“Right, Machina’s name wasn’t there. Or May’s.” “Machina?” Emi asked. “The Duchess of the Dazzling Blaze. She’s one of my fellow Six Dark Peers.” “Ahh, the Dazzling Blaze. Is she a woman like the stories say?” Sihlwald nodded. “She’s very cute. Just not as cute as me.” “Uh-huh… You have someone like that in your life, Assistant? I’m a little jealous.” “Get jealous over me, too! I’m also cute!” “Of course you are, Sihlwald.” “Hee-hee-hee-hee.” “Suggestion. Analysis tells me that I am the cutest. Two steps above the Duchess of the Dazzling Blaze.” “Machina is also very devoted. She waited five centuries for Veltol to come back,” said Sihlwald. “Isn’t that a little too devoted?” Emi remarked as she threw away an unopened debt collection notice without bothering to check it. “Anyway, Matoi. What happens to Machina in the future?” Matoi searched her memory. The name Machina Soleige, Duchess of the Dazzling Blaze, was in a cache from the browsing history in Matoi’s external memory storage. Namely… “There is no data on her after Undine 31, 2099 FE—December 31 in the Gregorian calendar.” “No data?” said Veltol. “That means…” “She is probably dead in the future. Or rather, demised, as she is an immortal,” Emi added. “No proof here, but if I could give a deduction, it might not be too far off the mark to say her demise is related to the destruction of humanity.” “Machina’s demise leads me to destroy the world…?” “Affirmative. Analysis tells me there is that possibility. The invasion of the Eschaton Demon Lord coincides with the disappearance of the Duchess of the Dazzling Blaze.” “That also means her survival is certain until the end of the year,” said Veltol. “Wait, wait, wait, hold on.” Sihlwald stopped balancing the broom on her finger. “Isn’t the future supposed to change on Gryphon 4, 2099, at 17:36? Undine 31 is, like, half a year away.” “I understand your confusion, Sister. I imagine the events of Gryphon 4 would have a delayed effect on Undine 31.” “Mmm… Is that it…?” Sihlwald didn’t seem convinced. “Time for the Great Detective’s summary,” Emi began. “Something will happen at the end of the year 2099 that triggers the demise of the Duchess of the Dazzling Blaze Machina, and this might lead to humanity’s extinction. Its root cause traces all the way back to Gryphon 4—two days from now—and we have to stop it.” “For starters, I will tell Machina to be careful,” said Veltol. “But now I want to ask about the Guild’s goal.” “The future Guild?” Matoi asked. “No, the one in the present.” “In this age…? There’s no difference. The Guild’s goal since its establishment has always been to save the world.” “Save the world?” Veltol furrowed his brow while wiping a window. “In our era, that entails fighting the New Demon Lord Army, the group dedicated to destroying the human race,” Matoi replied. “At present, the Guild’s goal appears to be collecting enigmas in preparation for saving the world.” “Collecting enigmas… A few things come to mind. In Akihabara, the Guild tried to obtain Meldia’s divinity, and in Yokohama, they didn’t stop someone who attempted to achieve godhood. Something to that effect.” Veltol wiped the outside of the window while continuing: “I need information on May…the Hero they call Ange…and Marcus, another of the Six Dark Peers.” “Ange is a Hero from before the Guild restructured, so I don’t know any particulars, but I recall she died in the battle to protect Oslo in 2140.” “…I see. What about Marcus?” “Marcus…the Duke of the Bloody Arts, yes? My memory tells me he belonged to the Guild, but that was also before the restructuring. I have no details on him.” “Hmm… Thank you anyway.” “Matoi,” Emi called. “Just out of pure curiosity, what’ll happen to you once you change the future? There’s a few ways it can go down, according to various works of science fiction.” “Space-time magicology theory dictates that causality correction occurs when the future changes following a significant divergence in a space-time branch. To put it simply, if the future of doom is averted, then the end of this branch—the one where I exist—will vanish. As such, I would have never been created, and thus a paradox would occur. I predict I would disappear as a result. None of this has ever been observed, though, so it is only speculation.” “Mm-hmm. Then what happens when someone from the future meets their past self?” “We have no real data regarding that scenario, either, but I expect causality correction would prevent the two from meeting. The thoughts, words, and actions of the person in