The Detective Is Already Dead, Vol. 1

“This feels kind of weird.” Natsunagi was using her knife and fork to cut up her salmon meunière in the ship’s French restaurant.

“What does?”

“Sitting across from you and eating dinner together like this.”

“You don’t want to?”

“You know I didn’t say that.”

Even filled with reproach, her eyes were remarkably cute. How nice it would be if her personality got just a little cuter, too.

“Then what?” I said. “Are you saying that having dinner alone together is almost like a date?”

“…It takes real guts to say that when you’re flat broke.”

“I have no excuses to give there.”

If it hadn’t been for Saikawa’s kindness, I wouldn’t even have been able to pay for our meals here, and I’d probably have spent the rest of my life on this boat working off my debt. Gambling is a terrifying thing.

Speaking of gambling, should I fill her in on what happened with Charlie earlier? This morning, the two of them ended up goading each other into a fight, but I should probably tell her Charlie isn’t really all that bad.

“Natsunagi, do you have time after this?”

“Huh? Um, I don’t have anything planned. I’m just gonna shower, then go to bed.”

“I see. In that case, there’s a little something I’d like to talk about.”

“Talk? We could just do that here…”

“Uh, the subject’s a little hard to discuss in a place like this.” SPES would come up as well, and we’d be touching on some sensitive stuff. I’d rather do that away from so many eyes. “There was a bar across the way, wasn’t there? Can I ask you to meet me there in an hour?”

“Ummm… Me, by myself? Alone with you?”

“Yeah.”

This was really something I should fill Saikawa in on, too, but she was busy being the guest of honor right now, so it would keep.

“I—I see. So you want to talk, alone with me, at a bar…and tell me something you don’t want other people to hear…” Natsunagi’s lips were moving; she was mumbling. She was looking down and, for some reason, blushing. “W-well, all right… Okay, so I’ll see you in an hour.”

She speared her remaining meunière with her fork, crammed it into her mouth all at once, got up, and trotted away. What the hell was that about?

“The main course isn’t even here yet,” I called after her.

I’d really rather have given the extra food to Charlie, but she was probably relaxing in my cabin by now. She couldn’t actually have found a way off the ship.

“Well, if we’d had dinner alone together, we’d have nothing to talk about.”

Over the course of an hour, I somehow managed to finish a multicourse meal for two by myself. Then I headed for the bar where we’d promised to meet.

“…Sorry to keep you waiting.”

When I’d been sitting at the table for a little while, Natsunagi came in, right on time. To avoid being noticed, I’d chosen a spot away from the counter; we were in one of the booths in the back, facing each other across the table.

…Even so.

“You changed clothes for this?”

“Huh? Oh, no, it just, um, happened? After I took a shower, this was all I had to wear.”

Natsunagi’s outfit was a dramatic change from the casual clothes she’d been in before. She was wearing a low-cut dress, with a thin shawl around her shoulders.

I mean, yeah, it was an appropriate way to dress for this place… But she’d taken more care with her makeup than usual, and I caught the scent of perfume. Was this why she’d hurried back to her room like that? So she could get ready?

“Haaah, well, you can wear whatever you want.”

“Whatever…?” Natsunagi pouted, looking a little cross. Had I said something wrong? “And? Um, the talk…”

“Oh, right. Well, let’s drink while we talk.”

The drinks I’d ordered before Natsunagi got here had just arrived.

“Is it alcoholic?” she asked.

“No, Cinderella.”

“Me?”

“The drink.”

I’d ordered her a nonalcoholic cocktail by that name. For myself, I’d gotten a Shirley Temple, another famous virgin cocktail. I was sick of alcohol-fueled mistakes.

“All right, just listen for a little while.”

After we drank a toast, I began to tell her about Charlie as a person, including how I’d met her.

“This was not what I thought it was going to be.” Once I’d finished my story, Natsunagi seemed to wilt a little. “…Well, I mean, this isn’t that… It’s just the influence of the heart’s owner, that’s all…”

“What are you muttering about?”

“—! …Huh? What?” she said, suddenly irritated.

“Huh? Why did you just snap out of nowhere?”

“I didn’t snap.”

“No, you totally did.”

“I’m telling you, I didn’t!” The toe of her high heel connected with my shin. “I’ll double-kill you!”

“That’s not fair!”

—Getting back on topic.

“Anyway. I see what you mean. She’s not as awful as I thought she was.” As Natsunagi spoke, she took a sip of her cocktail. “Siesta was always on her mind, and she still is, even now. She’s so genuine it’s a little inspiring.”

“Yeah. She’s genuinely dumb. Sometimes what she says and does is out there, but that might be one of the best things about her.” Although I’d die before I told her that.

“You’re right… To be honest, I knew it, too.”

“That Charlie wasn’t a bad person, you mean?”

“That, too, but…the fact that I was in the wrong.” With a troubled smile, Natsunagi went on. “The things she said were right on the mark.”

She must have been talking about their argument that morning. Charlie had told Natsunagi to quit playing detective. And Natsunagi had just admitted that she was doing just that.

“I didn’t spend a long time with Siesta the way Charlie did, and I don’t have any strengths I’m really proud of. All I have is this heart…and the belief that I’ve inherited her last wish.” Her voice dropped to a self-deprecating murmur in the quiet bar. “I do know that much.”

She was right. As Natsunagi herself admitted, she and Siesta were different in many ways.

