And just like that, the case came to a close.
There were many deaths this time around, but people's memories faded over time. It was the same as when a typhoon or power outage happened: there was a lot of damage, but no one knew the real reason for why it happened.
Of course, the predictions European officials made helped out, too.
Reports in the newspaper credited the absolute destruction in the suburbs of Yokohama as a large-scale conflict between the illegal organization Port Mafia and enemy organizations of theirs. The surrounding area was disfigured due to firearms, grenades, and a frightening amount of bombs flying about. Nothing more, nothing less.
But of course, with the amount of destruction that happened, it was a given that the specialists in crime related to ability users started to move—the military police's gifted crime countermeasure unit, a natural enemy to an illegal organization like the Port Mafia.
However, within half a month, the military police's investigation suddenly stopped, like a vanishing breath. Everyone involved turned their heads at that since this case was thought to thoroughly clean up the Port Mafia. The Port Mafia was powerful, but they weren't powerful enough to silence the military police—the country's strongest crime investigative agency. So then, what kind of magic did the Port Mafia use?
They didn't use any magic. There was no need to.
British and French public safety agencies interfered with the Ministry of Justice's legal decisions through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and just like that, it was swept under the rug with a broom and dustpan. Two of the strongest secret weapons in the world had fought and destroyed each other, after all. The Japanese government didn't want to see a single piece of this case. As a result of the major superpowers in Europe extinguishing this fire, only a small number of mafioso were charged with fines and suspended misdemeanor sentences before it was all over.
And so, the Assassin King case that devastated the Port Mafia drew to a close.
Two months later, right when Chuuya got back to the pier after seeing a friend off and was about to ride his motorcycle, a black car slowly approached him. The back-seat window slowly rolled down and one of the figures inside called out, "Chuuya."
It was Dazai.
He was in a getup he seldom wore. He had a black suit on with a tie fastened around his neck. The outfit was formal, like he was going to receive guests of honor.
"We've got work in five minutes," you called from by his side.
You were dressed in a similar fashion, wearing a longer red dress and having styled your hair beautifully.
The three of you stood underneath the ramp of a luxury liner.
The luxury liner was a ridiculously high-end cruise ship. There wasn't a single mark on the painted white walls, the guest rooms on the fifth story were lined with decorations reminiscent of a five-star hotel, and the skilled tour guides accompanied guests no matter where they went. The sailing power of this ship was twice that of the passenger ship, but despite that, the shaking inside the cruise was less than a tenth of that of the ship.
The cruise's name was the Bosverian.
It was a ship for strict government use where only prominent government officials were allowed to board.
The cruise's ramp came down and delegates got off of it in front of the two boys. First up was a guardsman in a black suit, who looked around warily in every direction. Everybody there had the bulky outline of a pistol resting on their waists.
Next to appear were bearded men who looked like government officials. The men had seasoned, capable, and unreadable grayish-brown eyes with the highest quality of clothes. A man holding a pearl-patterned gold cane pushed away crew members who tried to help him in the chaos with the end of his cane. It was a careless movement, like he was driving away a stray dog on the road.
"British fiends turned noble have appeared." Dazai muttered in a voice that only Chuuya could hear.
They were all high-ranking British officials who had come for the post-incident investigation. "The Assassin King" case was compiled of one state secret after another. A team of investigators were dispatched to Japan to take a look at this important case—a case that was much more than a simple criminal incident—and report it to the government.
And the Port Mafia, as a party related to this case, came forward to welcome the investigation team as honored guests and cooperate with them. The illegal organization Port Mafia, meeting with the British government's investigation team.
It was a strange situation, but there was rationality hidden beneath the boss's calculations and your advise.
First and foremost, it wasn't the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the military police that had the full picture of what happened—it was the Port Mafia. From the very beginning the European government had kept this case completely under wraps from the Japanese government. And from the Port Mafia's perspective, there was a reason to keep an eye on the British government, who were a major superpower.
And that reason was—there were suspicions that, in order to cover up the Assassin King case caused by a state secret, the government would eliminate all those who were involved.
Of course, the Port Mafia had no intention of revealing the truth or secrets of this case, but they had no way of knowing if the British government believed the words of a criminal organization. So they dispatched Dazai to welcome the guests of honor. If they showed intentions of disposing of those involved, Dazai was to negotiate and stop them. If negotiations failed, the mafia was to get rid of the investigation team before they could get rid of the mafia. Which was why Chuuya followed along.
Depending on the other party's attitude, this could turn into a cross-national dispute involving the entirety of the Port Mafia.
