Holy Father-Style Tool-Person - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Thirteenth Day of the Tool-man

At 3:20 PM, Hiiragi Eiji followed behind Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya, walking along the streets of Tokyo.

This mission had been assigned directly to Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya. It seemed the Port Mafia was very concerned about this, otherwise, they would not have sent two executives at once.

They had just circled out from a nearby park, and because their attire was too eccentric, they drew subtle gazes from the parents passing by with their children.

Hiiragi Eiji couldn’t help but sigh in his heart. He himself was fine, wearing a black suit that looked like a very ordinary uniform, but his “good big son” and Chuuya… were completely different.

Looking at the styling of the two of them, who seemed to have their coats sewn tightly onto their shoulders, Hiiragi Eiji was speechless.

…Wearing this to carry out a mission, do they really think they won’t attract attention?!

But there was no way around it; after all, this park was where the escaped researcher had appeared before.

As a result, these two didn’t notice anything wrong at all; instead, they chatted idly as they walked, “…Are you really okay, you guy? I don’t understand why they sent you here. Don’t you have another mission in the warehouse district to handle on your side?”

Dazai Osamu replied nonchalantly: “That mission ended a long time ago.”

“Ha?! Clearly, you haven’t even caught the third wave of invading forces yet, right?”

Hearing this, Hiiragi Eiji couldn’t help but perk up his ears.

The so-called third wave of forces… that refers to Zero and the others, right?

This was indeed a strange point. As far as Hiiragi Eiji knew, after that mission, Dazai Osamu had directly given up the pursuit of Zero and the others, and the Port Mafia leader, Mori Ougai, seemed to have no objection to this.

Because of Dazai Osamu’s injured state, a large part of the report for that mission was processed by Hiiragi Eiji.

Although he strongly suspected whether Dazai Osamu had done any re-processing after he left…

Because the action plan he wrote before the warehouse mission, Hiiragi Eiji had seen it in the shredder bin in Dazai Osamu’s hospital room. This ruthless son had simply stuffed the action plan he had painstakingly written into the shredder; had he not caught a glimpse of his own name, Hiiragi Eiji wouldn’t even have known they had been destroyed.

…Is he that dissatisfied?

The mission in the warehouse area could be summarized very simply: a secret organization where all members had codenames based on alcohol wanted to smuggle a batch of medicine through the Yokohama port, but fortunately, this was discovered by the Port Mafia in advance. Through this incident, Hiiragi Eiji immediately understood that this underground organization was in an antagonistic relationship with the Port Mafia.

The higher-ups sent him to go undercover, likely wanting to have a further understanding of the Port Mafia’s “social circle.” This intelligence should be very useful.

It was also at this time that Dazai Osamu’s exaggerated sigh reached Hiiragi Eiji’s ears, “Chuuya, it’s been so long, and you still haven’t made any progress.”

Responding to him was Nakahara Chuuya’s silence.

Hiiragi Eiji carefully peered at Chuuya’s complexion and found that the red-haired boy was already in a state of impending explosion, his cheeks slightly puffed up.

But just then, Chuuya suddenly looked in Hiiragi Eiji’s direction, as if remembering that he was still behind them.

Fortunately, Hiiragi Eiji reacted extremely quickly. The moment Chuuya made a slight movement, he immediately turned his head considerately, pretending to observe the situation nearby.

[Nakahara Chuuya Favorability +5]

…What a little angel! Favorability can actually be given like this! Hiiragi Eiji was almost moved to tears.

Dazai Osamu was well aware of their little interaction, and he said to Chuuya slowly, “Eiji is very thoughtful, right?”

Chuuya felt his fists getting harder and harder.

…Why is this guy’s tone full of showing off?!

Therefore, he opened his mouth with a fake smile, “It seems you know it too. Then don’t you think it’s a waste to have such a subordinate by your side?”

