In the capital city of Edsilla, at a fine dining restaurant called “Finchile,”I sat across from Riley.
“…I heard a lot of homeless people have disappeared. Isn't that a good thing?”
Riley had brought up the mysterious incidents occurring in Edsilla lately.
“Is that so?”
She nodded at my response.
“Yes. Homeless people who are of no help to the continent might as well disappear sooner rather than later…”
“Hmm.”
Her statement was quite radical, but I understood. I knew why she was saying this, what she wanted from me.
Then, I should play along.
“Right. They're no help to society. They don’t contribute to any meaningful productive activities, just consuming like parasites…”
Riley hesitated for a moment but quickly smiled.
“That’s right. There’s hardly a need to investigate these serial disappearances.”
“Exactly. No need for an investigation.”
I smiled meaningfully. Suddenly, Riley's expression hardened, but she soon nodded in agreement and cut her steak with a knife.
“No need for an investigation… Well, that’s true.”
“Yes. Really, there’s no need. Trust me.”
I smiled like a psychopath.
As if I knew something. As if I knew it very well.
“…Really? But what if these disappearances are kidnappings, maybe for organs?”
Riley asked subtly.
I paused cutting my steak and looked at her, my eyes slightly suspicious.
Riley calmly explained.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just had this thought before. If dismantling one homeless person could save ten diligent ones”
“Well, isn’t there something more i m porta nt?”
“…More important than organs?”
“Ha. Yes. Even such trashy humans… there might be a way to make them useful to society .”
I smiled. Riley also lifted the corners of her mouth.
“l’m curious. What might that method be?”
Clank—
I sliced another piece of steak and replied.
“Shall we end the work talk here?”
“…Was this work talk?”
Riley hit the nail on the head.
I pretended to be flustered and laughed brightly.
“Ah~ Wasn’t it work talk? Ha ha.”
“…Well. Try this. It’s delicious.”
Riley placed a piece of meat on my plate. I gladly put it in my mouth.
“Oh~ It's delicious.”
“…Yes. You’re quite charming.”
“…….”
I deliberately stopped chewing.
“Cough, cough. Ahem.”
I coughed as if I was choked, and Riley came over, concerned, patting my back.
“Oh my, are you alright?”
It was a play we were both part of.
The difference was, I knew she was acting.
“…Yes, I’m fine. Ha, haha.”
At the Libra Station’s research lab.
With the release of the new artificial intelligence not far off, everyone from the least staffed Al department had gathered. The head, Vito, had called the meeting himself.
“The first reveal is scheduled for three weeks from now.”
Vito announced. The other researchers listened quietly, showing no reaction.
“Are you all excited?”
They didn’t answer but just nodded their heads.
What are they, plants?
I enthusiastically raised my hand.
“l’m excited!”
Vito chuckled at that.
He secretly enjoyed such lively atmospheres. The other researchers hardly even talked, let alone muttered to themselves.
“Alright. Let's continue with the final checks… Dr. Killian, could you come see me for a moment?”
“Yes.”
Vito called me into his office.
He sat down and said,
“Dr. Killian.”
I stood in front of him.
“Yes. What is it?”
“I heard you had an interesting conversation with Ms. Riley yesterday?”
“…Yes? Oh, were you at that restaurant too?”
I was well aware of the surveillance. Grawl had been having a tough time monitoring both inside and outside Killian’s house.
Vito laughed.
“Ha, yes. I was there too. You might not have noticed.”
“lf you’re referring to… the interesting conversation, are you talking about the homeless?”
“Yes. I think the same as you and Ms. Riley, but please don't talk about such things outside.”
“Ah, yes. I guess I got too excited with the project nearing completion. I apologize!”
I responded energetically.
“That’s alright. I didn't call you here to scold you. Compared to what Dr. Killian has done for us, it’s nothing. You can go back to your station.”
“…Ah, Dr. Vito.”
I called out to Vito as he was about to look at his monitor. Vito tilted his head slightly.
“Yes?”
“About that doll you showed us last time.”
I was curious about Akane’s doll.
Of course, I could ask Akane herself, but I thought Vito might have more accurate information.
“What collaboration did you have with Selfless Coffin…”
Vito chuckled lightly.
