Chapter 105
Toyama Kazuha also heard Usuha Izuki's words and almost wanted to cry out, but afraid of provoking him, her grip on Hattori Heiji's hand unconsciously tightened, making even Hattori Heiji, who had decent pain tolerance, frown.
However, this pain actually made Hattori Heiji suddenly calm down considerably.
"Big brother is lying, right?" He sharply retorted. "No bad person would just say they're a bad person in front of others like that. You don't look like you're carrying a gun or knife or anything, and if I shouted right now, I wouldn't be the one in trouble—big brother might not know, but the owner here used to be an elite detective."
This shop was run by a retired detective's wife. The retired detective himself could only be considered a helper, but he was indeed always in the shop. That's why both his and Toyama Kazuha's parents were so comfortable letting the two children go out alone—because they knew this was an old friend's territory and the area was very safe.
Usuha Izuki glanced at the suspicion values Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha were contributing in the background and decided to quit while he was ahead. After all, he hadn't eaten much yesterday and was practically starving by now. If teasing children prevented him from eating, it would be counterproductive.
Suspicion values could be farmed anytime, but his stomach couldn't wait! He was so hungry he was practically hypoglycemic!
So Usuha Izuki said with a regretful expression: "Kids these days are getting harder and harder to fool."
Toyama Kazuha: "......Eh?"
Hattori Heiji squinted and said: "Big brother, I'm almost in middle school. Don't try to trick us like we're five or six-year-olds."
Although he was indeed startled at first, thinking it over carefully, who would dress like this when committing crimes? Was he afraid people wouldn't remember him? And that excited feeling... didn't seem like someone about to do bad things.
Hattori Heiji, still just a child, only saw through the first layer and couldn't think that if Usuha Izuki immediately changed into low-key normal clothes after doing bad things, passersby really might not recognize him...
The system also complained: [With your acting skills, you can only fool children... and even the children saw through it...]
[Stop nagging. This is Hattori Heiji! Look, Toyama Kazuha was completely fooled.]
Usuha Izuki was indignant: [Besides, I never rely on acting to farm suspicion values!]
System: [Right, you rely on the "Black Screen Aura"...]
Usuha Izuki ignored the system.
He said matter-of-factly: "Big brother just wanted you to know that when you're outside, don't casually talk to strange people—they might be bad people."
Toyama Kazuha: "......"
Hattori Heiji: "......"
How can someone call themselves a strange person! If you have such self-awareness, why dress like this!!!
But this could indeed explain why this guy said weird things earlier...
Hattori Heiji was a bit speechless but still didn't forget the earlier suspicious point and persistently asked: "By the way, why did big brother investigate my family?"
"Mmm—personal habit. I'm used to checking the police headquarters situation when I arrive somewhere new."
"......Big brother, you're a bit suspicious." Hattori Heiji's mouth twitched.
Toyama Kazuha couldn't help asking: "Why would you have such a habit?"
It was like a criminal casing the joint! Really hard not to think the worst!
But this person said it so openly and honestly—they must have misunderstood something, right?
Both Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha were very conflicted.
Usuha Izuki said to the system in his mind: [See, I farm suspicion values mainly through rhetoric! What's acting? I don't care about that stuff!]
[Acting is something you don't have at all. You're not in a position to express whether you care about it or not.]
Usuha Izuki refused to listen to the system's nagging. He said to the two children without changing expression: "Because if I investigate beforehand, it's convenient for building relationships."
Hattori Heiji felt increasingly strange listening to this: "What exactly do you do, big brother?"
"Aren't you going to be a detective? Can't you tell?"
Usuha Izuki snorted: "My name is Conan, and I'm a detective. To avoid being kicked out by police at crime scenes, it's necessary to build good relationships with higher-ups, right?"
Hattori Heiji: "I don't think that's necessary... and isn't this fake name a bit excessive?"
"You can also call me Holmes. I don't mind."
"I mind!"
Hattori Heiji's mouth twitched: "Although I prefer Ellery Queen, I can't accept someone casually calling themselves Holmes either."
Usuha Izuki blinked: "How can you say it's casual? I think I'm quite capable... Want to compete?"
Hattori Heiji's eyes lit up.
Boys this age couldn't resist challenges and always liked competing with others, so he was easily hooked: "How do we compete?"
"Let's just guess about passersby—the more information we guess, the better." Usuha Izuki smiled. "Want to try? The loser pays for the meal."
Hattori Heiji: "Let's do it!"
