42 Exclusive post from Jinjiang

◎“You’re the first woman to steal Dostoevsky’s soul.”◎

44

Huh?

Eh eh eh eh eh? ?

Edogawa Ranpo's words were like a thunderclap, and Kawakami Wakai froze in her motion as she was about to bow in greeting.

Only Dazai Osamu maintained his smile.

Back when Dazai Osamu first extended an olive branch, Kawakami Wakana had already heard that the Armed Detective Agency was never a place where you could get in through connections; you had to pass the entrance exam. She was also prepared to face the difficult entrance exam with courage. But there was one thing that Wakana had never considered.

That means the detective agency wouldn't even give her a chance to take the entrance test.

After all, she had worked at the Whirlpool Cafe for several years. While she couldn't say she was intimate with everyone in the detective agency, she could talk to most of them. The favorability rating displayed by Edogawa Ranpo was a respectable 50%, which at least indicated that he didn't dislike her.

But Ranbu Sang...

She's not welcome?

"Why?" Ruoyi felt her throat tighten, but she still tried to reason with Edogawa Ranpo calmly. "Is it because of the president's matter? Indeed, it was wrong of me to propose joining the club at this critical juncture..."

"That's not the point," Ranpo interrupted her.

He looked up, his dark green eyes now devoid of the childlike innocence he once displayed when visiting the café. "Why did you join the Armed Detective Agency?"

"Because you've discovered that your boyfriend, that 'devil,' isn't someone you can easily sway with a little warmth, so you want to teach him a lesson, or rather, make him realize that you don't only tolerate and forgive him?"

"..."

Kawakami Wakana discovered that she had nothing to say to Edogawa Ranpo's questions.

But this was clearly within the detective's expectations.

"The Armed Detective Agency was built single-handedly by the president," Edogawa Ranpo said. "From the very beginning, when there was only the president and me, a fourteen-year-old child, as a member, it has grown into a part of the 'Sankoku Project.' Those who haven't experienced it won't understand the path we've walked."

"The detective agency and everyone in it are important to me. Therefore, I will not allow them to be used as part of a dating game by others."

"What's more—the culprit who started this whole mess is your lover, and it's possible that the Armed Detective Agency will ultimately have to kill him. Even so, can you accept that?"

"..."

"That's what Ranpo said." Dazai Osamu shrugged, looking helpless.

He did believe that if Wakana joined the Detective Agency, it might bring some changes to her life and her relationship with Fyodor. However, he also imagined that Ranpo-san, who regarded the Detective Agency as a treasure and was even willing to rebel against the president for its survival, and Kunikida-kun, who valued ideals above all else, would not so easily agree to Wakana joining.

Whether or not they can be persuaded depends entirely on Ruoyi-chan.

If she can't even do this, then joining the Armed Detective Agency will definitely not be an opportunity for Kawakami Wakana, and she and Fyodor will lose the possibility of building a healthy relationship.

Therefore, Dazai Osamu did not say a single good word for Kawakami Wakana, but merely observed with great interest the subtle chasm between her and Edogawa Ranpo.

"I understand." The girl simply nodded calmly.

"If I were in Ranpo's shoes, I would also feel that something important to me has been defiled. But my desire to become one of you is not an act of revenge after a fight with someone I like. I just want to find a way out when I'm feeling lost, and I want to rebel against the foolish person I used to be."

"After all, I know very well that I can't go on like this."

Edogawa Ranpo didn't express his opinion, but simply said "Oh" to indicate that he had heard it.

"Perhaps, as Ranpo-san said, I'm just being stubborn. So, since you don't agree, I'll go back now," the girl said finally. "But if one day I can prove that I'm not a stubborn little girl who treats the work of the detective agency as a joke, I hope I can get a chance to take the entrance test."

With that, she quickly left.

Only the cat, while affectionately meowing in Edogawa Ranpo's arms, watched Wakana's departing figure.

On the other side.

Port Mafia Building.

Because Mafia boss Mori Ougai suddenly contracted a virus yesterday, and it was said that only one of them, the detective agency president, could survive within 48 hours, the Mafia building is now in a state of panic.

Especially the cadres.

Although only three people remain for various reasons, they are the most suitable to maintain order and have no choice but to take charge of calming everyone down and devising a plan to assassinate the detective agency's president, Fukuzawa.

“Big Sister Koyo.” It was at this moment that Chuuya Nakahara found Koyo Ozaki, who was also one of the five executives.

He placed a photograph in front of Ozaki Koyo.

"I've found a clue about that virus-possessing individual."

He spoke while looking at the photo—

The image depicts Kawakami Wakana tutoring Pushkin in Japanese at a family-run restaurant.

Chuuya Nakahara raised an eyebrow.

What a coincidence!

There is an acquaintance in this photo.

…………

After leaving Dazai Osamu and Edogawa Ranpo behind, Kawakami Wakana realized that she didn't know where to go.

I didn't work today, and I don't need to go to university, but even if I go home now, it seems like there's nothing to do.

