Chapter 65

The female clerk carefully picked up the used water glass from the desk, then turned to Osamu Dazai, who was clearly spacing out at work, and said, "You're holding the report upside down. If you write like that, not only will you go outside the grid, but you'll also leave behind a mess of scribbles..."

Junichiro Tanizaki started with a start. "Ah, I'm sorry!"

He hurriedly straightened the document, but having no heart to finish today's assignment report, he turned his face toward the clerk and asked in a low voice, "Um... I want to know about those two people..."

"Huh? You mean Mr. Dazai and Mr. Takizawa?"

"Yeah, did those two do anything strange after they came in?"

"No. Instead of that, they even helped me chase away a customer who came to rob the place." The clerk pointed out the window with a calm expression. "You can't really call that rude person a customer, but after that guy was thrown out, he vanished. He probably got taken care of. Come to think of it, Mr. Ranpo must have anticipated long ago that they would come, which is why he felt at ease taking everyone out."

Junichiro Tanizaki's expression twisted slightly. "They went straight into the conference room. Although they didn't explain anything, my intuition tells me I'm not wrong—those two guys are from the Mafia! And they were carrying guns, too."

"It seems they are." The clerk cupped her cheeks. "But they really are elegant gentlemen, especially Mr. Dazai. He has an incomparably handsome face."

"Were you bribed by them or something?"

"Not only that, but their manners were also very gentlemanly. They were chatting with me the whole time before you guys arrived. Even boring topics were made humorous and funny by them, so when you guys came back, I even felt a sense of 'what a pity' and 'if only we had a little more time to spend together.'"

Junichiro Tanizaki looked somewhat ashamed, and then heard the clerk say with a smile, "Of course, my loyalty to the Detective Agency remains unchanged."

"Of course, I didn't mean to probe you..." The orange-haired young man uncomfortably scratched his hair. "It's just that it's my first time seeing figures like that... The ones rumored to always have ties with the Armed Detective Agency... the leader of the Port Mafia."

Inside the office, Ikuse Takizawa sat facing several members of the Armed Detective Agency, listening to Osamu Dazai and the bespectacled young man opposite him engage in a back-and-forth conversation that felt like a negotiation.

The content revolved around nothing more than the missions undertaken by the Armed Detective Agency, the cases investigated, the instances where the Port Mafia intervened, and so on, mixed with some banter. It felt just like old friends reminiscing; even though they were calculating favors and reciprocal debts, there was no sense of confrontation, and the overall atmosphere was very harmonious.

Listening to their unmasked conversation, Ikuse Takizawa realized that Osamu Dazai had already reached some sort of cooperative agreement with this organization.

Furthermore, it was he who had extended the initial goodwill.

Unexpectedly, the Armed Detective Agency had accepted cooperation with him... Then just what kind of presence was the Port Mafia in Yokohama? Since the olive branch they extended could be accepted by the Armed Detective Agency, their code of conduct must also be acceptable to them.

They must have reached a consensus on certain aspects.

A secret joy spread in Ikuse Takizawa's chest. His hand, hanging beneath the table, casually toyed with the strap of Osamu Dazai's trench coat. He managed to read a self-deluded indulgence out of the warning glance Dazai shot his way, and nonchalantly pretended to receive no information at all, continuing to tug at the hem of the other's coat in what could be called a solemn occasion.

Because Ikuse Takizawa had only discovered today—

Osamu Dazai had not left himself isolated and helpless.

Everything Ikuse Takizawa had done was not meaningless. The other party was already willing to actively build a circle of his own companions. Just like now, even though his identity was so sensitive, Kunikida Doppo, who conversed with him, only occasionally wore an irritated expression from being provoked, rather than a disgusted look of being threatened.

No wonder the rating for this mission was S-rank.

On the other side, the feeling of being intensely watched made it impossible for Ikuse Takizawa to ignore it any longer.

He raised his gaze toward the young man directly opposite him.

His eyes were narrowed into slits, yet Ikuse Takizawa still had the sensation that everything about him was being extracted by the other party.

The core of the Armed Detective Agency, possessing Ultra-Deduction—Edogawa Ranpo.

It was not their first time meeting. Ikuse Takizawa's past missions were too numerous to count. Compared to Osamu Dazai who issued commands, he was an all-purpose thug and an endlessly running errand boy who had shuttled through the alleys of Yokohama. Occasionally, he would listen to the system talk about the future trajectory of Osamu Dazai's life, even if it was processed through mosaic censoring.

He must have brushed past Edogawa Ranpo many times under unknown circumstances, only back then he had hurried by, merely casting a hasty glance even at crime scenes cordoned off by the police.

The only real encounter was—

"I advise you not to go."

The young man's crisp voice made Ikuse Takizawa widen his eyes slightly.

He suddenly remembered where his sense of familiarity with Edogawa Ranpo came from.

On a certain rainy night, he was in the corner of a bookstore, squatting down to pull a book from the lower shelf.

It was a travel collection written by a traveler, more detailed and realistic than the propaganda on magazines and television. This traveler described what he saw and heard, his thoughts and feelings. Ikuse Takizawa was very skilled at sorting out a perfect travel route from such information, deducing every suitable scenery from morning till night. His purpose in taking that book back then was to take Osamu Dazai on a long global tour after their defection.

