The Detective Is Already Dead, Vol. 2

“What are you talking ab…—?”

Abruptly, as if she’d noticed something, Siesta’s eyebrows rose.

“And you cannot take a single step from that spot. You cannot speak.”

Hel’s bloodred eyes glinted ominously.

Siesta’s eyes widened. Her mouth flapped as if she were a fish who’d poked her head out of the water in search of food, but she didn’t say a word.

“It can’t be— A pseudohuman ability…”

If Hel was also a member of SPES, then she would have had some sort of special power. If she could do this, was it an ability that controlled what others did…?

I was in too much of a panic to think through it rationally, though. She had Siesta nailed down. In that case, our enemy’s next move was obvious.

The girl in the red military uniform sprinted toward me.

“Now, why don’t you come see hell with me?”

In that moment, my mind lost its link to the world.

Toward the future, one year from now

“Where…?”

When I opened my eyes, my surroundings were dark and unfamiliar.

“……!”

My arms were handcuffed, and my legs were chained. The legs of the chair they’d put me in seemed to be bolted to the concrete floor, and the smell of mold stung my nostrils. My voice was echoing, too… Was I underground?

“It looks like you’re awake.”

A figure emerged from the darkness.

She wore a service cap, pulled down low, and a red military uniform with a stand-up collar. I could barely see her expression, but there was no mistaking her. It was the girl who’d abducted me and brought me here—

“Hel!”

I’d met her at that hotel, and then…

“Where is this place? Are you planning to…kill me?”

I gulped. Why had she gone to the trouble of separating me from Siesta then bringing me all the way here?

“Would you join us?”

I hadn’t been expecting that at all, and for a moment, my mind went blank.

“What are you saying?”

The next thing I knew, Hel was behind me.

“Yes, that was a bit misleading, wasn’t it? —I want you to be my partner.”

The voice made me imagine her tongue on my ear, and goose bumps broke out all across my skin.

“…I don’t get it. What would you get out of having me as a partner?”

“You don’t think much of yourself, do you?”

“I prefer to call it modesty.”

Even at a time like this, the nonsense just came naturally. In fact, maybe it was because I was in so much danger. If I didn’t have my snark, I’d have a hard time hanging on to my sanity. This girl, Hel, was menacing enough to make me shudder.

“No, don’t misunderstand. This is the shaking of a warrior.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“If you think I wet my pants, you’re free to check.”

“I see. So you two joke around like that all the time.” Hel smiled thinly, then finally stepped away from my back.

“…Didn’t know you knew how to smile.”

“Ah-ha-ha. That’s a mean thing to say. What do you think I am?” Footsteps clicking against the floor, Hel walked around my chair in a wide circle. “A devil without emotions? A monster who doesn’t speak your language? A villain you could never reach an understanding with? You really are unkind.” Hel gave another thin smile. “After all, I’m just a girl.”

Hel crossed in front of me. She was holding a thick volume she’d picked up somewhere, her eyes on its pages.

“I really doubt ‘just a girl’ could kill a comrade in cold blood,” I retorted, remembering what Hel had done to Cerberus at the hotel.

“Comrade? Ah-ha-ha, no, no. That was nothing more than a component, there to carry the plan to a successful conclusion.” Hel laughed aloud, as if I’d told a really funny joke. The sound was carefree, easygoing, artless—and cruel. Just like Hel herself, it seemed.

“Are you planning to use me and throw me away, too? Plus, you’ve got nothing to gain by making me your partner.”

I couldn’t believe that was what she genuinely wanted. What was she plotting?

“You’re asking what’s in it for me?” Hel looked down at the book. “Before any talk of pros and cons, what’s written in the sacred text is absolute, you know.”

“The sacred text?”

Did she mean the book she was holding?

“What I have here is only a portion of it. Several things that will happen to you in the future are written in it.”

“That’s just crazy—”

“—And it couldn’t possibly happen? And yet they have. For example, this sacred text definitely predicted that Cerberus would die there, and you would come here.”

That had to be a lie. She was just talking about things that had already happened as if they’d been prophesied long ago.

“You don’t look as if you believe me.”

“Yeah, but don’t take it too hard. I don’t believe anyone but myself.”

“What a coincidence. I’m the same way.”

We might be able to get along pretty well, then. Not that I want to.

“In that case, have you heard of the Leaves of Agastya?” Hel asked. The open book was still in her hands.

