Only 100 days left in life

Armed Detective Agency, meeting room.

Ango Sakaguchi sat on his seat, calmly waiting for Osamu Dazai to speak first.

So this wait, more than ten minutes passed.

... The opposite party didn't mean to speak first at all.

Ango Sakaguchi looked at the watch on his wrist, and the time was approaching the bottom line that he had set aside to go back at the latest.

If you don't go back now, you may have to work overtime by then.

Sitting opposite Ango Sakaguchi was Osamu Dazai who had invited him over this time to discuss important matters.

But after this guy called him over, he just played with the thin tube he got from nowhere, and ignored him at all.

It was as if Chengxin was playing tricks on him because of that incident.

Although you should get used to it... No, this is really too much.

"Dazai," after a moment of hesitation, Ango Sakaguchi finally asked, "Why did you call me here?"

He adjusted his glasses calmly, "If it's for the past—"

His words were interrupted.

"Compared to this," Osamu Dazai threw the slender transparent tube in his hand to him, "Why don't you take a look first, what is this?"

With an inauthentic smile on his face, "I went to another world with Kunikida and the others. It is the other side of the link, the 'Spell World'. It was given to me by the guy who claimed to be the strongest there."

When the person standing behind Ango Sakaguchi saw the object in it, he pulled out the knife almost instantly with his hand on the handle of the knife, and slashed at the unidentified object that was glowing with black air and was not a good thing at first glance.

Her movement was stopped by Ango Sakaguchi raising his hand.

Ango Sakaguchi caught the tube object.

After thinking for a while, he followed Dazai Osamu's words and tried to use supernatural powers on the object in front of him.

Then, a momentary, overwhelming roar rushed to his consciousness, which was extreme resentment and sadness, and a curse on his back.

Ango Sakaguchi could barely hear what the voice attached to this memory was saying. What flashed in his mind was the roaring unformed baby, the sad mother madly cursing the born child...

Such a dense darkness is like an abyss, and it is difficult to see the bottom.

Ango Sakaguchi took a deep breath and struggled out of the deep emotions.

At this moment, Osamu Dazai gently pulled out the thin tube in his hand.

"You did it on purpose?" Ango Sakaguchi frowned after reacting, "You..."

"How do you feel?" Osamu Dazai stuffed the thin tube into his pocket indifferently, "Isn't it interesting?"

He crossed his hands and leaned forward slightly, "This is the so-called 'curse' that conjurers fight against in that world."

"Is that why you came to me this time?" Sakaguchi Ango became serious, "Tell me in detail, Dazai."

"I'm looking for you this time—of course, it's not because of this, I just thought of it for you to have a look," Dazai Osamu said with a smile, but there was no smile in his eyes.

The repeated teasing made even Ango Sakaguchi, who had been trained as a social animal in the workplace, a little annoyed.

"Dazai," he stood up bluntly, "so you called me, is there anything else? I'll leave without me."

"Don't worry," Osamu Dazai said indifferently, "You must meet Shiratori first."

He introduced to Shiratori Mariko who happened to arrive and was stunned at the stalemate, "A member of the Supernatural Secret Service who wants to see you, Ango Sakaguchi."

Having said all of this, Ango Sakaguchi suppressed his anger.

"Hello, Miss Shiratori," he dutifully held out his hand to Mariko Shiratori, "I am Ango Sakaguchi from the Supernatural Secret Service Division."

"Oh, hello," Shiratori Mariko quickly shook her hand, "I'm sorry for the delay due to personal matters."

She looked curiously at the young public official with a tall hairline and a mole on the corner of her mouth, "Do you want to find me?"

"Just a routine question." Ango Sakaguchi made up an excuse casually, "To roughly confirm your current state."

The person behind him also took out the notebook with satisfaction, "Let's go outside to register, is that okay, Miss Shiratori?"

Shiratori Mariko breathed a sigh of relief.

When she came, she thought she was going to be tortured or something...

Just casually asked Jinghua "What might be the reason for being called away suddenly", and Jinghua described to her the possible torture along the way.

Then he said quite reliably, "I will definitely protect Shiratori", which made Mariko Shiratori afraid, and it was not funny.

As a result, I just simply remember the basic feelings now.

"Of course," she agreed immediately, "I'm fine. I'm wasting your time."

In this way, she obediently went out with the staff. This time, she went out together with other staff who were protecting Ango Sakaguchi.

"Dare to stay with me alone," Dazai Osamu said, "Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"

He broke his knuckles, "My memory is still fresh, Ango, isn't it?"

"If you want to kill me, there are thousands of ways," Sakaguchi Ango replied, "instead of calling me here now."

"Oh, you look so disgusting..." Osamu Dazai knocked on the table, "Let's talk about something serious. How much do you know about the rats in the house of death?"

Ango Sakaguchi sighed.

"I'm afraid not as many as you," he said. "According to an informant, he is currently in Yokohama."

"What about Shiratori?" Osamu Dazai suddenly jumped to an irrelevant topic, "What kind of person do you think she is?"

"Ordinary people," Ango Sakaguchi didn't think too much this time, "are defenseless, and they seem to be able to guess easily. But what does this have to do with the rats in the dead house?"

He asked incredulously, "Are they related? Are you going to tell me that Mariko Shiratori is an undercover agent of the House Mouse?...No, what you really want to express is—"

"That's right. Look, isn't that what 'he' is looking forward to?"

