Holy Father-Style Tool-Person - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Seventeenth Day of the Tool-man

Hiiragi Eiji was unconscious for a full half-day before he slowly woke up in the hotel where they were staying.

Hiiragi Eiji had no objection to this arrangement; he knew that Dazai Osamu had once again concealed his true condition. Otherwise, there would be no way to explain to Nakahara Chuuya, with whom they were sharing the mission, where the wounds on his back—caused by the explosion—had come from.

After calming himself on the bed for ten seconds, Hiiragi Eiji solemnly opened his NPC panel.

There was one thing he was very concerned about…

Before losing consciousness, he seemed to hear the system’s prompt telling him that Dazai Osamu’s favorability had increased by 30 points. But how was that possible! After spending so much time together, Hiiragi Eiji fully understood how difficult it was to grind Dazai Osamu’s favorability.

Increasing favorability by 30 points in one go was simply—

[Dazai Osamu: Favorability 80] [Impression: Dazzling Light]

…Impossible.

Hiiragi Eiji sat up from the bed with a start; the wounds on his back could not affect the shock he felt at this moment. He stared dumbfounded at the 80 points of favorability and then looked at Dazai Osamu’s inscrutable impression of him.

…His “devoted father” route was indeed correct—!

What was this?! He had saved Kenji and raised Dazai Osamu’s favorability? What kind of luck was this! As expected, Dazai Osamu had also been reformed by his “devoted father” aura!

Hiiragi Eiji couldn’t wait to check the wish value of the main character, Furuya Rei. Sure enough, the progress bar had reached 25%. Since he had successfully saved Hagiwara Kenji, hadn’t he completed a quarter of the mission?

But even happier things were in store for Hiiragi Eiji. When he appeared in the restaurant area on the second floor that evening, he received news from Nakahara Chuuya.

“The defector has been caught. To prevent any uncertainty, we’re returning to Yokohama tonight.” As he spoke, Nakahara Chuuya glanced at Hiiragi Eiji with underlying concern: “…I heard you were injured? Are you okay? Do you need to stay here another night and go back by yourself tomorrow?”

Hearing this, Hiiragi Eiji almost choked on the steak in his mouth. He waved his hands hurriedly to signal he was fine, “I’m okay! Going back tonight is fine; it’s a small injury.” But Hiiragi Eiji was clearly more concerned with the latter issue. He asked in disbelief: “But, wait a second! The defector has been caught?! When did that happen?”

Nakahara Chuuya was clearly stunned by his question. He answered subconsciously: “It happened this morning. Didn’t we split up? You and Dazai went to find where the bomb was planted, and I took some men to catch that guy…” Then, as if realizing something, his gaze swept toward Dazai Osamu, who was at his side, like a razor, “You guy, you didn’t say anything again, did you?”

Dazai Osamu said with a smile: “Hmm, I didn’t say anything, but Eiji won’t mind.”

“Are you looking for a beating by saying such infuriating things in such a cheerful tone?!”

After finally successfully defusing a crisis, Hiiragi Eiji finally figured out what had happened today.

It turned out that Dazai Osamu had told Chuuya early on that he had deduced several locations where the defector might appear, allowing him to hunt the defector down, while he himself took Hiiragi Eiji to continue searching for locations where the defector might have planted bombs.

“Although they were calculated, two were still detonated by him. The others were dismantled by the people brought along,” Dazai Osamu summarized.

Hiiragi Eiji didn’t feel like anything was wrong and nodded in complete understanding, but he soon thought of another problem.

The person had slipped out from the Port Mafia, and a real incident harmful to public security had occurred. It seemed the Port Mafia was going to have some trouble during this period.

But this thought vanished in an instant. Next, Hiiragi Eiji quietly ate his dinner; he still had other things to do.

When transferring the defector in the evening, Hiiragi Eiji finally saw the true face of this neurotic researcher: not yet thirty years old, a slightly receding hairline, lips pursed into a thin line; in short, he was a decent-looking human being.

To ensure the handcuffs on his wrists didn’t draw too much attention, someone had placed a black coat over his front. Hiiragi Eiji walked slowly at the back of the crowd. He controlled the amount of his chakra slightly and used a small Wind Style technique. A breeze blew over the people in front, lifting the coat resting on the defector’s wrists.

Just as the guard wanted to press the clothes down, someone was one step faster than him.

The light-haired boy grabbed the edge of the coat and pressed it down calmly without a word.

The guard was slightly stunned, then hurriedly thanked him: “Th-thank you, Lord Uzumaki.”

Hiiragi Eiji smiled gently, “You’re welcome.” His amber eyes swept over the defector, then he turned and walked toward Dazai Osamu, who was further ahead.

And while everyone—including the defector himself—was unaware, dozens of small Flying Thunder God marks had been placed everywhere on his clothes, and he didn’t even spare the inside of the handcuffs.

The so-called Flying Thunder God is a top-level ninjutsu that allows for instantaneous movement through marks. It was precisely because Hiiragi Eiji mastered this high-difficulty technique, which only three people in the entire ninja world possessed, that he was crowned a genius.

“What are you looking at?” As soon as he got close to Dazai Osamu, this little bandage-addict started questioning him, “Did you do something special by approaching that person just now?”

Although shocked at being instantly seen through by his “good big son,” Hiiragi Eiji’s ability to improvise had not regressed. He said calmly: “Because I wanted to observe that son-of-a-bitch up close.”

