Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume 4 Chapter 1 Part 4

Chapter 1 Part 4

Atsushi headed to an area known as the engine depot zone after Dazai left. The island was split into four main zones: the residential zone, the test zone, the tourist zone, and the engine depot zone. The administrative staff lived in the residential zone, and the test zone was where they conducted various experiments, as the island also served as a research facility for power- generated sailing. The tourist zone was filled with music halls, hotels, seaside resorts, and shopping arcades. The engine depot zone, meanwhile,
was equipped with all the facilities necessary to steer and sail the island.
The jeweled truffles that Atsushi and the others had to protect were apparently in the vault located in the far depths of the engine room. Atsushi walked through the streets surrounded by buildings modeled after modern Berlin. At the end of the town stood a clock tower, which was designed differently from the one he saw on the British side. Even from afar, the clock could be clearly seen with its hands on 11:27. Atsushi lowered his gaze from the tower and gazed at the townscape surrounding him once more.
“Huh… The buildings around here have a different vibe compared with the ones from earlier…,” Atsushi muttered to himself while tirelessly darting his eyes in each and every direction. “The walls and framework are very square-like. Kinda makes the buildings seem like they’re made out of wooden blocks. Ooh, that shop’s sausages look so good… Hmm?”
Atsushi stopped. Three men were squatting and talking about something in the shadows of a building down the sidewalk. They were an odd trio. They were neither sightseeing nor looking at a map, instead huddling their heads closely together and discussing something against the wall. Atsushi was too far to really hear them, but he could catch a few words in the wind:
“I forgot.”
“You can’t be serious.” “What are we going to do?”
He curiously tilted his head to the side. Were they tourists who lost something? At the very least, they didn’t appear to be workers here.
There was a large, bald man, a weary-looking businessman in a suit, and a teenager who seemed to be slightly younger than Atsushi. They appeared to be somewhat distressed, judging by their tone. Perhaps they lost their map? If they were lost, then maybe they needed some help.
It was only when Atsushi began to approach them that he realized they were having trouble for a slightly different reason. The closer he got, the more clearly he could hear their conversation.
“Boss, weren’t you the one who told us it wasn’t hard? I recall you saying, ‘All you’ve got to do is commit twelve measly numbers to memory! I can still remember the names of every woman I’ve slept with.’”
The speaker was the middle-aged, weary-looking man in a suit, his tone agitated. His hair was thinning, and he appeared to be slightly out of shape.

He looked like someone who had been living on a middle-manager salary for the past twenty years. His worried expression even evoked pity.
“Yeah, I said it. So what?”
The muscular bald man puffed his chest out with pride as if he wasn’t even bothered by the complaint. He was about three heads taller than Atsushi—maybe even taller than Kunikida, the tallest person at the agency.
“I’m the boss of this band of thieves, so it’s your job to back me up! If the boss forgets the twelve-digit lock code, then you need to roll up your sleeves and get to work!”
Atsushi stopped in his tracks, startled by what he heard. It wasn’t because the bald man was unapologetically boasting about forgetting the twelve-digit number. It was because he heard him say band of thieves.
“Scotland Yard informed us that three thieves were after the truffles…”
He recalled what the captain had said when talking about the jeweled truffles.
“Boss, you’re amazing! You’re the man! I got your back no matter what happens!”
The excessively cheerful voice belonged to the youngest of the three. In spite of his ragged clothing, his face was full of life, and his eyes twinkled with complete trust as he gazed at the man called Boss. The teenager seemed to be around two or three years younger than Atsushi.
“Ha-ha-ha! That’s the spirit, lad! Go ahead, butter me up some more! After all, I’m not just the boss of this band of thieves, I’m also the reincarnation of the Phantom Thief Arsène Lupin!”
The boss puffed out his broad pectoral muscles and cackled.
“I, too, am in awe of your authority, Boss. That goes without saying.” The weary-looking middle-aged man bowed. “However, it doesn’t matter how many times I press my forehead against the ground and worship you, because if we don’t have that twelve-digit lock code, I won’t be able to do anything about the surveillance cameras.”
“You’re worried about a few cameras? Just roll up your sleeves and get it done!”
“Rolling up my sleeves isn’t going to help! That’s why I’m about to cry!” grievously yelled the middle-aged man.
“Just use that thing you always use. You know, that round…thingamajig.