“The Leaves of Agastya… I’m pretty sure it was a book of prophecies written by an Indian holy man, a few thousand years ago…”

Siesta was always telling me miscellaneous information and trivia, and I got the feeling she had mentioned this to me. Long ago, the Indian sage Agastya had written revelations he’d received from the gods on palm leaves in ancient Tamil, or something to that effect. She’d also said that each person’s future had been laid out in detail.

“This sacred text was created with the Leaves of Agastya as its foundation. Your future is written here as well.” With her eyes on the open book, Hel walked around the spacious room. “For example, about one month from now, you’ll go back to that normal routine you’ve always longed for and live as an ordinary high schooler.”

“Not a chance. That ace detective would never let me go so easily.”

Of course, if she meant we’d completely destroy SPES a month from now, get our happy ending, and then go back to our normal routines, I’d welcome it, but…

“One year later, you will take up the mantle again, in a role that is closer to ‘detective’ than ‘assistant,’ and play an important role in resolving multiple cases.”

“That’s not happening, either. I’ve never been anything other than Siesta’s assistant.”

After all, there’s no way she’d yield her cushy position as the detective to me, is there?

“A heart’s forgotten memories, a miraculous sapphire worth three billion yen, and the legacy left by the ace detective. If you happen to remember these words a year from now, you’ll be able to verify the answers for yourself.”

“Look, what is this about? What are you saying?”

“What was it—your knack for being dragged into things?”

Hel closed the book. I hadn’t told her about that. She couldn’t be implying that the Leaves of Agastya had covered that, too, could she?

“I don’t think that’s quite it, though.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“You don’t get dragged into things. You drag others in. You drag the whole world in,” Hel said, pointedly spreading her arms wide. “That knack of yours is the power to transform everything and trigger incidents. You yourself are the center of the world. I’ll make you my partner so that you can save it alongside me.”

“I think you meant ‘destroy it.’”

“As far as I’m concerned, they’re one and the same.”

“You’re telling me that destroying the world will get you something you want?”

“You could say that.”

“What if I refuse?”

“Then you refuse.” Hel spun around and started to walk away. “According to the sacred text, you won’t be mine for a while yet. It’s only that getting things done ahead of schedule would make Father—” She suddenly snapped her mouth shut.

Father? Who was that?

“It’s too bad, though. Being my partner would come with a variety of perks,” she went on. She was taking on a joking tone, as if she’d never made that earlier remark. “First and most important, you’d be paid for doing nothing.”

“Hell of a bargain to start with.”

I’d love for a certain ace detective who insists on working me like a dog to hear that.

“You can play video games on a big-screen TV from morning to night if you want.”

“Are you an angel?”

“You can have snacks and ice cream and cup ramen whenever you like, as much as you like.”

“Are you a goddess?”

Hey, white-haired ace detective, did you hear that? A villain is promising to be my sugar mama. You’ve got two seconds before I flip.

“So what do you say?”

The girl in the military uniform held her right hand out to me, where I sat in the chair.

“Kimi— Be my partner.”

With an artless smile, she made me a very attractive offer.

And my response was:

“Yeah—of course not.”

Sorry about that. I’ve always been a coward, and I base my decisions on what I have to lose, not what I have to gain.

“After all, I’d be more scared to make an enemy of Siesta than of you.” Smiling a little at the ironic choice I’d been given, I turned Hel’s proposal down point-blank. “You didn’t even think I’d take your hand, did you?”

“Ah-ha-ha. You knew?” Hel grinned like a little kid whose prank had been discovered, turned, and walked away. While she had her back to me, I tried to figure out a way to get the handcuffs off.

Honestly, I’m impressed she had the nerve to extend her hand to me, when she was the reason I literally couldn’t take it. She’d assumed all along that I was going to turn her down.

“In exchange, then, there’s a little something I’d like you to watch.”

The next moment, the room got a bit brighter. Hel must have flipped a light switch or something. I looked around, and—

“What…the hell…?”

For as far as I could see, there was something, hidden in the shadows.

It was in an iron cage, and it reminded me of an enormous reptile. However, I’d never actually seen a creature like it before. The closest thing I could think of was that Alien monster I’d seen in some movie a while back.

It looked close to four meters long. I didn’t see anything resembling eyes in its head, and fangs sprouted from its enormous jaw. A viscous liquid dribbled from its mouth at regular intervals, and while I did see minimal signs of life, it was very still. Asleep, maybe?

“It’s a biological weapon,” Hel told me, indifferently. “Its breath holds a toxin that readily binds with atmospheric oxygen.”

“…So you’re going to use that thing in a terrorist attack? Here in London?”

“Exactly. That’s the history of the future, recorded in the sacred text. It’s God’s salvation.”

