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Chapter 116: Chapter 1.1

That day, in response to a summons from the Federation Government, I was visiting the Mizoev Federation\'s embassy in England. They\'d brought me to a large room, and now I was gazing at a projected image.

Since they\'d gone to the trouble of summoning me, I\'d thought the individual might be here in person. However, as usual, she was sending this transmission from a distant foreign country. The high-ranking government official was dressed in a kimono, and she wore a mask that hid her face. "We haven\'t spoken face-to-face since you were appointed Ace Detective. Have you been well since then?"

Fine words from someone who wouldn\'t show her face. She also didn\'t sound particularly concerned about me. Still, that was how it always went between my group and her group. Tuners and the Federation Government had a business relationship with each other: Our greatest and only goal was to protect the world from crises.

"Yes, Ice Doll, it\'s been a long time," I said, responding with her code name. I hadn\'t taken a seat. "It\'s been a year since you and your people gave me the position of Ace Detective. However, understand that no matter what title I bear, it won\'t change what I do."

My response to her tedious greeting made the woman on the screen give a little snort. What did her face look like under that mask? Her voice made her seem fairly old, but I sensed craftiness in it, too.

"Seed\'s subjugation. We also pray that you will succeed in that endeavor, as the Ace Detective. Still, what is the reason for this preoccupation of yours?" Ice Doll asked.

That\'s right: I\'d been pursuing the primordial seed longer than I\'d been a Tuner. The title of Ace Detective had nothing to do with it. My mission, which I\'d set for myself, was to take down Seed and his pseudohumans.

However, securing a position as a Tuner had widened my horizons considerably. I wouldn\'t have been able to openly own a gun otherwise. Hence, I

didn\'t find it to be a hardship to work with the Federation Government.

"Do you have some sort of personal score to settle with the primordial seed?" I\'d fallen silent, and Ice Doll pressed me for an answer.

"...I couldn\'t say. However, it\'s my mission to defeat him. It\'s engraved in my DNA. That\'s all."

Why was I so obsessed with Seed? To tell the truth, even I didn\'t know. However, I was missing several months\' worth of memories from a certain year. I thought there must be some secret hidden within them, but those lost memories showed no sign of returning.

Even so, my instincts remembered the enemy\'s ominous presence. I pursued Seed, or found myself pursued by various groups for unfathomable reasons, and somewhere along the way—was it because I kept solving cases wherever I went?

—I\'d been given the title of Tuner and officially tasked with defeating Seed. "And? What did you need today?" I asked, prodding Ice Doll to get to the

point. I hadn\'t made any progress to speak of in subjugating Seed. I also hadn\'t been told that I was obligated to report in.

As a matter of fact, from what I\'d heard, Tuners didn\'t have much direct contact with the Federation Government. As a rule, members of the government didn\'t even put in appearances at Federal Councils, the gatherings of Tuners. We Tuners were a very independent group.

"Yes. About that, Siesta." Ice Doll said. "I would like you to travel to Japan." "...Japan? Why me?"

How was that Asian island nation related? I hadn\'t heard anything about Seed lurking there.

"There\'s a man we would like the Ace Detective to catch," Ice Doll said, and the screen changed. It now showed a photo of a man with wavy hair and a beard; he seemed to be in his late thirties. His shoes were dirty, his shirt was wrinkled, and he wore a top hat pulled down low. In the brief glimpses of his eyes, I caught sight of something like amusement. I thought back, but I couldn\'t remember seeing him before.

"Danny Bryant." Ice Doll\'s face returned, although she kept the man\'s photo in a corner of the screen. "He worked for the government once and is now suspected of being a spy. A year ago, he took classified information regarding the Federation Government and fled. The last place he was sighted was..."

"Japan?"

Ice Doll gave a small nod. "That\'s right. For the past year, we\'ve continued searching for him using various methods, but we\'ve run out of leads. Which is

why we\'re requesting your help."

Indeed, depending on what information Danny had taken, this might count as a "global crisis," a job for the Tuners. But...

"When you appointed me as a Tuner last year, you told me that each great crisis was always handled by a single Tuner."

The world was constantly facing crises, and as a rule, Tuners focused on the one that had been assigned to them. Some—such as the Information Broker— supported other Tuners, but in broad terms, you could say that they also had a single job to focus on.

The role currently assigned to me as the Ace Detective was to destroy the primordial seed. And yet now, someone from the government was giving me a completely different job: apprehend a spy who had fled to Japan. Was that all right?

"As I said, this is a personal request." Ice Doll\'s voice hinted at a smile. "Detective Siesta, I would like you to accept this job for me."

...I see. In spite of myself, I was impressed by her approach.

For more than a year, I\'d made a living by working as an ordinary detective while I pursued Seed. That was probably part of the reason they\'d chosen me to be the Ace Detective. That said...

"You\'re going to rely on a kid? Aren\'t you embarrassed?"

