.

“We might have a shot at running into him if we knew where he was working,” I said.

“What is the Vampire’s mission?” Natsunagi asked.

We were both stumped. He’d never mentioned it.

“Killing his own kind,” Mia said casually. “The Vampire Scarlet has been given the mission of hunting the vampires running rampant.”

“…Why would he take that job?”

“I don’t know. Tuners are given various privileges, of course; I would imagine he weighed his options.”

Would Ice Doll or one of her colleagues share the reason if we asked? No, if they were willing to answer, they would have informed us to begin with. Were they trying to tell us to do our own research if we wanted to know, that it was part of a detective’s job? Or was there some reason they couldn’t say?

“For now, it sounds like we should look for Scarlet. Not that we’ve got any clues,” I said.

Now that Siesta was asleep, what bait could we use to attract Scarlet? I could think of all sorts of things vampires didn’t like—garlic and holy water and crucifixes—but in terms of things they did like…

“What? You want to know about vampires?” Rill broke in. Sipping her fresh coffee, she rejoined the conversation without sitting down.

“Do you know something?” Natsunagi asked.

“Mm, well, Rill’s had the opportunity to learn things indirectly,” she said rather evasively, then immediately seemed to have a brain wave. “If you’ll loan her your partner a little longer, she wouldn’t mind telling you.” Her expression was vaguely triumphant.

Natsunagi grimaced. “…All right. That’s Kimizuka’s decision anyway.”

“Sorry. I promise I’ll bring back information.” That was one of the jobs an assistant could do. I gave Rill a wordless nod, and the corners of her lips rose slightly.

“Actually, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? Rill will prepare something; let’s eat.” Rill started back toward the kitchen, making herself completely at home.

“Why exactly are you cooking here like that’s normal?! I’ll do it!”

“Oh? Well, why are you acting like his legal wife?”

Squabbling, the two of them headed for the kitchen. Geez, did I ever have noisy partners.

“Sorry about that. It’s the middle of the night for you, isn’t it?” I apologized to Mia, who was watching the situation unfold with an awkward smile. However…

“Hm? The day’s just getting started.”

…I caught a glimpse of a game controller on the screen. Mia said her hobby was online gaming; was she planning to do that all night?

“The person I most want to play with isn’t here, though.”

“…I see. I hope she wakes up soon.”

Mia had averted her eyes in a lonely way, and she blinked in surprise. “Me too,” she said with a smile. She reached in to end the call, but I hurried to get in one last question.

“So the detective’s next mission isn’t subjugating the Phantom Thief?”

The Phantom Thief, Arsene, was one of the twelve Tuners.

Siesta and I had run into him once before. He was a traitor; I’d heard he’d been jailed for stealing part of the sacred text. And yet…

“Arsene still hasn’t been designated an enemy of the world?”

He’d meddled with the sacred text, which was considered absolutely sacrosanct. They’d captured him, but he’d broken out of jail, and now he was manipulating completely unrelated civilians into committing a rash of crimes. Several months ago, Siesta had declared that Nagisa Natsunagi would solve that incident someday.

“I’ve seen no futures like that, and the government isn’t currently attempting to declare the Phantom Thief an enemy of the world.”

“…I see. Then there’s no way to make a move now, huh?”

I’d heard Arsene had been thrown in jail long-term for the crime of stealing the sacred text, but why hadn’t his punishment been harsher? Siesta had said she didn’t know, either, but there must have been a reason.

“You’ve changed since we first met. I can see it,” Mia said out of nowhere. To me, apparently. “You’ve taken on more responsibilities since then.”

I’d made a promise to Siesta about Arsene, too. But she was asleep now, so of course, I’d pick up the slack.

“So I’m cooler now? Hearing it so directly is kind of embarrassing.”

“Um, no, I didn’t go that far.” Mia waved a hand in front of her chest in a straight-faced gesture of denial, then broke into a wry smile. “Don’t push yourself, though. If anything happened to you, I’m sure more people would be sad than you think.”

Was Mia one of them? Deciding not to ask, I nodded, and we ended our call.

In the kitchen, I heard the girls arguing noisily.

“Oh—I forgot. Kimizuka likes his eggs over easy. He just mentioned it the other day, too…”

“Aww, and here Rill asked, but you insisted that scrambled eggs were fancier.”

“Sh-shut up. I’ll make them again, so you get out of the kitchen!”

“Nobody likes needy ex-girlfriends.”

I’d gladly eat both kinds, so couldn’t we all just calm down?

“…It’s peaceful, though.”

Before long, my nose picked up the aroma of toast and frying eggs.

My days were like this now, a meeting place of the ordinary and the extraordinary.

And I was living in the belief that, someday, we’d reach a future in which all our wishes came true.