Chapter 48

CHAPTER ONE Chronos-Trigger City—Shinjuku Month of the Gryphon, Day 2, 2099 FE, 14:25 “The victim is the owner of this mansion, Elu Dilou, a fifty-six-year-old therian man. He received a blow to the head.” Multiple people were gathered in the middle of a dark room. “I believe this is not a simple accident.” The light on the ceiling blinked, shining on one individual in a striking contrast of light and shadow. “The perpetrator is cunning. The crime took place in the bath, with no windows, only a small vent, and locked from the inside. The victim is still unconscious. A real tragedy.” This individual was a tall human man wearing a black Inverness coat over a black suit, and a black deerstalker hat over his long, black hair. The figures around him spoke. “How did this happen…?” “I can’t stay here! I’m going back to my room!” The human man tried to appease the orc and dwarf men. “Calm yourselves. I am in the middle of my deduction, and you will not leave this room. Now, how did the perpetrator accomplish this crime…? The six people gathered here were not present at the time of the crime—all suspects. Four have an alibi, which leaves us with two—” More voices came from the shadows: “You’re saying one of us did it?!” an elven boy shouted. “Where’s the proof?! Show us proof!” a therian woman demanded. The man pulled his hat down in annoyance at the pair’s objections. “Good grief, that is the only thing you can say. Proof, proof, proof…” “And you call yourself a detective?!” “You joker! You should be ashamed of yourself!” “There seems to be a misunderstanding. I am not a detective, but merely an assistant. Right, Ms. Great Detective?” Then: “Yes, there is a detective right here. And a detective present means a solved mystery, soon enough,” came a graceful voice from the shadows. “Do you know who is behind this crime?” the man asked her. “Yes. It is elementary, my dear assistant.” “Oh?” “Two culprits…is what one would normally think, but that’s not right. And the culprit isn’t among us, although they are in this room.” “Let us hear it, then, Great Detective. Your deduction.” The woman revealed herself from the shadows into the light. She wore a vest and corset under a white coat. Two foxlike ears poked through each side of her checkered deerstalker hat, and under it flowed long, chestnut-colored hair. She was a half-therian. “Let us raise the curtain, then. I, Emi Chabatake, the Great Detective of Shinjuku—and my trusty assistant, Veltol Velvet Velsvalt—shall give you the answers.” And then she said… “The mystery has been solved.” The detective winked with a smile and pointed at the perpetrator. “The culprit is you.” A colorful pet slime inside a cage in the corner of the room. Month of the Gryphon, Day 2, 2099 FE, 08:12 Spring. Twirling cherry blossoms. The season of new meetings—and the season of partings. The graduation ceremony was over. I walked through the cherry trees in bright spirits with my diploma in hand. I had met many people and lived many experiences during this year as a normal student in an abnormal school. I had even fallen in love. I crossed the tree-lined path toward the school gates. I felt as if the culmination of the past year’s meetings and events was waiting for me. With that expectation in my heart, I passed through the school gate. “Hey, Veltol.” On the other side was a blond man with a chill smile. “Oh… It’s you,” I said. “You ruined the moment.” “What’s wrong with you? Have you forgotten how much I helped you this year?” “No, I haven’t. Thank you, partner. Let’s go.” Sheesh. My story was not bookended with bittersweet adolescence. Looks like I’ll keep sticking around this blondie for a while. “WHYYYYYY?!” The credits rolled as the ending theme, Ambrosial Strew, played. “How didn’t I get Miyabi’s route after all that?! How do I keep getting this ending with that blond man?!” livestreamer Veltol Velvet Velsvalt bellowed. Veltol was playing the all-ages edition of dating simulation game Adanasake ~Love Falls Like a Cherry Blossom~. This dating sim took place in a school. The player was a student at Saint Altres Academy who fostered a romance with one of the schoolgirls over the course of a year. Veltol was trying to get the ending with the half-therian character Miyabi Ryuugakuin, a girl who treated the player like one of her close guy friends. UNFORTUNATELY, MIYABI DOESN’T HAVE A ROUTE. SHE GOT A ROUTE IN THE FANDISC, BUT YOU PROB CAN’T STREAM THAT HERE SHE’S SO PRETTY, RIGHT? I GET WHY YOU’D WANT HER YOU SUCK AT THIS, VEL. YOU’RE TERRIBLE AT DATING SIMS! HE’S TERRIBLE AT GAMES, PERIOD HIS STREAMS ARE GOOD, THO… AWKWARD LORD VELLY IS SO CUTE I COULD JUST GOBBLE HIM UP! Veltol glared at the comments section egging him on. “I hate this blondie’s good guy vibe! And he looks a little like Gram…which only makes it worse…,” he grumbled. HE GOT A ROUTE IN THE