Zaregoto Vol 5 Chapter 2

I believe in G.o.d.

Because we've met.

1

It was one such possibility.

To begin with, why Kouta-san was able to invade this prison-like research facility so easily. And why according to the security guards the intruder had already escaped the facility, yet Kouta-san still remained within the facility bounds. There were other question marks regarding Kouta-san, and when it came to answer all of them, I had predicted to an extent that there must be a double-dealer within the facility, be it security or someone else.

However, I did not think the double-dealer would actually be one of the researchers.

While drinking a cup of coffee that Neo-san had filled with sugar, I observed him. I tried to be discrete about it, but Neo-san sensitively noticed my look, and laughed "fufu."

"What is it?" Neo-san said with an evaluating look and a condescending laugh. "Are you the type that dislikes coffee? I have some black tea, then. I'd really like to recommend some alcohol, but well, it wouldn't be good to paralyze your thought given what's coming."

"..... I am not fond of alcohol."

"Right, Miyos.h.i.+-san said something like that didn't she. You downed a full bottle of vodka and got hospitalized for alcohol poisoning, was it? And you haven't taken a sip of alcohol since, or something."

So that instructor was going around spouting her mouth, after all.

"..... no, I like coffee. I actually prefer it black, but I do like sweet ones like canned coffee, too. Although coffee probably does not care whether I like it or not."

"Hahah. Right. It's rough liking them but not being liked back."

Neo-san grinned as he responded to me.

"I can't stand black. Absolutely can't. I wish I could exterminate everything bitter and hot from this world. If I were to ever become embroiled in a religion, the deity'd have to say coffee beans are impure and cannot be eaten."

".........."

The fourth floor of the fifth ward. Neo Furuara-san's private room. It was not created to look much like an academic's room, and instead, yes, it felt more like a room of a medieval n.o.ble, as befitting the man himself. A wine cooler, a luxurious sofa, what looked like a mahogany table, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and all four walls were covered with paintings. And those paintings were nothing ordinary either, being works that seemed like they would be found on a brochure for an art gallery. They were counterfeit of course, but they spoke words of his tastes.

"Hm? Interested in the paintings?" Neo-san asked. "Although it embarra.s.ses me that they're all over the place."

Indeed, there seemed no relation among the paintings. Landscape to portrait to abstract, impressionist to cubism to surrealism, and even to automatism, anything went. I felt like he could even open an exhibit here if he wanted.

"Do you like paintings?"

"Although painting does not seem to like me back," Neo-san smiled a bit happily. "Liking something and being bad at it, or what do they call it, a young monk can read sutras he's never studied? When I was a student, this being around middle school, yes, I once tried to paint."

"Huh," I felt like his two phrases meant very different things, but I did not feel that pointing that out would lead to anything, so I let it slide. "So, how did that go?"

"Absolutely terrible. It was quite different looking and doing. I intended to draw a self-portrait, but my art instructor commented, hmm hmm, this is, right, what is it, would it be, yes, an abstract landscape, it is quite, unique."

".........." I could not laugh, having had a similar experience. "..... and so you transferred to becoming a scholar?"

"Hahah. Don't look at me like that. You looked at the Professor the same way, didn't you? Scary, scary. Don't you understand? I'm a friend, a friend. I even gave you coffee."

"A friend."

What was most important here was which side Neo-san was a friend to. At the very least, he is not the Professor's friend. That is the truth. But to conclude that he is a friend of mine would be being simple-minded. And to say that he is a friend of Kouta-san would be jumping to conclusions, too. From how the two interacted, I could not imagine there to be much trust between the two. I took a sip of coffee, and played with the taste in my mouth a bit before gulping everything down. I felt like my body warmed up from the inside out.

"What are you?"

"A direct question..... fufu. I shall answer that question like this," Neo-san said as he stretched his arms out in a very old-fas.h.i.+oned way. "An expert at whistle-blowing! A professional at betrayal! A specialist of intelligence! A copycat of corruption! That is myself, Neo Furuara!"

".........."

"Don't slide away like that."

"Of course I would slide away," I slid away like five kilometers. "So in other words, you and Kouta-san are co-conspirators, and you two are spies from a rival organization or something that wants to snoop around this research facility?"

"A little different. Is.h.i.+maru-san and I aren't really accomplices. Well, the two of us are more like aftermath a.s.sociates..... that's a bit tough to explain, though," Neo-san seemed to struggle with explaining as he spoke. "It'd be better not to probe too much about me. Your lifespan'll shrink if you learn too much, really. Well, isn't it enough that I'm not really a person on Shadou Kyouichirou's side, and more a person that's able to help you out?"

"..... it probably is."

Neo-san's objective was probably somewhat similar to Kouta-san's objective. However, as opposed to Kouta-san, who was acting solely on personal will, Neo-san seemed to be for some sort of organization... he seemed to be acting on behalf of some sort of organization set up in opposition to this research facility or the organization above. In other words, the Kunagisa household. After all, Neo-san seemed to be plenty settled in and prepared -- given that he is infiltrating as a researcher, and the timespan of his operation seems to have been much longer--, and by contrast Kouta-san was not as well-prepared but she had more maneuverability. It was probably that sort of partners.h.i.+p.

However, as Neo-san said, it was indeed probably better to act like I knew nothing of the two. Considering the lack of time, I did not have the composure to bother with organizations or research results or profits or things like that.

"-- however..... you've caught the eye of quite a troublesome person."

"Troublesome person? Do you mean Kouta-san?"

"Who else? It looks like dangerous people take a liking to you," Neo-san said with bemus.e.m.e.nt. "Well, there was no helping it this time, but you should really let this be the last time you run into Is.h.i.+maru-san. I can't even begin to imagine why Is.h.i.+maru-san came to help you, but this is a warning from a senior. Fufu, do you think it's nothing to worry about? Indeed. Compared to the past... compared to when I first came into contact with her, Is.h.i.+maru-san's mellowed a lot. However, I know when she used to be called a Seven Spear[1]....."

Based on what he said, I could imagine Neo-san and Kouta-san seemed to have run across each other before. In that case, it would mean Neo-san was not just any insider, and that Kouta-san was not just some sort of industry spy. I definitely wanted to avoid stepping too far into this topic, but at the same time, I do not know if I will be allowed to avoid the topic. Because there was no a.s.surance that this was unrelated to this Utsurigi case.

