Twisted Time (before battle)

Rodya was always the one to lift the team's mood when it's down, but...

…….

The mood among us had grown so incredibly awkward and cold that I was almost starting to feel a chill in my fingers. ... I guess this is what happens when Rodya's in a depressive mood...

If we were back at the bus, or if Yi Sang or Gregor were here, they would've at least tried to do something to break the ice. But neither Ryōshū nor Hong Lu were the kind of people to be heavily affected by such a frosty mood, so we just trudged on with our investigation.

<Huh, looks like the culprit got him in the middle of something.>

He knew the Ripper.

<How could you tell?>

By looking at his eyes. Isn't it obvious?

That look in his eyes... it's the kind of look that people have in their eyes when getting killed by a rat they know.

<He's not exactly dead, you know...>

Hm, this dead body looks kinda different from the last one we saw, though.

<Not a dead body either, but what is it?>

The culprit tore a bit off his scarf.

Maybe they really disagreed with his fashion choices?

The Yurodiviye must live like fools in the eyes of others. So that we may see a path invisible to them.

<... Rodya?>

It's something Sonya once said. Told me that the scarf was a yoke to hide the great ambition, that those with such dreams must remain bound.

But I don't see you wearing that scarf.

Ha ha... it's just not my style.

Then chopping the scarf in half would mean that...

... that the killer is a former member of the Yurodiviye. We should go back to their hideout and ask around.

Some time later...

Dammit... The Ripper got our boss...?!

Huh? Are you asking if anyone quit recently?

Well, it's not like they formally 'quit' or anything, but there were some who went completely off the grid.

Someone who wanted to steal the surplus time at T Corp. to share it equally among everyone...?

Yeah, I remember a lad who said something like that. When his younger brother died, he became a... bit weird.

Did anyone want to go along with that plan?

I'm sure there are some, but we shouldn't. We're the Yurodiviye; we must bide our time until the Saint gives us the word.

... Is that so?

Where is he?

No idea. Last I heard, he said something like "I'll always be watching you". Creepy, innit? But I suppose that means that he's still hangin' about somewhere within T Corp. borders.

... Uh, our bossman's gonna be back to normal, right?

<He'll always be watching, huh...>

Haah...

Clock.

<Hm?>

I always burn a cig after a kill.

<But you're always smoking.>

Because it takes about four minutes for the cig to burn all the way through...

I get to watch as the light of life slowly burns out in their dying eyes. It really enhances the flavor.

Four minutes. I know that it takes exactly four minutes for this cigarette to burn away.

But only two minutes have passed on that Clock Tower.

Huh? That doesn't make sense.

How could... how come no one noticed that the Clock Tower was broken?

This isn't a new development, by the way.

From the moment our little game of detectives started to this precise moment, the Clock Tower always measured only two minutes by the time I finished smoking.

Hm, didn't someone say that it's because people have learned to be helpless?

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-uh!

Methinks it's a real bother. Standing guard here, all this stop-and-search... So tedious.

Hey, Assistant... What were the first two victims doing when the Ripper struck?

Let's see... one of them was attacked while purchasing a thirteen-flavoured lollipop candy, and the other was reading a comic book starring a T Corp. inventor as its protagonist. I'd say it's a pretty fun read.

Are there are lot of... Clock Towers in T Corp.?

A total of twelve in the entirety of T Corp. But just one in this general area.

The Time Ripper struck only near this Clock Tower, didn't they...?

Right on, detective.

What if they slowed down the Clock Tower...

... and made everyone in the area feel that sense of extreme tedium...?

Tedium... I see. So that's what it was. He can rip time only from people who are bored.

The Clock Tower.

It should give me a nice view to blow smoke at.

Oh, here's something I forgot to mention. You know that you need actual evidence to make an arrest, right? Detectives?

Huh?

You have to catch them in the act. Can't go around arresting people just because you feel like it, hmm?

What, do we have to let them attack us or something? Just so we can catch them in the act?

Don't you know? He can literally rip the time out of you.

One small mistake and you might wake up weeks, months, or even... years later.

We don't even know if that's the kind of thing that Dante can... rewind.

Yes, it's all very tragic. But it's still a part of your responsibilities.

You... do you even care about catching the culprit?

Or is learning how he rips time all you care about?

Right on again, ace detective.

Haah... I once thought that there were no inventions in T Corp. that I didn't know their ins-and-outs about.

You see, I have the intricate knowledge of the mechanisms of every single machinery in existence within T Corp.

I even know about the bizarre contraption your friend back at the jail cell invented while he was here.

I didn't want that invention to be beholden to the T Corp. Patents Agency, no. I wanted to watch as it spread throughout the City. Which is why I didn't try very hard to stop him as he escaped through the Backstreets. It wasn't because I was lazy, mind!

So, to answer your question - no. Like in the case of the League of Nine Littérateurs, I don't care whether we catch the culprit or not. I'm just curious about the exact mechanism behind how he rips time. It's the nature of being an inventor.

Agreed.

How am I supposed to even get anything done with people like...

Excuse me, Mister Assistant?

I have something I'd like to ask you.

Back when Meursault stood on the Temporal Scale Gallows... didn't the machine beep very loudly?

Oh, that reticent friend? Yes, it did.

If you have the intricate knowledge of the mechanisms of every single machinery in existence within T Corp... then do you also know why it malfunctioned?

Mhm, of course.

Why wasn't the gallows able to take ten billion Ahn's worth of time from Meursault? Was it really because it was broken?

What are you talking about? It is statistically impossible for the machines of my design to have any faults. Usually.

Then the source of that error must be Meursault... or all of us, right? Not the machine...?

<…?>

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! You're not only looking the part, but also acting the part of an ace detective. Could've fooled me!

All credits go to Lady Agatha. She did say that one of the qualities of an ace detective is a mind of bottomless inquisitiveness, after all. Fuhu.

I thought the condition of getting exempt from our Time Tax was that we had to catch the Culprit...? That was what I was thinking when the Class 5 Auditor began speaking again as if to address my concerns.

I'm not saying that I won't cooperate, of course. I may have even devised a plan for you, though it may be somewhat simple.

Now, listen close...