The carrots are as hard as iron.
Having me cook was a mistake.
How can you be so smug about it?
Well, I didn't see the usual kitchen knife anywhere. But more importantly...
Cerberus is dead. I don't think there's any question about that.
So who was that impostor Fuubi-san?
Suppose the one posing as that female police detective was in fact Hel?
Hel? But she didn't have any shapeshifting capability.
Androids are beings born with something as their core.
By taking over another's core, they can inherit special capabilities.
You mean that black stone.
So are you saying Hel has inherited both Cerberus's powers and his mission,
and is now harvesting people's hearts?
I wonder. Or it could be purely for her own benefit.
So they can mix and match parts like dress-up dolls?
They can. Because our adversaries are androids.
Nevertheless, it doesn't change what needs to be done.
We're going to put a stop to this string of murders.
Looks as though we'll be busy starting tomorrow.
That's right. But that being the case...
If you're thinking about me, no need to be concerned.
Huh? Alicia, when did you get here?
This sound makes it hard to believe I'm eating curry.
Anyway, the murder case needs to take priority, right?
You didn't come here just to make that perceptive comment, did you?
I want you to let me help you with this case.
I thought you'd say that. But absolutely not.
Why not?
Because it's dangerous. Four people have already turned up dead.
I resolved some cases with Kimizuka in those two weeks!
Searching for cats, delivering lost wallets to the police...
Wh-Whether a case is big or small shouldn't matter!
That's some far-fetched logic.
Far-fetched logic is still logic!
Cool it down a little.
I'm a detective, too.
Alicia, you were a substitute detective. There's nothing more for you to do.
Hey, Siesta, isn't that a little too harsh?
What? Are you on her side?
I didn't say that.
Ah, so you are a lolicon after all...
Oh, you're right; that knife's not here.
This isn't the time to go looking for something dangerous like that.
That's fine. I'll take action in my own way. I'll solve this case.
And by doing it, I'll prove to you that I'm a detective, too.
That's how it's going to be.
So I'll look forward to your help from tomorrow forward, Kimizuka.
Okay, I hear you. Understood.
Yay! That's how it's going to be!
Kimizuka will still be my sidekick after this!
No, he's my sidekick... Mine...
That was our notification that a fifth victim had been robbed of a heart.
"Episode 8" "With That, We Set out on a Journey Once Again"
Sorry to approach you so soon after the incident.
Not at all. That's your job, I guess. If I can be of any help...
I'll prepare some tea...
Are you all right?
I'm sorry.
It's just, it was so sudden... I still can't believe she's actually gone.
You see, my husband died young, leaving only my daughter and me for all this time,
so I laid nothing but burden after burden on her.
And yet she'd say, "I'm going to figure out how to make a lot of money
and make things easier for you, Mom."
She became truly amazing, and even had a house like this built for me.
On the day of the incident, did your daughter behave differently in any way?
Come on, Siesta.
No change in her behavior that day before she left the house--
Then... anything unusual when you saw her body?
Siesta.
As a daughter, she was my pride and joy, better than I ever deserved.
And yet... I was never able to give her anything.
I only took from her, and the fact that I'll never be able to repay her...
That's not true!
"Only took," or "only gave"-- there's no way
the relationship could've been that one-sided!
If you're saying you only received a lot of things from your daughter,
that had to be because you had already given a lot of something to her!
Isn't that right?
Thank you. Somehow, I felt as though it was my daughter saying that to me.
Back there... why did you stop me?
These serial killings are crimes of opportunity against random victims.
So there shouldn't be any reason for questions like
whether a victim behaved differently from usual.
Just because that's been the case previously,
that doesn't guarantee that it's the same this time.
Even if only to determine that this case wasn't an outlier,
it was necessary for me to ask those questions.
For the sake of taking down Hel, I'll use any means necessary.
You'll see, I'll run her to ground, without fail. But you...
You're not like that, Kimi.
Siesta, I'm...
You were the only one I trusted, though.
Siesta...
I'm calling it a day for today. See you.
Stop hiding and come out, Alicia.
