Nine’s Contract Public Enemy Number91 Volume 1 Prologue

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Chapter ninety: Prologue and Epilogue -Take two-

„All ravens are black,”spoke the man in black.

He wore a black shirt, narrow black jeans and black sneakers. Combined with his carelessly scattered, stiff black hair, he could have been easily mistaken for a Shinigami.

As if to reinforce this impression, he wore a big skull ring from Crazy Pig Designs on his right index finger.

“All ravens are black. That’s the central thesis of Carl Gustav Hempel’s Raven Paradox. Have you heard of it?”

A leather sofa was placed across from the glass table, making it appear like the reception area of an agency.

Though it became clear upon seeing the letters “Ichijiku’s detective agency” on the door inlaid with frosted glass. This was a detective agency after all.

But calling this a reception would have been an exaggeration.

It wasn’t a particularly spacious room. Near the entrance stood a short table and sofa. Meanwhile, an unused desk was placed at the back of the room, on top of which an old telephone was put. It reflected the rays of the setting sun that shone through the window in a strangely deep black.

Various shelves were placed along the walls, following no obvious pattern. The books themselves bore more resemblance to a three-dimensional puzzle as they were put in without any attention to their format. Any visitor would instantly take note of this sloppiness.

Finally, an old TV stood lonely on top of a small shelf.

The man in black sat inconsiderately on the couch in a hunched forward posture.

“I don’t know.”

A short response was pouted at the man’s previous question by a girl’s voice, that was as sharp and delicate as a glass splitter.

A girl sat on the sofa opposite the man in black.

Or could you call this sitting? Rather, she was leaning on the armrest with her back and sloppily stretched out her legs as if she was lying down.

At the same time, she thrusted her hand into a cheap candy packet she probably bought from a penny candy shop. She got a hold of a peach colored sugar candy and moved it into her tiny mouth. Her crunchy chewing filled the room.

Her legs were dressed in a pair of black knee-high socks, rounded off by round enamel shoes.

She too was solely wearing black.

The skirt of her black one-piece would have reached up a little above her knee if she were to stand up. Though, she evidently didn’t mind how it was slightly lifted up by her legs.

Meanwhile, the man wasn’t merely wearing black. From his black hair to tanned skin, everything about him was uniformly black.

In contrast, the girl had moist and fine silver hair. Her bangs were evenly cut around her eyebrows. Even though she had short hair, she let one part on the left grow out to braid it. A black ribbon around its end topped it all off. Surprisingly, her skin was surprisingly white to an almost unhealthy degree.

The man in black continued.

“Crows are black animals. So, the thesis ‘All crows are black’ appears correct. And with each black crow we see this thesis or rather hypothesis becomes more and more credible. However, once we see a crow that isn’t black, it will instantly be disproven.”

He raised his right ring finger, apparently to undermine the explanatory tone of his words. The big skull ring shone dimly.

“You could also word ‘All crows are black’ as ‘Everything that’s not black isn’t a crow’. Did you watch the movie The Crow with Brandon Lee?”

“I didn’t.”

Another sharp answer came from the girl. It was clearly her way of telling him to shut up, but it was unclear whether the man understood the message or not.

“The movie is about a man who’s killed together with his lover. But he becomes a messenger for the underworld and is resurrected as a crow to take revenge on his murderers. However, a few days before filming ended, Brandon Lee was accidentally killed on set.”

And so on and so forth.

Meanwhile, the girl ignored his words and continued munching on her candy.

The man continued.

“’All things that aren’t black aren’t ravens’ is certainly logically equivalent to the original thesis of all ravens being black. This kind of relation is called a contraposition. One can form it by negating both parts of ‘If something’s A it has to be B’. If the original thesis is correct, so is its contraposition.”

The black girl remained silent.

She only continued gnawing on the peach colored candy with her back teeth, putting one piece after another into her mouth like the eagle its prey. Perhaps she was frustrated that the star- or rather sea urchin-shaped candies’ crumbles were landing everywhere.

“Let’s take pigeons for example. Wouldn’t you say they are white… or rather, ashen? Yeah, ashen fits. They aren’t black. So, they aren’t crows. According to the old testament, the crows copulated inside Noah’s ark. As a result of their misdoing they were recolored as black. Incidentally, the first animal that Noah sent outside the ark 47 days after the big flood, was a crow. It returned directly since it didn’t find a twig to rest on. The pigeon was sent next. Thereupon, it returned with an olive branch in its beak. After seven days, he sent it out again and as it never returned thereafter, he knew the water must have receded. What kind of story is this?”

“How should I know?”

She stuck her hand into the bag yet again, but it was already empty.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance and threw the no longer needed, crumbled bag at the man. However, it merely landed on the glass table, far off its intended destination, which only added onto her frustration. She began vibrating like the needle of a barometer.

“Ah, pigeons!”

The man loudly slapped his hands together.

“So, the ashen pigeon is an example in favor of the contraposition. As a result, it also undermines the initial hypothesis of ‘All crows are black’. But it’s an argument in favor of the contraposition of the whole thesis as well.“

He laughed viscously as his mouth twisted.

