Started with a green hat for Verlaine

April 29.

A day to commemorate those who died in the Yokohama Concession.

In the teahouse, there was once again a red-haired boy sitting in the old seat, and the government whistled outside in silence.

No one bothered him today.

The reason is that a detective took his bodyguard out of business to celebrate his brother's birthday.Oda Sakunosuke didn't know Edogawa Ranpo's younger brother, but he had observed that this person went to the cake shop and talked with the waiter for a long time about ordering a birthday cake.

Oda Sakunosuke ate his refreshments, watched "Light and Darkness" that he had read countless times, let out a deep breath, and relaxed his tense muscles.

The amount of his deposit has been reduced a little bit, and he has not received any credit.

Since mid-November last year, he accepted the employment of the secretary of SK Trading Co., intending to earn a little extra money, but then he suffered a lot of bad luck and broke the golden sign of being a killer.In less than half a year, his task completion rate kept dropping, 90.00% nine, 90.00% eight...

Gold Medal Killer → Silver Medal Killer → Miscellaneous Brand Killer.

He took the time to check the information on his mobile phone, and his employer who used to line up to make an appointment had already ignored him, thinking that either his skills had declined, or he was cursed by the plague god.

Oda Sakunosuke: "Ah, this..."

Life changes always come unexpectedly.

If this continues, he will really lose his job, and he hasn't figured out his next job yet.

Oda Sakunosuke dully turned to the next page, thinking about whether to assassinate Edogawa Ranpo for free before losing his job, and kill this famous detective who was staring at him.

- There is only revenge in the killer's dictionary, and there is no forgiveness.

——Assassins also have to eat, they are desperate, should they change jobs and become mercenaries?

wrong.

do it again.

Oda Sakunosuke muttered, "I hate eating sugar bibimbap."

There are two books on his desk, one is "Light and Darkness" that he was reading, and the other is a relatively new "School Girl's Retired Killer's Personal Bodyguard", which can be said to take into account the dual tastes of traditional literature and popular literature, A little more "fashionable" than the average young people.

"Brother, do you like reading these two books?"

Suddenly, a voice full of years came, revealing interest.

Oda Sakunosuke looked over.

It was a thin, middle-aged man with a beard and a round felt hat on his head. The gaze cast from under the brim was gentle, calm, experienced, and would not arouse the killer's sensitive nerves.

"Seamless" reminds him that there is no danger.

At this moment, Oda Sakunosuke nodded slightly, treating the Japanese hidden boss as an ordinary person.

"Yes."

He likes these two books.

The middle-aged man took the opportunity to sit opposite him, put down his cane, and smiled like anyone's elder, anyone's neighbor, "I just wanted to have a cup of tea, so I came here. I didn't expect to meet you." I like this book——” His hand moved a little again, poking at the book with a gorgeous cover and forbidden reading through his fingertips, “and the person in this book.”

Sakunosuke Oda saw that he seemed dissatisfied with popular literature, and retorted inexplicably: "It is a good work to exclude those parts about the killer's professional ability and pornography."

The middle-aged man asked strangely: "Then how much content is left in this book?"

Oda Sakunosuke mentioned this short story, hesitantly looked at its thickness, "One-third."

It sounds like demeaning instead.

The middle-aged man smiled, "Only one-third of a work with [-] words can be read with peace of mind. It's hard to say whether it's a success or a failure. Let's not talk about it. Brother, what do you think a novel is?"

Oda Sakunosuke said: "Write the story of life?"

The middle-aged man added: "To be precise, it describes the life, old age, sickness and death of a person, or a few people. Their lives make up a story."

Oda Sakunosuke was confused, what did he say to himself?

But he couldn't help but listen to the other party's words, and was caught by the invisible magic power. The other party looked at him, as if he was looking at the second junior who had gone the wrong way.

"May I ask, have you seen your own shadow in this book?"

"Um……"

"That's right."

The middle-aged man seemed to confirm one thing, his shoulders were pressed slightly, as if he was lamenting, and he muttered: "No wonder, you often read "Light and Darkness" and found that I would be interested in you, so you wrote such a novel in advance to connotate me. , have seen this scene last year... did you see my conversation with you?"

Oda Sakunosuke was at a loss.

The middle-aged man said: "If I say that there is a person who predicted our conversation, wrote this novel in a hurry and advised us, would you believe me?"

Oda Sakunosuke did not shake his head like ordinary people, "If you say yes, I will take it as it is."

The next sentence was really beyond the expectations of the middle-aged man.

Oda Sakunosuke pointed to "Light and Darkness", a novel that Amway himself couldn't put down: "In this novel, I also saw myself in many people."

The middle-aged man was dumbfounded.

Then, the middle-aged man introduced himself: "I am Natsume Soseki."

Oda Sakunosuke: "?"

He looked down, and the author's name—Natsume Soseki was clearly written on the cover of "Light and Darkness".

Has he had any luck meeting a writer in the literary world recently?

"I can barely be regarded as the half-teacher of this 'reader' who is obsessed with love. Of course, I haven't taken him in yet. In terms of literary creation, I am his predecessor, and I have some right to give advice—"

"In "School Flower...", the male protagonist 'Dao Taro' became a bodyguard after being persuaded by others. Although his ending is death, this only shows that he lacks a correct guidance."

