Nagito Komaeda noticed the gaze fixed upon him, sweeping his eyes keenly across the space before locking onto the person he had seen earlier that very day the youth named Osamu Dazai, who radiated the aura of someone with true talent.
As their eyes met, Osamu Dazai suddenly broke into a smile, raising a hand to give Komaeda a small wave.
Komaeda’s eyes instantly lit up, and he walked over with a light, brisk step.
“Komaeda-kun.” Osamu Dazai’s gaze swept lightly over Komaeda, a smiling expression on his face as he said, “What a coincidence, we meet again.”
If he wasn’t mistaken, the building Nagito Komaeda had just walked out of happened to be a branch office belonging to the Teiai Group the financial monster he had been sent by Boss Mori to negotiate with earlier today.
The Teiai Group was a massive Japanese conglomerate whose leader, Kazutaka Hyodo, had built his fortune through loan-sharking. Even now, having become the owner of one of Japan’s premier financial cartels, he remained insatiably greedy, perpetually feeling that his wealth was never enough. His reputation in this regard was rather delicate, though he himself couldn’t care less.
With wealth on the scale of Kazutaka Hyodo’s, even if he held no interest in politics, a continuous stream of political resources would still deliver themselves to his doorstep. Consequently, the Port Mafia—which had managed to stand out and secure its foothold among countless underworld organizations in Yokohama during last year’s Head-Dragon Conflict—had to tread with caution when facing such a colossal financial titan.
As the saying goes, wealth brings corruption; the chairman of the Teiai Group, old man Kazutaka Hyodo, had been thoroughly rotten even back when he had no money, and now he played games on an increasingly grander scale, committing acts that trampled over human lives and legal bottom lines with ever-greater frequency, churning out endless variations of twisted human-nature tests.
Just recently, he had stirred up trouble in Yokohama over some kind of gambling ship, and the Port Mafia had used that incident as an opportunity to establish a connection with him.
When Boss Mori summoned Osamu Dazai back earlier today, he had even sighed, “Some underworld organizations don’t even throw as many tantrums as this old man!”
Enjoying observing human nature what kind of malicious hobby was that? He’d crash and burn sooner or later!
Osamu Dazai hit the nail on the head: “Those underworld organizations probably don’t have any money, unlike the Port Mafia.”
Boss Mori: “…”
Boss Mori was left speechless. After all, before the previous boss died, the Port Mafia had already suffered heavy consumption. It was only by picking up scraps during the Yokohama underworld’s massive free-for-all war last year that they had managed to recover, but as for funds… they were still somewhat tight.
Otherwise, why would they go out of their way to negotiate with this wealthy yet inhumanly difficult old man this time around?
Naturally, it was for his money! Could it possibly be for the old man’s orange-peel-like face?
Anyway, the topic ended right there.
Boss Mori had no desire to let Osamu Dazai pierce his heart a second time.
Miraculously enough, after seeing Nagito Komaeda in the morning and dealing with the Teiai Group in the afternoon, Osamu Dazai now saw Nagito Komaeda stepping right out of the Teiai Group’s building. This “1 + 1 = 1 + 1” scenario gave Osamu Dazai a completely new understanding of probability theory.
Meanwhile, Nagito Komaeda the very person who had just refreshed Osamu Dazai’s understanding of probability heard Dazai address him and smiled somewhat sheepishly, saying, “Then I’ll shamelessly call you Dazai-kun as well… Somehow it feels like calling a classmate. Would it be better to use an honorific instead?”
The suffix “-kun” was commonly used among peers or by superiors addressing juniors. Although he didn’t yet know Dazai’s age, given that the other party had already stepped out into society, addressing him as “Dazai-san” might perhaps be more appropriate.
“I don’t mind at all, just call me that.”
It was the first time someone had told Osamu Dazai that he felt like a classmate he completely bypassed the word “call” and only heard what he wanted to hear and it felt rather novel.
Maintaining this novel and pleasant mood, he asked casually, “Did Komaeda-kun go in to submit some paperwork?”
As a financial monster, the Teiai Group’s business operations spanned an exceptionally wide range, and this particular branch office happened to handle insurance services. Considering Nagito Komaeda’s background, it wasn’t hard to guess why he was there.
“You guessed it.” Nagito Komaeda wasn’t surprised by Dazai’s sharpness, smiling as he replied, “It’s for the insurance I purchased. Originally, I could have just mailed the claim documents over, but three separate shipments got lost in the mail how truly unfortunate. Plus, running into another kidnapping incident this time around, I figured I might as well just deliver the paperwork for both incidents myself.”