“Namely, the hypothesis that “All crows are white’. As its contraposition is ‘Everything that’s not white isn’t a crow’ and pigeons are obviously not crows. What a contradiction. Do you think a single observation should be able to prove two hypothesis? No, definitely not. In short, no matter how many black crows one sees, it can’t be accepted as proof. It merely makes it statistically more likely to be true. Wouldn’t it be the same as the statistical experiments in these fitness TV programs otherwise? You know, where they tell you how much weight one lost in a week? Even if they count the number of successful subjects, they’re not proof for their hypothetical product. That’s just…”

As the man wanted to continue his monologue…

The girl in black jumped up with a roar.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Shut up!”

Her scream could’ve been easily mistaken for a mistuned violin.

She put her enamel shoes on the table and pointed vigorously at the man.

“I hate your vast knowledge, I hate the way you speak and I hate your voice!”

“Sounds like you’re hating everything about me then.”

He answered as if to make fun of her, and laughed.

“Ah, sorry, I probably worded it incorrectly. I absolutely despise you!”

“I’m not done yet. Did you know that the verb ‘to entertain’ originated from the latin equivalent of ‘To keep going’? So, only those listening to the end will be entertained. And hey, where are your manners, Ichijiku? You shouldn’t put your feet on the table.”

“Shut it, Ninomae!”

The girl called Ichijiku kicked like a football player who aimed for a long pass from his own area of the field.

The hem of her one-piece skirt gently lifted upwards.

Her shoes cleanly hit the chin of the hunched forward sitting Ninomae.

“Ugh!”

He was forcefully bent backwards and fell behind the couch.

„Wawd waw wou wuing? Ai wiwd wai wongw!”

Deciphering his words, he likely said something like “What are you doing? I bit my tongue!”

“Naw, how unfortunate. If you had bitten it off, you could have never talked again.”

She said while flipping with her finger and a truly disappointed intonation.

“You’re too cruel! Violence isn’t a solution!”

“Stop being so annoying! Shut up! Or better, just die already!”

“What kind of work environment is this?! You craving a strike?! Bring me the person in charge!”

“I’m this detective office’s manager. I’m the person in charge.”

She put her hands on her waist and stuck out her tiny chest.

Even in this imposing stance, she was a mere 154 centimeters tall. Based on her figure, she couldn’t have been older than fourteen or maybe fifteen. No one would think she was the manager of a detective agency.

“I don’t care whether crows are black or white!”

“Don’t be so impulsive now. You seemed entertained judging by your narrow, dreamy eyes.”

“’Cause I was fed up! Can’t you be silent for one moment? Will you die without moving your mouth?! Then just die! I can’t stand your constant stream of words!”

“And here I thought I was educating you…”

“Shut up.”

She cut him off mid-sentence.

“Your arrogance is getting up my nose!”

Yet, he just clapped his hands together as if he remembered another interesting story.

“Oh right, ‘All swans are white’ existed as well. But did you know that there are also black swans?”

Having learned nothing, he continued again.

The girl held her head. She apparently fell into the condition best described as “ suffering from a headache”. Her braid and black ribbon amply dangled together with her tired head.

“You’re just like Odile, the daughter of the demon Rotbart. Are you familiar with the ballet ‘Swan Lake’, composed by Tchaikovsky? I’m talking about the scene where Prince Siegfried is enchanted by Princess Odette. She was cursed by Rotbart and transformed into a swan, only able to return to her human shape during the night. The prince fell in love with Odette’s beautiful silhouette he saw under the moonlight. On the other hand, Odile is a black swan. Yet her demon father altered her appearance so she looks just like Odette. Normally, both Odette and Odile are played by the same ballerina. The tragedy is set in motion when the prince chooses Odile to be his bride… Hey, are you listening?!”

“What a dull story. I’m going to sleep.”

Ignoring Ninomae, she was about to make her way into the nap room. She unwrapped a lollipop of unknown origin and stuffed it in her mouth.

“Isn’t it still evening?”

He said while pointing at the clock which hands showed it was 5 minutes after 5pm.

“Laziness isn’t such a grandiose crime. I think the world would be better off if humans would be late from napping or sleeping just five minutes longer.”

Ichikuji mumbled, still sucking on her lollipop.

“Real laziness is getting up at six in the morning to have more time to do nothing. Those were Tristan Bernards’ words.”

Upon hearing his words, her face deformed and a sound of a cracking lollipop echoed through the room.

“You really like the stuff humans create, huh?”

“If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”

“I see you found another smartass human quote.”

“I’m a nice demon who understands a joke after all.”

“You categorized yourself incorrectly. A familiar should know its place in and out.”

“I’m greedy. I want to own everything. I want to see everything. I want to know and understand everything. I’m a diligent, hard-working familiar basically.”

“You’re a liar basically.”

“Hey, are you saying I’m lazy?”

“Hey, are you saying you’re not lazy?”

“How rude.”

“It’s true though.”

“I’m not denying that.”

While the two argued back and forth, the door of Ichikuji’s detective agency was busted open with a deafening crashing sound.