The color of their hair, of course. The way they spoke, their personalities, their principles, and even the way they carried themselves.

Natsunagi could never become a Siesta doll. And yet—

“What made you decide you’d accept Siesta’s role?”

That day—the day when we’d learned that Natsunagi’s transplanted heart had belonged to Siesta—Natsunagi had decided to become an ace detective. Even when I’d told her she didn’t have to replace anyone, she’d chosen to take that path.

But I still hadn’t really heard her thoughts on the matter. I’d decided her silence was something I should respect, and I’d looked the other way. But it was probably time to wake up. For both of us.

“The thing is—I’ve had poor health ever since I was little.” Natsunagi narrowed her eyes, remembering the distant past. “While everyone around me was going to school, I was stuck in bed, all alone. My only friends were some picture books and a little teddy bear. When I saw idols singing and dancing on TV, I was so, so jealous of them.”

In my mind’s eye, I saw a white hospital room, filled with the smell of chemicals, and a young girl with an IV drip in her thin arm.

“I used to think, I’ll never go anywhere. I’ll never get to leave this room. I couldn’t study, couldn’t exercise. I was sure I’d never be anyone.” Natsunagi smiled, but I could see a hint of tears in her eyes. “It was really scary. But time passed, and then I flew out of my cage. I was given a new life; after that, I had no choice but to test out my wings. Only…I didn’t know how to fly.”

“How to fly?”

“Yeah… How to live. So I think I wanted an axis.”

An axis, to help her live her life.

When Natsunagi said that word, I realized it was probably the core of our entire conversation.

“I wasn’t anybody, and then all of a sudden, I had to be. So I relied on this heart… I decided to model my approach to life on hers.”

These were the true feelings she’d kept hidden inside.

This was why she’d listened to the voice of that heart. She’d pursued the person the heart was looking for, “X”—me—and had taken up the role of ace detective.

It had happened during the Saikawa incident as well. At first, I’d been planning on turning down the request, but Natsunagi had given a random reason to make us take it. Now I could understand the logic behind her unnatural proactiveness.

Natsunagi could only find her way in life by using the ace detective—Siesta—as her axis. And that was just as true of me.

“So it’s exactly as Charlie said. I’ve been playing detective this whole time. I know this is only make-believe.”

“Natsunagi…” I tried to say something to her, but the words wouldn’t come out right.

…Because we were the same.

I had the same complex she did, and I didn’t know what I should do from here on out. Which meant that right now, I had no answers to give her.

“I’m sorry. I’m going to call it a night.” Draining the rest of her cocktail in one gulp, Natsunagi stood up.

“Natsunagi, I…”

“Good night. See you tomorrow, okay?” As Natsunagi waved at me, her expression was no different from usual. That was how I knew this conversation was over.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” All I could do was watch her small back get farther and farther away. “ ‘See you tomorrow,’ huh…?”

That’s right—this isn’t over yet.

I’d have to get my thoughts together and watch for a chance to talk about it again. For now, I decided to head back to my cabin…except Charlie took it over, didn’t she? If I tried quietly slipping into the bed with her, I’d probably wake up dead tomorrow.

Well, that left only one option. I took out my phone.

“Uh, hello, Saikawa?”

“Yes, speaking… What is it? It’s kinda late, isn’t it?”

“Are you in your cabin already? Sorry, but could you let me stay there tonight?”

While I was there, I’d tell her about Charlie and what I’d just discussed with Natsunagi.

“…I’ll put on some cute undies while I’m waiting.”

“What is wrong with you?”

The worst happens

The next morning, the commotion outside the cabin woke me up.

“Urk, ngh… What’s going on…?”

“Nnnnngh, be quiet…Kimizuka…”

“…Nn. Hey, stop. Let go of me, Saikawa.”

Untangling myself from Saikawa, who was hugging my arm, I sluggishly sat up.

“What the heck is all the noise about…?” Joints cracking and popping, I stepped into the corridor, and…

“What the hell was that announcement?! Whose voice was that?!”

“I don’t know! I don’t see any signs that someone got into the radio room, but…”

For some reason, there were crew members running around in a panic.

“Kimizukaaaa…?”

“Hey, Saikawa, look alive. Something’s wrong.”

Saikawa came over to me, rubbing sleep-dazed eyes. I was urging her to go wash her face, when—

“Attention all passengers.”

—an announcement in a creepy, synthesized voice echoed through the ship’s corridors.

“We have a girl with us in the lounge.”

Was this about a lost kid? Under most normal circumstances, that would have been the case. But from the way the crew members were reacting, this wasn’t an official broadcast.

That meant—

“The girl’s name is—Nagisa Natsunagi.”

““……!””

Saikawa and I looked at each other. I had an awful feeling about this, and I knew it wasn’t just a feeling.

“If this rings a bell with anyone, please hurry to the fifth-floor lounge.”

“Saikawa… This is what I think it is, isn’t it?”

“…Yes. I think the worst is happening.”

“We have a girl with us.”

If this wasn’t about a lost child, I could think of only one possibility.

That girl, Nagisa Natsunagi, had been kidnapped.

“See you tomorrow”: The words she’d said when we parted last night played in my ears, over and over.

First, Saikawa and I went to Natsunagi’s cabin and confirmed that it was empty, then headed for the lounge mentioned in the announcement, the one on the fifth-floor deck.