"Anyways. What're you going to do now?" Neo-san asked and returned to his other mood in a blink. "To be frank, this problem is on a cla.s.s of its own. What the Professor was saying was absurd, but it's also the only solution that currently exists. Can't call it the most applicable, but it's not a bad answer for mollifying everyone. The security system is the biggest obstacle, after all. Card. Number. Retina. Voice. ID number. And then the log that's supposed to be kept in the mother computer. You're probably suspecting one of us, but that's a tough call, too. I still think an outsider did it. Then of course, they'll have left the mountain by now, so solving this within four hours would be impossible."

"-- it's not a good show to intimidate a child."

There is no need to explain who the voice belonged to. All of a sudden, Kouta-san appeared, standing behind Neo-san with a bundle of papers. She truly left no presence. Neo-san seemed accustomed to this, as he looked unsurprised, asking without turning around, "Yo, Is.h.i.+maru-san. How long have you been there?"

"Beginning when you were giving a warning as a senior. Yes, let us engage in deep discourse over our difference in opinion regarding that topic at a later time, Neo-san. More importantly, dear friend, here."

Is.h.i.+maru-san first sat next to Neo-san, who sat across from me, and handed me a bundle of papers that she had been carrying. Unintelligible English and numbers were sprawled across in a mind-numbingly endless set of rows. No, this is not English. This is a programming language, or perhaps more accurately computer language.

"What is this...?"

"I went ahead and printed it out, just in case. The logs kept in the mother computer," Kouta-san shot Neo-san a look. "... Neo-san's computer was so pitiful that it took me quite some time. ..... ahh, around there. The records from last night. The four-digit number records the time, and the labels next to it refer to the various research wards."

I listened to Kouta-san's explanation, and confirmed the logs while sighing. However, all this meant was that the Professor was not lying. Indeed, last night, no person other than Kasugai-san left their own research ward, and even that Kasugai-san only walked outside for roughly five to ten minutes. Given these records, the Professor Kyouichirou and the researchers all have an alibi. Using process of elimination, the Kunagisa Crew was clearly the most suspicious.

Things did not look well.

Hmph.

Process of elimination.

"..... how about the possibility these were tampered?"

"They can't be tampered with," said Neo-san instead of Kouta-san. "We don't have such skills. This includes the Professor. Utsurigi-san might have been able to, but his specialization is different -- he specialized more in the software side than the hardware side, after all -- plus, Utsurigi-san was the one who was killed. Miyos.h.i.+-san and Kasugai-san work in different fields to begin with, and Koutari-san is more of a researcher than practical application. OOgaki-kun and Uze-san have pretty high skill levels but those lay in completely different areas."

"-- the others aside, would the Professor not be able to? He is the Mad Demon, after all. As long as his name is not just for show, he should be able to do at least that much."

"Let's make one thing clear. Kunagisa Tomo is a genius. And Shadou Kyouichirou is not a genius. This difference is larger than you think, Mr. Lover."

".........."

"Yes, the Professor is not a genius. Of course, you... and myself, and our sort of level wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the Lady and the Professor. The two of them both look like geniuses to us. There are only a few human beings that can tell the difference between the two. And the Professor himself happened to be one of those few human beings. And wouldn't that be why, because the Professor realized he's not a genius, wouldn't that be why he diverged from the artificial intelligence research he'd been doing his whole life, and created this idiotic research topic?"

Idiotic research topic. It was probably so. However, if that were the case, then regardless of alibi, the Professor would have no reason to kill Utsurigi. There was no meaning in destroying your own research.

"Human beings are like that, you know, life forms that love looking down on others. Even though we all know that the world isn't fair and equal. Isn't that right? You could ask anyone and they'd answer the same way. It's a commonly-used a.n.a.logy, but try asking someone, do you think not a single person exists in this world that is inferior to you? You won't find anyone that'll nod their head."

Neo-san seemed to be having fun.

Neo-san said nothing wrong. There is only one top, and the rest are countless bottoms. That is how this world is built. That said, it was not something enjoyable to hear.

"I guess we went on a tangent? But you know, there're too many black boxes in this system. Not just the security, but including the mother computer. Black boxes. That means the only one who can dig inside is the original creator, the Lady of Kunagisa."

"... so we are not just talking about things not looking well," I tossed the papers on the table. "..... and when it comes to computers and such, all I can do is throw my hands up in the air. I do not specialize in them at all."

"Huh," Neo-san seemed amused. "Then, what is your specialty? You're Miyos.h.i.+-san's apprentice, so perhaps dissection?"

"..... I did not like dissection much. By the way, Neo-san," speaking of dissection. "What happened to Utsurigi-san's crucified corpse?"

"Hm? Ahh, exactly what you just thought. Oogaki-kun and Uze-san carried it to the third ward... to Miyos.h.i.+-san's research facility, and Kasugai-san and Miyos.h.i.+-san are performing autopsy on it together. Cause of death and time of death, and that sort of thing."

"I see....."

I thought. Information regarding Utsurigi's corpse. I definitely wanted to get my hands on that. In the morning, I was so surprised at what I saw after entering the room, that I cannot say that I was able to grasp any concrete information. And it was not like I had gotten a close look. That was why I must take another look at the brutalized and dismembered Utsurigi body.

And the other thing was that we could not forego investigating the crime scene. There was a need to re-enter that room where Utsurigi had been crucified and comprehend the situation. To re-enter that barren room with the blood message.

I needed to do these two things, however, I did not know how...

"More importantly, dear friend, do we not have a matter to be settled?" Kouta-san spoke to me while I was in thought. "Something that must be settled first and foremost, for as long as we are cooperating."

"What is it?"

"Whether to prioritize you or myself," Kouta-san raised a finger in a lecturing pose. "Whether you shall give me your information first, or whether I shall aid your true-seeking and then receive your share afterwards. The pressing matter of order."

"Ahh....." that is right. There was that problem. "That is a problem, indeed....."

Of course, I would rather give my information afterwards. Not because of lack of time, but because it was my only wild card against Kouta-san. However, that was also true for her. Just because she were to aid me did not necessitate that I would hold up my end of the bargain. I had already turned down her offer last night, after all. It would be impossible for Kouta-san to trust me fully.