“In what religion…?”

Rgh, pseudohumans hadn’t been enough for them? They’d had to make a thing like this? If they let this monster loose in a populated area… Actually, that reminds me—where were we now? Where was she planning to unleash that monster? We didn’t seem to have left London, but…

“Oh, come to think of it, you asked where we were. I haven’t told you yet.”

Hel put a hand into the iron cage, caressing the biological weapon’s head affectionately.

“We’re under the building where the British houses of Parliament meet: the Palace of Westminster.”

It’s way too late to act cool

“…If you have a facility like this directly under the nerve center of the country, it seems safe to assume you’ve got a significant number of collaborators.”

For the past three years, Siesta and I had been fighting SPES constantly, and yet we hadn’t been able to completely stop their invasion. It had already progressed far beyond what we’d imagined.

“It’s just as you say. We have comrades all over the world, in politics, finance, the police, the clergy… It’s quite possible that someone right next to you is actually a member of SPES.”

“That’s one hell of a punchline,” I snapped.

While Hel’s attention was on the biological weapon, I used my teeth to take out the wire I always keep in my breast pocket. I pushed it into the lock on my handcuffs, then twisted it around at random, relying on instinct and long years of experience. I don’t say I’ve got a knack for getting dragged into trouble for nothing. I’m used to getting kidnapped and locked up.

“Why would you tell me about that plot, though?” I stayed in the conversation, participating enough to keep her from getting suspicious. “What’s the point of showing me that monster? Are you planning to make me its first meal?”

“Its meal, hmm?” Hel said.

From behind her, I saw her stop moving.

“…Well, uh, just as a figure of speech.”

I should not have said that. Whatever else they do to me, don’t let me get eaten by that disgusting thing…

“You’re on the right track, although you guessed wrong.”

…That was close. I’d had an actual brush with death there.

Still, that “right track” Hel had mentioned was concerning. It couldn’t be—

“Are you planning to release that thing into the city and let it eat people?”

“Oh, no, no. We’ve already given it plenty to eat.”

“You have? …—!”

Was that what was going on…? The heart-hunt that had broken out lately, courtesy of Cerberus, centered on London. The true reason for those incidents had been—

“That monster eats human hearts?”

That was its food, or possibly its source of power. The biological weapon ran on human flesh and blood.

“Impressive. You really do have good instincts. I knew you’d be a fitting partner for me.”

“—I told you I want none of that.”

Finally, the handcuffs came off, and I quickly freed my legs. I’d heard wind; I started to cut and run toward the source of the sound—

“Where are you planning to go?”

She was onto me instantly. Well, if I’d run off, she would only have caught me anyway.

“You will be my partner someday, and I want you to watch what’s about to happen, no matter what. Come, Betelgeuse.” I assume that was the weapon’s name.

Hel took something from the sleeve of her military uniform.

“That black rock…”

I was pretty sure it was the object Hel had pulled out of Cerberus’s chest cavity. If human hearts were this living weapon’s energy source, this was probably the final key that would activate it.

“Betelgeuse, it’s time to go to work.”

With that, Hel pushed the small stone into the left side of the biological weapon’s chest. And then…

“—grr, —guh, —!, ______ghkgyaaaaaah!”

A roar reverberated down the underground road. The bioweapon was awake.

As if its restraints had suddenly broken, the enormous monster thrashed its whole body against the metal cage, venting its agitation. Then—

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

In no time at all, with a ferocious crash, it burst out of the cage. Unable to control itself, the monster lunged at Hel, as if it meant to swallow her whole.

“Goodness, you’re noisy.” Hel’s red eyes pierced the monster. In the next instant…

“—! Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

In motions too fast for my eyes to follow, Hel drew several sabers, then plunged them into Betelgeuse, all over its body.

“Settle down a little, all right?”

Betelgeuse suddenly turned meek, crouching down like a giant pet.

“You’re planning to let a monster like that loose? …You’re insane.”

“It’s destiny. It’s my mission.”

“In that case, this ends here and now.”

“Oh, really? You’re going to stop me on your own?” Hel’s painted lips curved.

“That’s a great smile.”

“Hmm? Are you hitting on me?”

“I’m being diplomatic. Sorry, but there’s no way I’ll ever be your partner.”

After that last casual exchange, we were both certain we’d be parting ways.

“I see. That’s a pity. For now, then, watch this city crumble.” Hel leaped onto Betelgeuse, straddling its neck. She was probably planning to head aboveground, then start by crushing the nerve center of the country.

