"Mr. Dazai, about Mr. Ranpo..."

Nakajima Atsushi hesitated for a long time, and finally on this day, he said this to Dazai Osamu, who rarely went out with him to complete the commissioned work.

Dazai Osamu glanced at the silver-haired boy who was a little shorter than him beside him. His tone was no different from usual, and could even be considered relaxed: "I thought you would ask me earlier."

"Huh?" Nakajima Atsushi looked a little surprised.

"Because Atsushi, you are really not good at hiding your emotions." Dazai Osamu said with a smile.

"Let me guess, the question you want to ask is what happened to Mr. Ranpo and why our Mr. Ranpo has this attitude, right?"

Nakajima Atsushi nodded seriously.

Since that day, after the Armed Detective Agency gathered, they went through a lot, and finally exposed Fukuchi Sakurachi's behavior and arrested him.

During this time, Nakajima Atsushi's strength has also increased a lot. It was a level of strength that he would never have thought of before - accepting Tiger's ability, accepting his own strength, and after really taking that step, it seemed not so difficult.

It was because of this that he had the opportunity to stand in front of Fukuchi Sakurachi, grab the other's collar, and force the other to tell the situation of "Mr. Ranpo".

Fukuchi Sakurachi, who looks extremely savage on the outside, does not look like a loser in his temperament. Being in a high position for many years means that even if he falls into such a situation, he will not show any behavior that will damage his image.

- It makes people feel that he will make a comeback one day.

Nakajima Atsushi is the one who has really fought against Fukuchi Sakurachi. He has always been concerned about the situation of "Mr. Ranpo" who asked them to hide in the book but stayed there.

However, he is very good at reading people's faces. He found that Mr. Ranpo was unwilling to say more, and it was impossible for him to ask Mr. Ranpo for an answer. Mr. Dazai was not there at the time. What happened at the time, no one knows except Fukuchi Sakurachi.

So this is his only chance to confirm the answer.

However, the answer given by Fukuchi Sakura was: "The kid disappeared by himself."

Fukuchi Sakura's silly eyes were filled with malice that made Nakajima Atsushi's whole body stiffen: "Just like Bram who was stabbed by the Holy Cross Sword, he turned into ashes in the sunlight."

At that time, Nakajima Atsushi's expression was blank, and when he came to his senses, it was Mr. Dazai who grabbed his wrist and asked him to calm down.

He tried to look in the direction of Mr. Ranpo to find an answer, but when he noticed the other party's expression, he didn't have the courage to speak.

And then time came to now.

Nakajima Atsushi has a certain bird-like complex for Dazai Osamu. Dazai Osamu is a teacher who gave him guidance, even if he usually behaves too unreliable, causing Nakajima Atsushi's respect to be worn away little by little, and it is difficult to put a filter on the other party in daily life.

But the trust and admiration that had been hidden in his heart from the beginning had always existed.

So at this time, he subconsciously sought an answer from Dazai Osamu.

And in these things - although it is incredible to say this, Dazai Osamu really did not deceive Nakajima Atsushi in these things.

"Ah, let me think about it, where should I start?" Dazai Osamu touched his chin and said.

Dazai Osamu and Edogawa Ranpo had reasoned before, and they both believed that it was Fukuchi Sakura who foolishly picked up "Edogawa Ranpo" from another world. Because "Edogawa Ranpo" did not know Fukuzawa Yukichi, but had a special affection for the existence of the image of the samurai.

Maybe it was indeed fear, but that emotion - a sense of identification with the samurai, they could not ignore it either.

Unlike their detective, Ranpo Edogawa cares about good and evil and will protect the weak, which is why Q used this to give him supernatural powers.

Dazai Osamu does not think that the differences between the isotopes in the other world are that great. Ranpo Edogawa is an egoist - his parents are good people in the conventional sense, and it is impossible for him to fail in his childhood education. And Fukuzawa Yukichi, whom he met later, is also a good person in an unconventional sense, and will not let Ranpo Edogawa go astray.

However, Ranpo Edogawa, who was educated in this way, has never changed his character. His motto has always been "If it suits my wishes, everything is fine."

Therefore, his previous guess was wrong.

Childhood experiences will not cause Ranpo Edogawa's character to change drastically, turning him from selfish to altruistic. So it is only possible that he started to change himself after he grew up and encountered something.

In a sense, reasoning is a bold assumption and guess - after all, without surveillance and witnesses, it is impossible to reconstruct what happened at the scene if you are not good at using your brain.

