Silence fell, and the night wind blew across the roof.
The hush was broken by Fermet; he was biting back laughter. “What’s the point of asking that now? You want revenge for your lover? I’d say that ship has sailed.”
“No, not at all. I simply wanted to know about the life Monica lived in a little more detail.”
“I don’t remember, sad to say. What about you? What would those who’ve suffered for your research see on your face?” Chuckling, Fermet turned around and leaned against the railing. His eyes were on Huey’s back. “During this grand experiment you’re about to perform…what would the seven million residents of New York see?”
“……”
Huey fell silent for a moment. Then he responded with his usual faint smile. “I doubt my expression will be any different from this. To me, it doesn’t have enough meaning to warrant anything more than this mask of a smile.”
“I see. Then I guess resting in peace won’t be an option for those unfortunate millions.”
“You talk as if I’m planning to blanket the city with poison gas.”
“You’re not?” Fermet taunted him, his smile broadening. “What you’re attempting is an experiment that may not even have any real meaning. Meanwhile, these healthy people will never have normal, human lives again. Isn’t that right?”
“……”
“Who’d ever have thought you’d add the liquor of immortality to the New York City water supply? Not even Szilard Quates would have come up with that one. Creating seven million immortals… That experiment’s going to change the world.”
It was an appalling prospect, but Fermet said it quite simply. He looked rather entertained. It was as if he was imagining the tragic comedy that would result from that experiment and amusing himself by visualizing the upheaval of the world.
“You’ve really done your homework.” Eyes lowered, Huey smiled. Then he shook his head slightly. “Close, but not close enough. Your guess isn’t quite accurate.”
“…What?”
“I am after the water, but I won’t be using the liquor of immortality. That was one idea, but…Renee already did something similar at Mist Wall, you see.”
“Then what exactly are you planning to put in the water? You can’t actually intend to poison it, can you? That’s not quite in line with your philosophy. It’s something a real terrorist would do.” Fermet thought for a little while, then continued. “Not that I’d mind either way.” His lips curved in a grin.
“…Naturally, you know about Sham and Hilton, don’t you?” Huey asked.
“Of course. I cooperated a bit in the development of that techn—” Fermet broke off.
He’d finally realized what Huey was planning.
There was a moment of silence before he burst into raucous laughter. “Ha-ha… Gwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I see! So that’s it! Just becoming an immortal wasn’t enough for you; you’re trying to become something else entirely?”
After he’d had a few moments of cackling, he suddenly took on a more serious, subdued tone.
“Do you intend to become God?”
“That isn’t the objective, and I can’t imagine I’ll be able to transcend humanity during this incident… It’s an experiment. Nothing more. You understand that, don’t you?”
“But you’re experimenting for an objective, right?”
“My objective hasn’t changed.” Slowly, Huey turned to face Fermet. His golden eyes held no emotion. “Not since the day you took Monica from the world.”
Huey’s tone was mild. Fermet shrugged, then dissolved into laughter again. “Ha! …Nobody likes a guy who doesn’t know when to let go, you know.”
“Pots and kettles, some might say.”
“I don’t need to be liked,” he said shamelessly. He stepped away from the railing and walked past Huey again, heading for the door. “Okay. All I’m interested in is the uproar at Ra’s Lance, which you’ve set up as a distraction. Whatever you do in the meantime, I’ve got no reason to interfere.”
“That would be a great help, if it’s true.”
“Even I’ve only got one body, so I’ll go wherever intrigues me the most… Although if that creepy smile junkie gets involved, that’s going to change things.”
The man who could be called the “root of all evil” spoke as if he had nothing to do with this.
Then he set his hand on the doorknob.
Huey watched Fermet go until he had disappeared into the building. The faint smile never faltered.
He never took his eyes off him.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Oh dear. Who’d have thought he was planning something so dramatic…?”
As he descended the stairs, Fermet muttered to himself.
His vulgar smile was exactly the same as it had been 224 years earlier.
✦ ✦ ✦
“…Come on. Of course I’m going to interfere.”
New YorkA broad avenue
A few minutes after Fermet had left the building and vanished into the dark city—
—a lone woman appeared, walking the building’s perimeter and looking around restlessly. “Hmm… I’m pretty sure I’m close, but…”
Holding a jar with Huey’s eyeball inside it, Renee Parmedes Branvillier strolled through the Manhattan night.
She clearly wasn’t dressed for this scene, but no thugs whistled as she passed.
A knife-wielding mugger or two had come up behind her, intending to drag her into the shadows—but whenever it happened, somebody dragged them into a dark alley instead and knocked them out with a blow to the head.
Meanwhile, the oblivious Renee continued sauntering down the dark streets as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Watching her from a distance, her shadow bodyguard—Archangelo—heaved a deep sigh.
✦ ✦ ✦
“…She really does have a total disregard for danger.”
✦ ✦ ✦
A few minutes after Renee and Archangelo had switched to a different street—
“…This…is…the right…build…ing…isn’t…it?”
Muttering to himself in a halting, broken way, a lone man climbed up to the high-rise where Huey waited. He was holding a large bag; from time to time, its contents made a noise like glass scraping together.
The man—Begg Garrott—glanced at the bag. Then he looked up the stairs, mumbling. “…That…louse…Huey. Is he…seri…ous? I never…thought…he’d…have me…make such…a thing…”
More so than the others from the Advena Avis, Begg had a knowledge of pharmaceuticals that was top class, and so were his skills in compounding them. He seemed to have some sort of contract with Huey that involved this bag filled with a certain “drug” he’d made himself.
He’d definitely compounded it, although he hadn’t tested it.
This was a substance that could never be tested, even on a guinea pig.
With this drug, the first subject was just that important.
In fact, drug might not even have been the word for the substance. It belonged in the same category as the liquor of immortality.
“Sor…ry, Maiza. Czes.” Murmuring the names of his old friends, Begg smiled. “I really…am…a…worth…less…research…er.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I…wanted…to…see whe…ther the…drug…I…made…w-would…change the…world.”
✦ ✦ ✦
On this night—the immortals also began to stir in the darkness.
It was as if, in a world crawling with humans, these abnormalities were drawing close to one another.
Granted, there was no possible way their community could be a peaceful one…
✦ ✦ ✦
And so the dice were thrown again and again.
Ra’s Lance and the island of Manhattan—the chain reactions of destiny that were based in these two neighboring locations began to move nearly simultaneously.
Using an enormous vortex he’d intentionally created as a distraction, Huey Laforet was attempting to whip up an even greater one.
His own subordinates, his daughters, the alchemists who had once been his companions, the Runorata Family and other giant syndicates, and even Victor’s Division of Investigation—Huey threw all of them onto Fate’s table as his wager.
…And the people in question were given no time to intervene.
✦ ✦ ✦
But there was something Huey hadn’t yet noticed.
Several of the intricately layered gears of Ra’s Lance had meshed with gears on Manhattan Island.
These engagements, which even Huey didn’t know about, were beginning to bend Fate in a peculiar direction—but so far, no one had picked up on it.
✦ ✦ ✦
The gambling continued.
The time for placing bets had begun.
Using every means available, with everything they had, they wasted all they’d accumulated.
In order to win proof that they were enjoying life, proof that they were living…
✦ ✦ ✦
…the immortals continued to bet infinite time.
✦ ✦ ✦