What’s it called?” “A mouse.”
“Yeah, that. Just do that thing where you, uh…” “Click it.”
“Yeah, click it! Stop making me explain myself and just do it!”
“Nice one, Boss! Yeah, let’s go with that!” There were stars in the teenager’s eyes.
“I know I’m turning forty-three this year, but is it still okay for me to cry in public?” The middle-aged man hung his head.
It was clear what Atsushi needed to do. After swiftly hiding behind one of the trees that lined the sidewalk, he whipped out his cell phone from his pocket.
“Kunikida,” Atsushi whispered without even waiting for his colleague to respond, “it’s me, Atsushi. I found the three men who I think are the thieves.”
“What?!” Kunikida gasped on the other end of the line. “Where are you?”
“Um…” Atsushi looked around. “I’m standing next to a white art museum near the engine depot zone.”
“What’s the situation?”
“Well, there’s this really cocky boss, a teenager who feeds his ego, and this poor middle-aged man I kind of sympathize with.”
“A poor…what?” Kunikida sounded puzzled.
“I-it doesn’t matter. Anyway, they were talking about disabling the security cameras.”
“‘Disabling the security cameras’?” Atsushi could hear Kunikida jotting something down in his notebook. “There’s apparently an underground passageway below that art museum that connects to other facilities. Which means…”
The three men began talking over Kunikida.
“Ugh! We don’t have time for this!” the boss yelled at his two goons. “Who cares if we’re caught on some stupid security camera?! It would only show off my greatness! Let ’em watch!”
“B-But…?! Boss?!”
“Follow me. It’s time to steal!”
The trio stood up and barged down the dark path by the building’s side.

“Kunikida, they’re making a move!”
“Do not lose sight of them,” Kunikida swiftly ordered. “Keep watch from afar. I’m going to call security; we’ll wait for the right moment and surround them. I’ll be there soon!”
Atsushi ran over to the side of the building while making sure to be as quiet as possible. Before long, the trio reached the art museum’s back court. A sprinkler listlessly sprayed water over the grass-covered yard.
The trio suddenly walked off the path and disappeared from Atsushi’s sight as they turned the corner and presumably headed toward a side door into the building. They didn’t once face Atsushi’s direction, nor did they seem to notice him when going around the corner. Perhaps this was nothing more than pure luck. Atsushi rushed around the same corner the thieves turned at. But that was when Atsushi’s luck ran out.
“…?!”
Not only was it a dead end, but nobody was there. It was nothing more than a small pocket on the side of the building. On the left and right were white walls; there was a wall in the front as well. The walls were completely flat, and there were no windows or gutters, either. Atsushi grabbed his phone with a trembling hand.
“Kunikida.”
“What’s wrong?”
“…I lost sight of them.”
“What?!”
It didn’t make any sense. They’d only walked around the corner two or three seconds ago. Plus, the building was about four stories tall. No matter how athletic someone could be, there was no way they could have jumped over these walls in the blink of an eye. Such an extraordinary feat wouldn’t be possible…without some sort of special power…
“Wait…”
Atsushi planted his hands on the ground, then lowered his face to carefully observe it. The grass was so soft that it was relatively easy to leave footprints. In fact, Atsushi’s footprints could be clearly seen from when he rushed over.
There they are.
He found footprints belonging to three people. Two pairs belonged to adults, while one pair belonged to a young teenager. They were the
footprints of the three thieves. Even as they approached the wall, the footprints proved they didn’t slacken their pace and continued forward until…
…they disappeared into the wall.
“Kunikida,” Atsushi said into the cell phone, “it looks like the targets have already sneaked into the art museum.”
“What? Did you find them?”
“No. But I found their footprints facing a wall at a dead end before they vanished. It’s unclear exactly how they did it, but…”
Atsushi paused for a brief moment before continuing. “…I believe they used some sort of skill.”
“A skill…?” Kunikida gulped audibly. “Any idea what kind it was?”
“I’m only guessing here, but…”
After pondering for a few moments, Atsushi continued:
“Judging by the footprints, I’m guessing it’s probably a skill to walk through walls.”
“Thieves who can walk through walls…?!” Kunikida clicked his tongue. “Damn it! If that’s true, I have to rethink the entire plan and tell security! We’re heading over there right now, but it’s going to take five or so minutes at best. You’re currently the closest to the targets. Do whatever you can to get inside the building and find them!”
“…Roger!”
Atsushi looked up at the wall. The entrance was at the front of the building. There was no time to go back and enter through there. The building was around four stories high, and there weren’t any grooves in the wall to grab on to. There was no way someone could climb it in a mere few seconds…without some sort of special power, that is.
Atsushi closed his eyes and steadied his breath. He visualized a tiger—a white tiger. A ferocious white tiger that was the complete opposite of his weak self—a massive mouth that could swallow a human whole, powerful limbs like steel, forelegs that could knock down a tree, and hind legs strong enough to leap over a valley.
Like night cooling the ground, the frailty hidden deep down inside Atsushi grew until it was sinisterly ferocious.
The tiger was not of this world. It only existed within him. It was his arrogance and cowardice, his pride and sense of shame. The more he tried

