Amalgam Hound, Vol. 2: Criminal Investigation Bureau: Special Investigation Unit by Midori Komai and Domino Ozaki

Author:Midori Komai and Domino Ozaki [Komai, Midori and Ozaki, Domino]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yen On
Published: 2024-09-17T00:00:00+00:00

As she left the bar, Alouette let her eyes rest on Tobias. Avoiding the flow of the crowd, she went out onto the promenade deck.

Tobias started after her, wondering what was going on, when a man came flying out of the same bar and called out to him. It was Camicia.

“Did you see the girl who just came out of here? Silver hair, navy dress, black gloves.”

“Her?” Tobias replied. “Looked like she was headed for the promenade deck.”

“She was? Thanks!”

As Camicia ran off, Tobias took the crew entrance out onto the promenade deck to meet up with Alouette before Camicia could.

She had her left hand on the railing of the deck at the stern of the ship, where few people came. Tobias hid in the shadows and touched his wireless.

“Theo. Starboard, promenade deck.”

Alouette quietly pulled down the opera glove on her left arm, revealing pale skin with a foreign, metallic luster. An older synthetic replaced her arm from the elbow down.

She opened the elbow cover and turned the wire reel that connected with her fingertips. Once her ring and little fingers were back in their proper positions from their very obviously wrong positions, she closed the cover and then rolled her glove down even farther, opened the forearm cover, and took out and replaced a number of parts. She closed this cover, too, and held her left hand out over the ocean. She moved her fingers one after the other, little finger to thumb, checked that they were all functioning, and only then, finally, did Alouette break into a relieved smile.

“Aah, I’m quite impressed that you could play the piano that well with an arm that breaks so often that it’s completely routine,” came a man’s entranced voice, and Alouette raised her head with a gasp.

Before she could pull her opera glove back up, a man grabbed her exposed synthetic. The man—Camicia—stared at her with fiery eyes.

“Magnificent!” he cried. “I had no idea a pianist such as yourself existed in this world!”

“Y-you were speaking with Theo earlier…,” Alouette said, and Camicia finally let go of her arm. She took a step back, almost cradling her left hand, while he bowed in a gentlemanly fashion.

“I must apologize for my excitement, miss,” he told her. “My name is Gino Camicia. I work at a company called Jikun Okajima Commerce. Here, my card.”

“…I must apologize as well.” She timidly accepted his card. “My name is Alouette. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to say hello at the party.”

“No, no, not at all,” Camicia replied with a grin. “You seemed to be quite tired. I’m actually part of a team that’s organizing a sort of gathering tomorrow. We’re inviting several groups, and I’ve been asked to provide the entertainment.”

“There are a number of programs, yes?” Alouette nodded congenially. “I’ve heard about it.”

“Would you also perform for us? Even a single song would be a delight.”

“Me? But, well, it’s rather sudden…” Her eyes grew round in surprise, and he spread out his arms as though overcome with emotion, seemingly unaware of how her shoulders trembled with fear.

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