The unlikely trio dine together at a nearby eatery that just so happens to be the midpoint between Kunikida's school and the Armed Detective Agency. The food isn't spectacular, but it is, in Ranpo's words, "serviceable, if a bit lacking in flair". Regardless, it whets their appetite and after a few minutes of banter and a game of "catch up" (Ranpo and Yosano are trying to get some dirt on some Port Mafia Boss called Mori Ougai), Kunikida directs his companions' attention to the true reason he sought them out.

"Bah! Philosophy!" Ranpo snorts as he stuffs a bit of cake and icing into his mouth. "Who cares? Every philosophical idea is inherently good, bad, and so insufferably generic, that it both describes and defies all human logic."

Yosano, on the other hand, is a bit more subdued.

"I was never a fan of the metaphorical." She casts a shrewd eye on the ever present notebook entitled the "Ideal". "Or ideal. But I must say, I never thought to take you seriously earlier. What of it?"

"Well, I was wondering. Perhaps, let's say you were a given a weapon that could kill anyone you wished within seconds by just...one simple action and you don't have to witness it. Would you use it?"

Ranpo scratches his head and gazed at Kunikida. For once, his eyes are staring straight in Kunikida's. Never before has the blond ever seen such a brilliant shade of green.

"Do you really want to follow that train of thought?"

Kunikida is ashamed to admit that, yes, he would like to.

But before Kunikida has a chance to fully provide an answer, Yosano is already hot on his heels.

With a little more enthusiasm than is necessary, Yosano says, "Why not? Who is to say that the weapon is actually a weapon? If you were to predetermine a death, is it really murder?"

"It's not predetermination, you're actively causing the death of a human." Kunikida grouses. He looks to Ranpo to interfere, but the genius detective only wipes the lenses of his spectacles.

"But how would you know what's predetermined and what's not? What if this entire conversation was orchestrated from the very start? Perhaps we're even reading a script from some long forgotten play —"

"If that's the case," Ranpo interrupts, "then we're in a poorly written story."

"We're getting off track." The blond man steeples his hands and looks at his friends. His only friends, if he were being honest. "I guess the main root of the argument is this: if you could kill without being caught, would you do it?"

Yosano shrugs.

"If I wasn't bound to the Hippocratic Oath, why not?" She looks as if she were about to say something else, but thinks better of it. Knowing that he would not get a better answer from the doctor, Kunikida turns to the detective.

"Kill without being present. Kill without remorse—for, if you don't see it happen, did it actually occur? You're asking the wrong question, Kunikida. You should be asking, would you feel guilty if you murdered someone in such a way?"

"I'm not saying I would happily go—"

"And I'm not saying you will," Ranpo emphasizes with a roll of his brilliant green eyes. "I'm just following your train of thought."

Kunikida suddenly can't breathe.

"And where do you think it will lead?"

Before either Ranpo and Yosano can interject, the waiter comes by with the check. Matter forgotten, both of his friends start haggling over the price.

Slightly bemused, slightly hollow, Kunikida leans back in his seat and thinks.