Chapter 17 Head Balloons (10) The shape, without a doubt…

That shape was undoubtedly Yuko Nishimura's head balloon.

It floated there quietly, silently watching the houses below.

“It’s there,” Zhu Yi said with a complicated tone. “It’s been watching us all along.”

Surprisingly, Yuko Nishimura's head balloon did not make any aggressive or intimidating moves; it simply floated there, like a silent witness.

Kunikida Doppo suddenly realized something: "It seems our investigation is on the right track. It's not trying to intimidate us, nor is it going to attack Moriyama Masao."

On the other person's pale face, those black, hole-like eyes seemed to pierce through the walls, staring directly at the sanctimonious former principal inside the room.

There was no wind, no sobbing, only a heavy, suffocating silence.

Kunikida Doppo stared at the figure, and for a moment he seemed to understand her thoughts. Kunikida Doppo's tone unconsciously carried a hint of surprise: "Perhaps it is presenting or revealing to us that the truth is hidden here."

Kunikida Doppo didn't know why he was so certain that the truth was here, but he felt an emotion within him that didn't belong to him.

“It needs us to say it for her,” Kunikida Doppo said softly but firmly.

The balloon with the human head in the air swayed gently, as if in response to his words.

The next second, the balloon's lips curled up slightly, revealing a smile that was both terrifying and endlessly desolate.

The shape of the human-headed balloon gradually became transparent, as if it were about to melt into the air, but its gaze remained firmly locked on the three people until it disappeared.

Dazai Osamu looked thoughtfully at the balloon of a human head that gradually became transparent and disappeared: "It seems we need to find more evidence to find out anything."

Just then, another figure appeared in the sky. A figure wearing a top hat and a black coat descended from the sky. Chuuya Nakahara also saw Dazai Osamu and the other two. He landed precisely on a street corner not far away, and a dark red light flashed and disappeared on his body.

"How could a gravity manipulator from the port mafia be here?" Kunikida Doppo immediately went on high alert, his brow furrowed, his hand instinctively reaching into his pocket for his notebook.

Seeing Chuuya Nakahara walking towards the three of them, Osamu Dazai chuckled, his face returning to its usual nonchalant expression: "Oh dear, isn't this the dark, violent little dwarf? What, got lost in this quiet residential area?"

Chuuya Nakahara lowered his hat brim, clearly displeased to have encountered Osamu Dazai here: "Shut up, mackerel! My mission here is none of your business."

His gaze swept over Kunikida Doppo and Takeichi, finally settling on Dazai Osamu: "But what are you guys from the Armed Detective Agency doing here, sneaking around like this?"

"Sneaking around?" Dazai Osamu spread his hands dramatically. "We're conducting this commissioned investigation openly and aboveboard."

"But what about that Mafia executive? Breaking into a residential area at this time, could he be up to something shady?"

"You bastard!" Chuuya Nakahara's temple throbbed with anger, clearly enraged by the other's words. A faint dark red light flickered around him again, but Dazai Osamu showed no fear on his face.

Chuuya Nakahara took a deep breath, as if he had suddenly remembered something important. He forcibly suppressed his anger: "Hmph, I don't have time to waste with you."

His gaze swept over the three people in front of him with a hint of scrutiny and suspicion. "I'm looking for a balloon floating in the air. Have any of you seen it?"

“Yes.” Dazai Osamu drawled, a sly smile curving his lips. “It seems our goals are aligned.”

"How about you beg me, and I'll tell you what I know?"

Chuuya Nakahara frowned even more, but surprisingly, he did not immediately react to Osamu Dazai's words. Instead, he fell into a brief silence.

His expression beneath the brim of his hat turned serious: "That balloon... does it have a girl's face?"

Kunikida Doppo and Takeichi exchanged a surprised look, while Dazai Osamu narrowed his eyes slightly, abandoning his nonchalant attitude: "It seems that Chuuya has also met Ms. Nishimura."

"Nishimura?" Chuuya repeated the surname, as if searching his memory for something: "Do you know the origin of that face-shaped balloon?"

“We know more than that.” Dazai Osamu stepped forward, lowering his voice slightly: “Chuuya, what are you looking for that human head balloon for? When did the Port Mafia become interested in urban legends?”