FANDISC, TOO RELAX, YOU CAN ALSO CHOOSE BETWEEN AN XY AND XX BODY WHY ARE THE DEVS SO METICULOUS ABOUT THAT STUFF…? Exhausted, Veltol tried wrapping up the stream. “I shall get at least one route in this game, but I have something to do today. Unlike you people.” GIVE US 1000 MORE HOURS PLS DON’T GO YOU OF ALL PEOPLE ARE TELLING US TO TOUCH GRASS?! “Ha. Thank you for the donos. And don’t forget to check out my new apparel on the official store. A swift and peaceful death to you fools.” REST IN PEACE. REST IN PEACE RIP RIP “Don’t say that.” Veltol stopped the stream and pointed at the screen to check whether the software really was off, then checked from another device that the channel was offline before he left the room. Once all that was over, Veltol was no longer the supernova streaming star who’d popped up out of nowhere in Shinjuku City in the year 2099 of the Fused Era. He had another identity. Five hundred years in the past, before the worlds of Earth and Alnaeth fused, he had been the one and only Demon Lord, who led the Immortal Army to spread fear all over Alnaeth. At the end of the battle called the Immortal War, the Hero Gram destroyed him, but Veltol overcame his destruction via reincarnation magic and was reborn in the modern era. His identity as a streamer was but part of his efforts to recover the faith—the emotions of others toward him—that had weakened during those five centuries in flux. Veltol’s “castle” was on the thirteenth floor of a luxury apartment complex on Shinjuku’s Kabukicho Street. The place was not attainable even for a popular streamer, but due to various circumstances, he got it with super-cheap rent. In the living room were two girls. “Welcome back, Lord Veltol.” One wore a T-shirt with a tanuki on it. Her hair was long and silver, and her eyes crimson. A beautiful girl, like the personification of a first snow. “Hey, Veltol. Over already?” The other looked younger than the first, more worthy of being called a little girl. She wore a black tracksuit with gold trim and a shirt with the word dragon written in katakana. She had black hair, golden dragon eyes, and brown skin—as well as horns, wings, and a tail. An unenlightened third party would guess she was a full-borg with special attachments, but her wings and tail were real. The silver-haired girl was the Duchess of the Dazzling Blaze, Machina Soleige. The black-haired girl was the Black Dragon Duchess, Sihlwald. They were both subjects of Demon Lord Veltol and powerful immortal members of the Six Dark Peers. Naturally, neither were the age they looked—not to mention Sihlwald was a real dragon merely assuming human form. Machina sat courteously on the living room sofa, while Sihlwald sat slovenly on her lap as they watched an animated show streaming on the spatial-projection monitor. “Sister, Machina seems to be upset,” said Veltol. “Shut it, Little Brother! Who cares?!” Despite what they called each other, Veltol and Sihlwald were not blood relatives. They couldn’t have been; she was a dragon and he was an immortal human. Long, long ago, the two of them decided Sihlwald would act as an elder sister to Veltol, and Veltol would treat and respect her as such. “You’re not upset, are you, Machina? You like me sitting on your lap!” “Yes, of course. I am very happy to be reunited with you, Lady Sihlwald. However, I would like you to refrain from getting too close when I’m doing chores…” “If you say so…” Veltol reluctantly acquiesced while staring at the smug look on Sihlwald’s face. It was only recently that Sihlwald had moved into this “castle.” Following Veltol’s resurrection five centuries after his defeat by the Hero Gram, the Demon Lord was betrayed by one of his former Six Dark Peers, the Duke of the Bloody Arts, Marcus, all while revealing the darkness that lurked within Shinjuku City. Then he infiltrated Akihabara’s School of Magic in search of his remaining Dark Peers and stopped a clash between the city’s two factions, which was triggered by the goddess of weal and woe with involvement from the Guild—the Salvation Church. Veltol followed the lead he’d obtained in Akihabara to an isolated, controlled arcological society and reunited with Sihlwald, who had been sealed away in Yokohama, where he destroyed the mechanical god that had awakened through the deaths of a homunculus girl and numerous citizens. This sequence of events brought them to the present day. Sihlwald was set free after nearly five centuries, making her just as lost in the modern era as Veltol. She was given a free room in his apartment. That said, given her uninhibited nature and the fact that she had a friend in Shinjuku City, she was constantly going back and forth between the “castle” and her friend’s house. Sihlwald’s room was basically just a place for her to sleep at night. Machina looked at the front spatial-projection