That mistake

“Aha, right. When I caught you, that was the mistake. I thought 'oops' at the time, and sure enough. My acting was perfect, and if I faltered even for a moment, it was only then… You’re pretty good for a newcomer, Aaron Nakamura. If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have caught you back there.”

She licked her lips wickedly, a gesture unsuited for Alexandra’s clear face.

“If I had known Matilda Sedouforne would be this annoying, I would have just killed her earlier without worrying about what others thought.”

At that murderous remark, Matilda Sedouforne, who had been running wild like a foal, hiccuped, grew terrified, and fell silent. In front of the “real deal”, even that hot-tempered noble young lady had no choice but to back down.

He or she clapped, clap-clap-clap-clap, and said.

“Congratulations, Detective Yangban. You’re unusually perceptive. With that level of skill, you must naturally know who I am, right?”

I was about to answer without hesitation, “Phantom Thief Zodiac.”

However, the words that had leaped to the tip of my tongue stopped. Somehow, I felt that what that 'Alexandra' was truly asking, the answer she wanted, wasn’t this.

Their true identity was undeniably Phantom Thief Zodiac.

Who else but Phantom Thief Zodiac could have used a disguise so flawlessly to deceive us and send Prezen out?

The only sticking point was that the time they spent by our side acting as Alexandra overlapped with the time Phantom Thief Zodiac was threatening us to hand over Prezen Meredith with a distorted voice. But that could easily be explained by their having recorded it in advance, or by using a neural interface to synthesize the voice in real-time.

There was no guarantee that the phantom thief operated alone, so there could be an accomplice helping out.

That 'Alexandra' was undoubtedly Phantom Thief Zodiac.

The problem was, then, who was Phantom Thief Zodiac.

It was a riddle no one had ever solved before.

Even the prominent patrol officers of the DCPD had failed to uncover the identity of that elusive Phantom Thief Zodiac.

But somehow… I felt like I was close to the right answer.

You know, there are times when you get that feeling.

It is the state right before solving a suffocatingly difficult problem.

It is the intuition that all the clues had already been given, and that a single thread to weave them together, a flash of inspiration, would be enough.

Let’s go back to the beginning and think.

I originally thought there was no way Alexandra could be Phantom Thief Zodiac.

What was the basis for that?

Let’s say the delicately decorated and made-up facial features were somehow replicated by Phantom Thief Zodiac’s outstanding Disguise Technique.

The exterior, which was hard to find differences in, was one thing, but the interior was the problem.

Alexandra’s Beggar, running wild like a child yet showing the elegance of a Noble Young Lady when necessary - how on earth could they imitate that unique temperament and characteristic?

Unless they had extracted Alexandra’s memory construct and transplanted it into themselves…

“Unless it was someone who had observed Alexandra’s Beggar by her side for a long time… there’s no way Phantom Thief Zodiac could have done that.'. That was what I had thought.”

That was the clue Phantom Thief Zodiac had dropped.

I had to grab onto this faint tail and grope my way forward to find the hidden body of the monster.

“…”

More than the fact that the Alexandra in front of me was Phantom Thief Zodiac, the true identity of Phantom Thief Zodiac that faintly surfaced in my mind right now was even harder to believe.

Someone who had been with her long enough to act so flawlessly and perfectly as Alexandra that even Team Leader-nim Hank wouldn’t suspect a thing.

A deceiver who had truly hidden their identity without a trace, a master of disguise born with the nature to swap out body parts however they wanted, a phantom thief as swift, sharp, and insidious as an assassin.

There was only one person.

I had made one critical error.

I had hastily concluded that Phantom Thief Zodiac had disguised himself or herself as someone else, taking advantage of the moment everyone fell into the trap and the surroundings went dark.

That meticulous Phantom Thief Zodiac had guided me to think that way. Just in case there was someone like me who would notice its thread-like mistake while the Phantom Thief Zodiac was disguised as Alexandra.

No. Zodiac hadn’t disguised themselves as Alexandra while trapped in this trap. They had taken on Alexandra’s appearance even before that.

Wasn’t it Zodiac, not Alexandra, who had caught me when I was falling?

If so, when did Zodiac steal Alexandra’s appearance?

Alexandra was always under airtight escort.

The only time her escort was even slightly lacking was right after the terrorist attack when she was moving to the landing pad with me.