Perhaps Kouta-san thought the same, as we both fell silent for a while.

"How about flipping a coin?" Neo-san suggested to Kouta-san. "Time's a wasting while you two stand around like this, Is.h.i.+maru-san. That's no good for the boyfriend, either. And there's no clean answer to that question anyways, so how about we just carelessly decide it with the even chance of a coin?"

"-- I see. Consummate," Kouta-san dug through her coat pockets and fished out what looked like some sort of medal. At the very least, I could tell it was not a j.a.panese yen, but I could not deduce where it could be from, and it could even just be an arcade token. "Well then, dear friend, would you like heads or tails?"

"That is hard to call fair," I said carefully. "The person throwing the coin can control the face of the coin. I do not mean to be suspicious, Kouta-san -- no, I am being suspicious, but I do not want to relent myself to a system that someone with even normal hand-eye-coordination can rig....."

"Indeed that is so," Kouta-san said without hesitation. "Then you may throw it. I shall choose. Wouldn't that fair to you?"

"..... are you sure? What I just said works for you, as well."

"I have one more coin," Kouta-san said, and then she pulled a second coin from her pocket. "We shall call it heads if you're holding it in your right hand. Tails if it's in your left hand. How is that?"

Kouta-san then flicked the coin into the air, and then she moved the coin back and forth between her left and right hands. I could not figure out where the coin ended up.

"..... alright, then."

I flicked the coin lightly into the air. There were no mind-games left -- it was entirely a game of chance. I did not catch the coin on the palm of my hand, and instead let it fall straight onto the table. The coin bounced a number of times, and then spun, and then in the end, ceased moving with the tails up.

Pascal[2] says fifty.

To express it in more precise terms, it is not exactly fifty-percent because there was the chance the coin might stand on an edge, but that probability was so laughably low that it was not worth taking into account, and it had already been avoided. I looked at Kouta-san again. She had a somewhat sarcastic grin as she slowly opened her left hand. Nothing was in her hand.

"..... very well. This is itself consummate. We shall prioritize you," Kouta-san stood up from the sofa, and then looked down at me for a moment. "Then, as a textbook step-by-step for this sort of case, let us hear an autopsy and investigate the crime scene. Utsurigi-san's body first, or the crime scene first. You shall decide."

I answered Kouta-san's gaze with my own and answered her question.

"..... indeed. Then let us -- look at the corpse, first. The more time pa.s.ses, the less information we will be able to get," I looked at Neo-san. "Neo-san, do you know what room Utsurigi's corpse is kept in the third ward?"

"Probably the seventh dissection room on the third floor. Because that's what she said. Um, what're you going to do?" Neo-san tilted his head to the side a bit as he asked. "You... or rather, you and Is.h.i.+maru-san have no means of entering that third ward, you know? The same way you don't have a means of entering the seventh ward. I can house you here like this. I can give you a hand with thinking, and I can give you information, and I can even give you a cup of coffee. But it's pretty tough for me to give you any more a.s.sistance. I'm in a pretty rough spot right now, too. You know that, right?"

"..... well, yes, I know that."

What to do. The first thing popped to mind was to ask sensei for help. But that was too risky and did not come with a high chance of success. The worst type of gamble. I could not imagine sensei, that none other than Miyos.h.i.+, the most self-centered in the world Kokoromi-sensei, actually wors.h.i.+ped Professor Kyouichirou or anything, but I also could not imagine that she would do anything to betray the Professor. She is incredibly talented, after all. She could not just be a normal hire at this laboratory. There must be some personal motive. And for that sensei who could not possibly live a life beyond her own whims, not one thing could exist in this world that she would prioritize over her own goals. To hope that a once-student of hers had any had any modic.u.m of value to her was a vain, futile hope.

"..... in that case, there is only one way."

Kouta-san said toward me, as I thought. And then this time, without waiting for my reply, she turned to Neo-san and said, "as for you, in any case."

"Please bother the Professor. Please circulate unnecessary errands and counterfeit information as much as you can. Please confuse him to incredible and incredulous levels and muddle everything up. That is your area of expertise, is it not?"

"..... hahahahahah" Neo-san replied to Kouta-san with an airy laugh. "Roger roger roger, Is.h.i.+maru Kouta-san. I do not know why, but it appears Is.h.i.+maru-san has some reason to take deep care of this young man. What is that information you want so badly, I wonder? Very well, I shall not ask. It arouses my curiosity greatly, but I shall not ask. Yes. Leave it to me, Is.h.i.+maru-san. This Neo Furuara shall put forth the little everything and anything that I have to provide a.s.sistance."

"Consummate. Then let us go, dear friend," Kouta-san said with a smile that seemed very out-of-place relative to Neo-san's wording, as she grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the sofa. "It is time to depart on an adventure."

"..... you seem carefree."

"Because it is not of my concern. For now, anyways."

"Young man," Neo-san said with a hint of seriousness as I was forcibly dragged away. "Be careful not to be seen by anyone. If you are seen, it's over. Thinking that Miyos.h.i.+-san is alright because you are old acquaintances, or that you might be able to persuade Oogaki-kun, or any soft thinking like that should be thrown away."

"I am quite aware, on that at least."

"Not just the Professor. Every person here has a fallen quality to them. Of course, that includes myself as well. Right, be careful especially of Kasugai-san."

"..... Kasugai-san?" I was a bit surprised by that. "Why? It seemed like s.h.i.+to-kun and Misachi-san would be more warranting of worry..."

I felt like the two of them, who maintained respect toward the Professor despite being the recipients of such illogical violence made them all the more dangerous.

"Those without any conviction are the most dangerous, here. Think about it. Why did the Professor place you all - or rather, the Lady of Kunagisa, not in his own research ward, but rather in Kasugai-san's? Of course, part of it's so the blame doesn't fall on him if you guys do manage to escape. But more than that is because there's an objective belief that Kasugai-san would never betray the Professor. I can understand it, because I'm a professional at betrayal. Because I operate under the premise of betrayal, I can understand with absolute conviction. Kasugai-san won't betray. Because they aren't even cooperating, to begin with. Oogaki-kun and Uze-san have a reason for their adulation of the Professor. Respect toward the Professor, repaying of favors from the Professor, and so on. However, that's why all you have to do is provide them with more. For example, you could wiggle yourself in while they have a bit of shock over their treatment from the Professor, or something like that. There're plenty of ways to get someone to turn coat. But Kasugai-san is different. The reason she's here is just because."

