Ayanokouji’s Guide to Using Tools at Butei High - Chapter 6

After howling for a long time, Edogawa sat back up and made a firm decision—”I’m never speaking to Ayanokouji again.”

He declared this vow out loud, adding an exceptionally long prefix before the word ‘me’: “narrow-minded, nitpicking, stingy, two-faced, hypocritical, worse character than a street thug, without a shred of kindness, someone who will definitely choke while eating and definitely trip while walking, the world’s number one jinx.” He said it all in one breath without a single pause.

Although I didn’t say a word, I indicated that I had memorized all of it.

In this kind of bickering drama, the hardest role to play is actually the person caught in the middle—Tanizaki Junichiro, acting as the filling of the sandwich cookie, was nearly in tears. He was powerless to handle Edogawa’s willful stubbornness and unable to persuade me to change my mind—after all, I hadn’t done anything wrong, and it was impossible for Tanizaki Junichiro to suddenly and overbearingly force me to bow my head and apologize for something non-existent.

Consequently, the atmosphere in the entire room was extremely awkward, at least for Tanizaki. Unable to endure the situation any longer, once Edogawa decided to take a shower before dinner, Tanizaki left the room to call his sister, Naomi, in the hallway to vent and seek comfort. I surveyed the surroundings alone, checking the environment—although it was a high-star hotel, to keep it cheap, the triple room wasn’t actually that spacious.

Three beds were pushed together. Directly facing the middle of the beds was a liquid crystal television mounted on the wall to save space. To the left of the TV was a desk with a mobile phone provided free for guests, equipped with a SIM card with sufficient credit; to the right of the TV was the narrow passage and the room door. Additionally, within this cramped space, there was a bathroom equipped with a bathtub.

While Tanizaki went to make his call, Edogawa Ranpo was showering, and I began to dive into local forums to look for rumors about Fuyuki City.

Entering forums to check rumors is related to my past experiences. Back when I was at an age where I knew nothing, I went to Ikebukuro for an errand. My experience there taught me how to understand the internal dynamics of an unfamiliar city in a short amount of time.

However, unlike major cities filled with various urban legends, Fuyuki City was as clean as pristine new snow, as quiet and peaceful as a rural town painted by Vermeer. Even regarding the serial killer appearing in Fuyuki, there were only official discussions. Within the city itself, there wasn’t a single legendary tale.

This was not a normal phenomenon.

In fact, Fuyuki City is not a city that is entirely unfamiliar to me.

Let’s start from my side; I personally don’t like talking about the past, and I feel there’s nothing worth discussing. As for matters concerning me, no one should be able to find anything now. Actually, I come from Academy City, the city of science and supernatural abilities. While living there, I once heard a certain thing—Magic exists in this world.

I admit that saying such a thing makes people pause in confusion, much like an atheist suddenly saying “God just transformed into a youth and walked beside you,” or even making them want to laugh and hear how I’ll continue making things up.

I must say myself, I am not talking about some dreamy or light-hearted topic, nor am I laying out a worldview for a fairy tale.

Within Academy City, there was a branch of a nationwide cram school called Misawa Cram School. Although it also advocated for the cult of science, there were genuine alchemists inside. However, because people living in Academy City had undergone experiments or drug treatments to develop supernatural abilities, they could not possess the power of Magic. The reason being that the manifestation circuits for magic and supernatural abilities are completely different.

To use a simple example, excluding black tech elements, a single mobile phone generally cannot have Android and iOS installed at the same time—the two systems are completely independent and do not exist in a state of symbiosis.

Building on the premise that ‘Magic exists in this world,’ relevant books had also mentioned that Fuyuki City is one of the few cities in the world with abundant spiritual pulses, and content regarding the Holy Grail War every 60 years, but the content was minimal, just a few brief strokes.

Based on the information I know, unlike Academy City where supernatural abilities and high technology are active, Fuyuki City should be a city where magic is active. According to calculations, this year should be the time for the rumored Holy Grail War to occur; currently, it is much quieter than I imagined.

Either someone is already working as a sweeper—erasing the traces; or it is the calm before the storm; or it is currently happening, but is so commonplace that no one has noticed.

There are many reasons why I pay attention to these things, but more of it is actually out of a sense of curiosity, like seeing a story, finding it interesting, and wanting to know the sequel or more details. I actually have things to do in Fuyuki City.

I was thinking about how to stall Edogawa Ranpo from returning to the Detective Agency for the time being when the door to the bathroom across from me opened.

