Chapter 1.1

 Don't listen to little girls

Roughly half a day had passed since we made that vow.

"And so I sentence you to twenty thousand years of penal servitude, you damn brat."

The redheaded police officer leaned in toward me, a cigar clamped between her teeth. She had an ogreish look on her face.

The ogre's name was Fuubi Kase.

She'd called me, which was why I was in her condo on the top floor of a high- rise apartment building in the first place, but…

"…That's not fair. I haven't done anything."

Exactly what crime was she bawling me out for? She'd driven me back to the big window, with its view out over the city lights, and I snapped at her like a noble Pomeranian confronting a lion.

"You haven't? Ha! Don't make me laugh." …Except she wasn't even smiling. "I hate to break it to you, Kimihiko Kimizuka, but you're suspected of breaking the speed limit on a motorcycle, multiple violations of the Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law, assault, bodily injury, and obstructing an officer in the performance of her duties."

Glaring at me, she pointed at her own right cheek.

Yesterday evening, for reasons I won't get into, Ms. Fuubi and I had squared up and fought. During that fight, I'd decked her… It had been a while since then, but her cheek was apparently still swollen.

"Maybe so, but you put me through quite a bit of hurt, too." "And yet you look like you feel great."

Well, she had a point. Was it a knack for taking a lot of punishment, something I'd picked up because of that predisposition of mine? Even my ribs seemed to be fine, and I'd been sure they were broken.

"It's a full house of additional charges, which is why I'm putting you away for life."

"Whoa, wait, call me a lawyer! I have rights!" Desperately, I looked around. I

wasn't the only one who'd been summoned to this room. I had three other trusty allies here. "Hey, Natsunagi! You tell her, too…"

"Wow! The bath is huge! Check it out, it's a Jacuzzi!"

For reasons unknown, somewhere in the distance—from the bathroom, specifically—I heard gleeful voices.

"Nagisa, soap up and rinse off first."

Natsunagi was actually taking a bath. With Charlie.

You've gotta be kidding me. What kind of detective doesn't come running when her assistant's in trouble? …Although I guess there was another one last year who didn't do that, either.

"Honestly. I suppose I have no choice."

When God closes a door, he opens a window, as they say—a girl threw me a lifeline.

"Ms. Kase, could you find it in your heart to forgive Kimizuka?"

It was Yui Saikawa, the super idol. She was sitting at the table by herself, sipping a mug of milk. Ordinarily, I didn't get much respect from her. However, at least mentally, she was the oldest one here, and it looked like she was going to take my side just this once. "Yes, he decked you. But he didn't have a choice. He did it for love."

"Love?"

Ms. Fuubi looked perplexed. So did I. "Yes, love!"

Saikawa smacked the table and stood up.

"To Kimizuka, Siesta is utterly irreplaceable. It doesn't matter if you're a detective or a Tuner, he'll punch you into next week for her. After all, Kimizuka loves Siesta. He loves her from the bottom of his heart!"

"You wanna die?!"

"Eeeeek! Kimizuka, you're scary!"

I had to end that little girl, no matter what. As Saikawa fled, I swore to myself I'd pursue her to the far side of hell.

"Hey, don't play tag in other people's apartments. Don't just use me as a foil for your comedy routine."

"I called you people here to give you a warning."

We'd probably gotten the serious bit and the comedy bit out of order, but that's how things generally go around here.

The four of us were all seated at the table listening to Ms. Fuubi, who sat at

the head.

"Nagisa Natsunagi, Yui Saikawa, Charlotte Arisaka Anderson, and Kimihiko Kimizuka. You intend to defy the Tuners and find some other way to defeat Seed. You're sure that's what you want to do?"

Her sharp eyes drilled into each of us, one after another.

"Yes, it is," Natsunagi told her. She gazed straight at Ms. Fuubi without flinching. "We won't let you kill anyone, and we won't let anyone be sacrificed. We'll all smile together, and in the end, we'll win together. That's our only goal and our condition for victory."

Right. We'd launched our adventure that night in order to make that wish come true.

"…Huh." Ms. Fuubi gave a dissatisfied snort.

Our current enemy was SPES and its leader, Seed. Seed hadn't been able to completely adapt to Earth's environment, and he was looking for a human vessel to take over. The leading candidate was an individual who had the power of one of his "seeds," yet hadn't developed any side effects from it: Yui Saikawa.

As a Tuner who fought the world's enemies, Ms. Fuubi had tried to indirectly defeat Seed by teaming up with her subordinate Charlie to destroy his vessel—to kill Saikawa. When I'd found out what she was up to, I'd fought her. Natsunagi

—and later Charlie, who'd had a change of heart—had teamed up with me.

"Ten days." Ms. Fuubi's eyes scanned our group. "I'll give you a ten-day grace period. During that time, show me proof that you can take Seed down. That's the best deal I can give you."

"And if we can't?"

"Then I kill that girl." She looked down at Saikawa with cold eyes. "Kimizuka, I'm scared." Next to me, Saikawa squeezed the cuff of my sleeve.

