Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 8 - Chapter 3.8

The tale of a certain magical girl

“Lill.”

Someone was calling my name.

Not many people called me by my nickname. Who was this?

“Hey, Lill. Or won’t you wake up unless I call you Lilia? Heeey.”

Now they were shaking me. Seriously, what? I was sleeping and everything.

…Sleeping?

When had that happened? Slowly, I opened my eyes, and light lanced into the darkness.

Someone was waving their hand in front of my face.

“You’re finally awake! Geez, that was mean. I was talking to you the whole time, and then you nodded off all of a sudden.”

“Freya?”

Subdued red hair, freckled cheeks. She was sitting on my left, dressed in her school uniform.

“Where are we?”

The shaking hadn’t stopped. That had seemed weird, but it turned out we were on a bus. I realized I was wearing my uniform, too.

“What’s the matter, Lill?” Freya cocked her head, puzzled.

“…Why are you here?”

“‘Why’? Are you still asleep?”

Maybe. I rubbed my temples, but I couldn’t seem to remember.

“We’re on our way back from a meet. Did you forget?”

Now that she’d said it, it sounded plausible.

That’s right; we’d gone to a regional competition today.

“Oh, of course. Did Ri— Did I win?”

“I won today!” Freya corrected me vehemently. …Really?

“Never mind that; why are you on this bus? This is my school’s bus, isn’t it?”

“’Cause why not? I may not go to your school, but mine’s close.”

That logic made no sense. Still, Freya had always been sort of unpredictable.

“Besides, it’s more fun if I’m here, isn’t it? You’re always by yourself, and you look bored.”

“Not really. Even I have friends to talk to.”

“Huh? I’ve never seen you chatting with anybody.”

“…You never pull your punches, do you?”

Well, I’m the type who says what she thinks, too.

Despite our similarities, for some reason, this girl has a lot of friends, while I… No, it’s nothing. It’s not like I even care.

“So what were we talking about again?”

Apparently, I’d been so tired, I’d dozed off. Freya puffed out her cheeks, sulking. “Don’t you remember?” She held out a tablet to me. “Come on, this right here!”

The horizontal screen was showing a Japanese cartoon. It was a magical-girl anime that Freya especially liked.

“I swear, episode 13… You’d never think this girl was the mastermind, right?! But they’d already dropped hints way back in episode 2!” Freya was all worked up. Over and over, she replayed the bit she was talking about. “And they even made us think she’d died early on, so it’s a total shock. Isn’t it?”

“Not really.”

“Why not?!”

“Because this is the seventh time you’ve told me about this.”

“What, really?” Freya played dumb.

To be honest, though, I was kind of jealous she had something she could get that absorbed in.

“Isn’t there anything you like, Lill?” Freya was watching me closely.

“Something I like?”

What would it be? Had I ever had anything like that? My personality had always been this way. I was always unenthusiastic, and I never stuck with anything for long. I just didn’t care about the things that made other people happy, angry, sad, excited, or anything.

My parents had been relatively uninvolved, and I’d started at boarding school pretty early. I went out for track because it was an individual sport. I could focus on myself; nothing else mattered. Did that mean I was fond of track? No, not really. Being good at something wasn’t the same as liking it.

I’d chosen to focus on pole-vaulting just because it was a good event for someone who didn’t feel fear. That meant, in terms of things I genuinely liked, I had…

“Oh, but I did have fun today.”

I suddenly remembered the sights I’d forgotten.

“It was just like always. You and I were the only ones left. We both broke our records bit by bit; little by little, we got closer to the sky. That was fun. …It’s the only thing that’s fun.”

Launching myself off the ground, tensing my arms and abs, soaring into the air.

Five centimeters, ten centimeters. Growing step by tiny step thrilled me. Like I was getting closer and closer to that high blue sky. It made me happy. I liked vaulting.

………There was no response. Huh? I glanced at Freya. She was staring at me, eyebrows raised.

“I never thought I’d hear you say a thing like that, Lill.”

“Oh, no, that was…”

I caught sight of my reflection in the bus window; I was fiddling with my hair. I turned back the other way. Freya was beaming. “Me too! I have the most fun when I’m vaulting with you, too!”

My heart gave a little leap.

What was the word for this feeling?

What did regular people call it? Was it in the dictionary? Had we learned about it in morals or ethics classes? I didn’t know. I had no idea, but…

“So what was this?” I asked. That anime was still playing on the screen. I pointed at the magical girl, who was just confronting the villain. “Tell me her name again.”

I knew, actually. I remembered.

After all, I’d heard about this dozens and dozens of times, not just seven.

It made Freya happy, though. When we talked about this, she smiled like she was having the best time ever.

“Honestly! Remember it already, wouldja?”

And with one of those smiles, Freya said the hero’s name.

“She’s Reloaded the Magical Girl!”

Oh, that’s right. I remembered.

That was why I, Lilia Lindgren, had made that my goal.

I’d borrowed the name of the magical girl on the screen and had decided to become a hero.

I woke up.

I was swaying. Rocking very slightly.

“……! ……ah—”

I couldn’t speak. I had no strength left, either.

My head felt slow and fuzzy. I’d lost too much blood.

Oh, right. He got me back there. I’d lost to Gluttony.

But what happened after that?

“……Who’s…there…?” I finally managed. My voice was hoarse.

That swaying feeling was real.

This wasn’t a bus. Someone was carrying me on their back.

We were headed somewhere, one step at a time.

“Ki…mi…hiko?”

The name of the partner I’d left.

No, it wasn’t him. His back was a little broader.

Then who was this?

Just then, my misty eyes made out a certain structure.

Oh, right. That’s what it was.

“Let’s…go…to…gether.”

Then we could make good on our promise.