monitor. “Well then, Lord Veltol has completed his public affairs, and since you’re unoccupied, Lady Sihlwald, we’ll bring you up to speed on the problems we are dealing with. For your sake, Lady Sihlwald.” “Hmm? But weren’t we just killing time while Veltol played? Why are you accusing me of being idle when he was literally playing games over there?” “L-Lady Sihlwald! Shh! Shh!” Machina placed her finger in front of her face before touching the floating console to play the morning news segment she’d recorded. The screen showed a dwarf newscaster and an ogre commentator. “Early this morning, orc Lu Luija, age 32, was murdered in an apartment in east Shinjuku.” “Signs of struggle and ritualistic magic circles were found at the scene, and one of Luija’s eyeballs was injured. Since Luija was a magi-eye owner, the case is being linked to the serial killings of other magi-eye owners.” “The investigation is proving difficult for the City Guard. The crime scenes all show signs of beyondization, so anyone who lives near a location with such phenomena is asked to exercise caution.” “Most eerie about this case is that no security cameras have captured footage of the perpetrator. It’s almost as though the culprit is invisible.” “We have criminal analyst Regio here with us. What do you make of the perpetrator’s profile, Regio?” “My expertise tells me the criminal is human, or perhaps a therian or an orc, although this could be the work of some other species. I believe they possess either an entirely or partially organic body, or they’re perhaps a full-borg.” “This person claims to be a criminal analyst?!” Machina yelled at the screen. Veltol looked away from the news and at Machina and Sihlwald. “This is the fourth Collector case. It’s all over Shinjuku’s local network, too.” “Isn’t murder just par for the course in this town? You can walk into any random back alley and find a body lying around. Why’s this news?” Sihlwald asked. “Umm, well,” Machina began, “there are many reasons, but the main one is that this criminal has been appearing in various cities since a few years ago.” “Not just Shinjuku?” “No. The first Collector case was in London, and more have occurred in other cities around the world. Another reason is that there have been few eyewitnesses, and the culprit never appears in security footage. Nobody has any idea what they could look like. And third, all the victims have a magi-eye, and all the killings take place in beyondized locations.” “Magi-eyes, huh…?” “There are also strange rituals taking place, going by the magic circles found at the crime scenes. This is where the Collector nickname comes from. Rumors of sightings appear on the aethernet all the time, and now it is basically an urban legend.” “Why’re they collecting magi-eyes? To eat ’em?” “I doubt that’s the case… Rumors say they either just collect them or sell them on the black market.” “Mm-hmm, so what’s this Collector have to do with our problems? We’re trying to get May back, right? And look into whoever’s calling themself Zenol.” “Well, Sister, Takahashi just told us she’s gotten intel that will clear up your confusion. Machina, let’s go over it.” “Yes, sir. Eleclait, if you could please.” Machina had her Familia’s artificial spirit project a hologram in the air. The hologram was a girl. “Oh, Takahashi! Howdy-do!” Sihlwald smiled and waved at the girl. Takahashi, dressed in a qipao and a dwarven jacket, looked nervous, her eyes unfocused. “Oh, it’s already recording?” “Yeah, it is.” “That’s Hizuki’s voice,” Machina said. “Those two know nothing about video recording. I shall teach them how to do it,” Veltol added. Takahashi cleared her throat before speaking in a grave tone. “Erm, Velly, I just got results of what you asked me to investigate. You…you better just take a look.” Takahashi snapped her fingers, and a window appeared beside her. The window showed a video. “That’s…a security camera feed?” Veltol was right. The camera recorded a city somewhere. “Wait, I know this place. That is Goar.” Goar was the city opposite the coast of the isolated iron island of Yokohama. The feed showed the entrance of a domestic-style ramen restaurant in Goar. Multiple people came out of the eatery. “That’s me, Hizuki, Kinohara, and…huh?” Machina mumbled. “Machina and Hizuki said there should’ve been another person with them here.” “May…or rather, Ange,” said Veltol. Machina nodded. While Veltol, Sihlwald, and Takahashi were in Yokohama, there was a fourth person in the ramen place. One of the Six Dark Peers, the Duchess of the Mournful Firmament—her body taken over by a Hero, an agent of the Guild, codename Ange. “I checked the security cameras and drone footage in Akihabara and Goar, where we encountered Guild folks, but they came up empty. Same thing with the Zenol guy Machina ran into at the Goar port district.” Veltol, Machina, and