When we got to the entrance, it had already been closed off by ship security, and an inspection was underway inside.

“Was Miss Natsunagi there?” Saikawa asked a security guard. As the owner of this ship, she had the right to know everything.

“No. Crew members came running immediately after the announcement, but they found nothing.”

The guard shot a glance at me, because I looked like an outsider, but Saikawa gave a small nod to indicate that I belonged.

“…That being the case, we haven’t found anyone who appears to be the criminal yet, either.”

“I see…” Saikawa looked down, apparently thinking hard.

…Dammit, what’s going on?

We’d followed instructions and come here, but we couldn’t even find Natsunagi, much less her kidnapper.

“For now, go over the passenger list carefully. Then check all the cabins and compare the faces and names.”

“Understood, miss.”

Saikawa issued instructions to the security guard, searching for a clue that could get us somewhere.

She was right. This was a cruise ship, out on the ocean. Even if there was a criminal, he couldn’t possibly have gone anywhere else. Natsunagi had to be on the ship somewhere.

…Hmm? A way to get off this ship…?

“Hey, Saikawa.” I waited until the security guard had left his post, then asked my host, “Is there any way to get off this boat in the middle of the cruise?” Excluding regularly scheduled ports of call, of course.

“Huh? Charlie asked me that same question yesterday.”

“Yesterday? You talked with Charlie before I went to your cabin last night?”

“Yes, in the evening. She came to see me.”

What? When did that happen…? “And? Did you tell her?”

“Yes, well. I mentioned the lifeboats.”

I see. Of course the ship would have those. So had Charlie really left the ship? If so, don’t tell me… Did she take Natsunagi along?

No, I had to be overthinking it. Charlie had absolutely no motive for grabbing Natsunagi and jumping ship.

“…Actually, Saikawa, why did you help Charlie?” Speaking of motives, I couldn’t think of a single reason for Saikawa to side with her…

“Heh-heh. Didn’t you know, Kimizuka? Looking through solid objects isn’t the only thing this eye can do.” Saikawa touched the patch covering her left eye with her fingertips. At first glance, that didn’t seem to have anything to do with this situation, but…this definitely wasn’t idle rambling. “For one thing, it can also see whether someone is telling a lie or saying what they really feel.”

“It can…?”

“Yes. And last night, when Charlie came to see me, she didn’t tell a single lie. She said there was something she had to do, which was why she had to get off this ship immediately.”

That did sound like the sort of thing Charlie would say.

“I’m planning to do it my way.”

It probably meant Charlie had an idea, and she had made a move before I had.

“So I decided to help her just a little. After all, when a girl’s in trouble, I can’t just leave her there.”

I suspected this story might be a white lie on Saikawa’s part. I really couldn’t believe that her sapphire eye had the ability to read minds. But Saikawa was probably doing the job she believed was right, in her own way.

“…Still, why didn’t you tell me about it? I don’t mind if you helped Charlie out, but you could have mentioned it to me, couldn’t you?” I even stayed in your room last night because I thought Charlie had taken mine.

“What? Well, I mean, if I’d told you, you wouldn’t have spent the night in my room, would you, Kimizuka?”

“That was the goal there?!” No, seriously, what was she after…?

“Heh-heh! Just kidding. Did I make your heart skip a beat?”

Then she gave an exaggerated wink with her right eye.

…I swear. Unlike you, I don’t have the ability to detect lies. Gimme a break.

But the tension had softened a bit. The next thing I knew, both my nervous sweat and the crease between my eyebrows had vanished. Maybe that was one of Yui Saikawa’s idol skills.

“Miss Saikawa!” Just then, a security guard came running toward us from the lounge. “This was discovered on one of the counter seats inside.”

He was holding a book. The title was—

“The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes,” Saikawa murmured softly.

I knew that book. It was a collection of short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, detailing the exploits of the legendary detective.

I took the book from the security guard and flipped through the pages…and a bookmark fell out. The page it had been marking was in the short story “The Adventure of the Gloria Scott,” a tale of the event that had led Holmes to become a detective. A ship had also sunk in that story.

The bookmark had a message on it:

At 8:00 PM, come to the main deck with the ace detective’s legacy.

How to use a three-billion-yen family treasure

“Not here, either…”

“Nope, guess not. Let’s move on.”

Feeling a little dejected, Saikawa and I left the sit-down restaurant we’d been searching and headed for the next location.

At the moment, we were walking around the ship on a search. Instead of Siesta’s legacy, we were looking for Natsunagi herself.

“Dammit. So cheating isn’t gonna cut it, huh?”

“I’m using my left eye, so I really don’t think we could have missed anything, but…”

“Yeah…you’re right.” My fingernails bit into my palms. If the pain stimulated my brain, so much the better.

I was thinking about the message on that bookmark. The criminal had demanded that we give them Siesta’s legacy if we wanted to save Natsunagi’s life.

But we had no idea what that legacy was. The previous day, Charlie had told us only that something along those lines apparently existed, and we didn’t yet know what it was, specifically. Charlie also hadn’t known…and I doubted the criminal did, either. That was why they’d taken Natsunagi hostage and was trying to make us find it for them.

That said, we’d learned one thing from this situation.

“The criminal behind this is definitely a member of SPES, correct?” Saikawa asked.

“If they’re asking for the ace detective’s legacy, that’s plenty of circumstantial evidence.”

