Sincerity never wins hearts; only schemes do.
Under Aikawa Kaze's barrage of threats and temptations, even the cleverest person would crumble, because this was precisely "the weakness of human nature."
Some scams seemed incredibly stupid yet still fleeced wave after wave of suckers. That did not necessarily mean the victims were unintelligent; the scams had simply been tailored to their weaknesses.
Just like now, Aikawa Kaze did not believe he was smarter than Boss Dazai, but he had more comprehensive information and knew exactly where the other man's weaknesses lay. Naturally, that gave him an almost absolute advantage.
Boss Dazai finally responded to him.
Unlike Red Archer and the King of Knights, whose mental spaces were vast enough to feel boundless, inspiring an urge to explore an endless world.
Boss Dazai's inner landscape manifested as the interior of a bar with limited space that even felt rather cramped.
Under the dim yellow lights, there was only a row of bar counters and a scattering of seats. It could probably accommodate no more than a dozen people at once, and one could walk from end to end in ten-odd seconds.
It should have felt oppressive, yet somehow it had a strange sense of intimate warmth?
As a respectable man who disliked socializing, Aikawa Kaze had never been to a bar. He could not help taking a few extra looks, though he soon withdrew his gaze.
The place was too small to offer much to look at. He might as well look at the person instead!
A young man with one eye wrapped in bandages sat at the counter, idly poking the spherical ice cube in his glass with one hand while holding a black-covered book in the other.
It really was him.
Aikawa Kaze walked over with a smile and took