to hide his weakness, the more exposed it became, like a photographic negative. The hairs stood up on his legs. His skin corrugated as his bones started to creak strangely as if they were growing and extending. The tendons in his legs writhed as they stretched out and grew as if they were engulfing his boots and clothes. White hair shot out of his body like fur, covering his legs.
A beast-like roar escaped from Atsushi’s throat. He undoubtedly had the legs of a tiger. His knees were slightly bent in a way unique to the feline family. Atsushi’s long shin bones were like springs. He stood almost as if he were standing on his tiptoes as the claws on his toes firmly dug themselves into the ground.
Atsushi jumped. After leaping halfway up the building in one jump, Atsushi’s feet dug into the wall before bounding once more and landing on the opposite side. He zigzagged back and forth, kicking off the vertical walls at such a speed that the average human’s eyes wouldn’t be able to follow. Finally, he kicked off the wall and flew even higher in the air once last time before doing a half rotation and landing on the building’s rooftop. The impact left radial cracks around his feet.
“Phew…!”
Atsushi exhaled the breath he was holding in. He then immediately began surveying the area. There was nothing worth mentioning on the flat rooftop other than the wind turbines. Atsushi had to find a way downstairs.
He found the perfect path. The first floor, a massive exhibition hall, had a soaring ceiling that led all the way up to an opening at the rooftop. A few banners displaying the art museum’s upcoming events hung from the edge of the opening all the way to the ground.
Atsushi leaped over the handrails. Gravity immediately grabbed ahold of his body, sending him straight down. A cacophony of screams and shouting suddenly filled the air as tourists on the first floor noticed Atsushi free- falling. Atsushi twisted his body midair and grabbed on to one of the banners. Immediately, his hands turned into thick claws of a tiger, shredding through the banner vertically. Utilizing the braking force of tearing through the banner, Atsushi managed to safely land on the first floor and immediately roll forward with his elbow and shoulder to reduce the impact. But when he lifted his head back up, he was met with countless faces struck with astonishment.

“Ha-ha… Sorry for bothering you all.”
Atsushi put on a wry smirk as if to conceal the awkwardness. He then stood up and began to sprint after the thieves, when all of a sudden, his phone rang. It was Kunikida.
“I got a call from London.” There was touch of panic in Kunikida’s voice. “I know what the thief ’s skill is.”
“Really?!”
“Scotland Yard’s Skilled Crime Department had the information in their database. The thief goes by the name of Nemo—a large man with a bald head. He’s wanted worldwide for theft.”
Atsushi immediately visualized the thieves. Nemo must have been that overly optimistic giant they called Boss.
“You were right about his skill. He can walk through walls. He can also bring whatever he touches through the walls with him, be it his friends or even equipment. However, he cannot walk through walls that are over two inches thick. That should somewhat narrow down the routes he can take.”
Atsushi looked up ahead after getting off the phone with Kunikida. He clenched his teeth as he ran. So that guy was a skill user…
The thief called Nemo turned out to be one formidable opponent, contrary to his haphazard behavior. Kicking off the walls, Atsushi descended the staircase like a pool ball bouncing off the sides of a billiard table, arriving at the second basement floor in a little over ten seconds. He already knew that the passageways connecting to other facilities were on the second basement floor. All that was left was to search for the thieves.
There was no need to search.
They suddenly appeared right before him.
Atsushi was bewildered, but the thieves seemed to be even more surprised. Each one of their mouths opened wide as he continued to rush toward them. Atsushi tried to stop himself on the spot, but his attempts were in vain. He tripped and slammed right into the opposite wall. Stars flashed before his eyes.
“Wow!” exclaimed the boss of the thieves in a well-projected voice. “This island really is something, ain’t it? Didja see that, Gab? A kid just came flying out of nowhere.”
“Whoa!!” the teenager called Gab yelled out in high spirits. “Cool stuff always happens when I’m with you, Boss!”