When Shiratori Mariko followed the staff to another office room, it was empty, only Edogawa Ranpo who had seen before was sitting in the seat.

There was a circle of snacks around him, and seeing Izumi Kyoka following Shiratori Mariko, he even called her "Would you like some Kyoka-chan", completely ignoring the others.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ranpo," the staff greeted Edogawa Ranpo politely before turning to Shiratori Mariko, "Shall we begin?"

Shiratori Mariko nodded.

At this time, she had a clearer understanding of Edogawa Ranpo's status in the detective agency. After all, Osamu Dazai seemed to respect him a lot.

And just after the staff finished basic information entry and left, Ranpo Edogawa, who had been ignoring Mariko Shiratori, spoke up.

"I said you, you are a complete idiot," he said bluntly, "He is clearly perfunctory you very seriously, but he still fills out the form with this guy—of course, he doesn't care about my business, but Doing such an idiot thing in front of Ranpo-sama really makes Ranpo-sama hard to watch."

Shiratori Mariko seemed a little angry when she saw him, but laughed instead.

"I know," she wasn't angry because Edogawa Ranpo called her "idiot", she also replied very seriously, "but this is his job, so even if it is perfunctory, it must be taken seriously."

Stopped by her words, Edogawa Ranpo complained, "Oh, you are such a troublesome person——"

He looked at Shiratori Mariko, "You should understand, right? I can't see clearly at all...it's weird."

"Clear what?" Shiratori Mariko asked a little confused.

But before she got the answer from Edogawa Ranpo, the door here was pushed open.

"It's almost time," Osamu Dazai leaned against the door, "Shiratori, are you planning to live in Yokohama? I still have a guest room in my house—"

He was smiling, and he didn't feel that what he said was anything special.

On the other side, Edogawa Ranpo was eating snacks like a normal person, discussing with Kyoka from time to time which tastes better.

Shiratori Mariko shook her head, and very skillfully rejected Osamu Dazai's proposal.

"Thank you, Dazai-san," she said, "I want to go back."

She feels better now.

The point where Jinghua broke in was just right, and it washed away all the confusion in her heart, and now there is only a little remnant left, which needs to be sorted out.

"Okay," Osamu Dazai said, "Since I took you here, I will send you back. It is my honor to send a beautiful woman like Shiratori back~"

Kunikida's roar came from behind him.

"Osamu Dazai! Don't push all the tasks to me, you bastard, come back and work overtime for me today!"

And Osamu Dazai pretended not to hear.

"Let's go, Shiratori~"

It is indeed a very pleasant thing to walk on the beach at dusk.

The sea in Yokohama is glowing with lingering waves, and the reflection of the sunset sinks on the sea surface, which is cut into countless tiny golden patches, which are broken and beautiful.

...Of course, it would have been nice if I had seen all of this not when I was lost.

Shiratori Mariko stood still.

"Mr. Dazai," she couldn't move anymore, leaning against the railing a little tiredly, "Where is this place? How long will it take us to get to the original location?"

He shouldn't have promised Osamu Dazai to take a shortcut home.

She should have thought of it earlier, it was impossible to go so smoothly.

"Actually, I don't know either," said Dazai Zhizhi confidently.

"But, aren't you a native of Yokohama?" Mariko Shiratori asked incredulously, "I thought you remembered this place? How many years did you promise to work?"

"Occasionally, I forget it." Osamu Dazai put his hand on the railing, "Don't you think the sea here is beautiful?"

He stared at the scenery in front of him, and said softly, "Look, it's really beautiful."

Shiratori Mariko looked again.

At this time, the sunset fell into the sea, like a grand and magnificent stage play ending between heaven and earth, vigorous, silent and magnificent.

"It is indeed beautiful," she replied.

Dazai smiled.

"Life is like this," he said, "There is nothing that can be kept. It goes on and on, no matter what... Shiratori, why do you insist on living? People, there are people who are alive. Is it necessary?"

His question made Shiratori Mariko stunned for a moment, and thought about the answer that belonged to her rarely.

"At first, it was because there was no harm in being alive," she said with a bit of distress. "And now... because I have become friends with many people and done a lot of interesting things together, I don't want to die even more."

"But you don't have anything to keep," Dazai Osamu said, "whether it's friendship or interesting things, they are fleeting. Things are always beautiful and indescribable before they are broken, but after they are broken Habitual disgust. You can't leave anything behind."

Shiratori Mariko doesn't quite understand Dazai Osamu's thinking.

"Indeed," she tried her best to explain, "but these things don't belong to me. It's just, they just met me briefly, it's more like a gift. If I really can't cure it... Then, On the premise that I will definitely lose it, I will cherish this time very seriously.”

"At the end of the day, it's just because—"

Because of what?

What flashed before my eyes was the smiles of everyone in the college, the feeling of tacit understanding with my friends every time I looked at each other, and the happy mood when I was playing around.

"It's because I'm loved... probably."

Because of being securely and firmly loved, I have the courage to face everything.

Dazai laughed.

Because of being loved...?

Contrary to Mariko Shiratori's expectation, Osamu Dazai did not express any opinions that were different from ordinary people's views on her.

"Then," he easily took out a long roll of plastic rope from his pocket, "Now that you've said so, why don't you try bungee jumping, Shiratori~"