Chapter 201
Vermouth kept her word. The next day, after having breakfast with Usuha Izuki, she leisurely headed to Eddie Cassano's villa.
Since she had mentioned it in advance, and Vermouth's face as the famous star [Sharon] served as a pass, Usuha Izuki easily followed behind Vermouth and mixed in.
"Oh, isn't this Sharon! It's been so long!"
Eddie Cassano was a dignified-looking middle-aged man sitting on a beach chair by the pool, drinking. Upon seeing Vermouth, he enthusiastically stood up to greet her: "And this child you brought is...?"
"A friend's kid." Vermouth patted Usuha Izuki's back. "He's staying with me, and I wasn't sure what to do with him for entertainment. I heard you were having a party today, so I brought him along to have a look."
Eddie Cassano burst into laughter: "Hah hah hah hah, young people do love this stuff. Good kid, feel free to play around. If you see anything you like, just speak up!"
Since he was brought by Sharon, and seeing the importance Sharon placed on him, Eddie Cassano automatically classified Usuha Izuki into his own class—that is, the class that could do whatever they pleased, however they pleased.
This couldn't even be called an unspoken rule anymore, but rather a well-known privilege. You could tell from everyone's matter-of-fact attitude that this old bastard had definitely pulled plenty of dirty stunts.
"Go on." Vermouth smiled sweetly. "I'll chat with Eddie some more."
As she spoke, her gaze casually swept over the figure frozen by the pool's edge.
Without a doubt, that stunned fool was Vodka.
Looking at those two familiar faces, Vodka's mental state completely collapsed, with a voice screaming hysterically in his mind:
Vermouth—!!!
What do you mean by this?! Why did you bring Botanist here?!
You're messing with me, aren't you? Deliberately messing with me, right?!
Vodka and Gin had been negotiating business with Eddie Cassano recently. Setting aside what they originally came to discuss, when they arrived, they discovered Eddie Cassano had some new drugs, but they needed a bit more time. So Vodka was left behind to observe the new merchandise and consider whether to place additional orders.
As for Gin, of course he wouldn't stay behind for such boring work—he dumped Vodka and left.
It wasn't really screwing Vodka over.
After all, they came to negotiate business with Eddie Cassano and maintain relations, so Eddie Cassano would definitely provide good food and drinks. Vodka had even changed into swim trunks today and was having fun in the pool with handsome men and beautiful women. From any angle, staying behind was an enjoyable choice.
It wasn't that Gin disliked pleasure, just that he had no interest in this type. Vodka, on the other hand, was quite looking forward to it—Vodka himself enjoyed celebrity worship, so he was quite interested in meeting many stars. Initially, Vodka's mood was actually quite wonderful.
And this wonderful feeling shattered the moment he inadvertently glimpsed the new guests appearing on Eddie Cassano's side.
The most terrifying part was that he didn't even have time to hide—Usuha Izuki was walking almost directly toward him...
Save me save me save me...
Vodka instinctively stepped back, accidentally bumping into someone beside him. His body swayed, and he fell into the pool.
However, there were many people around, and Vodka was also a distinguished guest that Eddie Cassano had specifically instructed everyone to take good care of, so everyone quickly worked together to pull him up.
So embarrassing.
The thought of Usuha Izuki witnessing his embarrassing moment made Vodka wish he had actually passed out so they could carry him back to his room...
Usuha Izuki's voice rang out: "Oh my, why isn't this person opening his eyes? Did he pass out? Then I'll take responsibility for sending him back..."
"I'm fine!"
Vodka's eyes snapped open as he sat up: "I just suddenly felt lying down was quite comfortable!"
Are you kidding? Letting Usuha Izuki escort him back—wouldn't that be like a lamb walking into a tiger's den? At least staying here with so many people around, Usuha Izuki should watch his words somewhat.
Vodka slowly looked toward Usuha Izuki, who was crouching beside him, fake-smiling while pretending not to know him: "Thanks to this young man here."
"No need to thank me." Usuha Izuki said in Japanese, "If you're worried about being overheard, we can use Japanese. This is America—Japanese is basically encrypted here."
Vodka: "..........."
I really thank you for being so considerate!!!
Fortunately, Vodka immediately thought of an excuse: "No good, there are Japanese people here. Did you see that guy? The one playing ball with several girls."
Usuha Izuki looked in the direction Vodka hinted at and indeed spotted an Asian face among a group of Western beauties.
"...It's just a Japanese person. No need to be so careful, right?"
Vodka pushed up his sunglasses—yes, although he had taken off his suit and changed into swim trunks, he hadn't removed his sunglasses. After all, sunglasses with swim trunks was perfectly normal: "That's not an ordinary Japanese person. That's..."
At this point, Vodka suddenly paused: "...Wait, I can't tell you the specific mission details... Did Vermouth tell you?"
Vodka felt a little excited inside.
