Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 8 - Chapter 2.5

 A revenge tale with no villain

Six years ago, three girls—Nagisa Natsunagi, Siesta, and Alicia—had lived in a SPES laboratory on an isolated island far out in the ocean.

I’d been told that the place had gradually been incorporating Seed’s DNA into the bodies of human children, calling the process “clinical trials.” It had all been an experiment, an attempt to create a new vessel for Seed. The children who lived there were constantly subjected to harsh, agonizing medical procedures.

However, one day, the three girls had become aware of the facility’s secret. They’d launched a rebellion against Seed—and failed.

Alicia had shielded Natsunagi and Siesta, taking the worst of it, and died when she couldn’t tolerate what Seed had done to her. The shock of seeing that had switched Natsunagi’s personality with Hel’s. Although the facility had stolen Siesta’s memories, she’d escaped and later picked me up as her assistant, then left on her journey to fight SPES. That was how the story of the three girls at the laboratory had ended.

“Natsunagi and the other girls at that lab… You’re the one who—”

I’d heard that SPES had quite a lot of human collaborators back then. This guy was Exhibit A.

Both Natsunagi and I were focused on him, but Drachma’s eyes were distant. “It’s only been six years or so? It feels much longer.”

“Where do you get off acting like it’s not your problem?” I snapped. His attitude pissed me off.

When I’d brought up heart transplants a minute ago, he had to have known the patient was Siesta, but he’d been so cool and distant about it. And he was partly to blame for the situation in the first place.

“How has your throat been?” Drachma asked Natsunagi out of nowhere.

Natsunagi’s shoulders flinched. “My throat?” she asked dubiously.

“Seed’s seeds have drastic effects on human organs. Sometimes, they enhance cell and organ function, but their influence can also cause severe damage.”

I could think of several examples of what he was talking about—Bat’s ear, Saikawa’s eye, Siesta’s heart. So what about Natsunagi?

Was that why Drachma had asked?

“It hasn’t been named yet, but recent research has discovered a mysterious organ hidden between the human nasal cavity and the pharynx. It’s likely that seed put down the majority of its roots in that organ, enhancing its function.”

“In my throat? There’s something besides my red eyes…?”

Natsunagi put a hand to her throat, mulling over what Drachma had said.

Although she’d mostly used it back when she was living as Hel, she had the ability to brainwash people and make them follow her orders. According to Drachma, that power was based in a mystery organ near her throat, rather than in her eyes. The power lay not in her gaze but in her voice—word-soul.

“Since Seed had copied the human body just as it was, he may have been able to bestow special powers on an organ humans hadn’t even discovered yet.” Drachma narrowed his eyes as if he was reminiscing about the past.

“Why were you helping Seed?” I asked him.

“Do you really want to know?” he responded. “Even if I related a history you could sympathize with, some convincing motive, would you two be satisfied?”

That was an annoyingly good point. As I tried to argue, Drachma held up a finger. “If nothing else, that girl doesn’t seem very interested.”

I realized Natsunagi was staring at a corner of the floor.

…Right. Her feelings came first. She’d been through something really painful; of course she wouldn’t want to remember it. There was nothing I could say.

What I really wanted to do was make this doctor apologize. Considering what had happened to Natsunagi, Siesta, and Alicia, repenting for his sins was the least he could do… But that was just how I felt. I hadn’t been directly involved, and I didn’t have the right to vent my anger just because I wanted to. I knew that.

“I’m sorry, though, Natsunagi. It’s now or never.”

I’d grow up soon. In two years, I’d be a legal adult. I’d be more sensible, I’d be calm in the face of anything, and I probably wouldn’t get emotional as often. …So forgive me, Natsunagi. This is my last chance to rip into this guy.

“Kimizuka…”

As Natsunagi watched, I closed in on Drachma. He was a gaunt man in a lab coat, just about my height. When I thought about how much he’d hurt Natsunagi, hurt Siesta, hurt Alicia…

But the words wouldn’t come. I couldn’t find anything powerful enough to bury this anger and sorrow and take back everything we’d lost.

“I do regret it.”

Drachma was the one who spoke first. Although his face was rather emotionless, he apologized to me—no, to those three girls in the past.

“I once stole time, memories, personalities, and lives from my test subjects in the service of my own mission and objectives. I took everything. Let me take the opportunity to apologize for that,” he said.

He put up no resistance. He didn’t sneer at us like some evil commander in chief or cut loose with a villainous laugh. Drachma apologized, just as I’d demanded in my mind.

I didn’t know what sort of person he used to be. I didn’t know what he acted like or looked like. Maybe he used to embody the image of evil back then.

But Drachma wasn’t an enemy we had to confront with deep anger and hate anymore. Time had passed, eroding the villain into a hollow-eyed man in his fifties. Evil didn’t always wait for justice to come along and destroy it.

“That’s why Reloaded was—”

Out of nowhere, what the Magical Girl had said at the stadium came back to me. She must have been afraid she wouldn’t get the chance to hand out justice herself. Now I think I knew a bit of how she felt.

“I’ve got just one thing to say to you, Drachma.”

This man wasn’t an enemy any longer, but there was still one last thing I needed to tell him.

“You didn’t actually take everything.”

No matter what, I had to correct that assumption.

“Alicia lost her life, but she protected her precious companions and fought to the end. Siesta lost her memories, but she never forgot the enemy she needed to defeat. Nagisa Natsunagi lost her personality for a while, but she took it back, and she’s standing here right now. You didn’t take their pride.”

Even I thought it made no sense. I’d wanted this man to apologize, and now it was the other way around.

Still, Drachma hadn’t managed to inflict a single wound on Natsunagi, Siesta, or Alicia. Their souls and their pride hadn’t been defiled, so—

“—Kimizuka.”

Like a soft breath of wind, Natsunagi gently leaned against my shoulder. “Thank you for getting angry for us, and for crying.”

Crying? Nobody’s crying, I thought, but then I realized my vision had gone a little blurry.

Guess I really wasn’t quite grown-up yet.

“Atoning isn’t necessarily the only option for people who’ve committed crimes,” Natsunagi told Drachma. “We need to turn over a new leaf.”

Natsunagi was still carrying Hel’s crimes. That was why she could say this.

“You don’t have to apologize to me, at least. I don’t need you to atone, either. You don’t have to repent or make excuses. You’re a doctor—so save people.”

Drachma’s expression didn’t change.

He didn’t do anything cliché like break down in tears because Natsunagi’s passion had moved his heart. The time for that had passed. He wasn’t even an enemy now.

This sort of thing was bound to happen again, though. Someday, we’d run into someone Natsunagi’s passion wouldn’t work on, someone who wouldn’t stop until their malice reached the whole world. When that person barred her way, what would Natsunagi do? What would we do? The silhouette of a man flickered through my mind.

“The Magical Girl needs to rest quietly for a while longer. I’ll contact you once she wakes.”

Drachma handed me a tablet. I hadn’t really wanted to give this guy my contact information, so that was a big help. Natsunagi and I exchanged a look, then turned to go.

“I do have one last question, though.” Natsunagi stopped, although she didn’t turn around. “What did you want to do at that lab? What was worth risking your life?”

There was a moment of silence, and then…

“I wanted to research the creation of humans,” Drachma said. “Perhaps I also wanted to become the Inventor.”

“Even if Stephen’s position opens up, you would never be the Inventor.”

Without sparing him a glance, Natsunagi left, firing one parting shot as she went.

“The world’s greatest inventor has always been Ali.”