68 Jinjiang Exclusive

◎“The president won’t misjudge.”◎

70

That night, Fyodor had a rare dream.

You should know that normally, he either stays up all night or has a dreamless night.

But today seems different.

The scene in the dream was the Dragon Head War of that year. He and Dazai Osamu were wearing clothes prepared by Shibusawa Tatsuhiko, the instigator of the Yokohama Fog of that period, and the three of them were discussing something together.

Strangely, this is something he experienced himself, but now he has God's perspective.

“Tuosijun—” A teasing voice rang in my ears.

How did Gogol end up there?

Fyodor instinctively tried to look behind him, but his neck felt like it weighed a ton and he couldn't turn it at all. He could only hear Gogol's mocking voice.

"Actually, deep down, don't you ever think that if there hadn't been a war between the dragon heads, and if you were on the same side, you might have been able to make friends too? After all, they are the first people you've met who can receive your voice."

“Shibusawa’s goal is to collect the special ability gems,” Fyodor said calmly, realizing he could still speak. “But he’s not purifying the world; he’s just making it more sinful. And his goal can be used against me. Whether it’s weakening Yokohama or enjoying the evil he’s displaying.”

"As for the Grand Preceptor..."

Fyodor paused for a moment.

"He can only ever be an enemy, never an understanding one."

"Oh? Is that so?" He could hear the sarcasm in Gogol's voice growing even stronger. "But even those who could understand you have been pushed away by you."

Suddenly, the scene of the Dragon Head War before her eyes transformed into that of Kawakami Wakana. At that moment, sitting alone in the Armed Detective Agency office, she was biting her pen, facing a logic problem sent to her by Fyodor.

"You did deliberately use anonymous emails to cultivate her logical thinking and strategic thinking skills, didn't you?" Gogol scoffed. "But if you just wanted to treat her as an enemy, doing nothing would have been the optimal solution for you."

"You just hope that even if she can't reach the level of you, Dazai, or Shibusawa, she can at least catch up with you. That way, you can become 'friends' with her who can sense each other's voices."

"But you pushed her into the Armed Detective Agency."

“That was Neko’s own choice,” Fyodor said.

Gogol couldn't help but laugh.

"How ridiculous! Was it her own choice? But if you hadn't used her teaching Pushkin Japanese for the 'co-eating' incident, she might still be that silly girl who would chase after you calling out Fedya and cared about you a lot."

"..."

“In conclusion,” Gogol’s voice was accompanied by a burst of laughter, “Dostoevsky, you really are more of a clown than I am.”

"...!"

Fyodor sat up abruptly, only to find his heart pounding and his ears ringing.

"..."

Actually, Gogol in the dream was right about one thing.

In the Dragon Head War, he received an invitation from Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, but he didn't actually have to accept it. And since Wakana Kawakami had already joined the Detective Agency, there was no need to train her.

Could it be that he truly longs for a "friend" whose brainwaves match his own...?

Fyodor shook his head.

What's the point of thinking about these things?

In any case, neither Dazai Osamu, Shibusawa Tatsuhiko, nor Kawakami Wakai could understand his approach of "eliminating ability users".

He was originally a whale whose sound wave frequency was different from any other whale of its kind (1).

…………

Compared to Fyodor, Wakana Kawakami slept very well that night.

We also have to thank the little girl, Xiaowen, for this.

It was thanks to her comment that "vampires look so lonely" that she realized Fyodor's long lifespan was not a blessing, but a curse.

Imagine if it were her, her father, mother, Xia Jiang, her former relatives and friends would all abandon her. Even if she made new friends, she would either be afraid of seeing her unchanged appearance over the years, or she would be submerged in the passage of time.

How could one not feel lonely?

It's just that in order to avoid breaking down, I've suppressed this loneliness deep inside.

Her attempt to influence Fedia had failed, but she could still try to understand the loneliness hidden deep within his heart.

Perhaps this is the key to maximizing favorability!

So, after a good night's sleep, Ruoyi, carrying the books she had bought at the bookstore after dropping Xiaowen off at home the day before, confidently went to the detective agency.

After having curry with Oda Sakunosuke at the downstairs cafe, Dazai Osamu entered the office and saw a large stack of books on Kawakami Wakana's desk, the only person in the office.

Game theory.

The Interpretation of Dreams.

An Introduction to Psychoanalysis.

Introduction to Psychology

Osamu Dazai: "...?"

"Ruoyi-chan," he teased, "do you really want to become the second me?"

"If that's the case, I suggest you read 'The Complete Art of Zisha Pottery' first!"

Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."

Oda Sakunosuke: "..."

“If you need it,” Oda Sakunosuke said, “my family bought a few books on developmental psychology for the children, and I can lend them to you to take a look.”

