Waiting For Yuma Chapter 1 : Preview
Some english translation for the Rain Code novel, Waiting for Yuma. This is how many pages are provided in the trial reader preview, but it's still rather long, so I've put most of it under the cut.
I've also put it into an online document if you want to click here instead.
Chapter 01
The Silence of the Dolls
Morning arrives early for the trainee detective.
However, though belonging to the 【World Detective Organization】, he/she has not yet completed the training course. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. A piece of paper will never reach the moon unless it is folded forty-two times. There is much work to be done in order to become a 【Master Detective】.
Working hard to develop and refine special abilities. Acquiring basic detective skills. Sharpening a keen eye for detail. Not only that, but there are many other challenges to worry about too. I suppose you could say that the days have been filled with more hardship than joy. However, you can't call yourself a 【Master Detective】 if you can't overcome all of that. It might be a different story for people who have exceptional supernatural abilities. However, for those who don't, they must continue to keep improving in order to reach the stars.
For one such trainee, Yuka Kisaragi, this day ought to be a momentous milestone. Her efforts were recognized, and so she was allowed to accompany a real 【Master Detective】 to the crime scene. As soon as Yuka heard this, she hugged and danced with everyone she saw, which almost got her reported in the process. That’s to say, she was putting out more energy than usual for such an important day.
Or at least it should be...... no, could that be why?
Let's go over that one more time.
Morning arrives early for a trainee detective.
That should be the case, but Yuka was in fact remarkably late.
***
"Why, why, why, why, why!?"
Yuka asked herself repeatedly as she roared down the street. Under the clear blue sky, she trampled across the well-maintained cobblestone pavement. Though, she didn't have to bother questioning herself when she already knew the cause of the problem a while ago.
First of all, the toast was burnt.
Secondly, the hair iron went missing.
Third, she forgot to cut the tag off her new coat that was bought for today.
That sums up why she was late today.
It was entirely a bed of her own making. But still, Yuka thought, there must be a reason for all this bad luck. It could be the alignment of the stars, or like the flow of fate, or something.
Could it be the influence of the 【Master Detective】 that I'm about to meet?
It may be due to something like sound waves or telepathy caused by the person in question. Though, I'd rather those predictions to not be true. Yuka kept running, hoping at the very least that a kind person would be waiting for her.
Then when she rounded a sharp corner —— she burst into a stylish cafe that had a strikingly chic dark-toned exterior wall. The interior was also uniformly monochrome, with bright light streaming through the large glass windows. The clientele had a somewhat intellectual and relaxed atmosphere. Yuka immediately felt nervous. She looked around as she listened to the classical music that was playing. The meeting place was at the far end of the window. Right, she repeatedly mouthed these words to herself while she walked over... she was suddenly rendered speechless.
Therein, was a beautiful person.
A hard leather sofa, and white painted wooden table.
There sat a person dressed in gray. The way in which they tipped their coffee was picturesque. Their pale hair and glasses suited their sagacious profile and air of intelligence.
While admiring the sight, Yuka had to wonder. There's an ambiguity to the person before her. Their gender is indiscernible. No matter how you look at it, it's impossible to tell if it's a he or she. They could pass as a beautiful man, or even as a ruggedly dignified woman perhaps. Yuka stared intently in order to ascertain the truth the best she could.
"......Three million"
"Eh-?"
What did they say? Yuka let out a dumb sound as she thought. Caught off-guard, she simply blinked. The beautiful person took another sip of coffee before her.
Gracefully setting down the cup, the other person continued.
"It's one hundred thousand per minute. My time is not cheap...... More importantly, you wasted precious time before the investigation as a 【trainee detective】, of course you're prepared to pay that much, right?"
Smoothly —— he, no, maybe she —— the 【Master Detective】 spoke.
Confused, Yuka twisted her head like an owl. However, after a few seconds, she realized that what this 【Master Detective】 was referring to were 'late fees'. Yuka choked with a hissing noise. How ruthless. Is this person a demon? That's what her immediate thought was.
Flustered, Yuka tried to explain herself. He/she opened their mouth to interrupt.
"I'll have you know, burnt toast, a misplaced hair iron, and a coat tag are no excuse for being late."
"Huh-? How did you know?"
"Bread crumbs"
They pointed to Yuka's chest. If you look —— peeking out from a crimson coat ——was a cream-colored sweater dotted in black specks. Pointing at it, the 【Master Detective】 continued.
"It's a notably charred color. Also, although some of your hair is disheveled, only the ends are straightened out. A sign of a frantically used hair iron. Did you simply not spend enough time on it? No, it looks like you intended to use it properly, but were forced to use it in such an errant way. You could naturally assume that it's a result of stubbornly searching for the hair iron that consumed most of your time. Also, there are threads sticking out unnaturally from the collar of your coat. This could be the trace of a tag that was yanked out in a hurry. That's all."
He/she lifted their cup with a clink. And with that, they swallowed the pitch black liquid. The coolness of their profile showed no signs of even the faintest hint of bitterness.
Once again, Yuka looked down at herself. She was wearing a crimson coat that was bought specially for today, and paired with it was a cream sweater with a rounded collar plus a black skirt. On her feet, she wore leather shoes. Her shoulder-length amacha sweet tea colored hair was partially frizzy, though she still managed to take care of the ends.
And then there were the bread crumbs that were left sticking to her.
Yuka was taken aback by all the things they had pointed out.
But soon after, her face lit up.
As an aspiring detective, she's yearned for this kind of precise deduction skill.
"Tha-..... That's amazing! Just as expected of a 【Master Detective】!"
"Praising people so carelessly will result in brain rot."
"Ough-"
"Something like this is not even the ability of a 【Master Detective】. These are the most basic fundamentals that even an amateur should be able to do...... right from the start. To my knowledge, it's not standard for a detective to bring along bread crumbs to a crime scene now is it?"
"I-, I'm sorry."
Yuka patted off her sweater, and the black food particles were brushed from her cream-colored top. She moved her leather shoes to sweep the fallen crumbs to the edge of the wall.
She once again turned her attention to the person in front of her. They were still so young, but they certainly seem like a 【Master Detective】. Even though he/she says that even an amateur can do it, his/her observational skill is beyond that of an ordinary person.
Yuka was so excited. She bowed her head in greeting.
"Once again nice to meet you, I'm Yuka Kisaragi."
"Halara Nightmare"
Yuka acknowledged the name with a nod.
I was given very minimal information about the 【Master Detective】 I'd been scheduled to accompany today. The 'Jeweler Campanella Murder Case' that took place the other day at the only public casino in the area —— the genius who led to its solution was Halara. He/she was one of the shining stars in the sky. They're a detective for Yuka to look up to.
Yuka stared at Halara with admiration. Without a response, Halara got up from their seat. Then, in one fluid motion, they handed a slip to Yuka who accepted it without a thought.
Yuka’s head tilted as she found herself caught by a ruthless follow-up.
"Three million, plus the coffee bill. That is your payment."
"Huh-?"
"It'd be in your best interest to pay up before you forget."
"Wait, what, weren't you kidding before?"
"Does talking about a debt with someone you've just met sound like a joke according to your trite standards? That's quite nonsensical."
"Sure it's a strange joke to make but... even so, eh-?"
"Rest assured that you won't be charged any interest. Just make sure you've set up a payment plan."
Halara walked off, leaving a confused Yuka in their wake. Their back held a beautiful and dignified posture. However, it seemed like they had no intention of looking back. With the check in hand, Yuka felt her head spinning.
"Eh-...... Ehh-"
One thing is for certain.
Yuka has been haunted by bad luck ever since this morning.
But the worst part of all was, without a doubt, the presence of this detective.
As her head sank in disappointment, Yuka couldn't help but think.
Halara Nightmare must be some sort of demon.
***
"W-, Well then, let's change the mood shall we!"
"............"
"Halara-san please say something too!"
"Anything in particular?"
"...... I can't even think of anything I had in mind."
At any rate, the two arrived at the manor where the scene of the crime took place.
