Chapter 147: Side Noel

Chapter 147: Side Noel

When the hands of the clock had nearly reached midnight, I knocked at the door of the mansion's guest room. "Come in," said a familiar voice.

"Excuse me."

When I opened the door, Bruno Belmondo was waiting for me. Since Grandfather had been invited to the Ritual of Sacred Return as a guest, I was having him stay at my house, a mansion administered by the Federation Government.

We'd lived as family, long ago, but now we were a host and her guest. The thought made an indescribable emotion threaten to well up inside me, and I gently pushed it down.

"You were out quite late."

Grandfather was just hanging up his overcoat. He smelled faintly of alcohol.

Drinking was one of his many pastimes.

"Yes, I was with an acquaintance. We had a pleasant time," he explained simply.

He wouldn't tell me who he'd met or what they'd talked about.

It had always been that way. Grandfather never said much about himself. Was it due to his position as the Information Broker, or was it— "Grandfather, what's...?"

I'd noticed something that concerned me. On the table beside Grandfather, there was a half-empty bottle of water and something that looked like a medicine packet.

"Oh, it's my blood pressure medication. It's nothing to worry about." "Grandfather? Are you sure you should be drinking?"

"...I'd rather you didn't mention it to my doctor." A little uncomfortable,

Grandfather lightly raised one hand in a gesture of refusal.

It felt as if it had been a long time since I saw him do something that mischievous.

"And? What did you need?" Grandfather asked, as I hesitated in the doorway. "Is it about the ceremony tomorrow? If so, I really do intend to—"

He gazed into the distance—out the window, beyond the pall of night, to bygone days. It was probably a view I knew nothing of. "Once, my travels took me to a forbidden territory. While there, I made a choice. Should I know 'the world,' or everything else? I chose the latter."

What he was saying seemed very abstract. However, if I could believe his words, Grandfather had once chosen to know about everything except the world. From another perspective, he was saying he'd given up on knowing the world.

What "world" did he mean?

"I may have said a bit too much. Liquor really should be taken in moderation."

With a little smile, Grandfather wrapped up his story. He'd never actually told me if he knew what was going to happen at tomorrow's ceremony.

But his story was the answer to my question. He'd said that Bruno Belmondo didn't know everything about the world.

Why had he done that? If it had been the Ace Detective asking, what answer would he have given her? My fingers tightened around my phone.

"Now then, children should be in bed around this time," Grandfather said, getting to his feet. He patted my head gently.

"...Honestly. I'm not a child."

He only did that at times like this—no, Grandfather had always treated me like a child. I didn't know whether that frustrated me or made me happy; I just stood there for a while, under his big palm.

The coolness of the wet towel he'd placed on my forehead when I was in bed with a cold. Camera film with sights from around the world on it. The warm hand that had held mine and led me along busy streets when I was small.

Remembering these traces of Grandfather, I squeezed my eyes shut.

"I'm sorry to disturb you when you're tired." Rising from my chair, I nodded to him, then turned to go.

"Noel."

Just as I reached the door, Grandfather called to me. "Do as you see fit. We are humans of flesh and blood."

I didn't have a good response for that. "Good night," I told him, then closed the door.