"You two are mistaken!" Kawakami Wakana slammed the book shut in a huff. "If I became like you, Dazai, wouldn't the detective agency be in complete chaos?"

"I just wanted to try to understand a person."

"To understand someone with the same high intelligence as Dazai, who has lived through a thousand years."

"..." Dazai Osamu and Oda Sakunosuke couldn't help but exchange a glance.

It must be Dostoevsky!

It really is Dostoevsky!

Even Dazai Osamu couldn't be sure why Kawakami Wakana suddenly tried to understand Dostoevsky. But as long as he knew she wouldn't become Dostoevsky, that was enough. So, he pulled Oda Sakunosuke back to their respective seats.

On the surface, Dazai Osamu appears nonchalant, leaning back in his chair listening to music with headphones, but in his heart he is thinking about what Pushkin said when he saw him yesterday.

Xiaowen's sketch is indeed somewhat abstract, but Pushkin also said that what he saw was indeed a person with similar physical characteristics. The person Ruoyi saw with her special ability that time also looked the same.

It is now certain that the "Five Signs of Decay" plan is actually about "vampires".

It's just that it's still hard to say which of the three starter families they'll target first, or in what form.

The three sat in the office without disturbing each other. Even when other colleagues came to work, they would simply say "Good morning" and continue with their own tasks. Even when Kunikida Doppo saw Dazai Osamu seemingly deep in thought, he didn't tug off his headphones to get him to focus on his work.

The office remained peaceful until the president led in a white-haired man in a red shirt and announced the start of a meeting.

Upon entering the conference room, Kawakami Wakai had already heard from the president that this was his old friend, Fukuchi, who was also the captain of the Hound, one of the few special ability units in the police force.

"Hello, my name is Kawakami Wakana." Wakana subconsciously greeted Fukuchi.

Sure enough, a label immediately appeared above the name of the blessed land.

[Captain Hound?] [Special Ability: Mirror Lion.]

[Favorability: 0]

[Killing intent: ?]

"...?"

Having lived with her supernatural ability for several months, this was the first time Ruoyi had encountered such a situation.

She couldn't even see the murderous intent that Fudi was harboring towards her!

What's even more thought-provoking is that the labels she'd seen before, like Feyia, never had a question mark over their identities.

Ruoyi tried to check the tags of everyone in the Armed Detective Agency.

Sure enough, there was no question mark after the words "Member of the Armed Detective Agency" on each person's name.

Why would that blessed land...?

Could it be—

He is not the real Houndmaster Fudi.

Or is it...?

For some reason, Kawakami Wakana suddenly thought of the mosaic on "Kamui" when she last saw the members of "The Decay of the Celestials".

Probably not...

Throughout the meeting, Ruoyi listened absentmindedly. Fortunately, the meeting only involved Fukuchi introducing the Hound Team's special abilities and the assistance they could provide; it didn't touch on how to deal with the five signs of decay. After the meeting finally ended, she wanted to talk to Dazai about it, only to find that Dazai Osamu had disappeared again.

Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."

I suddenly understand Kunikida-san's feelings.

Even she wanted to wait for Dazai Osamu to come back and throw a pen at him to question him about why he was slacking off at work again.

Fortunately, Ranpo-san is still around.

Based on his reasoning skills, he might be able to analyze something.

With that in mind, Ruoyi took advantage of her lunch break to buy a piece of chocolate, gave it to Edogawa Ranpo, and immediately told him about her discovery.

Edogawa Ranpo chewed on chocolate: "You mean, your special ability can't detect Fukuchi's murderous intent towards you?"

"And there's a question mark next to the 'Hound Captain' label!" Ruoyi immediately pointed out. "My ability never shows question marks when I check your identity tags!"

"Furthermore, as I mentioned before, my ability allowed me to witness the events surrounding the Five Signs of Decay of the Celestials. Only 'Kamui's' face was blurred out. While I can't say for sure if the two are connected, but—"

“You must have just misunderstood,” Edogawa Ranpo interrupted Wakana’s next words.

"Kawakami, the question mark you mentioned is just a misinterpretation, or there may be other reasons. That person is simply an old friend of the president, the captain of the hounds, and has no other identity."

"Besides, you haven't been in a very good mental state lately. You came with dark circles under your eyes yesterday. You haven't been resting well, so it's not surprising that your superpower malfunctioned."

"In short, President, you won't misjudge people."

At this moment, Ruoyi had the favorability rating tag turned on.

He discovered that Edogawa Ranpo's favorability rating, which rose to 65% after she joined the detective agency, had dropped back to 50%.

"...?"

Ranpo...Sang?

[Author's Note]

(1) Inspired by Ye Ying’s lines in “Star Dream Idol Project”: Loneliness is a whale with different sound wave frequencies, a bird without feet, and if I die right now, no one will remember me.