Mori Ougai returned to his clinic as usual.
After feeding the overgrown loli Yosano Akiko and spending some time holding hands with Elise and changing her clothes, he began his regular work outside of his duties as a private physician.
Three days later, he heard a very different version of recent events from one of his patients.
The Port Mafia's upper ranks had been thrown into turmoil.
First, the Port Mafia Boss had survived an assassination attempt. By sheer luck, the Boss had escaped death, while Executive Nishida had defected, leaving the Port Mafia with only two Executive-level members remaining.
Second, after narrowly surviving, the enraged Boss had shifted his attention elsewhere. Rather than pursuing the person who possessed the Skilled Business Permit, the Port Mafia had suppressed the information. News of the permit circulated only within a very limited circle.
Finally, there was one more piece of news—
After collapsing from rage and illness, the Port Mafia Boss had become bedridden. The Port Mafia Analyst had paid an enormous price to secretly bring in an ability-user doctor overnight, and the Boss had been completely cured.
According to the rumors, the Port Mafia Boss could now walk without assistance and had already dispatched the Black Lizard to hunt down the traitor.
Mori Ougai was stunned.
As the Boss's newly hired private physician, he knew exactly what condition the man was suffering from.
The Boss was simply too old.
His organs were failing as a natural consequence of age.
It was an incurable condition.
No medicine could save him.
No matter how skilled a doctor was, all they could do was slow the deterioration and delay the inevitable with medication.
Moreover, the Boss's mental state was unstable. He was irritable, volatile, and impossible to reason with. No one could even suggest that he rest and recuperate—he would rather sit in the Port Mafia Boss's office until the day he died.
Which means that the person who cured him had to be an ability user with some extraordinary power!
"No, I have to see it with my own eyes!"
Mori Ougai felt as though he were sitting on a bed of needles. He could no longer stay put.
Using his usual rough-and-ready methods, he bandaged his patients' external injuries, prescribed some medicine, and once again closed the clinic for the day.
Inside the room, Yosano Akiko sat curled up in a corner.
Hearing the sound of the man leaving, her gaze shifted slightly before falling lifeless once more. There was not the slightest desire to escape in her eyes.
After spending several years in the sanatorium, she felt she had finally figured things out.
She never wanted to heal anyone again.
Having lost her ability, she no longer had to face patients in need of treatment.
Elise, the little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, walked over. After hesitating for a moment, she reached out, wanting to help her up.
"Akiko, Rintarou's gone. Let's go play!"
Yosano Akiko slapped her hand away as though she had touched something filthy.
"Don't touch me!"
"...Akiko, do you hate me?"
"..."
Yosano Akiko said nothing.
She buried her face between her knees and wept in silence.
No one could save her. And no one… is coming to save her.
The Mori Ougai who had taken her out of the sanatorium had merely dragged her from one hell into another!
It was this man who had turned her into the army's so-called "Angel of Death"!
She had only wanted to save people.
She hadn't wanted soldiers to die.
Yet somehow, she had become the one who brought death.
Elise looked at her helplessly, set down her snacks, and went outside to watch the clinic for Rintarou.
"Meow."
After sitting there for so long, Yosano Akiko thought she must have imagined it.
Was that a cat?
Slowly, she looked toward the window.
The windows in this room had been sealed shut. There was no way to see outside.
A second tiny, pitiful meow reached her ears.
It sounded injured...
Like it was crying for help.
Ten minutes later, her legs had gone numb.
Supporting herself against the wall, Yosano Akiko pushed herself to her feet. She shuffled to the doorway and found that Elise was no longer in the hallway. Quietly opening the door, she headed for another room in search of a window.
In the neighboring room, cluttered with miscellaneous items, she walked over to the window.
For the first time, she actively sought out the world beyond these walls.
The window opened.
Yosano Akiko did not see a cat.
Instead, a black-haired boy wearing a hat was hanging onto the windowsill.
His face is full of cheerful smiles.
Puffing out his cheeks, he sat outside meowing at her.
Yosano Akiko: "..."
After seeing the frail young girl, Edogawa Ranpo reached out and poked the butterfly hairpin clipped into her hair, the way a cat might instinctively be fascinated by a butterfly.
"Meow~ Want to come out and play?"
