Timekilling Puzzle (before battle)
Let's see... the third victim of this case is this watch factory's...
Hold up...!
The obviously gaudy and expensive suit... the meticulously trimmed and shaped mustache... the third victim must be the owner of this factory. Assistant, confirm my deductions!
You're right on the money, detective.
We're off to a great start!
Fuhu.
Ahem, ahem! We are detectives working on the 'Case of Timekilling Time'. My name is -
#@$@$#(*&$^&*#&*^@!!@@$#@$?
Whuh - what's going on?
Ryōshū. Detective.
He sure is a fast talker. He's talking way faster than Meursault did when he reviewed those chickens.
#@$@$#!%!#%#@!@#$#%^!#$@#@#!@$#@$!!!
He's talking so fast...! It's like someone pressed a fast-forward button just for him or something. I can't understand a thing coming out of his mouth.
He's someone who has a lot of time.
What's that supposed to mean?
An average T Corp. citizen has about 20 to 28 hours in a day, but you might also run into someone like him: people with plenty of time to spare. Because they have so much surplus time, they can afford to condense 40, 50 hours into a single day. And to people with fewer hours in a day... it'll look as though he's moving two, three times faster than them. Someone with that much time could pick their nose in the blink of an eye before anyone even has the chance to catch them in the act.
Ew...
#@$@(*%(*#^@))$&*^@%<@$!!!
…….
I gave Rodya a quick look of concern. She had to do something before Ryōshū S.H.N.C.
A quick look... as in a brief flicker of the flames burning on my clock.
Um, would ya mind slowing down a bit? I'm just worried that... you're at a serious risk of becoming a victim of a completely different, slightly more fatal crime.
He shook his head in frustration(very rapidly, that is) before activating what appeared to be a voice recorder. It began to play his voice back at us.
Pleased to make your acquaintance-uh. My name's Bumble, a proud proprietor of this watch factory-ah.
Apologies for this awkward method of communication-uh.
You see, my days are fifty-two hours long-uh. I used to live 100 hour-days in my heyday, but the things have taken a turn for the worse at the factory in the recent years-ah.
Fif-fifty two hours?!
To me, it looks as though you are all talking very, very, very slowly-uh. I must say-ah, it's quite frustrating... but I am willing to suffer this annoyance as long as you can solve this case-uh.
You have fifty-two whole hours to spend in a single day? Gee, I can't even imagine what that'd be like.
Oh, I can tell you if you're that curious-uh. It's a very, very full life, I must say-ah. Having more time to spend in a day means that I can get more things done in a day-uh. Like sleeping ten or more hours a night and having more than forty hours left to spend-uh. Good sleep really is the key to keeping your skin moist and fresh, indeed-ah. I'll let you touch it, if you want-uh.
As though in an effort to demonstrate, Bumble was constantly zooming around the room, checking his documents, calling someone on the phone, and even brushing his teeth while we stood there listening to his recordings.
I.D.C. Get to the point.
It was one late evening-ah.
Let's see-uh. Like always, I was busily walking down the street-ah. I had a very, very important meeting to attend to, you know-uh.
And all of a sudden...!
An attack?!
No-ah. I just happened to recall that I'd left the bacon on the kitchen counter at home-uh! I should've left it covered with District 23's purple salt-ah~!
Aha, my second-oldest-aunt used to sprinkle that salt all the time.
The. Point.
Well, so I stopped briefly, looking up at the Clock Tower and wondering if I should head back home to salt that bacon-uh...
... and that's when the Time Ripper struck-ah!
The Clock Tower?
Each one of the twelve zones at T Corp. has a Clock Tower that displays A Corp.'s standard time scale. Because everyone has different hours to spend in a day, their watches sync with their respective time scales as well. So, to tell the 'real', objective time, one would have to check the Clock Tower.
Oho...
That's pretty neat~
All right, you two. Let's focus on stuff that's actually important. Let's see... um... ah, how about we start with a physical description?
Hmm... a fine, tailored suit...
Huh... a tailored suit? A bit fancy for someone called the 'Time Ripper', don'tcha think?
It must've cost me about fifty-eight-million Ahn-uh. Of course, since it was tailor-made, its comfort was beyond human imagination-ah.
Wait, what...?
Oh, and how could I forget-uh? This impressive yet keenly shaped moustache-ah.
Hey, I wasn't talking about your own physical description...
One more chance until I S.Y.N.C.
Ohh~ you mean the murderer's appearance-uh! Well, let me think-ah...
... I don't recall anything-uh. It just happened so, so fast that...
How did it feel to have your own time killed? Was it painful?
<Can you not ask something like that with such a big grin on your face?>
Nope-uh. It was just...
Mm, a hundred hours was gone in the blink of an eye-ah! I missed my very important appointment thanks to that, I'll have you know-uh! I suffered so much damages-ah!
Gah! A hundred hours? So you lost a whole week in the blink of an eye?
Huh? Nope-uh. A hundred hours for me is just two days or so-ah. Still, you have no idea how much I lost because of those two days-uh!
Ripping away time, huh? An invention that enables something like that would certainly win the 'Inventor of the Year' award and the loads of prize money that comes with it. T Corp. really values and supports its inventors, you know?
Some people say that, once upon a time, T Corp.'s Chief Executive Director himself showed up to bestow the awards. I guess once an inventor is always an inventor; I say that he probably wanted others to carry on his inquisitive spirit. I've seen the ceremony once, and he was giving away autographs!
Hm... Then maybe we're looking for an inventor who received an award for that tech? Assistant?
