Chapter 240 The Third Player

The acquaintance between Dazai Osamu and Mochizuki Kaoru was originally caused by an unexpected incident that could not be more unexpected... a "kidnapping incident".

——The person who was kidnapped was Dazai Osamu.

The person who kidnapped him was neither someone from the Port Mafia who opposed Mori Ogai, nor was he another enemy from outside who disliked the Port Mafia. Instead, he was a very ordinary yet not-so-ordinary woman - she looked like any ordinary, hurried female office worker on the streets of Yokohama, but from various tiny details, it could be seen that she was definitely not a Japanese, but a European who didn't know much about Japan.

Out of curiosity and his own desire and pursuit of "death", Dazai Osamu wanted to find out who the woman who kidnapped him was.

This matter was not difficult, at least not for Dazai Osamu, so he quickly figured it out - as expected, her face was fake, her name and identity were all fake, and the reason why she chose to kidnap him and then wanted to kill him was even just because Dazai Osamu's identity was more convenient - because he had some connection with the Hong Kong underworld but could not be said to have joined the Hong Kong underworld. He probably felt that even if he died, it would not cause retaliation from the Port Mafia.

She wanted to kill Dazai Osamu according to the murder method in a mystery novel in order to attract the author of the mystery novel, Mochizuki Kurumi, because she regarded her as an intelligence dealer and killer code-named "Dead Soul" who disappeared in Europe many years ago due to death.

And she almost succeeded - when she kidnapped Dazai Osamu but hadn't killed him yet, she also sent this message to some people - Dazai Osamu didn't see who they were, so he could only guess.

Of course, Dazai Osamu couldn't say more for the time being - because he accidentally went a little too far, and the woman was finally enraged by him and wanted to use violence to shut him up.

But she failed——because Mochizuki Kaoru showed up in time.

He simply killed the woman.

So this time, Dazai Osamu didn't have time to do much before he was rescued.

There was also Randou who came with Mochizuki Kaoru. This result also surprised and intrigued Dazai Osamu - Randou was a psychic who was promoted by Mori Ogai from the Port Mafia, but he was not sociable and was mostly alone or with his subordinates. He had no personal relationship with anyone in the Port Mafia. But he didn't expect that Mochizuki Kaoru seemed to have a good personal relationship with Randou, and the other party even came here for him.

After this nonsensical kidnapping case ended, Dazai Osamu paid a little attention to the follow-up. As expected, the news about "Mochizuki Kurumi is a dead soul" not only did not cause any splash, but did not even appear at all.

This incident was the origin of Dazai Osamu and Mochizuki Kaoru's acquaintance - because after that day, Dazai Osamu began to pester Mochizuki Kaoru.

Investigation, tracking, encounters, temptations, various small coincidences and traps... Of course, along with Dazai Osamu, there are also various small troubles that are not dangerous but continue to happen.

This writer is famous but has never appeared in public. No one knows his true appearance and identity. However, he has some connection with the Special Powers Department and the superpowers from Europe. He is suspected to be a dangerous former killer and intelligence dealer who came to Yokohama in secret... To be honest, Dazai Osamu is indeed very curious about Mochizuki Kaoru.

It felt like peeling an onion, after peeling off one layer there was another layer... He couldn't help but wonder how many layers were inside.

Of course, there is another reason - Dazai Osamu had read Mochizuki Kaoru's novels, which are honestly very wonderful. She is worthy of being a writer who became a famous rising star in the literary world as soon as she started writing books. Not only are the reasonings in them interesting, but what is even more interesting are the characters in them - they are lifelike. Mochizuki Kaoru seems to have put real people into the book, and without any emotion, she accurately dissects their inner hearts and displays them to the readers - she displays the "human heart" vividly.

There is a different kind of vitality that is ugly and overly vivid.

Dazai Osamu was a little curious: What kind of person is Mochizuki Kaoru who could write such a novel?

Unfortunately, although Mochizuki Kaoru was indeed a real, smooth adult and experienced in the world, no matter how smart Dazai Osamu was, he was only fourteen years old and had too little experience. In front of the adult who was thirteen years older than him, he was finally defeated. Every time he tried, he could not get a definite answer from him.

