Chapter 2.3

A journey to foretell the world

Three days passed. During that time, Siesta, Saikawa, Charlie, and I all brainstormed ways to wake Natsunagi up.

Stephen, her attending physician, had already washed his hands of the matter. He'd said something to the effect that there was nothing else he could do, but that didn't necessarily mean there was actually nothing that could be done, period.

Working on that assumption, Siesta named an expert who could step in for the Inventor, and we decided that she and I would go find him right away.

However…

"Say, can I order a snack?" Next to me, Siesta was holding an in-flight menu.

I never imagined she'd drag me onto an airplane the day after we got discharged from the hospital…

"They're expensive, so no. I told you to buy something at the kiosk, remember?"

"What could I do? That trouble on the train made us get there at the very last minute. And it was mostly your fault, Kimi."

Siesta's apathetic eyes fixed on me. Sorry, but if you're going to hang out with me, you're going to get dragged into random trouble. Did she forget about that?

"Still." Siesta gazed at me and shifted the conversation to something else. "It's been a long time since the two of us were on a plane together, hasn't it?"

We were currently cruising at ten thousand meters aboveground. This was how I'd met Siesta on that fateful day four years ago.

"Yeah. There's no telling how many planes I rode with you after that." "We racked up an unbelievable number of frequent-flyer miles, didn't

we?"

Remembering those three years, we both laughed a little.

Today, we were bound for New York. In order to meet a certain person, and attend a certain council, we were globe-trotting for the first time in a year.

"Are you really okay to travel, though?" I asked her again. She'd been injured worse than I had, but she'd left the hospital and boarded the plane as soon as she was able to walk.

"Yes, I'd like to hurry a bit."

"Yeah. Both for Natsunagi and that council." I followed up with a question about one of our objectives. "And? What is this Federal Council, exactly?"

The Federal Council—Siesta had asked me to accompany her to a meeting of all the world's Tuners. The council was apparently held at random locations as needed; it would be in New York this time, and since the Ace Detective was a Tuner, Siesta had an obligation to attend.

"In simple terms, it's a place where the twelve Tuners meet and talk whenever the world has reached a major turning point." As Siesta answered, she was nibbling on a long, thin chocolate snack. When had she bought those? "When a new global crisis is looming, they decide who's going to handle it. Since the 'primordial seed' crisis has passed this time, I suppose there'll be a postmortem report on that as well."

"I see. So you'll be reporting your achievements as the Ace Detective, huh?" From what I was hearing, it sounded as if we'd be the highlight of this conference, in a way. …Still, meeting in person in this day and age made them seem like a pretty old-fashioned crowd.

"Are you nervous?"

"I'm shaking from excitement." "Literally, it appears."

You try getting dumped straight into a massively important discussion that's going to determine the future.

"Well, there'll be plenty of people you know there. Like her, for example." "Oh, Ms. Fuubi? Yeah, I'd wondered how you two knew each other. I

never figured it'd be this, though."

After the hijacking four years ago, Siesta had handed Bat over to Ms. Fuubi. They'd been connected before I was even aware of it, comrades who protected the world from the shadows.

"So will Mia be there, too?"

"That's a good question. She's never attended before."

True, it was hard to picture a homebody like Mia attending such a tense meeting. Come to think of it, Ms. Fuubi had said she'd never met the Oracle.

"Then you mean people are allowed to skip this thing?" A council that predicted the way of the world seemed like it would be pretty uptight, but…

"All the Tuners besides me have a quirk or two. Not many of them are good at getting along with others."

"You make it sound like you're normal or something."

Siesta only sipped her tea, acting as if she had no idea what I was talking about. You just brought your own teacup on board like it's nothing.

"Still, the one we're going to meet is probably the most troublesome member of the group."

…Right. There was another reason we were headed to New York and attending the council.

"The Vampire—Scarlet," I muttered.

Siesta gave a small nod. "You know him already, don't you?" "Not that I particularly want to see him…"

Even among the Tuners, the Vampire was a heretic. I'd sensed something fathomless in his sharp eyes, which seemed to take the measure of everything. He'd also hinted that there was something between him and Siesta…

"You're acting as if something unpleasant happened. Did he pick on you?" "…He was just sort of creepy. Never mind that; you really think Scarlet

knows how to wake Natsunagi up?"

The Vampire was the person Siesta had said we'd need in order to awaken Natsunagi. Pinning our hopes on him, the two of us had set off for the Federal Council, which he'd be attending along with the other Tuners.