Diverting her attention from the debt of three million, Yuka looked up at the old-fashioned building.
The walls were constructed with dull red clay brick tiles and lines formed with white granite. Placed atop that was a massive black roof. The exterior was reminiscent of an antique dollhouse. Additionally, the property was encompassed by a magnificent rose garden. The vibrant dew-covered petals almost looked artificial. Everything was so breathtakingly beautiful that it looked like something straight out of a vintage masterpiece.
Yuka couldn't help but let out a sigh of awe.
"How atmospheric~. Ah-, hey, please don't leave me behind!"
Halara had begun to walk off while I was immersed in the building's peculiar and chilling atmosphere.
Yuka rushed to follow behind their slender back. It was as if they were swimming in a sea of roses as they made their way along the path.
Eventually, the two arrived in front of an arched doorway.
Waiting there was a gentleman dressed in a brand-name suit. His eyes were amber. His hair black. His physique appeared portly. Twisting his magnificent mustache, he raised his booming voice.
"Hey there, Halara-san! I haven't seen you since the 'Jeweler Campanella Murder Case'! I'm glad you could make it! It was worth the trouble of going through the Unified Government to make a request with the 【World Detective Organization】!"
"...... As I suspected, this was no mere coincidence, but rather a request on your behalf, wasn't it?"
"Eh-, do you know each other!? And what's more...... through the Unified Government no less...... Could it be that he's that big of a deal?"
"Hahaha, oh, you could say the Unified Government tends to be a bit involved when it comes to matters of international trade. I can't get into any details, as much as I'd love to talk about it. Anyways, when it comes to securing the food supply in this district it is I, Richard Thomson, who's your go-to guy! Also, what's there to hide between Halara-san and me? We've solved a case together after all!"
"H-...... He's a real talker."
Suddenly, Richard moved in closer. Feeling pushed by the pressure of his prattling words and moundish belly, Yuka took a step back. Meanwhile, Halara narrowed their eyes in displeasure.
Gracefully, he/she crossed their arms. Letting out a small breath, Halara continued.
"If you'd mind refraining from distorting the facts. We did not solve it together. The case had indeed been solved....... however, it was all by my ability alone of course."
"Eh-, if that's the case, then what about Richard-san?"
"He was merely the first person to discover the incident. Rather than finding a solution, he challenged my theory based on his own faulty recollection, and thanks to this I had to explain 【Postcognition】 at the request of the police."
"【Postcognition】?"
Yuka found herself tilting her head. She was unfamiliar with the term.
In order to prevent further questions for the time being, Halara spoke up.
"It's my ability as a 【Master Detective】 ..... we'll be needing it for this crime scene as well. I'll discuss it later. So then...... since you're aware of these abilities, you should already understand right?"
"Yes, of course! I am fully knowledgeable about all of it! Just as expected of me. All pro~per preparations have been made accordingly, of course!"
Richard puffed out his chest. From a pocket on the inside of his coat, he pulled out a photograph and presented it to Halara. Yuka took a peek at the picture from behind him/her.
Similar to a portrait, the upper half of a lady was shown. She was a slender and petite woman. However, she had a firm and straight posture, staring at the camera with a steely gaze—— Strangely, her eyes seemed somewhat out of focus—— Her hair was tied up in a golden bun, and her eyes were a deep blue. She was beautiful, yet had a somehow frighteningly icy air about her. It was a perilous sheet of ice over a deep lake that could crack at any moment.
Nervously, Yuka asked.
"...... Is this?"
"The victim in this case. It's my wife. She was quite a cold woman. To be honest, our whole relationship was cold, but I never expected something like this. Whether I'm sad or not, I'm still not sure. I'll worry about that a bit later. Incidentally, I had a business meeting that day, so I have a flawless alibi, ahem. If you ask me, my wife would complain to the chef about the taste of the soup. It seems pretty suspicious to me, so I hope you'll be able to help me out here."
"H- he really is a chatty guy."
Yet again, Richard moved forward. Yuka slowly backed away. Halara took a long thorough look at the picture that they had received before returning it. Nodding, Richard opened the door.
"Here, go right on ahead. We'll go over the details on the way to the crime scene. Why, I couldn't even tell you how glad I am that you came, Halara-san. Ever since the 'Jeweler Campanella Murder Case' I just haven't been able to contain myself from telling my family all about your story, Halara-san. Hahaha. Ah-, as for a full-scale police investigation, I have all the power and resources needed to keep them out of it, so feel free to......"
"Eh-, why would you want to hold back the police?" Yuka voiced her surprise.
Rumor has it—— now was it Kanata Ward, or Kanaya Ward—— that some places have been under lockdown and the police haven't exactly been operating properly. However, places such as that are the exception. The legal organization should be operating in proper accordance here. But even so, is there any sense to purposefully suppressing them? In response to Yuka's question, Richard softly curved the flesh bordering his mouth.
He spoke while displaying a clownish grin.
"Because, having a 【Master Detective】 solve it would be more fun, wouldn't it?"
There was a childishness in his eyes,
and a warped sense of delight began to surface.
***
"...... Is that guy alright?"
It seemed that Richard had the intention of sticking around the crime scene. However, it appeared that there was a problem with his cargo ship, so he left while grumbling something about just getting started. 'Please don't solve the case until I return' he added, but I'm not really concerned about something like that.
After making sure that he had gone down to the first floor, Yuka then went to inquire Halara.
Located on the second floor —— in front of his wife's bedroom, he/she answered with indifference.
"Probably not. However, as long as 【Master Detectives】 exist, so too will there be people who hold an excessive admiration for them, or even an addiction...... There’s no telling what type of bad precedent it could set if it were a person in power."
Yuka reflexively shifted her gaze downwards.
That admiration of 【Master Detectives】 is something she could understand. To some people, those who possess supernatural abilities and eliminate unsolved mysteries are like that of stars shining in the sky. There are some who may wish to bask in the radiance of that light up close. However, despite the murder of a family member, it was nothing short of abnormal to request a 【Master Detective】 while shutting down the possibility of a quick solution.
Yuka's skin crawled with disgust as she asked.
"Are you going to accept this request?"
"Five million."
"Eh?"
"It was mentioned to me a short while ago. This is the amount he said he had set as a reward for my success...... I have no obligation to help others, but I work sincerely according to the payment I receive...... That is my pride as a detective."
"So that’s the only reason."
"It's reason enough, among other things."
Yuka almost raised her voice. However, in response to this Halara spoke calmly.
He/she emotionlessly included more reasons.
"The police have had no involvement in this case. Hence, the situation where the more time passes, the more evidence is lost...... Given the circumstances, there is no detective better suited for this case than me. Still, even if I decline this request, he would probably just vet another 【Master Detective】 to appoint anyway. It's a waste of time."
"Surely......"
"The quickest and most rational decision would be for me to continue with the investigation."
Yuka gave a deep nod. To reject a request based on emotion would also be an unethical decision. Once she came to an understanding, Halara then placed their hand on the door.
Nevertheless, without pressing the matter further, she continued to ask questions.
"Then let's move on with the investigation. It'd be foolish for a 【Master Detective】 and trainee to continue to stand around talking to each other...... Before going any further, I'm sure you've already been properly briefed with a sufficient overview regarding the case thus far before arriving here, right? Mister Richard did speak rather quickly."
"If that's the case then please leave it to me! Uhh let's see now...."
Yuka twiddled her thumbs around in the air.
She then began to explain the overview of the murder case as told by Mister Richard.
***
To recap, the story goes like this.
Mister Richard has a family of five—— however, his second born daughter is staying in a dormitory—— Therefore, at the time of the incident, there were seven people in the mansion: him, his wife, his eldest daughter and his eldest son, a cook, a maid, and a gardener.
It was there that Mister Richard's wife, Beatrice Thompson, was murdered.