Right, could it be that Vermouth had told Usuha Izuki about their mission details? Then couldn't he take this opportunity to make Vermouth eat some humble pie, so she'd stop giving Usuha Izuki special treatment in the future?
However, Usuha Izuki's response was decisive: "What mission details? I don't know. I'm just here in Hollywood to have fun. She heard there was a party here and brought me to participate. I didn't expect to find you here—we're both quite surprised."
Vodka: "..........."
Like hell! You think if you say it in a high-minded way I'll believe you?!
Vodka deeply suspected that Vermouth had already told Usuha Izuki everything she should and shouldn't have said, and this kid had found a passable excuse and was playing dumb here!
But he had no proof and could only grudgingly accept this premise: "Anyway, there are Japanese people here. Speaking Japanese isn't safe either. You should just pretend you don't know me."
Usuha Izuki glanced at him and turned to walk away.
Vodka immediately felt something ominous.
Damn, maybe his brain got waterlogged when he fell in the pool, and he accidentally said the wrong thing. What did Usuha Izuki mean by this? Was he angry?
Thinking carefully, Usuha Izuki seemed to have come this time to make up with him... Although he was baffled by being cut off in the first place, the guy had kindly come to find him, and he had babbled and driven him away... Would he hold a grudge? But talking more with Usuha Izuki made him worry about his blood pressure...
Vodka was completely numb.
Too close won't work, too far won't work—Usuha Izuki was more troublesome than a cat!
Just as Vodka was hesitating whether to repair relations with Usuha Izuki, he noticed Usuha Izuki's destination was quite obvious—he was heading straight for that Japanese person.
"Hi." Usuha Izuki patted the Japanese man's shoulder. "You're Japanese?"
Although Vermouth hadn't directly revealed Gin and Vodka's mission details, the information she had disclosed was easy to guess. Seeing Vodka's reaction, this person seemed related to the mission, so Usuha Izuki came over to join the fun and see if there was any opportunity to cause trouble for Gin and Vodka.
"Hm? Ah..." The man was startled but quickly calmed down. "Yes, you're the person who came with Miss Sharon?"
"Mm-hm, you can call me Conan." Usuha Izuki unhesitatingly used a fake name again. "And you?"
"...Emura Masato." Although Emura Masato found the name Conan a bit strange, considering America was a nation of immigrants, and while this person could speak Japanese, he might actually be from an American family, so using a foreign name was normal.
Usuha Izuki asked with a smile: "You're not an actor, right? What are you looking for Mr. Cassano for?"
Alarm bells went off in Emura Masato's mind.
Officially speaking, he was looking for Eddie Cassano to discuss business—he claimed to have a method for producing a new type of drug and wanted to sell it to Eddie Cassano.
But in reality, he was a fraud.
He and his accomplices had spun a web of lies, deceiving Eddie Cassano into believing the new drug's effects were real. Actually, he knew nothing about pharmaceuticals. The background and credentials that Eddie Cassano's people had investigated at the Japanese research facility were all setups his accomplices had arranged in advance.
Once they got the money, they would flee, leaving the swindled Eddie Cassano to rage impotently.
Because Emura Masato was a fraud, he was extremely sensitive to anyone approaching him like this, worried that Eddie Cassano had discovered something wrong and sent someone to test him.
"...Yes, I came to discuss a business deal with Mr. Cassano." Emura Masato also cautiously replied in Japanese.
Usuha Izuki blinked, as if uninterested in this topic, casually mentioning it before changing the subject: "You came from Japan, right? What do you do in Japan?"
"Drug researcher..."
Emura Masato cautiously stuck to his fabricated fake identity, dealing with what he assumed was probing from Eddie Cassano's people.
Finally, this handsome young man let him off the hook, turned around, and returned to the pool's edge, taking a juice from a passing server and leisurely drinking it.
Did he pass the test?
Emura Masato secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Eddie Cassano was really too cautious—the laboratory was almost finished, yet he still sent people to probe...
Although Vodka couldn't hear what Usuha Izuki and that Emura Masato had discussed, when he saw Usuha Izuki return to the poolside, he casually approached, pretending he hadn't just driven him away and trying to get on his good side.
"You two seemed to hit it off?" Vodka coughed. "How did the chat go? Did you find out anything?"
Usuha Izuki pondered: "Your mission with Gin wouldn't be related to this person, would it?"
"...If you put it that way, it's not wrong."
The new merchandise depended on the formula this Emura Masato wanted to sell, though they were mainly buying old merchandise.
Usuha Izuki sighed.
Vodka's heart immediately tensed up: "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"I think he's like an undercover agent." Usuha Izuki said worriedly. "Eddie Cassano also looks like he'll have a bloody disaster recently. I think you should just abandon this mission."
Behind Vodka's sunglasses, his eyes immediately became dead fish eyes: "................"
—You little punk, you're identifying undercover agents all the way into other people's organizations?! You're actually holding a grudge about my bad attitude earlier and want to sabotage my mission, right?!