What I can do to end this story
The next day, Noel de Lupwise visited the Shirogane Detective Agency as a client.
We'd contacted her to tell her there'd been a developnt in the governnt official killings case the previous evening, and unexpectedly, she'd co to see us in person.
"Tell at once, please: What new information have you found regarding the unknown crisis?"
Siesta and Nagisa sat side by side on the sofa, while Noel sat across from them, gazing at them seriously.
...Where was I? Making tea for the three of them. That's an assistant's job, you know.
"Before we get started on the main topic, Noel, may I ask you a question?" I set a cup of black tea in front of her. "I'm really curious about your outfit. Are those your casual clothes?"
"My outfit? Yes, I changed before I ca. I didn't want to seem discourteous."
Noel was wearing an extrely ruffly, highly embellished black dress. Was it one of those Gothic Lolita things? With her European features, it was a good look for her; she really did look like a doll. But what had brought this on?
"When in Ro, do as the Romans do. You have a similar proverb in Japan, don't you? I've studied Japanese fashion in addition to traditional Japanese dress."
"Where did you study to end up with those results? Did you visit a subculture hotspot or sothing?"
"At the café I visited yesterday, all the waitresses were dressed like this." "That's just a thed café. You picked a hyper-unique place to visit."
Geez, so she could have showed up as a maid or a ninja? Her commitnt was laudable, but I was concerned that soday, she might be tricked when the stakes were higher.
"Noel, are you wearing a different perfu this ti?" Siesta asked abruptly. "I'm not wearing perfu. That's odd..." Noel sniffed at her own arm, trying
to pick up her scent. She looks like a small animal, I thought, gazing at her. I pulled a chair over and sat down.
All right, that was enough small talk. On to the main topic. When I cleared my throat, Noel got the hint and asked her question again. "Could you tell about the developnt in the case?"
Siesta, Nagisa, and I exchanged looks. After that incident at the prison yesterday, the three of us had talked it over and co up with a certain theory.
"Right up front, I should clarify that the developnt wasn't in regard to the case itself. It's more fundantal than that," I said, speaking for the detectives.
Noel cocked her head as if she didn't understand. That was weird, though. She had to know.
"When the Federation Governnt gave Siesta and Nagisa authority as Ace Detectives, it wasn't actually so they could investigate the governnt official
killings, was it?"
Several things had made us suspect as much. The first had been those copied docunts they'd sent us, which were supposed to provide details on the killings. No matter how hard we tried, there was no way to investigate using information that had been censored that heavily. They'd said the situation was urgent, but they really didn't seem serious about their request.
Second, the setup was just too neat. Yesterday, right as we were at the prison visiting Ms. Fuubi, an enemy who reminded us of a certain pseudohuman had attacked. In another bit of exquisite timing, Nagisa had picked up the musket from a nearby Man in Black, and Siesta had used it to take down the attacker, completing a job that was a whole lot like what the Ace Detective used to do.
It was all too perfect. We didn't think the Federation Governnt had actually sent the guy with the snake-sword, but they might have known more or less what was going to happen around then, and also deduced that, if they gave us Tuner notebooks, the first thing we'd do was use that authority to get an interview with Fuubi Kase. The governnt had intentionally put us on a collision course with that man.
"Why would we do that?" Noel asked, once I'd explained.
"To make us Ace Detectives in both word and deed again, correct?" Siesta said. "Thanks to that, I'm completely in the mood for it now." She gave a small sigh.
This was how it had worked: Two days ago, they'd told us multiple governnt officials had been killed, and called this an unknown crisis. Then they'd given us information that suggested the incident was related to a global crisis the Ace Detective had taken care of. That ant Siesta and Nagisa had practically been forced to agree to investigate, since it was portrayed as cleanup for an old crisis.
At that point, Siesta and Nagisa had only been carrying out the Ace Detective's work as temporary proxies, but then yesterday's incident had happened. By making them encounter and resolve an incident similar to one they'd lived through previously, the Federation Governnt had attempted to reawaken Siesta and Nagisa's instincts as Ace Detectives and bring back those old feelings.
That ant the governnt official killings had only been bait to get the two of them interested in the role again. We didn't know whether the crisis was entirely manufactured, but Siesta thought the elents Noel had told us about that sounded deliberate—such as the "tentacle fragnts"—had probably been
falsified.
"...In that case, why would the Federation Governnt wish to return the two of you to the post of Ace Detective? Are you saying we had a reason to go to such lengths?"
"We called you here today to ask about that," Nagisa responded. "What is the job you really want us to do? Sothing's coming that will require an Ace Detective, isn't there?"
Silence fell. Siesta lifted her cup of tea to her lips, and the quiet clink when she returned it to its saucer was the only sound in the room. The ball was in Noel's court now, and all we could do was wait.
"Corretto. That's right."
But when the answer finally ca, it wasn't from Noel.
A man had opened the agency door and co in. Raising his hat slightly, he gave us a smile that was frad by prominent white whiskers.
"Oh, I knew it," Siesta murmured next to , as if it all made sense now. "I had a feeling you were behind this, Bruno."
"It's been a long ti, you three." Our visitor looked at each of us in turn, apparently pleased to see us.
This was Bruno Belmondo, the forr Information Broker. It was the first ti we'd seen each other since the Great Cataclysm last year.
"Bruno? Why are you...?" Unlike Siesta, Nagisa looked puzzled.
Still smiling, the old man walked over with the aid of a cane and took a seat across from us, next to Noel. He gently laid a hand on her head. "You've been a great help to my granddaughter."
