Holy Father-Style Tool-Person - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Fourteenth Day of the Tool-man

Over the next few days, Hiiragi Eiji became so obsessed with missions that even Chuuya was left in the dust by his dedication.

Moreover, Hiiragi Eiji’s work capability was extremely high. Even his ability to find clues at the scene was a step faster than Chuuya’s.

When Chuuya stood at his doorway, holding two portions of nutritionally balanced meals that Hiiragi Eiji had packed for them from outside, he was unable to regain his composure for a long time.

The red-haired boy subconsciously looked up at Hiiragi Eiji’s hurrying back as he left.

…Did he not forget to arrange lunch for him and Dazai Osamu at noon, even in the middle of a mission?

What surprised Chuuya the most was that the dishes in the two meals were different. One portion clearly contained the dishes he liked, and that one was also carefully labeled with a sticky note saying “Lord Chuuya.”

“Tsk…” Chuuya clicked his tongue softly. He guessed that the other party had done this probably because he and Dazai Osamu had both complained about the taste of this hotel during dinner on the second floor the night before.

He hadn’t expected the other party to show no reaction when hearing it at the time, only to silently arrange their lunch the next day.

He is completely different from that guy Dazai.

Just like that, Nakahara Chuuya’s favorability was raised again.

After putting his portion back in his room, Nakahara Chuuya frowned and knocked on Dazai Osamu’s door. A few seconds later, the heavy door in front of him was pulled open.

The black-haired, bandaged boy didn’t even lift his head, focusing intently on the game console in his hands. He didn’t even look at who was at the door, complaining vaguely as he opened it: “Eiji—I can’t get past this level—”

His tone was deliberately drawn out, and there was an inexplicable meaning in his voice. At the very least, Nakahara Chuuya had never heard Dazai Osamu use this tone of voice with anyone else.

Perhaps because the person opposite didn’t act as he had imagined, and after waiting for a long time for the game console not to be taken by anyone, Dazai Osamu spared a glance in his busy schedule at the person standing at the door.

For a moment, Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya stared at each other, speechless.

Dazai Osamu was the first to come back to his senses. Chuuya clearly saw the corners of his mouth, which had been slightly upturned, immediately slide down. He endured his impatience and shoved the items in his hands into his chest.

“…Chuuya, are you really unable to see that I am playing a game?” Forced by circumstances, Dazai Osamu had to clamp the edges of the lunch box with his elbows.

“Who cares about you!” Thinking of Eiji who had just been working hard, Chuuya felt his temper flare as he looked at this slack-off Dazai, “Dazai… you guy, do you still remember that you are on a mission? Eiji has been out since morning.”

Dazai Osamu lifted his eyelids in the middle of his busy schedule and glanced at Chuuya. “So you are sticking up for Eiji.” He chuckled softly, “However, it is only natural for him to care. This is the mission he wants to do most.”

As he said this, the chaotic movements of his hands became methodical, “…Anything else, Chuuya?”

Before Chuuya could leave in a huff, the door slammed shut in front of him with a “bang.”

…The mission he wants to do most? What does that mean?

Chuuya momentarily forgot to bicker with Dazai Osamu about the door-slamming incident, instead walking towards his room, deep in thought.

However, as he walked, his pace gradually slowed down.

A clear summary suddenly flashed in his mind.

…The tone Dazai Osamu used just now—was he not acting spoiled?!

In the evening, Hiiragi Eiji returned to the hotel with a heavy heart.

As early as the day before yesterday, the system suddenly notified him that the time of Hagiwara Kenji’s death had changed; the originally confirmed day seemed to be covered by a layer of fog, and even the system could not properly glimpse it.

Therefore, he had been working overtime these past few days, trying to catch the bomb-crazed maniac who escaped from the Port Mafia before he officially started wreaking havoc, but the results were unsatisfactory. He was always one step behind the other party.

These days, the subordinates assigned to him by Dazai Osamu were being run ragged, yet they returned empty-handed. Some people were already complaining, and Hiiragi Eiji knew he couldn’t go on like this.

But strangely, Dazai Osamu had no reaction to this and had no intention of intervening. Hiiragi Eiji just assumed that he also hadn’t found enough clues.

After all, although this guy acted like he was slacking off all day, he usually didn’t take action unless necessary, but once he did, he was destined to get the ending he wanted.

Just like that, the exhausted Hiiragi Eiji ended another day of futile labor. As soon as he entered the hotel lobby, he saw Dazai Osamu playing with a game console on the sofa in the rest area.

His footsteps stopped immediately, and he walked towards Dazai Osamu.

“Why are you playing games here, Lord Dazai?” Once seated, Hiiragi Eiji was attracted by Dazai Osamu’s crooked sitting posture. He couldn’t help but pull out the cushion behind him and simply stuffed it behind his waist to make his posture more comfortable.

Dazai Osamu replied irrelevantly: “I heard you have been working in vain lately.”

Hiiragi Eiji choked instantly. Does he really have to ferociously step on the old father’s sore spot?

“Do you want to catch that person?” Dazai Osamu asked calmly. As he spoke, he leaned his head against the back of the sofa.

