Holy Father-Style Tool-Person - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

On the other end of the line, Morofushi Hiromitsu’s voice sounded strained. “It means… exactly what it says literally.”

Matsuda Jinpei gripped his phone, falling into a long silence.

“…When we see you again after graduation, I have something to tell you.”

Matsuda could not help but recall that conversation he had with Hiiragi Eiji back at the police academy.

“Why can’t you just say it now?”

Yeah, why couldn’t he have said it then?

Matsuda began to reproach himself. Why did he insist on waiting for some unknown future to pour out the words he wanted to say? Why did he miss that final dinner gathering?

In an instant, a chaotic swarm of thoughts converged in his mind.

Hagiwara Kenji stood beside him, watching with a look of pained sympathy as Matsuda slowly clasped his head with both hands. His back arched, his shoulder blades protruding sharply from the force of his grip.

But quickly, this dejected appearance vanished.

“…You think we’ll definitely see that guy again, right?” Matsuda leaned heavily against the back of his chair and spoke in a low voice.

“Of course we will.”

He never wanted to experience this feeling ever again.

…

Hiiragi Eiji stood before Dazai Osamu’s desk with hollow eyes.

In Dazai’s hands were a few pages of a brief report and an action plan Eiji had been forced to write like a duck being driven onto a perch.

During the interval while Dazai was reading, Eiji swiped open his NPC panel.

[Dazai Osamu: Favorability 16] [Impression: A fairly useful subordinate]

Eiji: “…”

Clearly, I am a considerate, elderly father.

However, after changing his attitude toward Dazai, Eiji felt noticeably more adapted to the job. No matter what Dazai did, he seemed to have infinite patience to tolerate him, forgiving him like a devoted father.

It was just…

Eiji’s expression became a bit conflicted for a moment. He cautiously stole a glance at Dazai’s chest.

As if sensing his gaze, Dazai raised his brow slightly and swept a glance over him. Eiji guiltily jerked his head up even higher.

Recalling the incident, Eiji had a bitterness that was hard to voice. He never expected his path of paternal love to be so bumpy.

It was just a simple mission. After subduing the enemy, Eiji wanted to tie them up and take them back to the Port Mafia for interrogation. The situation was a bit critical at the time; the man clearly still had the ability to stand back up. In his haste, Eiji started looking for a handy binding tool, and when he looked down, he saw a length of white bandage by his feet.

Without thinking much, he grabbed the bandage and lunged toward the downed enemy like a pouncing tiger.

…Who knew that while he was in mid-air, he would feel that the weight of the bandage in his hand wasn’t quite right. It felt like a heavy object was tied to the other end.

Eiji looked back in horror, only to see Dazai Osamu bandaged and all being dragged along by him, soaring through the air.

Then, under the force of Eiji’s immense strength, Dazai slammed right into the enemy.

In that moment, for the first time, Eiji caught a glimpse of genuine bewilderment on Dazai’s usually detached and cold face.

…Being a dad was truly full of hardships.

But soon, Eiji noticed something was wrong, because Dazai was observing the report in his hand for far too long.

…He hadn’t made any ridiculous mistakes, had he?

Just then, Dazai’s phone rang. His originally bland expression twitched as he listened to the content of the call. After a few brief replies, Dazai casually stuffed the report into the pile of documents nearby, letting it become just another inconspicuous member of the clutter.

“Let’s go, Eiji-kun.”

It seemed they would be seeing some beautiful “fireworks” in the port area again.

…

Furuya Rei stared quietly at a map. Beside him were two seniors who were summarizing the data for this mission.

This mission was taking much longer than he had anticipated so much so that he was unable to rush over immediately upon hearing the news of Eiji’s disappearance.

Files sealed and encrypted… such methods were not unfamiliar to people like Furuya Rei. But the meaning hidden behind it made his heart heavy. It meant all traces of Hiiragi Eiji had been wiped clean, and as for the mission content, it was undoubtedly more dangerous than anyone could imagine.

He remembered that night once again; it was the last time he saw Eiji. Under the moonlight, the youth looked no different than usual, and even his manner when leaving was relaxed. Who could have guessed that it was a veiled farewell?

Why hadn’t he noticed anything at the time? Why did he tell Eiji that he felt there would be many opportunities in the future?

Due to his identity, he had no way to confirm Eiji’s whereabouts. The others were in the same position.

Furuya’s hand gripping the map tightened subconsciously. Only when the edges of the paper crumpled into a ball did he suddenly snap back to reality.

He had to work harder. As long as he stood high enough, he would surely be able to learn of Eiji’s situation.

He imagined the others were thinking the same thing.

That was why Matsuda Jinpei became increasingly busy; even their periodic check-ins were handled by Hagiwara Kenji alone. They exchanged subtle communications regarding Eiji’s possible location.

Recently, Furuya Rei had a faint feeling that his superiors had plans for his next assignment. Two weeks ago, he followed a senior from the same department all the way from Tokyo to Yokohama to investigate. Here, they found illicit drugs produced by a mysterious organization.

Now was the critical moment to close the net, but Yokohama was a very special territory. The ones managing this place were not a government organization, but a group known publicly as the “Port Import and Export Trade Company” the Mafia.

They had to recover the batch of drugs and investigate the industrial chain behind them as smoothly as possible without alerting the Port Mafia.

But this was actually very difficult. The Port Mafia’s attitude was ambiguous, and no one knew where their inclinations lay. Therefore, they had to act in plainclothes. Even if their identities were seen through, it didn’t matter; as long as they weren’t wearing police uniforms, the Port Mafia would not tear off its face with the authorities. This was the default peace.

As the two seniors began to divide the officers into groups, the team leader looked at Furuya Rei with a slight hesitation in his expression.

Furuya Rei spoke up immediately: “Team Leader, I am willing to join the frontline squad and head to the Yokohama Port area.”