I don't want to be an elf!

“I do have urgent business. The sooner I find Ango Sakaguchi, the better it will be for my future plans.”

"plan?"

"Although I know Mr. Mori is curious, I don't want to reveal it to anyone, please understand."

"Hehe, if you don't want to, then forget it."

Mori Ougai didn't press further, and continued, "Well, since Miss Tokisaki has already received the reward in advance, she wouldn't be so ungrateful as to refuse to complete the mission of capturing Nakajima Atsushi, would she?"

"of course not."

"So, is it possible to capture him before the day after tomorrow?"

Before the day after tomorrow?!

Having been given an ultimatum, Kurumi Tokisaki sighed deeply in her heart.

"Mori Ougai really trusts me."

Now that things have come to this, she has no excuse left to shirk her responsibility.

If she continues to slack off, she might actually have to fight Nakahara Chuuya.

Although it's an unreasonable request, it's not impossible for Kurumi Tokisaki to do it, given her abilities.

It seems that Mori Ōgai has a certain degree of confidence in his abilities, otherwise he wouldn't have made such an unreasonable request.

"I have no choice but to agree, and I'll just have to take it one step at a time," Kurumi Tokisaki thought helplessly.

Since the mission was launched, the first executor, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, has attempted several missions, but all have failed, with each mission lasting approximately three weeks.

After that, Kurumi Tokisaki took over the request, and it's been about two weeks now.

The two of them have been together for over a month now.

Perhaps if it drags on for another week or two, the group will lose their temper and come to Yokohama to arrest them, but the current situation is clearly not enough to keep Tokisaki Kurumi waiting that long.

"I understand. I will bring Nakajima Atsushi here before the day after tomorrow."

"Great, I'll be looking forward to it."

Thus, Mori Ōgai's goal was achieved.

With the conversation over, Kurumi Tokisaki had no reason to stay any longer.

She slipped into the shadows and disappeared from the office.

After she left, Chuuya Nakahara, who was acting as her bodyguard, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as Tokisaki Kurumi was highly wary of him, he was equally wary of Tokisaki Kurumi.

However, the conversation between Mori Ōgai and Tokisaki Kurumi ended peacefully, without completely breaking off relations.

Having averted a fight, Chuuya Nakahara's tense expression quickly relaxed.

"Boss, it seems you were wrong. This guy's goal isn't to drag things out until the group arrives in Yokohama."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because if she wanted to drag things out until the group came to Yokohama, how could she possibly agree to bring Nakajima Atsushi back before the day after tomorrow?"

"No, it is precisely because she agreed that my guess was correct."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing Mori Ougai's words, Nakahara Chuuya fell into deep thought, pondering what point he had overlooked.

Soon, a look of understanding appeared in his eyes.

“I see…” Chuuya Nakahara muttered to himself, “Boss, you deliberately asked her to capture Atsushi Nakajima before the day after tomorrow, and she agreed. This means that she does have the ability to capture Atsushi Nakajima in just one day, which also proves that… she has been stalling for time all these days.”

"Although people think that Chuuya is a simple and straightforward person, he is indeed quick-witted."

"Boss, you're as cunning and treacherous as ever."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"So, my guard duty is over. I'll take this bottle of wine."

Just as Mori Ougai and Nakahara Chuuya were talking, the inconspicuous shadow in the corner seemed to ripple slightly.

"Mori Ougai... not only did he guess that I was stalling for time, but he even guessed the reason why I was stalling for time?"

Kurumi Tokisaki, who hadn't left yet, hid in the shadows, feeling a bit of a headache.

"Group, group, hurry up and come here."

-

-

Author's Note: Today's San San sharing

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Current Situation of Bandage Three

After temporarily resolving the matter with Mori Ōgai, Tokisaki Kurumi sank into the shadow dimension.

In the crimson space, the clones that had been summoned before gathered in twos and threes, passing the time.

Aside from the clones that go out for daily exercise, the clones sent out to collect time, and Bandage Three who infiltrated the Armed Detective Agency, there are roughly three hundred people left in the Shadow Space.

Some were playing cards enthusiastically, some were watching animations on their phones, and some were even fiddling with their newly bought trumpet, saxophone, and piano, trying to recruit other clones to form a band.

Once the main body entered, Clone Number One, which was responsible for managing the clones, flew over.

"You and Mori Ougai didn't seem to talk much. You're back so soon," Clone Number One inquired. "Did something happen?"

"Stop talking. Mori Ougai already knows I've been stalling for time, and he even guessed why I was stalling for time." Tokisaki Kurumi said, rubbing her throbbing temples. "He even brought Nakahara Chuuya with him. When I saw him, I regretted going in person."

"Chuuya Nakahara is here? That's quite dangerous. It seems Mori Ougai is prepared to break ties with you today." Clone Number One asked with a hint of doubt, "But why don't you just switch places with me? No one will be able to tell anyway."