"It will fail."

A voice spoke abruptly from behind him.

Ikuse Takizawa turned around vigilantly. The instincts he had cultivated from years of lingering in the underworld made him harbor suspicion toward anyone approaching him, and even ordinary people would receive his glare.

Yet the young man who approached him was not frightened by his cold face. His expression seemed somewhat desolate, faced with the impending tragedy before his eyes—especially since it was almost irreversible unless he himself chose to give up something.

"What?" Ikuse Takizawa asked with a frown.

"If you want to leave, don't wait anymore..." Edogawa Ranpo did not step forward. He merely stood in the gap between the bookshelves, his body casting a shadow from the rare beam of light, falling squarely upon Ikuse Takizawa. "No, even now, leaving through proper channels..."

Words to this extent could only provoke the other's aversion.

Realizing that he could do nothing, Edogawa Ranpo bit his teeth, only to watch as the blue-eyed youth selected his book and prepared to go pay.

"Hey!"

The impulse born of anxiety made Edogawa Ranpo call out to him. Everything about the youth was displayed in the depths of his eyes, so he easily blurted out words that people would be too ashamed to utter: "No matter what, staying alive is what makes him live on."

Ikuse Takizawa paused in his steps.

He had some guess as to who this person was, so he turned back to answer him seriously: "...I have never thought about dying."

Unfortunately, the conversation that night did not continue. Ikuse Takizawa plunged into the rainy night because he had received a new mission.

That book was carefully hidden inside his chest, protected by an overcoat worth countless times more than it.

***

"To actually... revive."

Edogawa Ranpo muttered in disbelief.

Kunikida Doppo, whose conversation was suddenly interrupted, tightened his expression. "Mr. Ranpo?"

"You aren't surprised at all about your own resurrection..." Edogawa Ranpo looked at Ikuse Takizawa with a complex expression. Kunikida, beside him, shifted slightly, as if witnessing a rare sight.

Mr. Ranpo... would also wear this kind of expression.

Edogawa Ranpo often exhibited a childlike quality; even when facing cases that left the police tearing their hair out, he would display a reliable side of easily handling them. He rarely felt discouraged, and seldom wore the grave, bitter expression of an adult.

The great detective seemed to have witnessed an irretrievable tragedy, his emotions trembling with a sort of despairing sorrow.

However...

"What does resurrection mean?" Kunikida Doppo asked.

"Literally." Osamu Dazai watched him with amused composure. "The person by my side is a friend of mine who died four years ago."

He said it as lightly as a breeze, yet the amount of information was enough to shatter the mind of any adult.

Kunikida Doppo tilted his head. "...Huh?"

"Pfft... It's very easy to explain and very easy to understand. In this world full of abilities, anything is possible."

He spoke so calmly that Kunikida Doppo couldn't help but wonder if he was making too much of a fuss...

Really?

Even Mr. Ranpo isn't surprised.

Is coming back from the dead really such an everyday occurrence?

Edogawa Ranpo looked at Osamu Dazai.

"This seems to be a good thing." He murmured words that only Osamu Dazai could understand. "Your wait has yielded a result."

Osamu Dazai's gaze went blank for a fraction of a second before he deflected the topic with a nonchalant, light laugh, "Compared to that, what comes next is the main point."

"I know, I know..." The great detective sighed. "Those guys are the most troublesome. Even if he didn't do anything, they'll slap a charge on him and execute him righteously."

Even without mentioning names, Ikuse Takizawa knew he was talking about himself.

"Even if you haven't committed any crimes, they can still fabricate one for you."

There was only one kind of person capable of pulling that off in contemporary society.

"Yet you're something else, preemptively slapping a charge on him..." Edogawa Ranpo suddenly pulled out a bag of snacks from under the table. "This kind of thing requires asking the Director for permission... Though he'll definitely agree, anyway."

Ikuse Takizawa's charge was—

"Illegal possession of firearms."

Kunikida Doppo, who had turned on the large screen, twitched his eyebrows as he looked at the official notice released by the police. "Mr. Takizawa, I have to say, your actions were far too reckless. If not handled promptly, you'll top tomorrow morning's trending internet search list."

The screen was playing a short, censored video. Although the face had been blurred, Ikuse Takizawa's body language, voice, and lines were crystal clear. His erratic behavior, akin to that of a mental patient, looked truly unhinged.

Ikuse Takizawa: "..."

He covered his face in a breakdown. "Under those circumstances, my brain couldn't come up with any better method. Am I supposed to pull out a fake police badge and shout 'everyone get down'?"

"You even forged a police badge?"

"Standard Mafia procedure. A thin little card like that is the easiest thing to forge." Ikuse Takizawa propped up his chin, staring blankly at himself on the screen. "Also, I have no complaints against Faust and the production crew. Please pass this on to them if you get the chance... I don't hate this Faust 2.0."

"Actually, the public figured out your intention later on, it's just that you ran too fast... Running fast was the right choice, otherwise you might be sipping tea at the police station right now."