Chapter 110: Chapter 3.5
That's how I define "living"
"Siesta, we won't let you complete that final job."
On top of the long elevated track, my assistant pointed his gun at me. Taking a cue from him, the other three surrounded me. The four of them formed a hollow square, positioning themselves at diagonals to each other, apparently determined not to let me get away.
"...Are you people stupid?"
If you do this, even if you get your wish, the seed will eat away at me until I become a monster. There's no stopping that.
"Can't you understand that disappearing is the last job I'm capable of ?"
My final duty. To tell the truth, this should have been over and done with long ago. Last year, to be exact: when I'd died in order to seal Hel. I'd entrusted my last wish to my assistant, Nagisa, Yui, and Charlie. Through Noches, I'd set them free of the problems and curses that bound them. Once that was done, my job should have been complete.
But my assistant and Nagisa had overruled the future I'd visualized. The result had been several kinds of chaos, and Nagisa had fallen victim to the distortion. And yet, although I'd meant to seal Hel as my final job, she had defeated the primordial seed and ended the story in a new way.
That meant the fact that I was still here was just an extension of that battle. It was redundant. This was an epilogue that had never needed to be written.
...Even so. I was on this battlefield, I had taken up this gun again, and so... "I will never abandon my job. I'll lay my life on the line and fulfill the duty
of the Ace Detective."
Several gunshots echoed, and the final battle began in earnest. "—I was already sick of seeing bullets about four years ago."
Bullets flew at me from four directions, but if one grasps the angle of the muzzle down to the millimeter, it's possible to be faster than a gun. The bullets ended up striking the gravel ballast or nothing at all, and I ran with the wind to leave them behind.
I was up against four enemies, but they were all injured already. If I picked them off one by one, they wouldn't be a problem. First, my apologies, but—
"Yui Saikawa. Your left eye is trouble." "...!"
That eye's kinetic vision was far beyond what ordinary humans could achieve. In combat, it was bound to be more useful than any heavy weaponry. Planning to take that power away from them, I ran up to Yui. She looked startled.
I had no intention of killing her, of course, or of damaging that blue eye. My assistant had brought the musket I was holding. That meant it was most likely loaded with tranquilizer bullets. ...No, he might have assumed that I'd steal the gun, in which case it was possible that only the first bullet was a tranquilizer. I'd just have to test it. I'd graze Yui with a bullet, and if all went well, she'd sleep for a little while. Rapidly coming to that conclusion, I began to squeeze the trigger—
" !"
Right then, Charlie took cover behind Yui. At this angle, I'd shoot her— and I'd hit her in the head. The shoulder would have been acceptable, but a head wound could end up being fatal.
"...That's not like you at all, Charlie."
Grumbling over my apprentice's bad judgment call, I temporarily lowered my weapon and put some distance between us.
"Mistress Siesta. This is a battlefield. We deal in lives here, correct?" Suddenly, I sensed someone coming in for a fatal blow. I twisted away, and
Noches's sword swept through the spot where I'd been standing a moment earlier. The blade was coated with tranquilizer; if it grazed me, I'd be finished. The sheer number of restrictions was maddening, and I brought my gun to bear on her. Her body was mechanical, and with a few exceptions, she'd be fine no matter where I shot her. So this time, I relaxed and—
"Noches!"
As if to shield the maid, my assistant darted out in front of her. "...! Are you stupid, Kimi?!"
At the very last second, I fired into empty space. There was no telling what my assistant might do, and if I hit him in the wrong place, I could kill him.
"Your instincts are as bad as ever, Kimi."
In terms of recent events, I remembered his battle with Chameleon on the cruise ship. He'd put himself in the wrong place that time too and had ended up taking the enemy's attack. No matter how you looked at it, I—or in this case, Noches—was better at absorbing enemy attacks than he was, and yet—
"...Is that what this is?"
Just then, a terrible hunch ran through my mind. At the same time, a bullet streaked right past my face.
"I'm sorry, Charlie. Siesta seems to have caught on more quickly than we expected."
"Well, she is the first and only teacher I decided to respect until I died."
A few meters ahead, Charlie was smiling proudly. She pointed her gun at me again.
"If you don't dodge, I'll hit you."
It was immediately clear that she wasn't talking to me. "Yeah. It'll probably be okay, though."
" !"
Bang! My assistant was standing behind me. Just as the gunshot rang out, I grabbed his shirtfront, and we fell together, evading Charlie's bullet.
"Because Siesta's going to save me. See?"
Flat on the ground, my assistant broke into a smile. Then he sat up and pointed his gun at me.
