What?
“What amazed me was neither the novel idea of targeting an oil storage facility nor Ranpo’s skill.”
“Then what was it?”
“Heh-heh. What surprised me the most was the fact that Ranpo’s ‘skill’ isn’t actually a skill at all.”
…Huh?
“Don’t be ridiculous. As if someone without a skill could really do something like that.”
“That’s what makes it so amazing! Listen to this. When Ranpo was thinking, I sneaked up behind him and pinched some of his hair.”
“What?”
Dazai was indeed standing behind Ranpo the entire time, now that I think about it. But when did he—?
“As you know, I can nullify people’s abilities just by touching them. I guess you could call me an anti-skill user. As long as I’m touching someone—no matter how powerful they may be—they will be unable to use their skill. So what I’m trying to say is…”
Ranpo’s Super Deduction isn’t a skill?
“Then that means—”
“It’s just simple deduction. He reached a theoretical conclusion in the blink of an eye based on his own observations and inferences. He linked his knowledge on disasters, the files on Alamta, and the map of Yokohama to come to a conclusion in a matter of seconds. It was like I was watching a great detective from a novel find out who was behind the crime— Wait. No, it was more like watching the famous detective at the end of a novel after solving all the cases. Without leaving the building or meeting the suspect, Ranpo figured out where the bomb was simply by glancing at the files we gave him. He possesses tremendous deductive and observational skills that your average fictional detective could only dream of.”
Deduction? What he’s doing is not a skill or a supernatural phenomenon but purely the product of thought?
“But is that even possible? I mean, how…?”
“That’s what impressed me. A skill would make this just another phenomenon, which wouldn’t even be surprising, let alone impressive. But Ranpo is utilizing his brain, something we all have, to reach these conclusions. So Alamta disappeared two days ago, thus probably not having enough time to obtain a permit to get into the oil storage facilities or disguise himself as a worker there. The easiest thing he could’ve done was use cash to rent a car, store the bomb in it, park it somewhere near the oil storage facilities, and leave it there. If the explosive’s effective casualty range is around six hundred fifty feet, then that would leave within that range only the shops that have an oil storage tank, and the only place at the port that meets these conditions is…”
“The fishing-gear shop.”
“Exactly. Of course, things like wind direction and how difficult it would be to discover the bomb are also factors, but… Wow! I still can’t believe how Ranpo figured that out just by looking at the documents we gave him. That guy’s got some serious powers of deduction and observation! And even Ranpo himself seems to think he’s using a skill. Man, that is one amazing detective. I need to start applying myself more.”
I finally understand why Dazai was so impressed. No matter how divine it may be, a skill is nothing more than a bewildering phenomenon. However, things are different if these powers of deduction are something the person possesses on their own. Ranpo has solved far more than a few dozen cases in the past, to say the least, and he solved them in an instant with only a small amount of information. Not once has he been wrong. Calling what he does a superhuman feat still wouldn’t be enough to illustrate how unbelievable it truly is—an ability that surpasses all skills. I could only describe it as a divine skill rarely seen in Japan—no, in the entire world.
Still, though…
I look over at Dazai in the passenger seat.
“I’ve never seen you marvel over someone else’s skills like that before.”
“Huh? Really? Lots of things take me by surprise. Like, once, I tried to pick up a clam with my chopsticks, and it was still alive. I was so startled, I nearly—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. You seemed taken aback that someone had the ability to see and know all.”
For someone so full of eccentricities, there is something about his behavior that makes it seem as if he has an unobstructed view of the world. I don’t know exactly why, but all his emotions strike me as an act to some degree. Is he just playing dumb? Could there be more to him than he’s letting on, lurking behind his ambiguous mannerisms?
“I guess. But you, Kunikida, I’ve got a good idea of who you are now, so nothing you do will ever surprise me. I mean, compared with me, you’re just a simple man with a simple mind, after all.”
“What did you just say?!”
“See? You wear your heart on your sleeve. You don’t hide how you’re really feeling. It’s nice. You know what else is nice? Just knowing that you’re going to be worrying later to yourself, ‘Am I really that simple?’”
“Why, you—”
But I refrain from arguing. Whatever my response, he’s just going to end up telling me, “I knew you’d say that.”