"Now, to begin the fun game of who can cheat the other out first." Dazai said happily as he approached the investigators, while you walked in the other directions, talking to the nobility that Mori introduced you to.
Three days after Professor Shelley's technical advisory team arrived, the European inquiry team—the main force—arrived. They then conducted a careful investigation on this matter.
They particularly focused on the battle site in the woods. It was where the battle with the rampant Guivre, a weapon of singularity that wasn't taken into account in the operation, happened. To make matters worse, this was the first time in history two weapons of singularity clashed and destroyed each other. They conducted a thorough investigation and obtained valuable documents from it, including recorded interviews and statements.
The Port Mafia cooperated from start to finish by arranging accommodations and offering chauffeurs necessary for travel. If the team needed any equipment for the investigation, they provided it. In the statement, all subordinates were given a strict order to cooperate.
The investigation team also tried to reach out to the underground research facility where N worked, but of course, it was refused by the Japanese government. It was, after all, a place where secrets regarding ability research were scattered all over the place. Politics were brought into the investigation and, as a result of secret talks with higher ups from the embassy, they agreed to have the Japanese side simply present a written report on the details of the case.
After a month of large-scale investigating, both investigation teams came to a conclusion.
Verlaine was dead. The singularity lifeform had destroyed everything in its path until it's internal energy had run dry, and afterwards, it was annihilated. There wasn't a single claw tip left behind.
The fact that the weapon of singularity did not work for the singularity lifeform also came as a shock to the investigation team. They concluded that these documents would further European weapons research. They were pleased with the unexpected results, thanked the Port Mafia for their complete cooperation, then left.
"Have I not mentioned it before?" Mori smiled lightly and looked at Kouyou. "So? How's the shelter?"
"No one came in and no one got out." Kouyou narrowed her eyes as she said that. "I didn't notice any higher-ups of the glory-ridden research team."
As she said that, Kouyou wore a cool smile on her face. It was the smile of a cold-blooded animal, much cooler than the blade affixed to her hip.
"They didn't find out that Verlaine is alive inside of it."
Yokohama.
The Port Mafia.
The night comes as many times as the day does. And when that night comes, there are just as many eyes of the Port Mafia illuminating Yokohama as there are stars in the sky.
The wounds inflicted during the Assassin King case weren't shallow. Weapons, men, and several offensive ability users were lost. They also caught the attention of the authorities. Which was why, for the time being, they had to make themselves small and rigid, conceal their activities, and save their strength.
But it was worth it. A little while later, the Dragon Head's conflict broke out. It was the worst 88 days in the history of Yokohama's underground society, a bloodbath that involved every single organization. The Port Mafia, limiting their activities only to reliable ones, managed to escape the initial stages of the Dragon Head's conflict relatively unscathed. At the end of the conflict, they quickly gained power and influence amidst the chaos of the underworld, like a young tree that grows rapidly in the bare sunlight after a forest fire.
And after the Dragon Head's conflict, the mafia changed and grew again. There was the rise of "Daikokuten" in all its four various combinations, Dazai's promotion to an executive, the Laughing Lemon case, the Mimic incident, Dazai leaving the mafia because of it, you following suit not too long after, and various other cases. Then six years later, their clash with the gifted organization, the Armed Detective Agency.
Time affects everyone equally.
Verlaine didn't die. His body was given life by Rimbaud, and he was incarcerated in a Port Mafia shelter. By his own choice. There was no longer a place for Verlaine in the outside world. He had lost more than half of his gravitational powers and the only place he could escape Europe's long, wide reach was that underground shelter.
Plus, he wasn't interested in the outside world. There were no people he wanted to kill, no people he wanted to meet. Except for Rimbaud.
And Rimbaud wasn't there anymore.
At first he spent the time with his only friends, books and poetry. Then, when he grew bored of that, he did the same thing Rimbaud did. He trained the next generation.
He drove his knowledge and skill into the brains of the mafia's elites in the underground training grounds, including Akutagawa Gin partially, Izumi Kyouka, and many others. All of the mafia hitmen that received his training became top-notch assassins in a short amount of time.
Verlaine didn't reveal his intentions to anyone. No one, not even his disciples or the boss, really knew why he wished to continue living his uncomfortable, holed up life.
When he wasn't training his disciples, he simply sat down in his wisteria chair, waiting for something. What it was he was waiting for, no one could say. Whenever he was asked, he would reply with, "the storm". No one knew what he meant by that.
Six years later, Verlaine rose to an indispensable, central figure in the mafia—one of the five executives. Even now he is quietly sitting in his wisteria chair, patiently waiting for the storm.