Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume 4 Chapter 1 Part 3

Chapter 1 Part 3

Atsushi walked along the cobblestone paving alone. After unpacking their suitcases and having a brief discussion about the schedule, Kunikida told Atsushi to go meet with the captain. Kunikida was to join later; he apparently had to do something about Tanizaki and his sister, Naomi, since they ended up being placed in the same room at the hotel due to some sort of mistake in the paperwork or somebody’s string-pulling. “That would be bad for various reasons—very bad,” Kunikida had fretted as he rushed off to fix the paperwork.
Atsushi restlessly looked around, taking in all the new sights. The houses with plastered walls and slate roofing, the stone gargoyle statue that gazed into the sky, the white library with elaborate bargeboard—everything looked like the old London Atsushi had only ever seen in books and pictures. It was all vastly different from where he was born and raised.
It really is like I’m in a foreign country, Atsushi thought.
He’d never been overseas, so in a way, this was his first time abroad. Atsushi felt like a character in a fairy tale. He imagined fairies in the back alley, a king and queen in the castle, and a smirking Jack the Ripper sharpening his knife in a dark cellar. As Atsushi’s lungs expanded with the island air, so did his fantasies.
His eyes were darting excitedly, taking in the different scenery, when he suddenly heard a commotion up ahead.
“He’s getting away! After him!” Atsushi heard someone shout among the din of clamoring voices. A group of adults then rushed past him in a panic.
What’s going on? Atsushi looked around.

“Call security!” “Did you see his face?!” “Check what was stolen!”
Atsushi’s ear twitched when he heard the word stolen. There was a robbery. Somebody had stolen something.
“Our job will be to capture the thieves on said island.”
Kunikida’s words popped into his head. Atsushi sprinted forward, almost out of instinct. It sounded as if the fuss was coming from the storage terminal near the port. It wasn’t the same area Atsushi and the others had gone through when they arrived on the island. This section was used to carry goods onto the island. All around were warehouses made of brick. A few men in blue uniform, who probably worked on the island, came running over from the alley surrounded by stone walls that looked like they belonged in London.
“Hey, did you see a tall guy with black hair around here?”
Atsushi was taken by surprise when one of the workers addressed him. “Huh? Oh, no… I didn’t see anyone.” It took everything he had to get
those words out.
“Well, contact that administration bureau if you do!” The worker then ran off.
“H-hey, wait!” Atsushi called out to the man. “Um, I heard something got stolen… What exactly happened?”
“Someone sneaked onto the island!” the worker yelled back as he continued to dash down the path until he could be seen no more.
Sneaked onto the island? Atsushi wondered, confused. So, like…a trespasser? But why would someone do that?
That’s when Atsushi heard a voice. “Atsushi, psssst! Atsushi!”
Atsushi nearly jumped out of his skin, then looked around. The commotion had already faded into the distance. There was nobody around.

“Atsushi! Heh-heh-heh… What are you doing in a place like this? Hey, over here! Here!”
This voice…
Atsushi darted his eyes around in search of the voice until they suddenly locked on to a zinc-plated steel garbage can at the street corner. It was painted gray so that it wouldn’t stand out and ruin the British-city theme. It wasn’t that big—maybe only about waist-high on Atsushi, if even that— and it had a matching steel lid covering it.
The garbage can rattled. Puzzled, Atsushi slowly approached. He then timidly grabbed the lid before swiftly pulling it off.
“Boo.”
“Ah!!”
Atsushi leaped back in surprise and fell onto his rear with the lid still in hand, for inside the garbage can was Dazai. He had a smirk that hid what he was truly thinking under his disheveled hair and wore a sand-colored coat that accented the white bandages around his neck.
“Fancy running into you here.”
“Wh-what are you doing in there, Dazai?!” screamed Atsushi. According to Kunikida, Dazai had been left behind at the meetup spot in
Yokohama. So why was he here on the island and inside a garbage can of all places?
“Hey, did you see a tall guy with black hair around here?”
Hold on…
“Hey, uh…Dazai? Are you the guy who sneaked onto the island?” “Nice, Atsushi. You’re like a real detective already! It’s such a joy to see
you grow up so fast.”
Dazai beamed, but Atsushi didn’t even understand half of what he was talking about. Dazai was an agent in the detective agency and the very person who invited Atsushi to join them, so to Atsushi, Dazai was his mentor, his boss, and the man who saved his life.
And yet…
“Everything was going well until I got on the island. Someone ended up catching me, so I immediately hid in this garbage can and waited until the coast was clear. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to take out the garbage first, so now my entire body smells like dead fish. But getting to feel like meaningless garbage feels amazing. Maybe I’ll live here from now on.”