"Just because...?"

Neo-san grinned at my response.

"Yeah. Hey, can you imagine anything scarier? Can you imagine anything more terrifying? A human being that operates without any conviction and without any reason. She has no reason to adhere to Professor Kyouichirou. Not one reason. She's just here just because. That's why it's impossible to warp her actions. Because there's no reason for her to be a.s.sisting the Professor, so there's no logic that you can use to shape that. You can multiply zero with anything and you'd still end up with zero, and you can't divide from zero. What could you call this but fanaticism?"

".........."

Kasugai Kasuga.

I thought back on my conversation with her last night.

She said she would opt to not choose.

She who is nothing, without liking or hating or being normal or being pleasant or being unpleasant or being indifferent.

She who is nothing, just because.

But at the time, I did not truly understand what Neo-san meant. I definitely understood that Kasugai-san was warped in some way, but I could not imagine her to be that much of a threat. I felt like s.h.i.+to-kun and Misachi-san seemed far more fitting for the term fanaticism, and I could not feel any fear at this point from the arbitrary phrase just because.

Kasugai Kasuga, just because.

Is that not an issue that did not need fretting over?

-- but I would find out in these few hours. That a human being that had not an ounce of conviction could become an object of terror just by existing the way they are in the world. I would experience first-hand that there are no answers to someone who is not a problem.

Jump up↑ This is a reference to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Spears_of_s.h.i.+zugatake Seven Spears of s.h.i.+zugatake[ Jump up↑ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager Pascal's Wager[ 2

And then Kouta-san and I returned to the rooftop of the fourth ward.

"..... what are you going to do?"

"Of course. You want to go to the third ward, don't you? Then there's a route, right there. The one and only route."

Kouta-san pointed toward nothing but air. The s.p.a.ce between the fourth ward and the third ward. I eye-balled the distance as roughly four meters... three and a half meters at the very worst. It was close to a meter, no, more than a meter longer than the distance between the fifth and fourth ward.

"..... jump, that? Again?"

"It is consummate if you would prefer not. It shall just be game over, as you please."

".........."

I stuck just my head out from the edge of the rooftop and looked down. Yes, no matter how many times I check, we were at least ten meters from the ground. I could say that with certainty because my eyes were both 20-20. This one was one of those times I did not appreciate my healthy body.

"..... it is at least three and a half meters, you know?"

"Even high school girls can jump that far," Kouta-san said lightly. "An early-growing elementary school child can go four meters. Incidentally, the current male world record for a full-sprint distance jump is eight meters and ninety-five centimeters, the female record would be seven meters and fifty centimeters. It is less than half of even the female record. There is no way you cannot jump that, is there?"

At the very least, please do not compare me to a world record. And while those people may have spent their lives jumping, they were not staking their lives jumping. The risk of dying from failure, or at least becoming heavily injured placed a greater burden on me than I would have expected.

"I do not think it's a good idea to sit around in one spot for too long. And there's no saying that Utsurigi-san's corpse will be stored in the third ward forever. Once enough proof -- by which I mean plenty of proof that works in the Professor's favor -- it would not be surprising for it to be cremated. That would be the end. Yes, by which I mean not you, but Kunagisa-san. A dead end."

Bringing up that name left me with no choice. I mumbled, "jeez" in an exaggerated way, and then took my distance from the edge. This time, I took extra care and set up for twice as much running distance. That said, if I took too much distance and used up too much stamina by the time I jumped, that would not do, either.

"-- leaving me side, can Kouta-san jump that?"

"Easily."

Kouta-san laughed with plenty of confidence, and pushed the rims of her gla.s.ses up. Based on her att.i.tude, this was probably easy for her. In that case, I should just worry about myself. It would be alright; as long as I got enough momentum, there was no way I could not jump a mere three and a half meters. As long as I concentrated and made sure I did not step off the edge--

I took a deep breath and then took a step forward. My seventh step took me just before the edge, and I launched with my eighth. I arched my body like a bow -- focused my eyes on the sky -- and without taking a second, soared through the air, and then, landed. I was able to land.

"-- phew."

I turned around, toward the rooftop of the fourth ward that I was just on a few seconds ago. By the time I finished turning, Kouta-san was in the air. And she landed on the rooftop of the third ward before I could adjust my sight, and the momentum carried her laced boots forward by her heels, and then she stopped.

"---- fufu," Kouta-san maintained her slightly-bent-backwards posture as she laughed toward me. "We may be a surprisingly fitting couple. We must be the only pair in the entire world enjoying this sort of acrobatics together."

"I would not say I am enjoying this..."

I said, but I was bothered more by that my landing spot appeared closer to the edge than Kouta-san. She was tall, although not to the same degree as Suzunas.h.i.+-san, and so her long legs may have been working in her favor for jumping, but this was probably not a case of build but rather athletic talent.

"What is it? We must hurry. You are short on time, are you not?"

"Ahh, yes...." but I thought of yet a different thing and froze in my place. "Kouta-san. Just a thought, but..... would we not be able to enter the seventh ward using this method, of jumping from rooftop to rooftop?"

Kouta-san looked surprised for just a moment at my suggestion, and then she quickly replied, "I think that's impossible." While it was not an immediate response, I could not understand why Kouta-san brushed that thought aside so quickly, so I could not help but sound like I were cross-examining when I asked, "And why is that?"

"I would prefer if you didn't get so excited over this, it's quite unruly. Were you like that when you tried to chew up Professor Kyouichirou?"

"That... no, I am sorry. I was rude, I apologize."

I obediently lowered my head.

Yes. What point is there in getting over-excited? Even if Kunagisa and Suzunas.h.i.+-san's lives were endangered every moment we wasted like this, getting hot-blooded would not solve anything. Rather, the opposite would happen. It is because of the situation we are in, because of the position we are in, that I must always have a cool head. I must be my usual, emotionless thought machine. Like a robot without a soul.

"However, what makes you brush it aside so quickly..."