Chuuya clicked his tongue, clearly weighing how much information to reveal. Finally, he reluctantly said, "The leader's order."

"That human head balloon... a ghost story, has recently caused quite a stir in Yokohama. And..."

He paused for a moment: "He seems to target specific people."

Zhu Yi's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't show it at all.

"Specific people?" Kunikida Doppo keenly grasped the key phrase: "For example?"

“For example, the Mafia is currently hunting down several traitors.” Chuuya Nakahara’s voice carried a hint of confusion: “Last week, we tracked down three guys who absconded with funds. When we found them, they were all mentally unstable, constantly muttering things like ‘balloon’ and ‘eye’.”

Chuuya Nakahara also concealed other information: after capturing these people, the human head balloon was taken to the police station entrance, and all of them were unconscious.

A hint of interest flashed in Dazai Osamu's eyes: "So Miss Nishimura is helping you catch traitors? What a kind-hearted lady."

"Stop making sarcastic remarks." Chuuya Nakahara glared at him. "We don't need any human heads to help us catch the traitor. More importantly..." His tone became serious. "The leader suspects that there may be someone or some organization behind this ghost story, trying to disrupt the order of Yokohama's underground."

Takeichi felt that this was a huge misunderstanding; he had no intention of disrupting the order of Yokohama's underground.

He remained silent and looked at Dazai Osamu, a key figure whose intelligence was clearly exceptional, yet he could not discern Dazai Osamu's emotions or expression.

However, the system said it would interfere with their thinking and ideas, so they shouldn't suspect them.

Kunikida Doppo: "So, you believe that the human-head balloon might be a man-made product of supernatural abilities? A manifestation of some unknown supernatural power?"

Chuuya Nakahara looked at him strangely and said in a low voice, "Or worse."

"Perhaps it is some kind of force that we do not yet understand."

“Looks like the Port Mafia aren’t so stupid after all.” Dazai Osamu suddenly chuckled, dangling one hand in his pocket and shaking it, his iris-colored eyes flashing with a playful light: “But the fact that Chu could think of this makes him a bit smarter than I expected.”

Chuuya Nakahara's temple throbbed again: "Stop being sarcastic!" He paused, his tone turning serious, "The shape of that balloon... it can't be explained by ordinary supernatural abilities. You've seen it too, don't you think something's off?"

He had seen the human-head balloon before; the creature possessed self-awareness. Moreover, the information the leader obtained from the Special Abilities Division suggested that it was very likely not a product of supernatural abilities.

"Oh?" Dazai Osamu raised an eyebrow, took half a step forward, and the distance between them instantly shrank to the point where they could see the reflection in each other's pupils. His voice was low but inquisitive, "It seems the little dwarf is quite observant."

Dazai Osamu looked at Nakahara Chuuya, who had taken a half-step back with a tense expression, and curled the corners of his mouth: "How about we make a deal?"

Zhu Yi: ...You're stealing my business, and the atmosphere between you guys is weird.

Known.

Dazai Osamu knew Sakaguchi Ango, and also knew the executives of the Port Mafia.

So what was Dazai Osamu's former identity?

Watching the two discuss something, Takeichi looked at Kunikida Doppo and asked curiously, "Do you know what Dazai-san's job was before?"

Kunikida Doppo shook his head and replied in a low voice, "That guy's past is like a fog. Nobody knows what he did before. I only know that there are three years of blanks in his resume."

Zhu Yi exclaimed "Wow!" It seems the other party's identity is not simple.

Zhu Yi became increasingly curious. Should she just ask directly? That would be too presumptuous.

Should we ask Mr. Sakaguchi when we get back?

After Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya finished their discussion, Nakahara Chuuya seemed to have compromised on something. He lowered the brim of his hat, glanced at Kunikida Doppo and Takeichi, and then turned and left.

When Dazai Osamu strolled over slowly, he saw that the other person was still lost in thought. He leaned down and waved a hand in front of the other person: "What are you thinking about, Takeichi-kun?"

Zhu Yi finally snapped out of her daze, her eyelashes fluttering as she looked up at the face so close to hers: "I was wondering what kind of job you used to do."

