Holy Father-Style Tool-Person - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next day, Hiiragi Eiji arrived at Dazai Osamu’s office with a heavy expression.

This morning had been anything but peaceful.

Ever since he entered the Port Mafia building, strangers he didn’t even know had been smiling and greeting him continuously. Eiji greeted them back almost numbly.

“…Do you know that person from just now?” After exchanging pleasantries with a buff guy in a suit, Eiji heard the man’s companion whisper to him.

“Ah, haven’t you checked the intranet? That featured thread!”

“Holy crap! He’s the protagonist of that?!”

[XXXXX Favorability +20]

Eiji: “…”

The light died in Eiji’s eyes.

Yes, as early as his routine favorability check this morning, Eiji had discovered it.

…Dammit, the favorability levels of the entire Port Mafia toward him were high to an absurd degree! Nakahara Chuuya, a major character, actually had a favorability of 40 for him?!

Heaven knows that after a month of frantic grinding, he had barely managed to raise that idiot Dazai’s favorability to 15! Was this logical?!

What was even less logical was that Eiji had discovered his own “heroic” posture on the Port Mafia’s internal forum. From this day forward, he was going to be a man who never touched a drop of alcohol! Eiji thought, his eyes brimming with tears.

But the upside of the drinking bout was… a strange sense of relief in Eiji’s heart. It seemed that with last night’s indulgence, the pressure accumulated in his heart had dissipated. He could once again face Dazai Osamu in his perfect state.

…He even felt a subtle sense of guilt. This was the first time he had ever harbored violent thoughts toward a mission target. It truly was improper.

Feeling the “warmth” from the rest of the Port Mafia all along the way, he arrived at the door of Dazai Osamu’s office. With an exceptionally heavy heart, Eiji walked in.

However, the sight he saw upon entering made him want to launch himself onto the moon immediately.

Dazai Osamu was holding his phone, watching something with great interest, and from it clearly came a familiar “ORA!” sound.

Hearing Eiji’s movement, Dazai looked up from the screen. The two stared at each other for two seconds. Just as Eiji took a deep breath, wanting to say something, he saw Dazai’s dark brown eyes slowly brighten. “Eiji-kun, I saw it all. So, the one you think of even when you’re drunk is me.”

Eiji almost choked on the breath he had just drawn.

…Is that your takeaway from the video?!

But Eiji quickly adjusted his expression and gave Dazai a brief apology for the incident in the video. After thinking for a moment, he asked seriously: “…So, are you truly very dissatisfied with me? Because of my work ability? If so, I will adjust as quickly as possible.”

I will definitely become stronger as soon as possible! Eiji thought secretly.

“…Eh, the first thing you do is reflect on yourself?” Dazai’s expression carried a sense of wonder that matched his tone. “Ah, right, after all, Eiji-kun follows the ‘Holy Father’ route.” Yet, he did not answer Eiji’s question.

Eiji: “…” Damn, why do I feel a hint of mockery?!

“However, if you want to kill me, that kind of method won’t work, because it wouldn’t be fatal,” Dazai said in a calm voice.

Eiji felt a slight, dull sting in his heart.

…This was not the normal reaction of a person seeing such a thing, was it?

Eiji observed Dazai carefully. His start on this job had been far too rushed. After taking office, he had been completely immersed in never-ending work, leaving him no time or mental energy to think. He had just been passively and numbly doing his job. He had changed from a “tool-man” who used to handle everything for his targets to a depressed corporate slave who began to question his own abilities.

Perhaps he just hadn’t accepted the gap yet. Furthermore, after this month-long “hellish training,” he not only faced endless paperwork every day but also often carried a gun to handle gray-market deals with others, not to mention the “minor” task of going out in the early hours to fish his boss out of the water.

He could now not only predict the approximate location where Dazai entered the water, shortening the search time, but his paperwork was also gradually improving.

At this moment, facing the obviously abnormal Dazai Osamu, he actually began to think.

Gradually, everything linked together in his mind. The solitary Dazai, the Dazai who frequently entered the water, the Dazai who was feared within the Port Mafia…

Perhaps, he was simply lacking a guardian to guide him as he grew. Just as Sasuke had taken the path of defecting from the village. If he had an elder present, they could provide some restraint, unlike Eiji, who, as a peer, was powerless and could only follow him to prevent him from straying too far on the wrong path.

At that moment, Eiji had an epiphany.

Dazai Osamu didn’t lack help with his work; what he lacked was perhaps… paternal love—!

He finally knew what he had to do! From now on, he will act as Dazai Osamu’s secret “Father”! He would accompany him from the beginning, care for him, and turn him into a being that actually does human things!

Dazai then discovered that Eiji, instead of backing down, had become even more full of drive. Especially the way Eiji looked at him…

It was full of fervor.

…Could such a person really exist? Someone who would never desert or be driven away by the difficulties in front of them. Just like the scene in that dream. Always staying by his side.

If such a person truly existed—

“…It seems not bad.” Because this burning feeling was directed at him.

Dazai whispered to himself. The words he had suppressed for too long were not clear; thus, Eiji, who was immersed in his own world, did not catch them.

Suddenly, Eiji, who was imagining his future career as a devoted father, heard the System’s notification in his head.

[Dazai Osamu Favorability +5]

Eiji was immediately overjoyed. Sure enough! His “Devoted Father” policy was correct!

“…However,” Dazai said sluggishly, his handsome face still wearing a smile, though his eyes narrowed, “Why did you grab Chuuya’s hand and shout my name at the start? Do you think I’m similar to that slug?”

[Dazai Osamu Favorability -1]

“Ah, since Eiji-kun apologized, the punishment shall be lightened. The mission to sweep other factions this week will be entirely handed over to you to lead.” Dazai breezily gifted this “overtime purgatory” that made everyone tremble to Eiji.

Eiji: “…”

You unfilial son—!

…

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Bureau

“…What do you mean the file has been encrypted and sealed?” Matsuda Jinpei gripped his phone, his voice filled with disbelief. He seemed unable to comprehend the meaning behind the words spoken by the person on the other end of the line; he only muttered a repetition.

A month had passed since Hiiragi Eiji disappeared. And after finally hearing news of him from someone else, this was the message Matsuda Jinpei received.

Eiji might have gone to participate in… a classified mission with an indefinite return date.

“…Are you kidding me?!”