Chapter 89 Childhood
—Some people don't want to grow up, while others long to escape childhood. In just a few days, after experiencing a series of attacks from the Port Mafia, including a private Mafia attack, a Mafia train bombing, a Mafia assassination, and a Mafia kidnapping (and even sending Ryunosuke Akutagawa to the hospital, and bringing back Kyoka Izumi), Atsushi Nakajima felt that it was quite incredible that he could still stroll around here peacefully with the Tanizaki siblings.
Vladimir, who was hiding behind and keeping watch, thought so too.
At this moment, Vladimir was draped in a camouflage cloth that was even more exaggerated than Barry's, completely ignoring the obvious fact that the camouflage cloth would only make her more conspicuous in the city.
Vladimir, draped in camouflage, stood openly at the crossroads, holding a high-powered telescope in one hand and a cream puff in the other, brazenly "tracking" the tiger amidst the astonished gazes of everyone around him, thanks to his strong mental fortitude.
—Although in reality Vladimir's actions have nothing to do with either definition of "tracking".
Why is Vladimir now viciously biting into a cream puff (and getting cream all over his face) and openly tracking Nakajima Atsushi and Tanizaki Junichiro instead of letting Barry continue to be in charge?
The answer is obvious: this is the consequence of Vladimir's latest self-destructive act.
Or rather, it was the result of Barry and Vladimir's self-destructive actions.
Barry was tricked into going out to spy every day, but he still returned to the Nautilus every night.
Although Barry is physiologically capable of not needing sleep or food at all, he still maintains these "little human habits."
So every night, Barry would go back to the Nautilus, find something to eat, and then go to sleep.
Because Vladimir always went to bed very early, the two never bumped into each other, and peace was maintained aboard the Nautilus.
However, on this very day, Vladimir, who was determined to maintain his skin and hair by going to bed early and waking up early, happened to be a little hungry, so he went to the kitchen to find something to eat.
Coincidentally, Barry, who was about to finish his surveillance mission near night, also came to the kitchen to find something to eat at that very moment.
Without anyone watching, the two of them just happened to bump into each other in the kitchen.
To summarize briefly, the situation at the time was roughly as follows:
Barry: "Ugh! Why is there a pervert in the food area?!"
Vladimir: "You kindergarten kid who's pretending to be young, are you looking for death?!"
The accounts of the two parties end there; according to Defoe and Cervantes's speculation, there were probably dozens more meaningless arguments and shouting matches afterward. In short, the two eventually ended up fighting on the Nautilus.
By the time Verne realized what was happening, the two men had already destroyed the kitchen and a large section of the surrounding facilities.
The incident ended with an enraged Verne beating the two men—and as punishment, Barry was ordered to repair the damage to the Nautilus within a day, while Vladimir was to take Barry's place and monitor the "Tiger" that day.
No one on the Nautilus could defy Verne's authority, not even Vladimir and Barry.
So the two of them could only go to work with teary eyes and bumps all over their heads.
Just as Vladimir took another bite of the cream puff with great gusto, she put down the more decorative telescope and rubbed her eyes.
"How boring! So I'm not some guy who's always pretending to be young, why should I do something so boring?"
Muttering to himself, Vladimir sighed helplessly and glanced at Atsushi Nakajima and Jun'ichirō Tanizaki ahead of him.
"Wait, there are only two?"
Vladimir narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Where's the little girl who was following behind?"
Atsushi Nakajima and Jun'ichirō Tanizaki discovered the incident even before Vladimir. Suddenly, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki went berserk and started shouting and making a scene. He ran through the crowd, shoving people aside roughly, causing Atsushi Nakajima to follow behind and apologize repeatedly.
Seeing Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's obviously irrational behavior, Vladimir curled his lip.
In a situation where it's clearly an attack by someone with superpowers, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki would be a sitting duck.
The kind of person who's just waiting to be targeted and attacked.
"But this familiar scene of disappearance... is that Montgomery guy?"
There are a fair number of people with superpowers in the world. But this method of making people disappear instantly seems strangely familiar.
If that's true, it means the group has already arrived, which is important news.
Vladimir absentmindedly scanned the crowd a few times and easily spotted a familiar red twin tail.
Ah... so it really is a group that's here.
Upon seeing Montgomery, Vladimir calmly took a bite of the cream puff, showing no emotional reaction whatsoever, and even wanted to have another one.
