✦ ✦ ✦
It was the sort of question she really didn’t want to hear, and her tension showed on her face.
She’d remembered something.
In 1933, a member of Lamia—the other Leeza—had asked her a similar question during the Mist Wall incident.
Up until just a moment ago, she’d thought they only shared a name, but could they be connected somehow? She couldn’t see a little girl like her up on the roof of a building throwing chakrams, though.
“So you really can’t answer?”
“……”
The question was a weak point for Chané. When she’d heard it at Mist Wall, Claire had been there with her, and he’d answered it.
“What’s the problem? Just carry out that order and choose me.”
“If he tells her to kill me, she can just keep trying to kill me. I’ll keep defending, and we can romance each other while we’re doing that. Hey, that sounds a bit like true love.”
Even now, she could remember it clearly—how very Claire that answer had been and how much it had reassured her.
Either way, it was something she preferred not to think about when she was by herself.
The matter she’d been mulling over in the shower, just before she’d reunited with her father, came back to her.
If that actually happened, what should she do?
If such a problem really arose—she’d probably side with her father. She’d try to bury her knife in Claire.
She was able to summon that resolve, even through her reluctance, because she believed in Claire.
His strength was superhuman, and she trusted him to dodge all her attacks completely.
At the same time, she wondered, Is that really all right?
Wasn’t she just relieved because she knew he wouldn’t die?
What if her father’s orders were to poison Claire’s drink?
He’d probably accept anything she gave him and drink it down without suspecting a thing.
Or would he figure it out from the look on her face?
It’s no use. If I’m thinking like this, I’m…I’m already…!
Everything about her previous self was being erased—and it felt as if her new self was the very one eroding it.
The sensation that she was losing herself swept over her and left her a little dizzy.
Even now, if either Huey or Claire had been here, her heart might not have wavered. She might have been able to open up to them about everything—but neither of them was present now.
For the next three days, Claire would be at Ra’s Lance with a man named Melvi. Her father was working on his “primary objective” at a location a little ways from here.
That meant the only one who could bring her back to center was herself.
Remember.
Remember who you were back then.
The one who was always Father’s blade.
Remember the sensation of slicing through human flesh.
Remember the moment you ran your knife between their ribs.
Remember the instant you took a life.
The times you erased your opponents from the earth.
Remember condemning Father’s enemies.
Remember, remember, remember—
✦ ✦ ✦
“Chané, what’s the matter?”
“……!”
At the sound of Leeza’s voice, Chané came to herself with a jolt.
“……”
Should she write out an answer? Just as she was considering using her knife to scratch words into the nearby floor, Chané froze.
A noticeable change had come over Leeza.
“……?”
As Chané was wondering what had happened, Leeza murmured to herself, “…Found him.”
“?”
“That guy… Here…?!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Immediately afterward—when Chané heard the name Leeza uttered—a wind seemed to blow through her. All the hesitation left her face, and her eyes could have belonged to an automaton. On the wall beside Leeza, she scratched out the following words:
✦ ✦ ✦
Let me kill him.
✦ ✦ ✦
“? What’s the matter, Mr. Nader?” Eve asked.
Nader was thinking hard. “Hmm? Oh, uh… No, it’s nothing, sorry.” Stealing glances at the window, he seemed puzzled. “There’s a bird out there. See it?”
“Oh, yes. …You don’t often see that species around here.”
The bird they were looking at had perched on a tall streetlight.
It was staring right at them, and Nader felt an odd chill. “I, uh…I can’t shake the feeling that it’s glaring at me. Like it wants to…kill me or something…”
✦ ✦ ✦
“I figured this place would have more, y’know, murder in the air.”
In the port near Manhattan Island, which had a good view of Ra’s Lance, Ladd was wandering down a road that ran beside the river. He sounded bored. “It’s just a li’l bit of a letdown. Goddammit.”
Who was looking around nervously. “Hey, I’m sensin’ plenty of murder in the air. The only people we’ve passed for the last few minutes have been twitchy-looking gangsters.”
