Chapter 22

Kunikida Doppo and Miyazawa Kenji are gathering intelligence on the street.

Kunikida Doppo was somewhat frustrated because they hadn't found any useful information.

However, he wasn't particularly upset—because he had anticipated this situation.

With only the limited information they had—two seemingly opposing individuals and a few distinctive clothing details—the task of searching for someone throughout Yokohama was less difficult than finding a needle in a haystack, but more difficult than finding a broom in the deep sea.

"Miyazawa, the people you asked are indeed very enthusiastic." Kunikida Doppo, who went with Miyazawa Kenji to ask the crowd about the situation, also experienced the enthusiasm of "retirement elderly people", "roadside uncles", "small shop owners", etc., and received a lot of "suspicious information" from the enthusiastic crowd.

Unfortunately, most of them are useless.

“After all, the information about the criminals was too general.” Even in this fruitless situation, Kenji Miyazawa still smiled quite cheerfully. “Everyone has told us all the information that might be useful.”

It's comprehensive, but it's also too disorganized.

So what's the use of information like the owner of the oden stall on the next street always wearing a black trench coat?

No, by the way, why would someone buying oden wear a black trench coat?

Kunikida Doppo sighed again, picked up his notebook, and drew a circle on the map once more.

"However, several shop owners said they've seen strange figures wearing trench coats near the shopping street these past two days... so let's go check it out."

However, he didn't hold out much hope.

“Hmm…the information from near the park and at Sueyoshi Road was all useless.” Miyazawa Kenji immediately noticed the other two circles drawn on Kunikida Doppo’s notebook— “One is a child who secretly wore clothes from home, and the other is simply someone who wore newly bought clothes a few more times.”

As a result, I made two wasted trips.

In this weather, there are just too many people wearing trench coats.

As for people wearing suits... they are indeed few, so few that they haven't received a single message yet.

Furthermore, due to the extremely chaotic nature of the eyewitness reports, they were unable to determine the color of the dark trench coat and the style of the suit, thus preventing them from narrowing down the scope when questioning for information.

Even these two messages might be wrong.

Kunikida Doppo stopped sighing, stuffed the ledger into his pocket, and was once again fully revived.

Let's ignite our ideals!

"Let's go, Miyazawa!"

Kunikida Doppo strode out.

"Let's go to the shopping street!"

"yes!"

Kenji Miyazawa was equally full of energy—he always has been.

—Two hours later.

At the entrance to the shopping street, Kunikida Doppo sat on a bench as if he had burned out completely.

Kenji Miyazawa carefully nudged Doppo Kunikida.

"Mr. Kunikida... are you alright...?"

"No, I'm fine..." Kunikida Doppo's voice was so weak it sounded like a ghost's—"It's just... the mannequin at the seasonal clothing exhibition..."

Kenji Miyazawa also looked somewhat troubled.

"Yeah, it's really strange that several people mistook this mannequin for a figure around the corner!"

Well, after careful investigation and on-site sampling by Kunikida Doppo and Miyazawa Kenji, they were able to confirm that the real body of what several people called a "strange figure" was... an exhibition mannequin displayed in a corner cabinet.

However, because of the store's window display and the clothes, it looked somewhat like a strange figure hiding by the corner wall.

Generally, you won't mistake it, but if you're rushing to replenish what you're missing and then quickly heading back like those small shop owners... you might really mistake it at first glance.

Add to that the subjective reinforcement in your mind when being questioned... and that's it.

Having learned the truth, Kunikida Doppo used his last bit of strength to negotiate with the clothing store to move the mannequin to a different position so it would look a little more normal, and that's where it turned gray.

Kenji Miyazawa sat next to Doppo Kunikida, resting his chin on his hand and lost in thought.

"I wonder how things are going with Mr. Dazai."

“There should be some gains.” Kunikida Doppo, who had slightly recovered from his ashen state, chimed in, “Don’t let Dazai’s usual unreliable behavior fool you—he’s unreliable at work too—but if you only look at the results, Dazai’s gains are often quite good.”

"Although he might use a bunch of strange words and actions to embellish his purpose and do a lot of extra silly things, Dazai at least does the basic work well."

Kenji Miyazawa: ...Does this actually feel like a complaint? Or is it just my imagination?

The easygoing Kenji Miyazawa scratched his head and decided to ignore it.

Kunikida Doppo, who had been muttering to himself, regained his composure and stood up from his chair.

"Since it's not here, then our next step is..."

Suddenly, out of the corner of Kunikida Doppo's eye, a pure black figure flashed past in the alley.

It looked like someone had run past there.

Although it was just a quick glance, Kunikida Doppo had a gut feeling... that black thing was a trench coat.

A pure black trench coat.

"There!"

Kunikida Doppo rushed over without hesitation.

Kenji Miyazawa, who had been resting his chin in his hand and lost in thought, suddenly snapped out of it, braced himself on the chair, jumped up, and strode after Doppo Kunikida.

Rushing into the alley where he had just spotted the figure, Kunikida Doppo immediately saw a figure wearing a black trench coat and a black top hat squatting next to a pile of scrap materials, doing something unknown.

Could it be yet another victim?

Thinking this, Kunikida Doppo subconsciously shouted, "Stop!"

Then he saw the strangely dressed figure crouching on the ground turn around in surprise, revealing its face beneath the hat.

She was a little girl, who looked to be about fourteen years old at first glance.

A cat warily glanced at the two humans in front of the little girl before quickly running away.

The little girl, who was squatting, stared blankly at the cat that had run away, and then stared blankly at Kunikida Doppo, who was standing there in a daze.

A look of surprise on his face, as if to say, "The cat I finally got has flown away."

Kunikida Doppo:......

Kunikida Doppo: "I'm sorry."