Dazai Osamu's hand froze in mid-air, and he chuckled softly. Takeichi didn't understand what he was laughing at. Dazai straightened up and resumed his usual lazy demeanor: "Work—"

"What kind of job do you think someone like me would do?"

Do I need to ask you if I already know?

Zhu Yi looked at his iris-colored eyes, which always seemed to be shrouded in a thin mist, making it difficult to see clearly. He tentatively asked in a soft voice, "Perhaps... a job that involves dealing with many people?"

"Oh?" Dazai Osamu raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think that?"

“Because you have a very wide social circle, and…” Zhu Yi lowered his eyes and pondered, “you seem to be very good at perceiving people’s emotions and details.”

Whether it's Yota Sato or Masao Moriyama, Osamu Dazai can capture those subtle things and even manipulate their emotions.

When Takeichi looked up, he met Dazai Osamu's eyes, which seemed to see right through people. Although Dazai Osamu was still smiling slightly, Takeichi couldn't find a trace of a smile in his eyes: "Seeing through emotions... perhaps. After all, the human heart is sometimes more interesting than a riddle."

"Was Mr. Dazai a psychologist before?" Takeichi asked.

Dazai Osamu was clearly stunned for half a second. His usually teasing, iris-colored eyes were unusually empty for a moment, and then, as if he had heard the most absurd joke of the century, he suddenly clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.

He laughed until his eyes welled up with tears, and pointed to his chest, unable to straighten up: "You want me to counsel other people's psychological problems? Mr. Zhu Yi really thinks highly of me."

Kunikida Doppo sighed and said helplessly, "If Dazai could be a psychologist, the detective agency's reports would probably have turned into a collection of suicide plans by now."

"It's really hard to guess," Zhu Yi said disappointedly.

Dazai Osamu wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes: "Well, don't be discouraged."

He suddenly leaned in half a step closer, deliberately lowering his voice as if he were about to share some earth-shattering secret: "I'll let you in on a secret: if you guess right, you can get a 700,000 yuan bonus from the Armed Detective Agency."

Zhu Yi's eyes lit up: 700,000!

"Really?"

Kunikida Doppo nodded: "It is indeed true, but this is one of the mysteries of the Armed Detective Agency, and no one has guessed it yet."

"Let me think about it carefully." Zhu Yi stroked his chin, deep in thought.

"teacher?"

"wrong--"

"A philosophical writer?"

"It's still not right."

"cartoonist!"

"No."

"I understand, he's someone who works in the Special Abilities Division, just like Mr. Sakaguchi!"

"Hmm, that's not entirely true either."

...

Zhu Yi rattled off several professions in one breath until her throat was dry, and finally announced that she was giving up.

The three of them were walking on the road.

Kunikida Doppo remained silent for a long time, feeling a sense of powerless frustration while confronting Moriyama Masao. There was still no breakthrough in the case of Nishimura Yuko's suicide.

Dazai Osamu stopped in his tracks, raised his iris-colored eyes, which always carried a hint of languor, and gazed at the darkening night.

“It’s completely dark now.” He drawled, as if only lamenting the moonlight wasn’t bright enough tonight. “But for us, it’s the perfect opportunity.”

Dazai Osamu turned to the side, looking at the other two people who looked puzzled: "Although we can't pry any useful information out of Moriyama Masao." He paused, tapping his fingertips in the air, "...but Sato Yota is different. We can tear open another hole from him."

Dazai Osamu, with his hands in his pockets, slowly said, "When are people most likely to tell the truth? Not when they are being stared at by bright lights, nor when they are being interrogated."

He chuckled softly, a glint of light flashing in his iris-colored pupils in the dim light: "It's when it's pitch black all around, and even your own shadow feels terrifying. When fear washes over you like a tide, that inner defense can become our breakthrough point."

"What do you mean?" Kunikida Doppo hated riddle-makers like Dazai Osamu who only gave half the meaning.

"The human head balloon will probably come after Sato Yota again."

“We can put pressure on him and pry out useful information when he is most afraid,” Dazai Osamu suggested.

A note from the author:

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Hehe~ I updated with a lot of words today! [Thumbs up][Thumbs up]