Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 8 - Chapter 3.91

The promised ending credits

A call. Someone was calling me.

In the depths of the pitch-black dream, the voice I’d begun to hear was growing louder and louder.

That was weird. Someone else had shaken me, woken me up, and called my name a minute ago. What was I, popular or something?

In that case, I didn’t have much choice. Slowly, I opened my eyes. That had to be part of a hero’s job.

“What’s the matter? You keep barking like you’re desperate.”

I managed to speak. I put my hand out, too.

The boy who’d pulled my head onto his lap looked at me, startled.

“Did you miss Rill that much?”

When my outstretched fingers brushed his cheek, the boy—Kimihiko—looked relieved.

My body was light.

Not feeling pain was the norm for me, but from what I could see, my wounds had closed up quite a bit. “Did you do something?” I asked him.

“…I gave you some medicine I got from Stephen. He said to give it to you only in a genuine emergency.”

Oh, so that was it. No wonder I felt hot to my core. In a good way, of course.

With Kimihiko’s help, I slowly sat up, then looked around. “Would you explain this situation to Rill in three lines?”

Apparently, this place was still a battlefield. The fight with Gluttony was happening some distance away; he looked like an enormous fly-monster.

“Gluttony ate Scarlet’s undead. To mitigate the damage, Natsunagi baited the enemy here ten minutes ago. Now we’re waiting for an army helicopter; Ookami and Ms. Fuubi are hanging in there until it arrives.”

From what I could see, Ookami was out in front, while the Assassin was providing support from the rear and protecting the Ace Detective at the same time.

“Thanks for the explanation. And? When will that army helicopter be here?”

“…Well, the army’s control systems seem to be having trouble.”

“So there’s no ETA. That’s an unfortunate coincidence.”

That was all I could say. Even if it wasn’t actually a coincidence, there was no time to moan about it now. This was just how my luck usually went.

As I tried to get to my feet, Kimizuka caught my arm. His eyes conveyed what was on his mind more eloquently than his lips could.

“Even you must have known this was how it would go.”

Stephen had given that medicine to him, and I’d taken it. It had awakened me and provided me with the strength to get back on my feet. So what I had to do next was a foregone conclusion.

“Please let me end this by carrying out my job as a hero.”

Kimihiko looked as if he might shout— No. As if he might cry. I smiled at him.

“Besides, Rill and her friend had plans here all along.” I turned back.

“Isn’t that right, Freya?”

She was standing there, her expression the same as always.

Since she’d carried me here on her back, her clothes were bloody.

…Well, I had no room to talk. We both looked awful.

“What are you going to do?” Kimihiko was gazing at us.

Quietly, I went over to him and rose on my tiptoes. “Lean down.” Then I whispered our final strategy in his ear.

“And that’s really what you want?” Kimihiko hesitated a little. I gave two small nods. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

Kimihiko turned to go. Before he took a step, though, he glanced back. Reaching out with his right hand, he dropped it lightly onto my head. “I just remembered you’re supposed to do this for girls who are working hard.” Clumsily, he patted my head.

“…You’re pretty insolent for a pet.”

“Sorry about that.”

I smiled, though, and so did he. Then he turned on his heel, running down the stairs and out of the stadium. How long had it been since anyone acknowledged me like that?

“How stupid.”

We both were, Kimihiko and I.

My head was still warm where his hand had been. There was one other place, somewhere inside, where a glowing spark of heat had appeared. No one could see it; it was in my diseased heart.

“Freya, wait until I’m ready, okay?” I said, turning back just for a moment.

We were headed into the final episode, the time when magical girls shone brightest.

When I descended to the battlefield, Nagisa Natsunagi was nearby, and she noticed me. I’d ended up causing all sorts of trouble for her, too.

“Rill’s sorry about, um, everything.”

“No, this is par for the course for Ace Detectives.”

It was a position exclusively for busybodies, basically… We exchanged a brief look, then giggled. Come to think of it, this was the first time I’d seen her smile.

“He’ll return to you soon.”

“I bet he’ll get distracted by some other girl right away.”

The way she sulked was rather touching. As long as she had that profile, I doubted that boy would ever let her go in the truest sense of the word. Would I have a relationship like that with somebody someday? …Kidding. Thoughts like that could wait for the sequel.

“Okay. You stay back.” From here on, this was a job for the Magical Girl.

After all, the Ace Detective probably had another big mission lined up.

“Rill!” For the first time, she called my name. “Gluttony hasn’t stolen a thing from you! He hasn’t destroyed anything! That means you won’t lose! Magical girls don’t lose to evil monsters, ever!”

With her passionate words at my back, I walked onto the battlefield.

“I know how heroic you are! I’ll always remember!”

The small spark that had bloomed in my heart earlier blazed up, big and bright.

Did the magical girls in anime get strength from someone else’s voice this way?

How strange. It was more effective than any drug, in my opinion.

Maybe that’s too simplistic. Sorry. Final episodes are mostly like this, aren’t they?

“Iy■______■uu■a______iy■■!!”

Gluttony howled with hunger.

The vibrations from that roar nearly made my body go numb. Then the enemy lunged at Ookami and Fuubi, mouth gaping. They blocked with their weapons, but he still sent them flying back.