"Do you think I hadn't thought of that? Jumping from roof to roof like Lupin III, do you think I've lived a life where I've not at least once resorted to such a course of action?" Kouta-san turned her back to me and headed toward the door while replying. "Anyways, it would be impossible for you to do that. I shall explain the reason a later time. For now, is it not more important to look upon Utsurigi-san's body?"

"..... alright," I nodded, not entirely appeased, and then I followed Kouta-san. "However, if this is impossible....."

I had felt as if I had finally come across the light at the end of the tunnel to this difficult case, but perhaps it was just a wrong hunch. For a moment it was like the completely, physically sealed-off seventh ward had shown just a crack.

Kouta-san opened the lock of the door and said, "but the problem is not just that sealed room, is it?"

"The reason that Utsurigi-san was killed in such a brutal way. And the words written in blood pique my interest. If you focus too much on one thing, you'll stop being able to see where you're walking."

"..... indeed. That is true."

I looked at my watch again. There were roughly three and a half hours left. I could not say I had plenty of time left. However, the amount of problems to think about boasted an absolute superiority in numbers. To be honest, there is not much hope. However, as long as it is not zero, I must continue on. This was certainly a pessimistic perspective.

I walked down the stairs after Kouta-san, and then realized one more thing. It was unrelated to the incident, and was about the gamble with Kouta-san earlier. The front and back of the coin. It ended with my victory, but was it truly my victory? Kouta-san definitely had nothing in her left hand. However, that did not mean that the coin was in her right hand, because she did not show it. It was worth wondering whether both hands were empty. The thought that Kouta-san had pa.s.sed the advantage to me because of my time limit felt so steeped in sentiment, however, that I could not bring myself to ask about it. Instead, I asked a completely different question: "What does Neo-san do?"

"Didn't you ask him?"

"I did, but I felt like he did a neat job of making things ambiguous. Or perhaps he simply parried me aside entirely..... he said something like being an expert at whistle-blowing and a professional at betrayal and a specialist of intelligence and other such aliases that sound like lies."

"And, what did you conclude of him?"

"..... well, I think he must be some spy from a rival organization."

"That answer is not consummate. It's like saying everything that swims in the ocean is a fish, and indeed, I can only call it three-summate or four-summate."

"Uh huh," I did not understanding that grading scale. "Then, what is Neo-san?"

"This is just between the two of us, okay?" Kouta-san paused going down the stairs, placed her index finger to her lips, and then winked. "He's not something as mellow as a spy. And all of his aliases that he used to refer to himself are not lies but rather the truth. Indeed, you could call him a plenipotentiary amba.s.sador that an even larger group..... no, a circuit dispatched, someone several times greater than a spy."

"..... I wonder about that large circuit."

"That would be how scrutinized the research Professor Kyouichirou is performing right now.... although Utsurigi-san pa.s.sed away, so I should call it research he had been performing. Of course, if he is to resume the research using Kunagisa-san then that correction is unnecessary. And that would be up to you. For example, the ER3 system you used to belong to is also probably interested in Professor Kyouichirou's research results. Yes, of course that place would be."

"..... and, yourself, too."

Of course, Kouta-san seemed to say with her mischievous grin, and then she began walking forward again. I decided to avoid pressing further and simply followed. We pa.s.sed by the fourth-floor door and then arrived at the third floor. Kouta-san waited for me in front of the door, and then taking care not to make too much sound, opened the lock with her knife.

"What room did he say?"

"The seventh dissection room."

Kouta said as she turned the k.n.o.b of the steel door and pushed it carefully, peering through the crack at the other side. However, she also then closed the door that moment. It was such an instantaneous action that it was like she did it out of reflexes, and it was astonis.h.i.+ng that even then the only sound that could be heard was the automatic lock being set.

"..... what happened?"

"It is not consummate, as two women walked out of what is likely the seventh dissection ward."

"Two? How did they look?"

"They both wore a lab coat. One wore round gla.s.ses, and the other seemed like the cool type."

They were unmistakably sensei and Kasugai-san. The other woman would have been Misachi-san, but given what Neo-san had said earlier, and especially given that they were in lab coats, Misachi-san could probably be excluded.

Kouta-san crouched on the spot, and then placed her ear to the door. I had no reason to do so, but I did the same, anyways.

"..... ............... ya know ..... "

"..... .......... the worst ..... ... "

".....is..... hard word.....ya know."

"It's the usua ..... ..... bothersome..... "

I could not really hear them. There was probably quite a bit of distance between here and them. However, I could slowly hear their voices better. That meant that they were walking toward us.

"But, even so. What's the Professor thinkin'a'doin' with the three?"

Kokoromi-sensei's voice.

"What he is going to do is rather obvious, I would think."

Kasugai-san's voice.

In that case, it seemed I was correct in deducing that the two Kouta-san said she saw were Kokoromi-sensei and Kasugai-san. I glanced at Kouta-san, who sat right in front of me because of my posture. She nodded back, and we went back to putting an ear toward the two's conversation.

"It is as forced a method as always. I think. I cannot think of it as an act of an adult with an academic background. I cannot think of him as having ordinary nerves considering that it is already savage to imprison such children in a bas.e.m.e.nt and then to frame them as murder suspects on top of that."

"Pretty surprisingly normal opinion. Well, that's that, what ya'd expect of a Mad Demon, I guess. But I can't say I don't get the Professor's feelings. It happened right after the three of 'em showed up, ya know? Regardless of logic, ya can't say they're not suspicious, yah?"

"Such suspicion is quite unlike you Miyos.h.i.+-chan. One of the three locked up in my bas.e.m.e.nt cage is even your student, is he not?"

Kasugai-san spoke of people like things.

"Wouldn't Miyos.h.i.+-chan want to cover for him? Speaking of which, you were one of the first to stop him when he became infuriated."

"Ahh. Well that, ya know, came from experience. He's pretty calm most of the time but whenever anyone says something that hits in a bad spot, he starts rampaging. Most people who've staked their lives on academics, or ya know, most smart people're kinda like that, but he's a wee bit different. Anyways, he's always had a short temper. Especially his first year around. I had to go in to stop him every time, ya know. What a handful of a student."

I had many things I wanted to say back, but I stayed silent.

"Well, that's what made him cute the way he's cute, ya know."

"Really? I've become a bit disappointed."

"Hmm? Whazzat, Kasugai-chan not fond of hot-blooded fellas?"

"I cannot stand hot-blooded men."