Even then, she was constantly stuck to me, so there was no time for Zodiac to swap themselves with Alexandra.

But there was exactly one time.

There was a time when Alexandra voluntarily separated from the other bodyguards and disappeared from everyone’s sight, accompanied by only one person.

If there was an opportunity for Zodiac to subdue Alexandra and disguise themselves as her, it was only then.

At this point, doesn’t the picture become clear?

There was another mistake I had made.

I had subconsciously thought that Phantom Thief Zodiac was a human male.

In a way, it was a natural preconception. What had Team Leader-nim Hank said?

'He’s a vulgar playboy who can’t control himself when he sees a pretty woman, especially a noble house scion.'.

Usually, the word playboy brings a human male to mind.

It was even more so because the distorted voice Phantom Thief Zodiac had let everyone hear had a deep, masculine feel to it. But even that was a deception.

In Dusk City, one shouldn’t assert that someone who likes pretty women must be a human male. Their gender and race could be entirely different.

Even a woman could like women, and even a Raver could like humans.

“You are Phantom Thief Zodiac…Or should I call you something else?”

As it happened, among the people I knew, there was a female Raver-Ever who had been with Alexandra for a long time, who was agile and stealthy enough to be believed as a phantom thief, and who had gone to the restroom with Alexandra under the pretext of escorting her, only to not return alone, and who was still nowhere to be seen.

If she had subdued Alexandra in the restroom and appeared with that incredible acting skill in front of everyone instead of Alexandra, all the riddles would be solved.

“Ms. Kali Haywood.”

“Correct, Detective-nim.”

Phantom Thief Zodiac’s true identity was a member of Security Team 4, my Senior (Mentor) Kali Haywood!

Perhaps because she decided not to hide anymore now that her identity was revealed, her height increased by a few centimeters with a creak - .

As she raised a hand over her face, the artificial skin wavered, and her bone structure and facial features changed.

Her hair dyed red, beneath the dress she tore off as if it were cumbersome, the milky, smooth baby skin fell away, revealing a vicious black Armed Body/Chassis.

Team Leader-nim Hank’s expression was one of shock.

Could he have ever imagined that the team member he - who paranoiacally eliminated risk factors - deemed trustworthy and personally selected would be Phantom Thief Zodiac!

To think the culprit was that good-natured senior Kali Haywood. Even I, who had figured it out, found it hard to believe.

“What did you do to the young lady?”

Team Leader-nim Hank hid his agitation and asked. In the end, that was the most important issue.

If Kali Haywood had subdued Alexandra in the restroom at the landing pad, where would Alexandra be now, and in what condition?

“Well, Team Leader-nim? Don’t worry too much. I have some compassion, too. She’s probably safe. I had her delivered safely… so wouldn’t she be with Prezen Meredith right about now?”

“Where is that!”

“Wouldn’t it ruin the fun if I told you that, too? I wonder if you’d understand if I described it as the deepest part of Meredith - “

Bang, bang, bang, bang - !

Losing his patience, Team Leader-nim Hank suddenly raised his rifle and fired.

The massive firepower tore up the dim labyrinth. Kali Haywood had already moved to the other side as if using teleportation, and far from being scared, she muttered as if amused.

“Oh my, how aggressive. If I die like this, how are you going to find out where the Young Lady is?”

“Superior! As long as your head remains, attack!”

With Team Leader-nim Hank’s order, I raised the pistol I had gotten back, and Eres Shore activated his drones.

But honestly, I wasn’t confident.

The opponent was the “Walking Weapon” Kali Haywood. When she was an ally, she was more reassuring than anyone, but now that she was an enemy, she couldn’t be more terrifying.

Having seen her fight firsthand, I didn’t feel confident that we could win just because it was a three-on-one fight. Especially since Team Leader-nim Hank and I weren’t in good physical condition.

Team Leader-nim Hank seemed to share the same thought as he shouted.

“Iron Dog Invincible! You should know if you’ve seen the situation! If Zodiac escapes, there’s no Prezen. If there’s no Prezen, there’s no escape! Cooperate in subduing her!”

At those words, Iron Dog Invincible Maximus, who had been watching the situation, transformed his massive bio-arm into the shape of a cannon and took aim.

“Oh? This is a foul, Team Leader-nim!”

The participation of an A-rank Ronin seemed burdensome even for Phantom Thief Zodiac-Kali Haywood, as the relaxed smile disappeared from her face.