"What does it mean?"

Natsume Soseki inquired about the darkness opposite him in a cold tone. In this room with unique decoration, only a lamp above his head provided dim light, as if everything about him was exposed here, while people in the darkness could always escape unscathed.

The old man with three different hair colors had a cold expression on his face that was unfamiliar to the man opposite him but very familiar to him. This familiarity made the man's tone more relaxed, and there was a hint of provocation in his voice.

"It's not like you to be so eager, Natsume-kun."

The person who said this in a tone like a senior was not an old man older than Natsume Soseki, but a middle-aged man who looked no more than 40 years old. He was welcoming the conversation in a very relaxed and unguarded manner.

"Or, are you serious..." Seeing that the man in front of him was unmoved, Yukio Mishima couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and deliberately dragged out the last tone of his words, which sounded quite sinister.

This is already a blatant provocation.

But obviously, Natsume Soseki would not be disturbed by such provocation. Instead, he laughed, which made Yukio Mishima seem a little irritated.

The laughter was lost in the darkness, and even though it was an expression of emotion, it was extremely suppressed, causing Yukio Mishima to suddenly get goosebumps and rub his fingers nervously.

Natsume Soseki should have laughed, or rather, from the moment he sat in this position, he suddenly wanted to laugh.

How ridiculous! All this shows that he is not trusted, or rather, at this moment in time, he is undoubtedly not trusted.

Absurd to the extreme. Natsume Soseki thought, he suddenly felt dazed, the world suddenly became bizarre in front of him, everything was so absurd and unreal.

How could it not be absurd? An inexplicable anger rose from the bottom of his heart, but it was not because of Yukio Mishima's arrogant look at this time. This behavior was far from making him angry.

He was angry at the unspeakable object, the place where he had risked almost his entire life and even his entire family. He had spent his youth and passion on this land. He had used all his wisdom and cold-bloodedness for this land, from his youth to his old age. But now...

The same is true for his family. Endless sorrow arises in the old man's heart. His daughter and son-in-law, and now it's his grandson's turn. He himself can be said to have devoted himself to his work until his death, but now he is still not trusted. What an absurd and helpless reality.

"So, I can't remember anything other than this that's worthy of bothering you to come here in person." He put away all his emotions; these were not what Natsume Soseki wanted to show in front of his political enemies.

"I just came to see what you look like now." The middle-aged man said in a condescending and sympathetic tone.

"It seems that you are no different." Yukio Mishima lamented half-heartedly and sighed exaggeratedly.

"I suggest you stay here, my old friend." The younger man leaned forward slightly towards the older man, his face hidden in the shadows suddenly becoming a little complicated.

"Perhaps I can consider this as a form of house arrest?" Natsume Soseki asked calmly, but where Mishima Yukio couldn't see, his arm close to his body had been quietly tightened.

"If you want, you can call this a paid vacation." Yukio Mishima spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and looked nonchalant.

This confident look made Natsume Soseki turn his head away calmly: "What if I don't want to?"

"That's none of my business." Yukio Mishima's face darkened, and an unsettling aura emanated from him, very much like those things imprisoned deep underground in the Special Ability Section.

However, this momentum only lasted for a short moment, and an insincere smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face.

"What you said before is not wrong. It is indeed not enough for me to come here in person to see you." Yukio Mishima

As he adjusted his collar, a medal that shone darkly in the light was inadvertently revealed.

Natsume Soseki paused for a moment, then quickly recovered and put on a formal smile: "I hope you get what you want."

"Don't you want to know how I got to this position?" Yukio Mishima said impatiently, like a child who had obtained a new toy.

But before Natsume Soseki could interrupt him with a cold look, he continued on his own:

"Look, I look very young now, don't I? It's just the smallest effect of that thing, but it's obviously very effective, but you never wanted to do it."

When Yukio Mishima talked about this, the old man sitting opposite him finally reacted.

Natsume Soseki raised his head. This was probably the first time that such a wave appeared in his eyes. Even though he tried his best to restrain himself, he still stared at the middle-aged man opposite him.

"Is this the reason why you two are so close? How reckless!" The old man laughed in anger. His smile, which was so elegant and gentle in the past, now had the coldness of a hungry tiger under the dim light.

However, Yukio Mishima seemed to have not noticed all this, or he did not think that Natsume Soseki had any ability to fight back against him. He continued to speak in a boastful tone about some secrets that would never be known to the public.

"…There is no desire for yourself in your eyes, Natsume-san." After a long speech full of greed and disgusting pollutants, Yukio Mishima made a summary with these words.

"So you will never be trusted, because you have no weaknesses. You can even sacrifice your grandson for your plan without any scruples. How can those bigwigs think that you will do the right thing at the right time?"

The man emphasized the word "correct", but Natsume Soseki could sense that it was not a good word.

Looking at the silent old man in front of him, the last bit of conscience that Yukio Mishima had left came into play a little. At the same time, he couldn't help feeling a little scared. A skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and a jackal that is about to die of old age also has the courage to die together. He stood up and was about to leave.

Natsume Soseki did not respond to Mishima Yukio's departure, but just sat in his seat in silence.