This is true for ordinary detectives, and even more so for Dazai Osamu, who is already extremely smart.

He extracted the other person's personality and tried to restore what happened to that person.

When he was a child, he was no different from Mr. Ranpo, and he lived a very happy life. But one day, an accident suddenly happened, and his parents' protection was gone. He exposed his power without any cover and appeared in front of others.

Unlike the president, Fukuchi Sakurachi would not use white lies to deceive Ranpo, saying that he is a psychic. Fukuchi Sakurachi would only tell the truth, so that the immature boy at that time would subconsciously rely on him at the moment when his worldview collapsed.

At that time, "Edogawa Ranpo" could not understand his parents' actions. His mind was only filled with his parents always deceiving him, and the world he knew was false -

if Fukuchi Sakurachi was pretending, no one would be able to find out his problem. Just like the image of a "hero" that he has maintained in front of the public for so long, no one has ever been able to reveal it.

And Edogawa Ranpo is inherently more emotional than rational when dealing with certain people, just like he has always been because the president believes that he is a psychic. As long as he keeps Fukuchi Sakurachi in his heart, then "Ranpo" will never find any problems.

At this time, "Ranpo" will not choose to leave the other party even if he knows that Fukuchi Sakurachi is a bad person.

It is a very rare thing not to do bad things for the other party.

Unless this harm falls on his head.

- One day, "Edogawa Ranpo" suddenly discovered that the elder he could rely on, the person who had been protecting him after his parents, was the bad person who deprived him of his loving home.

...That is, the person who killed his parents.

"Ranpo Edogawa", who had already accepted each other and trusted Fukuchi Sakurachi with all his heart, would not believe this fact at all. But the truth was right in front of him and he could not ignore it.

The filter that had always existed was broken.

After losing his parents' anchor connecting him to the world, Fukuchi Sakurachi became the second anchor. But at this moment, the connection between Fukuchi Sakurachi and him was suddenly broken. The

collapsed "Ranpo Edogawa" would subconsciously look for a new connection point with the world.

But he was surrounded by people from the Hounds, and they were all on the side of Fukuchi Sakurachi.

"Ranpo Edogawa" rarely came into contact with outsiders, so at this moment, the only people he regarded as a lifeline were those two people.

——At this time, Ranpo Edogawa, who had grown up to understand his parents' expectations and love, recalled his parents.

His parents taught him to be a good child, to be kind, and to protect the weak since he was a child.

His father is a policeman, and he is a very kind person who stands on the side of justice. His mother is also a very gentle person. His

parents loved him and nurtured him with love and kindness. After realizing that he has the super reasoning ability to see through the truth in an instant, they didn't want him to go astray, and didn't want him to become a bad person who hurts negotiators and is hostile to the world, so before Ranpo has a mature mind, he grows up as an ordinary person.

【“Is it because I did something bad... that things turned out like this...?”

More than ten years of getting along is not so easy to give up, and the memories that Fukuchi Sakurachi and he created together are never false.

These years of getting along even made Edogawa Ranpo unable to feel hatred, but instead began to blame himself inexplicably.

Many things that the hound did were contrary to his parents' values ​​- but Edogawa Ranpo didn't care.

He felt it didn't matter because these things had nothing to do with him.

Until this day, these "bad things" that were originally "mistakes" fell on his head.

Edogawa Ranpo suddenly realized that those people who were killed and injured by the hound were feeling the same as he was at the moment... ?

He has seen countless tragedies that do not conform to his parents' values ​​happen in front of his eyes, but he has not become the good person that his parents expected him to be as he watched coldly.

"If I were a good child... If I listened to my parents and became someone who helped others... Wouldn't these things have happened?"

Wouldn't... my parents not have died at that time, wouldn't they have been killed by that person...? 】

This idea is illogical, but for a child who has not really grown up, it is enough.

"Edogawa Ranpo" can't stay with Fukuchi Sakurachi, but he can't even hate Fukuchi Sakurachi - this makes him feel that he is sorry for his parents and can't avenge his parents, which makes his heart even more broken.

——Toki’s world is too simple, good is good, evil is evil, he needs to help humans and kill demons. This state of mind that is completely different from this world, coupled with his pseudonymous identity, makes him actually out of tune with this world and seems particularly special.

Dazai Osamu cannot understand Toki’s subconscious behavior of helping others without asking for anything in return. This instinct-like situation appears in Edogawa Ranpo, and even makes Dazai Osamu feel a kind of "distortion".