The day before, when I was talking with Charlie, she’d mentioned the possibility that SPES might be after Siesta’s legacy. After this kidnapping incident, I was sure of it.

SPES was afraid of the seed Siesta had sown here, and they’d concealed themselves on this cruise ship to nip it in the bud. However, they hadn’t been able to find the actual object. Since we were also on board and connected to the affair, the enemy had lost patience and tried to shake us up.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have a clue what it is, either…”

So instead of searching for Siesta’s legacy, we’d switched to looking for Natsunagi instead. We went around every public facility in the ship, trying to locate her. We even used Saikawa’s left eye to search the cabins and other places we couldn’t just walk into.

“This is the next one, isn’t it?”

Our next stop was a big theater. They were going to perform a musical there that evening, and at this hour of the afternoon, a rehearsal was underway. Technically, no one was allowed inside, but we managed to use Saikawa’s authority to get in anyway.

“Well? See anything?”

From her position in the very last row of the theater, Saikawa scanned the whole place. Her left eye could see through the eye patch, beneath the floor, and beyond the doors; it saw everything. If the criminal or Natsunagi happened to be in this theater, Saikawa would be able to find them instantly.

And the result was—

“Nothing. Natsunagi isn’t here.”

“…Okay.”

If Saikawa said so, then that was that. There were still a lot of rooms we hadn’t searched, though. We had to act fast, before something happened that we couldn’t fix.

“Saikawa, let’s go. We’re running out of time.”

“…Um, Kimizuka. Could you calm down a little, please?”

“We can’t afford to relax. We have to find Natsunagi fast, or else—”

“Kimizuka!” As I tried to turn on my heel, Saikawa grabbed my right arm. “Kimizuka, that look in your eyes is scaring me.” She was gazing at me.

For the first time, I realized there was such a thing as a gentle wry smile.

“I’m always like this,” I retorted.

“That’s a lie. You’re normally much kinder. Lies don’t work on me.” Saikawa said, releasing me. “Besides, I’m sorry. Using my left eye takes…quite a bit out of me.”

“…It does? Sorry about that.”

That hadn’t even occurred to me. If that was the case, I’d probably been pushing her a bit too hard. I closed my eyes and massaged the center of my brow, trying to reduce my anxiety.

“It’s all right; calm down. Your hands squeeze. Your shoulders roll. Your breathing is rhythmic. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, then exhale. Your blood circulates. When you open your eyes, your cloudy vision will be clear.”

“What was that about?”

“It’s like my magic charm. I use it to calm myself down before concerts, when I’m so nervous, I worry my heart will explode. Why don’t we sit down for a minute?”

I agreed to Saikawa’s suggestion, and we lowered ourselves into seats in the empty house. On the stage, they were running a rehearsal for The Phantom of the Opera.

“I’m sorry I’m causing so much trouble. Pathetic, huh?” I muttered. I wasn’t living up to my role as the older one here.

“Pathetic? Did you mean you, Kimizuka?”

“Well, I am, aren’t I? When I heard Natsunagi was gone, I completely lost it…and then I started working you like a dog. I didn’t even think about how it might affect you physically.”

If Siesta had been alive, she would have let me have it. Assistant fail. She probably would have fired me on the spot. I’d never be able to face her.

“Heh-heh. You do say some funny things, Kimizuka.”

“…I’m pretty sure I’m not brave enough to crack jokes in a situation like this.”

But Saikawa was giggling, her petite body rocking with genuine amusement. “Kimizuka, you’re acting so apologetic for not meeting other people’s expectations, but—”

She broke off for a moment, drew a deep breath, and then:

“—I wasn’t expecting all that much from you in the first place!” She pointed at me, looking triumphant.

“…Did you just roast me?”

That didn’t seem right. I’d thought Saikawa and I had a pretty good, trusting relationship.

“Oh, honestly! That’s not what I meant.” Saikawa turned her palms up and shook her head dramatically. “That’s the trouble with you, Kimizuka. You don’t understand anything.”

She really is making fun of me, isn’t she?

“Listen, when I said ‘I wasn’t expecting all that much from you,’ I meant it in a good way.”

“Do you think you can get away with insulting people as long as you ‘meant it in a good way’?”

“Regardless.”

Hey, answer my question. Ugh, middle schoolers.

“I was the same way, you see.”

“…The same?” I remembered my conversation with Natsunagi the day before.

“Like you, I couldn’t live on my own, either.”

“I couldn’t live on my own.” When I heard those words, something clicked in my mind.

“For me, it was my parents, and for you, it was Siesta. We both had people we couldn’t afford to lose, no matter what.”

And then we did.

“Once I lost the North Star of my life, I began to obsess over past promises…and then I very nearly did something I could never take back.”

Past promises; irredeemable mistakes.

I couldn’t ignore how this was connected to me. If I’d been in her shoes, there was no telling what I would have done. That was how important Siesta had been to me.

“But then I got a big shock. The one who saved me was you, someone who should’ve been like me…and Nagisa.”

“I see. So that’s why you…”

“Yes. You and Nagisa, who were as incomplete as I was, tried to save me. You put yourselves in my place and encouraged me to move forward. That was why I was able to take your hands so easily.”

This was what had been going through her mind in her dressing room, after the attack at the concert—when she’d made the choice to put down her gun and take our hands instead. I really didn’t know anything… I was an incomplete person, and a disappointment besides.

