Chapter 158: Re:birth

Chapter 158: Re:birth

Side Charlotte

"Lift your head, Charlotte."

The moment I heard the voice, light lanced into my pitch-black surroundings.

It's bright. How many hours— No, how many days had I been blindfolded?

If I hadn't slept, I would have been able to tell from my internal clock, but they'd drugged me. When I came to, I found myself kneeling on a hard floor with my wrists and ankles bound.

"Charlotte Arisaka Anderson. Can you hear me?"

I could. I was just ignoring her. After all, I recognized that voice. Finally, my eyes got used to the light.

I was in a vast, white space with seven chairs in it. They were occupied by seven masked individuals in white. The woman in the center was probably the one who was speaking. Where was this? And...

"What do you want with me, Ice Doll?"

That was the code name of a Federation Government dignitary. Everyone here was either a government high official or the equivalent.

A few days ago, instead of attending the Ritual of Sacred Return, I'd been pursuing a certain person. Of course I'd felt really uneasy about the ritual as well, but I knew it wasn't the only threat. I didn't dare take my eyes off my target—Fuubi Kase—and so I'd been tracking her. I'd finally found a certain piece of information...and the next thing I knew, I'd been snatched by Ice Doll's group.

"I'd expect no less of you. You didn't jump at the bait of the Ritual of Sacred

Return."

Ice Doll's masked face turned toward me.

According to the report Kimizuka had texted to me, the former Information Broker had rebelled against the Federation Government at the ceremony. However, he'd said, the government officials hadn't been there. They'd fled elsewhere. It couldn't be...

"Did you know Bruno Belmondo was going to revolt all along? Is that why you're here?"

There was a brief silence.

"Charlotte Arisaka Anderson. We're told that you're brilliant." Instead of answering my question, Ice Doll started telling her own story. "As soldiers, your parents didn't remain with one organization. Instead, they wandered the world, obeying their own ideas of justice. As an agent, you followed in their footsteps."

So what? I didn't know what Ice Doll was trying to accomplish with this conversation.

"You promptly lost sight of your parents' backs, though. As your next goal, you chose the Ace Detective. When she disappeared, you apprenticed yourself to the Assassin, following in yet another person's footsteps. You've always chased someone's shadow, searching for a new place to belong. Like a hermit crab."

"Are you picking a fight with me?" I glared at Ice Doll. Could I at least rip that mask off her face?

"As I said, I am praising you. You can change the shape of your justice to suit the situation. What's important to statesmen in this ever-shifting world isn't rigid convictions, it's flexible decisions. Your changing justice is exactly what's needed."

...I didn't have a ready retort for that. I was aware that I lacked confidence in my justice. That was why the old me had put my faith in my parents' justice, and the Ace Detective's, and the Assassin's. It had been the only way I could live.

"Kidding. That's all over now."

I'd resolved that worry several years back. A boy who was constantly saying "Not fair" and his companions had rescued me, and I'd changed. Provocation like that wasn't enough to rattle me anymore.

"Let me ask you again: What do you want with me?"

"Just as the Information Broker carried out his private goal, our plan has also made great progress." Ice Doll brought the conversation back to that topic. "In specific terms, we've identified the enemies of the Federation Government: the Inventor, the Hero, the Revolutionary, the Men in Black, and the Assassin.

Because of Bruno Belmondo, they may all have regained their memories of the Akashic records."

The Akashic records? What was she talking about?

"Appropriate steps must be taken. You are indeed brilliant, so we would like you to assist us."

...She wasn't telling me to kill them, was she? If so, she was overestimating me. Even I wasn't reckless enough to take on the Tuners directly. However...

"You've basically admitted that the Ritual of Sacred Return was a performance meant to smoke out those who would betray the Federation Government. That's what this is about, isn't it?"

The Federation Government had been plotting to round up all the traitors, including Bruno.

This man was dressed like the others, but he'd removed his mask. There was no way I could mistake his face for anyone else's.

It was my father.

"Charlotte. Come join the Federation Government." He reached out, toward a changing justice.

"Board the Ark with us, and let's depart for Eden."

Side Mia

"Madam Mia, this is..."

When Olivia and I reached our destination and stepped out of the helicopter, the sight that met us left us stunned. It was a city overgrown with plants that had come from Yggdrasil's seeds. Humans had already left the area; there was no longer anything that could be called "civilization" here.

"Is this it? The landscape you keep seeing in your dreams?"

That's right. It was one of the dreams I'd been having a lot these days.

In a vast jungle, I discovered an enormous monument, and I always felt a great pull toward disaster from it. I would sweat buckets, then wake up.

After the Great Cataclysm a year ago, I'd lost the ability to see the future, but I still saw several strange dreams on a regular basis. The dream about the origin text had been one of them. And this time—

"This is it. The place I always dream about."

I looked up at the monument, which was several times taller than I was. It was an enormous, timeworn clock.

The great clock was nearly falling to pieces. I didn't know what it was, specifically.

However, for some reason, I did know its name.

"The Doomsday Clock."

The hands were poised to strike midnight, and that would spell the end.

"So the global crises really haven't gone away?" Olivia's gaze was unsteady, as if she couldn't accept this as reality.

I'd believed they were gone as well.

And I wasn't the only one. I was sure Boss had, too, and all the former heroes. "We may be forgetting something vital."

I thought back to the Great Cataclysm.

No, it had happened a little earlier than that—when had it begun? "It started on that day."

I retraced my memories, beginning with the day when the world had gone strange.

The day the Vampire, who bore a grudge against the human race, had rebelled.

A video chat notification came in on Siesta's computer. When I picked up, the screen showed Mia dressed as a cat-eared maid.

"It's been a while, huh, Mia?" "...Boss sold me out."

When she saw me, Mia froze up for a second, then slumped dramatically.

From what she told me, Siesta had suggested a cosplay party today. "She's just gone shopping. She'll be back soon."

"Why are you picking up her calls anyway?"

Well, because I thought it might make life interesting. "..."

"Wh-why are you staring at me like that?"

Blushing, Mia fidgeted with her special-occasion costume and hair. "I thought you looked like you wanted to hear you were cute."

"...! The thought hadn't occurred to me, but if you do think so, then say so!" That side of her really is cute.