Chapter 6

Before arriving in China, Chuuya had already heard the name Verlaine.

Nine years ago, to seize a certain experimental result, Verlaine and his partner secretly infiltrated Yokohama. However, after successfully obtaining the stolen goods, a rift formed between them, and Verlaine was ultimately killed by his partner.

That same partner, who had killed Verlaine, was eliminated a year ago through the combined efforts of Chuuya and Dazai.

Verlaine no longer existed in this world.

Therefore, when Chuuya received a warning letter on the plane, he assumed it was merely a fabricated lie. It was an email from an unknown sender claiming that Verlaine was attempting to hunt him down and urging him to immediately stop his trip abroad and accept personal protection.

Setting aside the veracity of the content, by the time he saw the email, Chuuya had already landed in China. It was impossible for him to turn back based on a piece of trumped-up intelligence.

However, perhaps he was being overly suspicious, but the questioning he faced at immigration lasted far longer than Dazai Osamu’s. He was even asked questions like, "Have you traveled to Europe recently?"

Verlaine had come from Europe, but Chuuya had certainly never been there. He suppressed his inner doubts, answered the question truthfully, and successfully entered the country.

"Don't carry any burdens," the official who processed his paperwork said before he left. "As long as you are here with the genuine intention to study, you are safe. Just focus on your studies; you don't need to worry about anything else."

There was a vague subtext to those words, but at the time, Chuuya did not notice it at all. He let out a sigh of relief and thanked the official sincerely. The official looked at him, their attitude softening significantly, though there was still a hint of hesitation in their eyes.

"However, are you really going to attend high school in that place?"

"I don't mean anything by it, it's just... it's great that you are brave enough to challenge yourself, but some challenges are truly unnecessary... you know what I mean, right?"

Chuuya: "..."

To be honest, he did not.

All of the above occurred during his first entry into the country. After successfully enrolling, he attended less than three classes before he was inexplicably pulled back to Yokohama. By then, he had long forgotten that minor episode.

After reporting to the Boss, while chatting with Du Zhengxuan in the car, he also messaged a few friends in the Port Mafia. Almost no one in Yokohama used that model of mobile phone or that particular instant messaging software; those friends had practically bought new phones just to contact him.

His friends replied that they were being summoned by the Boss and were on their way to meet him. Even then, Chuuya felt a vague sense of unease. Summoning so many people at once in the dead of night suggested something major was happening, yet he had seen no signs of it when he met the Boss earlier.

As the doubt surfaced in his mind, he received a reply from Du Zhengxuan, and a sudden, ominous premonition struck him. He jumped out of the car to rush to the scene, narrowly avoiding a tragedy.

Verlaine was known as the King of Assassins and had committed many seemingly impossible crimes. Facing him, Chuuya truly held no advantage.

***

The two sides fell into a stalemate. Although Chuuya had obtained the necessary supporting documents, he was tied down by this situation and unable to leave.

It wasn't until his homeroom teacher sent message after message asking when he would return to class, saying that it didn't matter if the documents weren't perfectly prepared, but the most important thing was for him to return quickly. Because the monthly exams were approaching, they desperately needed him back to score some points.

This message was sent to the Port Mafia and then forwarded by Mori Ougai. At the time, Mori Ougai’s voice on the phone sounded somewhat surprised, as if he hadn't expected Nakahara Chuuya to be held in such high regard over there. He tentatively asked how Chuuya was adapting and whether he could keep up with the curriculum, mentioning that the homeroom teacher’s evaluation of him and Dazai Osamu was exceptionally high:

"That teacher referred to you and Dazai-kun as 'Wolong and Fengchu' in the letter; they never expected to have both of you as students at the same time."

Chuuya was modest in his reply, but after hanging up, he searched online and discovered that "Wolong and Fengchu" was a compliment for exceptionally talented individuals. He didn't quite understand—he had only attended two classes and hadn't really shown anything, so why was he being praised so extravagantly?

If it was because that guy Dazai had made a good impression... was that guy really that impressive?