Sihlwald tensed up as soon as Zenol’s name mentioned. He was one of the Six Dark Peers, the Duke of the Karmic Sword. A vassal of Veltol like May was, and a colleague to Machina and Sihlwald. Another of the Six Dark Peers, Marcus, the Duke of the Bloody Arts, had betrayed the immortals and captured Zenol, who had helped Machina escape the Immortal Hunt. Zenol was fed to the Immortal Furnace and destroyed. And yet someone claiming to be Zenol had run into Machina in Goar. “There’s no sign of the feeds being tampered with. And since Machina and Hizuki actually saw this Ange person, it can’t be optical camouflage magic. It’s technically possible these Guild folks are all master aether hackers like me and could overwrite the feed in real time without leaving any trace, but I’m pretty sure there’s gotta be another explanation.” Which was… “They’re using magic to not appear in security footage?” Hizuki asked from outside the frame. “Yep. A very specialized form of concealment magic. Also, look at this.” Another window appeared next to Takahashi. It showed grainy footage of a dark alley, something highly unusual, given the high quality of modern-day cameras. “What’s that?” Sihlwald asked. “I found this by chance when I snuck into the Shinjuku City Guard’s server.” “Why did you sneak into the City Guard’s server…?” Hizuki asked. “I was wondering if maybe they had some info on the Guild and then came across this video of the murderer everyone’s talking about… But hey, this little playti—impulse gave me some amazing findings!” “Were you just about to say playtime?” The blurry footage showed two people. One was a therian wearing tattered clothes and bandages. The other was an orc man. The bandaged person attacked the orc, strangling him to death, and then drew a magic circle before proceeding to gouge his eye out. “You should’ve given me a trigger warning… I’m gonna puke,” said Hizuki. “This is the first victim of the magi-eye serial murders in Shinjuku. The camera happened to record it by chance; I don’t think the video has made the media.” “I heard them say the Collector doesn’t appear in any security footage.” “They said that on the news just now,” Sihlwald noted. “That’s the thing. The Collector doesn’t appear in any other camera feed. What’s special about this camera is it’s not a magic-operated one like what’s common nowadays; it’s an electrical antique.” “Huh…” “So I went back and checked Goar’s electrical cameras and found a glimpse of Ange. We can deduce that Ange and the Collector use the same spell to not show up in magical cameras.” “…Ah! Then that means the Collector…” “…is likely linked to the Guild.” Hizuki and Veltol spoke in unison. “Yep. Oh, also, Velly, about that one spell: There’s a bit that’s outside my expertise. I sent you a message with the technic’s composition. Give it a read. Bye-bye.” The holographic video stopped, and Takahashi’s image disappeared. “I see…,” Veltol mused. “I have no interest in the Collector’s crimes, but if they are a member of the Guild or at least have some connection to it, then I cannot overlook this.” Veltol turned to look at Machina and Sihlwald. “It appears the best way to find out how to rescue May is to catch this Collector roaming the streets of Shinjuku.” Then he stretched his arms and loudly proclaimed, “So we will not split up. I shall go meet the detective on Kabukicho Street Takahashi mentioned to me. Getting a professional should be more efficient than snooping around this sprawling city without any leads. Machina, you go with Takahashi and Hizuki to keep gathering intel. We shall investigate this from every angle. Such is our quest!” “Yes, my lord. Although Takahashi will surely be taking over most of the work gathering data…” “What about me? Huh, huh? And me?” “Sihlwald, you…” Veltol held his hand up to his mouth and pondered. He did not address her as Sister because he was not speaking as her little brother, but as the Demon Lord commanding his Dark Peer. “You…you take care of Machina. Remain vigilant in case the situation changes.” “All right! Leave her to me! Machina, you’ve nothing to fear with me by your side!” “Of course. I’m counting on you.” “Now we must move quickly. Good luck, Machina.” “Yes, my lord. I won’t disappoint you.” Machina’s smile looked the same as always. “…” But Veltol noticed the slight discontent in her heart—much too faint, in fact, to even bring up. “Machina.” “Yes?” She tilted her head, visibly confused. “No… It’s nothing.” Veltol kept his thoughts to himself. “Hey, you two!” Sihlwald said. “What is it, Lady Sihlwald?” “I know what you’re thinking! Oh, Lord Veltol and I were separated in Goar, and I haven’t been around him a lot lately, either. Not that I would ever say that, and I have zero complaints about my role, but I just wish I could be by his side!” “Wh-wh-when did you learn to read minds?” Machina