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The Azure Banner Terrorist case—the incident that cost Rokuzo’s father his life. The moment I saw the word azure in his name, I briefly played with the idea myself.
“But the terrorist behind that incident, the Azure King, died in the blast as well. The dead cannot threaten the living. That much is certain in this world.”
“Oh, so does that mean you’re not afraid of ghosts anymore, Kunikida?”
“Never speak of ghosts again.”
“But it was a large explosion, yes? I heard they never found the Azure King’s body, either. What if he faked his death to escape and is now in hiding somewhere?”
I had wondered that myself, which is why I contacted the military police. However, they said that wasn’t possible.
“According to police analyses, the Azure King undoubtedly perished in the blast. They have the latest forensic technology available, and some of their comrades died in the explosion as well, so it’s hard to imagine they would overlook anything.”
“But…”
“Well, I dunno much about this Azure King, but is he really someone who would crawl out of the pits of hell to take vengeance on the agency?”
Dazai’s ignorance never ceases to amaze me.
I reluctantly explain. The Azure King was the mastermind behind the Azure Banner Terrorist incident that targeted and destroyed government facilities. He was known as the worst and most destructive domestic terrorist threat of postwar Japan.
Once said to be an excellent state government official before raising the azure banner, the ambitious youth graduated at the top of his class from an elite educational institution, then worked as a central
civil servant in the executive and legislative world after studying abroad. Yet, somewhere along the line, he mysteriously began to aspire to cleanse society through its destruction.
Then one day, a certain video recording was sent to a major domestic broadcasting station. It was a video of a young man whose face had been obscured by an azure banner. He called himself the Azure King and claimed he was going to commit an act of terror. He then told of how he lamented for this imperfect world and that such imperfections could only be buried by other imperfections.
“No matter how much we aspire to, our neighbors will fall ill, our parents will die, and only a small fraction of evildoers will see justice. Then let us realize an ideal world, not by the hand of a god but by our own imperfect bloodstained hands.”
And with those final words, three domestic government facilities were simultaneously attacked: The city police’s associated facility was set on fire, something collided with a government vehicle, and a military post was hit with a bomb.
A later investigation revealed that the eight people he killed included a murderer who was found not guilty due to the prosecutor’s insufficient paperwork, a member of parliament who was rumored to have been embezzling funds meant to aid refugees from industrializing nations, and a military platoon that beat a young military policeman to death before systematically covering up the act. These eight people all perished in the attack. The Azure King committed an act of evil to execute criminals who couldn’t be punished by the law.
This blitz tactic shocked everyone. He was able to simultaneously attack and destroy multiple strictly guarded and heavily protected government facilities. Nobody even imagined such an attack was possible.
And the Azure King’s terrorist acts continued further. Disgraced, the military and government gave nationwide orders to locate and arrest him. Even the detective agency was asked to help. What happened after that was exactly how I explained before. His hideout was discovered, and those who went inside were killed in his suicidal blast. The case was solved at the cost of innocent lives.
“But if the one behind this really is the Azure King, then why would he be so persistent in trying to tarnish the agency’s name?”
“Maybe because you’re the one he has a grudge against, Kunikida.”
A grudge? Against me? I mean, I was the one who contacted the police and led them to his whereabouts, but… It can’t be. The ghost of the Azure King, the worst terrorist this country has ever seen, returned from the grave to have his revenge on the agency and me because of a grudge?
“At any rate, we’d best keep our guard up until we know who we’re dealing with. There’s no way of knowing who’s going to attack us or when they’re going to do it. We have to take Miss Sasaki somewhere safe as well.”
“Perhaps the agency office? Oh, but nobody’s there at night. Hmm…”
That’s when I suddenly catch on to what Dazai’s up to.
“I seriously hope you’re not trying to find an excuse to keep her at your place to ‘protect’ her, because I will not allow such lewd, immoral, unhealthy relations to continue any longer. Honestly, were you raised by savages or something? Absolutely appalling. If it were me, y’know, I’d first make her feel comfo—”
“Hold on, Kunikida. You know there’s nothing going on between Miss Sasaki and me, right?”
“What?”
“Listen, the first day she stayed over, I slept in another room. I haven’t laid a finger on her. C’mon, do you really think I’d try to seduce a woman who was almost killed earlier that day? I’ve got a little more sense than that. Besides, I’d have to deal with you if that ever happened, and I’d rather not.”
Oh… It looks like I jumped to conclusions.