"Kasugai-chan's tastes are really strict, ya know. Well, I gotta agree that one's absolutely bad, ya know," sensei calmly said rather harsh things about me, under the a.s.sumption that I were not around to hear, and then she continued. "But ya know, he's not just bad. Nah, he's pretty fundamentally bad, but his adaptability is bad, too, and he's also got bad potential, and his badness isn't half-a.s.sed at all, ya know. He's so bad that he's gotta be the first and last and unprecedented, the master of one and nothing at others, the type that you'd tell him to go right and he'll go left, an innovative level of badness. Well, not that I'm trying to praise him, ya know."

No worries, you're not praising me one bit.

"So he doesn't cause one bit of worry to Miyos.h.i.+-chan."

"Well, I'm not worrying, that's for sure. If anything, I'm actually expecting him to do something. All we've gotta do is sit tight. While the Professor and s.h.i.+to-kun and Uze-san come up with a countermeasure... and a countermeasure is all they can make. Well, anyways, during that time, he'll probably find a way to solve this incident."

"Solve? He?"

"Yup. He's at his best in this type of environment... or rather, ya know, he's the absolute best person for these situations. Nah, might be better to say this sorta situation is optimal for him. And to add to that, this sort of situation's his arch-nemesis. He'll make something happen and solve it, ya know."

"He is your student after all."

"Student. Captivating way to put it, but irrelevant this time, I'd say."

Sensei laughed and deflected that subject.

..... speaking of which, their voices were not getting closer or getting further, and it felt like they were just standing there, so I wondered what the two of them were doing. There should be no reason to stand by an emergency exit and talk, but if there were to be a reason, could it be that the two of them had noticed us? No, in that case they would not be engaging in idle talk and would simply open the door. That they did not meant that they did not notice us.

Then I realized. When we entered the seventh ward yesterday while Utsurigi was still alive, there were stairs next to the elevator (that according to s.h.i.+to-kun Utsurigi-san had let off on. If this third ward was designed the same way, there should be an elevator shaft nearby. In other words, sensei and Kasugai-san were not standing in front of the door, but simply waiting for the elevator nearby.

In that case, this was a chance. The two of them would be leaving this floor soon. In other words, it would not be difficult to sneak into the seventh dissection ward to see Utsurigi's corpse.

Hmm, things were looking up for us. I may be lucky this year. Though we were already in the second half of June. Though I had already been nearly killed several times these six months.

"Even so, he is locked up in my cage. Optimal and arch-nemesis don't matter at all then. Or are you saying he's like Houdini?"

"If anything he's more the type to flip his thoughts around. He'll be like I don't know. I don't get it. I don't get it at all. I don't get it so much and I don't get it so much that I'm going to die if I don't get it one more time but I don't get it after all so I'm deadfor the most part, and then because of something small, he'll be like that's it! this is it! why didn't I get something so simple! I'm so stupid! So stupid so stupid and so stupid so I'm dead!"

"So he dies either way."

It seemed I die either way.

"So he's not like Houdini. He's not a manipulator either, but he's not like a close-range power type, either, so ya know, yeah, I guess if he's locked up even he can't really do anything."

"How about an electric chair type? Then there is no point in hoping for anything," Kasugai-san said without any trace of emotion. "Well that's not something for us to bother thinking about anyways. We can just leave everything to the Professor."

"That again. Kasugai-chan always ends up there. Leave everything to the Professor. .... I don't dislike that part about you though, Kasugai-chan."

"What do you mean by that part of me Miyos.h.i.+-chan?"

"Leaving everything to someone else because you don't feel like thinking, not choosing to do anything at all."

I could hear sensei laugh, but Kasugai-san said nothing.

I remembered Neo-san's words earlier and paid even more attention, but in the end, the two of them did not say anything important afterwards. They simply spoke about meaningless and hopeless topics, such as:

Ya know, I get that kokkuri-san[1]'s written with a fox for the ko and racc.o.o.n for the ri, but what's with the ku?

If I remember correctly it should be dog.

Why would ku[2] be a dog[3]?

Different way of writing it. The same way that you would write snake[4] differently [5] in Ba Zi [6].

Gotcha..... but isn't it odd that you'd have a fox and a racc.o.o.n and a dog?

The common link between the three is that they all appear in mountains in the wild.

So it coulda been a monkey.....

Or:

Ya know the phrase "adding insult to injury" gets used a lot, but if ya think about it, shouldn't it be "got insult added to my injury?"

Indeed "adding insult to injury" is usually used with the speaker as the victim. Perhaps half of it has been abbreviated similar to "cut the Gordian knot." As such the correct way should in fact be "insult added to my injury."

Hmm. Then ya sayin' it's like "catch them in the rye field?"

Speaking of which during my intern years I had a friend who'd studied abroad and he shouted "This translation is wrong! It's absolutely wrong! This isn't what Salinger meant when he wrote this! I understand how Salinger felt! I'll translate it properly for Salinger's sake!" and then he penned a novel t.i.tled "Catcher in the Rye Field."

How'd it go?

It was worse.

And so their conversation went. Come to think of it, the two of them sounded much more pa.s.sionate during their idle chat than they did when they spoke about the incident.

The elevator arrived, and I could barely hear the sound of the door opening.

"Well then I shall be heading on ahead, Miyos.h.i.+-chan."

"Yah. What's Neo-san want with Kasugai-chan anyways?"

"He said something about an emergency with the model skeleton he's working on right now but it's obviously a lie. However, I cannot just brush aside the request of a senior. Although I would prefer to go back to my own research ward."

"I see. Neo-san..... well, whatever, ciao."

And then the elevator door shut, and I could feel the vibration of the electric motor.

I stood up at that, but Kouta-san did not. She remained placing her ear to the door, with a serious look, as if sensei and Kasugai-san's conversation was still ongoing, and stayed crouched.

"..... Kouta-san? What are you doing?" I whispered and asked. "Neo-san managed to help us out... what can you hear?"

"Nothing."

"..... then what are you doing?

"I don't hear a thing, dear friend," Kouta-san repeated in a scolding tone. "Why would that be? Given what we'd just heard, Kasugai-san went on the elevator to leave. Miyos.h.i.+-san is still on this floor. Yet I don't hear a thing. Isn't that strange?"