stammered. “And don’t imitate my voice!” “And you, Veltol! I realize Machina wants to accompany me, but it is far more efficient for her to search elsewhere, and I do not need someone as skillful as her on my end of the investigation. Besides, if I, as king, were to rescind a command my vassal has already agreed to, it would be like spitting in the face of her loyalty. I cannot ask her to come with me!” “You truly have my thoughts down to the most minute detail, Sister…” “Just say all that out loud! If you keep that stuff bottled up, it’s gonna make trouble down the line! I learned that after watching Moebius Protocol season two with Takahashi and Hizuki the other day!” Veltol smiled awkwardly and shrugged. “I cannot disagree. So, Machina, what do you say? Will you come with me?” He did not command her as king; he invited her as an individual. Without the slightest hesitation, Machina replied, “No. I greatly appreciate the invitation, but I shall fulfill my task. There is no greater joy as your vassal. It’s true that I would like to accompany you, Lord Veltol, but it is also undeniable that I enjoy carrying out my mission.” “Is that so…? Very well.” He said no more. “Best of luck, Lord Veltol. I will make curry for your return.” Machina wore a faint smile, beautiful like a snowflake. Month of the Gryphon, Day 2, 2099 FE, 09:20 Now, then… Matoi ran her idea circuit at full speed. She had traveled fifty years into the past with nothing on her. Her main quest was to prevent humanity’s obliteration in the future. Doc had installed functions that would aid in this difficult objective right before Matoi traveled to the past. Matoi opened the manual installed within her and inputted the specs vocally. First, the Pseudo Eye of the Horodict. “This is a limited emulation of my Einherjar Great Sister’s foresight algorithm meant to operate via my idea circuit… Looks like it won’t work on its own; it’s meant to support the two other programs.” Second, the space-time divergence measurement program. “This measures the divergence percentage of my current timeline from the 2149 timeline. The higher the number, the higher the probability of the future ending in annihilation. One hundred percent means the future is set in stone. Currently, it’s at 99.999999999999999999999999 percent…so basically set in stone.” Third, the causality interference measurement program. “This assigns a numerical value to a subject’s impact on the future. The higher the number, the likelier the subject is to have an effect. This only measures interference in causality, so it doesn’t necessarily mean they are directly moving the future toward the path of destruction. The max value is…one hundred.” Matoi gave herself a summary. “I must eliminate the Eschaton Demon Lord Veltol or find whoever affects the causality the most in order to lower the space-time divergence to zero.” Some of her functions were under repair due to the time travel, though. She had to complete various side quests before the main quest. She could do nothing about the repairs. What could she do for starters? As she calculated her options, the people around her stared at her and whispered to each other. “Why’s she like that outside?” “Isn’t she cold…?” “I can’t believe even pretty girls do stuff like this…” “Nah, there’s gotta be a dirty old man inside. Can’t see a Familia, but it might be internal.” “For real…? So you’re saying the girl I met at VBNK yesterday could actually be an old man, too?” “C’mon, dude, everyone there is full-borg old guys. That’s the whole gimmick.” “…………………………………………………………Wait, what?” Matoi got information she did not need. Conclusion: Acquiring clothing was the priority. The combat vestment she had lost was tailor-made; obtaining the same thing with 2099’s technology would prove difficult. At first, she thought everyone was staring in awe of her cuteness, but now she knew they were looks of perplexity, since she was basically naked in human terms. “It is unavoidable for my cuteness to turn heads, but according to my calculations, standing out for any other reasons cannot be good for the mission.” Doc had told Matoi she was made as close to the real thing as possible, but now she thought perhaps she had made her a bit too cute. “Inference: My cuteness is a crime.” Guessing she would actually be charged for crimes if she kept walking around like that, Matoi gave the rubberneckers a sideways V-sign pose and emotionless smirk before moving to a lonely back alley. The buildings sprawled in mazelike fashion, with iron pipes crawling across their walls like veins or ivy. Outdoor air conditioners let out a low hum from their condensers’ fans. Just as she stepped into the back alley… “Geez Louise. Look at this sex kitten we’ve got ’ere.” “Why’re you dressed like that, pervert? Also, what’s a sex kitten?” A couple of street children. They