It happened one day. I was enjoying some idle conversation with Kuro, who had come over to visit, when she suddenly seemed to remember something and called out to the empty air.
"Oh, that's right. Shaltier, do you have a moment?"
"Yeah, yeah, what is it?"
"I have a few more requests regarding the patents. I'd like these to be made public for free, and I want you to collect royalties on these others."
"Understood."
Alice appeared the moment Kuro called her name, and Kuro handed over several documents. Come to think of it, I recalled hearing that Alice managed Kuro's patents. In exchange, she received a percentage of the licensing fees, which must have been a vital source of income for her.
"...Hah, but really, having Kaito-kun around makes it so much easier to get in touch with Shaltier. It’s a lifesaver."
"Oh? Was it that hard to contact her before?"
"Oh, absolutely! Shaltier doesn't have a fixed base, and she vanishes in an instant. The only time you can be certain to meet her is during the Hero Festival. At any other time, if I had business with her, I had to start by hunting her down!"
Kuro seemed to have struggled even more than I’d imagined. As she spoke, she clenched her fist tight. It was rare to hear her voice her frustrations so clearly; I could tell it must have been quite the ordeal.
"By the way, how did you usually get a hold of her?"
"The executives—the members of the Ten Demons—are the only ones who have a Magic Tool Directly Connected to Shaltier. I’d have to track one of them down and ask them to relay a message. But the members of the Ten Demons are often scattered about, or in hiding, and sometimes they’re away on missions. Even that was a massive pain."
"Ah, I see..."
"And what makes it worse is that Shaltier obviously knows when I’m looking for her—she even knows what I want! And yet, she never gets back to me until I reach out from my end... She’s so spiteful!"
It seemed that Kuro had built up quite a bit of resentment. Alice looked visibly awkward... or rather, she was averting her gaze, hoping Kuro’s wrath wouldn't turn toward her. Actually, the spearhead had been aimed squarely at Alice from the start, but since I was the one listening, Kuro was currently venting to me.
"And what’s more, Shaltier often drops by just to hang out when I don't have anything particular to do. But when I actually need to talk to her, she’s nowhere to be found... Honestly, Shaltier... you were doing that on purpose, weren't you? It was definitely intentional, the way you’d disappear whenever I was looking for you."
"...No way, that’s not it at all. It’s just that Alice-chan is a very busy person, so it was hard for me to make time to get in touch."
"...Hmm... Hey, Kaito-kun, what do you think? Was it on purpose or not? Just give me your gut feeling."
"Kuro-san, could you not do that? You know, tossing a question to the person most likely to guess the truth on a whim..."
Having thrown the subject to Alice, she was now demanding my opinion. Well, if it’s just a gut feeling...
"...Well, I don't have any real evidence, but I’d say it’s fifty-fifty. I'm sure there were times when she was truly busy, but there were probably also times where she didn't show up just to tease you or play a prank... No, it’s really just a hunch, though..."
"I see, I see. So, Shaltier... half of it was on purpose, then?"
"Kuro-san, let's think about this rationally. Kaito-san is just saying whatever popped into his head, right? There’s no basis for it. Don’t you think it’s cruel to say such things without presenting any Evidence?"
"Ebi-dance?"
"Don’t make such a ridiculous mistake on purpose, it puts a weird image in my head... It’s 'Evidence,' evidence. You know, like backing or proof."
As I thought, the two of them were actually quite close; the conversation was proceeding like a comedy routine. Of course, Alice was breaking out in a cold sweat as she tried to bluff her way out, while Kuro watched her with sharp eyes, making sure she didn't escape.
"U-Umm, well, it’s true there’s no basis or proof, so it might be a bit of a stretch to unilaterally decide that Shaltier acted out of malice..."
"Exactly! It’s wrong to put a crack in the friendship between me and Kuro-san for such an arbitrary reason! Kaito-san is just spitballing based on a hunch."
"I see..."
"......"
"......"
"...But, I was right, wasn't I?"
"...Well, you were so spot on that I’m actually impressed— Ow!?"
It seemed my "hunch" had hit the nail on the head. A fist from Kuro came down hard on the head of Alice, who was wearing an incredibly annoying "oopsie" grin.
Serious-senpai: "When Kaito is around, she always keeps a Split Body at the General Store, and since she's always acting as his guard, she's easy to find. It must have made things so much easier for Kuro."