On the second day after Edogawa Ranpo and Fukuzawa Yukichi had gone into "hiding," he received a message from Asou Akiya.
Akiya had neither asked him to come home nor requested a meeting.
Instead, he wrote:
[If you have time, help me save someone.]
[Her name is Yosano Akiko. She's a healing-type ability user living in a clinic near Suribachi City.]
[This girl will become the best doctor you could ever have.]
After reading the message, Ranpo immediately discussed it with Fukuzawa Yukichi.
Edogawa Ranpo would investigate the situation, while Fukuzawa Yukichi would secretly watch over and protect him.
After looking into the matter, Ranpo discovered the unusual relationship between Yosano Akiko and the underground doctor Mori Ougai.
In short, she was a little girl being kept at the clinic.
So he patiently waited until Mori Ougai left before mischievously disguising himself as a cat to go fishing.
And just like that...
The fish had taken the bait.
Mori Ougai had his house stolen out from under him.
At Port Mafia Headquarters, Mori Ougai arrived carrying a medical case that had already been inspected and cleared by security. He finally met the Port Mafia Boss again after three days.
The moment he laid eyes on him, he sensed that something was wrong.
His heart skipped a beat.
For the first time, he felt there was a real possibility he might lose this job.
The white-haired old man, now well past eighty, sat in the Boss's office handling the accumulated workload.
The row of buttons on his black long coat was fastened all the way to the collar. His long white hair fell stylishly down his back, the ends curling outward. His expression was calm and composed.
He looked like an old man who was definitely not to be trifled with.
Inayama Kigoro looked remarkably healthy, no longer like a withered old man with one foot already in the grave.
After seeing his private physician, he said in an even tone,
"Mori-sensei, I've recovered."
"Ah, I see... congratulations, Boss."
Mori Ougai's response came out somewhat awkwardly.
From a long-term perspective, he called the man "Boss" because that was the position he hoped to secure for himself in the future. If he were merely a temporary private physician, addressing him that way felt slightly strange.
Still, Mori Ougai adjusted his mindset quickly.
"Boss, may I perform an examination?"
He was extremely curious about the nature of the treatment.
Had it reversed his age?
Now that Inayama Kigoro looked so healthy, he appeared several years younger than before.
Had it suppressed the illness?
Rumor had it that some of the world's top healing-type ability users could control diseases themselves.
Inayama Kigoro waved a hand dismissively.
"There's no need. The Medical Department has already examined me."
It was a lie.
Whether the Medical Department's reports were true or false depended entirely on what the Port Mafia Boss wanted them to say.
Mori Ougai stood there looking somewhat at a loss, as though he didn't know what to do next. Behind that appearance, however, his gaze swept across the room with the rational precision of a scanner, carefully observing everything in sight.
The carpet had been replaced.
Parts of the walls showed signs of having been damaged and later repaired.
Every detail, including the adjoining lounge area, indicated that the Boss's office really had been attacked.
How much hatred would it take for an Executive to launch a solo assault on the Boss himself?
This alone showed what an incompetent Boss he had been.
"So then..." Should he leave, or stay?
Was this man about to dismiss him?
After all, the matter involved the secret of the ability user who had cured him. It hardly seemed appropriate for a private physician to have any contact with such information.
"You'll stay."
Without even looking up, the Port Mafia Boss issued the order.
"Huh?" Mori Ougai's expression flickered with uncertainty. Testing the waters, he asked, "Boss, you look exceptionally healthy now. Do you still need me as your private physician?"
He was a top graduate of the University of Tokyo's School of Medicine, with impeccable credentials. His later military service was classified and would not become public knowledge.
But the Port Mafia already had its own medical system and doctors.
Was there really any need to continue spending money to hire him as a personal physician?
"Mori-sensei's medical skills are excellent. I trust them."
A benevolent expression appeared on the Port Mafia Boss's face.
On a face that had gone mad only a few days ago, it created an indescribably unsettling contrast.
"Besides, the Analyst spoke highly of you. I rarely hear him praise anyone. Anyone who earns his approval must possess exceptional talent."
"I would like to continue employing you as my private physician."
The orderly logic and coherent reasoning behind those words instantly sent Mori Ougai's vigilance soaring.
A Port Mafia Boss who had regained his sanity was not someone who could be easily manipulated!
