I couldn’t say a word. I didn’t feel I had the qualifications he claimed; that day, I had just gotten back from murdering yet another person for work.
But there was something oddly persuasive about what that man said. It was as if brilliant radiance from light-years away glittered in his eyes, and there was a certain firmness to his voice that seemed powerful enough to shake the earth itself. I’d never seen such a person before.
When I’d asked him his name, he had told me, but I’d long since forgotten it.
A few days later, I went back to the café at the same time to find a book lying in my usual seat. Stuck to the cover was a piece of paper that read, “Don’t blame me if you regret it.”
It was the last volume.
I spent the entire day reading that book.
As for what I thought of it—
I opened my eyes to find myself in bed. Both my hands were wrapped in bandages.
When I sat up, the pain in my back from my close encounter with the explosion returned. I let out a moan.
I was in a hospital room. It was clean, ordinary, and as silent as a morgue. Standing firm with his feet apart by the door was a man in a black suit and sunglasses. The moment our eyes met, he silently left, apparently to go get someone.
“Hey, Odasaku. You’re awake now, right? How are you feeling?”
Dazai walked into the room with a cheerful smirk.
“I feel like I’ve been hit with the next fifty years’ worth of hangovers,” I replied, then looked around the room. “Did you find Ango?”
“No, my men only found you lying on the ground. They didn’t see any sign of the enemy, not even so much as a shadow. Akutagawa was really frustrated that he couldn’t ‘execute the traitor.’ …Anyway, Ango really was there, huh?”
I explained everything that happened at the abandoned building, telling him every little detail as it had really occurred.
“Ango’s captivity, the explosion, André Gide, and the Special Forces dressed in black…”
Dazai placed a thumb against his lips, then shifted into a thinking position. He didn’t even move an inch for a full minute after that. Only his eyes wavered, following something only he could see. I waited in silence.
“Things can be mainly classified into two phenomena here.” Dazai finally spoke up. “One is the criminal syndicate Mimic’s attack. The other is Ango and the Special Forces’ secret maneuvers.”
“Are the Special Forces and Mimic different organizations?”
“They are. To be a little more specific, this huge dispute is due to three forces coming together: the Mafia, Mimic, and the Special Forces. But we can ignore the last one for now. It’s Mimic we need to watch out for. While you were sleeping, six shops on Mafia turf were blown up…all at the same time. The casualties are increasing by the minute.”
Along with smuggling and trading stolen goods, the Mafia protected shops and companies in exchange for compensation. If those businesses were attacked, then the Mafia instantly lost its supporters’ trust along with some of its economic infrastructure. I suddenly thought of Pops at the restaurant. That place was one of the few I managed.
“But the smaller stores are being saved for later, it seems.”
Dazai must have read my mind.
“Mimic is like nothing we’ve faced so far. They’re terribly quick, their attacks are devastating, and they show up without even making a sound. Even if we wanted to attack their headquarters, they appear out of nowhere and disappear into thin air. There’s no way to take them by surprise. It’s as if we’re fighting against ghosts—against real grau geists.”
I thought back to the sniper and the abandoned building where Ango had been held captive. There really was something ghostlike about their existence.
A ghost squad—departed souls that wished to devour even the corrupt Mafia’s spirit.
“We still can’t determine a definite pattern of attack, but what we do know is that they’re serious about leveling the Mafia’s turf. Not even the tormented souls of hell would do something so mad. Akutagawa and other militant factions have formed ranks and are fighting back, but…we still don’t even know the enemy leader’s skill. We’re at a disadvantage.”
“That skill user Akutagawa was one of your subordinates, right?” I said, tracing my memory. “I heard he had a rather aggressive skill…but even he’s no match for them?”
“Akutagawa—he’s like a sword without a sheath.” Dazai grinned from ear to ear. “He’ll surely become the Mafia’s strongest skill user in the not-so-distant future, but for now he needs someone who can teach him how to put that sword away.”
I was surprised. I had never heard Dazai openly speak so highly of one of his men like that before.