After she explained all that, I finally understood. She did not mean simply that she could no longer hear a conversation, but rather that she heard no sound at all. That she could not hear even footsteps. In other words, despite Kasugai-san having left, sensei had not taken a single step. Why would sensei stay in the same spot if she had no business being there?

Why.

"Isn't it around time to show yaself?"

Sensei shouted, loud enough for it to reach even myself, despite me not having my ear to the door anymore. Kouta-san seemed surprised by that loud voice and could not help but recoil from the door.

"Ya manliness takes a hit runnin' and hidin' like that, ya know."

"I feel like I've heard that before."

Kouta-san said with a sarcastic tone and glared at me. I looked away, embarra.s.sed that she had found out where I got my lines from.

We had been noticed... had we? So sensei had seen through our being there. She knew that we were on the other side of the door and kept talking to Kasugai-san like that. -- no, that could not be. Sensei was not so superhuman that she could see us through the steel door. At the very least, she was not, three years ago.

"Not comin' out? Suit yaself. I've just gotta call up the Professor here. He'll come right quick ya know? He'll show up fast as a motorcycle, ya know? And that'd trouble even my student, ya know?"

Kouta-san asked what shall we do? with her eyes. I could not avert my eyes forever, so I reluctantly replied, "there is no helping it." s.h.i.+t, I was a fool to think that I would have even a moment of luck in my life.

"Kouta-san, please return to Neo-san's place."

"-- you're going out?" Kouta-san scrunched her eyebrows. "I cannot imagine you'd walk out safely."

"We are already no longer safe."

This was the second time I said that line to Kouta-san. It seemed we were becoming less and less safe at an exponential rate.

"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!"

Sensei began counting down loudly. There was so loud it was like a millennium countdown. I wondered this when I was overseas too, but what vocal chords did this sensei have? How about we dissect your d.a.m.n throat?

"Six! Five! Four! Three!

"Kouta-san, if I do not return within thirty minutes--"

"Understood," Kouta-san nodded without letting me finish. "However, I cannot guarantee anything, because that means our contract will have been broken. Personally, I do not care if my contract is with Kunagisa-san, either, but I shall go ahead and promise, anyways."

"That is true. The beauty of contracts is that they can be broken with no repercussions."

"Quite harsh."

Kouta-san then handed me the knife and asked, "Do you know how to use it?"

"Yes. I have used it once before."

"That is consummate. Farewell, then."

After I accepted the knife, Kouta-san quickly ran up the stairs. Once I confirmed she could no longer be seen, I placed the knife in the keyhole, and then shook twice, thrice. The sound of the lock being lifted.

I pulled the k.n.o.b, and walked out to the other side.

"Two! One! Zero! Negative--"

"Why are you going on after zero?"

"Woah."

Kokoromi-sensei looked at me, and then stopped her booming voice.

"-- huh. Ya actually there? Kokoromi-sensei's surprised."

"....." figured it'd be a bluff, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d. "h.e.l.lo, sensei."

"h.e.l.lo. ..... right, come to think of it, we haven't met alone since that hospital ward eh, my student?"

Sensei lifted the frames of her gla.s.ses with one hand, and then grinned mischievously. Or rather, not quite mischievously, but rather, maliciously, or perhaps a cat playing with a mouse would have this sort of expression, that sort of face.

That was probably an expression that was only allowed for pre-p.u.b.escent girls.

For example, Kunagisa Tomo.

"..... hahah," sensei began laughing aloud, apparently unable to suppress it anymore. "Hah hah hah! Hah hah hah hah............... hahahah! Awesome. You. Really, awesome. That body of yours, really interestin', ya know. Woulda been better if you were just a wee bit smarter..... or maybe just a wee bit dumber."

"Sensei, please."

"Hmm?" sensei tilted her head to the side. "..... ya being pretty frank, for once. Kokoromi-sensei's surprised, a second time."

"Will you please remain silent about having seen me?"

"Yup, sure," sensei quickly nodded. "Don't be so cold, ya know. It's between the two of us, ain't it?"

".........."

I had to become careful of sensei's words. Normally one would be relieved. Normally one would calm themselves down and say "thank you very much." Even I have such etiquette. Perhaps one should be tearing up at the density of the love being shown. However, we are speaking of none other than Miyos.h.i.+ Kokoromi-sensei. I am not soft enough to think such a paradigm matters here.

"One--"

Without caring one bit about how I responded to her response, sensei spoke aloud to herself. She folded her arms and posed as if in deep thought, and sometimes glanced at me.

"..... no, two. Yup, a skeleton crew of two."

".....?"

"It'd be perfect if ya had three..... but that'd be much. Ya wouldn't be here like this if ya had three, and having too many's a problem of its own....."

"What are you talking about, sensei?"

"Unyanya. Whatcha mean, I was wonderin' how many helpers Ii-chan has in this facility, of course, ya know," sensei flicked her wrists up and formed her fingers in a way that would make a shadow the shape of a fox. "At the very least, one person to help open the cage. Can't be Kasugai-chan..... so I wonder who. But that's not enough..... gotta be two."

"..... I want to say wonderful sleuth-work, but you are absolutely wrong, sensei," I boldly responded. "I did everything myself. Actually, I'm an ESPer."

"Hadn't heard that one before."

"Sensei is the first person I ever told. Please keep it a secret, alright?"

"Well whatever. I won't ask about things ya'd rather not say, this time."

Sensei then turned her back to me and began walking. It seemed I had failed in deceiving her. She walked about five steps and then stopped, and then said, "C'mon."

"Ya came to see Utsurigi-san's corpse dincha, my student?"

"....."

"Oh stop bein' so cautious. It's not like we don't know each other."

"If I did not know you I would not be so cautious....."

"Man, ya say the darndest things sometimes, ya know, hahah."

Brus.h.i.+ng aside my sarcasm, Sensei did not drop pace at all. That said, she was shorter, and thus her pace was shorter, so despite me being hesitant, the distance between us remained the same. Kokoromi-sensei was short enough to line shoulders with Kunagisa, and if she were to stand next to Suzunas.h.i.+-san, it would not be an adult and a child so much as a giant and a dwarf. Well, not that that mattered any right now.