Clearly, this was an answer Dazai Osamu had not expected. His face, which had been wearing a faint smile, went blank for a second, and then he burst into a series of laughs, causing Chuuya, who was at the very front, to keep turning around to see what kind of mischief he was up to again.

“Eiji, say more. I want to hear more.” After laughing, Dazai Osamu made such a bizarre request to Hiiragi Eiji.

…What kind of disorder makes someone want to hear people swear?

Hiiragi Eiji simply ignored the guy’s unreasonable request. A so-called good father must be judicious when fulfilling his children’s requests.

“…Eh, you won’t say it? How boring,” Dazai Osamu said slowly.

Immediately afterward, Hiiragi Eiji received a system prompt.

[Dazai Osamu Favorability -1]

Hiiragi Eiji: “…”

Thus, Hiiragi Eiji suddenly stopped moving. He stared fixedly at Dazai Osamu walking beside him, silent.

Rebellious son! Did you hear that! Rebellious son—!

Not that you could hear it anyway!

Who would have thought, Dazai Osamu stopped along with him. Those tawny eyes stared straight at Hiiragi Eiji. After a long while, he nodded knowingly and said with certainty: “You’re scolding me, aren’t you, Eiji.”

Hiiragi Eiji almost couldn’t control his expression! Does this guy have mind-reading powers?!

Then, the next second…

[Dazai Osamu Favorability +1]

Hiiragi Eiji: “…”

If he scolded him twenty more times now, he wondered if he could get another chance at max favorability!

At 8:30 PM, Hiiragi Eiji, who had finally rushed back to Yokohama, did not go home to rest, but sat in the office to process the report for this mission as Dazai Osamu had requested.

Finally finishing the last character, he punched out as usual and took a look at Dazai Osamu’s workstation before leaving.

…He and Chuuya are probably still in Mori Ougai’s office on the top floor reporting the mission, right?

After all, they had only gone up about three minutes ago.

Thinking this, Hiiragi Eiji quickened his pace and returned to the apartment located behind the Port Mafia building ten minutes later.

He turned on the living room light and casually used a Transformation Jutsu, turning into an ordinary passerby he had seen in the ninja world. Immediately after, his figure vanished from the spot.

He needed to handle some remaining issues. According to the system’s prompt, Matsuda Jinpei’s death two years later was also due to a bombing accident. Coincidentally, the perpetrator of that bombing case was the same person who had blown up Hagiwara Kenji.

In other words, if he didn’t deal with this guy, he would still be out causing trouble in two years. Although Hiiragi Eiji could tolerate others causing trouble over his head again, he was more accustomed to “digging the dirt” at the graves of those who caused trouble.

The next morning, Hiiragi Eiji, in a great mood, arrived early at Dazai Osamu’s office according to his usual commute time. He clearly felt that the atmosphere of the Port Mafia had changed; not only were there more patrols downstairs, but there was now even a screening process at the entrance.

But what did that have to do with anything? His mission progress bar had already reached 50%.

Hiiragi Eiji, who had been thinking about these things, suddenly discovered that his loafer superior who was always missing without reason—his “good big son”—was actually sitting obediently at his desk. Upon seeing Hiiragi Eiji walk in, the expression on his face instantly switched from vacant to energetic.

…As if he were waiting for his arrival.

Although he probably guessed what it was about, Hiiragi Eiji still walked quickly to his workstation as usual. Looking at the extra reports on the desk, he estimated his morning workload in his heart.

“Eiji,” Dazai Osamu stared fixedly at him, “That defector who was brought back… has disappeared.”

Hiiragi Eiji raised his head at the right time, revealing an expression of surprise, “Disappeared? How did he disappear?”

Dazai Osamu looked at him deeply for a long time without answering. Not until Hiiragi Eiji was about to lower his head to look at the reports on the table did he say softly: “That’s the strange part. No cameras captured how he left the dungeon.”

…It’s just the Flying Thunder God teleportation, isn’t it? Hiiragi Eiji muttered in his heart.

But to play the role to the end, Hiiragi Eiji nodded hurriedly to indicate he understood.

Then Hiiragi Eiji noticed that the expression on Dazai Osamu’s face was even stranger.

So that’s how it is.

Dazai Osamu stared blankly at Hiiragi Eiji, who was working in his office as usual. Just as capable, just as calm, without the slightest change due to the news.

He had once thought the other party was an orthodox police officer trained by the authorities—rule-abiding and strictly adhering to regulations—but not until the bombing case occurred did he realize that the other party’s personality was not cultivated as such.

At this very moment, Dazai Osamu could better feel the dissonance in the other person. Hiiragi Eiji was not purely “white.” He had underestimated what this person could do for others.

The most brilliant light is not beautiful because it is spotless.

Rather, it is because even when filled with shadows underneath, it can still become the most dazzling existence. It even appears more striking due to the contrast of the shadows.

But what to do…

Just like that, Hiiragi Eiji, who was concentrating on his work, suddenly heard Dazai Osamu’s laughter, short and light.

[Dazai Osamu Favorability +5] [Dazai Osamu Impression has changed]

Hiiragi Eiji almost threw the pen in his hand.

What is going on?! Why did Dazai Osamu suddenly increase his favorability? And the laughter just now?! Why does he have such an ominous feeling?!

Although he was a bit panicked inside, Hiiragi Eiji suppressed the question marks in his head as much as possible to prevent Dazai Osamu from discovering anything. Without any extra movement, he deftly clicked open the NPC panel.

[Dazai Osamu: Favorability 85] [Impression: The Most Dazzling Light]

…So, after all that, the impression of him only added one word?!