Chapter 2.5

The scales of justice

Once the introductions were over, the positions held by the seven attending Tuners were clear. Fritz Stewart the Revolutionary, Bruno the Information Broker, the Man in Black (name unknown), Siesta the Ace Detective, Ms. Fuubi the Assassin, Mia Whitlock the Oracle. And—

"Um, excuse me? Why is Rill the only one who just got ignored?"

The girl with vivid orange hair was still calling herself by her nickname. Thumping the table, she stood up. The jolt knocked her black cane over.

"Rill's saying it one more time, Kimihiko Kimizuka: Be her familiar."

This was the seventh Tuner, Reloaded the Magical Girl. She was probably about the same age as Siesta and me, but what she was wearing looked exactly like the sort of magical girl costume you'd see in an anime. It really suited the cute expression she'd shown for a fraction of a second earlier.

However, nothing she'd said or done this whole time had been cute at all. I guessed "familiar" was a magical girl term, and she was actually telling me to be her errand boy. Meaning…

"…I really doubt there's anything in it for me."

"Oh, no, that's not true. You must be getting tired of being the Ace Detective's assistant. Being a cute magical girl's dog is bound to be more fun."

"You totally just said 'dog.' …And anyway, why me?" I didn't even have to think about it; I knew for a fact that I was meeting this girl for the first time. Why was she trying to make me her dog…or, uh, her assistant?

"Isn't it obvious? Kimihiko Kimizuka, you are this world's—"

"—Sorry, but my assistant's never going to be yours," Siesta cut in. Reloaded had been picking a fight with her since before the council began, and Siesta finally looked ready to take her up on it. She didn't go for her weapon, but a cold war was starting across the table.

"What? You're planning to monopolize him? Nobody likes jealous women, you know."

"It's not a question of petty emotions. It's a contractual issue."

"A contract? After three or four years, they generally get renewed."

"Nice try, but no. The contract was for lifetime employment. He doesn't have time to be your partner."

…I seemed to have found myself in some sort of mystery pact with Siesta.

Did "lifetime employment" mean I'd be with her until I died? That the rest of my life would be full of unfairness?....................... Yeah, I should turn that

down. No reason to hesitate there.

"Are you planning to cheat, all by yourself ?" Reloaded snapped at Siesta again. "If Rill could just use the Singularity, she could do her job more efficiently…"

"Reloaded, you always manage your duties as the Magician quite well," Fritz said, attempting to defuse the situation with a compliment.

"I told you, Rill is the Magical Girl, not the Magician. She did you the

favor of becoming a Tuner, so you said you'd change the position's name." Reloaded propped her chin in her hands, scowling at Fritz.

Apparently, Reloaded had taken over the position of Magician from the old woman Siesta had told me about on our way here. I'd just been told there was no mandatory retirement age for Tuners, so why had the previous Magician decided to step down? The mysteries and questions kept piling up, and nobody—including the prim-faced Ace Detective next to me—was providing any answers.

"—Now then. Let's begin our discussion on the main topic," Fritz said in a voice that seemed to sink into the pits of our stomachs. We were finally getting down to business. I'd heard that a report on the subjugation of the primordial seed was on the meeting's agenda, and sure enough…

"All right. We're running behind schedule, but once again, Daydream: Thanks to you, the crisis of the primordial seed has passed." Turning to Siesta, Fritz congratulated her on her work as the Ace Detective. "The secret society SPES should be wiped out soon, including its collaborators around the world. It has also been decided that the remote island they had illegally occupied will become a Mizoev Federation territory. The 'primordial seed' crisis has been completely resolved. Well done."

Several people applauded. Mia (on the screen), Olivia, Fritz, and Bruno all congratulated Siesta on completing her great mission.

"I…" But Siesta's face was far from cheerful.

Six years ago, she'd encountered the primordial seed. Four years ago, she'd left on a journey to battle SPES with me. If you added up all the things she'd lost along the way, she couldn't possibly put on a smile here. It wasn't the kind of girl she was.

"She didn't exactly do a praiseworthy job, though." The self-declared Magical Girl gave Siesta a cold look; her chin was still propped on her hands. "And several other Tuners broke the rules." She widened her attack to include people besides Siesta.

I'd already guessed who she was talking about.

"Fritz, you already know, don't you? The Assassin and Oracle overstepped their authority."

…I knew it. She was right: Those two had helped subjugate Seed, even though the job had been assigned to Siesta. Mia had shown Siesta the sacred text, although no one but the Oracle was allowed to view those books. After

Siesta's death, Ms. Fuubi had helped Charlie and me fight SPES. Reloaded was suggesting that they'd violated the Federal Charter.