question or those around them would be synchronized to match. Otherwise I imagine that the moment the two selves met, the resulting paradox would amend the root self, and they both would disappear.” “So if we change the future, you vanish…and if I meet my future self, both me and her disappear on the spot.” “Affirmative.” “Hmmm… I see. And you came here ready for that…” “I don’t intend to use that as an excuse, but…I would appreciate if you could help me change the future. I understand this is shameless of me after having attacked you without explaining things first. I am truly sorry. But I still want you to help me.” Emi, Sihlwald, and Veltol agreed immediately. “I should apologize as well. Sorry. And of course, allow us to help.” Veltol spoke for everyone while wringing out the cloth. Then he whipped it open. “I’ve deemed your story to be trustworthy. The question of what to do exactly remains, but we do need to stop this future of doom.” “I agree with Veltol. Hate it when weird stuff happens outside my knowledge,” said Sihlwald. “How about you, Master Detective?” Veltol asked. Emi smiled at him. “I was just looking for my father’s killer and now I’m embroiled in this stuff about the future and the Demon Lord and the end of the world… But hey, I’m not getting a job as big as this ever again. It’s gonna be fun. Let me help.” Matoi’s mimetic muscle function suddenly turned on, and she broke into a smile, too. Being in this time period all by herself meant she couldn’t be free of anxiety. But now, she had people to help her out. “By the way, Matoi, what’s the probability of the future of doom occurring?” Emi asked. “The current space-time divergence reading is 99.9999999999999999999999999999 percent.” “That’s too many nines!” Sihlwald exclaimed. “Virtually one hundred percent…,” Emi said. “But not one hundred percent, right?” Veltol pointed out. Emi, Matoi, and Sihlwald nodded emphatically. “We may not have much time, but we also can’t clear that up right at this moment. Let’s do something about it before the divergence point comes.” Emi deftly collected the dust with a broom and continued: “So with that in mind, I will have you help me with my job.” “Question. Is there a connection between your job and changing the future?” Matoi asked. Emi nodded. “From what I gather, we might find the answer if we follow the tracks of the magi-eye serial killer—the Collector. I’ll explain. First, look at this.” Emi took the documents on her desk over to the table. “…Wouldn’t holographic documents be easier to handle?” Veltol asked. “You don’t get it, Assistant! The vibe is what’s important here! It’s more fun when it’s handwritten, right? I could just display a hologram, but we’re going analog this time!” “All right… Apologies. Continue.” “Good. Matoi, to get you up to speed, there’s currently a case in Shinjuku where magi-eyes are getting stolen. Remember how you rescued me this morning? That was the culprit behind this case—my mother, Emilia Chabatake.” “This morning…” Matoi remembered the mummy priestess she saw in the back alley. That person was wearing old combat vestments with the Guild’s symbol on it. She searched her memory for Emilia Chabatake’s name and found results. “There is record of Emilia Chabatake’s Hero name being Priestess. She was erased from the Hero Corps registry on Gryphon 1, 2099 FE for the misappropriation of enigmas, along with multiple other violations. Only her name and the fact that she once belonged to the organization remain.” “Delisted. I see… Please take a look at this.” Emi spread out thin, translucent maps of cities like London, Marseille, and Aselun. Various spots were crossed out, with mug shots and murder times added next to them. Veltol recognized the photos. “The Collector’s victims?” “Yes. These are all the victims and the locations of their murders. They’re all different species, genders, and ages. Now, my dear Sihlwald, what do you think is the common link between these individuals?” “Meee?!” Sihlwald screeched. She hadn’t been paying much attention, as she assumed nobody would ask her anything. “Uhh, the magi-eyes…? Right…?” “Yes, the magi-eyes, but there is one more thing.” “The locations of the murders,” said Veltol. “Exactly! Good job, my dear assistant.” Emi pointed at Veltol. “Wait, how? They’re all over the world.” “No, no, Sihlwald.” Matoi grabbed the maps and laid them on top of each other. The maps were all the same scale, and thanks to the thin paper, everyone could see how the cross marks matched up. “The coordinates overlap,” Matoi