Atsushi couldn’t move straightaway. Of course, crashing into the wall was painful, but he wasn’t able to react immediately because of how sudden their encounter was.
“Hey, kid. I like you. You a tourist? How’d you do that just now? Do it again!”
“Boss, there is clearly something suspicious about him,” the middle- aged man in the suit chimed in. “No ordinary person could move that quickly. Perhaps he works security on the island?”
Atsushi froze. He was in trouble.
“Don’t be stupid! Do you really think any organization is gonna hire a wimpy kid like this to do their security? ’Cause I’ve sure never seen someone like him. He probably just went inside that cannon on display by accident and fired himself into the wall!”
“That sounds much more unlikely than what I suggested…,” the suited man muttered feebly.
Atsushi grabbed on to his trembling legs while pushing himself back up to his feet. He had to buy some time until Kunikida arrived with the others. If he had no chance to win in battle, his only chance was to slow them down through conversation.
“U-um…”
“Hmm?” the boss replied to Atsushi’s muttering.
“You, uh…” Atsushi racked his brain at full speed. He had to do something to distract them. Anything would do. C’mon, think! Say something!
“Y-you dropped something!” he yelled. “…Huh?”
The boss curiously tilted his head.
“I-I’m just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill tourist! I thought you dropped something, so I ran after you as quickly as I could.”
Atsushi’s head was spinning. Not even he knew what he was saying.
The middle-aged man eyed Atsushi suspiciously.
“Boss, as you can see, there is something clearly fishy about him.”
“Mm-hmm. But a great thief never judges someone who’s only a little suspicious.” Stone-faced, the boss turned toward Atsushi. “Hey, kid. What did I drop?”
“Huh?”

Atsushi couldn’t help but stare blankly—he hadn’t even thought that far yet.
“I’m asking you what you found that I dropped.” “Oh! Huh?”
Atsushi wasn’t good at improvising. His brain didn’t have enough space to think, act, and speak all at the same time. As a result, he was rendered helpless in everything except speaking.
“Y-you…you should know more than anyone else!” “Huh?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
All three of the thieves simultaneously tilted their heads. In that moment, Atsushi kind of wanted to die. Nevertheless, there was no stopping now. He needed to buy time. He needed to make this work.
“Before you knew it, it was gone. It wasn’t something you would immediately notice, but it was something you once had,” Atsushi continued, desperately cudgeling his brain before he would keel over from embarrassment. There was no getting off the path he had chosen, even now knowing that said path led to hell.
“And yet, you lost it! You lost something you once cherished so much!” Atsushi was essentially on the verge of passing out as he rattled on.
Many thoughts ran through his mind: I don’t know what I’m doing. Somebody, please, make it stop. I’m gonna die of embarrassment. Actually, just kill me and get it over with.
But the boss reacted in a way that went even beyond Atsushi’s fervent ramblings.
“Ohhh!” Atsushi’s confusion was drowned out by the boss’s sudden roar. “You’re right, kid! I once dedicated my entire life to stealing because I wanted to become the greatest thief who ever lived! And yet, here I am now…!”
Seeing the boss’s theatrical lamentation put Atsushi’s mind at ease, albeit only a little.
“Boss! Please calm yourself!” The middle-aged man shook the boss in a panic. “You still only think about stealing! Depressingly so! Please stop letting yourself be influenced so easily by what’s happening around you!”
“Hmm…? Oh…?” The boss’s wailing suddenly stopped. “Now that you mention it…you’re right.” “Hey, ya little punk!”

The teenage boy took a step forward, breathing furiously through his nose.
“You got some nerve trying to trick our almighty boss! We’ll see how tough you are once I tie you up and throw you into the ocean, ya puny cotton swab!”
The sweat running down Atsushi’s body instantly turned cold. He couldn’t remember how it happened, but he apparently made them suspicious of him.
“I am the Great Phantom Thief’s number one disciple! Gab the Whirlwind, they call me! Let’s see how fast you really are!”
The teenager then pulled a shining steel blade out of his pocket. It was a naked dagger made to fit in one’s pocket. Red alarms went off in Atsushi’s head the moment he saw the blade glint blue.
“H-hold on!” Atsushi naturally took a step backward. “Let’s talk things over!”
“You had your chance!”
The teenager sprinted forward, brandishing the dagger at waist height. Atsushi had no other choice but to fight. He filled both arms with his tiger powers, and his forearm muscles immediately exploded in size. Tiger fur grew out of his arms, swallowing his clothes and wrists. His fingers growing into massive claws sounded like a tree being twisted in half.
My fur can block bullets and knives. If I can just stop his blade with my arms, I should have a chance of winning—
But before Atsushi could even finish his thought, a piercing scream echoed throughout the area.
“Eeeeeek!! What the hell is that?! Nooo!! Get it away from me!” The teenager fell on his rear and began scooting away. “…What?”
“The heck’s wrong with your arm?! Ack! Stop! Don’t point that thing at me! Wh-what is that—like—what?! It’s all furry, too! Ewwww! Oh my god, that’s so gross! Boss, sorry, but can I go home now?!”
He was so surprised that he couldn’t even stand back up. Seeing him scream so much even startled Atsushi to the point that he couldn’t move, either.

