Chapter 53

The green-eyed young man hid behind the dark-haired youth with absolute trust. His submissive posture was so practiced that he looked precisely like a loyal servant.

"I remember now," Verlaine said with an air of sudden realization. "You must be that rumored dog of Dazai Osamu in the Port Mafia, aren't you?"

Takizawa Sei's expression shifted subtly. He first glanced sideways at Dazai Osamu, and realizing the other person had no intention of stopping him from speaking, he replied, "Sir, your way of greeting can no longer be described as merely impolite." He seemed quite accepting of such an insulting label, even turning it into a joke. "If possible, I would prefer you to use 'vicious hound' to describe me."

Verlaine used the exaggerated tone characteristic of Europeans. "My, what a bizarre relationship you two have."

"A vicious hound? Is the only difference between a vicious hound and a dog that the former sounds more imposing simply because you are fierce?" He curved the corners of his lips into a slightly mocking smile. "Yet from my perspective, you are not strong at all. Could it be that you possess some special ability?"

Crouching behind Dazai Osamu and poking out only half of his upper body, Takizawa Sei retorted, "Do you know why a vicious hound is fierce? Because it has a master!"

If conditions permitted, Takizawa Sei would have loved to intimidate Verlaine thoroughly, but unfortunately, he was probably no match for the man, and the system was screaming frantically in his mind.

Verlaine: "..."

The blonde man was briefly stunned by such a candid description. As he looked at Takizawa Sei, a mix of critical appraisal and amusement crept into his gaze. "I see... Are you trying to say that you will protect him? But what are you doing right now? Hiding behind your master?"

He spread his arms and tempted, "Since you sensed that I did not come with good intentions, why didn't you come forward and tear into me? Perhaps I might have let you succeed a little bit out of sheer carelessness."

An arrogant and unreasonable man.

Takizawa Sei silently evaluated him in his heart.

Nervously, he clutched the hem of Dazai Osamu's garment at the waist. This tiny action probably could not escape the Assassin King's eyes, yet none of the three people present deliberately mentioned it.

Dazai Osamu allowed Takizawa Sei to tug at his clothes. His lifeless-looking eyes stared deadened at Verlaine, showing neither surprise nor hesitation at the man's arrival, as if he held no expectations whatsoever for his own situation or his impending future—whether he lived or died was entirely irrelevant.

Yet only Takizawa Sei, who was closest to him, knew that the other's body was stiff, instinctively putting on a facade of nonchalance.

Why had he adopted such an attitude of facing a formidable enemy? At the time, Takizawa Sei had wondered if it could possibly be because of him.

After all, compared to Dazai Osamu, who possessed No Longer Human, Takizawa Sei undoubtedly appeared much more fragile when facing ability users.

"Are Europe's Transcendents also interested in small-time characters like us?" Dazai Osamu finally spoke, his voice heavy with a deep-seated misanthropy. "Before you let things become irremediable, shouldn't you harbor some doubts about your own intelligence-gathering capabilities?"

Verlaine paused. "Are you implying that there are many things I do not know?"

He saw through them at a glance, recognizing who held the intellectual supremacy, and asked, "How fascinating. Just when did you know I was coming?"

"Perhaps giving examples will make you believe it more... You once searched for where birch branches could be sold in this city, visited the Sheep's base in the Naka-gai, and abducted a stray Port Mafia member to acquire the most basic intelligence... Every single one of these actions fell right into the eyes of the Port Mafia's informants."

The Port Mafia had paid the highest level of attention to this aggressive foreign Transcendent.

Since the other's intentions were difficult to gauge and his actions uncontrollable, they had no choice but to feed him some information to guide his subsequent moves, ensuring his actions remained as predictable as possible.

Originally—

Upon learning that the man harbored the objective of "killing everyone Chuuya cares about," a prime directive had surfaced in Dazai Osamu's mind.

The prime directive usually ensured only collective interests, completely disregarding whatever sacrifices were made along the way. As long as one achieved a victorious outcome through ruthless means within this dark world where a pact of life and death was signed upon entry—even if the plan included himself and everyone else, the price of failure was nothing more than total ruin and annihilation for all.

Yet Dazai Osamu had also contemplated the existence of a most peaceful way to resolve this conflict.

As long as he could grasp the Assassin King's personality and overcome the immediate crisis.

"It seems you certainly know a great deal," Verlaine said with keen interest. "The intelligence I've gathered so far is indeed limited. I only know that the organization 'Sheep,' once founded by Chuuya, dissolved a year ago, and its members scattered everywhere. Meanwhile, his firmest bonds now lie with the organization he joined: the Port Mafia. I also heard that you and Chuuya once resolved the previous boss's resurrection incident together, and presumably, you established a so-called 'comradely bond' with him? But none of that compares to..."

His gaze swept past Dazai Osamu and landed on Takizawa Sei.

"...'Takizawa Sei,' who spent many years with Chuuya and followed him from the Sheep to the Port Mafia."

Having been named, the sensation of being targeted by a ferocious beast welled up from the depths of Takizawa Sei's heart.

Through Verlaine's successive descriptions, he perceived something—

"I've heard that Takizawa often stayed close to Chuuya even before the Sheep disbanded, yet after entering the Port Mafia, instead of assisting Chuuya, he stays by your side every day professing his loyalty."