However, I’d already told her. “This ends now.”

“How, exactly? You don’t even have a weapon, so how on earth…”

“You’ve got the wrong idea. When did I ever say I’d be the one to stop you?”

Come on. You know there’s no way she’d let me steal the show.

“—Assistant!”

Like a ray of light in the darkness, a warm voice filtered in to us from elsewhere in the facility.

“Assistant… Where are you?!”

It came closer and closer, until we were hearing it loud and clear from the left-hand wall.

“Assistant…! Where is my assistant?! Assistant!”

…Yeah, you don’t have to yell it over and over like that. Calm down. I’m right here.

“Hello?! Assistant… He’s not here… Where is he?! Where is my assistant?! Assistant… I can’t find— Assistant…!”

Um… No. This is, uh… Is she okay?

Facing each other after this was going to be really awkward, wasn’t it?

“…! Argh, this wall! It’s in the way! I don’t need this right now! Ugh, just break already! Get out of my way!”

The next moment, there was an earsplitting crash, and—

“Assistant!”

Siesta, piloting a giant robot, smashed through the wall. Part of the cockpit was transparent, and her expression was more anxious and panicked than I’d ever seen it. The pale silver hair she was so proud of was completely disheveled.

However, although Siesta was panting heavily, it didn’t take her long to notice me and assess that I was fine. We gazed at each other for a full ten seconds, and then—

“Whew. I swear, Assistant, you’re an awful lot of trouble.”

“You missed your chance to act cool a while back.”

You’re an angel, I’m a monster

Once again, I turned my attention to the humanoid combat weapon that Siesta had arrived in.

Its armored shape was mostly white and about five meters tall—slightly larger than Hel’s biological weapon. An area near the head of the unit was glass, and I could see Siesta sitting inside. That was probably the cockpit.

The machine could have stepped straight out of a robot anime. Its thick arms and legs were striking, but I spotted missile and bullet firing ports at its joints. It really was a combat weapon.

…Which was why a question came to mind. “Siesta, where did you get that thing?”

It probably hadn’t been more than a few hours since I’d been abducted. How had she managed to procure a mobile weapon in that brief time frame?

In response to my perfectly natural question, Siesta said:

“…Um, well, I found it…lying on the road?”

She was refusing to look at me.

“You are such a liar! You couldn’t have just found that thing by the road!”

“…No, I mean it. What, you think I was so shaken by your abduction that I freaked out, negotiated with the British government, and borrowed the experimental military weapon Sirius? No way.”

“That was even more elaborate than I expected!”

She just spilled all of it herself. She’s so bad at lying, it’s unreal.

“Siesta, look, you were way too desperate to save me.”

“…! …I’m telling you, that wasn’t it!” Siesta murmured. She had turned her face away, and I couldn’t see it clearly.

“Honestly. You’ll make me jealous, having such a passionate exchange with my future partner,” Hel remarked, without a hint of jealousy or even interest.

“Hel.”

Siesta’s blue eyes glared at Hel from the cockpit.

Hel responded by preparing for battle, straddling Betelgeuse’s neck as it leaned forward.

“I won’t let you have your way with this city anymore.”

“Do you seriously think you can stop me? Do you think you can stop destiny?”

And with that, the battle was on.

“—Ghkgyaaaaaaaaah!” The monster roared and lunged toward us on all fours.

“Assistant!”

Opening the hatch and leaning halfway out of the pilot’s seat, Siesta reached for me. I grabbed her hand, let her pull me up, and slid into the unit.

“…This is cramped.”

“Well, it was built for one, you know.”

Pressed together in the tight cockpit, Siesta and I headed into battle with the monster.

“I’ll control the right side, so you work the left side, Kimi.”

“Don’t just make me pilot this thing out of nowhere. I don’t even have a regular driver’s license.”

“Well, desperate times. I can’t reach over there with you in the way. Hurry up, here it comes.”

Betelgeuse and Hel hadn’t wasted any time; they were leaping at us from the left.

“…—! Okay, fine!”

This was no time to hesitate. I grabbed a lever on instinct, attempting to steer the unit…but—

“Whoaaaaa?!”

The Sirius, with us in it, promptly lost its balance and fell over.

“Ow-ow-ow… What is this for, the leg?”

Dammit. That was supposed to be an epic rocket punch.

However, we were still okay. When its target had suddenly disappeared, Betelgeuse had overshot, tumbling behind us. We were fighting a monster that had just woken up. It had power, but not control. We were probably pretty evenly matched.

“If you’ve got time to analyze the situation, could you use it to get off me?”