"Killing is a sin."

"However, killing people for the sake of protection and righteousness, I believe this is definitely not a villain."

Natsume Soseki has been observing Sakunosuke Oda for a long time, but he has not come to see him, because there are too many people observing and he is too busy for the time being.He knows the killer boy's entanglement with Ranpo and Fukuzawa very well, and occasionally wants to laugh, he will remember the ending of Aso Qiuya's novel.

When persuading people to do good, one should not give up halfway, but should leave a way for people to live.

Only if the other party can survive is "good".

"This is the content behind "Light and Darkness". The ugly words are in the front. The second volume is not good-looking at all, but don't compare it with "School Beauty". I want to save face." Natsume Soseki took out a novel from his jacket , put it in front of Oda Sakunosuke, he didn't want to recall the content he gave later, that shameless Aso Shuya who flattered him.

fake.

Can't you just say it's ugly?

Your boyfriend Lan Tang got a headache when he read this book, who did he deceive?

Natsume Soseki said to the red-haired boy who seemed to be immersed in the darkness, unable to extricate himself, and seemed to have a little hope in his eyes, "I don't care if I regret it."

After a few steps out of the teahouse, Natsume Soseki turned his head quickly.

Oda Sakunosuke just flipped through the book.

Natsume Soseki rubbed his forehead, the sense of sight was too serious, almost mirroring "School Beauty...", such a long novel name, he didn't want to read it in his heart and mouth at all.

There is a scene in the novel "School Beauty", where the old man who persuaded the hero to be kind, said a lot, and then he never cared about the hero who quit the killer world, which indirectly caused him to have no contact with other industries, except killing , the male protagonist who doesn't understand anything mistakenly thinks that being a good person must never kill people, and ignorantly embarked on the bloody BE ending.

Natsume Soseki really wanted to scratch Aso Shuya's face, if you have anything to say, you might as well speak up, what is the connotation.

He is not used to such a talented child's numb existence, so he can't help but say a few words, which doesn't mean that he will completely let go of him when he sees the other party abandoning evil and doing good.

"Bro."

Oda Sakunosuke looked at him with confused eyes.

"There are many bad people in this world, and there are also many good people. You must know how to distinguish. The bright future is grasped with both hands, not given to you by others."

After speaking, Natsume Soseki, who had already said a lot, left a phone number.

"If you run into trouble, you can go to him. He is a person with a similar but different experience to yours, and a reasonable personality. As far as the most suitable person to guide you...it's not me."

The almighty Fukuzawa Yukichi.

One afternoon passed, and Sakunosuke Oda flipped to the ending of the novel in his seat.

The ending is ripped out, and the protagonist's last words are—

【"Man was born to redeem himself. You will understand when you are about to die."】

The half-employed Sakunosuke Oda stared at the book.

It's been a long time.

He suddenly opened "School Girl's Retired Killer's Bodyguard", and turned to the scene where the male protagonist "Totaro" had a conversation with the old man during his career as a killer.

【"Old man, what is the future in your eyes?"】

【"The future is the sea breeze and the warm sun. Live next to the sea, read the novel, read the unfinished ending, and then think hard about its ending."】

【"ending?"】

【"I once read a novel whose ending was torn off when I was young. Someone told me that if you are not satisfied with the ending, use your life to complete the story."】

【"Is it meaningful to continue writing like this?"】

【"I asked the same question, so the man replied, 'Don't underestimate yourself, pick up a pen, as long as the writer is literate, there is no need for any threshold'."]

Oda Sakunosuke's empty eyes were dull, and he was a little shocked for a while.

He couldn't tell if his identity as the killer was discovered, so the middle-aged man simulated the plot of the novel, or if what happened today coincided with the content of the novel.In fact, he read the novel again, and his keen intuition gave him an incredible answer.

He was persuaded to be good by both authors.

The young author told him to be careful and not to put down the killing weapon easily.

On the basis of the former, the older author carefully told him that killing is a crime, but killing for protection and righteousness can be understood and forgiven.

In the dark 14 years of Oda Sakunosuke's dark life, two special "guides" suddenly appeared. They seemed to be standing not far from him, staring at him with insightful eyes, and dug out the truth one step earlier than himself. his essence.

he asked himself.

What else can you do but kill?

Since there is no threshold for writing novels, should I try to write novels?

after all……

Detective Boy is also writing novels.

That level of "suspense"... I should be able to... no... it's better...

……

a few days later.

After Oda Sakunosuke was surrounded by the police, the police looked at him with hatred and did not know what information they got. Willing to fall!"

Oda Sakunosuke calmed down, raised his hands, and gave up resistance.

He expertly went to jail.

After that, he asked the guards for paper and pens, calmed down, collected materials locally, and silently wrote short stories about practicing hands during his boring prison life.

……

"Prison": Bibimbap with sugar is really unpalatable.In order not to eat such a prison meal that abuses the taste buds, it is not incomprehensible to stop doing evil.

——Oda Sakunosuke.