I don't want to be an elf!

Dazai Osamu, who was being instructed to do things, did not show any displeasure.

Although everyone was a member of the company, Edogawa Ranpo held a higher status than anyone else.

The Armed Detective Agency can do without its president, Fukuzawa Yukichi, without Dazai Osamu, and without the doctor, Yosano Akiko, but it absolutely cannot do without Edogawa Ranpo.

why?

Because this is an armed detective agency; "armed" is just a prefix, "detective" is the main job.

As long as I'm okay, everything is okay.

This is Edogawa Ranpo's motto. Although it seems audacious, it is recognized by everyone in the detective agency.

It can be said that the sole reason for establishing the detective agency was to utilize Edogawa Ranpo's abilities.

"Based on Mr. Ranpo's current reasoning, we can deduce a major premise: Nightmare does not intend to destroy the Detective Agency, at least not by force."

The girl we took in did indeed betray Nightmare's clone, but she was also deliberately placed here by Nightmare. As for her purpose, we need to investigate further.

And the girl who called herself Tokisaki Shozo, whom I contacted today with the supernatural agents, was also a clone of Nightmare who had betrayed it.

Dazai Osamu summarized Edogawa Ranpo's reasoning in a slightly different way.

However, Edogawa Ranpo looked at him with some surprise and asked curiously, "I never said they were 100% betrayal clones. Considering Nightmare's ability to absorb other people's time, we have no idea how many years she has lived. These two clones could very well be acting against us. Why are you so sure they really betrayed Nightmare?"

"The intelligence indicates that the Eighth Bullet's ability is to summon clones from any timeline. Perhaps both of them are clones from Nightmare's distant past. In that distant past, Nightmare was also a kind and good girl, with a completely different personality from the current Nightmare."

“But this information could also be fake, couldn’t it?” Edogawa Ranpo asked.

"Yes."

"If that's the case, why do you still believe they really come from a long timeline from a distant past?"

Dazai Osamu remained silent.

A moment later, the corners of his mouth stiffly turned up, and he gave a bitter laugh.

"Because these past few days, the clone we took in has been living in my room, and you can't imagine how difficult it has been to get along with her."

Recalling the days he had been tormented by the three bandages, Dazai Osamu's voice revealed a weariness that anyone could hear.

"If everything she shows is fake, then there is nothing real in this world."

Chapter Seventy, Bandage Three: Come on, let's hurt each other!

Upon hearing this, many people's expressions turned strange.

No wonder Dazai Osamu kept asking if anyone was willing to switch dorm rooms with him the other day, and even asked his junior, Nakajima Atsushi, for help.

It turns out he was numb from the bandage.

During the few days that the Armed Detective Agency took in Bandage Three, they couldn't very well let her stay in the office, could they?

After all, they were the ones who actively invited the guests to stay. Letting the guests sleep in the office would make the Armed Detective Agency seem to have no manners at all.

That's what they say, but in reality, since Atsushi Nakajima joined the company, there haven't been any extra rooms in the staff dormitory.

Therefore, Bandage Three can only share a room with others.

Originally, Dazai Osamu intended for her and Yosano Akiko to share a room, since both were women and there was no need to avoid suspicion.

However, Bandage Three refused to sleep in the same room as Yosano Akiko no matter what, and his attitude was very firm. He even said that he would rather be taken away by the nightmare than live with Yosano Akiko.

However, there were no other female members in the Armed Detective Agency. Since Bandage San was unwilling to live with Yosano Akiko, he would have to live with a male member.

Originally, Bandage Three planned to live with Kunikida Doppo, but Dazai Osamu wanted to extract information from her, so he took over the job...

Unexpectedly, not only did Dazai Osamu fail to obtain any information, but he also suffered a nervous breakdown.

Many people have suffered from neurasthenia due to Dazai Osamu's antics, but this is the first person to have Dazai Osamu's entire neurasthenia.

"I admit that I also had a dark past of being a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur), and I wrapped my hands in bandages to look cool, but I also have to admit that her chuunibyou is far more than mine."

Dazai Osamu asked in a desolate tone, "Have you ever seen Yokohama at four in the morning?"

“Of course, isn’t working on cases all night normal?” Kunikida Doppo replied matter-of-factly.

"That's not the point. The point is, after a long, tiring day, you finally get home to sleep and rest, but when you open your eyes, you find yourself flying several meters above the ground." Dazai Osamu sighed deeply. "And you're being carried in a princess carry by that little girl; one wrong move and you'd be smashed to pieces..."

Everyone imagined the scene and then cast pitying glances at Dazai Osamu.

Whether or not it's a princess carry or not is not the main issue; the real horror lies in opening your eyes to find yourself floating in mid-air.

At that time, Dazai Osamu was already considered to be good-natured for not punching Bandage Sanichi.

“Besides that, there are many other things I don’t even want to talk about.” Dazai Osamu rubbed his temples with a pained expression. “That girl is a complete nocturnal creature. She’s lazy and does nothing during the day, but at night she’s like she’s on stimulants, wandering around Yokohama aimlessly, and she always insists on dragging me along! Thanks to her, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep these past few days.”