“Hmm? ……Oh.”

I’d fallen over, and Siesta’s cold, irritated eyes were right below me. Apparently, my hand had landed somewhere unfortunate, and I hastily pulled away. Although the cockpit was so small that there wasn’t much distance to take.

“All right, this isn’t going to work. I suppose I’ll do the piloting after all.”

“But you can’t reach the levers if we’re sitting side-by-side, right?”

“Not if we’re sitting side-by-side, no.”

…Oh. Well, I guess it’s our only option.

“—Ghkgyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Behind us, the living weapon was roaring. We hastily got ourselves into position, worked the levers, and got the fallen unit back on its feet.

“If you take advantage of this situation to touch me somewhere you shouldn’t, I’ll lose all respect for you.”

“Zero trust for your assistant, huh?” I sighed, fastening the seatbelt.

“I’m joking. All right, here we go for real this time— Sirius, move out.”

At that, Siesta gripped the control stick firmly from where she was sitting on my lap.

“Here we go.”

“Whoa…!”

With a roar from the engine, the unit surged forward, straight toward the grotesque, four-legged monster. With that much propulsion, we closed the distance in no time.

“Let’s go for the direct approach.”

Hel was right in front of us, on Betelgeuse’s neck. With a violent crash, the humanoid weapon and the biological weapon locked together.

“I can’t believe you’d create a monster like that.”

As Siesta pushed the steering lever forward, she glared through the glass at Hel, astride the monster.

“You’re very much in the way.” Hel turned her cold red eyes on Siesta. The easy indifference she’d had during our conversation had been replaced by open hostility.

“That’s my mission,” Siesta said and set her fingertip on a button. A spot near the Sirius’s wrist fired a stream of bullets.

“______!”

When Hel saw it, she lightly jabbed Betelgeuse’s back with a saber, using the pain to control its movements, and dodged our attack. She reminded me of a jockey expertly controlling her horse with a whip.

But Hel didn’t seem to like her chances against us in a straight fight, so she ignored us and drove Betelgeuse up the underground road.

“Siesta, don’t let her get away! Her only goal is to unleash that monster on this city!”

As far as Hel was concerned, she didn’t necessarily have to fight us. The houses of the British Parliament met right above this underground road. All she had to do was hit them, and the damage would be immeasurable.

“I know. Don’t start with exposition just because you don’t have anything to do.”

“Geez, you’re so unfair…”

Shoving the control stick forward, Siesta went after Hel and Betelgeuse. “My, you’re stubborn.”

As we caught up again, Hel drew one of her many sabers from her waist and flung it at us.

“……!”

Undaunted, Siesta tried to intercept it with the unit’s machine gun—but even if our power was unmistakably greater, the monster had the upper hand in terms of mobility. It evaded all our bullets; all we hit was empty space.

“Hel… Why would you carry out a terror attack like this?”

As Siesta searched for a chance to win, she kept racing down the subterranean tunnel beside the enemy.

“Why? Because it’s destiny.” From her position astride Betelgeuse, Hel glanced over at us. “My will has nothing to do with it. I’m only following the sacred text.”

“—Yeah, and you’ve been talking about nothing else this entire time.”

It was so impossible to get through to her that I was getting pissed off.

At least Siesta seemed to feel the same way.

“No, I’m asking about you. What exactly are you thinking in all this?”

The Sirius’s right arm took a swing at Betelgeuse…but as before, the monster nimbly evaded.

“Me? As I said, my intention is to bring about the future written in this sacred text. That is my only reason for existing. The only reason I was born.”

Hel stuck a sword into Betelgeuse’s back. With a little groan, the monster sped up, fleeing along the wall.

“Siesta!”

“It’s all right, I won’t let them get away. Hold on tight.”

“Yeah, I’m counting on you!”

“I told you to hold on, but I didn’t expect you to hug me quite so hard.”

Well, there wasn’t anything else to hold on to. I didn’t have much choice.

Flames from the engine roared out of the Sirius’s legs, and once again, we closed the distance to Betelgeuse in a rush.

“Earlier, you said that your mission was to get in our way, didn’t you?” Hel said, once we’d caught up to her again. She glanced at us out of the corner of her eye.

“In that case, why are you a detective? Why do you protect people? Because that’s what you were born to be, nothing more. I’m the same. Just as you were born to protect the world, I was born to destroy it. I came into the world bearing that role. Do you think I crave power? Destruction? I want none of those things. I’m merely obeying my natural instincts.”