Did the other think he had betrayed Chuuya?

Carefully clutching Dazai Osamu's shoulder, Takizawa Sei called out, "Boss! Get this straight, Chuuya doesn't need me to assist him!"

Nakahara Chuuya stayed by Executive Kouyou's side, absorbing knowledge like a sponge, and the gemstone distribution channels he needed to manage had already been cleared by Dazai Osamu. He wouldn't commit suicide, and no one could defeat him in a fight; standing by his side, Takizawa Sei would simply look like dead weight—not to mention that Takizawa Sei had spent over half a year working in a luxury boutique.

"Do you understand Chuuya well?" Verlaine asked, probing him with his gaze.

"...Better than you do."

"That goes without saying, since you've spent the longest time with him." Verlaine inexplicably felt a sense of being provoked. "Then, as a greeting between brothers, tell me what kind of person Chuuya is."

"..."

"Not talking? Then your value is gone."

"What an utterly unreasonable fellow," Dazai Osamu chimed in at that moment.

Only Takizawa Sei sensed the murderous intent wrapping around Dazai's body.

"If you can't trust us, you should at least trust Mr. Randou."

Verlaine fell silent for a moment. "...Randou?"

His voice grew dry. "Let me think. You people gave my dear friend a similarly sounding Japanese name, though it's possible he wanted it himself—though it hardly matters now. As far as I know, he died last year during the previous boss's resurrection incident."

"That's precisely why I said you need to refine your intelligence-gathering skills," Dazai Osamu said sharply. "Because outside rumors are sometimes mistaken."

The blonde man's expression blurred.

He blinked in a daze, displaying for the first time since his appearance an expression of astonishment as things slipped beyond his expectations. Those eyes, so similar to Chuuya's, widened, carrying a trace of bewilderment amidst his shock.

"You mean to say... my dear friend, Rimbaud, is not dead?"

Chuuya only had eight years of memories; he had only appeared after the explosion at the Yokohama military base, a fact Takizawa Sei was well aware of.

Of course they knew, because the very ability user who had led Chuuya out of the chaos—and in a sense, given birth to him—was not dead!

Paul Rimbaud was not dead.

"Do you dare to see him?" Dazai Osamu asked. "Having betrayed him back then, do you still have the face to see him now? Yet it seems he doesn't blame you at all; he still wants to find you and make amends."

Verlaine and Rimbaud were the masterminds behind the military base explosion.

Verlaine stiffly pulled at the corners of his mouth, momentarily wearing a fragile, almost evasive expression. "I think you must be mistaken... Since I betrayed him, it is impossible for me to harbor any lingering affection for him." Deep isolation filled his eyes. "Artificial gods do not possess true emotions."

Artificial gods were tragedies in their own right.

Gods never truly existed; they were merely definitions created by humanity—unnatural forces. The gods they forged were looked down upon and replicated, serving merely as containers to bear such power and desire, designated weapons. Yet they would receive evaluations like "You are so much like a human" and "You are no different from human beings"—receiving love on one hand while being denied treatment as equals on the other. They were the most pathetic existences.

"Can't you just say these things directly to Big Brother Randou?" Takizawa Sei could no longer bear to watch. He couldn't stand hearing such words, because Chuuya himself had suffered over whether or not he was human. "Chuuya has talked to me about his distress, but my attitude is that regardless of whether he is human or not, my way of treating him will never change."

Without a shred of fear, he met the European Transcendent's eyes directly and stated firmly, "Even if my love were given to a nonsensical artificial string of characters, it wouldn't matter!"

"..."

A synchronized silence fell over the room.

Neither Verlaine nor Dazai Osamu spoke.

The dark-haired youth turned his head to glance at Takizawa Sei, only to receive a blank, uncomprehending look in return.

Listening to the abnormal pounding of his own heart, Verlaine coldly spat out, "You are truly hypocritical."

Takizawa Sei: "??!"

"What?" he asked.

"While professing your love for Chuuya in front of me, your actions tell me that your love has been given to someone else."

... Huh?

Takizawa Sei felt that the man's train of thought was abnormally exasperating. "What on earth are you referring to? Must affection be categorized into tiers? Must I love him by clinging to him every single second?"

Yet, in Verlaine's understanding, affection was precisely that kind of thing.

He asked a childish yet fatal question: "If Dazai and Chuuya were both falling into the water, which one would you save?"

Takizawa Sei: "..."

Beside him, Dazai Osamu suddenly yanked Takizawa behind his back and preemptively answered, "Oh? Falling into the water, you say? That would be wonderful indeed; I don't need rescuing, I only want to sink to the bottom of the water all by myself."

"Screech—BOOM!!!"

A piercing shriek followed by a violent explosion instantly erupted. This shipping container, furnished with such meticulous comfort, finally met its end today.

It was brutally devastated. Whether it was the newly hung winter-proof blankets or the clock representing time and the future, everything was reduced to ashes by that fiercely hurled, immensely powerful coin. The ground was crushed as if run over by a heavy roller, and the side of the container directly facing Verlaine was blasted open into a massive gaping hole—shattered completely by gravitational ability.

And in the area flattened by the shockwave of the ability—