But every invention at T Corp. needs to be registered at the Technology Administration Agency, though it is not without a few exceptions. There once was a time when a rogue group of inventors called 'The League of Nine Littérateurs' made some inventions that they neglected to register. And wow, what a mess that was! Every single corner of T Corp. was up in arms! Everyone dashing about in a panic, making arrests, holding important meetings, while I -
It was that big of a deal...? I can't even imagine how hard it must've been for Yi Sang...
Alright, alright. So? Is there anything like that registered in T Corp.'s Tech Agency?
Nope. First time I've heard anything like it.
Haah... Ya coulda started there, y'know.
<What if this is a power granted by the Distortion...?>
Meanwhile, Ryōshū, who was completely uninterested in the conversation, stared off into the distance. She looked out the factory window and let out another puff of smoke before muttering quietly to herself.
No killer, no corpses.
<Well, yeah... No one's actually dead, and we don't know where the killer is.>
Who could it be, I wonder?
Someone who took a liking to my very expensive suit, I say-uh!
Disagree. Your suit's shit.
Aw...
Besides, if I really wanted to kill you...
... M-me-ah? Why would you -
... I'd have to be able to move as fast as you do.
I won't be able to get a good aim at your vitals otherwise.
Ryōshū strode toward him... before suddenly breaking into a charging sprint.
Bumble rapidly stumbled back in terror, but Ryōshū was fast enough to close the distance and press her scabbard into his neck despite the disparity in time.
Gah!
... Just like this.
<…!>
Woah... I thought she was actually about to beat the crap out of him with that scabbard...
That'd be case closed then, hm? All we'd have to do is to arrest Ryōshū~
Y-you scared the heck out of me-uh!
Well... I suppose that villain didn't really stab me in my vitals, or whatever-ah...
But he did appear all of a sudden, just like you did-uh.
I see. So the killer isn't just running around ripping time away from random people left and right.
Yes. The killer was going specifically for that A.S.S.
<…….>
The void left behind by Sinclair's absence was much bigger than I'd thought.
... I meant that 'Annoying, Stupid Stache'. Tsk, not having that kid here is frustrating.
No way-uh... Can you think of a single person who'd hate someone like me-ah...?
<I can think of more than a few...>
I say that it must have been the work of some bandit who wanted to try on my tailored suit-uh!
Oh, what about your employees?
Lady Agatha's book says that... to find the culprit, we must first look at the victim's immediate circle!
I have no idea if that book Don Quixote gave us earlier is actually helping, but... I suppose it's at least a very good page-turner. Hong Lu can't seem to be able to tear his eyes away from it.
... Maybe I should check it out too, once we get back to the bus.
Yeah, that works...!
Then, the culprit!
... has to be an employee who hates the owner so, so much, enough to try to take his time!
Nuh-uh. That seems quite implausible-ah. As you can see...
Wh-what...? The laborers at this factory...
... They're all working so slowly like... they're moving through molasses...
Oh, most factory laborers like them usually live rather short ten-hour-days. Most of which they spend at their factory jobs anyway.
... What did you say?
Listen up, everyone-ah! Our output gain saw only 13% growth compared to last month's growth-uh! Have I not impressed upon you how important this is-ah? We'll be falling behind profit margin projections at this rate-uh!
Bumble hollers at them in frustration. The laborers very, very slowly turn their heads to look up at the factory owner, even that simplest action taking an excruciatingly long time to complete.
B...o...s...s… It...'s… I...m...p...o...s...s...i...b...l...e… T...o… W...o...r...k… A...n...y… F...a...s...t...e...r... T...h...a...n...
Whew, how bothersome-ah! Less complaining, more assembling-uh! Use your times effectively-ah! Chop chop-uh!
$#%%><*()(&*&^(&%*(&$#^$^%!
You have no idea how frustrating it has been for me as of late-ah! Did you even know that the next batch of cogs have stopped all of a sudden-uh?
$#%#$^$#^$$#(&*^%$&^*(&&><%#^!
We could understand him thanks to the recorder next to us. But... everyone out of its earshot would have no chance of understanding whatever he's talking about.
Hey. Mister Bumble.
You're talking way too fast for them to understand, you know that? How do you expect them to understand a thing you're saying?
So-ah? It's not me who's too fast; it's them who are too slow-uh. Only hustlers and busy-bees like myself who make the best of their time can rise above the rest in this chaotic, bustling City-ah!
I… what? You know that's a load of bull.
How are they supposed to 'hustle' or 'make the best of their times' when they're practically nailed to the floor? And with what time?
<Rodya, hey...>
<I don't think someone like him will ever understand what you're talking about. He was born and raised in T Corp., after all.>
…….
Hey, Assistant. You're a Class 5 employee, right? Aren't you supposed to be a big shot? Do you seriously think there's anything normal about all of this?
'Normal'?
Dear detectives. Do you happen to be returning from a round-trip across every single Nest in the City, all the way from A to Z? Can you confidently say that you have seen all there is to see?
Not... really, but...
Then give this idea a thought, why don't you? That the notion of what is 'normal' is just a mirage conjured by the downtrodden and the suffering?
That is to say... that suffering is just a part of life in the City, regardless of which Nest you're in.
Hah. I don't see any suffering in that mug of Mister fifty-hour-days right here.
Such harsh words-uh! I have my share of pain, I'll have you know-ah!
I've been waiting for something to get finished for a while-uh. Do you know how much of a pain it is to wait for something but also have too much time in your day-ah? It's so so so tedious!
Bumble gently fixed his mustache and hair before caressing his expensive coat with care.