"...! It isn't Boss's fault," said the girl in the computer. "I acted of my own accord, so Boss isn't…"

"Huh? So what? You're not refuting anything, you know." "…Olivia, how do you shut off this call screen?"

Mia wasn't used to fighting—she wasn't even used to talking to people. Shrinking under the pressure, she dejectedly tried to retreat. Pathetic, but also cute.

"Let me explain." Bruno the Information Broker raised his gloved right hand. "Truth be told, I received a proposal from the Assassin about this earlier. Certainly, the Federal Charter stipulates that one Tuner is to deal with each global crisis. However…" Bruno thumped the floor with his cane. "The Assassin asked whether it would be acceptable to assist another Tuner, provided she was on top of her own mission. In fact, while it is part of my duty, I myself assist other Tuners. I understood her argument quite well."

In response to Bruno's comment, all eyes turned to Ms. Fuubi.

So, knowing that her actions would cause a problem someday, Ms. Fuubi had gone to the Information Broker about it in advance, since he was both the oldest member and the one most likely to understand what the job entailed.

"See, when a police officer notices someone in trouble, it's only natural to help them." Even with all that attention on her, Ms. Fuubi stayed cool and composed enough to crack jokes. Not only that, but… "Well, that might be too much to process for a little kid who's struggling so much with her own mission that she can't afford to be considerate of other people." She snorted, clearly mocking a certain someone.

"Are you talking about Rill?"

"Oh, so you knew you were like that?" "Huhn?"

"Uhn?"

…Ms. Fuubi, you suck at interacting with people.

"I see. I understand the situation." For now, with no change in his expression, Fritz accepted Ms. Fuubi and Bruno's claims. "It's true that the threat from the primordial seed was on a level not often seen in recent years. We should be able to allow a few irregularities."

"—You're just a mediator. You don't have the authority to make that decision." Unable to accept the decision, Reloaded snapped at Fritz.

"Correct. If it comes down to officially changing the rules, the Federation Government will make the ultimate decision. That said…" Fritz's tone changed again. "I handed down that judgment on the understanding that, right now, our top priority should be the smooth progression of this meeting. Are there any objections?"

He spoke in a voice that chilled me to the bone, and I felt a phantom pain run through my heart. Even though she'd acted so arrogant, Reloaded flinched, then backed down.

"That appears to be settled, then." Bruno's hoarse voice broke the silence; he'd chosen to ignore the tension. "A new age calls for new rules and values. I am proud of young people who don't fear such changes. …Or perhaps this senile old codger is simply desperate to keep up with the times." He gently stroked his cane with his fingertips.

"Thank you for your consideration." Ms. Fuubi bowed her head to the Information Broker. Like Siesta, she seemed to have a genuine respect for Bruno.

"Ha-ha-ha. It was a request from a cute girl, after all."

"…Thank you for your consideration." After a brief pause, Ms. Fuubi responded with the exact same line she'd said before. Uncharacteristically,

she didn't seem to know how to react, and a laugh escaped me—almost. Man, that was close.

"All right, shall we discuss the main topic?"

—Fritz's cold eyes turned toward me.

Oh, I get it. That was when it hit me: The council's objective wasn't to hear a simple report about the primordial seed's subjugation. This was…

"The future written in the sacred text has changed. What are your views on that?"

Its goal was to denounce me for messing with the future Mia had prophesied and searched for the brand-new Route X.

"I heard Daydream should have died. The next Ace Detective would have been the one to defeat the primordial seed. You rejected that and twisted the narrative—and as a result, Daydream returned to life. However, we lost Nagisa Natsunagi, the next candidate for Ace Detective. At least, I'm told she's currently comatose." Fritz looked at me, one eyebrow raised. "Was this truly what you… No, what Daydream wanted?" Fritz was asking me and only me. This was an interrogation. Did I think Siesta had wanted to trade Natsunagi's life for her own? I couldn't reply. I was all too aware of the answer.

"The Singularity."

As Fritz said that word, he looked at me, and the eyes of the other Tuners all focused on me as well.

"When an era begins to experience dramatic changes, it inevitably appears. It overturns the future the Oracle foretells, transforming the world's set path. An irregular element—that's you," Fritz stated.

The Singularity. A while back, Scarlet had mentioned that word once. I also got the feeling Mia had said something similar, and that she'd been watching me when she said it.

An irregular entity capable of changing the future, of setting the world in motion… That was me, Kimihiko Kimizuka. That's not even funny. There's no way something that ridiculous could be true. Internally, I laughed the idea off, but signs of subtle foreshadowing in my past flickered through my mind.

