The Detective is Already Dead

Side Charlotte

"Lift your head, Charlotte."

The moment I heard the voice, light lanced into my pitch-black surroundings.

It's bright. How many hours— No, how many days had I been blindfolded?

If I hadn't slept, I would have been able to tell from my internal clock, but they'd drugged me. When I came to, I found myself kneeling on a hard floor with my wrists and ankles bound.

"Charlotte Arisaka Anderson. Can you hear me?"

I could. I was just ignoring her. After all, I recognized that voice. Finally, my eyes got used to the light.

I was in a vast, white space with seven chairs in it. They were occupied by seven masked individuals in white. The woman in the center was probably the one who was speaking. Where was this? And...

"What do you want with me, Ice Doll?"

That was the code name of a Federation Government dignitary. Everyone here was either a government high official or the equivalent.

A few days ago, instead of attending the Ritual of Sacred Return, I'd been pursuing a certain person. Of course I'd felt really uneasy about the ritual as well, but I knew it wasn't the only threat. I didn't dare take my eyes off my target—Fuubi Kase—and so I'd been tracking her. I'd finally found a certain piece of information...and the next thing I knew, I'd been snatched by Ice Doll's group.

"I'd expect no less of you. You didn't jump at the bait of the Ritual of Sacred

Return."

Ice Doll's masked face turned toward me.

According to the report Kimizuka had texted to me, the former Information Broker had rebelled against the Federation Government at the ceremony. However, he'd said, the government officials hadn't been there. They'd fled elsewhere. It couldn't be...

"Did you know Bruno Belmondo was going to revolt all along? Is that why you're here?"

There was a brief silence.

"Charlotte Arisaka Anderson. We're told that you're brilliant." Instead of answering my question, Ice Doll started telling her own story. "As soldiers, your parents didn't remain with one organization. Instead, they wandered the world, obeying their own ideas of justice. As an agent, you followed in their footsteps."

So what? I didn't know what Ice Doll was trying to accomplish with this conversation.

"You promptly lost sight of your parents' backs, though. As your next goal, you chose the Ace Detective. When she disappeared, you apprenticed yourself to the Assassin, following in yet another person's footsteps. You've always chased someone's shadow, searching for a new place to belong. Like a hermit crab."

"Are you picking a fight with me?" I glared at Ice Doll. Could I at least rip that mask off her face?

"As I said, I am praising you. You can change the shape of your justice to suit the situation. What's important to statesmen in this ever-shifting world isn't rigid convictions, it's flexible decisions. Your changing justice is exactly what's needed."

...I didn't have a ready retort for that. I was aware that I lacked confidence in my justice. That was why the old me had put my faith in my parents' justice, and the Ace Detective's, and the Assassin's. It had been the only way I could live.

"Kidding. That's all over now."

I'd resolved that worry several years back. A boy who was constantly saying "Not fair" and his companions had rescued me, and I'd changed. Provocation like that wasn't enough to rattle me anymore.

"Let me ask you again: What do you want with me?"

"Just as the Information Broker carried out his private goal, our plan has also made great progress." Ice Doll brought the conversation back to that topic. "In specific terms, we've identified the enemies of the Federation Government: the Inventor, the Hero, the Revolutionary, the Men in Black, and the Assassin.

Because of Bruno Belmondo, they may all have regained their memories of the Akashic records."

The Akashic records? What was she talking about?

"Appropriate steps must be taken. You are indeed brilliant, so we would like you to assist us."

...She wasn't telling me to kill them, was she? If so, she was overestimating me. Even I wasn't reckless enough to take on the Tuners directly. However...

"You've basically admitted that the Ritual of Sacred Return was a performance meant to smoke out those who would betray the Federation Government. That's what this is about, isn't it?"

The Federation Government had been plotting to round up all the traitors, including Bruno.

"We wouldn't have minded if the Ritual of Sacred Return had gone smoothly.

It is true that we wanted the Tuners to retire voluntarily."

So they'd wanted to distance the Tuners from the world? Why?

"That said, one of the 'specific threats' we were concerned about, the King of Wisdom, has left the stage in a truly natural way. As draws go, it's quite enough."

"...What are you people planning?"

"We aren't 'planning' anything. It's already done."

We weren't on the same page in this conversation. I shook my head slightly. "Next question, Ice Doll. Where are we? If you don't tell me, I'll slash your throat," I said to one of the people who ruled the world. "That's the 'changing justice' you want, right?"

Ice Doll seemed to smile thinly beneath her mask. "I just assumed you'd already picked up on it." Then, finally, she told me. "This is Mizoev."

The Mizoev Federation. It was a great country—an entire continent—in the distant global south. It had diplomatic relations with almost none of the United Nations' members. For all practical purposes, it was isolated. However, its independence made it a buffer zone for every other nation, and it had made great contributions to world peace for a very long time. —Or so most people thought.