Half an hour later—
Hattori Heiji was bent over in dejection: "How is this possible! Why could you even tell that she was just wearing a fake wedding ring and wasn't actually married!"
"Because you're still a child. It's normal that you can't tell." Usuha Izuki ate his beef rice matter-of-factly. "Good thing you're just a kid—you won't get beaten for asking such questions. If it were me, I'd probably be treated as a perverted pickup artist."
With [Universal Navigation] activated, although he hadn't set keywords, by directly displaying map mode, he could open profiles for everyone in his field of vision. Though the information was relatively brief, it was enough for him to win. Usuha Izuki felt no psychological pressure bullying children.
He even said with fake sympathy: "You've already lost 10 meals to me. How about we call it off? If others found out, they'd say I was bullying a kid, and your allowance definitely isn't enough."
Hattori Heiji knew Usuha Izuki wasn't short of money, so he couldn't accept having the bet cancelled: "No, losing is losing. Let's exchange contact information. When you want to find me, just call me. When I start middle school, my allowance will increase... Damn it! Just reading books really doesn't teach you everything..."
"You'll understand when you grow up." Usuha Izuki gave the universal answer. "Alright, I still have things to do. Little brother should go play with little sister. You came out together but left her aside—that's not very nice."
Toyama Kazuha was suddenly mentioned and paused, quickly waving her hands: "No, it's fine! As long as Heiji is happy."
Hattori Heiji: "See, Kazuha said so. Let's continue!"
Toyama Kazuha: "......"
Usuha Izuki: "......Your emotional intelligence... never mind."
Hattori Heiji persisted: "What's wrong with my emotional intelligence? What are you trying to say?"
"I really have to go." Usuha Izuki waved his phone showing a new email. "Big brother has work to do too."
"Is it a case?" Hattori Heiji asked curiously. "Can I follow along?"
Usuha Izuki firmly refused: "No way. I don't want to be treated as a kidnapper. You two should finish playing and go home. Big brother is going to do bad things now—children aren't allowed to follow."
After saying this, Usuha Izuki put on his coat and left without looking back.
Toyama Kazuha hesitated for a moment and asked: "Why did he say he was going to do bad things again?"
Hattori Heiji chuckled twice: "Looking at how happy he is, what case? He's probably going on a date."
What bad thing could make someone this happy!
As it turned out, Usuha Izuki was indeed very happy doing bad things.
This time, the meeting location in the email wasn't the abandoned factory from last night, but it wasn't much better—it was an abandoned office building.
When he arrived, everyone else was already there. Usuha Izuki was the last to arrive again.
Mizuno Rena looked at Usuha Izuki dressed like a colorful butterfly and almost didn't recognize that this was yesterday's interviewer.
......How is this person dressed like this?! Did he go to some punk gathering?!
At this point, Mizuno Rena was beginning to vaguely sense that her assessment of Usuha Izuki yesterday might have been somewhat off.
Botanist seemed a bit unreliable. Thinking about it carefully, this guy had been late yesterday too...
"What's going on? Shouldn't everyone be doing their missions today?" Usuha Izuki looked around and found nowhere to sit, so he regretfully found a pillar to lean against. "Why call everyone back? Isn't this a waste of time?"
Gin ignored him: "Intelligence was leaked. The boss of the Horikawa Group seems to have already moved to another location. According to reports from various places, the yakuza organizations in Kansai suddenly went quiet collectively and are focusing on protecting their families. This is definitely not a coincidence—the rat is among you."
"It wasn't me." Someone spoke up first.
Others quickly followed: "We're all in pairs monitoring each other. There was no opportunity to leak information."
Usuha Izuki suddenly interjected: "It's not the last century where you need dead drops. Now you can just leak information by sending an email with your phone, right? And who can guarantee that both people in a pair aren't undercover agents? You all look suspicious to me."
Vodka's mouth twitched: "Say less."
"Then you tell me—who's the undercover agent?" Usuha Izuki blinked and asked. "Not just Vodka, everyone else can freely nominate too. I'll consider it seriously!"
Vodka really wanted to say you look like an undercover agent, but seeing Usuha Izuki's expectant expression, he didn't want to speak.
But while Vodka didn't want to speak, someone else did.
Akai Shuichi tentatively spoke up: "The mission about the Horikawa Group boss—Gin originally didn't plan to mention it yesterday, but we only learned about it because Botanist asked, right? Botanist seemed very concerned about it, and many of his behaviors... Sorry, I'm not targeting anyone. I just think Botanist really does seem like an undercover agent."