The placard next to the room sensei stopped in front of read NUMBER 7 EXPERIMENT ROOM in all-caps (and it was written in terribly bad handwriting, the combination of which made you think an elementary school child had written it, but it was clearly written by sensei). And then she turned to me, saying "in the first place."

"In the first place, what's genius, my student?"

"..... a difficult question. Hmm, to answer that, we would have to define the word genius, first."

"What are ya, Descartes?" sensei said, playing the straight-man in a philosophical way. "And is it really that hard a question? It's just got a hard answer, yah?"

"I have heard that line many times."

"Exactly. And when it comes to that, we're talkin' the maximum quant.i.ty of maximum good fortune, yah? Talent isn't something nurtured but something ya born with -- Fräulein Love said this, but it's pretty right on, doncha think? Prolly makes a lotta sense as the lover of Kunagisa Tomo," and then sensei narrowed her eyes. "-- hahah. She's the one ya talked about all the time when we were in school over there, yah? Well, not that we're talkin' about ya anyways. So, what's ya answer?"

"I do not know an answer to that," I replied with an answer that was not an answer to sensei's question, without understanding what she was getting after. "Genius just refers to smart people, or perhaps skilled people, does it not? I think that is enough, from a general populace perspective."

"From a general populace perspective?"

"If you take offense at that, then I can rephrase it to from a normal perspective. In the first place, I am not a genius, so no matter how you would cla.s.sify someone as a genius is irrelevant to me."

"That said, for a genius -- doesn't matter if it's Kunagisa-chan or Professor or Utsurigi-san or whoever -- for them, that's the norm, so I don't think cla.s.sification of genius matters any bit, either."

"Sensei, what are you talking about?"

"Nonsense. The type you prefer," sensei turned the k.n.o.b and pushed open the door. "Well then, welcome to my castle."

Dim -- or rather, it was completely dark. There were no light sources because there were no windows. Sensei walked into the room without turning on the lights. I did not know where the switch might be, so I paid attention to where I stepped as I followed. The light from the hallway that slipped through the doorway was my only hope, but because of some mechanism (or perhaps it was simply a security measure), the door automatically shut, and the room became wrapped in complete darkness. Everything, even myself, melted black.

"Hey -- sensei? Sensei? Where are you?"

There was no response. But there was a presence. Not far from me, sensei held her breath. I did not know why -- although knowing the sensei I know, it would be for mischief -- but sensei clearly seemed uninterested in replying.

I tried progressing forward using my intuition, but my intuition is of course dull when it comes to anything other than having a bad feeling, so within three steps, I ran into something. From its height, I could deduce it must be a table or something, but it did not seem to be supported by legs, but rather was installed. In that case, it was a surgery table, or--.

I decided to search around the top of the table, and my hands touched something that seemed soft and hard at the same time. There was no squis.h.i.+ness whatsoever, but it felt like jelly. What could it be? This oddly lukewarm..... ah, I can guess now.

Not exactly paired with my guess, but that moment the ceiling light turned on. Sensei had turned the light on. And then as I had largely expected, a large dissection table was in front of me, and on top of it, under my hand, was seated the naked body of Utsurigi. No, it was lying down face-up, so saying it was seated is wrong, but no one would care to nitpick wording right now.

".........."

Utsurigi's body had, presumably by sensei's hand, been repaired to some degree. The sliced-open chest and stomach had been st.i.tched shut, the dangling-open mouth had been forced shut, and the scars inside the mouth were no longer visible. It seemed the eye sockets and eyelid were irreparable, as they were simply left open, giving it a very eerie look. Compared to that expressionless express, the eeriness from the lack of arms seemed like nothing.

Well, well. This could no longer be mistaken for that jovial Utsurigi. There is not one similarity left.

"Can only say it's to be expected of ya to not scream even a wee bit," said sensei, who had at some point moved behind me, as she walked closer. "Ya so cute but so uncute, if ya know what I mean."

"And you still have quite the bad tastes, sensei," I took my hand off Utsurigi's body and turned to sensei. "What meaning was there to this?"

"No meaning. Just action. To everything."

"Stop dodging the question. I do not understand you at all."

"In other words, a clockwork orange."

"That makes even less sense."

"From a general populace' perspective, we'd call this a métaph.o.r.e, my student," sensei walked around the dissection table halfway, and stood across from me. "Or less a métaph.o.r.e and more a metaphor, I suppose?"

"They are the same."

"Hmmhmm. But the pa.s.sion is totally different," sensei continued being meaningless. "In other words, a matter of a.s.sumptions. More importantly, it's time for an out-of-cla.s.s lecture. Kokoromi-sensei's dissection lecture. Cla.s.s is starting, cla.s.s is starting. Well then, my student, tell me what you think about this Utsurigi Gaisuke's body."

"Hmm. Indeed. From looking at it, yes, he is quite dead."

"Ya fail." As expected, the dissection professor was harsh in her a.s.sessment. "Let's change the question for this poorly-built student of ours, then. Here, whatcha think was the cause of death?"

"Shock from blood loss, right? Sensei, that is what you said."

"But then it was wrong," sensei said as she tapped at Utsurigi's temple. "The cause of death was the destruction of the brain."

"..... destruction of the brain? What do you mean? Brain damage?"

"Naw. Brain damage refers to when the brain gets. .h.i.t by impact from the outside and that force damages the brain. Look, this is where scissors got stuck through the eyes, yah?"

And then sensei made a peace sign with her fingers, and can you believe it, stuck the two fingers into Utsurigi's eye sockets. Does this person not have any semblance of respect or sympathy to the dead? Well, no, when I put it that way.

"That was pretty deep. Remember that it was stuck all the way in? The blade punched through the brain and reached the cranium."

"Well, I could tell that much considering how deep the scissors were, but sensei, that... would that not mean that there is the possibility that Utsurigi was stabbed through the eyes with scissors while he was alive instead of after he was dead?"

"Not just possibility. The eye and brain damage caused by the scissors were the oldest wounds. Scissors stuck through, and then twist them around a bit. Ten, no five seconds, maybe."

This conversation made me feel pained.

"The stomach being cut and the legs being broken and the intestines falling out all happened after death. Ya can tell that much because of issues about reactions from living bodies, yah?"

"-- do you not remember that human anatomy was one of my worse subjects?" I did not look at sensei nor Utsurigi as I spoke. "And you know, given how much this body was wrecked..... there cannot b