noted. “Exactly,” said Emi. “The Collector has an MO. First, the location of the murder; second, the time of the murder. There is a precise interval from the first to the last murder in each city. And there is always a magic circle at the scene of the murder. The way I see it, the Collector must be carrying out some sort of ritual.” “A ritual?” Matoi asked. Emi nodded. “If we treat the magic circles made during the magi-eye thefts as a small-scale ritual, then perhaps the entire series of killings might be a large-scale ritual.” “Using the movements of the sun and stars—the rhythm of time—and preparing the flow and formation of the aether lines—that is, the exploitation of land—are fundamentals in ritualistic magic,” Veltol added. “Does that mean the Collector is connected to the future of doom?” said Matoi. “Yep,” replied Emi, “and this supports it further.” She produced a few photographs taken with a film camera too old even to be considered an antique. The photos showed magic circles drawn in blood. “These magic circles… There is a star-reading technic mixed in.” “You are very knowledgeable, Assistant. Yes, it’s astrology. And these are to obtain foresight from Horodict, the god of the past and the future—a technic for predicting the future. I always wondered why that would be in the magic circles, and it all clicked when the talk about changing the future came up. Astrology is all about seeing the future. There is a great chance the small rituals are for predicting future events.” Emi paused for a moment. “And one more thing. The crime scenes are all beyondized locations, although there’s some variation in scale.” “Beyondized?” Sihlwald repeated the word she did not recognize. “Beyondization is a form of spatial fluctuation, Sister. It is a phenomenon that causes anomalies in what existed in the affected space, or even in the space itself. A good example would be Yokohama’s spatial dis—” “Ahh! Yeah! All right, I got it now, Veltol!” Emi giggled at Sihlwald’s reaction and added, “Beyondization is most common wherever the flow of aether is stagnant, and the places and things that exist in such spaces tend to receive power from the belief of rumors or the fear of urban legends—in other words, faith. This can be anywhere from a cursed hospital to an abandoned City Guard station infested with zombies, Mistrag ghosts, slit-mouthed women, or human-faced slimes. Urban legends and rumors are given real forms and sometimes can be independent of the beyondized place. If you find it hard to understand, just consider that places, people, and things can all become living beyondizations.” “You sure are well-versed in all that loony stuff, huh?” said Sihlwald. “It just comes with the territory of following the Collector.” “So to summarize, you believe that the future-prediction rituals happening in these special places means there might be a link to the future she talked about,” Veltol mused. “Exactly.” “…I am curious about the Collector’s magi-eye extraction rituals. I cannot let the Collector roam free, either, personally. But wouldn’t you say you are making a big jump to that conclusion?” Veltol asked. Emi nodded. “I realize it’s farfetched to claim the future hinges on the Collector’s rituals. But what if we add my causality interference value into the mix?” “What now?” Sihlwald tilted her head. “My causality interference value is at max, and I am following the Collector, who is carrying out small-scale rituals for predicting the future… I have trouble believing this stuff is unrelated. Perhaps the Collector is trying to conduct a big ritual that would change the future. Add to that Matoi from the future; Veltol, who will destroy the world; and his subordinate, Sihlwald. Everyone related to the future of doom is gathered here. I can’t help but feel like someone is maneuvering things behind the scenes. I expect the Collector’s causality interference value is just as big as mine.” “Hmm… I understand. Pursuing the Collector matches my original intention, too,” said Veltol. “And we only have two days until causality is set in stone. We must act on your idea unless we find something more likely. Then our next goal will be to look for and capture the Collector. Everyone agree?” All present nodded. “By the way,” Matoi added, “where do you predict the Collector will attack next?” “Heh-heh. This is where we go back to my foreshadowing about the big job before our detective meeting!” Emi grinned from ear to ear. “As for where I predict she’ll appear next…”
Chapter 54
12 min read