Ayanokouji’s Guide to Using Tools at Butei High - Chapter 9

“Then I can probably understand the reason why Ranpo-san said those words.”

After Tanizaki learned the whole story from me, he muttered this to himself. This successfully made me stop my preparation to hang up, as I intended to hear him out.

Tanizaki paused and said: “Ranpo-san told me to tell you that you shouldn’t return to the inn tonight; find a place to stay on your own. Maybe it’s because he knew you put medicine in the cake?”

…Is this an overt rejection?

If I had known he would say that, I should have bought him an expired cake.

I paused for a moment and said: “I understand.”

I glanced at the electronic clock on the wall and said indifferently: “I’ll just find a cheap hostel outside to stay in.”

Hearing me say this, Tanizaki immediately said anxiously: “Ayanokouji, don’t get into a huff with Ranpo-san! Where are you now? I’ll come pick you up, okay? He was just joking; he definitely doesn’t hate you. In the middle of the night, what kind of decent hostel can you find?”

Tanizaki, he is a ‘good for nothing’ nice guy.

Truly.

My personality was never likable to begin with, and being hated was within my expectations, so I didn’t particularly care.

“I’ll go find you after I send Ranpo-san back to the inn.” Tanizaki didn’t wait for my answer and immediately blurted out.

What does ‘after sending him back to the inn’ mean?

I didn’t need to look in a mirror to know I was frowning right now.

“Are you two outside right now?”

“Yes, Ranpo-san and I are at a 24-hour internet cafe two blocks away from the Hyatt. Ranpo-san said the inn didn’t have a computer to play on, and he didn’t want to use a phone, so he was playing detective games at the internet cafe while eating cake when the ‘suddenly collapsing and falling asleep’ situation occurred.”

Edogawa always acts on a whim.

“Just stay by Edogawa’s side and send him back to the inn,” I instructed. “Don’t come looking for me. I’ll head back. Stay properly by his side.”

Perhaps because my attitude was very firm, or perhaps because I am actually a year older than Tanizaki, there was a certain level of authority in my speech that he couldn’t overstep.

Tanizaki compromised: “Then I’ll send him back. You should come back quickly too. Didn’t you say you were being watched? Don’t stay alone.”

Before Tanizaki hung up, I felt there was something strange about this. Edogawa Ranpo’s personality is the lazy and idle type; rather than wanting to stay in an internet cafe, I felt he would prefer going to a 24-hour family restaurant to eat large portions of gourmet food.

“Before he went to the internet cafe, did he say anything else special to you?”

“…Just that sentence: ‘Don’t come back to the inn tonight, find a place to stay yourself.’ Nothing else particularly memorable.”

“Can you repeat every single sentence Edogawa said after I left?” I always felt there was a hidden meaning in Edogawa’s words. He insisted on leaving the inn with Tanizaki and also insisted I not return. Was this mostly a coincidence, or had Edogawa discovered something?

“That’s…” Tanizaki’s voice was hesitant.

True, generally speaking, it’s hard to remember every single word someone says.

Based on what I know, that pair of man and woman in Room 703 should be magi, likely preparing for the so-called ‘Holy Grail War.’ Their next base after leaving is the warehouse district at the mouth of the Mion River in Fuyuki City, which is far from the crowded city center.

“It’s nothing. Be careful on your way back to the inn.” I abandoned the thought of having ‘Tanizaki stay where he is and wait for me.’

Tanizaki immediately replied: “You too.”

“Yeah.”

I casually hung up the phone.

During my conversation with Tanizaki, the person who had suddenly appeared next door had also long since disappeared. Having seemingly failed to find the clues they wanted, they turned back. They didn’t seem to fear heights, flying directly out of the window; in an instant, they were like a black swift, silently merging into the darkness of the night, their figure no longer visible.

Reason told me not to meddle casually; the abilities of magi are an unknown territory. No matter the outcome of my coming here, I couldn’t allow my own situation to worsen.

I’ll just pretend I don’t know.

I have other things to do.

As for the camera left in Room 703, I have already activated the “self-destruct device.” When the time is up, it will explode and disappear on its own. It was originally just a lens smaller than a fingernail.

There were actually two reasons I came to Fuyuki.

“First: the church internship.”

“Second: to stall Edogawa Ranpo so he doesn’t return to the Armed Detective Agency.”

