Chapter 256 The Third Player

It is called an ordinary residence, but in reality it is neither completely ordinary nor can it be simply called a residence.

Mochizuki Kaoru didn't take him to her home, but to another place.

An orphanage that looks ordinary and even a little shabby from the outside.

It was not until he saw a middle-aged man with half-long black hair and a familiar face appear that "Dazai Osamu" suddenly understood - was Mochizuki Kaoru bringing him to find Mori Ougai?

"Oh my, what a rare visitor."

Mori Ogai opened the door and nodded to Mochizuki Kaoru and "Dazai Osamu" after seeing them. His eyes paused on Mochizuki Kaoru for a moment and said, "I'm sorry to see you so unexpectedly. What can I do for you two?"

...That's right. His appearance has completely changed now. It's normal that Mori Ougai can't recognize him.

"Dazai Osamu" realized it later.

This was the first time he saw Sen Ou, who was neither dressed as a doctor in a white coat nor as a leader of the Gangsters in black. His aura seemed... vaguely gentle?

Sure enough, after being away from the Mafia, Mori Owl looked much younger, and even his hairline seemed to be rejuvenated.

"Nice to meet you, President Mori. I'm Kaoru Mochizuki."

Mochizuki Kaoru greeted him naturally, then turned to look at "Dazai Osamu": "Dazai-kun, you can take off your disguise now."

"Long time no see... No, nice to meet you, Mr. Mori."

"Dazai Osamu" revealed his true face and bowed slightly to Mori Owl with an unchanged expression.

Well, after all, in name he is the "usurper" leader of the Hong Kong underworld. Although he is not from the same world as Mori Owl, his attitude still needs to be a little different.

Polite, but a very casual courtesy.

This time, Mori Ougai finally showed genuine surprise.

"Dazai-kun? And Mochizuki-kun, it's been a while since we last met, but I've heard of your name for a long time. It's not the first time we've met, but I'm sure Mochizuki-kun doesn't remember you."

He frowned sharply, and had a vague guess in his mind: "You two are here, is it because Dazai-kun encountered some trouble?"

"But Mori is currently just an ordinary director of an orphanage. I wonder what Mochizuki-kun and Dazai-kun want to talk to me about?"

Mori Ougai led the two into the orphanage with a very cold look on his face.

The moment he saw "Dazai Osamu", Mori Ogai's first reaction was that the Port Mafia was in trouble, but on second thought, it was unlikely - if it was the Port Mafia that was in trouble, the appearance of his "dead" "former leader" would not be a good thing, after all, the current leader of the Port Mafia is already Dazai Osamu.

Therefore, the matter that made the other party change his face to find him is most likely not related to Hong Kong triads, but only to Dazai Osamu.

But is his relationship with Dazai Osamu that good? Mori Ogai thought, one of them is a former Hong Kong underworld cadre who usurped the throne, the "Kaito" of the former leader, and the current leader; the other is the former leader who was usurped and the current director of an unknown orphanage. Is the relationship between the two of them... so good that Dazai Osamu would come to him for help when he got into trouble?

However...

He shifted his gaze back to Mochizuki Kaoru.

Judging from Dazai Osamu's attitude, it seemed more like the idea of ​​looking for him was suggested by the man in front of him.

"Dazai Osamu" shook his head honestly and said that he didn't know either: "I came here with Mr. Mochizuki, and I have to follow Mr. Mochizuki's ideas in everything." This actually confirmed Mori Ogai's guess.

"The person I met before was Dr. Mori, and now I am meeting Dean Mori and Mochizuki Kaoru. Naturally, this is our first meeting."

Mochizuki Xun spoke, still with the familiar tone of Mori Ogai, neither hurried nor slow, slowly and leisurely, as if nothing in front of him was important.

Sen Ou's eyebrows slightly raised.

What he said just now, "Long time no see, but I've heard of your great name for a long time," was not empty talk.

Whether it's "Mochizuki Kaoru" or "Mochizuki Kurumi", or even "Dead Souls"... these three names are not unfamiliar to Mori Ogai.

Strictly speaking, he "knew" Mochizuki Kaoru even earlier than Dazai Osamu - nearly ten years ago, when Mochizuki Kaoru had just appeared in Yokohama, Mori Ogai had met him in Wanxiang Hall.

The "middleman" who allowed Mori Ogai and Mochizuki Kaoru to meet was naturally Natsume Soseki.

There is no inside story about the relationship between Mochizuki Kaoru and Natsume Soseki. It is a simple and pure friendship made because of writing. No matter what the past identities of the two people are, or whether they are people with special abilities, it does not affect their interactions. To Natsume Soseki and Mochizuki Kaoru, those are of no importance... It is truly "the friendship between gentlemen is as pure as water."

But Mori Ouwai obviously doesn't think so.

The first time Mori Ogai and Mochizuki Kaoru met was just an accidental passing by each other in Wanxiang Hall, but perhaps he had a premonition at the time. Although it was just a brief encounter, Mori Ogai still quietly sought information about Mochizuki Kaoru... Perhaps he always felt that the other person had an aura similar to his own.

