Chapter 31 The Tenth Day of Working

In the dark yellowish iris color, I vaguely saw my shrunken reflection.

Purpose.

……Purpose?

"Purpose...?" After pondering the word for a moment, I found it somewhat amusing. "Mr. Dazai, what purpose could I possibly have?"

He spoke up: "That's true..."

“That’s not believable, is it?” I interrupted him. “But that’s the truth, and I don’t have a second answer to that question.”

"Or rather, Mr. Dazai, tell me, what do you think my purpose might be?"

As Edakawa said, his words are not actually credible.

The multiple identities that linger between the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency, as well as those outside of them, are the most direct reason to breed suspicion. Faced with accusations based on established facts, words are nothing more than the cheapest excuse.

The only thing that can counter this kind of pointing is evidence or leverage.

Even with rebuttal evidence, it may not be possible to dispel all doubts.

Dazai Osamu had seen too many such scenes. Changing one's mind based on a single sentence from the other party was something that even Nakahara Chuuya, let alone Dazai Osamu, was not so naive.

But in that instant, Dazai Osamu saw through the surging dark waves the boy's most straightforward honesty.

He was calm and resolute, like a child who was wrongly blamed by his parents but stubbornly refused to admit his mistake.

—I did not have any of the purposes you predicted.

He stubbornly insisted on saying that.

Dazai Osamu looked at the boy dressed in a black and white bartender's uniform and burst out laughing in the calm and quiet atmosphere.

Edakawa or: "?"

"Whether what you say is true or false, and whether I choose to believe you or not, there's really no need for you to be so tense." He raised his arm, holding a slightly cool wine glass and swirling it, revealing a neatly wrapped bandage. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and his expression seemed inexplicably innocent. "At least no matter what, I don't have any intention to kill you for the time being."

Dazai Osamu felt that his mood at this moment was actually relatively calm compared to many other times.

He didn't think Edakawa was very dangerous; it was his intuition, which had been buried in darkness for too long, that told him, and it was indeed so.

Dazai Osamu recalled what had happened a few days earlier.

He was sitting in the port mafia's office at the time, with a document in front of him.

Chuuya Nakahara glanced at it unintentionally and exclaimed, "Huh? Isn't that the guy from yesterday? Is there something wrong with him?"

Dazai Osamu replied without much thought: "You wouldn't be able to see the problem, Chuuya."

Nakahara Chuuya: "..."

Chuuya Nakahara: Warning of filth.

There's definitely nothing wrong with the information about Edakawa, because the problem is that he only got this one copy of the information.

Dazai Osamu wanted to obtain more than just that one document.

However, there is no data to support either the designer who briefly appeared in the port mafia or the bartender who now works part-time at Lupin Bar.

So in the end, he only received that one portion.

Therefore, it can be confirmed that the boy's full name was Edaka.

It can also be confirmed that before that chance encounter, all the people he met who were related to or had connections with Edakawa were born for some reason.

Whether it was the designer, the bartender, or any other identity he didn't know, Dazai Osamu was certain none of it existed here. He was more inclined to believe they were all created characters, their existence affirmed through virtual memories.

The only two things Dazai Osamu didn't understand were why Edakawa wanted to do this and why Edakawa was able to do it.

It's not some kind of superpower that can change one's appearance.

He had come across several of his identities, and if they were superpowers, they would disappear the moment they were touched due to the "No Longer Human" nullification.

The cool, golden liquid rolled down my throat.

"I was just curious."

When I heard Dazai Osamu say that, my eye twitched.

Dude, your curiosity is a bit scary. You're so curious that your fingernails are practically pressing on my pulse.

It's like saying, "If you don't answer properly, I'll shoot you."

"But at the same time, I'm glad. If I hadn't met you in your real identity that day, you probably wouldn't have said much to me, or Jun." He continued, "Because all virtual identities can be abandoned to any extent, but only the real cannot be abandoned."

“That’s right, Mr. Dazai.” I shrugged. I had already guessed that Dazai Osamu would investigate me first. I hadn’t expected his previous reasons at all, but this sentence was completely expected. “Since you know everything about me—that is, everything about Edagawa Aru—then you should understand even more that I pose no threat to Yokohama or the Port Mafia.”

"To put it bluntly, let alone the Port Mafia, even Yokohama shouldn't have anything to do with me in the first place."

"..."

When I got to the last part, my voice had already risen.

In many crucial moments, I have been quite rational—Mr. Nanami has explicitly praised me in this way. But in those few brief seconds, impulsive emotions still overwhelmed me. I quickly realized my rudeness, both in attitude and content.

I suppressed my slightly trembling arms and apologized with pursed lips: "I'm sorry, Mr. Dazai."

"What a nauseatingly tender sentimentality."

"Or you."