Oh, you knew I was here?
Well, how to put it...? That kind of thing tends to happen.
Traveling together for three whole years, having a fight or two is only natural.
You could say that not fighting would be even stranger.
This kind of thing's a common occurrence.
Well, this may be the first time we've had a serious confrontation like this,
but what about it? U-Umm, so the thing is...
Wow, you're super worried.
M-Maybe we should quit talking about this. On another topic...
Huh? Is this... from that time?
Yeah. It's not a thank-you gift, though.
I'm so grateful! It's the first time I've ever gotten a present from someone.
Alicia, you haven't--
No, I just suspect that's true.
I'm sure that before I lost my memory, I was a bad kid.
You say that as though you're not a bad kid now.
Huh? I'm a ridiculously good kid--
lively, cute, upfront, and loved by everyone!
That's a good one.
It's not a joke! Why, you...
Hey...
Slide this ring on.
Me?
You, Kimizuka.
On you?
On me.
If you put it on the wrong finger, I'll be mad.
Why on your left hand? Well, after all, it's just for show, nothing more.
And now your vow.
What, you're a minister now, too?
You're something else.
Well, what to say?
From now on, for a suitable length of time, we'll work together; this I swear.
That was really wishy-washy, somehow.
Hush. Beggars can't be choosers.
I was too hard on you earlier.
Siesta...
Well, I don't believe I was wrong in my thinking,
and I also don't think I should yield the point too readily.
However, you could say I was wrong to try to force my thinking on you unilaterally.
That said, there are also some aspects you could stand to rethink, too...
Well, no, I don't mean to rehash what we talked about, that's not my intent...
I wish you happiness.
Siesta?
Come on... Siesta. Can you hear me?
No, I can't.
What is she, a child?
Hey, Siesta, this whole Alicia thing is really still a mystery, isn't it?
It's sure a complete mystery to me.
Excuse me. I'm going out for a bit.
My intended's in trouble.
Alicia!
Are you all right?
Kimi... zuka...
Hold on.
The left side of his chest has been sliced up.
He seems to have lost consciousness, but I don't think his life is in jeopardy.
This guy is a police officer.
So, Sidekick?
In any case--ambulance!
Hello?
I'm taking Alicia out of here; you handle this!
Sidekick, is that the path you want to take?
Really? You, too?
It's sweet.
Helps that you're so straightforward.
It's cute that I'm so straightforward, you say?
Wait here; I'll borrow something to clean out your ears.
Isn't that a harsh thing to say to an injured person?
If you can toss around this much banter, you're fine.
That aside, Kimizuka, how were you able to get to that place right away?
Oh, because I'd attached a tracking device to you.
Oh, I see.
You just offhandedly said a horrifying thing again, didn't you?!
Don't spit out what you've had in your mouth...
What do you mean, a tracking device? That's creepy! Stalker!
You've got it all wrong. Look, you take off somewhere at the drop of a hat--
this was a precautionary measure.
When, and where did you attach it?
Alicia, you wear surprisingly gaudy underclothing...
You're the worst! That's the worst place imaginable!
But thanks to that device, you got rescued.
See, I can constantly monitor your health status.
So what were you doing there?
I don't want anyone else to experience that kind of sadness.
On top of that, it's my job.
Why is it you got so obsessed with this?
I was in a room with no light or even sound...
A dark, dark, boring world of nothing but suffering. But...
...one day, suddenly, a wider world opened up for me.
Light came in, I could hear sounds, and... I learned how sweet apples were.
I wanted to try a different way of living.
If I could be reborn as a new me, if the task given to me was to be a detective,
I wanted to live for that and only that.
Alicia...
Maybe I've been talking too much... I'm feeling sleepy.
I'll stay here until morning, too; you can rest easy.
Then...
...hold my hand.
Someone will mock you for being childish... meaning I will.
Feel free to mock me, but hold my hand.
If such is your command... legendary detective.
What are you doing in this place?
Just what I need to ask you. I only came to look for Hel.
Why'd you think Hel would come here?