In the next instant, Betelgeuse abruptly switched direction, clamping its jaws around the Sirius’s throat. Its fangs sank into the armor, and a worrying metallic noise echoed in the tunnel.

“…! So you’re saying we’re essentially the same? That there isn’t even a moral difference between us?”

Siesta fought back in the Sirius, slamming Betelgeuse into the walls and floor, over and over. The humanoid and biological weapons attacked each other again and again, jostling as they made their way toward the underground road’s exit.

“There may be a moral difference. I don’t mind if there is.”

Hel jammed sabers into the Sirius’s knee joints. The unit tottered, and Betelgeuse seized the opportunity to climb. That proved we were near the exit to the surface…and Parliament. We weren’t going to be able to stop the monster while it was still underground…

“Siesta!”

“Engine at full throttle.”

I reached in from behind Siesta, setting my hands over hers, and we pushed the control stick forward. Large, mechanical wings sprouted from the Sirius’s back, the engine roared, and we rose into the air.

In the time it took us to get airborne, the ceiling of the underground facility had opened to reveal black space above us.

“You are good, and I’m evil. That’s fine.” Hel and Betelgeuse flew up into the outside world.

“Wait…!”

We launched ourselves as well, chasing after them in the Sirius.

The moon and countless stars shone in the dark sky. Betelgeuse was climbing up Big Ben, the enormous clock tower attached to Westminster Palace.

“You are an angel; I am a monster. That’s fine. It’s what I’ve always wanted.”

Before long, Hel and Betelgeuse alighted on the top of the tower.

The bioweapon’s mouth opened; that poisonous breath would bring death to anything living and cause a massive tragedy. SPES’s terror attack would be complete.

But we could still catch up.

Just a little farther; one more step.

If we could only reach it…

“Assistant,” Siesta called to me without turning around. “You need to get away from this place quickly. No matter what happens.”

…What was she saying?

But by the time I tried to ask, I’d already been flung out of the hatch into empty space.

The world flipped end over end. Was I spinning, or was it everything else? My sense of direction was completely scrambled—but before long, something yanked on my back, and the next thing I knew, I was drifting in the night sky with the help of a parachute.

“Siesta, why…?”

In the next instant—

At the top of the tower looming against the darkness, I saw the monster and robot clash—and then they both plunged toward the ground.

Thank you for getting mad

“Siesta!”

A great column of flame rose in the dark streets.

That was where the Sirius and Betelgeuse had landed, meaning their pilots also had to be there. As sirens wailed in the distance, I made it to ground zero a slight distance away.

“Siesta… Hey, Siesta! Where are you, where did you go? …Siesta!”

Between the smoke and the hot wind, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. A nasty, scorched smell was making my head swim; my whole body was hot, and my knees were ready to give out at any moment. I stumbled forward through it, shielding my face with my arms, and then—

“…Are you stupid, Kimi?”

My ears caught a warm voice I could never mistake for anyone else’s, even in the middle of the burning wreckage.

“You’re hardly qualified to talk about other people. You don’t have to call me over and over like that; I can hear you.”

The wind blew, and the smoke cleared slightly to reveal Siesta.

Her fair skin was smudged with soot, and she was bleeding so much that just seeing her brought me pain.

“You’re the one who’s stupid.” I ran up to her and pulled her petite body into a hug before I knew what I was doing. “Why would you do something that reckless? Why did you send me away by myself?”

Siesta had probably been planning to evacuate me on my own all along. That unit was built for one, and it had only one ejection device. Back when she had me sit in that seat, this was the plan.

“…Only as a last resort. I had no intention of dying here, personally. However, if only one of us could survive, I—”

“Like hell!”

The angry yell came from way down in the pit of my stomach, and Siesta’s blue eyes widened.

Good. Widen your ears, too, and listen reeeeeally carefully.

“Don’t go talking like some philosopher, okay? Look. Three years ago, on that plane, ten thousand meters up, you recruited me. You made that choice; you’d damn well better look after me until the very…very, very end. Listen, I’m sorry, but I know I can never really get away from SPES without you. I’d die without you, all right?! If you understand that, then do your damn job and keep me safe, goddammit!”

My body was hot.

Was it because there was a column of fire beside me?

Or was it because I’d been shouting with everything I had?

No, it was because I’d been yelling at her for the most pathetic reason: You have to stay alive so you can protect me. My breath came out ragged as I exhaled, and I was gushing sweat from every pore.

“…No one’s ever scolded me so much in my entire life.” Siesta stared up at me, a bit dazed. “I didn’t know you could get so angry. How do I put this—”

“Surprised?”

