allendalepharm Chapter 104 - 2.7
Chapter 104 - 2.7
Chapter 104: Chapter 2.7
The curtain rises on the next story
The next day, Siesta and I were in a room of a certain building.
It was past four in the afternoon.
We sat side by side on a sofa meant for visitors, waiting for the person we were meeting to arrive.
"Your deduction skills have improved," Siesta told me. She'd put the tea set she'd brought with her to work and was enjoying a cup of tea.
After parting with Scarlet the night before, I'd put together a hypothesis about the chain of incidents centered around the Phantom Thief, and once we returned to the hotel, I'd spent the entire night discussing it with Siesta. Having reached a certain conclusion, we'd come to visit this person in order to confirm our answers.
"I could sense that you'd grown last night as we walked down the street. Who'd have guessed you were the type who'd evolve even further in combat?" Siesta was talking as if I were the hero of an action manga. "You've grown up while I wasn't looking. The days when I changed your diapers are just a fond memory now."
"That definitely never happened. If anyone's a baby here, it's you. Just how late do you think you slept in today anyway?"
In a repeat of yesterday, Siesta hadn't woken this morning and slept until noon. In the evening, after I'd shaken her over and over, she'd finally crawled out of bed.
"It's all right once in a while, isn't it?" Siesta primly shrugged off my sarcasm.
I'm saying it's a problem because it's not "once in a while," okay? "Besides, the other party is also busy. This was the only time available." "Well, we did get here by the appointed time, but still..."
In the middle of our conversation, the door abruptly opened, and someone walked in. He hadn't knocked. That was only natural: He was the owner of this office.
"Did I keep you waiting?"
The man's name was Fritz Stewart.
He was wearing an expensive suit and a business smile. Instead of sitting
down across from us, he took a seat at his desk in the back of the room. We hadn't seen him since the Federal Council two days ago.
"I'm sorry; work's piled up. Do forgive me if I take care of some of it while we talk."
Fritz—who was the mayor of New York City, as well as a Tuner—opened up his computer and began typing busily.
"Is this cleanup from all those incidents?"
"...Yes. That's right, Fuubi Kase told me you'd resolved one just the other day." Glancing over at us for a moment, Fritz smiled. "I appreciate your help."
We were talking about the terrorist incidents that had occurred here in the city with the goal of having the Phantom Thief released. As the mayor, Fritz was having a tough time dealing with all of them.
"She's as much of a busybody as ever." Smiling wryly, he took a gentle dig at Ms. Fuubi. It had come up at the Federal Council, too; Ms. Fuubi had overstepped the boundaries of her job to help the Ace Detective, and now she was pursuing the Phantom Thief on her own. The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))
"And?" Fritz asked, his pen kept skimming over the documents in front of him. "I was told you'd made a discovery in this string of Phantom Thief– related incidents."
Exactly: That was why we were here to see him. "Yeah, actually. We know where he is."
The moment I said it, Fritz's hand stopped moving. He looked up, frowning while seeming perplexed. "You already know where the escaped Phantom Thief is?"
"Hey, don't underestimate the Ace Detective and her assistant." ... Although it had taken a hint from another Tuner for us to reach that answer.
"Tell me, then." Fritz's emerald eyes were focused on us. "Where is Phantom Thief Arsene now?"
"Right here," I told him bluntly.
Siesta was holding up a small round hand mirror. The mirror reflected a man whose eyes were as cold as ice, something even he probably hadn't been aware of.
"It's an experiment. To what extent are people able to do meaningless things on someone else's orders?"
It was a thought experiment that seemed to exist beyond the realm of reason. To Siesta, whose ideas were underpinned by solid experience and logic, that sort of thing was anathema. The phantom thief and the detective: Like spear and shield, they'd been at odds with each other since time immemorial and were destined to fight.
"Do you think we're going to let you continue that experiment?"
In that relationship, the detective was sometimes the one who took the offensive. Siesta, who'd risen to her feet along with me, pointed her familiar musket at the enemy.
"Rest assured." Paying no attention to the muzzle that was pointed at him, Arsene continued in a leisurely voice. "The experiment is over; I've collected sufficient statistics. I'm sure they'll get me through to the next stage."
"Look, there is no 'next'—"
"Besides..." Arsene got to his feet, cutting me off. "What the primordial seed gave me was only a fragment of a seed. I'm unlikely to develop unwanted side effects, but in exchange, its function is limited. That means, as it stands, I won't be able to maintain this shape. I'll have to go soon."
"...A fragment of a seed? You broke the Federal Charter and stole the
sacred text for that?"
For some reason, Arsene seemed disappointed with my question. "I never let those I steal from realize what I've taken, yet you know I stole the primordial seed's sacred text. Doesn't that strike you as odd? You two were just telling me about this," Arsene scolded us.
He was right. We did know Arsene had stolen the text. However, that was because Siesta and Mia had set up the theft beforehand, so it hadn't seemed particularly strange...
"Don't tell me—are you saying the sacred text wasn't all you stole that day?" Still holding Arsene at gunpoint, Siesta cross-examined him, keeping him pinned down.
"...I see. So you had another objective?"
Siesta and Mia had realized Arsene was planning to steal the sacred text. They were on high alert. Even so, he had slipped through their guard and stolen something else—without letting them catch on.
"Then, all along, your real aim was..."
Siesta's blue eyes narrowed. She'd finally realized. She and Mia had thought they were using Arsene, but they were the ones who'd been used.
"Idly accepting what I'm owed isn't in my nature. When I really want something, I steal it myself."
Then he walked right past us.
"You think you can escape?" Copying Siesta, I pointed my gun at the enemy.
"Escape? I've never considered 'escaping' from anyone. Not even once." I heard an unsettling click right by my ear. "It's just that no one ever manages to catch up to me."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw shiny black guns. Men had appeared out of nowhere, and both Siesta and I had guns pointed at the backs of our heads. We had no choice but to put our hands up.
"...Are you manipulating these guys, too?" From the way they were dressed, they seemed to be city employees. Arsene was probably controlling them with his ability—
"No." Arsene stopped walking for a moment. "They're all helping me of their own free will."
Leaving that screwy explanation behind, he headed for the door.
"I'm fairly sure you heard me earlier." However, a lone girl stopped him.
Men in suits had her at gunpoint, but Siesta spoke over her shoulder to our departing enemy.
"A new Ace Detective will be taking over for me soon. Her passion is bound to capture you someday. Nagisa Natsunagi would never lose to the sort of enemy who uses human hearts."
In response to the Ace Detective's declaration of war, the Phantom Thief said...
"I'll look forward to stealing that passion."
He delivered that final remark with excitement, and then he was gone.