The information about Mochizuki Kaoru is not difficult to find, but there are too many hidden parts behind it, plus the relationship with Natsume Soseki, so "Mochizuki Kaoru" is likely to be equal to "dead souls". This news was also guessed by Mori Gugai. He was not particularly sure at first, but his information about Mochizuki Kaoru was discovered by the other party and he went to find him... After a simple test, although the other party did not say it clearly, Mori Gugai became more certain.

That was the second and last time they met.

Mori Ogai had his own ambitions, but it was obvious that Mochizuki Kaoru had completely lost them - he completely abandoned the name "Dead Souls" that belonged to the past, and chose to become "Mochizuki Kaoru". Although Mori Ogai was "envious" of "Dead Souls", he was just an ordinary underground black doctor and intelligence dealer at the time, so naturally he could not do anything... So afterwards, it could only be regretfully left unresolved.

A few years ago, when he was still the leader of the Hong Kong underworld, he learned the name of Mochizuki Kaoru from Dazai Osamu, which surprised him for a moment. It didn't seem like the two of them could be related, and he suddenly had an idea again...

But then he thought about it and thought that he did want Mochizuki Kaoru to join the Gangsters, but Mochizuki Kaoru herself would obviously not agree. Besides, she was a good friend of Mr. Natsume and her abilities were not to be underestimated and she was not so easy to control. When he became the leader of the Gangsters, he had to deal with various other troublesome things first... So in the end, he could only give up the idea with regret.

I didn't expect that the third time we met would be like this.

Mochizuki Kaoru didn't waste any more time talking and said directly: "This time I brought Dazai-kun here to see Dean Mori because I have something to ask Mr. Mori about Dazai-kun."

"I hope Mr. Mori can let Dazai-kun stay here for a while."

"Teacher Mochizuki, are you planning to let me stay here?"

A flash of surprise flashed across Dazai Osamu's eyes, but he quickly figured it out.

"Hey, can this be considered as Mr. Mochizuki wanting Dean Mori to 'confine' me here?" He smiled, with a dark look in his eyes.

So that's how it is... Mochizuki Kaoru had no intention of taking him to other places to "explore together" from the beginning. She was really too smart and cunning.

"How can it be considered confinement? It's just for the convenience of protecting your safety, Dazai-kun." Mochizuki Kaoru corrected lightly.

"Hey, where did this annoying guy come from?"

A woman in white suddenly appeared and spoke unhappily.

When I walked in, I saw that the young woman looked to be around 20 years old, with blond hair and blue eyes. She had a distinctive look and seemed to be of European descent. She looked very young at first glance.

"Hey, Rintaro, can't you just throw them both out? These two guys look like they're up to no good. Anyway, no matter which one they are, they look really annoying."

"Alice-chan." Mori Ogai suddenly seemed a little powerless and said, "Don't be so rude to the guests."

As a result, Alice became even more dissatisfied: "Can these two guys be considered guests?!"

"Of course, Miss Alice." Mochizuki Kaoru said calmly: "Since Mr. Mori did not refuse Dazai-kun and me to come, then Dazai-kun and I are naturally still guests at this time."

"What exactly do you want me to do, Mochizuki-kun? Why don't you just tell me?"

Mori Oo remained calm: "I'm so sorry, but it seems my Alice-chan doesn't really welcome the arrival of Mochizuki-kun and Dazai-kun."

"Ah, because Dazai-kun is currently being hunted down by the Hong Kong gang... Of course, to be more precise, Dazai-kun is being hunted down by Dazai."

Mochizuki Kaoru said calmly, "So I think one of the safest places right now is of course here with you, Mr. Mori. So, Mr. Mori, can you temporarily help me and Dazai-kun with this?"

"…What?"

Mori Ogai narrowed his eyes tactically, with a look of doubt on his face: "Are you serious about what Mochizuki-kun said?"

"Well, I can vouch for Mr. Mochizuki," Dazai Osamu raised one hand, narrowed his eyes and smiled, "That's indeed the case."

Placing "Dazai Osamu" here outside Mori Owl was certainly a decision made by Mochizuki Kaoru after careful consideration.

Dazai Osamu is hiding something from him, but it is not known whether Dazai Osamu's words can be trusted - after all, if as Dazai Osamu himself said, he himself knew nothing about Mochizuki Kaoru and had no memory of her, then why would Dazai Osamu trust him so much and tell him everything?

Would "Dazai Osamu" be such an honest person to a stranger? Even if he might be someone trusted by another Dazai Osamu, to another "Dazai Osamu" who knew nothing about him, he was still not completely trustworthy... Of course, he might even become more doubtful.

So for Mochizuki Kaoru, the words of this "Dazai Osamu" from another world are not worth believing completely.

If he is kept by her side all the time, it is obviously not that convenient, and what if it causes any bad influence on the people around him - such as Nakajima Atsushi, Mochizuki Kaoru is obviously not so reassured.

But leaving him alone in the safe house is of course not a good idea... On the one hand, there is the issue of Dazai Osamu's safety, and on the other hand, Mochizuki Kaoru is worried that if she leaves him there, he might go out alone to do something else.

In short, he still needs to place "Dazai Osamu" in a place that is safe enough and where someone can keep an eye on him, and where he cannot be successfully tricked into "rebelling" by him, so that people can feel at ease.

——After much thought, the only option that can meet the requirements is here in Mori Owl.

"For the sake of the port mafia... I think you will agree, Mr. Mori." said Kaoru Mochizuki.