Leader Zai and Despair Raids the World

Lupine Bar.

Durable leather shoes, light-colored trousers, and a sand-colored trench coat.

The man on the stairs, the ginger-haired man with a little stubble on his chin—

Sure enough, it was Oda Sakunosuke.

When he moves, his movements are light and nimble, no louder than the sound made by a cat's paw pressing on the ground; when he looks around the bar, there is a subtle alertness that ordinary people cannot judge, which is the only one who has been in the dark world , A certain habit that goes deep into the bone marrow even when bathed in the sun.This habit made Oda Sakunosuke prepare to go to a meeting with the mafia, and also made him...

Hidden under the sand-colored windbreaker, in the originally inconspicuous armpit holster.

Now, it is empty.

But for some reason, Oda Sakunosuke was slightly taken aback.

It can be said that this expression is extremely subtle, like a piece of paper falling on white paper, it is difficult for others, even the members of the Armed Detective Agency, to distinguish it. It is estimated that Kunikida Doppo will have a headache again, saying something "You I’m angry, hurry up and reject those old men and old ladies who are grabbing you to chat” and so on – and Oda Sakunosuke has to blankly reply “I’m already angry” and so on, which are both natural and inexplicable. Wordless lines.

But this tiny change in expression was caught at a glance.Sitting alone at the innermost side of the bar, the young man in black and red scarf trembled his eyelashes, and moved his lowered gaze upwards, no longer staring at Oda Sakunosuke's hands.The smile on his face faltered for a moment, like the circle of ripples splashed by a stone hitting the water, Oda Sakunosuke inexplicably thought of the shattered funny mask - not long ago, Sakuro broke one and cried sadly; But this man has long since stopped crying.The strange man in black just said:

"Aren't you going to sit down, Odasaku?"

Oda Sakunosuke thought for a while, then put away the two guns in his hand.

He didn't disarm all of them, but he kept some on the bar after all.

With the sound of the collision of the cold machinery and the wooden counter, Oda Sakunosuke also sat down.

He didn't sit next to the man in black.He sat two or three seats away, near the stairs.

- A place suitable for evacuation at any time.

"..."

Soft, long, lingering female jazz voice.

A soft, long, unseen pain that lingers in the air.

In the low and hoarse voice of parting, the man almost held his breath.

The kite pupil, the right eye whose bandage had been undone by someone, looked to the right as if to confirm something.

He thought he saw someone beside him raising their glasses together, the rounded hockey puck floated up and down in the glass, and the amber liquor reflected in the light shone slightly—"Cheers"; after a blink of an eye, he saw another picture In the group photo of the three of them, in the blink of an eye, he saw an apple next to the photo, and a carved knife was inserted into the depth of the apple, and the sticky juice flowed down the blade; in the blink of an eye, all the mottled All the illusions disappeared, and the man in black and red scarf only saw the empty table on the right side—and a pistol aimed at himself.

He paused for a moment before breathing like swallowing a blade.The man firmly stuck to his mask again, pretending he didn't see anything, and smiled hypocritically: "..."

This face was perfect, except that the man's voice was hoarse when he spoke, and he was speechless for a moment.

What else can you do?

What else can you do?

Well, why not have a drink.

The man in black and red scarf stood up.For some reason, he staggered slightly when he stood up, subconsciously pressed his left hand on the bar, and almost knocked over the wine glass.But the man didn't care about his own situation, he skillfully ignored the unreasonable and sudden sharp pain on his left shoulder, with a faint smile on his face:

"what do you want to drink?"

Oda Sakunosuke thought for a while and said, "'Screwdriver', no bitter wine."

As if smiling to himself, the man replied, "...I know."

After saying this, the man walked behind the bar.This time when he was mixing drinks, he didn't have so many unfamiliar movements. Without much hesitation, he chose vodka and gin on the wine rack, put ice cubes, poured lemon juice, and inserted the stirring stick.When he lowered his head slightly and stirred the wine, his expression was extremely focused, as if the whole world was concentrated in such a glass of wine.The glass of wine was quickly mixed.The golden-orange wine, with its mellow aroma and sweet and sour fruity flavor, overflows in the air, easily blending with this bar named Lupin.Finally, the man inserted a slice of fresh yuzu into the mouth of the cup and served it to Sakunosuke Oda.

Oda Sakunosuke didn't go to pick him up. "Just put it here," he thought for a moment, "Thank you."

