Maximus? It Wasn't

It was behind me.

Was it because of my enhanced senses from getting used to the microchip? Ms. Kali reacted a step slower than me and looked back.

At first, I thought it was Iron Dog Invincible Maximus.

After the Chrome Monster died and the high-ranking ninja retreated, I checked his condition; he had only fainted and lost consciousness, but his life was in no danger.

The possibility that he had woken up belatedly and followed us made perfect sense.

However, my sharply honed senses warned me.

Light footsteps instead of heavy ones, a slender physique suggested by the narrow stride…it wasn’t Iron Dog Invincible.

The timing of the appearance was also too coincidental: appearing at the exact same time the laser beams disappeared.

As I lowered my stance and aimed my rifle, Ms. Kali also shot out her wire.

Swaeek!

Soon, the face of the person who appeared from the rear was quite familiar.

Ms. Kali, who had almost sliced his neck clean off with her wire, hastily changed direction to draw a long line across the wall and sighed.

“Senior Shore!”

Then she smiled brightly and waved her hand.

The one who unexpectedly popped up was Escort Team 4's electronic warfare expert, Eres Shore.

While I was having thoughts like, “Aha, Mr. Eres Shore was an Escort Team senior to Ms. Kali,” Eres Shore hardened his expression, took cover behind a corridor pillar, and aimed his muzzle.

“Phantom Thief Zodiac! And Aaron Nakamura. Were you two accomplices from the start!”

Ah, come to think of it, it was a situation ripe for misunderstanding.

Eres Shore wouldn’t know anything about the conversations or agreements Ms. Kali and I had shared, nor the fierce battle we had gone through, and must have blindly chased after us while fixated on the fact that Ms. Kali was Phantom Thief Zodiac.

I hid my body urgently behind the wall beyond where the laser barrier had been and shouted.

“Mr. Shore! Ms. Kali is not an enemy! We decided to join forces and save the Young Lady together!”

“Then are you saying Kali Haywood isn’t Phantom Thief Zodiac? You exposed her identity with your own mouth!”

“No, that’s not it - argh, damn it. If the two of us were on the same side, would I have exposed Phantom Thief Zodiac’s true identity like that? Just listen to me first! If we fight amongst ourselves, we’ll get absolutely nowhere!”

God damn it, we already have no time, and this frustration is killing me.

I tried to summarize and explain the situation up to this point somehow, but it wasn’t easy.

Mr. Eres Shore seemed to lose trust when Ms. Kali cared for Alexandra and tried to keep her safe despite being a Phantom Thief, but he showed complete disbelief when Ms. Kali, Iron Dog Invincible Maximus, and I joined forces to defeat the Chrome Monster.

“…If you’re trying to trick me, shouldn’t you tell a slightly more plausible lie?”

I was slowly starting to boil with frustration at Artist.

I understand that it’s hard to believe. That’s why it’s driving me even crazier.

“Exactly, if I were trying to trick you, I would have said something plausible! It sounds like nonsense, but what can I do when it’s the truth! You must have seen the Chrome Monster’s corpse on your way here too. There’s no way you could have missed something that huge!”

“There was no such thing.”

“…?”

“If you mean Iron Dog Invincible Maximus, I witnessed him unconscious with both arms missing. I witnessed the giant crater too. But there was no Chrome Monster corpse there.”

The atmosphere turned cold. Ms. Kali and I were dumbfounded and looked into each other’s eyes.

The corpse of the Chrome Monster had still definitely been there when we headed for the innermost part.

However, it didn’t seem like Eres Shore was lying.

Why would he tell an obvious lie that he hadn’t seen it when he had? If we turned back right now, the truth would be exposed immediately.

Did that mean someone had smuggled away the Chrome Monster’s corpse during the short time between our leaving the Lounge and Eres Shore arriving at the Lounge?

“Considering it was a full-body prosthetic plastered with all sorts of ultra-expensive high-tech implants, safely escaping with even just a part of it would be an absolute jackpot, so it makes sense… but who on earth?”

Don’t tell me they’re going to reattach that severed neck and body and regenerate it in a test tube… I shouldn’t have to worry about the Chrome Monster’s resurrection like that, right?

The chilling thought made me feel even more rushed.

I originally thought it was a card to pull out after watching the situation a little longer, but it was no use. I couldn’t delay any further.

“Mr. Shore, did you remove the light wall that was blocking the way earlier? By hacking?”

At my question, Eres Shore nodded.

“Yeah. It wasn’t that difficult.”

Ms. Kali seemed to accept it without much suspicion, but I didn’t.

I’m not an expert in Net security, but I know how hard it is to breach a facility guarded by a Net Demon. It would probably be close to impossible for a human hacker.

But it wasn’t difficult?

A sigh naturally escaped me.

Looking at it now, it seemed the reason Escort Team 4 was the “Death Team” wasn’t because they had to chase an immature Young Lady to death.

It was just the “Death Team” because the Escort Team’s composition was absolutely fucking terrible. No doubt about it!