No one had seen her after she ate dinner and went to her room at 8 p.m.—— This has so far been confirmed by the initial police report —— The estimated time of death was between 9 and 10 o'clock p.m. The cause of death was stabbing. The murder weapon, a knife, was left lodged in her chest. There were no fingerprints. Also, a water pitcher—— which she loved to use when she went to bed —— was confirmed to have been laced with stolen sleeping pills.
Because of this, it's been concluded that the crime must have been premeditated by an insider.
The first to discover the scene were the gardener and the eldest daughter. The gardener would visit the victim every night at 10 o'clock to consult with her about remodeling the garden, and when she did not respond he then approached her eldest daughter —— Afterwards, both parties felt uneasy about there being no response, and so as a result of breaking down the door, the dead body was discovered —— This was at about half past 10 o'clock. Additionally, there were signs of intentional destruction within the room at the time. The eldest daughter then immediately called out to the eldest son, who was in the garden, and asked him to report the incident.
And then there's the key detail.
The room was a locked room.
"The crime scene was a closed room with both the windows and doors locked at the point which it was first discovered when the door was opened. Furthermore, the victim was leaning against the door, and there were no signs of it having been opened directly beforehand."
"Well done. Seems like nothing has been misremembered." Halara gave a brief nod, their pale hair swaying with the motion.
Naturally, Yuka puffed her chest proudly. She had also been honing her memory as a part of her training to become a 【Master Detective】. She also had a bit of a talent for picking up on fast-talkers, which was something she was prepared with at the very least.
Halara stared at the door with the knob still in hand.
Gazing at the floral reliefs carved across its surface, he/she continued.
"Wherever there's a locked room, there is an explanation behind it. It's the detective's job to uncover it."
Halara opened the door with a click.
Stepping through and, suddenly, looking to the side —— Yuka took a sharp breath.
***
It looked as though there were many girls standing there.
Dolls were lined up in front of a mainly yellow floral-patterned wallpaper.
The smallest one was a baby, while the largest figure looked to be around 10 years old. Everything looked to be things belonging to girls of various sizes. But oddly enough, there was also a strange sense of uniformity.
Lovely beings clad in a luxurious and solemn aura. Their eyes were made of deep blue glass, and their heads were covered in gold thread. Their shrewd features somehow had an uncanny resemblance to the victim's wife. Moreover, there were other bizarre details as well.
All of their heads had been torn off. Some were set up to be holding dolls, while others were lying on the floor. Many of them were grouped together and placed against the wall.
It was as though the dolls had also been murdered.
"Wh-, what is this--. How disturbing...... So it was the dolls that they were referring to when they said some of the rooms showed signs of intentional destruction. But still, why is it like this?"
"......On the other side of the doll...... there is a fireplace to the right hand side when you enter through the door."
Halara muttered under their breath as they covered their mouth. He/she stepped forward to approach the mantlepiece of the elegant fireplace. Halara crouched down to peer inside before looking up.
Yuka followed their lead and crouched down beside them, copying their actions. Before them was a grimy chimney that extended from their field of view. The distant opening was tightly sealed with a fine mesh. She nodded with a hum.
"It seems unlikely that the killer could have escaped by climbing up here."
"However, it doesn't seem irrelevant."
"Eh?"
"Look here, there are traces of soot on the floor."
Yuka lept back at the mention of it. That was a close one. She almost stepped on a piece of evidence.
Seeing her panic, Halara adjusted their glasses.
"I thought you were conscientiously avoiding it...... Seems I overestimated. Are you really so dense as to have not noticed?"
"Th-, that's not it! I noticed! Of course I noticed!"
Despite her insistence, she of course did not notice. Halara's gaze was truly cold.
Yuka was quick to redirect it by changing the subject.
"Uhmm, well...... Let's see, the victim was lying in front of the door, and the eldest daughter thought about the possibility that someone could have broken in, so she went to check the window...... but found that it was locked."
"So, she found the eldest son in the garden and called out to him...... I see, it is visible from here perhaps. There don't appear to be any contradictions evident in those facts themselves at the moment."
Halara and Yuka moved over to the window to look out over the garden.
The rose garden could clearly be seen from the wife's bedroom window. Though it was now daytime, we confirmed that there was a haze from floodlights scattered about for illumination. That meant that the eldest son could have been seen without any problem even at night.
Touching the golden crescent lock, Halara nodded with a hum.
"The locks on the windows are rather standard...... so I can't say for sure that there's no possibility of tampering. However, there are no scratches. I don't see any evidence of thread or any other such material being used."
Halara turned while muttering to themself.
Once again, he/she looked over to the door the victim was leaning against.
"...... There isn't much blood. In other words, the criminal did not pull out the knife after dealing the blow."
"That is true, isn't it."
The two discussed their thoughts about the bloodstains on the carpet, though the body has already been removed. The crime scene was not preserved exactly as it was in its original state. The family must've had some sort of hand in it. At this point, there may be some things that an investigation won't be able to uncover.
Yuka spoke up without thinking.
"Hmm, I guess there's nothing more to see here other than the information that's already been given so far. There's got to be things that we're missing. That's the problem with being a detective who's always asked to do things after the fact. Ahhh, if only we could see the crime scene right at the time of the body's discovery."
"You wish to see it?"
"Eh?"
"Who...... do you think I am?"
"Who?"
"I'm Halara Nightmare."
The phrase rolled off Halara's tongue in the most natural way. Yuka cocked her head.
Well, I've already gone through introductions. Regardless of if it's impossible to tell whether they’re a man or a woman, there was no doubt that the person standing before me was Halara Nightmare. Isn't that so?
But he/she continued on.
"The 【Postcognition Detective】, Halara Nightmare."
***
What exactly is this 【Postcognition】.
Halara began to explain.
"My 【Forensic Forte】 is 【Postcognition】 ...... It quite literally is the power to see a snapshot of the past. However, it can only be used at murder scenes. To be precise, it's the ability to see how a crime scene 【appeared at the time it was first discovered】 with one's own eyes. Another way to describe it would be 【crime scene-limited psychometry】, if that's easier to understand."
Yuka couldn't help but gawk in surprise.
She knew that the 【Master Detectives】 who work in the field had special abilities. Yuka herself had something that could be considered as such. Halara's was outstanding, however.
It's almost too convenient.
As far as a detective's supernatural ability goes, it could be considered among the best.
Halara continued in the wake of Yuka's astonishment.
"My power allows me to see the 【moment the first witness saw the crime scene】. In other words, not the culprit, not the victim, but how it appeared when a third party first entered. The memory or perception of the witness does not affect my 【Postcognition】. What I see is what actually was there. When it comes to my power, the witness is not a camera or a recording device, but rather a trigger...... Perhaps the best way to think of it is like a bookmark stuck between the pages of when the body was found. It's not a power that can be taken advantage of unconditionally, however.”
Perhaps it was something akin to envy and jealousy that swirled in Yuka's eyes like heated candy. Halara continued to explain the activation conditions and limitations of their power.
"First, I must be standing at the crime scene...... this condition is absolutely required. I must also know the victim's name and face. That's why prior research is crucial. Lastly, 【Postcognition】 is only effective in a 10-meter radius around the body. At the moment, I can only see the crime scene and the victim. I can't see any living things that were at the scene.”
Yuka's eyes flickered with a blink. So even if the culprit was hiding at the crime scene—— it wouldn't be possible to immediately identify them. Her face must've been brimming with the question as to why. Halara promptly gave an answer.
"...... I’m not so good at looking at people."
"B- but still, I think this is a more than capable ability! This is a 【Forensic Forte】! I'm so envious! I absolutely admire you!"
"Sorry, but I'm tired of hearing compliments."
"Actually, maybe I did go a little too far with the praise......"
"Time is of the essence. Let's take a look for now, shall we?"
With that said, Halara raised their left hand to cover their left eye.
That was the moment Yuka put down her favorite crimson bag she'd been carrying on her back—— which could be used in three different ways by adjusting the belt. She undid the metal clasps and opened the leather flap. She pulled out a sketchbook and a box of colored pencils. She readied the black one first.
Halara gave an expression as if to say 'what is that'.
