The Penggerei family left behind good news and also established a good relationship with the harbor mafia.

Both sides parted satisfied.

Meanwhile, Mori Oh also learned about Dazai’s rankings and specifically used his connections to search for the three people on the list. Whether it was one or three people, compared to government agencies, the efficiency of the influence of the harbor mafia, a power that surpassed the government, was naturally much higher. Before Dazai could even proceed with the next step of cooperation with the Special Ability Agency, he was lured away by the bait in Mori’s hands.

The two teenagers walking alone in the darkness immediately obediently sat down.

The difference was that Dazai was pretending to be obedient, while Hyakki was genuinely obedient, restraining all his resentment towards his father-in-law.

Even if it’s disgusting, he is still his father-in-law.

Balancing work and life, Mori Oh has been having a string of happy events lately, stabilizing his hairline, gaining another “daughter” and “son-in-law,” and most importantly, being able to make these two individuals obedient gives him a great sense of achievement.

“Dazai, to obtain this information, you need to pay a price, you’ll understand.”

“Mori is such a great person!”

“Oh, it’s the first time I’ve received praise from Dazai.”

“If   Mori likes it, I can recite it a hundred times for you. Please give me the information.”

“How about you recite it a hundred times first?”

“Don’t~”

The older and younger ones disgustingly flirted, while Hyakki remained pure to the point of being out of place, his face showing confusion.

“??? What are these two excited about?”

“Rikodu, if you want to indulge in teacher-student romance, don’t do it in front of me. I remember your hunting range is below twelve years old, not fourteen.” Alice, who was drawing with crayons, shook her hand, causing the lines to skew.

Mori immediately became serious, “Alice, I’ve been influenced by Dazai.”

You’re definitely into your mentor, so it wouldn’t be surprising if you became a disciple enthusiast.

Alice looked at him disdainfully.

Mori, in tune with her thoughts, straightened up, his attitude as if covering up with a false gentleness behind his vampire-like purple eyes. The current leader of the harbor mafia smiled and said to his capable future subordinate.

“Dazai, the fight in Yokohama ends here.”

“GSS, huh…”

Dazai lifted his small face, his delicate pale features exuding a hint of coldness.

As long as the last organization in the resistance zone is removed as quickly as possible, Yokohama can regain temporary peace. Mori can then handle the internal factional struggles within the harbor mafia with peace of mind. He can also obtain the most crucial information without having to be repeatedly used by the Special Ability Agency three times.

It’s a profitable deal for both sides.

That’s how he thought, for the first time, his gaze didn’t turn towards Hyakki.

His memory went back to the noon when he had dinner with the Penggerei family. Ten years ago, an accident with a rocket brought the Hyakki from a parallel timeline ten years into the future. During the hour they spent together afterward, the other party didn’t reveal any information after initially asking about his identity. Even the best psychological experts would find it challenging to analyze a perfectly closed-off person, but for Dazai, who was familiar with him, every move was vital information!

“Are you my Dororo?”

The question posed by the Hyakki from ten years later indicated that he hadn’t interacted with Hyakki in the future and had entrusted Hyakki to another force, most likely the Armed Detective Agency.

“Besides me, will there be a second Dororo?”

Dazai’s response to him caused a fleeting expression of joy and sadness in the Hyakki ten years later, which didn’t escape his notice. A bad premonition arose; he shouldn’t have succeeded in this endeavor.

“Can you tell me about the future?”

Dazai asked the Hyakki ten years later, only to be stopped by the Penggerei family.

Ranpo’s intention was to avoid interfering with parallel timelines as much as possible, or extracting future information. Anyone who does so inadvertently triggers unfortunate disasters.

It’s similar to self-protection within the space-time continuum; the space-time continuum rejects anything external to itself.

Later on, Dazai took the Hyakki from ten years later to a separate room. Even as an adult, the doll remained quiet and silent, not objecting when Dazai held his hand. After conducting a partial examination, Dazai discovered that the Hyakki from ten years later didn’t even have a right leg made of flesh and blood; his body was entirely composed of high-fidelity prosthetics and synthetic skin, which greatly exceeded Dazai’s expectations. He had thought that the Hyakki would be so stubborn that he would continue to confront the Gide family until he had battled out a new organ.

Why would this happen?

Did something different happen?

Theoretically, it shouldn’t be difficult for the Hyakki to find the King of Sheep in the same city, unless he was obstructed…

Based on the situation a few months ago, only a handful of people could prevent the Hyakki from meeting Nakahara. One was Nakahara himself, hiding from the Hyakki; the second was Ranpo, who saw through the truth of the pursuit and stopped the Hyakki; the third was Mori, who recruited Nakahara in advance, preventing him from appearing outside; and the last one was himself, intervening in the conflict between the Hyakki and Nakahara and separating the two.

Dazai looked at the adult Hyakki, and the twenty-four-year-old Hyakki, whose appearance had been restored by high technology, also looked at him, handsome and sharp, with a deep gray-brown eyes that cherished time.

The fragile doll remained fragile, endearing, yet growing into a sword that could sheathe itself.

So beautiful.

Dazai was gnawed at by unfamiliar emotions.

But there’s not a trace of him left on you… Not even a bit…

—Did I abandon you?

—Or do you no longer need me?

Having agreed to Mori’s request, Dazai remained in a conflicted state of being unable to discern his own feelings. His rational side tended to lead him to actively leave the Hyakki in the parallel timeline, but his emotional side inclined toward the thought that the Hyakki no longer needed him. Mori Oh didn’t know what was troubling the kid recently, but seeing the signs, he acted as a psychological counselor for a moment.

He served Dazai a steaming bowl of poison chicken soup.

“Emotions are beautiful things, but when you’re in them, it’s impossible to see the problems.”

“If there are things between you and Hyakki that you don’t understand, it might be beneficial for both sides to separate for a while, to calm down. If Hyakki can’t understand you, then all your efforts for him are just self-indulgent.”

Mori Oh’s stray lock of hair stood up as he shared his life experience.

And he forgot.

How much that girl he once nurtured hated him…