If you don't dislike it, then you like it.

Chuuya was having a lot of fun in this world, which allowed him to temporarily escape from thinking about his sad memories. The technology here was more advanced than theirs.

Chuuya felt like a country bumpkin in the city, amazed by all sorts of new and exciting things. The most obvious difference was that they already had full-screen phones, the kind that could make video calls!

The Grey Lord provided an answer: the war delayed technological development, and their world only experienced an epic leap in technology after the war ended.

In the following days, Chuuya still secretly went to see those acquaintances, including Rimbaud and Verlaine who were actually traveling abroad. Chuuya also made a point of avoiding the five members of the Flag Association who had approached him several times out of curiosity.

To be honest, Chuuya didn't know how to face them, and he was afraid of immersing himself in this beautiful world. But this was not their world after all. He just needed to know that in some other world, they were still living happily.

Meanwhile, the detective agency has recently reached a point where everyone is using their unique skills to decide who will accompany Ranpo on his daily outings. This is the first time Kunikida has regretted agreeing to Ranpo's request, which was clearly acting strangely, on that day.

It all started the day Ranpo volunteered to do an outing. Dazai skipped work as usual that day and was pulled out of the water by Atsushi that night. Apart from the injury on his face, he didn't seem to have changed. At first, they didn't notice anything either.

But after that day, Dazai seemed to become a "normal person" and started working seriously. He stopped skipping work and even finished other people's work. He seemed normal, but it was Dazai who did all this!

Can you imagine a Dazai! Working diligently every day, no longer inviting people to commit suicide, no longer even calling the complaint hotline, and no longer attempting suicide? This is more terrifying than the end of the world. At least in the two years he's known Dazai, he's never seen a Dazai like this. These are Kunikida Doppo's own words.

Atsushi, who brought Dazai back that day, was questioned by the detectives. Of course, some people wanted to get answers from Ranpo, but Ranpo glanced at Dazai the next day, showed a dazed, shocked, and incredulous expression, and then refused to tell them, saying that it was Dazai's privacy.

There's a saying that goes, "When a child is quiet, he's sure to be up to something." The days passed slowly in the midst of the other members of the detective agency's anxiety, ending with Atsushi Nakajima bringing back news from Akutagawa that a member of the mafia had taken a six-month vacation.

Yes, they had been on tenterhooks for days, not receiving news of Dazai's plans to destroy the world, but instead receiving news of Chuuya leaving Yokohama. However, they also confirmed that Dazai's abnormal behavior in recent days was entirely due to that executive of the Mafia.

Upon hearing the news, Dazai finished his work for the day and, surprisingly, skipped work after a long time. He even finished his work before skipping work, which almost brought tears to Kunikida's eyes.

Dazai lay sprawled in the staff apartment, covering his face with the Complete Suicide Manual. He began to reflect on whether he had said something too harsh that day, which was why Chuuya, not wanting to see him again, had simply distanced himself from Yokohama? Clearly, his initial intention was simply to take a step back and return to the relationship they had before.

And isn't that a bit much? The puppy suddenly fell in love with its owner and confessed its feelings without giving him any time to process it. When the puppy tried to run away, the puppy even grabbed it and wouldn't let it leave.

He didn't hold it against Chuuya and even offered him a way out, but Chuuya didn't appreciate it and even punched him. It was all Chuuya's fault after all.

The owner didn't abandon the puppy, yet the puppy plans to leave its owner after six months. Is it planning to simply find a new owner? Wouldn't it be better to maintain the previous relationship? Both organizations have already reached a peace agreement.

"It's clear that taking another step is like stepping into an abyss, doesn't Chuuya understand this?" Dazai thought maliciously, forgetting that Chuuya's brain capacity was simply incapable of thinking about such things.

It's truly baffling that there could be someone in the world who loves life as much as Chuuya. Otherwise, perhaps I could drag Chuuya down with me to die, so that I wouldn't have to fear losing him, and everything would remain at its most beautiful moment.

However, he should, at least, act as if he doesn't care as he says, so why has he been thinking about Chuuya more often lately?

If the other person is Chuuya, it wouldn't be a bad idea to try to get along with him, after all, I've lived for Chuuya for so many years, but he has ruined everything.

But is Chuuya completely without fault? Chuuya is truly unreasonable. He barged into his life without any sense of reason from the very beginning, and now he's going to take things a step further without any sense of reason, pushing him to the edge of a cliff, forcing him to make a choice, and leaving him no way out. He's really despicable.

But the thought that Chuuya might fall in love with someone else in the past six months made Dazai want to kill him. After all, dogs are creatures that will wag their tails at the slightest bit of kindness, right?

Ultimately, it's all Chuuya's fault. Chuuya is too bad, too hateful, too cunning.

You can't fall in love with anyone else!

This was the last thought that remained in Dazai's mind, and that's only natural.

He's figured it out these past few days. In the end, he doesn't hate Chuuya. Besides, Chuuya is his dog, the kind he'll be with for life. It's something that was destined when he was fifteen.

Dazai sat up abruptly, took out his phone, ignored the fact that it was already 3 a.m., and dialed a number.

“Moshi moshi, Mr. Mori.”

"Dazai-kun, I'm curious what made you call me at 3 a.m.?"

"Oh~ I thought Mr. Mori was still awake at this hour. I hope I haven't disturbed your rest~"

"So, is there something you need for Dazai-kun's late-night call?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask...did Chuuya mention where he was going on vacation when he asked for leave?"

"I'm not quite sure, Dazai-kun. Unfortunately, I'm not sure about Chuuya-kun's travel plans either."

"Mr. Mori is useless. Goodbye."

After saying this, Dazai didn't give Mori Ougai a chance to reply. Mori Ougai held a phone that was now just a busy signal and silently prayed for Chuuya-kun in his heart, feeling that something interesting was about to happen.

Dazai made another phone call. This time, the person on the other end was still awake. Two hours later, Dazai successfully obtained the information he wanted.

The last location they could find was in Tokyo, and that was a few days ago. Dazai decided to try his luck anyway, hoping that the child might have some clues.

When his leave request was approved, Dazai was already on the Shinkansen.