On August 1st, most schools were on vacation.

Mori remained a workaholic within the Port Mafia, relying on the clinic to catch his breath every day, with no intention of letting fourteen-year-old Dazai and Hyakki attend school. According to him, “going to school delays talent,” and “I can teach them everything”; people like Dazai should join the workforce early!

Life returned to normal, and Hyakki could see Dazai’s vitality every day. Mori and Alice appeared from time to time, surrounded by a red glow, and he chose to accept it.

【Dororo and his family are my family.】

【I don’t know anything now. I can’t interfere with their affairs. When I recover, I’ll bring Dororo out of the bandit’s lair and wipe away the stains on her vitality.】

【As for my father-in-law…】

Hyakki admitted his inability to save his father-in-law, whose entire being depended on red light.

A new day dawned. Dazai was impatient and didn’t want to wait any longer for Shiran, choosing instead to search for the other two people. After breakfast, Mori took Alice to work, telling Dazai before leaving, “Dazai, you only have half a month of vacation left.”

Dazai waved him off without looking, saying, “Alright, hurry up and go, Mr. Mori, who employs child labor.”

Once Mori and Alice left, Dazai dressed especially comfortably today to avoid getting heat rash, opting for the lightest and most breathable bandages that exposed his skin.

He envied Hyakki and remarked, “Doesn’t it feel hot for you, Hyakki?”

Hyakki, unfazed by the heat, looked refreshingly cool.

Then, Dazai gently held Hyakki’s cold prosthetic left hand, interlocking their fingers, speaking softly after the illusion had temporarily disappeared.

“That illusionist… unexpectedly seems to like you,” Dazai said, a bit wary.

The illusionist specialized in psychic abilities. Dazai had asked Rokodu to restore Hyakki, not to have Rokodu constantly drain Hyakki’s mental resolve, accumulating motivation for an escape in prison.

He now kept an eye on the Vongola family, deciding to pay attention to the affairs of the tenth-generation heir once the vacation ended.

Before leaving, Dazai sent a belated intelligence report to the Special Ability Department’s mailbox.

【Tenth-generation head of the Vongola family, a youth who defeated Rokodu.】

【Real name is Tsunayo, aged fourteen or fifteen, kind-hearted, honest, brave, intuitive, suspected tendency to become a protector, releases orange-red flames during combat.】

His description accurately portrayed Tsunayo’s characteristics, unconcerned whether the Special Ability Department believed the report or not. Once negotiations began, he would strive to fulfill his promises to avoid losing credibility.

Time would reveal everything.

“Hyakki, we’re heading out! Today’s goal is to pleasantly visit a household!”

【Is… is this an outing for a date?】

Upon noticing Dororo’s excitement since morning, Hyakki patiently waited for “her” to change into new clothes. Previously, he wouldn’t dare to focus on a girl changing clothes with his spiritual sight, but later on, it became normal for him.

Deep down, Hyakki felt a slight anticipation. Dororo knew he could “see” life force, yet she was willing to candidly meet him face-to-face. Didn’t this indicate that Dororo had opened her heart to him, wholeheartedly accepting him? After all, Dororo had never had a concept of gender before and wouldn’t have slept embracing him.

Embracing each other and sleeping together brought a happiness that Hyakki had never imagined in the first half of his life.

The black-haired youth in a yukata felt the interlocking of their fingers and a slight smile formed on his lips. Like flowers thriving under the sun, their happiness quietly blossomed. Though life may be humble and fragile, they could strive to be as happy as possible.

“Do you understand the feeling of love, Dororo?”

“Hyakki must be smiling.”

Dazai, as always, interpreted things in his own way, keeping his thought processes separate from Hyakki’s.

Is the thought process between people really that important?

—As long as you’re happy.

Several hours later,

Getting off the bus, Dazai looked down at his phone map. “Beside PK Middle School, Left Rib Town, County S…”

He muttered, “Does Japan really have such quirky place and school names?”

Hyakki looked around with curiosity as he arrived in this new place, capturing glimpses of life flames with his spiritual sight. Their colors were paler compared to the people in the city where Dororo lived, with very few shades of gray-black; most people here were of a light complexion.

Feeling least qualified to judge others’ simplicity, Hyakki thought to himself, “The people here seem very simple.”

Dazai stopped searching on his phone, confirming the location, and noticed Hyakki’s reaction. “Looks like Hyakki likes this place. It’s good that the people here are simple-hearted.”

He could immediately see the characteristic of this town—

Utterly ordinary.

No wars, no killings, no intertwining of danger and death on the edge of human nature. This kind of mediocrity was what Dazai detested and rejected the most, yet here he was, taking several train and bus rides with Hyakki, actively coming here. Life was full of surprises indeed.

After a while, Dazai took Hyakki’s hand and went to knock on the door of the Saiki household.

The door opened to a young-looking housewife.

“Oh, who you are…”

“We’re here to see Saiki Kusuo and Saiki Kusuke. Can we contact them?”

As he spoke, Dazai used his peripheral vision to observe Hyakki’s behavior.

Hyakki’s demeanor was calm and gentle.

Very well, this was the behavior expected when meeting good people.

In fact, this state persisted for a while, remaining unchanged when meeting Kurumi. From the bottom of his heart, Hyakki liked this city full of peace and goodwill.

【It would be good for the future and Dororo to settle down here.】

Upon hearing they were looking for her two sons, Kurumi was quite surprised, covering her mouth. “I didn’t expect Kosuke and Kusuo would have a common friend! I thought they… Wow—these two children are still so handsome. Come on in quickly, I’ll treat you, please don’t be polite!”

Kosuke, with his natural attributes fully activated, burst into strong enthusiasm and pulled them inside.

Dazai: Wait, when did I say they were their friends?

Hyakki: Good people.

In the Kurumi household, Kosuke has already gone to the editorial office where he works as a manga editor. If he doesn’t work properly or please his boss, he won’t be able to make a living. As Kurumi set out food for the guests, she rummaged through the refrigerator…