Chapter 3: The Scheming Alexander
Since the place was filled with replicas and the authentic items were held by the Suzuki family, Hikigaya and Alexander left the Edo-Tokyo Museum after only a brief look.
Whether an item was a fake or the real deal clearly didn't matter to Alexander. It mattered even less to Hikigaya.
This was because he and Alexander only truly cared about one thing: who exactly was the King of the End?
The title "King of the End," combined with the Holy Grail and a sword—the connection between these three first reminded Hikigaya of the epitaph for King Arthur after his death: "Here lies Arthur, the once and future king."
That phrase represented the most glorious and darkest eras of the Arthurian dynasty.
Three Knights of the Round Table, through their piety, kindness, and purity, passed God's test and became victorious Job-like figures; by divine grace, they saw the Holy Grail with their own eyes, received delicacies and wine unheard of by mortal men, were enlightened by God, and were commanded to take the Grail out of the land of impurity.
Conversely, the knights who failed the test walked the path of destruction—though, given the typical behavior of those guys, Hikigaya figured they would have played themselves to death sooner or later even without the Grail incident.
'You guys... seriously, if you're not sleeping with your boss's wife, you're indulging in the slaughter of innocents. If characters like that got a happy ending, how could the story even be written?'
One must remember that back then, the mainstream audience included many feudal lords, and "Sir Knight" types made up the bulk of the demographic; they were the type of people who could show up at your door to personally deliver a "blade" (feedback).
As the old ancestors said: "If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be slanted."
Just look at King Arthur himself. To have three knights actually pass the "quest" successfully, his ancestral grave must have been designed like a volcano (exploding with luck).
However, given his own two experiences of traveling to ancient times, Hikigaya couldn't help but harbor a malicious suspicion: would the so-called "delicacies unheard of by mortals" just turn out to be something like KFC?
And as for "God's enlightenment," it wouldn't be surprising if some shameless time-traveler had simply put on a very convincing cosplay.
Well, the above was just him rambling in his head because he had nothing better to do. After all, KFC shouldn't be that easy to come by, right?
But if it were King Arthur, no matter how much the legend evolved, it shouldn't really stretch all the way to Japan.
In the Middle Ages, Japan's channels for receiving foreign culture were extremely limited, mostly coming through China and Korea. Looking back at the history of how foreign cultures were "re-educated" once they finally reached the Central Plains after great hardship, one can guess how the ancient Chinese civilization—with its elegant title of "Far East Medieval Cultural Department"—would treat the products of "barbarian" cultures.
To expect medieval Japan to have contact with authentic Western myths?
Hikigaya felt it was more realistic to expect his sister to get into Tokyo University on her own academic merit.
Therefore, Hikigaya didn't doubt for a second that Alexander was simply killing time. And not just killing time, but being an absolute nuisance about it.
This guy actually insisted on going at 8:00 PM, exactly when the museum was preparing to close—which was also when "Kid-kun" was scheduled to visit. He wouldn't go a single second earlier.
As for the Suzuki family, Hikigaya didn't know them, so he didn't care. Besides, wouldn't it be interesting to see "Laundry-Machine-kun" (Shinichi), who believes in science and logical deduction, run into Campiones, whose very existence defies both?
As for "negotiating" with the Suzuki family...
Considering this habitual thief of a Prince had asked him right before leaving if he was close to anyone named Suzuki, Hikigaya would be an idiot to believe him! If Voban said he was going to "negotiate," Hikigaya would have a higher level of trust—when that old man says he's going to negotiate, he absolutely means it, even if the "negotiation" could be titled "The Dark Middle Ages."
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The next day, unable to withstand Alexander's relentless pestering, Hikigaya arrived at the roof across from the Suzuki Museum... just before 8:00 PM.
He had put on a black suit and a tie, topped with a black trench coat. Beside him, Alexander was dressed in the exact same outfit, except his was white.
This look was incredibly stupid. Most importantly, even if you like the "Black and White Reapers" aesthetic, shouldn't you at least wear a mask to cover your face?
"Shouldn't we get some masks?" Hikigaya asked Alexander, feeling irritable while standing on the windy rooftop.
'MMP, why isn't it 8:00 yet? The wind up here is huge.'
Earlier, when he said he thought this would be "interesting," he hadn't included himself in the equation. Had he known Alexander was so desperate to drag him along for a heist—and even wanted matching outfits—he wouldn't have been so agreeable.
"Masks don't really suit people like us," Alexander said, looking quite happy. Then, Hikigaya watched him pull out a mask anyway. "But as a friend, I will certainly respect your preferences."
'Respect my preferences, my foot. This is just embarrassing myself to high heaven.'
Hikigaya took the mask, only to find it was a Monkey King (Sun Wukong) Beijing Opera mask. 'Why didn't you just get a White Bone Demon mask while you were at it?!'
With a crisp crack, Hikigaya crushed the mask into pieces and burned them with a handful of fire.
"You don't like it?" Alexander asked in surprise.
"No. Wearing that thing would be even more embarrassing than just showing my face," Hikigaya said, before adding: "Consider this a favor you owe me!"
"Haha! No problem!" Alexander laughed heartily.
What should one do upon discovering a potential companion?
Alexander believed the answer was obviously to use sweet words to lure them into a heist.
Once they got a taste for it, they would eventually start inviting him to pull heists together. Alexander was firmly convinced that Hachiman Hikigaya, who possessed the same lightning speed, must also share his philanthropic heart for "borrowing" things.
He was merely helping Hikigaya open that door. Furthermore, he had already decided: this time they would "borrow" from Japan, and next time he would invite Hikigaya to the British Museum as a return gesture.
He had heard Hachiman was quite fond of Ancient Egyptian civilization; maybe next time they could go "borrow" a mummy for fun.
"There should be two swords," he said to Hikigaya. "Supposedly related to the Japanese gods of Wind and Thunder. One for each of us, how about it?"
"Whatever." Hikigaya was already crouching down out of boredom, staring intently at his watch. "Does it have to be eight? Can't we go earlier?"
"One must be punctual," Alexander laughed. "Look, that magician is also very punctual."
From the Suzuki Museum across the street, a roar of cheers erupted. It had to be said that the "fanservice" effect of a handsome magician playing a phantom thief game was immense. Business at the Suzuki Museum today was terrifyingly good; long queues had formed early on,
consisting mostly of young girls. Many people who couldn't get into the packed hall simply blocked the main entrance. As for the rule that the museum closed at 8:00 PM, this crowd clearly didn't take it seriously.
The cheers from the crowd inside the museum could be heard even at the gate. The girls blocking the entrance had already whipped out their phones, chanting in unison: "Master Kid, come out and let us have a good look!"
"Our turn."
Alexander revealed a smile that was both pretentious and crafty. With a flash of lightning, he vanished from the rooftop.
As for Hikigaya, he slightly regretted burning the mask. Scratching his head and gritting his teeth, he kicked off the ground and followed.
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