Chapter 1 001

Yokohama - Armed Detective Agency: The Armed Detective Agency is surprisingly quiet today - in fact, only Osamu Dazai, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, a group of office workers, and Naomi Tanizaki are still in the agency.

Yosano Akiko is away at a medical lecture and is not at the detective agency. Fukuzawa Yukichi and Edogawa Ranpo are on a mission together after a long time. It is said that the client is an old friend of Fukuzawa Yukichi and Edogawa Ranpo, and therefore specifically requested to meet with the two of them.

Fukuzawa Yukichi readily accepted the request, while Edogawa Ranpo gave a somewhat strange smile before agreeing. Before leaving, he ran into the archives and rummaged through them until he found all the employer's information—and made a complete mess of the archives before Fukuzawa Yukichi dragged him away.

As for Kenji Miyazawa... intelligence gatherers are mostly out on the go anyway.

Kunikida Doppo went out today with his project plan as usual, while Dazai Osamu was sleeping on the sofa.

As for Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Naomi Tanizaki... well, they're just a couple of lovey-dovey moments, so it's fine if you don't want to watch them.

For the Armed Detective Agency, this was a rare and perfect time (meaning that neither Ranpo nor Dazai caused any trouble).

However……

"I'm back!"

Accompanied by a powerful voice and resolute movements, Kunikida Doppo pushed open the door and entered from the outside, holding a notebook with the words "ideal" written on it.

"good!"

After greeting Naomi Tanizaki and Junichiro Tanizaki, who were sitting on the sofa, Kunikida Doppo strode into the archives room and closed the door behind him.

"Why did Mr. Kunikida return so early?"

"I wonder... is there some kind of emergency?"

The Tanizaki siblings looked at Kunikida Doppo with some confusion as he strode into the archives, exchanging bewildered glances.

"Huh? Kunikida's back?"

Dazai suddenly sat up from the sofa and removed his blindfold.

"Ah, that's right." When asked, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki looked at Osamu Dazai, who was sitting opposite them and was clearly not asleep, with a bewildered expression—"Is there a problem?"

"No."

Dazai Osamu stood up and walked towards the archives with a smile on his face.

"Mr. Kunikida—let me help you—"

Naomi Tanizaki and Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, who were watching, couldn't help but shiver.

Mr. Kunikida, please accept my condolences.

On the other side, Dazai Osamu, with a smile on his face, pushed open the door to the archives and walked quite naturally to Kunikida Doppo's side.

"Mr. Kunikida - what are you looking for? I'll help you."

Kunikida Doppo's face instantly revealed an undisguised look of disgust, and he even took two steps away from Dazai Osamu quite noticeably.

"I can do it myself!"

Dazai Osamu immediately showed an expression of being severely shocked.

"Don't be so heartless—"

That expression, that tone—it was all so fake.

The look of disgust on Kunikida Doppo's face was so strong it was almost overflowing.

"Go outside and don't cause me any more trouble!"

"Hey hey—"

"Saying anything is useless!"

Kunikida Doppo's attitude was unusually firm this time. After saying that, he buried his head in his documents, as if he would never pay any more attention to Dazai Osamu.

"I see, then..."

Turning to Kunikida Doppo, who was engrossed in reading documents, Dazai Osamu shrugged as if he had lost interest, then abruptly pulled his hand out and pressed it on Kunikida Doppo's shoulder.

"Not a single lecture today, Mr. Kunikida."

You should know that everything he did today would be something Kunikida Doppo would lecture him for half an hour about.

Like fine sand blown by the wind, Kunikida Doppo's figure and face suddenly shattered and scattered, revealing the face beneath.

He had the typical French features, with chestnut hair that revealed a pale white hue, and the astonishment in his heterochromatic eyes turned into wariness in an instant.

“Espèce de mal élevé…”

He shouted something in a hurried tone, and the heterochromatic-eyed youth kicked out, forcing Dazai Osamu back before retreating rapidly. He grabbed the documents on the table beside him, and his figure was once again shrouded in a sand-like gray mist.

When the flying sand stopped, before Dazai Osamu could even see his appearance clearly, his body suddenly sank and disappeared into the ground.

"espèce de mal élevé...is that the French word for 'rude person'? It's a swear word."

Looking at the spot where the figure disappeared, Dazai Osamu still had a faint smile on his face.

"Isn't it more impolite to barge into the company archives than to casually touch someone's clothes?"

It was only at this moment that Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, who had heard the commotion, pushed open the door and rushed in from outside.

"Dazai-san! Are you alright?"

"Eh? It's nothing." The dangerous smile on his face magically transformed into a relaxed grin, and Dazai Osamu casually explained, "It's just that Kunikida was a spy in disguise."

"It's all right, Mr. Dazai!"

"Hey - there was no problem to begin with."

He put his hands back in his pockets, smiling as he looked at the nervous Junichiro Tanizaki in front of him and Naomi Tanizaki behind him. Dazai Osamu's voice had a sweet, rising tone.

"Because I roughly know who the perpetrator is."

-Yokohama outskirts, location unknown. In a room that could only be described as luxurious, a figure in a formal dress sits at a tea table, leisurely enjoying black tea and desserts.

Suddenly, the figure put down the teacup and looked towards the doorway.

"So, what's the situation?"

"There was a slight mishap, but it was still pretty good."

The young man with heterochromia and the voice entered the room almost simultaneously, placing a stack of documents on the tea table.

"They handled the Special Ability Special Investigations team very easily. But they were accidentally exposed by the Armed Detective Agency... No wonder they're detectives."

"Thank you so much."

Nodding, the butler standing behind the figure immediately stepped forward, took the document, and put it away, then skillfully placed a tea set on the table.

Would you like some afternoon tea together?

The invited young man glanced down at the tea set and refreshments, then looked up at the woman in front of him again, and suddenly broke into a bright smile.

"Just tell me, who do you want me to become?"

"James Bond, just rewatched the movie."

After taking a small sip of tea, the figure picked up a pastry and took a small bite.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Roland."

He rubbed his hair with a hint of helplessness, his two eyes, one brown and one blue, almost overflowing with frustration.

"I understand—just so you know, this will be added to the employment fee, and I'll settle it all at once later..."

"Miss Agatha Christie".

- Inside the Yokohama Armed Detective Agency

"Of course I know the attacker. After all, if he has heterochromia and the ability to transform, there's basically only one answer. Besides, the person in question looks exactly like the photo I've seen before."

Looking at the Armed Detective Agency members sitting around him, Dazai Osamu scratched his face casually, his voice sounding rather frivolous due to his tone.

"After all, this person is considered a big shot in the industry."

↑By the way, the industry term here refers to the Mafia.

He was a mercenary and shapeshifter known for assassination, infiltration, and intelligence gathering.

A man named Romain Rolland with extraordinary abilities (from a biography)