At the ice cream shop, a large cup of vanilla chocolate sundae sat in front of Hyakki’s seat.

He scooped the ice cream with a slender dessert spoon, making contented sounds in the sweltering summer heat. Impressed, he strongly recommended it to Dazai and Hyakki, ordering them each a sundae with different flavors.

“After your inspection, no more exploiting the loophole?”

“Yes.”

During their gathering, though only two conversed, Hyakki sat beside Dazai, enjoying his ice cream.

“Is this… semi-solid?”

“Is this food… hot rice porridge?”

After Hyakki mimicked eating “rice porridge,” Hyakki chuckled, chin propped up, watching with interest as Dazai intervened to correct Hyakki. Contrasted with Dazai, a renegade with a rap sheet across parallel timelines, the fourteen-year-old bandaged youth appeared merely frail, with a youthful face lacking the engulfing darkness.

He instructed Hyakki on the proper way to eat, and Hyakki, sharp-minded, promptly corrected his unusual behavior, blending in seamlessly with the ordinary patrons in the ice cream shop.

However, there was no joy of savoring food on his face.

The cold white mask.

Mechanical opening and swallowing.

He wasn’t the Hyakki picked up by Ranpo in the Armed Detective Agency, unable to communicate accurately with Dazai, who lacked true mind-reading abilities. Their communication was a mix of guessing and intuition, cultivating a foundation of mutual understanding through correct actions and misunderstandings.

This was something Ranpo could instantly see through. Why expend unnecessary energy? Perhaps those too clever by nature might lose touch with the ordinary.

Time, destiny, growth… What wonderful changes, birthing a new world.

Here’s the translation:

—

A different Dazai and Hyakki.

Hyakki bit onto his spoon, mumbled, “Dazai, do I sound safe now?”

Dazai calmly replied, “Hyakki doesn’t mind trying again.”

Hyakki: “…”

Hyakki, mentioned by both, scooped out a spoonful of ice cream and placed it in front of Dazai. Dazai declined the offer to share food, saying, “I don’t want to eat something you’ve already tasted.”

Undeterred, Hyakki persisted, “Dororo hasn’t become my girlfriend yet.”

Dazai continued talking with Hyakki, “You know what I want from you. For me, your usefulness has almost run out, which is when I lose interest in you.”

At that moment, Dazai held the secret that Hyakki possessed the ability to traverse parallel timelines.

This secret was very dangerous for Byakuran, who wasn’t particularly strong.

“I just want to be a normal marshmallow lover,” Hyakki sighed, displaying the most hypocritical side of every Bai Lan. If he truly sought normalcy, he wouldn’t have left the borders of Italy.

“Dazai, in Japan, there’s someone who can be considered a target (for serious crimes).”

“Who?”

Dazai was caught off guard as someone shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

Good ice cream!

Sorry about the abrupt cutoff! Here’s the continuation and completion of the translation:

—

The sweet and sour taste… it’s strawberry.

He swallowed the strawberry-flavored ice cream and turned to look at the person beside him, displeased at being ignored by him.

“Dororo, don’t talk to this kind of bad person.”

“Hyakki!”

Dazai hit Hyakki’s head lightly, called the waiter, spent some money, and bought a bunny headband given by the ice cream shop, which he promptly put on Hyakki’s head without saying a word.

A few minutes later, the two resumed their conversation.

“White Kirin.”

“A title I’ve never heard of.”

“According to your situation, you will meet sooner or later. His real name is Chibusawa. He likes to collect the crystallized abilities from the bodies of ability users. The more precious, the more likely he is to target them…”

Bail Lan smiled as he revealed information about Chibusawa , a hint of disdain flickering in his eyes.