“I don’t know how I’ll feel when I’m dead, But I don’t want to regret the way I lived.”
– Yuji Itadori
…
“Hmm?”
Hearing someone calling his name, Dick raised his head and looked at Dean with a confused expression.
“Dean? What did you just say?”
“I said, are you so interested because you’ve figured something out? It seems like there’s a riddle challenge going on in the school right now.”
Dean pointed behind him to the chaotic classroom, Dick’s face showing a keen interest, just like the other students.
“I’ve heard a lot of people give different answers, but they all make sense. Dick, you’re the smartest person I know, so I want to hear what you think about the mysterious notice.”
“Come on, I’m not as smart as you think. I was just casually looking at it, maybe my thoughts aren’t as good as others.”
Dick smiled at Dean, saying that he was just playing around.
“You’re acting as if it’s not looking at it. Go ahead and tell me, don’t worry, even if your answer is ridiculous, I won’t make fun of you.”
Dean playfully hooked his arm around Dick’s shoulder and teased him.
“Alright, then I’ll just say it. In fact, I haven’t fully deciphered the notice, but I have figured out some parts.”
Upon hearing this, Dean’s heart skipped a beat.
Dick’s choice of words, “haven’t fully deciphered” and “figured out,” meant that he had already deciphered more than half of the notice.
Although he didn’t really say it, Dick was clearly confident in his analysis.
Dick lowered his head, looking at the notice, and pointed to it, saying, “‘The grand and luxurious banquet of nobles’ mentioned here is clearly talking about the auction next Saturday that will gather upper-class people. Then, when Kronos returns to the origin…”
Just as he reached that point, Dean suddenly interrupted him.
“Wait, what about the line ‘Where no one remembers the tragedy of Troy’?”
“That line…”
Dick scratched his head in embarrassment.
“That’s the part I haven’t figured out. If you insist on solving the tragedy of Troy as the Helen who caused the war, or the Trojan Horse massacre at the end, it can be explained, but I always feel that it is too weird.”
“You’re right, it does sound a bit weird.”
Dean nodded seriously, agreeing with him.
“When Kronos returns to the origin, it was about the time when the Phantom Kid committed crimes.”
Dick continued with his interpretation.
“Kronos is the god of origin believed by Orphism, one of the three major religious groups of Greek mythology. It is the first cause of everything in the universe and also symbolizes time. When Kronos returns to the origin, he returns to the source of time. Of course, Phantom Thief Kid obviously can’t time travel, so this line means the starting point of the day, which is 00:00 or 12:00 a.m.”
“And finally… ‘Hermes will appear before the eyes of all, revealing the final deception.'”
Dick held his chin with both hands and said, “Hermes is talking about Phantom Kid himself because Hermes is the god of thieves, which is the most appropriate name to use. Revealing the deception most likely has something to do with the rumors spreading the upcoming auction of the ‘World’s Largest Pink Diamond.'”
“When looking at it this way, it seems like Phantom Thief Kid’s goal isn’t to steal something, but to expose a deception…”
As Dick reached this point, he began to have a silent expression. His face was filled with confusion, and his voice became quieter.
“But, why would he do this?”
“What is the motive behind Phantom Thief Kid’s actions? If he’s not interested in money, why steal precious gems?”
Looking at Dick deeply immersed in thought, Dean’s eyes showed admiration.
He truly was a person trained by Batman. It took him such a short time to decipher the notice, missing only the last detail.
‘But even if you decipher it, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will understand my plan. It is better to say that this notice is meant for people to understand.’
A glimmer of cunning flashed in Dean’s eyes. After this conversation with Dick, he knew that this Wonder Boy was following his lead.
He shook Dick’s shoulder, snapping him out of his deep thoughts.
“Hey! Dick, what are you thinking about?”
Dick came back to reality and nervously laughed.
“Sorry, I was just thinking deeply about something.”
At that moment, Dick suddenly turned his head and stared at Dean. He asked, “Dean, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Do you know a magician who is proud of his magic talent that he can’t be satisfied with just performing only on stage and getting the idea of using magic for attention and committing criminal activities?”
Dick asked seriously.
“Dean, you are the best magician I have ever met. You must know much more than me about the people and things in this circle.”
“Are you asking if it’s possible to investigate who Phantom Thief Kid is through the identity of a magician?”
Dean thought seriously about it for a while and then said, “To be honest, there are many magicians in Gotham who have similar thoughts, just like the clowns in the circus who want to kill people.”
“But magicians who can reach the level of Phantom Thief Kid are very rare. There are no more than twenty famous, including myself. As for whether there are any hidden geniuses among those unknown and homeless magicians, I don’t know.”
Dean didn’t deliberately reduce his suspicion of being Phantom Thief Kid but directly stated that he has the related knowledge.
After all, these are public information, and saying “I couldn’t be Phantom Kid” would make him even more suspicious.
“Twenty, huh… Thanks, Dean,”
Dick nodded, understanding the situation.
“Speaking of which, why are you asking this all of a sudden?”
At that moment, Dean intentionally put on a curious expression and stared at Dick for a long time.
“I remember that when everyone talked about Phantom Kid before, you looked like you didn’t care. Why are you suddenly curious today?”
Dean suspiciously asked Dick.
“Also, you always seem very active in the news about supervillains, but you never seem interested in the topic of Batman and Robin from the beginning…Dick, could it be that you are…?”
Of course, Dean knew why Dick suddenly asked about the magician.
He is Robin, a superhero, and it is normal for him to want to catch Phantom Thief Kid, a supervillain.
As Robin, he had a close relationship with Batman, so it was also normal for Dick to be deaf to the absurd speculations about Batman from outsiders.
But the problem is that Dick doesn’t know that Dean knows that he is Robin.
Faced with Dean’s sharp gaze, Dick was stunned for a moment.
“Could it be… you’re a member of the Supervillain Fan Club?”
Dean asked with a serious tone.
“…”