Yuka turned to puff out her chest toward him/her.
"Ehehe, if that's what your ability can do, Halara-san, I think I could be of some help to you, even if just a little."
"...... What do you mean?"
"As a matter of fact, my 【Forensic Forte】 is 【Sketching】!"
Halara's eyebrow slightly twitched at such a cheerful declaration. Perhaps that ability would've been self-explanatory enough. Yuka continued regardless for the sake of explanation.
"Ah, I may be a trainee detective, but I have fully mastered my forte. If I can keep it up like this, I should be on track to receive my detective deed! Heeheehee-...... Well, uh so, with this ability, by just listening to what someone says, I can faithfully depict 【a person's description of a scene】 without error, completely unaffected by the influence of my subjectivity or imagination! Though, there's no way for me to be sure whether or not the 【person's description】 is an 【imaginary scene】 or a 【real scene】......"
"Does that mean that you can be influenced by the imagination of another person?"
"Yes. A lie is a lie and will be recorded exactly as it is. But in your case, Halara-san, if you describe the scene exactly as you see it, I think I'll be able to get a picture perfect replication of what it looks like!" Yuka explained.
Her power was the exceptional ability to discern the vague image within a witness's mind. Even if the image in itself is false, she wouldn't be able to disclose the nature of its authenticity. That's why Yuka was so envious of Halara's ability to remain unaffected by the subjectivity of another person's perspective. Still, her ability to take only a vague testimony from the witness themselves—— including the image of the culprit that they witnessed and the scene at the time of the crime—— and be able to properly materialize it, was very useful. It might also be useful in this circumstance as well.
Halara hummed with a brief nod.
"I see...... While it may be possible to reproduce an image as seen by an eyewitness that would otherwise be difficult to convey clearly, there is a possibility of being manipulated by a deliberately false testimony, or an ability perhaps."
"Exactly!"
"......It's quite half-baked for a detective."
"Ngh-"
"Honestly it could be quite convenient for this particular instance. It's exhausting to explain things only I can see."
"Really?"
"People do not believe what they cannot see. I have often been called a liar...... It was thanks to this that when I worked with Mister Richard on the 'Jeweler Campanella Murder Case'...... not only did I have to explain my forte, but I also had to go through the arduous task of proving it through drawing an explanation of the circumstances at the time and comparing them with the physical evidence."
Yuka nodded in response to Halara's words. His/her ability is nothing more than a 【vision】 of the past. Perhaps there will always be skeptics and those who continue to insist that it's flawed. As a trainee, she could only imagine the troubles that they deal with.
But there's no need to worry this time. Yuka spoke with conviction.
"It'll be alright! Because I believe in Halara-san's 【Postcognition】 and my 【Sketching】 from the bottom of my heart, without a doubt!"
"......Your own 【Sketching】 as well, huh?"
"Ah-, sorry."
"I don't mind. You should have confidence in your 【Forensic Forte】. The most important quality for a detective is the ability to suspect others...... but perhaps I've spoken too much. Let's continue."
With one eye closed, Halara began to concentrate.
Yuka was momentarily captivated by their serious and beautiful profile. But the instant his/her mouth began to move, she shook her head and picked her colored pencil back up to begin moving it with blinding speed.
A drawing etched into a sketchbook.
Along with Halara's words.
Through combining the two, the findings that were revealed are as follows.
***
The first witness of the scene had broken through the locked door. It was at this time that the victim's body, which had been leaning against the door, appeared to have moved. There were traces of bloody finger marks on the knife and the surrounding area of the clothes on the victim, who had fallen to the side—— though this was confirmed in the initial police investigation, no fingerprints were reported to be found—— and so it was theorized to have been caused not by the culprit, but by the victim.
In other words, the victim's death was not instant.
Furthermore, traces of water stains were found trailing from the victim's mouth to their throat.
Also the head of one of the dolls—— which had apparently not fallen off, yet seemed as if it had been placed with the rest of the heads in the real life scene —— was lying in a position where it could easily be seen from the open door.
And the biggest difference of all—— there were no traces of soot in front of the chimney.
After drawing the description above, Yuka put down her colored pencil with a sudden flick. The fresh corpse of the victim was vividly recreated on paper. The sight was brutal, although I hadn't given it much thought at the time my colored pencils were in motion. She closed her eyes to offer a moment of silence. She then asked Halara.
"I understand things for the most part...... but what could be the meaning behind these differences?"
"............"
"Halara-san?"
"I understand, but......if that's the case...... no...... It's far too simple...... namely, "
"Halara-saaan?"
"I've got a hypothesis in mind. All that's left is to substantiate the evidence."
With that said, Halara began walking to leave the room. Yuka hurriedly stowed her sketchbook and colored pencils into her bag. Brown, light orange, red—— disregarding the order that they were placed in—— they were tossed directly into the bottom of the box. She slammed the lid shut and ran after Halara.
"Please wait, Halara-san. Where are you going?"
"An investigation is built upon two fundamental factors. First of all, check the crime scene, next is?"
"Next, is it...... um, perhaps"
"Yes, I'm sure you know what I'm referring to."
Halara came to a halt in a corridor with beautiful stucco walls. He/she turned to Yuka and, with a quick motion, held up two fingers. He/she curled their fingers from two to one as they gave their answer.
"It's collecting testimony."
***
"You're the detective appointed by the Master, is that right?...... Haa, quite the beautiful person...... Ah-, no, what happened at the time of the Madam's death, was it?"
"To be more precise, it's about the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body and how you were spending your time that night. I’d appreciate your cooperation."
The gardener narrowed his puffy eyes at Halara's statement.
He was at a loss for words within the garden that was filled with the suffocating fragrance of roses.
The gardener was a man in his fifties. He was dressed in a pair of trousers, shirt, and rubber apron suitable for tilling the soil, and the look on his face portrayed a gentle personality. At the same time, it seemed to reveal an innately timid nature. He carefully tucked the pruning shears he was using into his apron pocket. He then anxiously asked Halara.
"Does that mean, as in an alibi? Am I being accused of something?"
"We're going around and asking everyone! Thank you in advance for your cooperation!"
Perhaps it would be better to keep him calm by speaking to him herself.
Yuka spoke cheerfully so. Halara said nothing. The gardener nodded upon hearing this. He still seemed nervous, but he opened his mouth.
"Haa...... Well, I don't have anything to hide or be ashamed of, so I'll answer you. Please hurry and clear up any of the Madam's lingering regrets."
"Right! ...... oouugh, I'm moved to tears by those words. I guess your Madam must've surely held a great deal of care and compassion for her employees!"
"No, not at all."
"Eh-"
Yuka froze in her tracks at this.
Isn't the memory of the deceased something that everyone glorifies? Especially if they were killed. However, the gardener's deep wrinkles distorted, like scars chiseled into rock. With a firm voice, he continued.
"The only time the Madam was kind was when she dealt with her youngest daughter, who is now living in a dormitory...... She was strict with everyone else, and our nickname for her was the 'Empress of Ice'...... There was no such thing as kindness."
Halara narrowed their eyes at his words. He/she folded their arms thoughtfully.
Halara asked with a hardened voice.
"So everyone could have a motive?"
"......Well I never said that. I dread to think who in the house might have stabbed her. Even if I had found her 'murdered'...... Honestly, I didn't think about why."
"...... By the sounds of it, you were the first one to discover the body?"
"Oh, that's right." The gardener nodded simply.
Yuka reflexively held her breath.
This is important information. As you know, Halara's power recreates the crime scene found by the 'first witness'. Not the 'culprit', not the 'victim' —— but that of the 'first witness'.
In other words, the 'first witness' is excluded as the culprit.
It's imperative to determine whether or not the vision seen by Halara really belongs to the gardener. But the ability to rule out one person from being a potential culprit altogether is incredibly valuable.
"I see, in that case......"
Halara tried to ask the question, and Yuka immediately took out her sketchbook. This is where her 【Forte】 comes into play. Halara nodded upon seeing this.