She was brave, but this open hostility from the Assassin seemed to have her intimidated.

"It'll be fine. We'll protect you."

"It must be because she's jealous of my youth and how precious I am, don't you think?"

"Saikawa, I'm begging you, don't say stuff that's going to make it impossible to keep you safe."

"And you, Ms. Kase. I hear you're pushing thirty, but if you stick to a good daily skin care routine and reduce the stressors in your life, you'll be able to hang onto your youth for quite a while longer! It's all right, please don't give up!"

"Saikawaaaa!!!" I take it back.

The veins in Ms. Fuubi's temples seemed about to burst, and I clapped a hand over Saikawa's mouth.

"Still, how are we going to defeat Seed with only four people?" Shifting us back to a more serious discussion, Charlie put a finger to her chin.

We still knew almost nothing about the leader of SPES. He was a plant-like being who'd flown here from outer space, and he could create clones that had special abilities. That was all the info we had on him. —However.

"Our best move is asking someone who knows a lot about him," I said, then suggested someone who was absent. "Siesta."

Charlie's eyes widened in surprise. Meanwhile, Ms. Fuubi's narrowed, as if she was trying to read my intentions.

"She was the type who always came up with ways to resolve incidents before they happened. She must have been laying her own plans to defeat Seed."

Like the ace detective's legacy, for example—the thing Charlie had been looking for on that cruise ship, ten days back. In the end, the "legacy" had been us, but the point was that Siesta had left us what we'd need in order to defeat SPES. Besides, she'd been a very careful person; I couldn't see her expecting us to take down Seed and SPES without so much as a hint.

"Then you think Ma'am left some other legacy somewhere? We don't have any intel about that…" Charlie sounded dubious.

In that case, I was the one who'd spent three whole years with her. Was there a hint that only I would pick up on? For example, we'd gone to Singapore and Hawaii together, hunting for legendary secret treasures.

Or, more recently, there was another country I knew very well: England. That was where we'd encountered Hel, a top-level SPES executive, and where we'd lived right up until we set off for our final showdown. Was there some sort of hint there, in the place where I'd made my most vivid memories with Siesta…?

"—Oh, is that what this meant?"

I remembered the object in the left breast pocket of my jacket.

"This one time, when Siesta and I were living in London, I saw her hastily hide something in a desk drawer."

That drawer had a lock, and it was solid enough that my lock-picking skills couldn't get it open. However, as I was trying this and that to find out what was in that drawer, Siesta had told me something.

"—You'll have to steal this key from me someday." With a belligerent smile,

she'd held her master key—one of her Seven Tools—between her fingertips, waggling it at me.

"Then yesterday, SIESTA gave me this."

I took a small key out of my pocket, showing it to Ms. Fuubi and the others.

It was what SIESTA had handed to me after yesterday's battle, before the helicopter took her away for treatment. Natsunagi had inherited the musket from her, and I'd received one of the detective's Seven Tools from SIESTA as well.

Now that I'd gotten through my task, Siesta wanted me to take down SPES. If she'd chosen to give me this key now, maybe it meant there was some sort of hidden legacy that would help us defeat SPES and Seed.

"You mean your place in London is still just sitting there?" Ms. Fuubi seemed perplexed.

"Well, yeah. They withdraw the rent every month. It's killing my bank account."

"? Then why not move out?" "…Uh, well…"

"Ms. Kase, please don't ask him any more questions!" Saikawa stuck her oar in. "Kimizuka doesn't want to lose the love nest he had with Siesta!"

"Shut up! Saikawa, you're cracking too many jokes!"

"I'm not actually joking," Saikawa muttered, but I ignored her. "So, I'm thinking of heading over to London tomorrow."

I'd decided to retrace Siesta's footsteps, hoping to find a hint that would help us defeat—or at least learn about—Seed.

"I'll go, too, then," said Natsunagi, across the table from me. "After all, taking care of her assistant is part of a detective's job." She sounded tired at the thought, but she still winked at me.

"…Yeah, that would be a big help."

With a little smile back, I took her up on her offer.

"In that case, you two do that. As for you, Charlotte and Yui Saikawa—you're going to pick up ways to fight Seed." Ms. Fuubi looked at Charlie, then at Saikawa.

Skills that would let them go head-to-head with Seed… Come to think of it, during the past few days, Natsunagi had gotten Hel's power, and I'd ended up with Chameleon's. Ms. Fuubi was trying to give Charlie and Saikawa something similar, since they'd need those powers if they were going to fight.

"First, Charlotte, there's a job I'd like you to do." She gave us a meaningful smile.

"Br-bring it on?" For some reason, Charlie phrased it like a question. She looked at me, and her eyes were a little teary.

…I get what you're thinking, but my hands are tied. Sorry.

"So the problem is Yui Saikawa…" Ms. Fuubi's eyes went to the other girl, and just then—

"Leave her to me."

The next moment, the big window behind us shattered. A figure stepped out of the night, into the room. "Bat?"

A blond man in a suit was standing there, grinning at us.