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Chapter 156: Chapter 4.6

In a room in the palace where the ball and the ceremony had taken place, the elderly hero lay on a bed, his face haggard.

"I'm sorry. I know you must be tired," he said, the moment he saw me. It made the previous battle between us seem unreal.

"I couldn't sleep anyway," I told him, seating myself in a chair near the bed. There was an IV in Bruno's right arm.

A few hours earlier, the medic team Nagisa had called along with the riot squad had treated Bruno right there and then. They'd decided he wasn't a flight risk, and now he was resting quietly. That said, I really doubted any public organization in existence was going to be able to properly investigate the former Tuner.

"I've kept quiet about it, but for the past two years, my health hasn't been good. I've been disguising it with medication, but it seems I've hit my limit."

Had Bruno been pushing himself since he came to Japan with Noel two weeks ago?

"I sort of suspected you were immortal."

Bruno had already lived nearly twice as long as an ordinary person, so...

"Ha-ha. All men are mortal, you know." Despite what he was saying, Bruno smiled merrily. "A life span is the only thing no doctor or inventor can fix. Last summer, Stephen told me I had about six months left."

Half a year from last summer.

"Is that why you dissolved your foster relationship with Noel?"

Knowing he didn't have much time left, Bruno had fixed his eyes on the future and tried to ensure Noel would stand on her own.

"Bruno. What made you adopt Noel in the first place?" There was no way he'd seriously seen her only as a pawn.

"I'd had a business relationship with the Lupwise family myself for years. Once, when I visited their residence for a conference, I happened to see her. Her eyes were the same as mine," he told me. "She longed to know the infinite outside world. I couldn't help but identify with her."

Noel's family had treated her terribly, as she was the child of a mistress, and they'd almost never let her leave the house. Had he wanted to show her the outside world because he had spent a century traveling around it?

"Besides, once I saw the family close-up, I knew they were headed for ruin in the near future. I couldn't leave a child in that environment."

"You also knew that Noel's big brother vanished on purpose, right?"

"Yes. I hear he wasn't able to cope with the weight of shouldering the family responsibilities, and he left on a rambling journey in search of freedom. Apparently, the public was told that he'd died suddenly in an accident."

...I see. It wouldn't have looked good for the family's heir to have run away. That was why they'd pretended he'd died, and hastily installed his little sister Noel as the head of the family.

"But in the end, I'm leaving her alone again." Bruno gazed up at the ceiling. "Please take care of Noel," he said in a choked voice.

Now that I thought about it, had Bruno included this in his calculations as well? He was the one who'd originally put the detectives and me in contact with Noel in Japan. Since he knew he wouldn't live much longer, he might have made sure she met us so that she wouldn't be lonely once he was gone.

"So, Bruno. Why did you call me here?"

I already knew what answer I was expecting: I was hoping for the real motive behind Bruno's crimes.

At first, he'd only wanted to learn the secret the Federation Government was said to be hiding. As soon as he realized this wouldn't happen, though, he'd claimed that he wanted to awaken the world to the danger it was in by making himself a visible evil.

I didn't know why he'd called me here instead of Siesta or Nagisa, but I needed to find out his true motive.

"The Information Broker could never die a peaceful death. None of the past heroes could, either," Bruno said quietly. "In the end, it's just tragedy. In the past, most Tuners fell in the line of duty, and new messengers of justice were added to replace them, one after another. That was the history of heroes. After such a long life, I believed that as well, and it didn't trouble me."

Bruno wasn't answering my question directly. Assuming this would

eventually be relevant, I listened to him carefully.

"What is this? Right now, I'm headed toward a peaceful death at the end of my natural life. I haven't even been tortured. —Unbelievable." Bruno's eyes widened, and he went on fiercely. "A peaceful death should have been impossible for me. If this old body of mine dies peacefully, it will prove that I was no hero... I realized a little while ago that I wasn't all-knowing. I didn't know that I knew nothing."

Bruno's throat worked dramatically, veins standing out. His thin arms stretched weakly toward the ceiling.

"Perhaps I really know nothing still. Was I the same as that king who died, charmed by a fleeting peace? I know it was unbecoming for someone my age, but the realization left me unbearably frightened. That was why I came up with this plan."

Bruno finally confessed his fundamental motive. The reason the symbol of justice, the world's wisdom, had attempted to become Evil.

"As I stood there, I hoped that I would be judged evil in the end. I wanted the god known as 'justice' to pass judgment on me."

So that was it: Bruno had considered himself evil the whole time.

That was why, two weeks ago, he'd impersonated a messenger from Another Eden and issued a declaration of war to the Federation Government.

It had been a battle to see whether the gods—or the world—could stop him once he'd fallen from his seat of justice.

"It was like standing on the scaffold." Bruno let his arms fall limply. "But my wish wasn't granted. I wasn't allowed to meet a violent death. I was saved—and not by any god, but by the girl detectives."

I'd seen it play out myself: Siesta's cool thinking and Nagisa's passion had saved Bruno Belmondo.

"It sounds like a plot straight out of a television show." Bruno's murmur echoed in the dimly lit room. "I'd planned to become evil, but I was saved by the shouts of the young protagonists, and now I'm about to meet a peaceful death. It's like an idealized story that someone wished for," he said, and he looked straight at me as he said it. "In that case, who wrote this script?"

"The script?" I asked. It was the first time I'd responded since Bruno began his tale.

"A drama, a movie, a novel—anything will do. Who is scripting this story? Occasionally there's hurt, tears, anger, and loss, and yet we continue to look ahead. Things don't always work out, but that slightly bitter taste lingers in our

hearts once the tale is over."