Noel's expression softened slightly.
"She's your granddaughter? But your last nas..." Noel's last na was Lupwise. Bruno's was Belmondo.
"Yes. As a matter of fact, I was adopted by the Belmondo family for a ti," Noel explained. As she went on, she occasionally exchanged glances with Bruno. "Due to a certain situation, that's no longer true, but Grandfather raised for quite a while. I only returned to my current family a year ago."
In other words, Noel had been a Belmondo longer than she had been a Lupwise? This was apparently news to Siesta as well; she nodded slightly, watching the two of them. Still, why were we being introduced at a ti like this?
"Perhaps it's my age. I've wanted to boast to you about my treasure for a
while now."
"Grandfather, are you drunk? That's embarrassing; please don't." Although Noel had always been calm and collected with us, her lips were moving slightly now in an awkward, restless way.
Bruno grinned at his granddaughter. Then his eyes went to Siesta. "However, you seem to have realized that I was behind Noel."
"I just had a feeling," Siesta told him. "Noel slled a bit like you today. Cologne, brandy, and the sll of a wind that's spent a hundred years traveling." Bruno's eyebrows twitched as if she'd surprised him. Then he laughed,
stroking his chin. "Indeed, she wouldn't have noticed that."
That was just like the Ace Detective: She had a nose sharper than a wild Cerberus's.
"Well, Bruno? If you're here, does that an you're planning to tell us what's really going on?" I got the conversation back on topic. Why did the Federation Governnt want to make Siesta and Nagisa Ace Detectives again so badly that they'd sent us on this chase? If Bruno was the one behind Noel, explaining this had to be his job.
"First, about your premise." Bruno's expression turned serious. "The theory you set out a mont ago is basically correct. The things that happened around you for the past few days were necessary in order to make the two detectives Tuners again. The unknown crisis wasn't a complete fabrication, though. It will actually occur, later on."
"Do we know when?" Nagisa asked. Since he was the forr Information Broker, she seed to think he probably would.
"On the day of the Ritual of Sacred Return."
...Oh, was that it? An occasion that would attract the Federation Governnt, the forr Tuners, and important people from around the world. If an unknown entity really did have a grudge against the world, striking on that day would be logical.
"Is this 'unknown crisis' a new enemy? What are they?"
"It refers to a ssenger from a certain sanctuary." Bruno narrowed his eyes, lowering his voice slightly. "That sanctuary is said to be an unknown nation or continent, or perhaps an unobserved satellite. It's the one place where the Federation Governnt can't interfere. However, it occasionally accesses the Federation Governnt unilaterally, using a transmission thod modern science can't explain."
Was he saying there was still an undiscovered nation sowhere on the
planet? Granted, since I knew of life-forms such as Seed, who had lived on an unobserved satellite, I couldn't deny the possibility.
"We call this undetectable territory 'Another Eden.'"
Bruno coughed lightly a few tis. "Grandfather," Noel said, gently rubbing his back.
"...I've heard a little about that. I was told the sanctuary's ssengers have tried to attack the world several tis before." Siesta thought hard, one finger on her chin. "Then you an the next attack will occur on the day of the Ritual of Sacred Return? And that's what you're calling the 'unknown crisis'?"
"That's right, Miss Siesta." Bruno was still coughing, so Noel responded for him. "Just the other day, Another Eden made contact with us. During the transmission, they announced that they would attack on that day. They also said they would hear our answer at the Ritual."
"Your answer? Are they negotiating with the Federation Governnt over sothing?"
"Yes, Mr. Kimihiko. To put it simply, they wish to make a certain treaty with us. However..." Noel faltered. Apparently, the negotiations weren't going well.
As a result, the ssengers of Another Eden had resorted to force, over and over. This ti was no exception.
"By the way, what is this treaty?" Nagisa asked. I'd been wondering about that myself. The Federation Governnt was secretive, and I suspected it wouldn't be that easy to find out; however, Noel told us readily.
In short, it was a peace treaty between the Federation Governnt and Another Eden. However, as a condition of the treaty, the sanctuary's ssengers had demanded the transfer of a certain thing in the possession of the Federation Governnt which had been declared a global classified matter. The governnt had said they didn't know what Another Eden was talking about and rejected the request, and as such, the treaty was still in limbo.
"Therefore, right now, all we can do is prepare." Once he'd recovered from his coughing fit, Bruno spoke emphatically. "In roughly two weeks, the unknown crisis will occur at the Ritual of Sacred Return. In the ti that remains, we would like you to learn as much as you can of the world, and to steel yourselves. Be ready to throw yourselves into the horrors of war once more."
"And that's why you want Siesta and Nagisa to be Ace Detectives again?" "Exactly. I am old, and what I can do is limited. I want to acquire as many
comrades as I can."
I knew it. This was what the events of the past few days had ant. What did Siesta and Nagisa think of all this?
"Let's do it." Siesta answered before anyone else. I'd known she would agree, after I'd seen her with her musket yesterday.
"Yes. After all, we're detectives." Having known Nagisa since she was still a proxy detective, I knew full well how much pride she took in the job.
I shot another glance at the two detectives. Their eyes were fixed on tomorrow. That ant there was only one answer I could give.
"I'm your assistant. Take wherever you want to go."
If the year after the cataclysm was a peaceful epilogue...
Then let's go find the future—the credits that will let us keep those ordinary days.
Reviews
All reviews (0)