Hiiragi Eiji nodded immediately, his eyes brightening instantly, because he felt that Dazai Osamu seemed to have grasped some incredible clues.

After easily solving the last monster, Dazai Osamu put the game console back into his pocket unhurriedly. He turned his head to look at Hiiragi Eiji, his tawny eyes filled with laughter, “However, everything has a price. Are you willing to accept that?”

His tone was indescribably strange, as if he was deliberately guiding Hiiragi Eiji to continue moving forward.

“I am willing.”

Dazai Osamu snapped his fingers immediately, “Deal.”

At 10:00 AM the next day, Dazai Osamu led Hiiragi Eiji, who had been waiting for him in the room for three hours, out of the hotel.

“…Where is Lord Chuuya?” Hiiragi Eiji asked.

“So concerned about him? Don’t worry, Chuuya has his own mission and is not slacking off.”

Hiiragi Eiji: “…” Was that what he was concerned about?!

He really wanted Dazai Osamu to have a clear understanding that he was clearly the only person in the entire team who was slacking off all day!

Dazai Osamu brought Hiiragi Eiji to an open-air cafe under a building, and as if he were on a trip, he happily ordered a table full of things.

At this time, Hiiragi Eiji was still immersed in the excitement of the impending capture of the defector, and he did not notice that the waiter frequently looked ahead when taking the order.

And Dazai Osamu seemed to be deliberately preventing him from noticing; whenever the waiter was distracted, he would immediately chat with them to restore them to a working state.

But soon, Hiiragi Eiji realized something was wrong. He suddenly realized that there seemed to be too few people around; this was not a remote area, and the waiter’s expression when looking at the two of them was slightly hesitant.

The alarm in Hiiragi Eiji’s head sounded again. He vaguely realized that something was happening quietly, and he knew nothing about it.

As if noticing his changed expression, Dazai Osamu could no longer suppress the laughter in his throat, and he couldn’t even hold his coffee cup steady.

“Eiji, do you know why I brought you here?”

Hiiragi Eiji looked up at him blankly, but his heartbeat sped up involuntarily.

Dazai Osamu, as if to observe the changes in his expression better, held his chin with one hand and looked at him sideways. His tawny eyes curved into crescents, and then, he spoke softly: “In the building ahead, there is a bomb planted by that guy. Counting the time, there are probably only a few minutes left until the deadline. That’s not an ordinary bomb; even if it is correctly dismantled, it will still explode if that traitor wants it to. In the morning, the police had already cordoned off the area in front. It is currently in the dismantling stage.”

Hiiragi Eiji’s pupils dilated instantly.

“I need you to go in after the bomb explodes to investigate the clues left by the traitor, and in this way, you can catch him.”

But it’s not right.

If he really wanted him to investigate the clues inside, according to Dazai Osamu’s personality, he could have waited until the bomb exploded before having him come over, rather than telling him specifically that a bombing accident was about to happen here.

“System, Kenji is inside, isn’t he?”

Hiiragi Eiji understood almost instantly. He immediately called the system in his heart.

Soon, the system gave him an affirmative reply. In cases involving the completion of a major character’s wishes, the system is obligated to inform him of the true information.

As if he had seen enough of Hiiragi Eiji’s current expression, Dazai Osamu picked up the coffee and took a slow sip, pressing down the smile at the corners of his mouth through this action.

That was clearly not a smile with goodwill; a hint of sarcasm was almost impossible to hide.

Is he going to expose his identity in front of him for the sake of the connection who already seems hopeless? Or continue to hide his identity and see off this upcoming explosion performance?

Will he choose the principles of an official police officer, or will he be willing to perform a rescue with a high probability of never returning in these last few minutes of the countdown?

In this almost one-sided situation, what choice will a person make?

Will it be painful? It must be painful.

But this is the real world.

Don’t put on the posture of a savior anymore, and don’t play the role of a protector again.

Baptized by suffering, even the light in the eyes will surely be extinguished, right?

Thinking of this, Dazai Osamu’s movement of sipping coffee paused slightly.

If that’s the case, that would be great. He would never again have the idea of wanting to bathe in such light because he glimpsed that bright moment.

Hiiragi Eiji stared blankly at Dazai Osamu; he finally understood Dazai Osamu’s meaning.

A multiple-choice question was placed before him.

Is he going to choose to tear off his fake mask in front of Dazai, or continue to pretend that nothing happened and stay under his command, like a mediocre little screw in the Port Mafia?

Dazai Osamu had known his identity for a long time.

‘However, everything has a price.’

So, this is the price he needs to bear.

Almost without any thought, before the slight smile at the corner of Dazai Osamu’s mouth had completely faded, Hiiragi Eiji rolled away from in front of Dazai Osamu like a gust of wind.

Is this even a choice!

For his choice, which had almost no hesitation, Dazai Osamu stood up almost subconsciously, “…Eiji?”

Responding to him was the other party’s indomitable figure. Just like this, watching him run out from the shadows of the building and plunge headlong into the street shrouded in dazzling sunlight.