Fuubi came my way, but she didn’t tumble awkwardly on the ground. Dropping into a sharp crouch, shoes sliding, the redheaded Assassin skidded to a stop on her feet.

“Well? Does it look like you won’t be able to beat the Magical Girl’s enemy after all?”

“Huh. Here I thought you were finally being genuine, but you’re still talking shit.” Fuubi glared up at me.

It was the best option, so I grinned back at her.

“What, you think you can win this?”

“Rill couldn’t do it alone.”

“Oh-ho. So you’re declaring your loss?”

Perish the thought. I’d just realized something.

“What Rill wanted to do isn’t something that could be done by one person.”

The preparations for it were already underway, though.

They’d been there; I just hadn’t noticed.

It had been right there with me, at my side, from the very start.

“Say, Fuubi. You’re the combat expert; tell Rill. Where is his weak point?”

“Not his heart or his head. You’d need to hit him with a missile to get through the shell over those.”

That’s what I thought. The spot I’d smashed through earlier had apparently come back stronger after he shed his skin. The exposed area around his jaw was covered with tough armor now.

“The enemy may be a monster,” Fuubi said, “but he’s still a living creature. His joints and muscles need to move, and there are slight gaps in the armor to let him do that. For example…”

“His neck?”

Fuubi nodded.

I couldn’t see any gaps below the armored jaw from this vantage point, but there was a good chance…

“Thanks, Fuubi.”

Fuubi didn’t seem to have been expecting an honest thank-you; she looked dubious. “Are we getting a hurricane tomorrow?”

“Nope. There won’t be a cloud in the sky.”

After all, I’d prayed to that big Fair-Weather Doll the other day.

“Fuubi, one more request. Work with Ookami and keep the enemy distracted, especially his eyes. Don’t let him attack Nagisa, either.”

By the time I finished the sentence, the Assassin was already gone. She knew what she needed to do, and she’d returned to the battlefield like the wind.

“■yu■■______■e■■■yo______■■o■ya■■■!!!”

The supernatural howled, turning his head as if he wasn’t sure where to look.

Fuubi went left and Ookami went right, making Gluttony pause for a second.

“Being too good at her job is kind of a problem, too.”

I only had a split-second chance. That brief moment would determine whether I won or lost. I didn’t have time to think up a solid strategy. I had to move right now.

“It’s okay, though.”

Yes, it was fine. I was the only one of us who’d been late.

That girl had planned to do this all along. That was why she’d stayed with me.

“If you don’t mind, remember that we were both here.”

In the next moment, a wind blew through. A single gust went right past me.

That’s right. That was what I’d wanted to see.

Killing Gluttony hadn’t been my wish.

My wish had been something more fundamental.

For the past two years, ever since the day we hadn’t been able to go where we’d promised to go together…

…I’d wanted to see that girl’s back as she ran faster and vaulted more beautifully than anyone.

“Fly, Freya!”

Her five-meter pole jabbed into the turf, sending her higher and higher. Kimihiko had gotten that pole from the Men in Black outside the stadium and given it to her.

Unlike those earlier skies, this one wasn’t blue.

Even so, Freya soared into that now-cloudless night sky, toward the stars, higher than anyone.

“That was the instinct you held on to. The wish that stayed with you.”

She seemed to float in midair forever. That leap captivated everyone—not just Kimihiko and Nagisa, but the supernatural, too. Her jump had taken her over his enormous body, and Gluttony stretched his neck, looking up at her warily. Beneath his huge jaw, the shell parted ever so slightly.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Now we’d pick up where we’d left off two years ago.

As if Freya was passing me the baton, her pole slowly toppled back toward me.

I caught it and ran a few steps. I wasn’t able to take a decent run-up the way she had, so I used the power of my magic shoes to cheat just a little.

What? That’s against the rules? You sure are picky, Freya.

“To make up for it, I’ll perform an extremely pretty jump.”

By the time the pole was upright, I was already airborne.

I didn’t even think about which muscles to tense or how to do it.

I just let my body rotate naturally, until the upside-down sky was all I could see.

Hey, Freya? This is the last thing Lill’s going to see during a vault.

“It’s beautiful.”

Huh. Vaulting at night wasn’t bad, either.

Clicking an invisible camera shutter, I reversed my body again. The dark sky vanished, and Gluttony took its place.

On his neck, there was just one unprotected spot.

“Reloaded!” I heard Kimihiko shout. “Catch!”

He threw something sharply into the air. It was the final weapon, sent by the Inventor via the Men in Black. I caught it, then leveled it. It was a magic staff, a spear-like weapon that was taller than I was. Aqua light flooded from it, and then—

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

As I screamed, something burst inside me—the cancer cells that had been devouring my heart.

Just now, the flames of passion had devoured that disease in turn.

No matter what malice the Seven Deadly Sins had brought into the world, they couldn’t defile this instinct.

Human wishes would always vault over the vortex of humanity’s darkness.

“Freyaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

I’d kept the promise we’d made that day, and now I shoved the tip of my staff into Gluttony’s thick neck with all my strength. The weapon’s bright blue light engulfed the stadium.

Almost immediately, I heard the supernatural’s death scream. Was it a funeral salute mourning its own end, or was it the last starter pistol I’d ever hear?

…Either way, that was the final episode of the tale of Reloaded the Magical Girl.