"Is every last one of you that stupid...?!" I whirled around, scanning my four enemies. "So this is your final ploy for cornering me?"
If I tried to attack one of them, someone else would step in to shield them. Yet they'd pull their triggers with no hesitation, even if there was a risk of hitting one of their companions. It was a foolish plan, riddled with contradictions. Did they want to protect each other, or was stopping me their top priority? At a glance, I couldn't tell which it was. However, if there was an answer that would resolve those inconsistencies—
"Yeah, Siesta. There's absolutely no way you can kill us."
The next moment, Noches's bullet bore down on me...and on my assistant behind me.
"...!"
Sweeping my musket to the side, I knocked it away. Meanwhile, Yui took aim at Charlie, who was on my other side.
"I told you—!"
There wasn't even time to talk. As Yui fired, I pressed my trigger as well; our shots collided in midair, and the one that was headed for Charlie was knocked off course.
Although I'd said this was a war, I'd been maneuvering around so that the others wouldn't die. Sooner or later, the countless bullets that were flying every which way would mortally wound them. I'd been instinctively avoiding that outcome. However, the four of them were taking advantage of my hesitation by intentionally putting themselves in danger, trying to confuse me and restrict my movements.
"You were particularly hesitant when you attacked Saikawa, who's not used to fighting, and when I almost passed out on the motorcycle, you saved me on reflex. You're a softie. Not being able to kill your companions is your strength and your one weakness."
...The old me wouldn't have hesitated at a time like this. I'd prioritized executing my duties, believing I'd bring about happiness for the greatest number of people that way. As a matter of fact, I was confident that doing so had protected many of my clients' interests.
As a result, the old me had considered that sort of hesitation self- indulgence. And yet as far as one person was concerned, it was kindness, and to another, it even counted as passion. Before I knew it, I'd learned these things. That hesitation was the reason my heart was still pounding. At this point, it was part of my heart itself.
"...What a cowardly move. Don't you think you're treating your lives too lightly?"
"First of all, Ma'am, your life is riding on this battle. It would be rude of us not to stake ours," Charlie declared bravely. She sounded like a true agent. Operating on the same logic, I'd shot her in the shoulder once, and I couldn't think of a response for her. In that case, what I needed to do now was—
"I won't let you get away!"
Yui's left eye had seen what I was about to do. Just as I was about to jump off the elevated track—a loud boom distracted me. The ground under my feet shook violently. Then, with a sustained rumble, it crumbled away.
"...! Explosives."
Had Noches set them up? I didn't have time to check, and there would have been no point anyway. The elevated track I'd been standing on a moment ago had turned into rubble, and I was tossed into the air, joining a rain of gravel and scrap iron.
" !"
The free fall lasted for about ten meters. There were no obstacles; if I'd been prepared to jump, I could have landed without trouble. I'd been caught by surprise, though, and I'd also been swallowed up in an avalanche of gravel. While I did manage to make the safest possible landing, I banged myself up royally on the asphalt.
The strategy they'd put together must have been based on trust that I'd survive something like this. ...But even if I was spared, they'd be—
"...Assistant!"
"I swear... You never think about yourself first."
I aimed my musket toward the voice and saw my assistant standing beyond the clouds of dust, a gun in his left hand. By this point, I lost count of how many times I'd seen this configuration. Behind him, the other three climbed out of the rubble. I guessed Noches had protected my assistant, while Charlie had kept Yui safe.
"Haah...! You look...awful..."
My assistant's right arm hung limply, and he was bleeding from his head.
The black jacket he was so proud of was all ragged. "...Haah... So...do you."
Didn't he know there were things you should never say to a girl? Honestly! "...! ...Haah."
I couldn't hide my rough breathing or my heart rate, though.
The worst part was that I'd sprained my leg. Now I wouldn't be able to make a clean escape either way.
"...Why did it end up like this?"
It shouldn't have been this way. Why did my assistant and I have to hold each other at gunpoint in the first place? This story should have ended when the primordial seed was sealed. But I didn't want Nagisa to remain unconscious, and I'd decided to watch the story just a little longer. To see it until the end of my assistant's Route X.
I'd boarded a plane with him for what I'd decided would be the last time. We'd traveled overseas, got caught up in an unexpected incident, and
encountered a new enemy. My assistant considered the fight with the Phantom Thief an extension of the primordial seed crisis. Therefore, I would remain the detective, Kimihiko Kimizuka would remain my assistant, and the two of us would continue to fight the world's enemies, Phantom Thief included... If I'd said I hadn't imagined that future for even a moment, I would have been lying.