Apparently, my papier-mâché facade hadn’t worked on Saikawa’s left eye.

“I am really sorry, but I don’t expect any more than I have to from you, Kimizuka. So please don’t be any more considerate of me than you have to be. After all, that’s the sort of friendship we have, isn’t it?”

Gently, Saikawa removed the patch from her left eye. In that blue, there were no calculations, sympathy, or deceit—no impurities at all. The color was endlessly deep and clear.

“Yeah, that’s fine. It’s best that way.”

Inwardly, I sent a compliment to Siesta, two years ago.

The idol from Japón you had your eye on is here with us right now to protect your last wish.

“But if you’re the ace detective’s assistant, Kimizuka, then perhaps I wouldn’t mind being your assistant instead.”

“The assistant of the assistant of the ace detective?”

“Yes, that’s right. Like a matryoshka doll or something.” Saikawa giggled as she spoke. “I don’t know if I can ever be your right arm, but I believe I can be your left eye, at least.”

It was a reassuring promise.

Even in a tunnel with no lights, I bet I’d be able to walk confidently, I thought.

After that, we resumed our search of the ship, until we’d been through every room.

“…We didn’t find her, did we?”

The sun had set, and it wouldn’t be long until the appointed hour. In the end, we had no results to show for our efforts.

“But, Kimizuka…”

“Right.”

The lack of results was the result.

That led us to just one answer.

From here on out, no deductions or diplomacy would be necessary.

“It’s all-out war, you bastard.”

Light in the midst of hope (despair)

When eight PM came and I went out on deck, all I saw was an expanse of black sky and black sea. Right now, except for me, there wasn’t a soul around…or so it seemed.

Our opponent was the one who’d set the time and place, so they were bound to show. Actually, they might already be here.

I strained my eyes in the darkness.

I didn’t know where they were lurking. Even with Saikawa’s eye, we probably wouldn’t have been able to find them. After all, our opponent had a certain ability.

During my conversation with Charlie, optical camouflage had briefly come up. Even Saikawa’s left eye hadn’t been able to locate the enemy. In that case, it had to mean they were using that sort of technique, a skill that would make them impossible to see.

And during those three years, I’d already met this guy.

“Enough messing around. Just get out here already—Chameleon.” I glared at the invisible enemy.

You’re going to give back Nagisa Natsunagi.

“Ha-ha. Now there’s a fine greeting.” Suddenly, a voice spoke from thin air. “I’m the one who’s been waiting for you, you know. I see no one’s taught you any manners since we last met.”

He appeared at the very edge of the deck, with the black ocean behind him.

For a moment, the air warped and twisted, and then a human silhouette faded into view.

The lights illuminated a slim, silver-haired man with Asian features. Like Bat, he had a tentacle-like appendage, this one sprouting from his mouth.

This was Chameleon, Natsunagi’s kidnapper.

His long tongue and his ability to blend in with the scenery around him and disappear really suited his code name.

I’d fought this guy once before, during my three-year adventure.

Back then, he hadn’t shown himself at all, only hinted at his presence with his voice. This was the first time I’d actually seen him.

“As this is our first reunion in quite some time, I would love to exchange some witty repartee, but…you’ve kept me waiting a very long while, you see. Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?”

As Chameleon spoke, a vague figure materialized in the coils of his tongue.

“Natsunagi!” I tried to run to her, but the tentacle-like tongue tightened its grip and raised her high into the air.

“Careful. Stay where you are.”

“Ghk…”

The grotesque tongue, which looked as if it might be thirty meters long, carried Natsunagi over the side of the ship, holding her above the ocean.

“Ngh…”

Natsunagi seemed to be semiconscious; her eyes were closed, and she moaned as if she was in pain.

“Just hang on. I’ll save you.” I reached toward the holster at my waist.

“Ha-ha. Perhaps you should calm down a little.”

“Shut up and get that nasty thing back in your mouth. You’re not a goddamn golden retriever. At least they’re cute when they do it.”

Hell, you shouldn’t even be intelligible with it sticking out like that.

As my irritation grew, I drew my handgun and released the safety.

“Oh-ho. You’ve grown quite spirited. Before, you were merely that ‘ace detective’s’ shadow…”

“Are you trying to give me flashbacks or something? Who wanted to get down to business, again?”

…I was seething, and I needed to cool off.

“What are you after?” I asked.

Of course, I had to rescue Natsunagi fast…but I had another job to do, too.

I needed to stall for time.

Right now, the ship’s passengers were escaping into the ocean in the lifeboats, under Saikawa’s direction. This maneuver hinged on her charisma as the owner of the ship and as a top idol. However, it was going to take time to evacuate everyone. That was the ultimate mission I’d been assigned: Protect Natsunagi and buy enough time to evacuate all the passengers.

“I believe I’ve already informed you of my objective. Several times. Hand over the ace detective’s legacy, if you would. Then, and only then, will I return this girl to you. No need for deadly toys,” Chameleon sneered, his eyes on the gun in my right hand.

As we’d thought, Chameleon’s goal—or his objective as a member of SPES—was the legacy Siesta had supposedly left on this ship. It had to be a trump card that could bring SPES down.

“I really wish I could, but unfortunately, we don’t have any idea what the legacy is, either.”

“Hmm. So that’s your approach, is it? …Well, I did give you free rein all day and saw nothing to the contrary. I had hoped until just a moment ago that you would find it somehow. What a pity.”

