Chapter 269 The Third Player

A "brain-wracking" expression appeared on Mochizuki Kaoru's face.

The boy in front of him was too sensitive, he thought.

What troubles are he facing right now? Of course, there are some, and just as Edogawa Ranpo said, they are "very troublesome" things, and they are very, very, extremely troublesome things; and they are not just "one thing".

The most troublesome thing is of course "Dazai Osamu", whether it is the older "Dazai Osamu" who came from another world and exudes a dark aura, or the slightly younger, even underage Dazai Osamu that he is very familiar with in this world.

The second point is naturally the "book". The news about the "book" heard from another older "Dazai Osamu" is difficult to distinguish between true and false, but what is certain is that there is such a magical "book" in this world. He has already confirmed this from the director of the Special Powers Department, Tsujimura Fuzuki, but whether the other parts of the content are true or false is still difficult to confirm.

Moreover, the news about the "book" was also known to Dazai Osamu in this world. Although Dazai Osamu avoided talking about it in the phone call two days ago, who is Mochizuki Kaoru? After all, he has been an intelligence dealer in Europe for so many years, and the title of "dead soul" is not for nothing. Even though he has not touched those things for nearly ten years... Now he is a little unfamiliar, but those "memories" are still stored in his mind. It is really difficult for Dazai Osamu to easily hide those abnormalities from him.

...Besides, Dazai Osamu didn't seem to want to keep it completely secret from him.

Regarding the role of "books", the effects of "books", and those "negative effects", although Mochizuki Kaoru cannot completely trust the other "Dazai Osamu", what he said is not impossible - at least, regarding the fact that "books" are the "cornerstone of the world", Mochizuki Kaoru feels that they are not all lies.

Especially the term "foundation of the world". Although it looks like a setting from a light novel, Kaoru Mochizuki knows that the "foundation of the world" really exists - this is why when the other "Dazai Osamu" mentioned these words before, Kaoru Mochizuki almost immediately confirmed that at least part of what he said was true and he was not lying. She even dared to act like she "trusted" him at the time and even called Dazai Osamu of this world for this.

However, unlike what "Dazai Osamu" said, the "world foundation" of this world that Mochizuki Kaoru had previously learned was clearly "seven to the power of cube"... and he had never heard of the existence of "books" before.

Although he had heard of the concept of "seven to the cube", he had never seen it.

What a pity, unlike him who is still "alive" now, that guy Solomon is really and completely dead, otherwise maybe he could try to find out some information about the "foundation of the world" from that guy... Mochizuki Kaoru thought lightly in her heart, although that bastard Solomon is quite annoying, countless times more annoying than that guy Yuyuan Chiaki, but that guy likes to seek death, has been to the Avengers Prison and crawled out of it alive, so he knows more things.

But Solomon is dead, and apart from Solomon, his relationship with the local mafia in Italy is even more mediocre, making it even more difficult to obtain more information... Although there are rumors that Vongola has some successors in Japan, it is still unclear whether it is true or not, and as of now, he does not have that much time and energy to verify anything.

What's more, no matter where Vongola is in Japan, it is not in Yokohama. No matter whether "books" are the so-called "cornerstone of the world", it is their business in Yokohama. It is even more impossible to let any external forces interfere in Yokohama. Even he would not do such a thing.

Matters concerning Yokohama can only be resolved by the people of Yokohama. These are unspoken rules unique to the people of Yokohama... Although Mochizuki Kaoru doesn't know what the unspoken rules are, he is in Yokohama, so it is not convenient for other forces to interfere in such matters.

If she wanted to verify the matter about the "book", she still had to go to Dazai Osamu, but the third thing that bothered Mochizuki Kaoru was still related to Dazai Osamu - of course, not only Dazai Osamu, but also himself.

He had discovered this "trouble" during a text message exchange with Dazai Osamu a few hours ago.

I don't want him to go out recently, and it has something to do with Shibuzawa Ryuhiko. In that message, Dazai Osamu asked him "what did you think of", but what he really wanted to ask... was probably "what did he remember".