wore Familias, but their bodies were not mechanized. Both were human and appeared to be in their teens, which was about how old Matoi looked. The girl held a knife, and the boy had a long steel pole. Matoi lamented that her measurement programs weren’t restored yet, as she would have analyzed these people, too. “She’s a full-borg?” “Let’s break her up and sell the parts. I’ve got a contact in the yakuza.” Matoi detected enmity in their words. The two took a step toward her and raised their weapons. A system message popped up: Partial functions of Gulagalad restored. Metal Rule unleashed; effective area limited to 2 meters. Despite the enmity, she would not kill them—only neutralize them. This was a good opportunity to check her limited functions. Matoi summoned the copper-colored gauntlet Gulagalad from her personal virtual space, equipped it, and raised her hand—her manipulator. “Let’s take the chance to test this out.” She touched her thumb to her middle finger. “Gulagalad, activate.” Then she rubbed them together—a snap of her fingers. A shrill ringing like smashing metal with a hammer filled the alley. Then… “What?! My knife’s slipping…!” “Wh-whaaa—?!” …the nearby metal objects began moving as if they were alive. The girl’s knife, the boy’s pole, and the pipes snaking across the walls went limp and warped before attacking the street children. They wrapped around the pair like snakes or ropes and pushed them to the wall, completely incapacitating them. This was Metal Rule, one of Gulagalad’s three powers. It was usable in drive mode. By snapping the gauntlet’s fingers, one could control all metal within earshot of the snap, but as its functions weren’t fully recovered yet, the area of effect was greatly limited. “What’re you doing, you bi—?” Matoi snapped her fingers again before the girl could finish insulting her, changing the pipe’s form to make a steel mask that covered the girl’s mouth. “I understand you would like to get a hold of such a cutie-pie like me, but I’m afraid I can’t allow that, as I have a most important mission to carry out. I also apologize in advance for what I’m about to do. I’m sorry.” Matoi opened and closed her hand repeatedly. “Mm! Mmm!” “Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!” “I will be borrowing your clothes. I don’t know when I might be able to give them back. You don’t mind, do you? Oh, right, your mouths are covered.” She took off their clothing and put them on. “You’ll be released soon, so in the meantime, please try to calm yourselves. And don’t attack people like that again.” Matoi let them off with a scolding and then left. She had completed her first goal of acquiring clothing. That was one side quest done. “Now to gather information. The future will be set in two days. Time is running out.” Matoi then set her next objective. She could process vastly more information internally through her idea circuit than through voice, but speaking the most important info out loud made the processing easier. “Request assistance from the Guild in this era… No, negative. I have records of the Guild in memory, but I have no way to contact them, and it is a very different organization from that in 2149. And I don’t have the time to begin with…” With no other means of gathering intel than walking around, she wandered through the mazelike alleys until she reached a dead end. Then she heard… “Tell me the truth, then!” …a desperate yell. Matoi’s visual sensors picked up a slight spatial distortion and two people. One was a half-therian woman standing in the middle of the alley, her back turned to her. Although Matoi couldn’t see her face, the woman reminded her of an old detective story she’d seen in the Lab’s library. The other person was at the end of the alley, their back to the wall and gaze averted. They were a therian wearing a clerical vestment under tattered cloth and covered in bandages dyed in rusty blood. Only one eye, which was an oddly clear blue color, was visible. They looked like a mummy priest. A detective and a mummy… One shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but there is a 99% chance the mummy is the shady individual here. Matoi was on a quest to save the future from destruction; she could not waste time. Her cutting-edge magiroid core—her idea circuit—gave her the rational option: to not intervene. To turn around, pretend she saw nothing, and prioritize her quest. This conflict can’t be related to my quest. And yet… Her Hero self, her design, her artificial spirit training overrode her idea circuit’s rationality. Her sense of justice was sometimes irrational. So she spoke out. She let them know a Hero of justice who helped the weak was there. “Wai—” Yet her voice was interrupted by another: “Hold it there!” It was a muffled, mechanical voice. Not Matoi’s, not the half-therian’s, and not the mummy priest’s. Someone