So this whole time, Chameleon had been watching us from his undetectable camouflage against the scenery nearby? In that case, he had to know we wouldn’t be able to trade Natsunagi’s life for Siesta’s legacy.

“There you have it. So can you just give her back?” I lowered my pistol, attempting to negotiate.

“I see. You do say such amusing things. Nonetheless, that would be no transaction at all. You need to offer something that will be worth my while.”

“Worth your while? Well, let’s see. How about this? If you release Natsunagi here and now, I won’t fill your ass full of lead, and you’ll be able to run back home to your mommy, safe and sound.”

“…Ha-ha. You’ve certainly grown cheeky, haven’t you?” Chameleon’s bearing was as infernally polite as ever, but his eyes were clearly annoyed, and his gaze bored into me. “You seem to misunderstand your position. You do not have the advantage in these negotiations.”

Chameleon’s tongue squeezed Natsunagi, hard.

“Ngh…ghk…!”

“Natsunagi!”

“Kimi…zuka…?”

In the coils of Chameleon’s tongue, Natsunagi opened her eyes. She looked around, and it didn’t take her long to understand her situation. But she still smiled.

“…Ah-ha-ha. It looks like I blew it. I’m sorry,” she murmured softly.

If her smile was going to be so sad, I didn’t want to see it.

“You didn’t find the ace detective’s legacy. Therefore, the first condition for exchange has been rendered invalid. We are in agreement there.” Ignoring our exchange, Chameleon made a new proposal. “In that case, I offer you a choice between the life of this girl and the lives of the passengers and crew who are still on the ship.”

“……!”

So he’d figured it out? He knew I was buying time and that we were still evacuating the passengers from the ship. Everything. But then why…?

“What’s the point of killing the passengers? What’s ‘worth your while’ about that?”

“Ha-ha. Firing my own words back at me? In this case, the lives of the passengers and crew are rather incidental.”

“Incidental?”

“Yes. My primary objective is merely to sink this ship. After all, the detective’s legacy is sleeping somewhere here,” Chameleon said. “If we are unable to locate it, we can still ensure no one ever will. If we cannot obtain it, we have only to destroy it. It’s extremely simple.”

“…So you’re saying you’ll just kill the passengers while you sink the boat?”

“Yes. It’s no more than an attendant result of achieving my objective.”

When I heard that, my grip tightened on the gun again. But I still had things to ask him, so I gritted my teeth and hung on.

“Then what about Natsunagi?! What does killing her get you?!”

It was the life of a single girl. For a terrorist organization that had even created pseudohumans like this guy, there was no point in going after—

“That is also simple: This girl has the blood of the ace detective in her.”

“……!”

My mind reeled.

Had I been right? Was it true?

SPES’s main target wasn’t me or Saikawa—it was Natsunagi. Not only that, but they were only after her because she had Siesta’s heart…

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill her so easily.”

“You won’t kill her…easily?” That didn’t make me feel any better at all.

“Yes. After all, she holds that ace detective’s heart. Human experimentation, I suppose you could call it. From the tips of her toes to each individual strand of her hair—it is worth examining her in detail, don’t you think?”

Chameleon’s eyes narrowed in a sly grin, and the tip of his grotesque tongue crawled over Natsunagi’s cheek.

“—No!” Natsunagi arched backward, but the long, snakelike tongue wouldn’t let her go.

I could see the agony on her face, above the dark ocean, in the grip of the tongue that stretched over the ship’s side.

“Let her go, you bastard!”

This time, I really did turn the gun on Chameleon. All I had to do was pull the trigger, and I’d put a bullet right between his eyes.

“As I said, you should calm yourself a little. If you do, this girl will plunge headfirst into the ocean. It’s night. You’ll have no way to save her.”

“Rgh…”

Yeah, I know. You don’t have to tell me.

And yet my impulses wouldn’t stop trying to overrule my rational brain. I held down my right hand with my shaking left hand—otherwise, it might just pull the trigger on its own.

“Now then, make your choice, if you would. Will you save this girl’s life, or the lives of the many passengers on this ship? Those are your only options.”

The choices he presented me with were the ugliest ones in the world.

If I rescued Natsunagi, so many other lives would be lost.

If I saved them, Natsunagi would be experimented on, then killed.

There’s no way I can make that choice.

But unless I did, both worst-case scenarios were bound to become reality at once… Plus, I knew these guys. No matter which one I chose, there was no guarantee that they’d keep their end of the bargain. That was how it had been during Saikawa’s incident. That was the kind of group SPES was.

Then, right from the start, my choices were—

“Kimizuka.”

Suddenly, a voice called to me.

“Shoot me.”

Even in the darkness, her expression was as dignified as a solitary white flower blooming proudly on the brink of a cliff.

“What are you talking about, Natsunagi?”

In the coils of the tongue, Natsunagi could only take shallow breaths, but still, she kept her gaze fixed on me, trying to make sure I knew what she thought.

“It’s easy, isn’t it? Think of the greater good. Or, what, have you lost your basic math skills?”

“…Since when were you so utilitarian? That’s not like you.”

“Really? Maybe not. Still, under these circumstances, what we need isn’t my passion, but the ace detective’s logic.”

“You’re an ace detective, too, remember?”

“No, I’m not. I’m nobody. I’m just a fake.”