How could exactly four people come to Mirror Castle, and out of them, the only one without a hidden secret identity is me, the newcomer?

Team Leader-nim Hank only received orders from Eugene Schneider, so could acting as a 'Helper' be called a secret identity? If you asked that, it was slightly ambiguous, but Ms. Kali and Mr. Shore were different cases.

“What happened to the Team Leader-nim?”

When I lowered my voice and asked, Mr. Shore answered.

“The Team Leader-nim is safe. However, his injuries are severe, so it will take him a much longer time to get here… Hmm.”

The ice-cold words that followed.

He was quick-witted, as expected.

“You’re suspecting me. Aren’t you?”

“It’s not suspicion, it’s certainty. Phantom Thief Zodiac is one thing, but it seems you also have an equally suspicious hidden identity. How about you slowly reveal your true colors? I’m sick and tired of getting Stabbed in the Back by others.”

I was sick of the development in which they hide it until the end and only at the last moment reveal their true nature.

Let’s resolve what needs to be resolved and move on quickly.

“I’m telling you this in case you make a foolish choice, but there are two of us. One of them is the “Walking Weapon” Kali Haywood, who is also the legendary Phantom Thief Zodiac. If you’re confident, go ahead and try.”

Amidst the heightened atmosphere, Mr. Shore suddenly revealed himself and put his gun down on the floor.

He spat out the words as the tension completely dissolved.

“Phew… Right. I didn’t expect to be caught like this. How did you know?”

The laser barrier was one thing, but the biggest clue was when I tried to find Phantom Thief Zodiac hiding among our companions.

Completely barking up the wrong tree due to Ms. Kali’s outstanding acting skill, I had thought either the Sedouforne Escort Team Leader-nim or Eres Shore was Phantom Thief Zodiac and observed the person in the Territory of Super Concentration.

What I found out while observing Eres Shore was that he was by no means an ordinary bodyguard.

I thought it was suspicious because the level and specifications of the communication network and equipment he kept hidden from others were extraordinary… but I didn’t know his exact identity.

I had no choice but to dig a little more.

“I have my ways.”

As I glossed over it like that and tried to get more information, Eres Shore let out a deep sigh.

“Is that so? I don’t know what kind of method you have to find out about a Dusk Watch investigator hiding their identity.”

Unexpectedly, I found out way too easily.

A secret investigator for Dusk Watch.

It was his true identity that I hadn’t guessed in the slightest.

* * *

Dusk Watch.

Otherwise known as the “Surveillors of the Net”.

I had heard of it often, but it was the name of an organization I had no reason to encounter directly.

Just like the DCPD, it was better for one’s well-being not to have any run-ins with Dusk Watch.

If the DCPD was the police organization in charge of Dusk City’s physical world, Dusk Watch was the police organization in charge of Dusk City’s virtual world - cyberspace.

Financial crimes occurring on the Net by hackers or Net divers, cyber artificial intelligence summoning rituals committed by New Mecha Communists or cultist terrorists… all net-related incidents like these were under the jurisdiction of Dusk Watch.

“Although unacknowledged, I am an agent of the Watch acting half under the Dusk City Government. Even if it’s the same hidden identity, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t put me on the same level as a Phantom Thief.”

It seemed he was displeased by my saying, 'You’re just as suspicious as Phantom Thief Zodiac.'

It wasn’t like I had the ability to authenticate it, but the investigator ID he showed me looked real enough.

As an agent of Dusk Watch, he also seemed to have his own pride and sense of responsibility for his duties.

“Also, it’s true that the Team Leader-nim is safe. At least he was the last time I saw him. It’s also true that I was able to get here much faster because of the injuries he sustained.”

I had been a little worried that Eres Shore might have harmed Team Leader-nim Hank, but hearing him say that made me feel relieved.

I’m really funny too. When was it that I was on bad terms with Team Leader-nim Hank, who acted like he wanted to eat me alive? Now I’m worrying about his safety.

“But why is Dusk Watch here?”

I asked the question that arose naturally.

I would have understood if it were a DCPD patrol officer or an inspector. It wouldn’t be strange for the city police to make a move to subdue those damn wanted terrorists.

But didn’t Dusk Watch intervene only in Net crimes?

I wondered if it was because of the Communist Ninjas, a sub-branch of the New Mecha Communists who served an Outer Net artificial intelligence as their leader, but after hearing the explanation that followed, that wasn’t it.

Eres Shore hadn’t come here because of the terrorists.

“I’m a secret investigator who normally acts as Schneider’s bodyguard. Occasionally, when I receive orders, I just secretly carry out actions fitting my duties accordingly. This time… I only received the mission right before arriving at Mirror Castle.”

As he explained, the mission he received from Dusk Watch was this.

Primarily, it is an investigation of the Meredith Family.

And if, as a result, he caught even the slightest sign of Code Black, the nature of the mission would change.

The mission is top-secret: extermination.

Its objective is to erase the Family known as Meredith from this city by any means necessary.