According to the plan of a certain former accomplice of mine, Edogawa Ranpo is absolutely the most troublesome existence. In order for everything to proceed smoothly, it is best for Edogawa Ranpo to be tied down by outside matters, unable to handle any distress calls that might come from the Agency.

Tonight is the moment she begins her move.

I neither wanted anyone in the Agency to have the chance to reach Edogawa Ranpo by phone, nor did I want Edogawa wandering aimlessly around Fuyuki City at night with nothing to do. That’s why I specially bought the cake and specifically put sleeping pills in it.

Tomorrow, the Armed Detective Agency should be all over the front-page headlines with a major crisis.

That is what I should be focusing on.

When I pulled up Sasaki Nobuko’s phone number in my mobile, I pressed ‘Confirm’ when the system asked if I was sure I wanted to ‘Delete.’ I also deleted and modified all data on my weapons website, including registered identity information and names, while simultaneously approving the purchase application for the final firearm.

The buyer of that final firearm was an acquaintance of mine—Taguchi Rokuzou.

He is a fourteen-year-old boy who lost his mother at a young age.

Two years ago, because of the Azure Banner Terrorist Incident in Yokohama, his father, working as a detective during the siege of the Azure King, unfortunately lost his life. Since then, Taguchi Rokuzou became a complete orphan. By chance, I took him in and taught him hacking techniques, turning him into an information broker.

As soon as he learned computer skills, he launched an attack on the computer database of the Detective Agency that had been involved in the Azure Banner Terrorist Incident. Later, after being discovered by Kunikida of the Agency, the two reached an agreement. Rokuzou would be responsible for providing information, and Kunikida would pay him a salary.

Of course, when he encountered difficult problems he didn’t understand, I would also help solve them in the name of Taguchi Rokuzou.

It’s just that I have never told him to this day—that during the Azure Banner Terrorist Incident, I was also a participant; I was responsible for providing the weapons. I also didn’t tell him that the weapons he bought were sold to him by me.

This time, the reason I specifically came to Fuyuki was because I knew the former core strategist behind the Azure King, Sasaki Nobuko, wanted to take revenge on the Detective Agency. Or, to dig a bit deeper, it wasn’t that I came to Fuyuki because I wanted to come to Fuyuki; it was because I needed to control Edogawa Ranpo’s movements that I specifically followed him and looked for an internship in Fuyuki City.

Personally, I hope she succeeds, as it is also beneficial for me.

I registered the weapons website’s account information under the name ‘Dazai Osamu,’ and even the final payment was transferred to an underground bank account in the name of Dazai Osamu.

If I guide the operation correctly, perhaps Dazai Osamu can take the fall for Sasaki Nobuko. Of course, I don’t think it will be that easy, but I hope that at the very least, in the handling of this case by the Agency, I can successfully drive a wedge between Dazai Osamu and the Detective Agency.

If I could smoothly force Dazai away, that would be an ideal state.

To be honest, I am not deliberately targeting Dazai Osamu.

I simply don’t like him.

There is no so-called deep-seated hatred between us. I am not the type of person to hate evil with a passion. If a reason must be given, it would probably be—

Our auras don’t match.

Our temperaments are too incompatible.

Our magnetic fields clash.

He doesn’t sit well with my eyes.

Personally, I don’t want to keep paying attention to him.

Therefore, I hope that by the time I enter the Detective Agency, that man will have completely disappeared from my sight.

While I was going through everything that happened today in my head, checking if I had made a wrong move anywhere, Taguchi Rokuzou sent a message—

“Mr. Ayanokouji.

Thank you for telling me—that the matter the Detective Agency is investigating is related to the ‘Azure Banner Terrorist Incident’ from two years ago. Today, I have finally seen a glimmer of hope to avenge my father.

This time, I must bring that heinous remnant of the Azure Banner to justice and make them surrender!!! I just don’t know… if I can succeed.

I hope I will still have the chance to meet you again.

I wish you all the best in Fuyuki City.

Rokuzou

PS: I heard it snows in Fuyuki City, take care of your health.”

I read the entire message. In his words, there was a vague but visible determination to face death. What should I do at a time like this? My finger habitually tapped a pensive rhythm against the side of my phone, hesitating for a few seconds between ‘pretending not to see and not replying’ and ‘replying to him.’

In the end, I typed out cold and mechanical words on the phone.

“God bless you.”