“Amused.”

“Oh, come on.”

Look, I told you, don’t laugh at me.

“Heh-heh.” True to her words, Siesta let a giggle slip. “You’d die without me, hmm?”

“Hey, don’t take that out of context.”

“That was quite an impassioned proposal.”

“I’m not proposing!”

“Well, try again after you turn eighteen.”

“I told you—! Haaah, never mind…”

“Heh-heh!” Every so often, that cool mask would crack, and she’d laugh without a care in the world.

Sheesh, this ace detective…

“I promise you this.”

Siesta glanced up, smoothly.

“I won’t go off and die without telling you. —I swear I won’t. Thanks for yelling at me.”

With a light thump, Siesta let her forehead rest against my chest.

That was when it happened.

“______! Oww—!”

Something grazed my left eye. My vision went red… Had blood gotten in my eye? What was that? What had flown at me?!

“Assistant!” Siesta’s eyes were wide and worried. Yeesh, that expression doesn’t suit you at all.

“I’m fine. More important…”

I directed Siesta’s attention straight ahead, to…

“Hff… Hff, not yet. I can’t…die yet… Not here…”

From beyond the blazing flames, hell itself was bearing down on us, wrapped in black smoke.

“Hel…”

She was back. And she was even more torn up than Siesta was, holding only one red sword.

“You’re alive.” Siesta took a step forward, shielding me.

“Of…course. I’m not…destined…to die…here.”

She wasn’t holding the sacred text anymore; it must have burned up in the explosion. Even so, as if she was still trying to keep the promise, Hel mimed opening it.

“I’m the one who’ll win in the end. If not, giving this to Father will have been meaningless…!”

For the first time, Hel showed something resembling real emotion.

“I see. You’re…”

Siesta’s blue eyes widened in surprise.

“Siesta?”

Hey. What did you just realize?

“Now…I can…end this.”

But before I could actually ask the question, Hel leveled her military sword.

“You will be unable to move a step from that spot, and my sword will run you through!”

Her red eyes flashed the color of blood, and she charged at Siesta, who stood frozen.

“Siesta, run!” I yelled without thinking…but Siesta didn’t budge. It was as if her feet had been glued to the asphalt. “Hel’s ability…!”

It was mind control, or something like it. When those red eyes turned their gaze on you, you were possessed by the compulsion to do whatever Hel told you. Siesta had already fallen under their spell, and now she couldn’t move…!

“Siesta!”

The tip of Hel’s saber relentlessly rushed toward Siesta, and then—

“…………Huh?”

Hel gasped.

Her red eyes wandered, wavering. Then she looked down at herself.

Hel had thrust the crimson blade through her own chest.

“Wh… Why…?”

The next thing her dumbstruck eyes saw was the hand mirror Siesta wore at her waist, attached to a chain.

Hel had been looking into her own red eyes as she said the words “My sword will run you through.”

“Checkmate,” said Siesta.

Hel crumpled to the ground at her feet. “______!”

Blood was dripping slowly from somewhere near her heart. Her eyes were filled with confusion.

“How could I lose…? This…wasn’t supposed to… I have…a mission… I have a mission, and I fight… …Mission? Why was… Why was I…born? Why did I…”

“The answer…”

Siesta pulled the sword from Hel’s chest, drawing a shriek and a spurt of blood from the girl.

“The answer will be waiting for you in hell.”

Then Siesta swung the blade down at her enemy’s drooping head.

But it wasn’t over.

“—Chameleon…!”

Hel howled at the sky.

“! Is she signaling for some kind of attack?!”

Hastily, I scanned the area…but a moment later, I knew I’d guessed wrong.

“…! Her body’s…disappeari…”

Not Siesta’s—Hel’s body had begun to vanish, melting little by little into the darkness as if she were being hidden by a transparent cloak.

“I won’t let you get away!”

Leveling her musket, Siesta fired at the spot where Hel had been…but by then, there wasn’t a trace of the enemy left.

“Siesta, is that Hel’s ability, too?”

“No, probably not. It was one of her comrades,” Siesta coolly explained and lowered her gun.

“Chameleon… That’s a SPES code name, huh?”

With their ability, they could probably make themselves and whatever they touched vanish. If so, we couldn’t go after Hel.

Just when we’d almost won, our worst enemy had slipped back into the darkness.

“So this was a draw, and everyone took damage?”

“Yes. Once we get home, we’ll have to discuss our next steps.”

