EPILOGUE
I sit before my desk at the office and flip through my notebook.
“And that’s how the Azure Apostle was stopped. It’s been two years since then.”
I close my notebook, concluding the long story.
“So that was your first case with Dazai, huh?” Tanizaki says in admiration.
“Yes, and he hasn’t changed at all since. He is still the same arrogant nuisance as he was then. We have work to do today, and yet, he’s nowhere to be found… Naomi, have you traced the signal on that transmitter yet?”
“I did. It hasn’t moved for around twenty minutes. It’s coming from…I guess that’s the river.”
The river?
Naomi peers at a map. The coin-shaped tracker I gave Dazai is silently resting in the middle of the river. I take a moment to ponder.
“I know what happened. That idiot must have randomly jumped into the river with the tracker in his wallet, which probably fell out of his pocket and sunk to the bottom while Dazai floated farther downstream.”
He and I are in the middle of an investigation, and we had been talking over the phone when he suddenly said, “What a nice river,” and the line cut out. I was wondering what that was all about…
How much trouble does that suicide maniac have to cause me until he’s satisfied?
“I’m going to go look for the freak. Honestly, it’s a damn shame I have to search for my partner before I can get any real work done.”
“Be careful out there, Kunikida. What are you investigating today?” Junichiro asks after getting out of his chair.
“We’re searching for a tiger. There’s a ‘man-eating tiger’ on the loose in Yokohama.”
It’s a difficult job, but even then…
—He will undoubtedly become the top detective at our agency within the next few years.
Even then, it should be an easy case for Dazai to solve.
My notebook in hand, I leave the detective agency. The evening light slowly makes its advance from the horizon, splitting Yokohama’s sky into blue and crimson. A familiar scent accompanies the wind, tickling my nose, and I stop in my tracks.
I gaze down the block.
There is the street, the people, and at times, crime and sorrow.
Every time I run into such sadness, my ideals are battered, my words lose meaning, and my very heart bleeds.
Chasing ideals is a fruitless, difficult path.
And yet, even then…
Surrendering myself to the bustling city of Yokohama, I continue on.
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