“That’s not—!”

“Kimizuka.” Natsunagi said my name again. “When you said I didn’t have to be anybody’s replacement—it made me happy. Thank you.” She actually seemed to be smiling faintly.

If I shot Natsunagi now, the enemy would lose his hostage. After that, he’d probably try to sink this ship, passengers and all, but I’d keep him from doing that, even if it killed me. As long as he wasn’t holding Natsunagi hostage, I could fire at will. Even if I couldn’t hope for total victory, I might be able to manage half a victory and take him out with me.

That meant she was right.

Natsunagi’s decision that I should shoot her was unassailably correct. It was the right call.

In that case. What I needed to do was—

“Kimizuka.”

Natsunagi called my name, one more time.

“Shoot.”

In that moment…a long-ago memory flickered through my mind.

It was the image of a white-haired girl, facing a vicious enemy all alone without telling me.

She’d never hesitated to sacrifice herself. It hadn’t scared her. She was the sort of person who mistook self-sacrifice for the right choice. That’s why, back then, I’d completely ripped her a new one. Even now, I had a vivid memory of her face. I’d never seen her look so stunned before.

As I remembered that scene…I thought, Yeah, it’s the same.

Right now, Natsunagi was exactly like she had been.

And so I was sure, right now…

In that moment, when I heard what Natsunagi said, I decided on the choice I should make.

“—I don’t care if it’s the right call.”

I could see Natsunagi’s eyes widen slightly.

“Did you say you were nobody?” I took a step toward her.

Naturally, Chameleon was wary, and he made a move as if he was initiating some sort of attack—but a moment sooner, I’d aimed my gun right between his eyes.

“…Yes. All I can do is copy how some other person lived. I’m just a fake. I’m nobody.”

“Is that right? Then you should be glad.” I took one more step toward Natsunagi. “If you’re nobody yet, that means you can become anybody you want.”

If you don’t know how to fly, let someone teach you how to beat your wings.

If you don’t know how to live, just walk beside someone.

You spent almost eighteen years lying in bed. Running the hundred-meter dash will be way more exhilarating for you than it is for most people. This world has so much for you to enjoy and discover. From now on, you can be anybody.

“That’s why I’m doing this.”

I pointed the muzzle of my gun at Natsunagi.

“…My, my, we can’t have that. I intend to take this girl back to our hideout and enlist her cooperation with our experiments, you know. I can’t have her getting killed yet.”

With a fake-looking smile on his face, Chameleon said his sickening nonsense.

But this guy had made a huge miscalculation. Not that he had any way of knowing.

On that pitch-black night, she’d made a promise to me.

“Nagisa Natsunagi can’t die before I do.”

Sorry, but that was the deal.

I took aim and shot clear through the tongue Chameleon had wrapped around Natsunagi.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Chameleon gave a snarling roar, and the tongue was sliced cleanly in two in a spray of blood.

Natsunagi plunged toward the dark ocean—but…

“Nagisaaaa!”

…just before she hit the black water, a small boat with a mat in it slid under her.

“Apologies for the delay!”

Yes, Saikawa. That blue eye still shone in the darkness, and it was definitely worth three billion yen.

A golden banner flying in the night sky

“You say I’m no detective, but…”

I can’t remember when it was, but I’d told Siesta she was more like a special agent than a detective.

“In my mind, the definition of a detective is always ‘Someone who protects the interests of the client.’ I take pride in that work. That’s why I always have been, and always will be, a detective.”

Siesta had still insisted that that was what she was.

I’m sure that when she said “client,” she meant every other human on the planet.

She’d said that being an ace detective was in her nature, and she’d smiled. That smile was almost too bright for me.

“She’s all yours now!” I yelled to Saikawa as the distant flash of memory passed.

Protect the client’s interests: no more, no less. If I could just do that, it would be enough.

So what if you make a deduction? If you don’t use it to save people’s lives, there’s no point.

Natsunagi had tried to save the people who were still on the ship at the cost of her own life. Saikawa had managed to rescue her in the nick of time. Without a doubt, they had both inherited the ace detective’s last wish.

“They’re gone…”

I watched the small boat race over the water; it had already carried the two girls far away.

I couldn’t put either of them in any more danger. From here on, this was my job.

“You’ve certainly sealed your fate.”

Chameleon’s tone was still polite, but his formerly expressionless face was suffused with anger.

I’d seen the bullet cut off his “tongue,” but he wiped the blood from his lips, then began extending that tongue again. It was like a lizard severing its own tail, then regenerating it.

And reptilian was what he was. This guy had completely discarded his humanity.

“I’ll show no mercy now. I won’t fail to do you the honor of killing you here.”

The next moment, Chameleon’s “tongue” came speeding toward me. Like Bat’s tentacle, its tip morphed into a sharp blade.

“^_____!”

Even if I’d seen similar movement before, it wasn’t an easy thing to dodge.

I tumbled, evading, but it grazed my shoulder a bit. “Ghk! Ow…”

Besides, four years ago, Siesta had been the one who’d dodged those attacks, not me. If this was how it was gonna be, maybe I really should have learned more self-defense.

“Dammit!”

In desperation, I fired at him.

To be honest, from here on out, I was flying blind.

It had been close, but I’d managed to rescue Natsunagi. And if Saikawa had come racing to us, that meant most of the other passengers must have been evacuated as well.