Bruno's dry eyes were fixed on my face.

"I've lived in this world a long time. It used to be far more unfair than it is now. When did that change? Whose dream is this? Whose story are we dreaming right now? Tell me!" Bruno was taken by a coughing fit. Pushing his gaunt frame up from the bed, he set a hand on my shoulder. "What is it that I'm forgetting? This world— It's moving on, oblivious to the fact that it's forgotten something as if it never was...but what?"

I couldn't tell him.

It wasn't that I knew but couldn't say. I was just a detective's assistant: If the Information Broker didn't know something, I certainly didn't either.

I responded with my own question: "Why would you tell me about this?"

Bruno's expression returned to the peaceful one I was used to seeing. "A girl came to me once and asked me to save you."

"A girl?"

Bruno nodded firmly, then tried with difficulty to lie back down. I reached over to help, supporting him.

"She told me that, someday, Boy K. would become a singularity that would shift the world's axis," he recalled.

Boy K. And this girl had meant me? Who had she been, and when had this happened? I asked, but Bruno just smiled. "It's nearly spring, is it?" he whispered instead, gazing out the window.

Dawn hadn't broken yet. The sky was still dark, and it wasn't possible to see outside.

"I've lived so long, but you know, I've never seen Japan's cherry blossoms.

That's my one modest regret." He smiled a little.

It wouldn't be cherry blossom season for another two months. By the time those flowers bloomed, Bruno would be—

"We've got this saying in Japan: 'Dumplings before flowers.'" Bruno looked a little mystified.

There was no way the Information Broker didn't know his Japanese proverbs. Still, what I was trying to say was this: "We don't actually pay much attention to the flowers. It's more about who we see them with, who we eat with, who we talk to. That's what matters."

"...Yes, you're right." Bruno nodded as if that made perfect sense.

Convincing the world's wisdom of something was probably the biggest honor there was.

"You're resembling that man more and more." "Which man?" I looked perplexed.

Bruno wouldn't tell me, but he did say, "You can't have forgotten him. Never him."

Then he fell silent. He'd told me everything he needed to say. I got to my feet. "You should go eat some good food with Noel again."

Then I turned away from Bruno and twisted the doorknob.

"Oh, yes. We hadn't had the banquet yet, had we?" Bruno gave a little smile, then murmured to no one in particular. "Let's all gather around the table tonight. After all, the world is at peace again today."

As I stepped into the hall, softly closing the door behind me, I saw a figure standing a short distance away, its head bowed.

Noel de Lupwise was still wearing her ball gown. When she noticed me, she raised her head and smiled slightly.

"Did you hear us talking?"

"...I'm sorry. I wasn't very close, though, so I didn't hear much."

She didn't have any reason to eavesdrop at this point. I shook my head. "Don't worry about it."

"I was vaguely aware of this." After a few seconds of silence, Noel spoke. "I could tell Grandfather wasn't well. He seemed to think he was hiding it, but..."

"I see. You're family, all right."

I said this on reflex. Noel seemed a little startled, but then she smiled faintly. "Yes, I know everything about Grandfather."

I knew right away that she was probably making a dig at herself. However... "Bruno said he was ignorant. I don't know whether that's true or not. That means you should tell him, Noel."

"...Me? Tell Grandfather?"

"Yeah. I think you probably know the things he doesn't."

Yesterday at the bar, Bruno had told me he'd seen Siesta argue with me and was surprised to see her like that. If you asked me, Siesta and Bruno were the same. Even those who'd occupied the seats of justice had sides they hid from others, even if they themselves didn't realize it. They had to have people close enough to them to have seen those hidden sides.

"So tell Bruno. Before he's a Tuner, he's just a regular old guy who knows quite a bit about some stuff and loves his liquor."

That would probably be the best way to honor her foster father.

I hadn't been able to manage it, but Noel still had time. I thumped her lightly on the shoulder, then turned away. We didn't really need good-byes.

"Was I wrong?" she asked again, behind me. "Should I have stopped Grandfather sooner?"

Because Noel had been Bruno's family, she'd been close enough to him to realize what was really going on. Even so, she'd prioritized the wish she'd wanted to get no matter what she had to risk, and now she was asking me if she should regret it.

"I don't know. You're the only one who knows about you, Noel."

"...That's true. I'm sorry. I'll accept both the regrets and the responsibility." Noel sounded rather lonely, but she spoke bravely.

Did it sound as if I were coldly pushing her away?

"If you find the answer to that someday, I'd like you to tell me," I said without turning around. "It doesn't have to be a black-and-white, 'yes' or 'no' answer. It's okay if you've only got part of it. It can be the wrong answer, and whenever is fine. Just tell me, please."

That was when it happened.

"Let's forget about positions and titles and just go have fun."

I felt some gentle contact at waist level. Noel was hugging me from behind. "You don't know the real me yet, Mr. Kimihiko." There were tears in her

voice. "Just as you were always wary around me, I wasn't letting you see my true self. I kept it hidden. The real me is spoiled, childish, possessive, a terrible crybaby, and very, very annoying. But even if that's who I am, if we meet again, will you come play with me?"

"Of course I will." Turning around, I wiped Noel's tears away with a finger. "The more trouble they cause you, the cuter little sisters are."

For a moment, Noel stared blankly back at me. Then she smiled shyly at the joke.

Her tears hadn't dried yet. There was no need to dry them. Tears didn't have to be hidden in front of family.

One more time, I patted her on the shoulder. "Go on," I told her.

Noel nodded decisively, then started for Bruno's room. "I'll be back." There would probably be a day when I could respond with "I'll be waiting."