There was my irritating tendency to get dragged into things. Could that actually be because I was the Singularity, and my nature kept setting off

unexpected trouble around me? Come to think of it, Hel had once told me that my predisposition was the type that transformed things and triggered incidents, and that I was the center of the world. Not to mention how a certain ace detective had taken me ten thousand meters into the sky because she'd needed me to help her change a disastrous future.

What if I assumed that all those things had been because I was this "Singularity"? That was why incidents happened around me, why I attracted detectives and enemies of the world, and had even overturned the Oracle's prophesied future. The real reason I'd managed to pull off a taboo like resurrecting the dead was—

"Let me ask you this, Singularity. How will you involve yourself with the world from now on?" Fritz asked me. "It's true that this time, partly due to the cooperation of other Tuners, Daydream returned to life as you had planned. The elimination of the primordial seed also happened to go well, but that won't always be the case. To me, results aren't everything."

I was silent. Keeping his eyes on me, Fritz Stewart laced his fingers together, resting his elbows on the table. Ms. Fuubi and Mia couldn't argue, either. Even if they didn't come out and say what they'd done was wrong, they had to know it hadn't been right.

I knew that better than anyone, though. I'd made Ms. Fuubi mad, I'd made Mia cry, but I'd still convinced both of them. I'd deceived them. In that case, I'd have to be the one to say it.

"Assistant?"

I'd abruptly stood up, and Siesta stared at me, startled.

Until now, I'd relied exclusively on the detective. For those three years, I'd been with Siesta all the time. I'd been too quick to rely on her, to believe that as long as she was there, the cases would be solved and our wishes would come true. …And I'd paid for that when I lost her. Unable to forget her, I'd spent a whole year doing nothing, and then I'd met a new detective.

It was fine for Natsunagi to live her own life. I'd told her so myself, and yet in the end, I'd asked her to continue being a detective. Once again, I'd come to rely on her completely. During those three years, and that year of tepid idleness, and these past few months when I'd gotten back on my feet,

I'd constantly clung to and been saved by a detective. But… "It's probably about time we switched places, huh?"

That had to be why I was standing here today.

My legs had been weirdly shaky for the past few minutes, but hey, I wasn't going to worry about it. It was just fatigue from sitting for a long time without shifting positions—No, I was quivering from the adrenaline.

"Fritz. You're saying it's a problem that we tried to bring Siesta back to life, right?" I looked at the Revolutionary, then let my gaze travel across the other attendees. I was a regular guy, surrounded by Tuners; technically, it was presumptuous of me even to speak here. What on earth could I say, with the eyes of all these global heroes on me?

"Simply put, yes, that is what I'm saying," Fritz answered for the group, without turning a hair. He spoke, not with his public politician's face, but as the Revolutionary who pulled the strings of the underworld. "In the original route, the Ace Detective would have been sacrificed to save the world."

This representative of the world's guardians had determined that the detective should have died.

When I heard that, my mind grew oddly calm. The Tuners' rules, the story recorded in the sacred text, whether or not I was the Singularity—none of that had anything to do with this. There was only one thing that really mattered. I already knew what I had to say.

"I see. So Siesta shouldn't have come back to life, huh? Do you seriously think that? If so, you people should quit this job right now."

I mean, if they couldn't understand something so simple… People like that weren't qualified to protect the world, were they?

"Losing Siesta is a loss for all of humanity, the whole world, the entire universe."

Ever since the day when I'd met the detective at ten thousand meters, she

—no, both of them—had held out their hands to me. All this time, they'd saved me. From now on, though, it would be the other way around. It didn't matter whether I was the Singularity. I didn't care about the world. The only thing I couldn't give up was…

Siesta. Natsunagi.

I wasn't letting the detectives die. "… "

Silence fell. In the stillness, all I could hear was my own heartbeat. Of the seven Tuners, some glared at me, others wore intrigued smiles or gazed

indifferently into space. After the seemingly endless silence had stretched on for thirty seconds or so…

"…Well, that's what I think, but let's leave the actual decision to the higher-ups."

"Are you stupid, Kimi?"

Unable to take the silence any longer, I returned dejectedly to my seat. As expected, Siesta gave me a cold, clammy look. Before long, she heaved a big sigh.

"Still—thank you."

She seemed vaguely troubled, but she had on a faint smile. "I suppose I can't make my assistant work that hard and then say nothing myself." As if taking my place, Siesta rose to her feet. "Naturally, I'm prepared to take responsibility for this incident."

Scanning every face in the room, she spoke calmly.

"I hereby declare my resignation as a Tuner. I would like to officially nominate Nagisa Natsunagi as the next Ace Detective."