The man didn't maintain any negative emotions towards Oda Sakunosuke's vigilance, but still maintained his faint smile, put the wine glass next to Oda Sakunosuke's assistant as he said, turned and sat back in his seat.There is a strange obedience in this movement, and it looks like a stupid child who desperately covers his eyes and ears and pretends that he doesn't know anything.Oda Sakunosuke silently glanced sideways at the strange man, after all, he still didn't taste the wine, let alone reach out to touch the wine glass.

"..."

jazz.female voice. "ごきげんよう".What, "See you next time", "I wish you good health"?The man was thinking nonchalantly, his thoughts floating in the air like a ball of cotton wool, and it seemed like a chaos that could not wake up.He felt strangely that his brain was soaked in wine, and suddenly he was neither afraid nor timid, only felt a burst of relief that "finally arrived". — Let’s change another word.He was listening to the music, in a daze, and finally heard "Addio".This is about the same. "Addio".He repeated the Italian words in the song in his heart. Addio, Addio, ... Addio. "farewell".

The young man seemed to have made up his mind, and he seemed to have finally given up on something. For a moment, it seemed that a burden like a swollen monster was lifted from his shoulders.For the first time since Oda Sakunosuke arrived at Lupine a moment ago, he smiled without any reluctance.

There was a tinge of childishness in this expression, lighting up this handsome but too pale face.The man even rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Odasaku, I have something very interesting, do you want to hear it?"

the man asked briskly.

Oda Sakunosuke thought for a while, and asked unexpectedly, "'Oda Saku'," he asked, "is this calling me?"

"Yes." The young man agreed without hesitation, "Haven't you been called like that before?"

"..." Oda Sakunosuke looked at him sideways, but didn't answer the question directly.

As if he understood something, the man shook his head, nodded again, and finally murmured "thank you" for some unknown reason.

Then he said with irrational excitement, "Oda Tsukuru, listen to me—I dealt with a dud a while ago!"

Emotions drive the blood to flow, dyeing the man's cheeks and cheekbones a blush, making him look energetic and youthful.

"Once the long-cherished wish came true, I subconsciously jumped up holding the dud! I thought I wanted to share this matter with you no matter what."*

When he said this, he made a circle in the air with his hands to show "it's a big dud".

This action is both willful and childish, making it impossible for onlookers to regain their first impression of "unfathomable" when they first saw it. Only a certain boy who had been buried in the old days resurfaced. On the river, open your eyes to see the sunset.

"Really." Oda Sakunosuke said.

The young man didn't care about the other party's reticence, but instead gained the courage to continue speaking from the visitor's focused gaze, and was so happy that he almost danced.

"One more thing. I want to give you a taste of the firm tofu, which has been improved. Both the taste and the hardness have been improved by [-]%! Let the subordinates try the taste, and they are all broken to the teeth! You eat it It’s better to pay attention when you’re here!”*

"Is it so hard?" Oda Sakunosuke asked, "If that's the case, how should I eat it?"*

"Actually, I don't know either!" The young man who said so laughed.Seems to be happy from the bottom of my heart. *

"One more thing," he went on with a broad smile, "Congratulations, Odasaku. Congratulations on getting—"

"—Novel Newcomer Award?" Oda Sakunosuke accepted this sentence, and said calmly, "Compared to that, bring me hard tofu next time."

"——————."

It is no exaggeration to say that the expression on the man's face was frozen as if his entire face had been pressed into plaster.

"What, that sentence," he stammered, "ah, I see, haha, that, just kidding..." When he said this, the man subconsciously clenched the red scarf hanging down to his knee with his left hand, In an instant, he threw it away as if being scorched by flames.

Oda Sakunosuke didn't miss this detail.

However, those eyes that belonged to the former killer, father, and members of the armed detective agency still stared at the man in black and red scarf seriously.

"not kidding."

Oda Sakunosuke said.

"Said it? 'I'll remember'."

When he finished speaking, Oda Sakunosuke watched helplessly as a firefly lit up tremblingly in the nearly cooled ashes. It was so small and so fragile that he had the illusion that he only needed to blow on it lightly. extinguish it.

but--

"Although I don't know what happened, when I stood at the door of Lupin, I suddenly had a completely different memory. It's like a prank by a god."

Oda Sakunosuke said.

Facing that gaze, he stared deeply at Yuan Tong who was not covered by the bandage, and looked into the eyes of Yuan Tong who unconsciously ignited hope.

"I have to ask clearly, what exactly are you going to arrange for Akutagawa?"

Oda Sakunosuke asked calmly:

"The leader of the port mafia, the master of the underground world, the licensed member of the armed detective agency undercover - Osamu Dazai, or Shuji Tsushima?"

With the voice falling.

The spark that rustled was finally annihilated.