Vladimir ate a cream puff and watched Montgomery stand on the street with a "kid got away with a prank" expression, watching the rampaging Tanizaki Jun'ichirō.
Meanwhile, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki continued his reckless rampage through the crowd, even bumping into an older man...
Vladimir suddenly stopped biting into the cream puff and looked incredulously at the uncle who had been knocked down by Tanizaki Jun'ichirō.
Isn't this the guy he turned into a little girl before?!
Meanwhile, Mori Ougai, who was playing hide-and-seek with Alice once again, suddenly bumped into "Human Tiger" who was out shopping. Feeling like he had won the lottery, he walked over, only to be accidentally knocked down by the rampaging Tanizaki Jun'ichiro.
Seeing that Junichiro Tanizaki had knocked him down without even glancing at him, and that "Jin-Tiger" was coming over to help him up with a worried look on his face, Mori Ougai quickly got into character and took out a photo.
"Compared to those kids who've seen this picture before, Alice is an incredibly cute child, so cute that she wouldn't even feel pain if sand got in her eyes..."
A flustered Nakajima Atsushi glanced haphazardly at the photo in Mori Ougai's hand, and after roughly seeing that it was a blonde little girl, he first helped Mori Ougai up.
Before Nakajima Atsushi could get more details from Mori Ougai, who had just stood up, a loud shout suddenly rang out.
"Hey you wretched-looking old man over there, stop right there!"
Atsushi Nakajima shuddered, and when he turned around, he saw a pretty little girl with an angry face rushing towards him, dressed in an expensive-looking Western-style dress.
"Ah, is it her..." Nakajima Atsushi said, turning his head as he only remembered the keywords "a cute girl," and then saw Mori Ougai with a super disgusted expression.
"Why is he here..." Mori Ougai muttered to himself with obvious disgust, then quickly stuffed the photo into his arms and nimbly ran out. "May we meet again someday, young man!"
Atsushi Nakajima watched blankly as the middle-aged man, who had just been knocked down, smoothly weaved through the crowd and ran away. Meanwhile, a young girl ran up and pulled out a pole from somewhere, striking the man with a perfect pole vault.
Nakajima Atsushi was bewildered: So people in the city are all this strange?
—Vladimir's Perspective—
He transformed the fiberglass rod in his hand back into a hairpin and put it on his head. He kicked the shoes that were originally going to turn back into cushions, then rolled over and got up from the fallen Mori Ougai. He raised his hand and pointed it at Mori Ougai's head as if he were holding a gun.
It looks like a child's casual gun-holding gesture. But if Vladimir wanted to, he could hold a real gun in his hand and fire it at any time.
As if he knew this too, Mori Ougai smiled and raised his hands: "Is there anything I can help you with, Miss?"
Vladimir frowned and looked Mori Ougai up and down to confirm something. He then asked with a furrowed brow, "Aren't you the guy I bumped into while you were shopping with a little girl?"
Mori Ougai nodded indifferently: "Yeah."
"Then why did you turn back?"
"Oh, the Armed Detective Agency, which is always eager to help, has a user whose ability is nullification..."
“I didn’t ask you that.” Vladimir gestured with his hand in the shape of a gun and poked Mori Ougai’s head. “I asked you why you wanted to change back.”
Having been in Yokohama for so long, Vladimir had read the files on the local espers—so she wasn't surprised that Mori Ougai (whom she had already recognized) could revert to his original form. The null esper Dazai Osamu was clearly stated in black and white as a former executive of the Port Mafia. As the Mafia boss, getting Dazai Osamu's help shouldn't be a problem.
What's even stranger to Vladimir is why this guy, who clearly also likes young girls, would want to revert to his original state.
Vladimir was puzzled: If you love something, shouldn't the desire to be close to it be instinctive?
Mori Ougai remained unperturbed, continuing with a smile: "While becoming a young girl isn't bad, I'd rather be the one who loves than the one who is loved."
To everyone's surprise, Vladimir seemed even angrier than Mori Ougai: "You don't even dare to become a little girl, so what right do you have to say you like little girls?!"
Mori Ougai, his momentum broken: "...No ordinary person would have such a thought!"
Vladimir: "Yes, there will be!"
The two of them started arguing for no apparent reason.
While Vladimir and Mori Ogai were busy arguing, the scenery around them suddenly changed.
The two of them were stunned for a moment, then looked in the same direction at the same time.
There, Lucy Maud Montgomery looked at the surprised and bewildered group of people and smiled brightly.
"Welcome to Anne's room!"
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