At Kunikida’s pale-faced urging, Tanizaki unfolded his slip of paper in a panic.
“1 & 2”
“Wha—?”
“Oh, what do we have here? What are the odds?” Dazai grinned. “It appears the god of drawing lots is a mischievous one. I can’t believe you drew a number even smaller than mine, Tanizaki. You have the worst luck.”
Flustered, Tanizaki checked the date on the slip of paper. It was from two months ago, the same as all the other ones. This was without a doubt the same as the others Tanizaki had prepared. The way it was cut out was no different from how Tanizaki had cut out the others, either. This was clearly made from one of the eleven newspapers. But that couldn’t be possible. There were only two piles. One contained twenty slips of the numbers “1” through “4,” and the other contained nineteen slips of the numbers “5” through “40.” Kunikida, Yosano, and Kenji most certainly drew from the latter with the bigger numbers, as did Tanizaki. There was no moment that the piles could have been switched out again. So how did Tanizaki get a slip with the number “1” on it?
Tanizaki instinctively looked over to see Dazai’s reaction—a faint smirking. It was as if that smile could peer right into Tanizaki’s heart—as if Dazai knew that Tanizaki knew that he knew.
“This is—”
Impossible. But Tanizaki couldn’t say that. After all, the numbers were drawn at random. The only reason a person might make such a claim would be because they cheated.
But who leaked the information? There was no way Kunikida would do something like that. Nor would Tanizaki himself. Which left them with—!
Startled, Tanizaki looked over at Naomi, who gazed back at him teary-eyed.
“I just…”
Tanizaki could see the hearts pulsating in his sister’s eyes. She covered her slightly crimson cheeks with her long, delicate fingers, then said, “I just wanted…to be your hostage so you could tie me up and threaten me, my dear, sweet brother…”
Night fell upon the agency. The meeting had finally come to an end, in all respects. Everyone left the room, each giving their impressions, then went back home. Although still utterly confused, Tanizaki ended up being assigned the role of the bomber for tomorrow’s entrance exam, and his sister, Naomi, was going to play the hostage. Nevertheless, Tanizaki did not have to do this alone. Both Dazai and Kunikida—who respectively pulled “3” and “7,” the next smallest numbers—would be assisting him. Specifically, they were going to call over the rookie to have him run into the bomber and solve the case.
“Good work today, Tanizaki.” Yosano smiled faintly and patted Tanizaki on the shoulder on her way out. “I had a great time.”
“Good luck tomorrow!” Kenji cheerfully waved good-bye. “I really hope the new guy passes the test!”
Ranpo had already left the building before anyone noticed. On his desk sat a bag of cheap sweets, a cookie cutter, a meat bun wrapper, and some scribblings of the office floor detailing the best places for a bomber to barricade themselves. This must have been Ranpo’s way of cheering him on, but Tanizaki just woefully stared at it…because this much detail meant Ranpo must’ve started on the sketch before they’d even drawn lots.
Tanizaki pondered Ranpo’s business trip the next day. He must have predicted that would be when the entrance exam took place, so he arranged it so he could be gone in order to avoid the hassle—as one would expect from the possessor of Super Deduction, which could see all truths.
Most frightening, though, was the fact that Ranpo actually wasn’t a skill user. He truly believed he was, but he merely possessed godlike powers of observation and deduction, which he subconsciously used. But the truth as to why and how Ranpo believed this was a mystery to all those at the agency.
“This is bullshit!” Kunikida yelled out in the pub.
“Come on, Kunikida… It’s okay…,” Tanizaki feebly pleaded.
They were at a pub not too far from the detective agency, one that stayed open late. Orange light radiated from the hanging lanterns as red-faced customers clamored like the roaring sea. On the family altar near the ceiling was a small daruma doll on display.
Kunikida and Tanizaki walked through the pub’s curtain to have a review meeting and a reward for their hard work. In other words, a celebration half fueled by despair.
“Man, that was fun, huh?”
Dazai smiled while sampling his sake. He was tagging along for who knows why. Tanizaki, who was still underage, sipped on his soda. “But seriously, I just can’t believe you found us out…”
“Heh. I’ve been scheming since you were in diapers,” Dazai said with
a chuckle, then tilted his sake cup. “But the reason you failed this time was because of Kunikida’s mistake. Dragging his junior into this—especially when that junior was you—was too obvious. It made too much sense. A plan like that’s best done solo.”
Kunikida glared at Dazai, pouting. “When you’re right, you’re right,” he muttered.
“But, Dazai, how did you do it? If you’d pulled a big number, then I’d get it, but how did you make me draw a one?”
Tanizaki drew from the pile of his own free will. The only way to make him draw a “1,” you would need to make the last fifty slips of paper all “1”s. While he did convince Naomi to join his side, he still clearly didn’t have any time to switch out the slips of paper after Kenji drew a “33” right before Tanizaki’s turn.
“A true magician never reveals his secrets.” Dazai mischievously placed a finger to his lips. “I recommend figuring it out for yourself before you even try deceiving me again.”