In some countries, I was still young enough that I\'d have to be in school. How stubborn would this crafty old official be with a little girl like me?

"You, a child? Those who\'ve lived a life ten times more eventful than others can\'t be measured by the same yardstick as regular boys and girls."

"I know you\'re talking about mental age, but don\'t make me over a hundred, all right?"

"Before long, you\'ll understand how marvelous aging is."

I didn\'t really trust the person who\'d said that, so I couldn\'t just easily agree.

If the Information Broker had made that remark, for example, would I have believed it? If I recalled correctly, he\'d lived twice as long as the average human. As a matter of fact, since I was still young, the world was probably bursting with things I hadn\'t seen yet.

"...All right. I\'ll accept the request."

I wasn\'t entirely convinced, but if she was asking for my help as a detective, I didn\'t really have a choice. Besides, finding people is what detectives do best. I committed Danny\'s face to memory. She didn\'t even have to send me the data; I could remember that much.

"I thought you would."

There she went again. I had a hunch I\'d been cleverly tricked, but either way, I\'d wanted to visit Japan. This might be a perfect opportunity.

"...Why did I want to go to Japan?"

Out of nowhere, that question crossed my mind. I had vaguely felt that I\'d always wanted to, but now that I was thinking about it, I had no idea why. Why did something about that country strike me as nostalgic?

"We\'ll book a flight for the day after tomorrow. Can you be ready by then?"

Ice Doll didn\'t seem to have heard me talking to myself. On the other side of the screen, she\'d begun typing on a keyboard.

"No, make it the first flight tomorrow," I said, and the woman\'s hands paused. "I only have one trunk. I\'m always ready to go anywhere, at any time."

"...How reassuring."

I had thought about going to that clock tower in London this evening, though. I wouldn\'t be seeing the younger Tuner who lived there for a while. In this day and age, there were countless ways to get in touch long-distance, but I thought I\'d at least have a farewell party before I left. ...Although I suspect she\'d probably cry a whole lot.

Actually, would she have predicted this already? Assuming my departure counted as a global crisis to her, that is.

"By the way, may I ask one thing?" On the screen, the official was preparing to leave the room when I spoke. "What sort of classified information did this Danny Bryant fellow steal?"

There was silence for a few seconds.

If a high-ranking government official was willing to make a personal request

to find him, what sort of important Federation Government secrets had this spy gotten his hands on? Since I\'d taken the job, I wanted her to tell me at least that much. However...Ice Doll said nothing.

"...So you can\'t tell me at this point?" Her silence was my answer.

"In that case, if I manage to bring him here, tell me then," I said, adding that would be my compensation for taking on her request.

Considering the size of the job, they should let me get away with being a little underhanded.

"You really aren\'t a child." Ice Doll smiled coldly.

"No, I\'m still young enough to enjoy playing make-believe, ma\'am." Being carefully polite, I turned on my heel and started to leave. "By the way..." I

began, assuming the official was still glaring at me on the screen behind me. "How is life in the Mizoev Federation?"

Silence fell again. There was no answer.

In that case, I didn\'t have time to waste on this. Keeping my back to the screen, I began to walk away.

"Well, it\'s marvelous, simply wonderful," she said casually. "I\'d like to invite you here as well someday."

I was sure she didn\'t mean a word of it.

After that, I visited the clock tower where my dear protégé lived. After I told her I\'d be leaving the country for a while (She cried, as I\'d thought she would. It was adorable), I returned to my apartment and packed.

It was a furnished apartment with its own appliances, so it didn\'t take me long to get ready to leave. I simply packed my personal belongings into my trunk, and that was that. Now all I\'d have to do tomorrow morning was leave for the airport.

"I guess I won\'t be seeing this town again for a while."

I opened the window and looked out at the street, which was illuminated by a bright full moon. I felt a little guilty about leaving my precious protégé by herself, but... Either way, since I\'d be fighting SPES in earnest from now on, this secondment might be a perfect opportunity.

"It\'s cold."

In England, the night wind was still chilly at this time of year. I closed the window and drew the curtains.

It was about time I went to bed. If I was late for my flight after boldly declaring I was ready to go, I\'d tarnish the name of the Ace Detective. With that thought in mind, I walked toward my bed— And just then, I felt a breeze on my back. Even though I\'d closed the window.

"Lock up carefully. The wolves come out at night."

Had I forgotten to lock it? No, things like that were probably useless in his

case. Sighing, I made my way to my bed and crawled under the covers. "Ignoring me? How cruel. Or are you implying that you want the wolf to

attack you?"

The man was as talkative as ever.

Reluctantly, I sat up in bed. "You\'re not a werewolf, Scarlet. You\'re a

vampire."

A man in a white suit was leaning against the wall in a dark corner of the room. Blood stained the corners of his lips.