But Osamu Dazai was not in a hurry. His "badgering" is also measured, and he is good at grasping people's hearts, so even every temptation and "little trouble" will be within the acceptance range of Mochizuki Kaoru, and will not really go too far. As for making people angry and angry - that's not worth the gain for him.

Until one day, Mochizuki Kaoru suddenly moved for some unknown reason. Although she left him a message to inform him of her new address, Dazai Osamu still did not go. It was as if he had given up on exploring his past and his secrets.

Mochizuki Kaoru did not take the initiative to contact Dazai Osamu again, just like every time before it was Dazai Osamu who took the initiative to contact him instead of him contacting Dazai Osamu.

It seemed as if Dazai Osamu had completely lost his fresh curiosity and interest in him.

It was not until the "Resurrection of the Previous Leader" incident that he accidentally met Mochizuki Kaoru again.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm an intelligence officer from the Special Powers Division, Mochizuki Kaoru - ah, a non-staff member." The other party was still wearing a kimono, her gold-rimmed glasses slightly lowered to cover a small part of her light gray pupils, and her purple-black medium-length hair hung on her shoulders. After being discovered by him, she didn't show any surprise, but waved to him, smiled at him somewhat casually, and introduced herself.

It was a rare occasion that Dazai Osamu was stunned.

The "Resurrection of the former leader of the Port Mafia" ended in a rather anticlimactic way.

Mochizuki Kaoru found Rimbaud and told him the information about Verlaine directly. So when Dazai Osamu was still a little confused, before they could even start fighting, Rimbaud stopped.

After receiving the message from Mochizuki Kaoru, Rimbaud quickly faked his death and left Yokohama - he was in a hurry to pick up his partner who was "now wanted by Britain and France, and was put on the highest level blacklist by the Clocktower Men for hunting, and now no one knew where he was fleeing."

…And that was the end of it.

After the incident, Dazai Osamu and Mochizuki Kaoru met in a bar to chat.

"So, during the time that Mr. Mochizuki disappeared, he joined the Special Powers Division?"

"Yes, because we need to clear up some of the troubles."

"Hey, does it have anything to do with me?"

"What do you think, Dazai-kun?"

"If Mr. Mochizuki didn't tell me, I would know nothing."

"Partly. Of course, the other part is due to the problems in the Special Powers Division, and some of the follow-up events brought about by Gwendolyn before. However, some of Dazai-kun's little troubles also contributed to it."

Dazai Osamu protested: "That's too much. Even if I wasn't there, Mr. Mochizuki would have joined the Special Power Division, right?"

"Maybe... Who can say for sure about something like that?" Mochizuki Kaoru smiled but said nothing.

Dazai remained silent for a moment.

"So was Mr. Mochizuki really a 'dead soul' in the past? Is that why he joined the Special Powers Department?" He suddenly asked that question again.

"Don't be too curious, little kid. I'm just a novelist."

Perhaps because she was really pestered by him and because Dazai had already revealed his hidden identity from Gwendolyn before, Mochizuki Kaoru suddenly stopped trying to fool him like before. Instead, she asked him directly with a little helplessness, "Why do you want to know my past so much, Dazai-kun?"

Dazai Osamu asked him in return: "Then why don't you want to tell me about your past, Mr. Mochizuki?"

"Because I hate trouble. Everyone has things that they don't want others to know, like my past. If other people knew about it, it would be very troublesome to deal with, and I hate trouble."

Perhaps out of a desperate mood, or perhaps because she realized that even if she didn't tell Dazai Osamu, he would already be in more trouble, Mochizuki Kaoru suddenly and frankly admitted in front of Dazai Osamu that he was a dead soul.

"And even if I didn't tell you, Dazai Osamu has already guessed it and has a definite answer, right? So now you want to find me to confirm the correct answer?"

This time he admitted it too quickly, and Dazai Osamu couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

“…Huh?”

"Isn't this what you've always wanted to know, Dazai-kun?"