Osamu Dazai fell silent for a brief moment as he listened. It lined up pretty much with what he had guessed, except for that figure of three lost mail shipments…
“Sounds like the kind of thing that would happen to you, though you look remarkably cheerful about it.”
Nagito Komaeda said indifferently, “Because I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of fortune will follow after the misfortune of continuous lost mail packages. Just thinking about it makes me feel like the future is full of anticipation, and then I ran into Dazai-kun right here my luck really is wonderful!”
A subtly complex smile surfaced on Osamu Dazai’s face. “Because something fortunate happens right after a misfortune, you’re actually glad that the misfortune occurred?”
“Of course, it’s always been this way.”
In front of someone he recognized, Nagito Komaeda answered with absolute candor: “Didn’t Dazai-kun check my file? The more unfortunate I am, the greater the fortune that arrives afterward; they’re directly proportional. Just like that plane crash, perhaps this is what you call the conservation of luck.”
No.
Osamu Dazai thought coldly to himself.
This isn’t any conservation of luck are the misfortune of losing one’s parents and the fortune of gaining immense wealth and freedom truly equivalent?
Nagito Komaeda’s parents hadn’t abused him; they were qualified, normal parents who, if anything, gave him even more care and love because of his special constitution. Moreover, Nagito Komaeda didn’t look like the type to remain unmoved by “love.”
Did a Nagito Komaeda who was still a primary school student back then really need freedom obtained in this fashion? Did he really need all that money?
Furthermore, the consequence of an orphan acquiring such vast wealth was wave after wave of kidnappings. If that money had been left in the hands of adults, perhaps the kidnappers wouldn’t have targeted Nagito Komaeda from the very start.
Perhaps for Nagito Komaeda, misfortune and fortune were indeed far more distinct than for ordinary people, but whether they were truly equivalent remained open to debate.
However, this touched upon the very essence of Nagito Komaeda’s Ability; he needed further confirmation to arrive at the answer… It felt like he finally had something to pass the time with lately.
More than that, Osamu Dazai was currently more interested in Nagito Komaeda’s attitude toward him.
Thus, Osamu Dazai smiled and said, “Running into someone you know on the street is quite common, isn’t it? Perhaps your good luck is still yet to come.”
“No, this is definitely good luck,” Nagito Komaeda said. “Because Dazai-kun is different; you’re not just an ordinary ‘acquaintance’.”
Regarding this special attitude, Osamu Dazai hadn’t yet found a clue to explain it, so he asked with keen interest, “How am I different?”
Nagito Komaeda looked genuinely surprised. “Does Dazai-kun think of himself the same way as those incompetent people? Incompetent people and competent people are distinguished right from birth. I thought that would be obvious to Dazai-kun?”
Based on the attitude Dazai had displayed toward his subordinates earlier that day, Nagito Komaeda felt the answer to this question was self-evident.
Hearing this peculiar answer, Osamu Dazai pondered for a second: “Chosen-people ideology?”
The Israelites believed they were chosen by God; when the end of the world arrived, the chosen people would enter heaven while the outcast would enter hell. Many other concepts had branched out from this mindset.
For instance, believing that talent, ability, and destiny are predetermined at birth, that talented people are inherently superior, and that the incompetent can never catch up no matter how desperately they struggle this was a branch of that ideology.
“Hahaha, pretty much.”
Nagito Komaeda didn’t give a full confirmation, instead offering this vague reply. Osamu Dazai didn’t press further; after all, it was impossible to figure everything out in a single breath, since even the person himself might not fully understand his own thoughts. Observing him slowly would be much more entertaining.
He felt curious about precisely what factors could cause Nagito Komaeda to develop such a mindset, as past records showed absolutely no hint of it.
Just as Osamu Dazai wanted to say something more, the scattered raindrops between the two of them gradually grew denser over the span of those few sentences.
Left with no choice, Osamu Dazai reluctantly abandoned his original plan: “In that case, let me share a piece of intelligence with Komaeda-kun that you’ll likely be very eager to know.”
“Hmm?” Nagito Komaeda expressed his confusion with a question.
Osamu Dazai spoke in a tone that sounded almost like a joke.
“My Ability is called [No Longer Human], and it can nullify the effects of all Abilities. If your ‘luck’ happens to be an Ability, it won’t work against me though physical contact is required as a precondition. Care to test it out?”
With a look of flattering flattery, Nagito Komaeda said, “Is it really alright for Dazai-kun to casually tell me something like this? This trust is truly a heavy burden… But what if I don’t have an Ability?”
“Supposing Komaeda-kun’s ‘luck’ isn’t an Ability,” Osamu Dazai slowly revealed a strange smile, “then I’ll be looking forward to it, I look forward to seeing what kind of surprise you’ll bring me.”
Or what kind of death.