"Hm? Oh, excuse me. I haven\'t killed anyone, mind you." Registering my gaze, Scarlet wiped the blood away with his handkerchief and defended himself. "Someone only shared a little blood with me. If that was forbidden, too, I wouldn\'t be able to survive in this world." Pointing out that he didn\'t have much choice, Scarlet tried to justify his actions. I knew he didn\'t choose to live this way because he wanted to, but I wasn\'t in any position to decide whether it was right or wrong to begin with.

"And? What do you need? It\'s late," I said, giving a little yawn. Granted, he only ever appeared at night anyway.

"Does a husband need a reason to visit his wife?"

There he went again. I\'d first met Scarlet a year ago, at my first-ever Federal Council. He\'d been a Tuner much, much longer than I had. Ever since he first laid eyes on me, he\'d taken every chance he could find to talk to me, and at this point he was shamelessly stalking me. I\'d heard that he was based in London now. It couldn\'t be because I was there, could it?

"How old are you? People are going to start calling you a pedophile."

I wasn\'t old enough to get married yet anyway. ...Although that might not be true in some countries.

"To vampires, all humans are babes in arms." Scarlet gave a smug smile. That\'s one of his specialties: smiling pretentiously despite being completely uncool. "Any bride of mine must be strong. That\'s an absolute requirement. And you meet it."

I wasn\'t so sure. In terms of female Tuners, Fuubi was definitely better than me.

"What do you say? If you\'ll be my woman, I\'ll give you half the world." "You\'ve played too many RPGs," I said by way of refusal.

Scarlet gave another little laugh and went over to the window. Then... "I hear the higher-ups said something to you."

His tone had changed slightly. He meant my exchange with Ice Doll.

Apparently, that was the reason behind his visit. "Were you lurking in a shadow to eavesdrop?"

"Ha! If only." Scarlet gave a thin smile. "If I could travel between shadows like the vampires found in fiction, I\'d have it much easier." He can make it look like he\'s melting into the shadows, but he can\'t make it happen for real.

The wings he usually kept inside his body created those illusions. They can generate several hundred million patterns of light and darkness, bending light at will and tricking the human eye into believing that Scarlet has emerged from the shadows, or vanished into them. The unreality of vampires is a product of science. Yes, his kind was originally created by—

"We are not their slaves."

Standing under the window and its moonlit view, Scarlet gazed at me. By "their," he probably meant the Federation Government officials. Had he been listening from the other side of the door? Or had he intercepted the transmission? He didn\'t seem happy about the conversation I\'d had with Ice Doll. "The Federation Government and the Tuners are supposed to be equal, independent organizations. If they are giving you orders, there must be something behind it."

No, it wasn\'t dissatisfaction. It was more like... "If they\'re unjustly making you obey, I\'ll—"

"It\'s all right." I rejected the proposal before Scarlet finished. "I accepted this job of my own free will, as a detective."

Not as the Ace Detective.

"Detectives are earnest in every age, I see." Scarlet gave a pointed shrug.

Seeing him do things like this made me think he was no different from humans. ...Although I had no idea whether a vampire would be happy to hear that.

"Don\'t overwork or overestimate yourself. There are countless heroes in this world, far more than just the Tuners. If one of us cuts corners, it won\'t be much of an issue."

It sounded as if Scarlet hadn\'t really understood what I meant. I wasn\'t acting as a Tuner at all; my actions were driven by my own personal sense of mission.

...Or maybe he was trying to tell me that I didn\'t need to be bound by that type of justice, either. In any case...

"Thank you for worrying about me."

I seemed to have caught Scarlet by surprise. His golden eyes widened slightly. "Letting you go really would be a waste." His surprise softened into an expression of regret.

It\'s not as if you ever caught me in the first place.

Then, with his usual smug smile, Scarlet sprouted black wings.

"You\'re going already?" I asked, guessing the vampire had said all he\'d come to say.

"I\'m off to kill my people again."

That was the mission Scarlet had been assigned. "It\'s for the sake of a noble cause."

Why had Scarlet, who didn\'t like the humans of the Federation Government and the same man who\'d told me there was no need to be bound by justice, accepted the duty of killing his fellow vampires on the pretext of "a noble cause"?

How many people actually knew the answer to that? "Who does this \'noble cause\' of yours really benefit?" At this point, the vampire\'s large back told me nothing.

He\'d told me about his plan once, though, and I did know a few things. One: No living human could become the "bride" he spoke of.

Two: When he said, "I\'ll give you half the world," he\'d been completely serious.

Three: The fact that he would become an enemy of the world was already written in the sacred text.

The rest was my own deduction.

If I defeated Seed someday, the next mission the Ace Detective was assigned would probably be—

"The world\'s orbit is out of alignment—but a day will come when it is corrected."

Setting his hand on the window, Scarlet looked back.

"On that day, I would like my precious bride to watch and see which of us disappears, at least."