You've realized it by now, too, haven't you?
Realized what?
The perpetrator is looking for hearts-- no, is only after hearts.
Yeah. And today, that police officer was on the verge of being a victim.
That's right. That officer sustained a wound on the left side of the chest.
Without question he was attacked by Hel.
But why was she--Alicia-- wounded in her right shoulder?
Why was she shot by that officer?
Was the shot not fired in self-defense?
Get out of my way, Siesta. I have to...
Didn't you recognize the knife that was dropped at the scene?
I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't check every little thing.
It was unquestionably the knife that was at our place.
What really matters is that we find Alicia right away!
You had to have known, too.
What's the real reason you put a tracking device in that ring?
Stop it!
Alicia being Hel... That's just not--
Then what about the impostor Fuubi-san? At first you said that was Hel, right?
And yet Alicia was there, too.
Alicia herself is Hel, transformed.
And so we have to assume that impostor was another adversary.
You're saying there's another one like Hel?
It seems reasonable to think so.
Some sort of ringleader over them all, for example.
That's ludicrous.
But Hel comes first.
We have to find Hel, quickly.
You mean Alicia! She's not Hel; she's Alicia! She's... She's...
Immediately after Hel was wounded in the heart,
the opportunist killer harvesting hearts appeared.
At that very time, an unidentified girl appeared in front of us. So, Sidekick...
...are you going to insist that this is all consistent with being just coincidence?
Did you know from the beginning?
No. If I had realized earlier,
we wouldn't have allowed so many to become victims.
Yet I was utterly unable to distrust her.
But it's ridiculous. Are you saying everything about Alicia was a lie?
So those shrieks, the words she said to that mother...
...you're saying those were all faked, too?
I think they were real. That woman was definitely helped by Alicia's words.
At that moment, inside the left side of Alicia's chest...
...that woman's daughter's...
I'm sorry. Guess I'm disqualified from being a legendary detective.
Alicia...
You see, it seems that inside of me, there's one more me.
I'm the behind-the-scenes one, so I have no memories and don't know who I am.
That's why I kept saying the real me was 17 years old.
Honestly, on some level I realized it. But I pretended not to know...
...that the other me was committing these crimes.
But for some reason, as Kimizuka and I carried on the investigation, I prayed...
...that someone else might be the culprit--that it had to be true.
Alicia!
You're not bad.
You may be somewhat self-centered,
and you've been the source of a lot of trouble,
but you're a kind human being, Alicia.
You can share in people's joy and heartbreak.
You're even capable of getting angry for, or crying for, others.
Alicia, you're not...
I knew it was an impossible hope. Yet still...
Kimizuka. Thank you. It was a short time, but it was fun.
Honestly, I wanted to do more detective work...
...but I can't stay with you anymore.
I only wanted Alicia to remain as Alicia...
In truth, I was never... anything but bad.
I was wishing only for that miracle!
Alicia!
Sidekick!
I'm sorry.
Don't do it, Siesta!
Are you stupid or something, Kimi? This has to be done here and now...
Don't you understand that these emotions will warp your crucial decisions?
Didn't you just learn recently that that's what being human is?
My, my, are you two having a falling out?
At last I've found her. So troublesome...
Here I believed she'd just strayed when my attention was elsewhere,
but she'd not only changed form, but also lost her memory...
Chameleon! Where do you intend to take Alicia?
Well, now. Approximately 700 nautical miles northwest of here
is a solitary island we use as a base.
If you're saying you mean to come for her, we'll be awaiting you there.
Wait!
I thought I'd been shot.
Are you stupid or something, Kimi?
I'm not going to apologize, you know.
It's fine if you don't.
You were trying to do the right thing,
and I was also trying to do the right thing.
So you won't apologize, and neither will I. It's fine that way.
What do we do now?
Let's go to a grocery store first.
And let's buy the biggest, reddest, roundest apples.
Then we'll make lots of delicious apple pie and brew some outstanding tea.
And then...
...we'll set out on a journey... to rescue our comrade.
"Episode 9" "SPES"