Chapter 3

To say that after hearing they were trying to kill each other? If those were his true feelings, then Norman was more inhuman than he thought, and if he was bluffing, he was being far too obvious. He had no idea what Norman was thinking at this point. He never did. “…Ahem. It’s my job to gather the details of the last month.” “I already submitted a report to my sister—you should’ve read it. In fact, we chatted about it in your lab during downtime, didn’t we? Why go to the trouble of doing it all over again?” “This isn’t my primary business with you, Norman. But it’s important we get it out of the way first. Think of this as a verification process. Due diligence, if you will.” “…And what happens if I ignore you?” Jim beamed and slowly traced his right hand across his neck in a cutting motion. “…I see,” Norman added. “Well, I could try and save your life. But then you’d belong to me! Wait a second, that would actually be pretty great… Oh man, what should I make you do?!” “Fine, I’ll tell you what you want to know. In exchange, there’s something I want to know.” “Oh. Well, that works! In that case…” Jim opened the binder in his hand and stopped at a certain page. “Let’s start here. Over the past month, you and your Unlaw have caused quite the commotion in the city, haven’t you? Four incidents, four monsters. First up, a bizarre death at a certain mansion. But since an Unlaw is involved, it’s not just any murder case—especially if Tear Blossom was the one solving it! Tricks are meaningless against that thing! How did you feel, bringing that with you?” “Let’s see… If I had to say…I guess it felt like I had someone special with me.” “Not a bad start!” Jim shouted with childlike exuberance. Despite the fact he had kidnapped Norman and was questioning him, Jim showed no sign of hostility. He remained as cheerful as someone chatting with a friend, which made his comportment all the more unsettling. “Now, let’s hear it. A tale involving an Unlaw is never a mystery. Will it be action, suspense, horror? Monster panic?” “…Beats me. Sorry to disappoint, but probably none of those.” I don’t even know what it would be, though. If it could be sorted into a neat genre like that, things would be much easier, Norman thought. “I want to correct you on one thing, Jim Adamworth.” “Let’s hear it, Norman Hamish.” Norman spoke words he’d said just minutes ago. He would repeat them as many times as he needed to. “This isn’t a tale about monsters. It’s a tale about humans.”