"That's a good call."
"Halara-san praised my judgment!?"
"So, when you opened the door......"
"Ignored without a beat!?"
"Was the victim leaning against it?"
"Yes...... I had a bad feeling, so the young lady and I kicked down the upstairs door...... I thought it was strangely heavy, but soon after I was shocked when I caught a glimpse of the corpse."
According to the gardener's report—— the moment he opened the door, the impact had apparently caused the Madam's corpse to fall over. Since he was sure that he heard the sound of something hitting the floor, they believed that nobody had opened the door before then.
A doll's head had fallen on the other side of the corpse, so he went on to look at the Madam's bisque doll collection. Seeing such a disastrous scene was as horrifying —— if not worse —— as when he found the Madam's body. The eldest daughter then went over to the window and checked the lock. As she did so, she noticed the eldest son in the yard, unlocked it —— which the gardener was certain that he saw that it had been closed until just before —— and called out to him.
Meanwhile the gardener had checked the Madam's pulse and was once again confronted by death.
"I don't have an alibi for the night. I spent the day organizing a plan for remodeling the garden in accommodation to the Madam's ever-increasing wishes. Goodness, it was a tremendous amount of diagrams to do...... But I didn't even go upstairs until 10 o'clock when we were scheduled to have a meeting."
"What is the proof of that?"
"Unfortunately, there is none."
"But, Halara-san. He doesn't seem like a culprit, does he?"
Yuka remarked and showed a sketch she drew based on the gardener's testimony.
Halara narrowed their eyes. Etched on the drawing paper was the scene that the gardener saw when he opened the door. There, a picture nearly identical to the one Halara saw with 【Postcognition】 was sprawled out. Judging by the angle at which the door was opened, there was no doubt that he was the person from the 【Postcognition】—— the 'first witness'.
Yuka's ability does not negate the possibility of false testimony, but it seemed like it would be impossible to match something like the angle of the door just by guessing. That much can almost certainly be said for sure.
Halara nodded. Facing the gardener, he/she said.
"That is all. Much appreciated."
"Yes...... Well then, I best be going. However, I wonder what's to become this rose garden after the the Madam's passing? After having come this far in making it so magnificent, it may simply be left to wither away. Ahh, it's a shame...... Truly, it's such a shame."
If that’s the case, might as well just light it on fire I suppose.
The gardener muttered under his breath.
Yuka felt all the hairs on her body stand on end in fear.
In the depths beneath the gardener's words lurked thick and murky darkness—— a profoundly dark glow —— swirling within. There was no limit to the depravity of these thoughts.
Yuka pulled at Halara's sleeves, wondering if he could be the culprit. Halara ignored her and began walking. She'll be left behind at this rate. Yuka rushed to follow the figure as it moved away from the rose garden. Yuka cast a slight glance over her shoulder as she made her way towards the mansion.
The gardener stood as if buried among the roses.
He opened and closed the gardening shears with a 'shing'.
***
In a luxurious study lined with glass bookshelves,
a sharp and rigid clacking sound rang out.
"The circumstances at the time of discovery, and alibi, right?"
The eldest daughter murmured while moving the chess pieces.
This woman...... is ok, right? Yuka couldn't help but worry.
The eldest daughter was a beautiful figure, with glossy black hair and becoming amber eyes. You could say that she probably resembled her father before he became obese, considering the matching colors of their features. She was a beauty dressed in men's attire with short, boyishly styled hair. Yet unlike Halara, whose gender was completely neutral, her ample breasts filled out the front of her white button-up shirt.
She continued to stroke the pawn pieces with her fingers as she sat in a multifunctional armchair.
"Do you really you suspect me, the Amnea Thompson?"
"......That board."
"Ahh, this? I was just doing a bit of solo play."
"It seems like you are not even aware of the proper way to move the chess pieces. Can you not play chess, by chance?"
"Don't go and call me an idiot already!"
"I didn't say that?"
Halara crossed their arms coldly.
The eldest daughter —— Amnea —— burst into tears in front of them. Apparently, Yuka thought, it seemed the only reason she was in front of the chessboard was simply to try and impress strangers.
Amnea smashed the chess board with force, the pieces making a rattling sound as they flew away.
Then, Amnea proclaimed in an exaggeratedly tearful voice.
"Damn it, you guys are trying to bully me too!"
"I-intense victim mentality."
"Whatever, I am an idiot anyway! I'm so empty-headed that there's not enough to go around! But I leave that kind of thing to the owner of this room, my brother Dalmatia. And yet, you say things like this and that...... Hmm, unforgivable! I'll beat you!"
"Stop it! I'll hit back!"
"I'mb sowwy!"
"So quick to repent!?"
Yuka's eyes widened. Amnea held her head and trembled at the threat, crying softly. Halara murmured out a hum in response to the child-like reaction.
"......Well, it would be ridiculous to try and go up against me with brute force."
"Did you say something, Halara-san?"
"Don't worry about it...... So, about our conversation."
At that, Halara's eyes opened wide before soon narrowing them down. Hm? Yuka tilted her head. What might it be? It felt like Halara's expression had an added childishness to it that I'd never seen before. Following their gaze, Yuka noticed.
"............ Ah-, a cat?"
Yuka quickly approached the fireplace, and Halara also came along without reproach.
Yuka craned her neck, and when she looked into a wicker basket she saw a kitten wriggling and cooing. It looked just like a white furball. The kitten rolled over without a hint of grumpiness. An adorable pink paw was pointed at Halara, but without touching it, his/her expression softened faintly.
Yuka absent-mindedly asked.
"Halara-san, do you like cats?"
"............ It's nothing we need to be talking about."
"No no no, I absolutely love it! After all, it is Halara-san you know? That sense of peacefulness that lights up in your eyes, isn't it?"
"What do you take me for?"
"What, that you're a cat lover? Why don't we talk about it!"
Amnea exclaimed, her footsteps were loud as she got next to Halara.
Amnea reached out her pale hand, to which the cat rubbed their face to be pampered. Amnea gave a sweet smile as her eyes narrowed with affection. She whispered through clenched teeth.
"Since she's finally dead, I took in an unfortunate cat thinking I could care for it."
"Eh...... Your mother died and it hasn't even been resolved yet."
"Is that bad? I've always dreamed of having a cat since foooorever. I wasn't even allowed to talk about it out loud, ya know. It'd be the last thing I'd say. It was really hard for me to even leave the house...... so regardless of whether or not it's out of line, just leave me alone."
Amnea whispered, her profile drooping like that of a wilted flower. Her eyes were moist with a profound sadness that was difficult to put into words. Yuka went silent, unsure of what to say.
Halara observed Amnea's expression before opening his/her mouth.
"...... So then, would you mind telling us your story again?"
"Ahh, sure thing man. I've got nothin to be guilty about. I'll tell ya anything you wanna know."
Amnea puffed out her chest as she spoke.
There was hardly any disparity between the story of the eldest daughter, Amnea, and the gardener's testimony. She only added more details about the situation when she called out to the eldest son. Yuka's sketchbook depicted a young man looking up toward the second floor from a rose garden. He's slender and quite handsome. His black hair and amber eyes resembled that of Amnea and their father. Yuka stared at it, pondering the possibility.
"Are you and your brother twins?"
"Yep, you nailed it. Technically, I'm supposed to be the older sister, but we are twins. I'm on good terms with Dalmatia...... who, unlike me, has the lion's share of smarts."
Amnea laughed frankly at saying that. The carefree expression on her face invokes a genuine feeling of familiarity. Yuka thought of how nice it would be to have a twin.
At that, Halara wordlessly raised an arm, and Amnea snapped to attention with her back straightened.
"Yii-!"
"Why"
"......I've got most of it. Let's get going."
Halara said and began walking. What the hellll, that guy was a bastard to the end, Amnea said to the kitten. The white furball responded with a mewmew. It had heart shaped ears. The pointed tip of its heart-shaped nose twitched with a snort. The sound made Halara stop in their tracks.