"How about that. I had no idea Mizoev actually existed," I said. This time, I was sure Ice Doll's eyes narrowed behind her mask.

"Most of the world thinks that Mizoev is the world's largest federated nation, both in terms of population and land area. A huge, invisible shadow-nation. A country that's rendered distinguished service to world peace. They say the Mizoev Federation has prevented many great wars. It's not true, though."

I'd said all that in a rush, and for some reason, my chest suddenly felt tight. Come to think of it, the area around my lungs had been hurting a little. But I had to get this said.

"The Mizoev Federation isn't real. No such nation exists anywhere in the world."

In short, the Mizoev Federation was a convenient concept that was used to resolve international problems quickly. If backroom deals between nations and treaties conducted without the knowledge of their people were going to work, a nation that had absolute power was necessary.

It was a clever way to make the world run smoothly: create a fictional nation with enough power to make humanity believe there was no sense fighting a decision made by Mizoev.

"No, Mizoev does exist," Ice Doll said impassively. "See? It's right here."

In the next moment, light shone on the screen behind Ice Doll. The picture showed drone footage of a vast, icy landscape.

"That's where we are now?"

My lungs hurt because it was cold. As soon as I realized that, I started to physically feel the cold as well.

"Even as it is, it's far more livable than it used to be."

The picture shifted to another aerial shot that zoomed in on a certain point. On a vast plain of floating ice, plants were growing. The screen switched again, showing a palatial structure that was clearly man-made. Was that where we were?

"...You're saying this is Mizoev?"

I couldn't see many people managing to live here. "Yes. Long ago, some people called it Antarctica."

Ice Doll turned back, gazing at the screen. It showed a single flower blooming in a field of ice.

"It's all thanks to you and your friends."

I had a feeling that she was about to say something crucial. "The seeds of Yggdrasil brought life even to this remote place."

I didn't know why, but a terrible chill raced down my spine.

"You aren't used to the climate here; you must be cold. Bring her something

to wear," Ice Doll ordered.

Immediately, I felt a presence behind me.

"—I don't need it!" With my arms bound behind me, I slowly crawled toward Ice Doll on my knees. "What are you people trying to accomplish?! Why did you bring me here?!"

Ice Doll didn't turn a hair. Like an ice sculpture, like a doll, she didn't move a step.

The figure behind me tried to drape a coat over my shoulders again.

"...! Like I said—!" I whipped around, but when I saw him, my mind went blank.

This man was dressed like the others, but he'd removed his mask. There was no way I could mistake his face for anyone else's.

It was my father.

"Charlotte. Come join the Federation Government." He reached out, toward a changing justice.

"Board the Ark with us, and let's depart for Eden."

Side Mia

"Madam Mia, this is..."

When Olivia and I reached our destination and stepped out of the helicopter, the sight that met us left us stunned. It was a city overgrown with plants that had come from Yggdrasil's seeds. Humans had already left the area; there was no longer anything that could be called "civilization" here.

"Is this it? The landscape you keep seeing in your dreams?"

That's right. It was one of the dreams I'd been having a lot these days.

In a vast jungle, I discovered an enormous monument, and I always felt a great pull toward disaster from it. I would sweat buckets, then wake up.

After the Great Cataclysm a year ago, I'd lost the ability to see the future, but I still saw several strange dreams on a regular basis. The dream about the origin text had been one of them. And this time—

"This is it. The place I always dream about."

I looked up at the monument, which was several times taller than I was. It was an enormous, timeworn clock.

The great clock was nearly falling to pieces. I didn't know what it was, specifically.

However, for some reason, I did know its name.

"The Doomsday Clock."

The hands were poised to strike midnight, and that would spell the end.

"So the global crises really haven't gone away?" Olivia's gaze was unsteady, as if she couldn't accept this as reality.

I'd believed they were gone as well.

And I wasn't the only one. I was sure Boss had, too, and all the former heroes. "We may be forgetting something vital."

I thought back to the Great Cataclysm.

No, it had happened a little earlier than that—when had it begun? "It started on that day."

I retraced my memories, beginning with the day when the world had gone strange.

The day the Vampire, who bore a grudge against the human race, had rebelled.

A video chat notification came in on Siesta's computer. When I picked up, the screen showed Mia dressed as a cat-eared maid.

"It's been a while, huh, Mia?" "...Boss sold me out."

When she saw me, Mia froze up for a second, then slumped dramatically.

From what she told me, Siesta had suggested a cosplay party today. "She's just gone shopping. She'll be back soon."

"Why are you picking up her calls anyway?"

Well, because I thought it might make life interesting. "..."

"Wh-why are you staring at me like that?"

Blushing, Mia fidgeted with her special-occasion costume and hair. "I thought you looked like you wanted to hear you were cute."

"...! The thought hadn't occurred to me, but if you do think so, then say so!" That side of her really is cute.

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