Elephant mating season

"Distinguished guests, dear visitors!"

"Welcome to Ocean World at Gotham City Zoo for our seal show! Let's experience the wonders of Ocean World together!"

"Let's forget the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a while and let our spirits find complete freedom in this sea of blue!"

The host was dressed in a suit and tie, though the purple suit paired with a white shirt and tie looked rather odd.

"Why get everyone so fired up over a seal balancing a ball...?" Roland watched the seal show from the Aquarium entrance, utterly bored.

"Boss, if you've really got nothing to do, you could come help us move the goods."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... seals are worth watching." Roland turned his head back and watched the Aquarium show with rapt attention.

His underlings exchanged glances, then dutifully got back to work.

Inside the Aquarium, the performances were genuinely impressive. Strangely, though, while most visitors had brought their children, the front row was occupied by a line of young Italian men in suits.

"Cousin Luca, look over there..." One of the young men spotted Roland and asked quietly, "Wasn't Cousin Simon supposed to be stationed there?"

"He must be someone Simon assigned," Luca whispered. "Don't worry about that side. Simon's always been reliable. There's no need for us to fuss."

What he didn't know was that Gordon had already arrested Simon and taken him to the Police Station for urgent questioning.

"Why do I feel like I've never seen that guy before?"

"Idiot. It's safer precisely because you've never seen him."

"I..."

"Enough. Just enjoy the show."

Just then, the Aquarium lights abruptly went out, sending cries of alarm rippling through the audience.

"Don't worry, everyone. This is part of our performance." The host's laughter rang out in the darkness, then a spotlight shone down on him.

Oddly enough, under the light, the host was green from head to toe, and a cane had somehow appeared in his hand.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Edward Nygma, but you can also call me Riddler." Riddler grinned. "But I'm not the star of today's show. Let me introduce our special guest—the Holiday Killer!"

"Where does this guy get such an overwhelming urge to perform?" Falcone watched from the shadows, feeling a headache coming on.

"Maybe that's why he was sent to Arkham Asylum instead of Blackgate Penitentiary." Falcone's trusted aide was left rather speechless by the theatrics, too.

"Whatever. None of that matters, as long as we catch the Holiday Killer."

Once Riddler finished speaking, the spotlight on him swept around the venue before finally stopping at the Aquarium entrance.

Roland looked behind him. There was nothing there.

"Who would've thought the Holiday Killer was a priest?" Riddler chuckled when he saw Roland. "Well? Aren't you going to run?"

"...Would you believe me if I said you've got the wrong person?"

"Heh heh heh..." Riddler laughed. "I deliberately left a gap in our defenses at the Aquarium entrance, waiting for you to take the bait. I knew that after you finished them off, you'd stay right there and watch us in our clueless confusion, thinking you could effortlessly toy with us all..."

Roland's face darkened. What the hell was he talking about? Thank goodness this bastard was a supervillain. If he were a judge, wouldn't he convict people based on his imagination?

"Wrong guess, moron."

A voice suddenly came through the speakers, followed by a gunshot that shattered the spotlight.

Roland turned and ran, calling for his underlings to forget about business and get out of there.

Gunfire erupted inside the Aquarium. Roland had no idea what was happening, but people soon started running out.

Roland had just caught sight of the Gotham City Zoo entrance, but mobsters had already sealed it off, giving him a real headache.

He wasn't the Holiday Killer these people were talking about, but there was no telling whether those mobsters included another genius like Riddler. Roland didn't dare head that way.

Domain Expansion.

Word Spirit: Kamaitachi!

Roland immediately released his word spirit, gathering the sounds from the surrounding area as he ran toward somewhere less crowded.

As luck would have it, another person on the run was also heading somewhere less crowded.

"Hello there." Harvey couldn't help laughing when he ran into the unlucky fellow who had taken the blame for him again.

"...You're the Holiday Killer?" Roland asked curiously.

"I am the Holiday Killer, but the Holiday Killer isn't me."

"Okay, I have no idea what you're talking about." Roland shrugged. "Do you have a way out?"

"No. The zoo walls are topped with electrified fencing. Forget us—even an elephant would get knocked out." Harvey shook his head. "Besides, they might have set up other traps. If we try climbing over the walls, we'll be spotted easily."

"Then what do we do?" Roland asked.

"For now, we can only hide inside the zoo," Harvey said. "Once they decide we've already escaped and ease up on guarding the entrance, we can seize our chance to get out. But... where can we hide from their search?"

"Didn't you mention elephants just now?" Something suddenly occurred to Roland, and his expression turned very strange. "Have you watched Animal World?"

"No." Seeing Roland's expression, Harvey had a bad feeling.

"Did you know you can hide two people inside an elephant?" Roland asked. "Hey, why aren't you saying anything? What are you thinking about?"

"...I'm thinking about killing you, the elephant, and those bastards from Falcone."

Ten minutes later, Harvey said those words from inside a female elephant.

"That's how you repay a favor? If it weren't for me and this elephant, those guys would've caught you already," Roland said, holding his breath.

"I'd rather they caught me." Harvey sighed. "At least I wouldn't be suffering like this."

"Says who? They're the Mob. They have absolutely no limits, understand?" Roland said. "If they'd caught you, you'd be getting stretched out like this by a male elephant right now."

"I wouldn't go that far." Though Harvey had little faith in those scumbags having any limits, using an elephant to torture someone was still far too bizarre an idea.

"By the way, what month is it again?" At this point in the conversation, something suddenly occurred to Roland, and a chill ran down his spine.

"March first. Hasn't Gotham Zoo been advertising International Seal Day for the past few days?" Harvey answered, watching in confusion as Roland's expression grew increasingly grim. "Is something wrong?"

"...Do you know when elephant mating season is?"

"...What?" Harvey swallowed. He seemed to have guessed something.

"Elephant mating season mainly falls between February and March each year." Roland shared the obscure fact he had learned from Animal World.