With his/her back to Amnea, they inquired.
"Just to be sure, I'd like to ask you something...... If something were to happen to you, do you have any guarantee of where the little one will go?"
"Don't be stupid! As a cat lover, of course I've decided on it! If something happens to me, my friend will take good care of it."
"......I see, alright then."
A sense of relief.
With that said, Halara exited the room. He/she also spoke to the chef and the maid. However, it resulted in nothing noteworthy there. Both men claimed to have been working at the time of the incident, had no alibis, and had not even seen the body. Mister Richard had spoken about his suspicion about the chef, but there did not seem to be any particular pieces of evidence to support this.
Hearing all they needed to, Halara nodded and returned to the crime scene. Inside the room, the headless dolls were silent like statues of death. At the center of their blue-eyed gaze, Halara said.
"I’ve figured out the method behind the creation of the locked room."
***
"Well, saying that I figured it out isn't quite accurate...... because we already had the answer as soon as we checked the crime scene."
"A-amazing! Is that even possible!?"
"Of course it is. The person before you is Halara Nightmare. Something such as this is not even a problem."
Halara answered smoothly. Their eyes held no hint of a bluff, but rather a sharp confidence that gleamed like a sword's edge. It was a star-like light, befitting of a detective.
Yuka clenched her fist. Sure enough, just as expected of Halara-san.
He/she tilted their head in turn.
"Or rather. I think we're in the foundational basics at this point. Did you really not even notice?"
"Ngh-, I- I'm a trainee detective, so"
"Even as a trainee, you need to realize that above all else you still wear the title of detective."
"U-oughh...... I didn't notice at all, so please explain it to me."
Yuka folded easily. She knew that she wouldn't get anywhere even if she wracked her brain about it. Halara let out a sigh and shook their head before he/she opened their mouth to speak.
"Haa...... First, let's discuss the matter of 'why were the dolls destroyed?'. There must be a reason for why the culprit would destroy them. There is also a reason behind the fact that the head of one of the dolls had rolled into a position that was immediately visible upon opening the door."
"Why is that?"
Yuka asked while looking at the heads that were now pressed against the wall. The reflections in their glass eyes gave the impression of being wet. That chilling glow seemed to evoke hatred for the murdered. Yuka wondered, why had the dolls' heads been ripped off and rolled away?
Halara offered an explanation.
"It's 'to draw attention to the dolls'."
"To the dolls."
"This will also answer the 'traces of soot marks on the floor after opening the locked room' question. The room was indeed a locked room at the time of the crime. If that's the case, then how did the killer escape?"
"Yeah, that's the issue......"
"They didn't escape. They were hiding halfway up the chimney leading from the fireplace."
Yuka's mouth suddenly opened.
So that's it. The far end of the chimney was blocked off with a net. The room cannot be entered or exited from there. However, it is possible to hide halfway up.
The rest is simple.
The eyewitnesses who found the doll's head were partly compelled to pay attention to the destruction caused to the bisque doll collection. While their attention was focused on that, the killer was able to slip out of the fireplace and escape. They would then nonchalantly join up later as if nothing happened.
In that case, Yuka declared.
"I- I see! That would mean that the eldest daughter Amnea-san, who was with the gardener during the initial discovery, and the eldest son Dalmatia-san, who was in the garden, can be ruled out from the list of possible suspects!"
"...... I'd hoped that you wouldn't say something so boring."
"Eh-!?"
"Behind the creation of every locked room is a purpose for its existence. It is those who are not deemed potential culprits that raise suspicion here. It's safe to say that the maid and the cook can be ruled out."
Halara explained calmly. Uughh, Yuka thought, feeling as if she wanted to cry.
At the same time, an image came to mind of the gardener murmuring ominously, his shears moving with a 'shing, shing'. Shifting in and out of view, treacherous thoughts were obscured by the parallax within his thicket of words.
Impulsively, Yuka raised her voice.
"Understood! It was the gardener then."
"Didn't you believe in my 【postcognition】 and your 【sketch】 from the bottom of your heart?"
"Oh- oh yeah...... so then, who?"
Yuka asked, on the verge of tears. Halara once again let out a sigh. However, they detached their sagacious gaze from Yuka to cast it into space. Halara muttered in contemplation.
"Since they were in the fireplace when the door was opened by the first witness, the culprit was excluded from being with the first person to discover it.... along with the eldest daughter Amnea."
"In that case then, the eldest son, Dalmatia-san? Huh...... but, Amnea-san saw Dalmatia-san in the garden......"
"It's only logical to assume that couldn't possibly be true. Given that Amnea is not the first witness...... it is plausible that she could be a perpetrator. In short, the murderer is Dalmatia, and Amnea is involved as an accomplice through giving false testimony."
I see, Yuka energetically bounced up and down in excitement.
Now the mystery was all but solved.
That should be it.
That is, until Halara opened their mouth to continue.
It was then that the door swung open. A low, beautiful voice began to flow through.
"Oh my, have I been noticed?"
"Y- you're......"
Yuka's voice couldn't help but tremble.
A slender human bowed gracefully before them, announcing their name with grandeur.
"Salutations, I am Dalmatia Thomson. My father's favorite 【Master Detective】 had finally arrived, and when I came to extend my greetings...... it seems I was exposed before the reconnaissance."
Murmured a man styled in a distinctive black and white suit. He had black hair and amber-colored eyes. A beautiful young man, just as Yuka depicted in her sketch. His sophisticated and intellectual impression was even stronger when I saw it in person. Shaking his head, the eldest son —— Dalmatia —— forced out in a strained voice.
"Nothing that can be done once it's been found out. Just as you've deduced......I am the one who killed my mother. It's too late to be making any excuses now, I......"
"Why"
"That's what I'll be trying to tell you right now." Dalmatia shrugged off Halara's question as if in inconvenience and shook his head in exasperation. Halara did not care for these theatrical gestures, however. Indifferent, he/she continued questioning.
"Why, are you telling such lies?"
***
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
The two voices overlapped.
The voices of Yuka and Dalmatia.
What are they talking about, Yuka wondered. Wasn't it none other than Halara themself who presented this deduction just a moment ago! Yet at the same time, Yuka began to realize.
It was clear that Halara was trying to go somewhere with this.
He/she spoke in a dry tone.
"As I just told you before. This stuff is way too basic. It's not even a question. That being the case, there must also be a purpose behind creating a 'locked room meant to be breached'."
"Is...... is it"
"In other words, the problem itself is a trick that assumes the presence of my 【postcognition】."
Halara asserted.
And so the mystery continues.
Yuka suddenly found herself in a daydream —— standing on a stage where the spotlights focused solely on Halara Nightmare —— only on the person whose beautifully pale complexion was brilliantly illuminated.
Halara continued to seize control of the scene with overwhelming charisma.
As the leading role (detective), he/she told the supporting cast.
"As told by the client. 'I used to tell my family all about Halara-san', in addition to his habit of running his mouth too fast and blurting everything out. The family had plenty of opportunities to learn the details about my 【postcognition】 if that's the case."
"Which, I'm sure probably happened......"
"Therefore, the task was carried out with the anticipation that the traces of soot would be revealed during the use of 【postcognition】...... There's a lot of strange things going on otherwise."
"Wh- what's so strange?"
Dalmatia asked with a trembling voice. He glared at Halara with a glint. However, the spotlight remained fixed, continuing to shine only above Halara's head.
He/she responded smoothly.
"First of all, there'd normally be no point in making the victim take sleeping pills. She was —— as one could surmise from the way she was staring at the camera and her lack of focus —— a petite woman with poor eyesight."
"Ah-"
"Anything could've been done to exploit her weaknesses. It would be much more sensible to kill her that way and make it look like the work of a burglar rather than going through the trouble of a locked room. And yet, it was by putting the sleeping pills in the pitcher that the culprit was quickly narrowed down to those involved."
I-indeed, Yuka nodded. That's certainly true.
Even the initial police investigation limited the culprit to those involved because of that water pitcher. There was no point in setting such a thing up since the victim was a delicate woman who could easily be killed.