"It's just that there's a possibility. However, while he may not look it, he is an expert on life and death, so he'll have some personal views on human consciousness."

"…I…see?"

The Vampire had a technique that could resurrect the dead, although his revenants were only able to follow their most powerful instincts from their past life. He probably did have an insight into human life and death, their consciousness and souls, but…

"Can we count on a fantasy creature like a vampire?"

"Are you stupid, Kimi?" "You're so unfair."

It had been a while since we last ran through that exchange.

"Vampires aren't the fanciful beings that folklore describes, and they didn't just spontaneously appear somewhere." Siesta took another sip of tea. "Everything happens for a reason. There has to be a cause. You mustn't shut your eyes to those things and rely on convenient words like 'impossible' or 'coincidence.'"

As she told me something vaguely familiar, her profile reminded me of the person I most wanted to meet right now.

"To begin with, vampires originated…" But just as Siesta was about to tell me about vampires, she cut herself off. "Oh, come to think of it, did you see today's astrology column? Taurus was in the lowest position."

"Geez, could you find a clumsier way to change the subject?" And don't give me information I don't need. I'm gonna feel bummed all day now. "Look, don't hide important stuff for no reason, all right? Just give me the information I need to know now."

"Well, it's fun to watch you flail around when you don't know anything." "That's the worst reason ever."

 Two detectives, twelve justices

After a twelve-hour flight, Siesta and I arrived in New York. After dropping our luggage off at the hotel, we headed straight to the Federal Council venue. "There's shuttle service and everything. They're really giving us VIP treatment," I said to Siesta. We were in the back seat of the black car that had been waiting for us as soon as we stepped out of the hotel. From the fact that Siesta had climbed in without hesitating, it would probably take us to our

destination.

"They may be treating us like VIPs now, but we might not even be alive in a few hours," Siesta said. I didn't like the sound of that.

"Wasn't the Ace Detective supposed to be the star of this show?" "Subjugating the primordial seed took far longer than it was supposed to.

Besides, we also deviated from the future the Oracle foretold."

"…I see. You mean we drastically changed the route, and they may hold us

responsible?"

In the sacred text, the original future that revolved around Seed had ended with Siesta losing to Hel, and Hel becoming Seed's vessel. To head that off, Siesta had appointed me and my knack for getting dragged into stuff as her assistant. Little by little, that move had changed the future.

However, the altered route was what we'd lived through last year: Siesta and Hel had taken each other out, Seed had lost both of his candidate vessels, and only Hel's main personality—Natsunagi—had survived.

Siesta had intended for me, Natsunagi, Saikawa, and Charlie to defeat Seed. I'd rejected that ending as well, though. I'd sworn to bring Siesta back to life, and now—Natsunagi had sacrificed herself to accomplish that goal, and after all our trials and tribulations, we'd ultimately managed to seal the primordial seed.

…Now that I thought about it, I really had been reckless. As Tuners, no wonder Ms. Fuubi had flipped her lid and Mia had cried. I'd destabilized the world for the sake of my own wish. I'd warped the future, and now Natsunagi was—

"You're as easy to read as ever." Siesta gave a small sigh. "It's all right. Nagisa's going to wake up." She smiled softly. "She may have fallen into a long sleep, assuming she's fulfilled her role. But you know that's not true, don't you? Nagisa Natsunagi isn't a proxy detective; nothing like it. She's not a stand-in for anyone. She's your one and only partner."

As if trying to convey the emotions in her words physically, she squeezed my hand, held it for a few moments, then released it.

"…I see. Yeah, you're right."

Natsunagi had lost her memories, forgotten how to live, and had been tormented by her lack of identity. However, she'd only just accepted her entire past, learned where to head, and finally discovered who she was. And now she was going to fall asleep forever? Even if Natsunagi was okay with that, I wasn't. I'd kill her twice, once for me and again for Hel.

"I've got one correction, though." Siesta looked puzzled. I gazed at her but turned to face forward before I spoke. "You're my partner, too."

She'd said Natsunagi was my only partner. But to me, Siesta was also— "—I see." Like me, Siesta turned to face forward. As she spoke, we didn't

look at each other. "We're almost there, Assistant."

She didn't say anything more. From the fact that she'd called me by my job

title, though, our relationship was the same as it had always been.

Before long, the car slowly came to a stop. The rear doors opened, and I climbed out after Siesta.

"This is it, huh…?"

A grand, palatial building stood on the other side of an expansive garden. So this was where the Federal Council would convene. "Is it okay to have a top-secret meeting at such an eye-catching venue?"