In that case, it was okay now. I didn’t mind being the only one to go down with the ship.

“…Whew.”

I was able to get to my feet somehow, then loaded more bullets into my gun. These six were the last ones.

“Well, well. Such clear resolve in your eyes. Do you intend to die alone?”

Temporarily retracting his tongue, Chameleon narrowed his eyes, shooting me a glance.

“Sorry, but no. I’m taking you with me. Two guys committing suicide together on the ocean isn’t the greatest ending, but that’s why nobody’s hired me to write their movie.”

“Even now, you can still express yourself so eloquently, hmm? I believe you may be more suited to the profession of comedian than scriptwriter. If you run a variety show in hell’s second district, no doubt your audience will be showering you with tips.”

Exchanging our unfunny gallows humor, we kept each other pinned down with our eyes.

“Not that I have any intention of giving you my life in the first place. In addition, those girls you believe you helped escape—I’ll take their lives soon after I’ve taken yours.” The way Chameleon licked his chops made my stomach turn.

“Why would you go that far…?”

Even if Natsunagi said she’d carry out Siesta’s last wish, she was just a high school girl. Why would he go after her so tenaciously?

“It’s all because of that heart.” Chameleon’s lip curled in exasperation. “I myself was only just informed of it, but—it isn’t normal.”

It wasn’t…normal?

Was he saying Siesta’s heart held some sort of secret?

“Well, there’s no need for you to know. However, I will tell you that circumstances changed for us very recently.”

“…What are you talking about…?”

“To my relief, apparently the situation is not as grave as we had feared. In addition, the legacy the ace detective is said to have left on this ship is about to sink with it. Victory is ours. Ha-ha, ha-ha-ha.” Chameleon gave an unpleasant, mocking laugh. “After I kill you, I’ll pursue those girls to the ends of the earth, the bottom of the sea, the heights of the sky. I’ll torture them again and again and again, constantly, ceaselessly, until they cry and plead with me to let them die. I won’t stop until the very end.”

I heard something inside me snap.

“Oh dear, I fear I’ve spoken a bit too much. Let us finish this, shall we?”

It didn’t even take me a second to realize I was going to slaughter this guy.

“Do you require time to say your prayers?”

“No. Unfortunately, I’m an atheist.”

“Is that so? In that case—” Chameleon closed his mouth.

Sorry, but the end of that sentence is mine.

“—Die.”

The “tongue” flew toward me like a bullet, but I slid and evaded it, getting in close to the enemy.

My self-control was gone. I jammed my gun against his jaw, but—

“How very naive.” The tongue curled back in an instant like a whip, striking my hand.

“Ghk…!” I nearly dropped the gun, and while I was struggling to hang on to it—

“You’re wide-open.”

“Ngh… Khak…”

—that long tongue sank into my torso, and I went flying as if I’d been hit with a metal bat.

“Can’t—breathe…”

I slammed into the deck, and my lungs stopped working properly. I’d probably busted a few ribs, too. I felt the blood retreating into the depths of my body, my temperature falling.

If this keeps up, I’m gonna die.

It was so abrupt. But this wasn’t a hunch—it was a conviction.

“You must know a mere boy could never win against a pseudohuman.”

Chameleon was coming closer. Somehow I managed to get to my feet, and I leveled my gun at him.

…But I could barely even see him.

Maybe because I was breathing shallowly, I couldn’t line the sight up properly. My feet were very unsteady, too.

“There, you see? You can’t protect anyone.”

“Just shut the fuck up!”

I was firing at random. Most of the bullets missed their target, and the one that did fly straight at him, the guy deflected with his tongue.

So he could change its hardness at will, too, not just its length?

“You will perish here, and I will most assuredly kill the girls you helped escape with my own hands.”

“…Ghk… Fuck you! Shut up!”

I set my finger on the trigger, one more time…but nothing happened. I was out of bullets.

“Yes, everything you’ve done has been useless. You, and those you tried to protect, will all die. Just like that damnable ace detective.”

I’m going to die. That’s fine. After all, I should have died a year ago. In a way, I already have.

Natsunagi, though. Saikawa.

I have to protect them, at least.

I have to protect the clients’ interests, their lives.

I told Charlie I’m no detective, I’m just an assistant, but even if that’s all I am—

“The ace detective’s last wish…was passed to me.”

To my surprise, my legs actually moved.

I remembered what Saikawa had said.

My hands squeeze. My shoulders roll.

My breathing is rhythmic. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, then exhale.

My blood circulates. When I open my eyes, my cloudy vision will be clear.

Maybe that sapphire eye had come to dwell in me. It couldn’t have, not really, but what about my ears? I pinned my hopes on my acoustic system.

—And I heard it.

I wasn’t the only one, either. Everyone heard that noise.

“A helicopter?”

When I looked up—there it was, in the pitch-black sky.

“Kimizuka! Get down!”

The words were so distant I wasn’t sure if I’d heard them, and I threw myself onto the deck, taking cover.

In the next instant—

“Eat lead, asshooooole!!!”

Along with the ear-splitting roar of a strafe attack, a rain of bullets fell from the night sky, striking Chameleon.

“Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

High in the sky, in the helicopter’s open hatch—

“I see you’re having some trouble with that fight, Kimizuka.”

—stood Charlotte Arisaka Anderson, long golden hair streaming in the night wind as she blazed away with a machine gun.