Furthermore, Halara continued.
"Also, although I was promptly called in at the request of the victim's family in this case, police analysis should have originally confirmed that the soot on the floor was from the fireplace. Moreover, it's highly likely that subsequent investigations would reveal the false testimony. And the reason I took the time and effort was because I knew from the beginning that the client would let me solve the mystery —— thus."
Halara fixed their gaze on Dalmatia. He flinched and clutched his chest while being pierced by their sharp gaze. It was as if he'd been stabbed through the heart. It was there that Halara pushed their verbal blade even further in.
"To become officially identified as the culprit by a Master Detective certified by the World Detective Organization. That was precisely your goal. Once the Master Detective identifies the culprit, the investigation will be closed at that point."
In other words, there’s another culprit.
Halara asserted definitively. Yuka was speechless. What kind of criminal would try to use 【Master Detectives】 for such a purpose? Still, though, Yuka thought. Despite her worry, she opened her mouth.
"But, Halara-san...... isn't it strange?"
"What part?"
—————————————————————
Notes:
There's a part that's describing the gardener's words as 見え隠れ(miegakure), which is a gardening technique that keeps parts of a garden hidden depending on where you're standing, and only becomes visible as you walk through. Closest thing I could compare it to was parallax, but in order to fit the gardening pun I added 'thicket' as a descriptor to try to reflect that.
While I tried to add honorifics, Halara and Yuka sometimes use a -shi honorific for Richard. I don’t know if people are generally familiar with it, so I just replaced it with Mister
Amnea speaks in a very masculine manner, so when I put stuff like ‘man’ and ‘guy’, it’s in a non-gendered dudebro kind of way.
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Motion Sickness Chapter 55
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Neo had confirmed the presence of an elderly woman that only Winter Schnee was allowed to see. She took her tea green so I did in fact get all the information I wanted. Fria was her name. And she was the winter maiden, at least if Tyrian could be taken at his word, which in this case, why not? Did it really matter if she was winter or summer? Not for my purposes.
Aside from Tyrian's location, Aurum had informed me of another of Merlot's laboratories in a place called Mt. Nibel. It was above a small dust mining town that Neo and I reached on a combination of train and foot.
He also promised to put me in contact with a group of ex-workers who could tell me about the General's secret project. A group called Avalanche. They had some little favors they needed from me first but they'd talk. At least according to Aurum. They just needed a little help with something first. No biggie for someone like me. I was a favor guy. I was a problem solver.
Nibelhiem had all the usual dust amenities and I took the time to resupply my dust where it was cheap. Cheapest in all the world. Especially with the embargo driving up supply and decreasing demand.
They were practically giving the stuff away and I had my pick of crystals from a vendor near the mountain.
"Burn and shock crystals. Uncut is fine." He nodded. The uncut ones were a little cheaper. Not that it mattered much to me. I still was swimming in cash even after the train rides and the private airship.
"You headed up the mountain?" He asked as he set crystals on his counter.
I nodded. "And a bit of weight, please." He nodded and he pulled out a purple crystal and set it next to the array of yellow and red crystals.
"Well you might need a guide if you're goin' up the mountain. You got a place in mind or are you just out hunting?"
I took them and put them in my crystal pouch. They clanked together in the pocket and I'd need to consider a new way of carrying them to make sure they didn't blow up on me and destroy my face in the process.
Nothing bad had happened yet but that was no reason to tempt fate where I was concerned. I had the worst luck. Like the absolute worst.
"What do you think Neo? Do we need a guide to take us up the mountain?"
She pursed her lips in thought at me. She raised a finger. I took that however I wanted.
"We're headed to an old laboratory up there. You ever hear of it?" I asked. "Run by this guy named Merlot at some point in the past?"
"I haven't but I'm willing to bet you could find a guide who has in a young girl. She's been training to be a huntress up here. Her name's Peach Locheart."
"And do you know where I might find this young girl?"
"She's usually in her teacher's dojo. Zangan's his name."
I nodded my head. It was entirely possible a guide would be necessary up in those mountains. The wind seemed to course over them fast enough to whip up a blizzard and even trained huntsmen like yours truly could get lost in that kind of weather.
It was unlike the last laboratory which we sort of knew the location of based on our conversation with Godo. I was coming in here a little blind.
"She's not like a kid, is she?" I asked. "My friend here isn't fond of kids." I gestured to Neo with both hands.
"She's a bit on the younger side. Mature for her age, though, if that helps." He pointed the way to Zangan's dojo down the street.
I thanked him for the advice and the dust and made my way there.
There was a young girl in a pink combat skirt firing off kicks against a dummy punching bag. She was maybe fifteen, old enough to kind of understand the world. Old enough to start to be a huntress. An older gentleman turned to look at me as I walked in.
"Howdy," he greeted unironically. He actually said howdy this far north. "What brings you in here?"
"I'm headed up the mountains, into Merlot's old laboratory. I need a guide to take me there. A dust vendor outside recommended someone named Peach."
"That's me," the young girl delivered a punch and a kick to the bag for emphasis.
"She can take you up the mountains. I've never heard of a laboratory being up there, though."
"He must mean that old white and grey bunker up there." Peach cut in. "I've seen it. Never been inside though."
"What do you say kid, want to take me up there?"
"What's in it for me?" She asked. I liked her style. She was more worldly than Yuma had been. Less of that naivety. It would make her harder to trick but that was at once a good and a bad thing.
"I have Lien. Set your price," I told her.
"I don't need Lien." She punched the bag in time with her words.
"Everybody needs something, kid. Everybody has a price."
"I'm not a kid either. You said you were buying dust?"
"That's right." I palmed a crystal from my pocket and showed it to her.
"You know magic, then? You're a hunter." She took in the massive weapon at my back. Her eyes flicked over my shoulder.
"Only a little. I'm better at using it to set explosives," I informed her.
"Teach me."
"Hmm." I hummed at that.
"I don't need your money but I'm going to be a huntress. I need to know about dust if I'm going to be any good. You teach me how to use it to make explosives and you've got a deal."
She held out a wrapped hand.
I reached out and shook it.
"You've got yourself a deal, little miss."
She flushed a little red. Maybe she was nervous.
"Peach…" Zangan warned. "Be careful. And you better go ask your father."
"Not to worry sir, I'll keep her safe," I told him. "She seems like quite the student."
She rushed off out the door behind me to do as her teacher bade.
"She is. She's very dedicated. You know how it is with the young'uns. They want to be hunters so bad they'll miss the forest for the trees. They don't know what it'll cost."
That most hunters died young. I understood.
"We don't all get to live to be as old as you are." He was only forty or so. Middle aged.
He grunted at that. "How old are you kid?"
"Twenty."
"And the Miss with you?"
Neo held up a warning hand.
"Neo? I'm not sure. She doesn't talk. Plus it's rude to ask a lady her age. We've been traveling together for a while now, though."
"Well don't be shocked if her father wants to meet with you before he sends you off with his daughter. He's not a huntsman himself but he understands a little."
"But not the whole picture."
"They rarely do. Rarely can." He leaned against the counter in front of the dojo. "He's paying me a pretty penny to teach his daughter. She's hungry for it. You met the type?"
I thought of Yuma Kisaragi and I thought of little Ruby Rose. Plus there was me, myself, before I knew my memories were fake and my dreams were dead.
"Once or twice."
"You ever seen it work out well?" He seemed to be genuinely asking me. Like he wasn't sure himself.
"They're alive." I managed. "So it's sort of too early to tell."
"They your age?"
"Yes sir, one. And another is your Peach's age. A little huntress to be out of a place called Wutai. You heard of it?"
He shook his head.
"It's a small town. Down near Mistral," I went on.
"That where you're from?" He asked.
"Near Mistral? I suppose. But I was trained and raised in Vale, though." And that was the truth, near as I could tell.
"Been all over, have you?"
"A bit."
"The traveling mysterious huntsman type. I ought to hate your guts."