Dazai Osamu widened his eyes slightly, then replied happily, “So you were jealous? What a pity, Chuuya, such a good subordinate will never belong to you.”

[Dazai Osamu Favorability +2]

Hiiragi Eiji: “…”

What kind of epic “bear child” is this!?

Just when Chuuya decided to let it all go on the spot and give Dazai Osamu a punch of “justice from above,” Dazai Osamu suddenly said, “The reason I don’t pursue those people is because there is a problem with their identity.”

Chuuya’s fist stopped abruptly in mid-air. He held his breath, unable to go up or down. A few seconds later, he managed to adjust his state, “…What identity?”

Hiiragi Eiji was also completely attracted by this sentence.

At this moment, he had not yet realized the severity of the problem.

The next second, he heard Dazai Osamu answer leisurely, “Ah, they are police officers.”

Chuuya: “…?!”

Hiiragi Eiji: “???! !!” F*ck—! How did this guy know!?

As if amused by the wonderful expressions of the two, Dazai Osamu answered in a good mood: “It’s very simple. When they carry out missions, they are all methodical and by the book. That kind of official-trained action is really cookie-cutter, worlds apart from the wild path of the mafia, let alone the fact that they couldn’t use firearms that day—their fighting style was really obvious.” Saying this, Dazai Osamu affirmed: “People from official backgrounds are indeed so boring.”

Hiiragi Eiji: “…”

Just before the cold sweat completely broke out, Hiiragi Eiji suddenly remembered a very critical point…

Zero and the others were completely exposed after showing their faces in front of Dazai Osamu just once, and he… had written an action plan for Dazai Osamu not long ago…

His line of thinking had been tempered by the police academy. Although he had deliberately modified it—

At that moment, the cold sweat could no longer be held back, suddenly soaking Hiiragi Eiji’s shirt.

…If he really discovered it, then why did Dazai Osamu send them into the shredder?

Has Dazai really discovered something?

During this moment of distraction, Chuuya and Dazai had already walked a distance forward. Finding that he had not kept up, Chuuya turned back to call him: “Hey, Eiji, this is not the time to be in a daze.”

Hiiragi Eiji came back to his senses instantly. He hurriedly trotted to catch up. The autumn cold wind blew, and his cold, wet shirt gave him goosebumps.

“Call him Whirlpool (Uzumaki),” Dazai Osamu said seriously to Chuuya as soon as he approached, “After all, you and Eiji aren’t that close, are you?”

Consequently, Chuuya, who had been holding it in all the way, finally exploded at this moment, and the two started fighting on the spot.

However, Hiiragi Eiji suddenly realized one thing.

Dazai Osamu’s way of addressing him… seemed to have transitioned painlessly from “Eiji-kun” to “Eiji” at some point.

…When exactly did that change happen?

[Dazai Osamu Impression has changed]

Suddenly, the system’s prompt sounded in Hiiragi Eiji’s mind.

[Dazai Osamu: An interesting existence named Eiji]

Hiiragi Eiji: “…”

What kind of weird impression is this?! Did he see through it or not?!

Hiiragi Eiji felt his scalp go numb.

Is he about to take on the script of a sorrowful old father slain by his son?!

Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei received the deployment notice.

There was a new mission.

This time, Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei were assigned to two different teams respectively. As the two changed into their work uniforms and were about to separate, Matsuda Jinpei couldn’t help but pat Hagiwara Kenji’s shoulder, “You… be careful.”

Hagiwara Kenji said with a smile: “Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about yourself. This is a rare opportunity to perform a meritorious service; be careful not to let me get ahead of you? That would delay your plans indefinitely, wouldn’t it?”

Matsuda Jinpei couldn’t hide the smile on his face, but as soon as he thought about the person who had gone missing, the corners of his lips drooped again, “Stop talking big. I won’t lose to you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hagiwara Kenji turned and left as usual, “You too, stay safe, Jin-chan.”

The fork in the road of fate began here.