Chuuya boarded the plane back with a head full of questions. On one hand, he was returning for the exams; on the other, this was the choice the Boss wanted him to make after weighing the pros and cons.

The calm state between him and Verlaine would not last long; the other party would sooner or later find an opening to attack. Rather than waiting for that opportunity to fight, it was better to leave for now.

It was almost impossible to set foot on Chinese soil without going through proper channels, and Verlaine could not meet this requirement. Even if, by some stretch of the imagination, he found a way to pursue him, it would be impossible to cause significant harm while both sides had their abilities restricted.

No, the more likely scenario was that he simply couldn't follow. He could use this time he had gained to think of countermeasures and find an effective way to defeat Verlaine.

Carrying these complex considerations, Nakahara Chuuya returned to take his exams. He only forgot to review... or perhaps, preview.

*

As the monthly exams approached, Du Zhengxuan woke up every day thinking only of studying. It felt like the diagnostic exams had just ended, and the monthly exams were already here. She had clearly resolved to study hard and work diligently after the entrance exams, but how had it already come to this before she could even start in earnest?

She admitted she had thought about writing something like "all knowledge enters the brain" in "The Book"... although it was a bit dishonorable, could a scholar's actions really be called stealing?

But unfortunately, "The Book" didn't even pop up with [Inconsistent with Realistic Logic] this time; it simply went "exe not responding."

Du Zhengxuan was truly getting anxious; she felt like she was being targeted. She secretly resolved to start planning now, and sooner or later, she would write a realistic fairy tale with a gripping plot and flawless logic in this book to wash away her shame.

She struggled for a long time between the themes of romance and suspense, and finally opened the website to scroll through her favorite idol's 30-second heart-flutter challenge. Revenge could wait until tomorrow.

The next day, she still hadn't figured out how to start writing, but Nakahara Chuuya, who had been absent for a long time, returned. Du Zhengxuan was genuinely surprised when she saw him in the classroom:

"Why are you back, Nakahara? The exams are in a few days..." If I were you, I would have waited until after the exams to come back.

Nakahara Chuuya nodded: "I came back to take the exams."

"..."

Brother, don't be so honest.

Du Zhengxuan was stunned and silent. When she was in elementary school, her classmates knew how to use the excuse of a physical checkup or picking up new textbooks to wander outside until the end of class before returning. Her understanding of the new classmate's simplicity reached a new level; now she actually believed his hair and eyes were all natural.

Before she could decide whether to ask about it, he had already started moving Dazai’s things from beside her to an empty desk by the aisle.

...Does he not get along with Dazai? The way he moved the books looked like there was some personal vendetta.

Du Zhengxuan watched, dumbfounded, as Chuuya moved most of the items in a few swift motions. She hadn't seen it last time because she was asleep, but seeing it with her own eyes now, she realized that even though Nakahara Chuuya wasn't physically tall, he seemed quite strong. That stack of high, new textbooks on Dazai's desk seemed to have no weight in his hands.

Seeing that he had almost cleared Dazai Osamu's desk in one go, Du Zhengxuan hurriedly went up to stop him: "Wait, wait, wait... stop, *tomare*, uh, the rest of these books are yours, do you understand, brother? The rest of the books are yours, stop moving them!"

Due to the translation delay, Chuuya took a few more books from Dazai's desk before stopping. Even so, he looked at the large stack of books left on the desk and fell into a brief silence:

"...These, all of them, mine?"

Du Zhengxuan somehow heard a sense of existential doubt in his words.

"...Ah, these aren't all for the exams," she realized belatedly what he meant, and pulled out the music, art, and computer books from the stack: "You don't need these. The freshman monthly exam only covers nine subjects... I'm not sure if you need to do a makeup test for P.E., and the P.E. teacher resigned recently... Nakahara? Nakahara-san? Are you listening, Nakahara-san?"

Nakahara Chuuya remained silent. Only one simple question remained in his heart:

What do you mean by "only" nine subjects? Where on earth do so many subjects to be tested on even come from?