"Sir?"
"You ought t' know. Be careful with my apprentice. You should know how young hearts are. You were one more recently than me, as you pointed out."
I ran a hand through my spiky hair and sighed. That seemed to be good enough for him because he nodded.
"I'll look after her. Nobody will get hurt on my watch," I swore.
"And if someone is?" He leaned over at me.
"I'll bring her right back here."
"There ain't a hospital in town."
"She's a huntress. She has aura."
"Huntress in training. You know they're not the same thing."
"I'll be as safe as I can be. I'm promising to train her in explosives for gods' sake. There's only so safe you can be. Besides, if you think she'll be good enough by being trained in a dojo, you've got another thing coming. Does she want to make it into one of the Academies?"
Zangan nodded.
"Then she needs to fight Grimm. A lot of them. The sooner the better. I trained at Beacon. Initiation started with launching us into a Grimm infested forest."
"Lords above. So young..."
"Seventeen isn't that young. There was even this prodigy that was her age there and she was better than me. Still is. Well maybe." I wasn't sure how I still might stand up against Ruby. I was fucking dangerous. If she plateaued, then I might have the edge on her.
Peach came back with an older man in tow.
"Father this is...um…" Her pink eyes flickered to mine. Oh to be young. Ever.
"Cloud Strife, sir." I shook his hand firmly and saved her. He was a touch shorter than me with brown hair unlike his daughter's blonde. And his eyes were a dark red. But eye colors could be weird in Remnant. Ask Yang.
"I hear that my daughter wants to take you up the mountain in exchange for some training."
"That's right. I was going to show her some of what I know about dust."
"You mean… like magic?"
"Maybe a little. I know some but my real experience is in using it to make explosives."
"Peach…" he trailed off looking down at her.
"Dad I need to learn this kind of thing. He can show me. Sifu-Zangan doesn't use dust."
"Never needed it," Zangan grunted.
"You’ve never killed any big fish, then," I said. “Big. Game. Goliaths and the like.”
“Tha’s a dangerous sport.”
“Hunting can be. There are sharks in these rivers.”
He looked away and I thought of Tyrian and Raven. There were also big Grimm which would be difficult to kill without dust. The Nuckelavee was like that, too.
"Well what do you think, Zangan?"
"The kid seems trustworthy." He shrugged. "He can teach her things I don't know. It might save her life one day. He also attended Beacon. He can let her know the sort of life she'll be in for at the Academies."
"Beacon… were you there when it went down?" Peach's father asked.
"I was," I answered easily.
Peach looked up at me with her bright pink eyes. "You were at Beacon? What was it like?"
I laughed at her curiosity.
"Peach." Her father warned. I waved him off.
"It's alright. My time at Beacon was the best. It was a lot of hard work though."
"Did you fight big Grimm?" She asked.
"I did."
"I knew it." She pumped a fist. "He fought real Grimm."
"I can show her some of what I know. I can teach her how to fight them."
"You had to fight Grimm while you attended?" Her father asked. "Or just when the academy went down?"
"Both," I waved a hand and answered. "Initiation was us fighting Grimm."
"I see…" He looked deep in thought. "I don't want you fighting a lot of Grimm. The idea makes me uncomfortable."
"I'm going to be a huntress. That's the whole point."
"You're right. Of course you're right."
"And I've been that high up in the mountains before. I've fought Grimm like that. It's just Beowulfs and Creepers. I'll be safe. It's all a learning opportunity."
"Very well. Mr. Huntsman, Strife, was it? You'll look after my daughter?"
"No harm will come to her. You have my word."
She pumped a wrapped fist in the air. "Dust explosions here I come."
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We made our way into the mountains, out of Nibelhiem, and needed to set up our tent for the night. It was not as long into the journey as I would have liked. In typical Neo fashion she sat and watched me set up everything and cook dinner.
"So how do you set up explosions?" Peach was shaking with excitement. "And will you show me some of your magic, too?"
"It's not real magic," I explained. "You'll occasionally run into a real dust sorcerer. Someone who can do all kinds of things with dust. I just know how to use it in its raw form. Primal. I don't even know how to eat it"
"Eating it?" She laughed.
"It's not actually eating it. It's putting it in your body so that you can use the power. You can actually eat it I suppose or you can just stick it in your flesh and it sort of slides into you. Into your aura."
"But it's still magic, right?"
"A little. But it's like comparing a first aid kit to a hospital staffed with doctors. I'm a bit of a neanderthal."
"Oh I don't believe that. You seem smart."
"You've only just met me. Give it a minute."
She laughed again, her eyes were bright. "Show me how to use dust to make explosives."
It was easy enough. I showed her how to set it up with a circuit, a battery, and a switch.
"The switch is the complicated part. You might want to learn about how radio signals work if you want to be able to blow them up remotely."
"But that's it. Just a circuit and a crystal and that's it."
"It's not rocket science. It's really simple. You can pretty easily make a landmine like this. Just bury it with a trigger on a plate underground and bing-bang-boom. You've got yourself a trap. I cornered a pretty big Grimm like that once."
"What else can you do?"
"You can throw it really hard."
She gave me a questioning look.
"Look you just throw a dust crystal hard enough and fast enough and it works. It explodes and unleashes the effects."
"That sounds too easy. It's supposed to be all hard and complicated."
"Well it shouldn't surprise you. They have to move it around all safe in containers for control. Too much disturbance and the stuff just goes off. Even in powder form."
"But you don't use it in powder. Because you can use it raw."
"That's right. Let me show you."
I handled a yellow crystal and crushed it. Lightning ran up my arm and I cast an arm forward. Lightning struck the tree from my open palm and burnt a hole in it and part of the tree to ash.
"Wow…" she breathed. "That's what you meant."
"Yeah. It's not quite what a real dust sorcerer can do but it's closer. I just unleash the power a little more controlled."
"And that's not the same as eating it."
"No. And I can't show you because I'm not a dust eater, either. But as I understand it you can just shove the crystal through your skin or into your mouth and the crystal becomes a part of you. It changes your aura."
"I see. Can I try?"
"Which one?"
"That blast that you just did, not eating it."
"Sure. Why don't you try fire? It's very dangerous so after you crush the crystal you'll be able to feel the power. Then you've got to let it go or it'll explode in your face. It's still risky."
I handed her a red uncut crystal and she held it up to the light. She was looking at how it shone unlike any other substance in the world. The light always came through it red. It always seemed to bounce around impossibly inside the meta-material.
"Are you ready?"
She nodded.
"I just crush it then I let it go?" She asked.
"Pretty much. You'll be able to feel the power. It'll feel hot, like your arm is on fire."
She nodded.
She crushed it and murmured, "I can feel it. I feel the power."
"You need to let it go!" I told her urgently. She was just standing there with the power coursing through her.
She tried but the flames blew up in her face and knocked her on her ass. Her jacket was singed slightly, revealing her tank-top underneath.
"I told you to let go."
She wiped her ash cover hands off on her pants. "Thanks. I wasn't sure how though. Can I try it again?"
"I messed up my first few times too." I handed her another red uncut crystal.
She inhaled deeply. Then she crushed the crystal and I watched the flames run up her arm. Then she cast her arm forward and a fireball shot free. It struck the same tree I did and the pine roasted for a pleasant smell.
The snow was coming down hard enough that the fire wouldn't spread. It was too damp and too cold.
I pumped a fist. I wasn't an incompetent teacher. And she hooted.
"That's how it's done," she called out into the night.
"Well done."
"Can I try it again? With the lightning ones maybe?"
"Not tonight, no. You might like to change now. I hope you brought a spare coat."
She looked down at her arm. "Oh shit, I didn't even notice. The heat of it all. Yeah I have a spare one."
She walked over to her bag and changed her coat.
"Thanks Cloud, you really helped me."
"It was no problem." I smiled. This felt like real good. It had been a long time since I felt that. What with all the murder and chaos and all. It made me feel like I was a good person again. Even if it was just for a moment.
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-WG
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