descended in the middle of the back alley, protecting the half-therian woman from the mummy priest. “I heard a woman’s voice in a back alley and smelled evil afoot. Thankfully I arrived in time. The great Zenol is here to put a stop to all misdee— Wait, this mummy is Emilia?!” The mummy priestess came to a halt, and the half-therian looked at her. “You saved me the trouble of looking for you. I forget if it was a huge rule violation or whatever, but I was called to take you down. Me, the hit man! It’s tragic being so low in the hierarchy.” The speaker calling himself Zenol wore a fifth-gen mini magi-gear; black armor covered his whole body, and he had a giant sword in his hand. Zenol scratched his—the MG’s—head. “Hmm? Should I not have called you Emilia…? Would you prefer Priestess…? No, no, that won’t be an issue, since you’re probably excommunicated, and I’d rather not reread the rulebook right now. So… You, woman over there,” Zenol called to Matoi. “This is gonna get dicey. Although I guess you should’ve known from just looking at her.” “Huh?” Matoi said, confused. “No, I…” Honestly, she had no idea what to make of the weirdo gathering. The mummy priestess Emilia fixed her bare, strangely blue eye on Matoi and curved her mouth into a smile. “Ohh… Ohh!” Emilia covered her face with her giant hand and looked up at the sky. “Ohh! You! You! It’s you! I saw it! Forget about a billion, trillion, quadrillion, quintillion! This is one in a googolplex! The trigger is here! Ohh, my daughter was a success!” Her lunatic screams of elation echoed through the back alley. “I saw it! I glimpsed it! I witnessed it! Of course! How could I have seen it if it wasn’t real?! Our hope from beyond! Our final piece!” The volume of her voice grew with every word. “The black wind! My daughter! The dragon! The last Hero! The extinguishers of the fire of destruction! What a godsend! Salvation has descended upon us! That is why I must see, I must watch, I must observe, I must witness more precisely, more accurately, more properly! For my mission! To avoid the eschaton! No more need for sight or fright or blight or dight or plight! Wait, no, I do need my sight.” Judging from Emilia’s appearance and behavior, Matoi concluded: According to my analysis, there’s a 100% chance she’s a shady individual! “Whoa, this woman is hysterical…,” Zenol grumbled wearily. Matoi clenched her teeth at the fact her functions weren’t restored, as she was dying to measure the causality interference of these three people—mainly the shady mummy. The current priority was getting the half-therian woman away from the psycho. The MG pilot was a mystery, but Matoi determined he wasn’t an enemy at the moment. Matoi was about to run to the woman’s rescue when she was interrupted by Emilia. “But this is not the divergence point. Let us watch again…my cohort from the future.” Her voice was now contrastingly calm, sagacious, and intellectual. ?! How did she know I came from the future?! Matoi’s idea circuit momentarily ceased processing from the surprise. Emilia turned around, and a magic circle appeared at her feet. Matoi saw the back of her vestment, which was marked with… …A golden dragon holding a silver sword…the Guild’s emblem…! Then Emilia’s form wavered in midair and disappeared. Matoi’s sensors detected teleportation. And that’s an old type of Swampman… Is she a Hero from the Guild…? “She could still teleport? Hey, you two! I don’t care what relationship you have with that lady, but don’t stick your nose where it don’t belong! And stop walking around alone—it’s dangerous! And brush your teeth! Bye!” Zenol leaped to the building’s rooftop and vanished. Only two were left behind. “She got away…just when I finally found her.” The half-therian woman sighed with as much relief as regret. “…But what do I do now…? Facing her alone was too reckless.” She looked down and pondered before noticing Matoi’s presence and raising her head. “Erm, you there, did you come here to help me?” she asked. “Affirmative. Although it seems I wasn’t needed.” “It’s the thought that counts. Thanks. I wish I could thank the other guy, too… Oh well.” “Are you all right?” “Yeah, don’t worry.” “Good to hear.” The half-therian twitched her fox ears and wagged her tail as she bid Matoi farewell and walked right past her. Matoi felt a slight disruption in her idea circuit and stopped the woman before her processing was complete. “Excuse me…!” “Mm? What is it?” “…No, it’s nothing.” “Hmm? Are you hitting on me? Well, since you saved me, I could join you for a cup of tea, but I’m meeting someone at my office, so it would have to be after that.” “Negative! That’s not what I meant! If anything, I should be the one getting hit on! I am very cute, as you can see!” Matoi made a sideways V-sign. “Mm? So you’re asking me to hit on you? And what’s with that pose?” “It’s the newest