“lndeed. Dr. Killian, you have a deep intellectual curiosity.”
“Ah… haha.”
Was that a compliment, or a warning?
“There was a project involving artificial bodies.”
It seemed he was willing to give an answer.
“Artificial bodies?”
“Yes, a project to create artificial bodies… It was challenging. Dollmaker Akane could create bodies, but the process was too slow. It was like a household business.”
Indeed. Akane handcrafted each doll herself. The time it took to create a doll identical to a human was at least three weeks.
“Also, the bodies themselves decayed quickly. They couldn’t withstand the weight of a soul.”
“Wow. So, what if we were to insert our artificial intelligence into these artificial bodies”
“Artificial humans. Homunculi?”
Vito finished my sentence. I nodded eagerly.
He smiled faintly.
“Actually, that project has already succeeded.”
“lt has?”
“Yes. The details are a secret of Libra. Maybe I’ll tell you if you ever become part of the family.”
“Ah… of course, Doctor. You’ve been working hard to transcend human limitations. It’s truly impressive and admirable.”
“Haha. Well, now.”
Vito shook his head as if he couldn’t be helped.
“Dr. Killian, you’ll be there soon too.”
“lt would be an honor.”
“Yes. You can go now.”
“Yes!”
I bowed deeply at a 120-degree angle. Vito let out a pleased chuckle.
“Alright, go on now.”
This man, surprisingly straightforward.
After all, he’s monitoring Killian 24 hours a day.
To Vito now, Killian must appear as the most innocent and harmless person, someone who holds infinite respect for him.
“Yes!”
…lt means Grawl is having a tough time.
“Artificial humans with artificial bodies… you say?”
In the residence of the Endex curator, Soliette asked.
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“lt’s all connected. Knightmare, human experimentation, homunculi… all of it.”
I turned to look at soliette. In a low voice, she stated the answer.
“…1 m m o rta lity.”
“Exactly.”
The desire to live forever.
Knightmare, human experimentation, homunculi—all lead to that one path.
“The issue is… how many families are involved.”
Libra is certain. The other suspects on the list are Aventagher, Arkne, Glofeld, Pencia, Kruan.
Among them, Glofeld has reached out to my tarot card reading shop.
“Then, could it be that my father too…”
Soliette’s expression turned serious.
“We don’t know yet. Probably not. It’s more likely the elders. They're the main operatives in Libra’s schemes, buying off the elders.”
The collateral branches that have become family elders surprisingly hold significant influence. They have decision-making power in major family matters, especially involving the succession structure.
“But… it’s strange. Artificial humans, or rather, homunculi, they say it’s already succeeded.”
“What? It succeeded?”
“Yes. According to Vito”
“Ah! Then, do you think Sheron could determine that?”
“…Oh.”
Sheron. My eyes widened too.
“That’s right. She can read souls.”
“Yes, exactly.”
If artificial humans—homunculi—exist and are moving around, they will definitely be detected by Sheron’s radar.
“Okay. Then we’ll ask Sheron to look into that as well.”
“Shion. But are you in contact with her?”
“Of course.”
Soliette pouted her lips.
“l’ve been blocked.”
“…Why?”
“I don't know. Maybe because I contacted her too often…”
“I get messages from her every day.”
“…What? How do you get messages every day?”
Soliette narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
I held up my smartphone to show her Sheron’s texts.
[Hey.]
[Hey hey hey.]
[Hey hey hey hey hey.]
[Set me up one more time.]
[Seriously reply.]
[No reply?]
[Reply, I said.]
[Just one more time please ;]
[Please]
[Hey, but don’t they only do one reading at a time there? Can’t you ask multiple questions?]
[Then can’t you just do it three more times instead of once?]
“See. She’s obsessed with tarot readings now.”
“…Hmm. Clearly.”
Soliette rested her chin on her hand. I stared intently at her.
When she thinks, she occasionally fiddles with her lower jaw. Tapping her lips and cheeks with her fingers.
The same… habit, before and after regression.
I stood up.
“Shion. Where are you going?”
“T0 work.”
It was about time to start my shift as a Chaser.
In a secluded back alley, a quiet lakeside with no surveillance or tailing. I sat on a fishing chair, waiting for someone.