However, I'd been right the first time: I couldn't go any further than this. I couldn't spend forever soaking in that tepid epilogue. I would simply carry out my role as a player on Route X, in my position as the Ace Detective. Technically, I should have died a year ago. The fact that I'd been involved in this at all was a miracle in and of itself.
And so, now I confronted Kimihiko Kimizuka, my final enemy—no, the protagonist. I had no intention of losing. Of course I didn't. Losing would mean that I'd be saved by the protagonist. I couldn't allow such a lukewarm story to play out this way.
"You are justice, and I'm evil. That's fine. It's what I've always wanted."
Using just my good leg, I launched myself off the ground. This battle would be over soon. Gun in hand, I raced toward my last opponent.
"Kimizuka, go right!"
That was Yui's voice. Following her instructions from a distance, my assistant flung himself to the side, evading my bullet.
"...! Are you seriously okay with that?!" Even as he rolled on the ground, he fired at me. I dodged, moving only my upper body. "Siesta, tell me. What's your wish?"
I heard more gunshots, this time from Noches and Charlie, far behind me.
If they so much as grazed me, I'd lose.
"I only have one wish: I want you to live. All of you."
That was why I turned my long-barreled gun on the girls: to fire the bullets that would let them live.
"That can't be it!"
! Stubborn. My assistant had blocked my path again, and my hands started to tremble slightly. My heart pounded loudly, and my shallow breathing made my vision go hazy.
"—How would you know?!"
"You said so yourself!" he shouted. The grief in his expression was intense. He said it had happened a year ago, after the fight with Hel, when the pollen had put him to sleep. The comment must have slipped out just before my consciousness vanished. A wisp of thought I'd never meant for him to hear.
"I don't remember anything of the sort," I told him, firing to shake off my hesitation. I hadn't taken aim, and I missed him by a mile. I'd strengthened my resolve, though. Evading the bullets Charlie and the others fired from far away, I began my final shootout with my assistant.
"What, you're saying you don't remember something you said yourself ?" He couldn't possibly have time for idle chatter, but as he fired, he kept talking. "If you won't say it, I will."
...
"You don't want to die, do you?"
Impossible. A wish like that, now of all times?
"We'll figure it out somehow."
You can't.
"I'll find a way to let you live!"
Listen, I told you that's not possible.
"You always wished happiness for your clients, and those clients are all the people on this planet. How could you be the only one who doesn't count? That can't be right!"
You're wrong. I was happy.
I was quite content—or I should have been.
And yet...
"Siesta, I want you to live."
If you say a thing like that to me, I'll—
" !"
My assistant fired at my left arm; it was a shot meant to keep me alive. On reflex, I moved my arm, sweeping my musket sideways and knocking the bullet out of the air. ...Even so, my contradictory thoughts asked my mind the same question.
What is your real wish?
"—I..."
I asked myself one more time. I'd already died once. There was no need to keep up appearances; I didn't need pride. I'd throw away shame and my reputation, get rid of all calculations and deception.
For now, I'd forget my role and the position I was in, pretend my history and the things I'd said had never happened. There was no point in thinking about some nebulous future. Just for now, I'd pretend not to see my responsibility toward this world.
Say I was the only one who existed here, in this moment. What would I wish for? What dream would I want to come true? Right now, it didn't matter whether it was possible or impossible. This wasn't about whether it was reckless or unachievable. If there was just one thing I wanted—
The answer was simple.
"—I want to drink tea with you again." I wanted to live.
"Right. Wish accepted."
My assistant pointed his gun at my face.
I see. So that's the way you smile now.
"You talk like a detective," I responded lightly.
If I did nothing, his shot would just barely graze my cheek. If it did, I'd get my wish.
My dearest partner, the protagonist, would save me.
That had to be the happy ending everyone was hoping for.
With the bullet that would end everything right in front of me, I told him: "But a detective mustn't lose to her assistant."
I'd never show him my back.
It wasn't right to let the assistant see his detective admit defeat.
I dodged the bullet, then turned the musket I'd had for my whole life as the Ace Detective on him.
"Yeah, that's right. I really am no match for you. That's why..." My assistant's lips moved.
"She's going to take over that wish of yours for me, Siesta."
In the next moment, sensing someone behind me, I turned and readied my musket.
"...Why are you here?" My eyes widened.
"—As the queen of the land of the dead, I forbid you to come to this world."
I was facing a girl with short black hair, dressed in a military uniform. "Why are you...? Hel?"
The next moment...
The girl in the uniform threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly. "Tricked you. I'm sorry. It's me, Nagisa."
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