In his response to Dazai Osamu's last two messages, he told him "My memory has always been complete", but what he really wanted to ask Dazai Osamu was - is his memory complete?

But then I thought, why didn't he ask at that time?

Now, Mochizuki Kaoru suddenly couldn't remember what she was thinking a few hours ago.

With Dazai Osamu's intelligence, would he be able to detect the hidden meaning in that message? Mochizuki Kaoru was not sure either.

But the only thing he was sure of was that Dazai Osamu was not supposed to know so much.

Whether it is about his identity, his novel with Oda Sakunosuke, the identity of Sakaguchi Ango, or even his sudden order to hunt down "Dazai Osamu" when "Dazai Osamu" appeared in another world... all these various aspects.

Originally, Dazai Osamu should not have known this information.

It was as if from one day on, he was suddenly able to see news from the distant future.

This matter is neither important nor unimportant, but it is also important. The reason why Mochizuki Kaoru regards this matter, which is not a troublesome matter, as a "trouble" is because he feels that this matter may be the biggest clue for him to solve the previous two troubles.

But no matter which of these things it was... Mochizuki Kaoru thought about it again and again, and felt that it was not something that could be left to the young "famous detective" in front of her to solve.

The involvement of these matters will not only bring unnecessary trouble to Edogawa Ranpo and the Armed Detective Agency, but it is also likely to be unresolved. What's more, some secrets are better buried deep in the past.

"Some secrets are called secrets because they are not suitable for others to know. Once they are known by others, they are no longer secrets."

Mochizuki Kaoru thought for two seconds, leaning forward slightly, the corners of her lips slowly raised a mysterious arc, her eyes narrowed slightly, and the figure of Edogawa Ranpo was particularly clear in her light gray cold pupils. Her voice was slightly low, and the shadow in front of her covered Edogawa Ranpo's body. The whole person exuded a dangerous meaning: "Detective, do you really want to know those secrets?"

Well, he thought it would be better to "scare" Edogawa Ranpo appropriately so that he would retreat on his own initiative.

Edogawa Ranpo seemed to be frightened by his "sudden change of expression" and was stunned for a moment.

Mochizuki Kaoru: ...Isn't this kid a little dumb?

"Random Steps!"

Before he could say anything else, a somewhat anxious male voice suddenly rang out. Edogawa turned around in a hurry, his eyes suddenly widened, and then he quickly smiled again, waving happily to the side: "President! I'm here!"

"Are you okay, Ranbu?"

Mochizuki Kaoru slowly turned his head and saw the owner of the voice had appeared in front of him. He was a middle-aged man with short silver hair and wearing a dark green kimono and haori. He had a serious and anxious expression and pulled Edogawa Ranpo behind him as if he was protecting his cub. There was a look of vigilance in his eyes as if he was worried that Edogawa Ranpo was injured or frightened.

Mochizuki Kaoru: ...

It's quite urgent. What should I do if I am caught bullying someone else's child by their parents?

How should he explain to him that he was just trying to scare him and didn't mean to do anything bad...I wonder if he will believe it?

"Boss, you're so slow. I almost finished my soda when you found me here. Did you get lost by accident?"

Edogawa Ranpo's eyes and mouth were crooked, but he was still complaining: "But I'm fine, it's just that Uncle Mochizuki is too stupid. He wants to scare me even though he's in big trouble... Do you think that famous detectives are timid and stupid and easily scared? Idiot, I won't be scared even if the president is not here!"

"Mr. Mochizuki?"

After seeing the face of the person in front of him, Fukuzawa Yukichi's expression suddenly became stunned, and his originally tense breath became a little relaxed. He said, "Long time no see."

...Is it too late to say "I've never seen it" at this time?

The corners of Mochizuki Kaoru's mouth curled up in an awkward but polite manner: "Long time no see, President Fukuzawa, you are still as charming as ever... I didn't expect you still remember me."

Oh, they haven't seen each other for so many years, and they have only met once or twice. He thought Fukuzawa Yukichi had forgotten him, but he didn't expect that he still remembered him... Isn't this even more embarrassing?