Because there were only three chairs in the room, and the desk was positioned too close to the side of the bed, one could feel a sense of cramped oppression when the chair was pulled out. Therefore, I chose a position close to the room door; inevitably, I was also very close to the bathroom door, barely three steps away.

So, as soon as Edogawa opened the door, he saw me unexpectedly. He was clearly startled, his body jerking slightly, but he immediately masked it by turning his head away, making a gesture as if he wanted to ignore me.

I didn’t mind this sort of thing, only thinking that this person was still much the same as in my memory.

He stepped out of the bathroom carrying the warm, humid air of a finished shower and the scent of shower gel. Water droplets still clung to his stiff black hair, and a pure white towel hung around his neck to prevent the water from his head from wetting his collar.

Just like in my memory, he was messy, careless about details, unable even to dry his hair properly.

Since he didn’t speak, I naturally didn’t either. Amidst the silence, Edogawa gave a cold snort and intentionally shook his head with force. Seeing the water from his hair splash onto me, he finally curled his lips into a wicked smirk.

Childish…

I used a tissue to wipe the water off my phone. The phone, which I had accidentally pressed on, displayed the time as 17:21; there was still plenty of time before the day ended.

Edogawa Ranpo sat on the edge of the bed and began looking at the dinner guide provided by the inn. I estimated his plan was to have a beautiful meal after his shower, eat a bunch of snacks, and then go to sleep.

While Edogawa Ranpo had his head down, he suddenly spoke up: “What bad thing are you doing?”

Because of this sentence, I was momentarily stunned, subconsciously glancing at the tightly closed door before finally saying with uncertainty: “Are you talking to me?”

“Who else is in this room besides you?”

Didn’t you say you wouldn’t talk to me anymore?

I felt that the next time Edogawa Ranpo easily made some promise, I would definitely have to attach some conditions to it.

“I’m not doing anything bad.”

I was telling the truth.

“A university student, a clergyman, a temporary worker, yet just the ‘Ondo’ of your predictive text brings up ‘Temperature-Sensing Aiming Device.’ That kind of equipment is usually used for sniping people at night.” Edogawa Ranpo folded his arms and said, “You can hide it from others, but you can’t hide it from me. What do you intend to do by entering the Detective Agency?”

Since he said that, I noticed he might have caught a glimpse of my search interface and the input method while I was searching earlier. Therefore, I placed my phone on the table, leaned against the back of the chair, and crossed my left leg over my right, adopting a posture of total patience to continue the conversation with Edogawa Ranpo.

“I said I need protection, but I have no money. Working at the Detective Agency—doesn’t that perfectly fill the gap regarding the payment?” I paused and said, “Whether I’m lying or not—can’t you tell?”

I spoke unhurriedly: “Furthermore, if my lying were intended to harm the Detective Agency, didn’t your statement just now dig a huge hole for yourself? In this situation, it is entirely possible for me to take advantage of Tanizaki’s absence to harm you. And as a clever person, you wouldn’t be so foolish as to proactively confront an enemy while completely unprotected, would you?”

Edogawa Ranpo’s eyes remained narrowed into slits; he expressed neither agreement nor disagreement.

After waiting for two seconds, Edogawa didn’t interrupt me, so I continued in a flat, steady tone: “So, rather than that—given Mr. Edogawa’s personality, to have doubts in your heart yet keep going in circles with me like this until now, only to confront me again with the same question face-to-face. Could I say that Mr. Edogawa actually knows I am harmless, but is intentionally provoking me, intentionally looking for something to say just to get my attention? So, what is it that you actually want to ask me?”

I was still thinking about how Edogawa Ranpo was always hesitating to speak with me, and every time he wanted to ask, it was the same sentence. So, what exactly was he curious about? I thought that this time, with an honest confrontation, he would finally speak, but Edogawa Ranpo suddenly started yelling “Aaaahhh” to create noise interference.

What was going on?

Outside the ajar door, Tanizaki immediately came running at the sound, quickly glancing at me sitting motionless in the chair and Edogawa Ranpo rolling around on the bed again.

“Wh-What’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt? Ranpo-san.”

Edogawa Ranpo spoke to Tanizaki as if lodging a complaint: “I’m never talking to Ayanokouji again. He’s always bothering me.”

Tanizaki tilted his head in confusion, looking into my eyes, and asked in return: “Didn’t you say that already?”

“…………”

In the end, who was giving whose emotions more than they were worth?