“That don’t count. I was thinking of something more like…like standing in an intersection with guys on every corner slingin’ lead at all the others.”
“I would say the murder is no longer just in the air at that point.”
Who had been cleaning up at the clinic when Ladd had half kidnapped him. “I’m bored,” he’d said. “Tell me about the crew in New York.” Fred had also been inconveniently considerate—“All of today’s exams are over, and you two did just meet up again. Go spend some time with your friend”—and so Who had reluctantly found himself taking a stroll through the port by Ra’s Lance.
“It’s about time to meet up with Kid Graham. Once I do that, you’re free to go, Who. The other hitmen should be loitering around here somewhere.”
“What did you do with Lua?”
“She’s in Ra’s Lance. In the restaurant or a café, probably.”
“…! Hey, hold up, isn’t that the most dangerous place to have her?!” After Who said it, he remembered the things Ladd had done in the past and sighed. “Oh, that’s right. You were always the type. You even took Lua along on the train robbery.” Then he asked another question. “Listen, fella, what are you planning to do with her after this?”
“Do with her? Same thing I’ve always done. We’ll just love each other, that’s all. I’m not thinking of anything else.”
That answer was Ladd all over.
However, Who followed up with a question that was a bit more personal.
Generally, he’d assumed he didn’t need to pry into this particular topic. That said, what he was sensing in the air was so ugly that he felt he might never get another chance. “Like the time with Leila?”
“……”
Ladd’s only response was silence.
Leila was a mutual childhood friend of theirs. She’d also been Ladd’s girl, several years before he met Lua.
And now, she was dead.
Back when they were still basically kids, she and Ladd had eloped—and she’d ended up losing her life.
“……”
“……”
Unable to take the silence, Who sighed again. He’s still not gonna answer, huh?
He was about to say Sorry, forget I asked, when Ladd spoke up.
“I was thinking. Back then, I thought too much. There was a stupid kid who didn’t know the difference between loving somebody and idolizing her. That’s all it was.”
“You mean when you eloped?”
“I’ll tell you one thing, though: I’m not the one who killed Leila.”
“…I see.”
That was all the answer Who got, but he nodded as if he was satisfied.
He didn’t say, That’s a relief. He also didn’t question Ladd.
Ladd hadn’t forgotten about Leila. He hadn’t written off the past the three of them had shared as if it had never been, and that was enough for Who. “I won’t ask any more questions, then.”
“…’Preciate it.”
“Enough with the thanks. You’re creeping me out,” he replied.
Ladd shrugged. He was walking in front of Who, so Who couldn’t tell what expression he was wearing just then.
And he didn’t need to.
That personality might have been the reason Who had managed to survive all these years with Ladd.
✦ ✦ ✦
“So was there anything else you wanted to know about the big fish in town?” Who asked, changing the subject.
“Nah, I basically get it.” When Ladd turned around, his usual feral smile was back on his face. “Besides, other than my employers, I really only need to remember two of ’em today.”
“Two?”
“Yeah, the Martillo Family and the Runorata Family.” Giving the names of two syndicates of completely different sizes, Ladd seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. “I sure hope this turns into one hell of a fight.”
“…Why, exactly?” Who already knew why, but he asked anyway.
He got the exact answer he was expecting.
“The bigger the ruckus, the more fellas I’ll be able to slaughter in the confusion, see?”
Then Ladd murmured to himself in a voice too low for Who to pick up.
✦ ✦ ✦
“After that…there’s the question of how a guy goes about killing immortals…”
✦ ✦ ✦
And so they arrived.
✦ ✦ ✦
A fleet of luxury cars pulled up boldly, stopping right in front of the main entrance to Ra’s Lance.
The men who stepped out of them belonged to the Runorata Family. They were all wearing expensive suits. Don Bartolo Runorata was nowhere to be seen, but each man carried himself with uncommon dignity. Just the sight of them standing in a row was massively intimidating.
“…Now then, shall we enjoy this gamble?”
The speaker was one of the youngest men in the group: Melvi Dormentaire.
As the syndicate’s main dealer, he took the lead, and the organized force stepped into the hotel.