“Sigh. See? What did I tell you, Boss?” barked the middle-aged man with a disconsolate expression. “I told you we couldn’t bring Gab with us. He’s obviously talented, but he has zero backbone! Plus, the only reason he became your number one disciple was simply because the rest of your disciples quit.”
“Huh?”
Really?
Atsushi’s expression went blank. He got that position by default?
“Hmm… Then it looks like you’re up, Virgo. Go get ’em.”
“M-m-m-me? N-n-n-o way! I am merely an engineer! My job is help with the technical side of things like disabling the security cameras and extracting passwords! There was nothing in my contract about fighting!”
The middle-aged man named Virgo bowed and retreated like a small animal.
“…This is…,” Atsushi started, then raised both beast-like arms into the air and screamed, “This is so not how I imagined it!!”
It was a roar from the depths of his soul. But all of a sudden, there came the sound of someone’s voice from the end of the hallway.
“But all that matters is that you do the job you were given.” It was a deep, sonorous voice. “Good work, Atsushi.”
“Kunikida!” yelled Atsushi.
Standing behind Kunikida were the armed security guards he’d brought with him.
“Nemo, leader of a gang wanted for serial theft…,” Kunikida began, reading from his notebook. “Despite his extraordinary skill allowing him to walk through walls, his vague, reckless plans have caused most of his burglaries to fail. Nearly all his subordinates ran out of patience, leaving only amateurs and the like behind. He repeatedly fails at his schemes and gets arrested and uses his skill to walk through walls and escape prison only to repeat the same offense before being arrested again. He boasts a record of eighty-nine escapes. The moniker Great Phantom Thief is a stretch, but you could definitely start calling yourself the Master of Escape.”
“G-grrr…!” The boss’s face tensed. “Do something about them, you two!”
“S-sorry, Boss, I’m still having trouble standing back up…”
“I am but a humble engineer. I will turn myself in, so I beg for your leniency.”
A teenager feebly crawled on the ground, and a middle-aged man immediately held his arms out to Kunikida…
Atsushi’s head was finally able to process what was going on. It appeared that the band of thieves were far less threatening than he’d thought they would be.
“Atsushi, contact our client—the captain. Tell him we caught the criminals.” Kunikida narrowed his eyes. “Looks like this brings our thrilling chase with these entertaining robbers to an end.”
Kunikida took a step forward. The security guards slowly closed in to surround the targets as well.
“Boss… Boss…! I’m sorry! I’ll hold ’em off! Run! I don’t care what happens to me as long as you get away!”
But the boss didn’t respond to the boy’s fragile plea. He simply stood on his tree-trunk legs and quietly glared at his surroundings.
“‘As long as I get away’?”
There was not even a hint of panic in his voice.
“The great Phantom Thief Lupin had no skill or crew. But even then, he was able to pull off stunts far more difficult than I have ever attempted. The legends he created made him immortal. I am already more than aware that I will never be as great as him.”
The boss’s eyes were quietly staring at one point in space as if his gaze had found something far, far away.
“But I am not the same as Lupin. That’s why I have to tightly hold on to what he never had and use that as my foundation to pull myself to the top.”
Atsushi suddenly noticed something: The boss was slightly leaning forward. The fluorescent lights on the ceiling cast a shadow over his stone- like face.
“I have the ability to go through objects up to two inches thick. In other words, I can also put things under two inches inside me without it ever touching my body.”
Atsushi looked at the boss’s broad chest. Without even making a sound, something slowly emerged as if he never had any flesh there to begin with. It was around two inches thick—a square metal plate around the size of a book. It slipped out of his body and fell to the ground. The surprising revelation slowed everyone’s reaction.