The handsome young man had a smile on his face. Under the dim light, his purple-black hair, which was almost black, hung down around his ears and neck. He wore a pair of square glasses with thin gold frames on his nose. He exuded the aura of an intellectual scholar and looked gentle, as if he had no temper.

"Although I have never really liked trouble, it doesn't matter if I tell you now. I mean, congratulations, your guess all along is true. My code name in the past was indeed "Dead Soul"."

"So, Dazai-kun, is there anything else you want to know, or anything else you plan to do?" the young man asked again.

After getting the answer, Dazai Osamu didn't know what to do next.

Because he had recently found some new fun in this process, he almost forgot that he originally just wanted to find out his identity.

"…Then why did Mr. Mochizuki become a novelist?" Dazai Osamu thought for a moment and asked him.

"Maybe, because of a small regret?" Mochizuki Kaoru said, "When I was in Europe before, I almost died. But before I almost died, I suddenly felt a little regret... Because I originally planned to retire when I was 20 years old, and then try to be an ordinary person and write novels - this was probably a childhood wish before I discovered that I had superpowers?"

——At that time, he only had a few months left before he turned 20 and became an adult.

Dazai Osamu understood his subtitles.

Perhaps Kaoru Mochizuki also had many normal dreams in her childhood - such as becoming a novelist.

If he had not had any special abilities and had grown up normally like an ordinary person, perhaps when he grew up, at the age of 20, he would choose to become a novelist according to his childhood dreams. Of course, he might also choose other professions.

However, after becoming a person with special abilities, he is no longer an ordinary person, and those things naturally have nothing to do with him.

"…So after that, I left Europe and returned to Japan to fulfill my childhood dream. Yokohama is also my hometown."

Mochizuki Kaoru looked at Dazai Osamu and said with a smile: "So, the dead souls are indeed dead - Dazai-kun, the only one standing in front of you now is a novelist named Mochizuki Kaoru."

They also talked about a lot of other things in the bar that day. The topics were all kinds of weird and imaginative. Dazai Osamu couldn't remember exactly what they were about...but anyway, they talked about a lot.

For example, about Rimbaud.

"Mr. Mochizuki is now a member of the Special Power Division... He was sent here to investigate the case, but he let the main culprit go. Is that okay?"

"You also said it was an investigation, and I don't need to take him away. Haven't I already completed the investigation?" Mochizuki Kaoru said calmly: "Rampaud is also my friend. I don't want to fight with him. Isn't it good for him to just leave like this?"

"Besides, I am a 'special non-staff member', not a formal member of the Special Ability Division. It's just a mutually beneficial job. Why should I be involved in so many things that are beyond my job scope?"

"Eh? As expected of Mr. Mochizuki." Dazai Osamu sighed, "I'm afraid Mr. Mori and the head of the Special Powers Division must be pissed off."

Then he couldn't help laughing.

They also discussed the port mafia and the supernatural secret service department.

At that time, Dazai Osamu was being invited by Mori Ogai to join the Port Mafia. He thought Mochizuki Kaoru would persuade him not to join... After all, he is now a member of the Special Powers Division.

As a result, the other party didn't feel anything at all.

"And actually, Dazai-kun, you already have the answer in your heart." Mochizuki Kaoru said, "But I still have to defend myself. Do I look like someone who would refuse personal relationships because of work?"

His expression looked particularly confused and puzzled.

"Hey, so Mr. Mochizuki has admitted that we have a personal relationship?" Dazai Osamu asked.

"...Isn't it?" Mochizuki Kaoru calmly replied: "I thought our answers were the same."

Then the two of them clinked their glasses tacitly - Mochizuki Kaoru's glass contained wine, while the underage Dazai Osamu's glass contained ice cola.

The adult and the minor, who were 13 years apart and seemed to have nothing in common, became friends who understood each other tacitly without anyone saying it.

Interaction between people is a strange thing.

Dazai Osamu thought.

It was like he had never imagined that a member of the Special Forces could become friends with members of the Port Mafia.

And he did it with such a righteous attitude, as if it was a natural thing... I guess only Mr. Mochizuki could do that, right?