Soon, someone would come.
Rustle-
The sound of stepping on leaves echoed. I looked out over the lake and said,
“Mr. Jeff.”
“Yes.”
Jeff Garner approached and stood behind me.
“Have you heard the news?”
“Yes, of course.”
Bell Moore’s car exploded, but instead, I got caught up in it.
That’s why the atmosphere inside the Intelligence Agency has rapidly cooled.
I jiggled the fishing rod as I spoke.
“lt seems an internal investigation team will be formed.”
Jeff listened to my words quietly.
“Team Leader Bell Moore doesn’t want such an internal investigation. He has no intention of forgiving those who dared target him.”
In fact, Bell Moore, far from forgiving, is conducting his own investigation, suspecting that it might be the work of external forces.
How foolish.
“Yes, I expected as much.”
Jeff Garner’s voice grew low.
He is an agent specialized in assassination. Even formidable opponents, if unprepared, are bound to die at his hands.
I turned to look at him.
“Once it happens once, it will happen twice, and if it happens twice,it will happen a third time… So, we need to nip it in the bud.”
“Yes.”
“lt’s an order.”
I handed him a personnel file.
Four team leaders under Gedley, of the Intelligence Agency.
However, we won't kill the team leaders, but their right-hand men. After all, the justification is on our side, so we’ll cut off all four right hands.
They are trash that deserve to die.
“Kill them all.”
This also serves to build Bell Moore’s image.
He must never tolerate. He must show a brutally cruel side to those who strike first.
“But you must not be caught.”
At the same time, he must be cold. Like a sharp ice pick, he must hide himself.
Everyone may suspect that it’s Bell Moore’s doing, but no evidence pointing to the fact should emerge.
“Not even the smallest piece of evidence should remain.”
Bell Moore must become such a terrifying and fearsome figure. He must appear as an extremely dark and meticulous predator, a mastermind that no one dares to easily approach.
All words directed at Bell Moore must come through me first.
“…Yes, I understand.”
I nodded.
Before I knew it, Jeff had disappeared.
Bloop!
Just then, a fish bit the bait.
…
The next day, Bell Moore woke up on a sofa in a club room.
“…Ah, my head.”
He had drunk heavily the night before.
These days, things have been so complicated and tangled up, it’s suffocating. That's why I went on a rampage for the first time in a while.
“H aa h…”
He sighed as he got up. Staggering, he left the club.
The streets were bathed in dazzling sunlight.
“Ah, it’s blinding. Hey! Taxi!”
He was about to take a taxi to work when suddenly, Shion’s words came to mind.
The warning from his deputy that Gedley was targeting him.
Bell Moore thought it hard to believe and accept, but now that things had unfolded, there was no helping it.
Bell Moore shook his head with the taxi door still open.
“No, no. Go ahead. I called you by mistake.”
“What the hell, bastard.”
“What? Bastard? Hey, did you just call me”
The taxi sped off abruptly. Bell Moore glared at its retreating back, furrowing his brow.
“That crazy son of a bitch…”
Anyway, he ended up choosing his own two legs.
He walked to work at the Intelligence Agency.
“Good for some exercise.”
Sweating is good for a hangover.
Bell Moore ran for an hour and arrived at the underground Intelligence Agency.
“Ahem.”
He straightened his expression and walked down the corridors of the Intelligence Agency.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
“What the…”
But he kept catching people’s eyes. Many at the Intelligence Agency kept glancing at him as he walked.
Maybe it was because of the SUV explosion incident involving Shion.
It was embarrassingly unnecessary.
Bell Moore quickly walked to the team leader’s office.
“Where’s the secretary?”
The secretary was not there.
Maybe they took a day off today. They should have told me in advance if they were going to take a break.
“Damn it… I was going to ask for some honey water.”
Bell Moore sat down in his office chair and turned on the computer.
He immediately logged into the Intelligence Agency’s internal server to check the progress of the explosion incident.
“What’s this?”
A fresh case had been uploaded just this morning.
Bell Moore blinked in confusion and clicked on the case file.
“What… Three Chasers are dead?”
It was a highly suspicious assassination case involving Chasers.
