“Sheesh… And here I was wondering why he’d summoned us so suddenly. What is Salomé doing?” asked Hong Chi-Mei, nicknamed “Chi,” an Asian man with bandage-wrapped hands.
“Luring out a bear, or so he says,” Sickle told him.
“A bear? In the middle of the city?” Chi wondered whether the man had done so much research that he’d finally lost his marbles.
Frank—a huge child who was over six feet tall—answered him. “U-um. It’s the Runoratas’ pet. It ran away. So Mr. Salomé said he’d catch it… I hear the bear’s way bigger than m-me…”
“…If a bear that size is wandering around town, the police will shoot it dead in no time. That is all.”
“That’s why he said he’d catch it first…” The speaker was a girl in a thick coat who wore a stocking cap pulled down all the way over her eyes. Her soft voice was drowned out by the noise Salomé was making.
“He bragged that this noise would control nearby animals, but I’m not sure how much I believe that…,” said a woman with a beautiful design tattooed on her face.
Salomé was currently broadcasting a “sound that would lure out a specific animal species” from a set of wearable speakers. The storage battery that powered the speakers was attached to his back.
Storage batteries were mainly used in electric cars, but Rhythm had miniaturized theirs.
The history of electric cars was a long one. Invented in the latter half of the eighteenth century, they swept the world before the development of the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine. By 1899, an electric car that could surpass speeds of sixty miles per hour had been developed.
Edison, the famous king of inventions, had manufactured his own prototype of an electric car, while Japan had begun to produce electric cars domestically in 1934. In tandem with these innovations, battery technology had continued to evolve.
Meanwhile, Salomé had improved batteries for his organization’s private use. The one he was wearing had been specifically designed for the speakers on his back.
After traveling through bizarre and complicated circuits that Salomé had personally developed, part of the direct current that ran from the battery was converted into alternating current. A sound amplifier powered by multiple systems that ran in parallel, some using direct current and others using alternating current, produced the unsettling sound (which had also been developed by Salomé).
That sound echoed far and wide. It might have been audible miles away. Salomé intended to circle Central Park, broadcasting that sound far across Manhattan to lure out the bear. However, as Sickle and the others watched this experiment, their eyes said, Salomé’s great at making things, but he’s always been crap at using them.
In addition to Sickle and the others, there was a man in a swallowtail coat, a muscular man with glasses who was naked to the waist, and a man in a skull mask. Nearly all the members of Lamia were present.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Why did he bring us here for this?!” Tim bellowed to be heard over the noise.
Adele put her lips close to Tim’s ear so she wouldn’t have to yell. “I’m not sure, but he may want people to think this is a circus performance to avoid causing a panic if the bear actually does show up. We do look like a circus, after all.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that.” Looking at his crew of outlandishly dressed subordinates, Tim sighed. I swear, if my brother ever sees me like this…
Even as he thought about his big brother, who worked for the Gandor Family as their torture specialist, Tim kept his guard up, warily scanning his surroundings.
✦ ✦ ✦
After they’d spent about fifteen minutes slowly moving through the park, out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw it appear.
An enormous bear, close to ten feet tall. The Runorata Family’s pet.
“Whoa! It actually showed up!”
Then he realized something else.
As the bear bounded toward them on all fours, it was bringing several things they didn’t need along with it.
Fifteen minutes earlier
“What’s that sound, Me?”
“It sounds a little like Charlie’s bellow, I.”
When they heard the distant noise, Juliano and Gabriel exchanged looks.
Carefully analyzing the echoes that bounced off the skyscrapers, they guessed that the sound was coming from the direction of Central Park.
Then the door of the clinic opened, and an enormous bear shambled out.
A woman screamed, and any remaining rubberneckers scattered like rabbits.
“Yes, that’s definitely Charlie, I!”
“He doesn’t look like he’s hurt. That’s great. Let’s take him home, Me.”
The two tried to get closer to Charlie, but then they saw the men who’d been guarding the gate go for their guns.
The second they saw it, the two were in motion.
Juliano and Gabriel launched themselves off the ground, pulling knives from their jackets and throwing them in perfect sync. As a rule, one twin fought with a knife and the other used a gun, but they’d chosen their current weapons to keep the noise to a minimum.
The knives struck the men’s guns squarely, and the sudden impact made the Division of Investigation men fumble their weapons.
“Who the hell are you?!” the men screamed as the twins appeared out of nowhere.
“We’re here on behalf of the Runoratas. We’ve come to collect that bear, our master’s friend.”
“Trying to shoot the young master’s pal… You people are messed up.”
“……! The Runoratas!”
The men almost panicked, but they promptly recovered. As they tried to level their guns again, the bear lunged heavily through the gate.
The DOI men weren’t sure whether to aim at the Runorata goons or the bear, and then things got even more confusing.
“This is fun… Let me tell you a fun story. Yahoo! It’s a bear! Ain’t it great, Shaft?! We were waiting outside for Ladd, and instead, out comes this stocky, shaggy beast! It’s a real bear, a real live bear! What a powerful build! What a beautiful coat! And a surprisingly winsome face! And those sharp teeth! If this guy were a car, I bet he’d be real fun to take apart!”
“No, no, no! You’re gonna get hurt, Mr. Graham! And even if it was safe, don’t take animals apart!”
“Hey, don’t worry. My sis told me to take good care of all animals except humans. Actually, I think the bear is gonna take you apart instead, Shaft. You okay with that?!”
“Not at all! Please don’t jinx me like that!”
Graham Specter, the man who did nothing but invite confusion and chaos, had forced his way in.
✦ ✦ ✦
Making matters worse, Victor stuck his head out.
“Dammit! Stop that bear, men! We’ll have the city in a panic!”
As Victor drew his gun, Isaac and Miria darted out, standing between him and the retreating bear.
“Whoa, whoa! Hold up! I think this guy’s probably fine!”
“He didn’t eat us, you know?”
“You think that’s any reason to relax?! Get out of the way! Move it! Move it! Muo—gwuff?!” Victor abruptly flew into the air mid-shout, did a flip, and slammed into the clinic gate.
“Ah, sorry, there. You were in the way. My fist bumped into you as I went by.”
Ambling into view, Ladd cheerfully walked over toward Graham and the bear.