"I was too nervous at the time and didn't think of that." Tokisaki Kurumi coughed twice awkwardly. "I had to think about how to play along with Mori Ougai, and I also had to be wary of Nakahara Chuuya. And then the system would pop up at the most inopportune time. I didn't have any time to think about anything else."

"System?" Clone Number One was taken aback. "What happened to it?"

"It issued a random mission, asking me to defeat Nakahara Chuuya." Tokisaki Kurumi grinned. "This mission is even harder than the main mission. I don't know what it was thinking."

"As long as we don't confront Chuuya Nakahara head-on, we can easily defeat him by ambushing him when he's off guard, right?" Clone Number One said. "Although his ability is quite troublesome, as long as he doesn't activate it in the tainted sorrow, we can use the Seventh Bullet to freeze his time first, and then cripple him, right?"

"If I defeat Nakahara Chuuya by sneak attack, I will completely break ties with the Port Mafia." Tokisaki Kurumi shook her head and said, "Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. If the Port Mafia becomes our enemy, our future operations will be much more difficult."

“That makes sense. At least until the group arrives, we need to maintain a friendly relationship with them.” Clone Number One nodded in deep agreement. “If we can’t launch a sneak attack, then we can only invite Nakahara Chuuya to spar… but we don’t have much of a chance against him head-on.”

Defeating Nakahara Chuuya is both easy and difficult, depending on your perspective.

If we can cripple him quickly before he enters combat mode and activates his superpowers, we can easily defeat him.

However, Kurumi Tokisaki cannot ambush from the shadows, as she still needs to maintain a friendly relationship with the Port Mafia on the surface.

However, if she openly invites Chuuya Nakahara to spar, and he activates his superpower, then Kurumi Tokisaki will have no chance of winning.

[In the tainted sorrow] allows Chuuya Nakahara to control the gravity of anything that touches his body. Even if his reaction speed is not as fast as a bullet, as long as he activates his ability, every bullet will stop the moment it touches his clothes or body.

Any attack with a physical form is meaningless to him.

"Forget it, I'll just let this task go as it comes. It won't affect the final evaluation anyway."

Temporarily setting aside the random mission to defeat Nakahara Chuuya, Tokisaki Kurumi continued, "Mori Ougai gave me an ultimatum, ordering me to capture Nakajima Atsushi by the day after tomorrow, so we have to go to the Armed Detective Agency tomorrow."

"Are you really going to arrest me?"

"We've reached our limit; we have no choice but to take action."

"Okay, then I'll create twenty clones later and go with you tomorrow."

"Ah."

After entrusting the matter to Clone Number One, Tokisaki Kurumi prepared to return.

Just as she was about to leave, she turned back as if suddenly remembering something and asked, "Speaking of which, how is Bandage Three doing lately?"

"Ah...about her..."

Upon hearing Kurumi Tokisaki's question, Clone Number One displayed a subtle expression.

As the clone of the management clone, she is not only responsible for the alternation of lookouts and those who stay behind, but also for sending people to monitor Bandage Three.

Calling it surveillance is a bit of an exaggeration; a more accurate description would be protection.

After all, no one knows if the Armed Detective Society will expose Bandage Three's identity and then take action against her.

Therefore, there are always five clones around Bandage Three on standby. If the Armed Detective Agency wants to take action against her, the clones will take her away.

In the past few days, the clones responsible for protecting Bandage Three have reported some concerning matters to Clone Number One.

"Bandaged Three... seems to be having some mental issues."

"Huh?" Kurumi Tokisaki was completely confused. "What do you mean?"

“It’s exactly what it sounds like.” Clone Number One shrugged. “According to the five clones protecting her, Bandage Three seems to have gone insane.”

"Mental instability? Insane?"

“We don’t deliberately act like Kurumi Tokisaki when we talk normally, since there are no outsiders, so there’s no point in acting, right?” said Clone Number One. “But Bandage Three still acts like that when he’s talking to the other clones.”

"That's called dedication, you should all learn from it."

“Well… if it were just that, it wouldn’t be so bad.” Clone Number One said with a complicated expression, “But that guy, even when he’s alone, he’s still acting like he really is Bandage Three. It’s making the clones’ scalps tingle.”

"Still putting on an act even when you're alone?" Kurumi Tokisaki blinked. "Isn't that a bit too much of a dedication?"

“Our initial guess is that the pressure at the Armed Detective Agency was too great. These past few days, she has been being subtly and overtly probed for information by Dazai Osamu, which has kept her on edge. And then... and then she went insane.” Doppelganger Number One made the sign of the cross on his chest. “Yesterday I went to see her to check on her condition, but as soon as I showed my face, she chased me away while shouting ‘Nightmare’s lackey.’”

"This should be a good thing for gaining the trust of the Armed Detective Agency... right?"

Kurumi Tokisaki clasped her hands together in prayer.

"I hope he's alright."

Chapter Sixty-Eight: There's Only One Truth!

The next day, the Armed Detective Agency.

In the dimly lit conference room, an old-fashioned projector sits in the center of a square table, projecting something onto a white screen.