After I finished speaking, the red-haired boy showed, for the first time, a slightly human expression—half dazed, half confused. “Huh? So your name isn’t Dark Wing? …Who would seriously call you that anyway?! You’re just doing it on purpose, right?”
I swore to myself: if he tries to say he prefers “Dark Wing” later and keeps calling me that ridiculous name, I will fight him to the death.
Fortunately, he wasn’t that tone-deaf. He immediately corrected himself: “Then… Ji Jiujiang, let’s go.”
Alright, he’s being reasonable.
I can temporarily put aside thoughts of mutual destruction.
But there was still a pressing question ahead—
“So… where are we going?” I asked after walking a bit and noticing he didn’t seem to have any particular destination in mind.
He paused, looking thoughtful. After a moment, he turned to me with a sincere expression and asked, “I don’t know. What do you think?”
…Seriously?! You’re just making it up as you go?! How can a killer be so reckless!
Wait… hold on. Is this some kind of new test? If I answer wrong, am I going to get taken out?
Well, thinking about it… normally no one would casually recruit their former enemy to come along. And this guy is no ordinary person—he’s my rival… no, correction, he’s one of the elites in our line of work!
My expression grew serious. “Since we’re no longer going to be killers, and we want to survive, then we need to find another source of income first, right?”
“Hmm, you make sense,” the red-haired boy nodded. He stood beside me, staring blankly for a moment before turning to me, a puzzled look on his face: “Do you have any good ideas?”
…Are we still role-playing?
No, big shot, why not just give me a straight answer!
Or is this some kind of evaluation, where if I answer correctly I can leave?
Thinking that, I straightened up, focusing, and said seriously: “The work we did before earned some money. With those savings, we could—”
“Ah, those,” Oda Sakunosuke blinked. In a tone like he was commenting on the weather, he said something that made my blood pressure spike: “I donated all of it.”
“…What?” I stuttered, uncertain.
“Donated it,” he repeated calmly, in his usual measured tone. “I told you before—it’s because I want to write a novel.”
…No! That makes no sense! What kind of logic is this?! I could start writing a novel right now, but I am not giving away my money!
I had a very bad feeling, as if my modestly growing retirement savings were about to vanish in an instant.
But I wasn’t ready to give up. I struggled for a moment, trying to understand the thought process of this completely inconsistent guy: “Is there a connection between those two things?”
“Oh, sorry. You don’t get it, do you?” The red-haired boy seemed to suddenly realize something, a look of epiphany crossing his face, and he sat down on the steps.
…Huh? This explanation is going to take that long?
Hesitating a bit, I slowly walked over and sat beside him, resting my chin in my hands with a reluctant frown, staring at him.
“I read a novel once,” he began. “The protagonist was a killer. At the end of the story, he stopped killing—but the last few pages were torn out… I wanted to know why he did that, but the story didn’t give enough clues to find out.”
He spoke, tilting his head slightly, gazing into the distance—not at the sunset, but as if seeing something beyond it.
I stared at him, slightly dazed. Maybe because of the sunset, his hair looked even redder, with the wind tousling the strands across his forehead.
The scene was mesmerizing, making me forget that we were supposed to be captor and captive. It felt more like friends having a quiet conversation. So I asked, “So in the end, you decided to write the ending yourself?”
“Yeah,” he said, looking at me. “To become a novelist, you have to truly understand what it means for humans to live. That’s why I decided to stop killing.”
Finally, I could understand his logic. “So… because you want to completely separate yourself from your previous life as a killer, you’re not using the money you earned from it?”
“Yeah.” Oda Sakunosuke nodded, a faint smile on his face. “I knew you’d understand, Ji Jiujiang.”
…No! Understanding doesn’t mean I agree! I just happen to be tolerant and experienced!
Stop acting like just because we’re in the same line of work, we automatically get each other.
I know people like him—they call it immersive experience. You throw yourself completely into a situation to understand it. But why drag me along?! My goal is clear: work diligently, save enough money, retire at twenty, maybe negotiate a clean slate with the Supernatural Special Operations Division, move to another city, and live a quiet life!
My money is earned by risking my life… okay, or by risking others’ lives! I’m not giving it away! You fool, you can donate everything yourself, but I won’t!
Clenching my jaw, I lied after a moment of silent tension: “I… I don’t really have any savings, so I don’t need to donate anything.”
It’s fine. I’ll just play along with this immersive experience for a while and find a chance to slip away. He doesn’t know how much money I have, or if I have any at all, so it’s not an issue for now.
“Alright,” Oda Sakunosuke nodded, suspicious of nothing, and asked seriously, “So, what should we do next?”
I scrutinized him, hesitant.
So this guy wants to experience ordinary life… Though I hate to say it, he actually picked the right person.
I am an expert at disguising myself as an ordinary person.
“In that case… let’s look for part-time work tomorrow. I used to help at a convenience store. Apart from the occasional visit from Mafia types, it’s generally a safe environment,” I suggested.
Besides being intimidating at first, he was actually gentle most of the time, rarely objecting. He simply nodded obediently. “Okay.”
For a moment, I almost convinced myself he was just a former colleague turning over a new leaf, asking me about life’s future paths.
But then I remembered: this was the same guy who once held a gun to my head, nearly killing me—and now he dragged me along just because he wants to “experience life.”
My smile froze briefly but I quickly masked it, nodding. “Alright, then let’s go home for now.”
To avoid seeming eager to escape or separate, I cleverly didn’t suggest we go our separate ways.
But soon, I realized the plan wasn’t perfect.
Because as I walked ahead, Oda Sakunosuke was following me!
…Wait! He’s planning to go home with me?!
Ugh! What is this guy following a pretty girl home planning to do?! Is the next step trying to take over my house?!