[“I have to listen to my parents, I must be a good child...”]

So, "Edogawa Ranpo" became the "good guy" who instinctively protects humans.

Even if he lost his memory and restored his original personality, this instinct still did not disappear.

So, what happened afterwards?

Dazai Osamu doesn't think that Fukuchi Sakurachi will let "Edogawa Ranpo" go. Dazai Osamu doesn't mind thinking about the truth in the worst direction, the most vulnerable part of human beings.

But he can't completely deny the occasional incomprehensible kindness of human nature.

"Edogawa Ranpo" can't deceive the person who watched him grow up. So if there is a problem with him, Fukuchi Sakurachi will definitely find it at the first time - Dazai Osamu can even suspect that the situation at that time was that "Edogawa Ranpo" was unwilling to believe the truth, and he collapsed and asked Fukuchi Sakurachi to tell him the answer.

[“Just tell me, no matter what you say, I will believe it…”

“Please, please tell me… someone lied to me about this… it’s not true…”

“Just tell me, I will believe it…!”]

However, Fukuchi Sakurachi would never lie about this matter, just like he would tell Edogawa Ranpo that he was not a person with superpowers.

He would openly tell Edogawa Ranpo about the mission he accepted at the time, and personally tell Edogawa Ranpo the truth.

However, the years of getting along were not a one-sided effort on the part of Edogawa Ranpo. If it was really just one-sided, Edogawa Ranpo would not have cared about Fukuchi Sakurachi that much.

So – Fukuchi Sakurachi did not kill Edogawa Ranpo at that time, even though he knew that if he did not kill him at that time, he would leave a terrible enemy for himself.

The best solution at that time was to kill "Ranpo Edogawa", who was no longer a help but a hindrance.

However, Fukuchi Sakurachi did not do so, which led to the subsequent failure.

As for the problem of amnesia and the biggest eye... Not killing "Ranpo Edogawa" was a rare mercy of Fukuchi Sakurachi. But it does not mean that he can accept Ranpo Edogawa's resistance in the future.

Even if he can-in this battle, it has been discovered that most of the members of the Hounds are almost completely led by Fukuchi Sakurachi. If they know that there is such a potential enemy, it doesn't seem to be surprising what they will do.

The eyes of "Ranpo Edogawa" were dug out, and even if he was equipped with a glass prosthetic eye that was extremely similar to the real eye, it could not hide this fact.

Dazai Osamu had previously analyzed that he was the leader in another world, and he became the leader for Oda Saku, so he would never hurt "Ranpo Edogawa".

The only ones who could hurt "Ranpo Edogawa" were the hounds - and himself.

It seemed that losing his eyes also made "Ranpo Edogawa" make a complete decision.

He stood on the opposite side of his former guardian, he realized his mistakes, and he needed to correct them.

- Fukuchi Sakura was wrong to be stupid, and Uncle Fukuchi who killed his parents was wrong.

In that world, the only thing that can fight against Fukuchi Sakura's madness and that "Ranpo Edogawa" can contact is the extremely terrifying port mafia.

So, "Ranpo Edogawa" met Dazai Osamu who became the leader.

Then, "Ranpo Edogawa" knew. Nothing can be hidden from the detective who can see through the truth at a glance. Even if he has lost the most intuitive "vision".

The existence of the book cannot be known by more than two people. Once it exceeds, the possibility of the world collapsing will increase.

If there is no comparison, "Ranpo Edogawa" can withstand everything. But there is a completely unfair comparison -

just like Toki once compared the world of if with the main world, and felt unfair for the leader Dazai.

However, he was Dazai Osamu in the previous world - that feeling also spread to himself.

When he expressed this emotion, Ranpo Edogawa in this world noticed it, and Dazai Osamu also noticed the other's sadness about injustice.

Ranpo Edogawa in the main world has a backup that he can rely on, Fukuzawa Yukichi who will not betray him, and a father and mother who love him. That Ranpo Edogawa has never gone wrong, and when he almost went wrong, he met Fukuzawa Yukichi who could protect him and continue to support the lie for him.

That Ranpo Edogawa would help others because of the values ​​of Fukuzawa Yukichi as the president, would accept the police's commission to find the truth, and would protect the weak because of the commission. He is the center of the detective agency, and he is a very happy child.

【“Are you jealous?” In front of Ranpo Edogawa, the leader Dazai, the only one who knew about the other world, looked at the detective who came to him for help and should have been happy enough like in the other world.

