“Come on! Don’t leave me out.”
“Now, now. Great detectives only exist in fiction,” insists Futarishizuka. “If someone actually went around solving all the cases the police have given up on, the next case would be the murder of the detective. And that one would be sure to go unsolved.”
“That’s a fine way to ruin a child’s dreams, Ms. Futarishizuka.”
“But I’m right, aren’t I? Journalists are found floating in Tokyo Bay all the time—ones with a strong sense of justice who go chasing after cases just like that. Basically, that’s just how great detectives die: by trying too hard.”
Is she saying I’m the same? If so, I’m glad they won’t have to find my body in Tokyo Bay.
“But if a terrorist organization has infiltrated the event venue, shouldn’t we do something about it?” asks my neighbor. “Mr. Akutsu implied that some of our colleagues on-site have already been harmed.”
“Yes, we probably shouldn’t leave them be,” muses Futarishizuka.
What could they be after?
I suspect Robot Girl is at the crux of the matter. To get to her, they’ve probably got their eyes on me and Abaddon, as well as on my neighbor, Futarishizuka, and Makeup. We’ve already been attacked during our pretend family time, as well as when Robot Girl was attending school.
As these thoughts swirl through my mind, a buzz comes from my neighbor’s chest.
He takes out his phone, and all eyes turn to him. “Excuse me. Looks like it’s from the boss.”
“Ugh, how unpleasant,” grumbles Futarishizuka. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
My neighbor excuses himself and takes the call. Very soon, his expression stiffens. It makes me think he’s been given another difficult task. He stays on the call for only a few minutes; then he lowers the phone from his ear.
He looks at us with a grave expression. “The terrorists at the venue are up to something.”
“Of course they are. What on earth is the other team doing?” asks Futarishizuka.
“It seems they’re working on the matter. But considering the group that already went missing, we should anticipate multiple enemy psychics of rank-B or higher. They need our help to deal with them.”
“Do they plan to start a firefight right here at the venue? Are you serious?”
“The chief tells me they’ve taken bureau employees and event attendees hostage in order to negotiate with us. Depending on our response, they might do anything, so Mr. Akutsu is gathering people to prepare for the worst.”
“Ah, then it’s a ‘no negotiating with terrorists’ sort of thing?”
“That’s the sense I got.”
My neighbor explains everything calmly, but if attendees have been taken hostage, isn’t the situation really bad? There could be thousands of casualties, or even tens of thousands.
“Father, the youngest daughter has something to discuss.”
“What is it?”
“I would like to preserve my elder sister’s big moment on the stage.”
Robot Girl’s remark is admirable. If the terrorist group makes too public a disturbance, they’ll have to call off Winterfest. And that’s not even the worst part. There will be debates and arguments about every other event going forward—a major disadvantage for Ochiba Kareki. That said, I don’t need her worrying about me.
“We were thinking the same thing,” says my neighbor.
“The youngest daughter would like to assist with Mother and Father’s job.”
“That’s very reassuring,” Makeup replies.
“Then we’d better get down to the venue right away,” points out Ms. Futarishizuka. “Considering how crowded it is, just getting over there will eat up a good amount of time. If they start trying to blow us up while we’re wading through a sea of people, we won’t stand a chance.”
“I agree.”
“Then I’m coming with you! I’m a B-rank psychic, after all,” Makeup insists.
“What should we do about things here?” asks Futarishizuka.
“We can just let other bureau people handle it. No problem!”
Apparently, Makeup is coming along, too.
She’s always noisy, but today she seems even more boisterous than usual. It’s almost like she’s forcing herself to speak up. Is she trying to show off in front of my neighbor? Or is it something else? Not that I care what she’s thinking.
And so we all rush back to the east exhibition hall.
Following the boss’s orders, we left the conference tower and returned to the east exhibition hall. Our destination was Area A, the section containing the main stage. The venue was packed with so many attendees that it was difficult to get anywhere. It was now a little past lunchtime; more guests than ever were pouring in, and the venue had reached the height of its fervor.
It ended up taking us about twenty minutes just to get back from the conference tower. The section chief called me again while we were moving to update us on the situation.
Apparently, members of the terrorist group had already slipped into the main stage area. One of them had taken a staff member hostage and was holding them backstage and making demands.
“What are their demands, sir?” I asked.
“A direct negotiation with Type Twelve.”
“Negotiation? I hope they haven’t planted explosives around the venue or anything.”
“We told them that she and Hoshizaki are in attendance. I doubt they’d be foolish enough to blow up the venue in this situation. Everyone became aware of the mechanical life-form’s stance on humans back when Hoshizaki was kidnapped.”
In the slim chance that we lost Miss Hoshizaki, it would be the end of the line for the whole planet. And that was no joke, considering Type Twelve’s attachment to her. We’d definitely wind up with another crater on the Earth’s surface.
So instead, they wanted to negotiate.
Their original objective had been to secure my neighbor as leverage to negotiate with Type Twelve. Unfortunately for them, before they could drag her away, their contact—Mr. Kuga—had died. Now it seemed they were prepared to use force.
“Given how much power they have on their side, you’re the only ones on-site who can deal with them. I want you to take away their leverage and force them to withdraw without the attendees witnessing any supernatural occurrences.”
“Any intel on our enemies’ psychic powers, sir?”
“No, unfortunately. You’ll have to play this one by ear.”
“Chief, with all due respect, that is a very big ask.”
“I believe I’ll be able to give you substantial time off from your bureau duties if you can pull this off.”
“I’ll hold you to that, sir.”
According to Mr. Akutsu, the stage events hadn’t yet been affected, nor had the audience noticed anything wrong. The terrorists probably intended to drag us into negotiations by taking the event itself hostage.
And if we had to take action in front of others, it was time to change into our Masked Sailor and Demonic Middle Manager costumes. We dashed into the staff area set up behind the main stage and hastily threw on our disguises.
“I’m glad we thought to bring these just in case,” I remarked. “I didn’t think we’d actually have to use them, though…”
“Come, now, hold still. I can’t get this makeup on you if you fidget.”