"No wonder Mr. Dazai has suddenly become much more normal these past few days, not even making a fuss about suicide. It turns out he just didn't have the energy to kill himself." Atsushi Nakajima thought thoughtfully. "Maybe that girl's existence has a positive impact on the detective agency?"

"So, is there anyone willing to switch dorm rooms with me?" Dazai Osamu looked at his friends expectantly.

However, everyone tacitly looked away.

Dazai Osamu cried out in grief and indignation, "This is so unfair! Why am I the only one suffering?"

"Didn't you volunteer for this job in the first place? Keep doing it well," Kunikida Doppo said without changing his expression.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Dazai, I'll be nervous sharing a room with a girl." Atsushi Nakajima smiled shyly.

"I'm the strategist of the detective agency, what if something happens to me?" Edogawa Ranpo said, trying to keep himself out of trouble.

"Well, I don't really care. I'd be happy as long as you can convince her to live with me," Yosano Akiko said casually.

"You bunch..."

"Let's get back to the point."

Fukuzawa Yukichi's deep voice rang out, interrupting Dazai Osamu and directly ending this pointless game of passing the buck.

"Although I trust Dazai's intuition, this matter involves nightmares, so we can't be careless."

Fukuzawa Yukichi paused, as if thinking, and looked at Dazai Osamu: "Speaking of which, I haven't met that girl yet. Now that we know about her relationship with Nightmare, I want to go and meet her."

"President, this is dangerous," Kunikida Doppo exclaimed, trying to stop him.

“Dazai has been living with her for a while now, and he’s still doing just fine, isn’t he?” Fukuzawa Yukichi waved his hand. “Besides, I’m not some office worker who can’t fight, as the president of the Armed Detective Agency. If even a clone can pose a threat to me, I might as well retire.”

Since Fukuzawa Yukichi had already said so, Kunikida Doppo could no longer persuade him.

However, as a candidate for the next president, Kunikida Doppo naturally knew how terrifying the old president's fighting power was.

Before he founded his Armed Detective Agency and roamed the world alone with only a sword, he was invincible.

That's not even the most shocking part.

What's most astonishing is that his superpower, "Beyond Humanity," isn't even a combat-type ability. It's useless in battles, yet he can defeat many combat-type ability users with his honed skills and experience. He's even become so famous that he's been recruited by the authorities.

Even though time has etched its marks on this swordsman, who is respectfully known as the "Silver Wolf," he remains the undisputed top combatant of the Armed Detective Agency.

No one in the Armed Detective Agency could last ten rounds against his blade!

He truly is still as sharp as ever!

"At least, please let me and Dazai accompany you," Kunikida Doppo hesitated for a moment before compromising.

“It’s fine to have Dazai accompany us. If there are too many people, it will make us look aggressive and hostile,” Fukuzawa Yukichi said. “Besides, doesn’t the detective agency still have cases to handle? We can’t let one clone drag the detective agency down.”

"......Yes."

Given Kunikida Doppo's rigid nature, he would definitely not want Fukuzawa Yukichi and Bandaged San to have direct contact.

Perhaps it was his own caution, or perhaps the information from the nightmare had given him too much of a shock, that made him begin to harbor a hostile wariness towards Bandage Three.

In the Armed Detective Agency, Kunikida Doppo is considered one of the top fighters.

Although not as good as Fukuzawa Yukichi, he can still be useful in crucial moments.

However, Fukuzawa Yukichi did not want too many people to go, so Kunikida Doppo, as his subordinate, had no choice but to obey orders.

"Let's go, Dazai, there's no time to lose."

The decisive Silver Wolf took the katana from his waist and rested the hilt lightly on the table, seemingly not intending to carry a weapon.

"Let us go and meet that nightmare clone with goodwill."

Chapter Seventy-One: Cat Lovers Meet

The staff dormitory is not far from the Armed Detective Agency's office.

In just over ten minutes, Dazai Osamu and Fukuzawa Yukichi arrived at the somewhat old two-story dormitory.

Dazai Osamu unlocked the door with his key and was about to notify Bandage Three that he had returned when he heard a girl's serious voice coming from inside the room.

“My kin, after countless hardships, we are finally reunited here.”

Dazai Osamu's expression changed slightly, and he instinctively slowed his pace, not wanting to disturb her.

Fukuzawa Yukichi, who was following behind him, also naturally concealed his aura and did not make a sound.

Hearing the girl's words, the two exchanged a knowing glance.

Could it be that this was a coincidence that I stumbled upon Bandage Three's secret?

Family members?

What on earth is she talking about?

Dazai Osamu and Fukuzawa Yukichi quietly crossed the entrance hall and walked down the corridor leading to the living room.

Each room in the staff dormitory was not large, and they could clearly hear the girls' words. If they made too much noise, the girls could also hear them.

Now, they seem to have overheard Bandage Three and her clan's conversation, which is a golden opportunity.

If you can take the opportunity to eavesdrop, you might even get some useful information.

"If only I had discovered your whereabouts sooner. Alas, you have even lost the ability to speak human language now."

"It was the guardian of that evil cage who cast the curse upon you, wasn't it?"

"Don't worry, as your master, I will definitely restore you to your original state!"

"Hmm? Are you hungry? Let me see if there's any edible food in this shabby outpost."

"Oh, there's milk in the fridge, would you like some?"