It seemed his chosen path of becoming the Boss's personal physician had already gone off course.
Taking half a step back, Mori Ougai bowed.
"You honor me with your trust, as does the Analyst. However, I am merely an ordinary doctor. Treating the sick and saving lives is my duty—I am no miracle worker. If you require my services, simply give me a call. Even if I am at my clinic, I will come immediately to make a house call for you."
The Port Mafia Boss regarded him thoughtfully.
"You want to leave?"
Mori Ougai stiffened.
The Boss's expression turned cold.
"Since you call me Boss and are already aware of my physical condition, then as a reward for my recovery, I hereby permit you to join the Port Mafia."
Without giving Mori Ougai a chance to continue speaking, the Boss directly issued an order to the people outside the door.
"Take him away. Have the Analyst arrange his onboarding procedures."
"..."
Mori Ougai felt as though he had just been kidnapped.
A short while later, he came face-to-face with the culprit behind it all: Asou Akiya.
Smiling pleasantly, Akiya said, "Welcome to the Port Mafia, Mori-sensei. From now on, I'll be your guide."
Mori Ougai's face darkened.
"Did any of you ever give me the opportunity to refuse?"
Asou Akiya led the way ahead of him, handling the paperwork as they walked.
"Once you've come here, you're a member of the Port Mafia in life and a Port Mafia ghost in death. Don't say such discouraging things."
Mori Ougai was left speechless.
Behind him, one of the Boss's men still had a gun trained on his back, urging him forward.
Tears practically welling in his eyes, Mori Ougai cried out,
"I'll join! I'll join! Just tell the person behind me to lower the gun!"
Pretending to notice the man for the first time, Asou Akiya said,
"You can return and report to the Boss. I'll take care of the doctor's onboarding."
"Yes, sir!"
The large man in the black suit answered respectfully.
Mori Ougai noticed the way everyone along the route looked at both him and Asou Akiya.
There was a clear increase in the respect contained in those gazes.
Looking back at Akiya, Mori immediately found an explanation for the out-of-season scarf around his neck—
It was probably some kind of token.
Wrapped around Asou Akiya's neck was a long red scarf, wound twice before the ends draped over his suit jacket. In the air-conditioned halls of Port Mafia Headquarters, it wasn't particularly hot to wear.
A thought occurred to Mori Ougai.
"You're about to become an Executive?"
He had cured the Boss.
A Sub-Executive being promoted to Executive was only a matter of time.
Asou Akiya smiled.
"Mori-sensei is very perceptive."
Having successfully dragged him into the Port Mafia, he wholeheartedly welcomed this new corporate slave into the organization.
"From now on, you'll be the Boss's personal physician and my direct subordinate."
"Huh?!?"
"Are you happy? Surprised? Unexpected?"
"..."
Every Executive or Sub-Executive was entitled to only one direct subordinate.
Hearing the title "direct subordinate" thrown at him so suddenly, Mori Ougai was left dumbfounded for the second time that day.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
A chill ran down his spine.
His violet eyes filled with suspicion as he looked at Natsume-sensei's eldest disciple.
You did this on purpose!
You deliberately want to keep me beneath you!
You've already figured out why I came here—you don't want me becoming the next Port Mafia Boss!
After "seeing through" the situation, Mori Ougai calmed down.
Just as he would never expose the connection between Asou Akiya and Natsume Souseki, Akiya likewise could not expose his true ambitions.
"I am hardly in a position to refuse your recruitment, Akiya-dono."
"I look forward to working with you."
Lowering his posture, he returned to the demeanor of the timid, unassuming doctor standing before the Port Mafia's Analyst.
Then, quickly adapting to Port Mafia customs, Mori Ougai cautiously asked,
"I've heard the Port Mafia has a tradition where senior members give a gift to the newcomers they bring in. May I be fortunate enough to receive one as well?"
Asou Akiya touched the soft red scarf around his neck.
Under Mori's expectant gaze, he then reached into his pocket instead.
He pulled out a bank card and placed it in Mori's hand.
"It's yours."
The sensation of being someone's kept man shot straight through the heavens.
After three days of running around and dealing with endless matters, Asou Akiya was delighted to have finally reeled in a dazed black fox.
Ah.
Canines are adorable too!