"It's fine. Civilians never notice this place." Siesta strode toward the building.

"What, is it behind a magic barrier or something?" Three paces behind her, I stepped into the palace's spacious front hall.

"Twelve Tuners in total… Right now, I know about half of them."

As I climbed a long staircase, I counted the Tuners I'd met so far. There was Siesta, the Ace Detective; Ms. Fuubi, the Assassin; Scarlet, the Vampire; and Mia Whitlock, the Oracle. Plus Stephen Bluefield, the Inventor, the one I'd just met. Also, although I only knew of him, the Phantom Thief; he'd stolen Mia's sacred text and was now doing time deep underground somewhere.

"You've been involved with other Tuners, too," Siesta said, glancing back briefly.

"What do you mean? Is this going to be one of those Saikawa was actually 'the Idol,' a Tuner kind of punch lines?"

"From the fact that Yui's the only acquaintance you can think of, you obviously don't have many friends."

Hey, mind your own business. Charlie counts, too.

"Well, it's more that you were involved without being aware of it. You'll meet them right after this," Siesta told me, opting not to explain any further now. "More importantly, maybe I should tell you about a few of the members you should watch out for."

"Yeah, it would be nice if I could brace myself." I'd had way too many heart-attack-inducing surprises during that three-year journey, so I was grateful for the offer.

"Right. The particularly dangerous ones are the Magician and the Enforcer." We'd reached the top of the stairs and were walking down a long, red-carpeted hallway. Siesta continued her explanation. "The Magician is a witchlike old woman who almost never leaves the forest. They say she once

used a certain secret art to destroy a whole village. But that power is the reason they made her a Tuner."

"So it's possible to become a defender of justice even if you've committed crimes?" They'd probably decided her secret art would be useful in protecting the world, but…

"That's a tough one… Still. From the perspective of what 'crime' means, the Enforcer has definitely killed more people than any other Tuner."

"That's pretty unsettling. The Tuners are the world's guardians, right?" As Ms. Fuubi and Scarlet had demonstrated, apparently you couldn't just call these people "heroes" and leave it at that.

"It depends on how you define 'justice.' In fact, the job assigned to the Enforcer is the execution of criminals who can't be judged in the outside world."

"…So, a 'necessary evil,' huh?"

It was true that there were cases that the law couldn't settle adequately. Apparently, the Enforcer was an antihero who cleaned up the aftermath from the shadows.

"Right. He lurked in the shadows, carrying nothing but an enormous sickle, which he used to cut down criminals. In terms of pure combat skills, he's up there with the Assassin and even the Vampire."

"The Magician and the Enforcer, hm? I'd rather avoid getting dragged into any unnecessary… Whoops."

Nope. If I say any more than that, I'll jinx myself.

As I hastily clapped a hand over my mouth, we came to a set of doors that was larger than the others.

"Listen, Assistant." Siesta shot me a glance. "From this point on, don't think the common sense that has worked for you before will still apply."

Yeah. I could see that from what she'd just said and from the Tuners I'd met so far.

We exchanged nods. Then she pushed the doors open with both hands— and in the large room beyond them, we saw…

"What Rill is trying to say is—how come the Ace Detective is allowed to do whatever she wants when the rest of us can't?"

"Huh? So you're jealous of her, and you're pitching a fit because you want to get your way all the time, too?"

A girl had jumped up onto a long table. She was holding a black cane like a weapon…and glaring at Fuubi Kase. The redheaded policewoman was slouched in a chair, smoking a cigarette and gave an equally intense scowl.

The girl on the table looked quite a bit younger than the Magician, and the weapon she was holding didn't seem to be the Enforcer's sickle. In that case, this thoroughly unreasonable kid was—

"Who do you suppose she is?" Siesta looked puzzled.

What, you don't know, either?

Then she really wasn't the Magician or the Enforcer? "—This is sacred ground. Lower your weapon."

Just then, a chill that made my insides feel airborne assailed me. It felt as if someone's hand was raking the pit of my stomach.

Siesta and I, and the pair who were arguing, all looked toward the owner of the voice. A middle-aged man was sitting on a dais in the depths of the room. He didn't blink at all as he spoke. "The day's leading players have arrived. Come, let the council begin."

With one last glare at Ms. Fuubi, the girl on the table returned to her chair. "Come on, Assistant."

Aside from us, there were six heroes at the long table.

The council to determine the world's future was about to begin.