“Uh-huh…” was the only utterance that came out of Atsushi’s mouth. Nobody in the agency could get a good read on Dazai. Kunikida was usually the one who got paired up with him for work, which ultimately led to his endless stomach troubles. But even then, any case Dazai was involved with would wind up working out perfectly in the end for some reason. Even Atsushi, who saw it happen every time, had no idea just how Dazai pulled it off.
“But, Dazai, why did you even sneak onto the island? Wouldn’t it have just been easier if you had taken the same ferry as us?”
“There are three answers to that question.” Dazai waved his finger while tut-tutting. “First, I wanted to see what was going on behind the scenes, since it’s not often I get to come to such a peculiar island. Second, Kunikida’s recently started getting used to me and my habits, so he doesn’t even act surprised anymore. So I wanted to do something totally unexpected. And last but not least, this is part of my mission. I received separate orders, so I was looking into how to sneak onto this island.”
“Oh… Does that mean your job isn’t to help us capture the thieves?” “Those thieves are nothing but a small part of the catastrophe that’s to
come.”
All of a sudden, Dazai wasn’t smiling anymore. It felt almost as if that alone brought the surrounding temperature down a few degrees.
“‘Catastrophe’…?” Atsushi muttered as if it took everything he had to squeeze that word out of his throat.
“Right… If you see a man wearing a suit with a black briefcase and a camera hanging from around his neck, you tell me. Oh, and don’t even think about trying to capture him. He’s an extremely dangerous skill user. One wrong move, and the entire city of Yokohama could very well be blown to smithereens.”
“…Huh?”
Atsushi suddenly started feeling dizzy and knit his eyebrows. The entire city of Yokohama blown to smithereens?
“What exactly do you mean?”
“I’m still looking into it. Anyway, you guys just focus on dealing with those thieves for now. Because I can’t do anything else until you finish that. Oh, and could you hand me that?”
Dazai’s lips once again curled with amusement as he pointed at the lid

by Atsushi’s feet. It was the cover to the garbage can he was in. Perplexed, Atsushi handed it to Dazai.
“Thanks. Oh, I almost forgot,” Dazai began as if he had suddenly remembered something while taking the lid. “I learned this on my way here, but apparently there are a few Port Mafia members on the island right now. I don’t know who exactly is here, but don’t let your guard down.”
“Port Mafia’s here?”
Atsushi frowned. None of his experiences with Port Mafia had been pleasant, to say the least. The Yokohama-based underground syndicate regularly clashed with its sworn enemy, the Armed Detective Agency.
“Relax,” Dazai said gently. “They rarely ever attack people in crowded places. Besides, nobody can run away faster than you. They wouldn’t even be able to touch you.”
Dazai smiled sweetly. “Anyway, I must be going. I’m counting on you all.”
And with that, Dazai crouched back down into the garbage and put the lid on over himself. The garbage can then bounced into the air with a light grunt, fell on its side, and began rolling away down the street.
“Bon voyage!”
Bidding farewell to Atsushi with an unnecessarily cheery tone, Dazai rattled and rolled down the sloping road until he disappeared from sight. Atsushi blankly stared ahead in utter disbelief.
“Kunikida’s used to this…? Wow…”

That same day, just sixteen minutes earlier…
Two tourists arrived at the port of the floating city Standard Island. One was a man robed in a black overcoat that covered his entire body, giving the impression he hated sunlight; he also had a black cloth wrapped around his mouth as if to hide his face. His eyes—the only part of his body exposed to the air—were unusually sharp. The other tourist was a young woman with shoulder-length honey-blond hair and glasses. She wore the kind of black suit befitting a distinguished white-collar worker.
“It looks like we were able to make it on the island,” stated the young woman.
“Of course we did. Our reach extends as far as the ocean winds of Yokohama. This island is no exception. That’s what makes us the Port Mafia,” replied the man in a black overcoat.
They came to the island under the guise of tourists with skillfully forged paperwork. Their backgrounds were changed, their pictures were faked, and they passed all the identification checks through bribery or the threat of violence. The power of the Port Mafia was what made this all possible.
The man with the sharp gaze was called Akutagawa, a skill user in charge of the Port Mafia’s mobile forces. The young woman with honey- blond hair was called Higuchi. She was Akutagawa’s adjutant whose only job was to support him.
“How many are there?” asked Akutagawa, squinting.
“The data points to four,” replied Higuchi in an impersonal tone. “Last night, the traitors broke into a bank branch under the Port Mafia’s patronage, picked the locks of a few safety deposit boxes, and tried to steal all the money and valuables inside. They were discovered almost immediately, but when they were running away, they killed an accountant who was one of our men and in charge of managing said bank.”
“Traitors, eh?”
A faint smile curled Akutagawa’s lips, slightly exposing the inside of his mouth, which was as red as blood.
“Whether due to a misunderstanding or even by chance, those who betray us will be eliminated. That is our job. That is our reason for existence.”
“I completely agree,” Higuchi added. “I do not think they knew that the bank they broke into was affiliated with the Port Mafia because once they learned of who the accountant they killed was, they ran away and left most of the money they stole behind. Perhaps they believed they could escape the Port Mafia’s wrath if they came to this island due to its extraterritorial rights.”
“Ignorant fools.” Akutagawa’s smirk was colder than a snake’s, his breath more repulsive than a demon’s. “But I welcome their foolishness, for they have undertaken the great role of proving just how wide the Port Mafia’s reach is and just how serious we take revenge. The entrails squirting out of their bodies and their long, hopeless screams will set an example for all.”

“Nobody stands a chance before your skill, Akutagawa,” replied Higuchi fervently.
Akutagawa then slightly tilted his chin up. “Let’s get started, Higuchi.”
“Yes, sir.” Higuchi began to follow after Akutagawa. “Oh, by the way…”
“What?”
“This island is considered to be one of the best resorts in the world. I believe it is important for us to make sure we are both physically and mentally sound, so how about a little sightseeing after the mission? Just the two of us.”
“No.” Akutagawa maintained his brisk pace.
“Akutagawa, sir, I also heard they were going to hold a masquerade ball tonight at the plaza. How about we go together?”
“No.” Akutagawa continued to swiftly walk ahead without even looking back.
“Sir, we need to have a base before we start the mission. As it happens, I already booked us a room at a top luxury hotel under a fake name. It’s only one room, though. How about taking a short rest there before heading out?”
“Why would I do that?”
Akutagawa proceeded to walk straight down the stone path without even slowing down. Higuchi gazed at the vast blue sky with a look of revelation.
“…I figured…”