“…I just think it’s unfair.” One blow after another was enough to quiet down this once lively child.

Just one deviation made their future completely different. Just because the person they met was different.

Not only that, but also the world was different.

This world only allows no more than two people to know the existence of the book, and the leader Dazai has his own plans for the future, and Ranpo Edogawa is the extra person.

As the one who can see the parallel world, the leader Dazai certainly knows how different their world is from other worlds. But after discovering this difference, he never intended to reach out to Edogawa Ranpo, and even thought that, with the other party's mentality, the detective who lived in deception was already happy enough.

But this person who was left out of his plan discovered the truth and walked in front of him.

The moment Edogawa Ranpo appeared here, his ending was doomed.

"He is a good person... He is what my parents expect." It is clear who Edogawa Ranpo is referring to.

"If I become such a person..."

At this point, "Edogawa Ranpo" will not deny his past. But this does not prevent him from developing a little empathy.

He is curious about Fukuzawa Yukichi in another world, but he dares not touch Fukuzawa Yukichi who belongs to his world.

Just like the difference between Edogawa Ranpo in his main world, Fukuzawa Yukichi is also different.

Fukuzawa Yukichi who had not met Edogawa Ranpo would not have set up a detective agency - he would have spent a longer time looking for his own path, and he would still find his own path, but without Ranpo, he would not have chosen to set up a detective agency.

After all, from the very beginning, he made this choice for Ranpo.

Maybe there are still other partners around him, but that is definitely not a detective agency similar to the main world.

Without Edogawa Ranpo, Yosano Akiko would not be saved, and even Fukuzawa Yukichi would not have noticed that there was such a child who needed his help - she would still be in the psychological shadow of that time, until she could no longer accept the guilt in her heart, and she would choose to commit suicide.

[“…You actually found that hair accessory.” Looking at the broken golden butterfly held in the hands of the detective, Chief Dazai closed his eyes and sighed softly.

It’s not that he can’t understand - or on the contrary, he really understands Edogawa Ranpo’s feelings at the moment.

Just like he knew that he and Odasaku would no longer be friends in this world, he would still study hard tofu and dismantle a bomb when he was alone, and go to that bar and ask the boss to pour three glasses of wine as if Odasaku and Ango were around.

But they all knew that this was meaningless.]

- The butterfly fell to the ground.

Then, Chief Dazai committed suicide. After he completed his mission.

"Edogawa Ranpo" could not stop it, nor could he stop it.

Fukuchi Sakura used the vampire's supernatural power to cause a crisis in the world. In order to protect the two people who guarded the book, to protect this world, and for everything he had done, he had tried very hard, as if to atone for his sins.

In the end, he died at the hands of the elder he once respected the most.

The leader Dazai handed over everything to "Edogawa Ranpo". In order to avoid the collapse of the world, "Edogawa Ranpo" made himself forget the book - and also forgot that in order to prevent the world from collapsing, he made himself the carrier of the book to a certain extent.

If he had not been so deeply connected to the book, on that day, he would not have been able to transfer the energy of the book to Po's novel.

"Atsushi-kun, don't forget the fact that Mr. Ranpo did not belong to this world." Dazai smiled and said, "He just went home."

Nakajima Atsushi completely trusted Dazai's words, even though he felt something was wrong. Nakajima Atsushi hesitated and said, "That's great, does Ranpo know?"

If Ranpo knew, he wouldn't be behaving like that, right?

Dazai Osamu still kept a smile on his face: "You mean Ranpo? Of course he knows."

It is because he knows that Ranpo has that expression during this period.

["Are you jealous?"]

["...Why are you asking me this question? It doesn't make sense, does it?"

"Just like why you choose to protect this world, there is actually no difference between us."]

Edogawa Ranpo will show a pure smile in the sun, which is what another person wants to see.

[“Ranpo really likes that world, he really likes the detective agency. So I want him to be happy all the time.”

“Just like you. Just like in this world, Oda can also stand in the sun openly.”]

No one will die around Ranpo, and this world will be very, very happy.

Jealousy may arise, but the next moment, it will still be covered by satisfaction.

- It is because you have a companion by your side, which is completely different from me. So I have the courage to go back to where I should go.

- I won't cry anymore, I have become a mature adult who can protect everyone!

[So, I just went home. Ranpo.]

Ranpo Edogawa was lying on his desk, and on the desk was a tourist poster with a picture of the sea.

"Liar."

The author has something to say: Shi Wu: I'm sorry, the agreed agreement was not reached.