She wandered aimlessly and unknowingly ended up at the coffee shop where she first met Feda in Yokohama.

Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."

She doesn't have many good memories of this place.

After all, it was right here that she spoke those impolite Russian words to Fedya and vomited all over him.

Her sixth sense told her that even if she went in now, she wouldn't see Fei Jia, and even if she did, she wouldn't know what to say to him. But she still subconsciously pushed open the shop door.

When Ruoyi saw Gogol sitting in the seat closest to the door, drinking iced coffee and waving at her, she was speechless.

"What a coincidence." Gogol stood up with a grin. "Wakai-chan, are you here for coffee too?"

"..."

Ruoyi turned to leave.

But Gogol somersaulted right in front of her.

"Hey, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Wouldn't it be nice to chat with me for a bit?"

"—For example, if the Armed Detective Agency rejects you, by the time you realize it, it's too late to turn back."

"...!"

"You've been following me!" Kawakami Wakana blurted out instinctively.

"So what?" Gogol seemed completely unfazed. "After all, this is the first time I've ever seen a woman who could steal Dostoevsky's soul. So I think you can understand why I'd be so interested."

Kawakami Wakai: Huh?

"What do you mean?"

“It’s nothing,” Gogol said, tapping the ground rhythmically with his cane. “I just wanted to play a guessing game with you.”

"—Guess what will happen to Tuosi-jun, who just wanted to invite you to wallow in depravity in an unconventional way but was not only rejected but also scolded?"

Kawakami Wakai:? ?

No way!

Fedah...

Could she have really been provoked by what she said yesterday and done something like what Dazai Osamu did?

“Not really.” Gogol seemed to read her mind. “However, he developed a fever last night, which went straight up to 40 degrees Celsius.”

Kawakami Wakai:!

She instinctively wanted to ask Gogol Fedya how he was doing, but then she quickly realized something.

"Why should I believe you?" Ruoyi questioned.

"You often see this in TV dramas. Some bad guys use the excuse that someone important to the victim is sick to swindle money or even take the person somewhere and kill them."

Gogol: "..."

Gogol couldn't help but laugh.

"You have quite the imagination. Okay then, here's the proof, so don't say I'm lying after you've seen it."

As he spoke, he tossed his hand, and a photograph landed precisely in Kawakami Wakana's hand. In the photograph, Fyodor's cheeks were indeed flushed red from the fever, and the background was clearly visible—a ward inside Dr. Blackjack's clinic.

"Also, I don't know if Tuosi-jun has told you that braids suit you better than your current hairstyle."

"..."

Kawakami Wakana looked at the photo for a while before finally asking a question.

What's that on his forehead?

"Forehead?" Gogol paused for a moment before realizing what he meant. "Lucia's fried bun. A type of bun."

"Of course I recognize those as steamed buns!" Her nonchalant attitude only drove Kawakami Wakana even more crazy. "I'm asking why there's food on his forehead instead of an ice pack, a cooling towel, or a fever patch!"

“What?” Gogol twirled his cane in his hand like a pen. “Isn’t Ruoyi curious? Can someone with a fever of over 40 degrees Celsius have a forehead as big as a frying pan?”

"..."

"Take me there." Kawakami Wakana finally couldn't take it anymore.

…………

At Blackjack's clinic.

Pinocchio had just taken Fyodor's temperature.

40.5 degrees Celsius.

Although it's a bit better than yesterday, the temperature is still terrible.

Fyodor: "..."

He couldn't help but rub his forehead. Even though his forehead was already drenched in sweat from a high fever all night, and his bangs were stuck together.

Gogol said his sudden high fever was a mental illness. Could it be that he was really so deeply hurt by what Kawakami Wakana said that he became physically affected?

"Oh, right!" Pinoko said while carefully recording the thermometer readings on the thermometer she was going to show Blackjack, "Fyodor-san, when you were sleeping with a high fever, Wakana-san's friend came over."

"Neko's friend?" Perhaps due to the prolonged high fever, Fyodor felt for the first time that his brain was not quite processing what was happening.

“It’s an older brother with orange hair!” Pinoko replied immediately, “wearing a black hat.”

"...?"

[Author's Note]

I'd like to know what you guys think of Ranpo's behavior in this chapter qwq (bu)

Small Theater

Hmm... I've been watching "White Nights" these past few days, and it reminded me of a "be-be-the-other" aesthetic if-line (but).

Assuming Ranpo didn't refuse Wakami's request to join the detective agency, and Fyodor didn't have a second high fever, then...

Realizing that Fyodor was "unchangeable," Wakana relinquished all her emotions and joined the Detective Agency, becoming Fyodor's "obsessive" adversary. In the confrontation with the Armed Detective Agency, Fyodor, just like in the original work, strategically infiltrated Meursault's inner circle.

But one day in Morsori, he dreamt of the midnight sun he had seen in his hometown of Lucia, and upon waking, Fyodor realized—

Perhaps his life was destined to be without the sun's rays, but for what seemed like a fleeting moment, he witnessed a dream called White Night (not really).