Right. Hel was still alive somewhere. But she was also injured, which meant this could be our best chance. We needed to regroup, then go after her as soon as possible. Since we were in agreement on that, we were about to return to the hotel where we’d been earlier, when—

“______!”

Siesta took a step, and her face twisted.

“Siesta?”

“…Sorry.”

As the word left her mouth, her knees buckled, and she collapsed.

I’ll forgive everything but that misunderstanding

“Aaaah.”

The open mouth looked like it belonged to a baby bird waiting for food, and I held out a slice of the apple I’d peeled.

“…Nom… Mm…gulp… Hmm. This apple isn’t very juicy.”

“Don’t complain when somebody’s feeding you.”

“Well, that’s not my fault. I’m injured.”

“Yeah—in your legs! Your hands are fine!”

In a room of our office-slash-living-space…

Siesta, who was laid up in bed, didn’t flinch at my retort. Instead, she stretched flamboyantly. Rarely for her, she was wearing a hoodie along with other extremely casual clothes. However, there was a reason for her non-combat fashion choices.

“Did you already forget how you lectured an injured detective for ages?”

“…You acted like you were fine, so I thought it wasn’t serious. Sorry.”

“Well, I was also running on adrenaline, and I’d forgotten I was hurt.”

“Then why am I the only one getting blamed?”

During that near-deadly fight at Big Ben a few days back, Siesta’s legs had sustained injuries that would take two weeks to fully heal.

Hel had escaped, and by rights, we should have gone after her as quickly as possible. With Siesta laid up, though, that wasn’t happening. We’d decided to base ourselves in London again and wait until she was all healed.

“Are you all right, Kimi?”

“Enough to bust my butt taking care of my selfish, demanding partner.”

“I see. Good.”

“That was sarcastic, you know. Extremely sarcastic. Don’t ignore it.”

“After all, if anything happened to you, I couldn’t go on.”

“…Where did the sappy stuff come from? Now you’re just making it weird.”

Plus, I highly doubt she’s thinking anything that noble.

“Never mind, just hurry up and get yourself healed. I suck at housework.”

I’d been traveling with Siesta for close to three years, and there had been quite a few times when we’d spent long stretches together under the same roof like this, but I’d left all the chores to her. I do feel bad about that, but it’s a question of appropriate division of labor. Since she works me like a dog most of the time, I’d like to beg for a break of some kind, at least.

“It’s cohabitation, the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of. You could enjoy it just a little, couldn’t you?”

“Don’t call it cohabitation. We’re strategic roommates.”

“Besides, you should work on your ability to live independently. What are you going to do if I’m not around anymore?”

“…Hey. We’re not talking about that.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“Don’t want to get in trouble again,” Siesta said with a little smile. “I would at least like you to learn to do laundry, though. Nobody likes grubby guys.”

“I’d really love to accommodate you there, but… Well, you know. There are some, um…”

“Hmm? Oh, my undies?”

Hey, I was trying to be tactful. Don’t just say it.

“If you’re going to wear them on your head, do it where I can’t see you,” she said.

“That thought has literally never crossed my mind.”

“Oh—well, if you’re a sniffer, I’d really rather you didn’t—”

“Like I said, don’t you have any faith in your assistant?”

Seriously, what were these past three years, anyway?

“…Haah.”

I swear, this partner of mine. I couldn’t even crack a wry smile as I unsteadily got to my feet.

“Hmm? You’re going out?”

“Huh? Yeah, to the supermarket.”

“? Didn’t you say you’d stocked up on everything we needed this morning?”

Hey, Siesta, come on. Get it together.

“You wanted sweeter, juicier ones, right?”

Sheesh. You literally just said it; I can’t believe you forgot.

At that, Siesta stared blankly back at me for a few seconds—then dissolved into laughter.

“Wh-what? What’s so funny?”

When Siesta laughed that way, she was always teasing me. But I couldn’t think of any reason… What the heck had Siesta in stitches this time?

“…—, Kimi.”

Fighting back laughter, Siesta finally managed to speak.

“I suspect you like me far too much.”

……?! ……??!?!?!?!?!!

“Huh? You’re not making any sense. Huh? No, huh? The hell??????”

What was she even talking about? Were her injuries getting to her? Was that why? Had she hit her head, too? She never would have said anything so ludicrous otherwise. I mean, come on. I was looking after a sick person. She said she wanted sweet apples, so I was just going to go buy some, that’s all… Or, I mean, okay, maybe it could seem a little like I was pampering her, or treasuring her too much, but that does not mean I think of Siesta as anybody special, and that misunderstanding is incredibly irritating, so yeah, basically—