After the tragic rage burned out, he unexpectedly developed a poor and empty smile for no reason, and the corners of his mouth were gradually raised into a mechanical arc by his muscles.

Yukio Mishima's words made him understand a lot, but now it was too late.

He once taught the idea of ​​"optimal solution" to his students, and as someone who always puts maximizing interests and national interests first, he should have understood that sooner or later he would become the feed of the so-called "optimal solution."

While traveling back to Kaionji Temple, Natsume Soseki sighed. This was probably the first time in his decades of planning and strategizing that he felt guilty and powerless.

*************

Dazai Osamu was not too surprised when he felt a piece of paper that was almost negligible from the bottom of the cup.

The young man in the light-colored windbreaker calmly hung up the phone at the café once again, and then happily ran into Yokohama's arms as usual, happily looking for a suitable scene to commit suicide.

This river bank looked good. Dazai Osamu sighed at the river beach covered with unknown weeds and jumped in without hesitation.

When he opened his eyes again, a shadow was cast on him.

It's Ango Sakaguchi.

The young man was still dressed in a suit, wearing glasses, and even carrying a safe. He looked like a new office worker who missed his stop because he was too tired, or like every ordinary office worker in this city. It had to be said that it was a great disguise.

"It's Ango, you're always showing off your corporate slave nature."

Dazai Osamu was still lying on his back on the ground. Although the wet windbreaker wrapped around him was not comfortable, he did not intend to move. He continued to say sarcastically, "It's not easy for Ango to have a vacation. I thought you just came from

Slip out of the office."

"It is indeed a good class." Facing Dazai Osamu's words, Sakaguchi Ango seemed to be accustomed to it. The young man pushed his glasses and said this coldly with an imperceptible feeling of relief.

Dazai Osamu paused for a moment, but did not show much surprise. The young man still had a nonchalant smile on his lips.

"What a bummer." Dazai Osamu said to Sakaguchi Ango while he stood up from the ground smoothly. His windbreaker was completely wet, and water dripped down as he moved.

Some water plants from the river hung on the body of the young man in the windbreaker, which looked a little funny, but Ango Sakaguchi did not think that Dazai Osamu should be approached at this moment. He knew that the previous events had completely disqualified him from approaching him, but he had something he had to ask Dazai Osamu.

"Wait a minute, Dazai," seeing Dazai Osamu turn around and about to leave, Sakaguchi Ango finally called out to him.

"Let's talk." Sakaguchi Ango's face was pale and firm, and he spoke with difficulty moving his lips.

Dazai Osamu almost wanted to leave, but Sakaguchi Ango's current appearance made him stop.

The young man in the suit looked almost trembling, but he seemed to have mustered all his courage to participate in a gamble.

They finally walked into the abandoned factory and stopped in a safe corner.

"I have a commission for the Armed Detective Agency." Sakaguchi Ango said this slowly, as if he had used all his strength. The fingertips that were gripping the handle of the safe turned white.

Dazai Osamu did not respond to this. The moment Sakaguchi Ango finished speaking, his smile disappeared like a pencil mark wiped away by an eraser on a piece of white paper.

Sakaguchi Ango didn't care about his attitude. He didn't have much time left. Taneda Santoka would sooner or later find out that he had left the office so abruptly.

The future doesn't matter anymore, Sakaguchi Ango thought. This was the first time he had such a selfish thought. He had already made a mistake once regarding Oda Sakunosuke, and he couldn't make the same mistake a second time, no matter what the outcome.

No matter what the result was, he could no longer sit idly by. Thinking of the timed email signed by Natsume Soseki, Sakaguchi Ango became more determined. The guilt and remorse that had always tormented him in the past almost crushed him.

"The commission is to ensure the safety of Haiyin Temple Suyou, so that he can safely attend the invitation to Xiao Chou's banquet."

"These are the deposits, and the rest will be deposited into your company's account after the mission is completed." When the last word was uttered, Sakaguchi Ango felt that he finally regained consciousness. His hands and feet were so cold that he could hardly feel that the suitcase contained a huge sum of money that was deposited into the account almost at the same time as the letter.

Dazai Osamu, who was standing opposite him, remained silent. His iris-colored eyes flashed with something that Sakaguchi Ango could not understand. Sakaguchi Ango's heart was beating very fast, and even a little blood appeared on his pale cheeks.

Dazai Osamu suddenly laughed and laughed loudly.

"You are quite arrogant, Ango."

His shoulder was patted twice, neither too hard nor too light, and Sakaguchi Ango's heart sank into an ice cellar. He felt the undisguised murderous intent from the officials of the former port mafia.

"Don't show up in front of me again. I'm afraid the next meeting won't be so peaceful."

Dazai Osamu waved behind him without looking back, put his hands in his pockets and left. However, the hand in his pocket unconsciously touched the envelope of a letter. He didn't know what material it was made of. In his act of jumping into the river just now, the envelope was not damaged at all, and it didn't even feel wet.

The chosen candidate was interfered by a powerful organization that suddenly appeared. Dazai Osamu knew without thinking how ugly the senior executives of the Special Ability Section would be.

Thinking of this, he, who had been somewhat uninterested at first, suddenly became very interested in this psychic gathering.

"A Banquet of Ugly People? I hope it's a good show that won't disappoint you.

”