cutesy pose fifty years in the future. If you’ll excuse me, I have an important mission to attend to. Good-bye.” Matoi turned her back on the woman, but something still felt off. “Hee-hee, what a weird girl.” The woman’s words reached Matoi’s audio element. Month of the Gryphon, Day 2, 2099 FE, 10:03 The timeworn building was on a corner of the many little paths through Shinjuku’s Kabukicho Street. Veltol had come alone to a room on the second floor. The door’s window read Chabatake Detective Agency in Japanese. The glass facing the street had the same thing written on it with tape; there was no mistaking it. “So this is the detective agency Takahashi mentioned… I hear this detective is quite skilled.” He was there to request help investigating the Collector running amok in Shinjuku so he could obtain intel on the Guild. The door had no bell or intercom. He knocked a few times but got no response. “Takahashi said the detective would be here at this time…” Veltol grabbed the doorknob and turned it. “Hmm?” It was unlocked. “Excuse me!” He pushed the door open, revealing the dark interior. The only light came from Shinjuku’s aether neon signs, their faint glow streaming in through the windows. The office was littered with junk and mechanical clocks. Although that was no mess compared to the unfinished cold pizza and flat soda at the end of the desk or the beer bottles and clothing all over the floor. “…I am no expert when it comes to detective work, but is orderliness not a factor in doing a good job?” Veltol gave the underwear on the couch backrest a sour stare. He thought he ought to award Machina a prize for keeping his “castle” clean while he streamed. Although Sihlwald was making a mess of the place lately. The one thing that caught Veltol’s attention amid this chaos was an old gaming console in the corner. What games does it have? I’m curious… Next to it, by the work desk and lounge chair in the back of the room, was a door to another room. The text on the desk’s papers caught Veltol’s eye. “List of victims of the magi-eye owner murders…?” The document had notes next to people’s pictures. Eva Brown: Human, 27F, London, one eye, Clairvoyance Tier C, A U Uruk: Orc, 34M, Marseille, two eyes, Detection Tier E, D Stim Rada: Elf, 223F, Aselun, two eyes, Aid Tier F, D Vaulong Throat: Dwarf, 55M, Shanghai, one eye, Dissection Tier B, D Tenryuusai Ishida: Human, 12M, Hakata, one eye, Petrification Tier A, D “What is this…?” Then the door by the desk opened. “Hmm?” “Mm.” A beautiful half-therian woman with long, golden hair emerged. Her skin was flush and her tail was damp; she must’ve been taking a shower. Based on her ears and tail, she was a fox half-therian. And she was stark naked. Correction: She was wearing panties. “Oh, sorry to receive you like this,” she said. Completely unbothered, she hung her bath towel around her neck and dried her hair. “No, I apologize for my impropriety,” Veltol replied. He was similarly unmoved. A woman who showed no reaction to being seen nude and a man who had little reaction to seeing a nude woman—certainly not the setup for a romcom meet-cute. “You’re the detective at this agency, yes?” “That’s right. But hey, you don’t have anything to say after seeing me naked?” “Oh, forgive me. Indeed, it is discourteous for you to be the only one unclothed.” “…?” Veltol removed his tracksuit jacket, then grabbed the hem of his Demon Lord T-shirt and pulled it off. His beautiful, well-toned abdomen was laid bare. Veltol brushed his long black hair from his shoulders. “I can take off more if you would prefer.” “Ha-ha-ha! No, that’ll be fine. You’ve got a nice body, but there’s no need to undress. Put your clothes back on.” “I see…” Visibly disappointed, Veltol did as the woman suggested. Still half-naked, the woman chuckled and sat down on the lounge chair. She gave the pizza on the table a glance. “Want some pizza?” she offered. “No, thank you.” “Okay.” She grabbed the crust of a cold, limp slice, lifted it up, and dropped the entire thing into her mouth. She then washed it down with a gulp of flat soda and grabbed an electronic smoking pipe from her desk. “I was just back from meeting a murderer and had to take a shower. I knew I had a client coming, and I didn’t want to meet them while still dirty.” “Yet you don’t mind meeting them half-naked?” “Heh. A feast for your eyes, was it not? I am aware of my charm; I don’t keep it all to myself.” “Ha. Then I shall respond in kind by sharing some charm of my own.” “No, you already undressed. Stay like that and take a seat wherever.” Veltol let go of his shirt hem with a bummed look on his face and sat down on the couch. “I haven’t introduced myself. Emi Chabatake, age twenty-four, single. My profession: a normal detective on paper. My hobbies include tinkering with machinery, and my favorite foods are pizza and diet soda.”