Chapter 224
Because calling Usuha Izuki before always resulted in his phone being off, even though people would think to try calling occasionally, no one called immediately after Usuha Izuki turned on his phone.
He leisurely removed people from his blacklist and checked emails for a while before receiving Bourbon's call.
Thanks to Kiel's tip-off, Bourbon successfully connected with Usuha Izuki: "You finally answered the phone. Where are you now? Everyone's waiting for you to have a meeting!"
Usuha Izuki said decisively: "If there's anything, I'll talk to the boss. I don't trust any of you people."
Bourbon: "................"
How to put it... this kind of directly knocking down a whole group with one stroke, wildly drawing hatred as if he didn't care about living to see tomorrow—it was very much Usuha Izuki's style.
But at this point, Bourbon had no intention of opposing Usuha Izuki.
He could already be certain that Usuha Izuki definitely knew he was a Japanese Public Security undercover agent. After all, the Akai Shuichi incident might still seem coincidental to the organization, but from his perspective, it was Usuha Izuki's malicious entertainment from beginning to end.
As for whether Usuha Izuki knew that Scotland was also a Japanese Public Security undercover agent... he was inclined to think he did.
But there was no rule that an undercover agent's child had to side with the undercover agent's original camp. If before he had hoped Usuha Izuki was physically in the black faction but mentally in the red, now he wasn't greedy at all—he felt it would be good enough if Usuha Izuki just didn't target him and Hiromitsu.
Whether as a teammate or an enemy, it felt like torture either way. Rather than risk probing, it was better to maintain the current situation—after all, he and Hiromitsu were still fine, weren't they?
Maybe this was already the result of Usuha Izuki showing mercy. That guy was as mischievous as a cat, enjoying toying with others.
But not speaking openly also had a downside—he couldn't figure out when Usuha Izuki might suddenly lack entertainment and want to sacrifice the two of them...
No, he couldn't keep thinking like this. Sometimes thinking a few more layers was being cautious, but thinking too many layers about this kind of thing could drive yourself crazy.
At times like this, it was better to choose to adapt as situations arose. When you reach the bridge, you'll find a way across.
Japanese Public Security's Furuya Rei, who was strict with others and even stricter with himself, showed an abnormal—to the point of making people worry about his sanity—attitude of giving up treatment... no, of being cheerfully open-minded when it came to Usuha Izuki-related matters.
So now, facing Usuha Izuki's craziness, he could very calmly continue asking: "I'm currently in charge of investigating the blood relationship between Miyano Akemi and Akai Shuichi. I heard it's related to you. Do you have any clues?"
"What did Akemi say?"
"She said Akai Shuichi claimed it was because you forced him."
When saying this, even though he disliked the FBI, Bourbon couldn't help feeling a bit of sympathy.
On the surface, Usuha Izuki was already very torturous to Akai Shuichi—who knew how he tormented him privately, actually driving the man to get a blood relationship test...
Usuha Izuki sighed: "It wasn't much. When we first met, I wasn't familiar with either Akemi or that guy. He showed up hospitalized, claiming to be unemployed, and looked somewhat similar to her. I suspected it might be a honey trap. Later I'd mention it whenever I thought of it, just joking really. Who knew Akai Shuichi's heart was so fragile..."
Bourbon listened with a head full of black lines: "Alright, I get it."
This rambling attitude clearly meant he wasn't planning to explain properly. No choice—he'd polish it up later before reporting to Rum... This could count as showing goodwill, hoping Usuha Izuki would consider his usefulness and not choose him as the next bullying target.
Really, this guy was very obvious when brushing people off.
He'd seen Akai Shuichi too—no matter how you looked at it, he didn't seem like someone with a fragile heart. Usuha Izuki refusing to say how he tormented the guy was one thing, but throwing mud was another... oh, but the other party was FBI, so never mind.
Damn FBI! Being so arrogant on Japanese soil!
A group of FBI entered Japanese territory without any applications, had street gunfights and were caught red-handed, yet still wanted to use special channels. Without paying anything, they wanted the higher-ups to open back doors for them to return home with just one word!
Getting the Miyano sisters involved in such troublesome matters, then leaving without any gesture of appreciation, completely ignoring whether their actions would affect the organization's view of the Miyano sisters... Akai Shuichi really wasn't a man! So cold and ruthless even to his own relatives!
Ever since learning about this, Bourbon had been cursing Akai Shuichi in his heart. Now chatting with Usuha Izuki about content related to Miyano Akemi and Akai Shuichi, he unconsciously revealed this attitude.
Anyway, Akai Shuichi was already exposed as an undercover agent—having a bad attitude toward him was normal.
But Usuha Izuki, who had bullied the guy for several years, now started playing the good person: "Sigh, he's also a pitiful person. Maybe he joined the organization to find relatives."
Bourbon: "..........."
If you pity him, be nicer to him! Always calling him FBI or undercover agent—Akai Shuichi being able to stay undercover in the organization for several years, even he had to admire the guy's strong psychological fortitude...
Because of Usuha Izuki's disappearance, even Vermouth in America had heard about it, so she was quite concerned. Her way of showing concern was calling Bourbon.
After all, compared to Rum, Vermouth felt she preferred chatting with Bourbon. When he wanted to please people, he really could talk—who knows how much better than Rum.
So just after Bourbon hung up his call with Usuha Izuki, he received Vermouth's call.
"How is it? Did you find Botanist?"
"...You really know how to pick your timing." Bourbon complained speechlessly. "I just finished talking to him on the phone. Why don't you call him instead of me?"
Vermouth said righteously: "Because calling him these past few days, his phone was always off. I got into the habit of asking you first. So, he's okay, right?"
Bourbon was a bit creeped out by this tone that somewhat resembled Usuha Izuki's, but still answered: "Nothing's wrong. He's just too willful, hating trouble so he turned off his phone..."
Vermouth immediately said: "What do you mean willful? This is just a very normal thought, right? If you encountered this situation, would you not turn off your phone because you didn't want to?"
Bourbon: "..........."
It's because I wouldn't dare, okay?! After playing together in America for a few days with Usuha Izuki, how did Vermouth's speech become so cutting! What kind of terrifying acute contagion source was Usuha Izuki!
"So about the Akai Shuichi matter, what did he say?"
Getting to business, Bourbon breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to chat about Usuha Izuki with anyone anymore, so he concisely summarized the intelligence and told Vermouth.
Vermouth's executive position was rather special, and he was currently in the phase of trying to please her. It would be great if he could get leverage on her soon...
Talking and talking, Bourbon even complained: "Botanist actually said Akai Shuichi was a pitiful person, maybe he joined the organization to find relatives... If he really wanted to find relatives, shouldn't he have snatched away the Miyano sisters? How could he give up so quickly and turn to kidnapping Gin! The FBI are all black-hearted—they can even use their own relatives. I don't know what Botanist is thinking."
Bourbon subtly hinted that the Miyano sisters weren't important to Akai Shuichi, so the organization should stop investigating them and move their attention elsewhere...
For the sake of the daughter of the beloved Dr. Elena, who had inexplicably become an organizational top star these past few days, Bourbon was really breaking his heart trying to get them to fade back into obscurity.
But Vermouth was silent for a moment, then said thoughtfully: "Ah, speaking of the Akai surname... he might really have joined the organization to find relatives. The organization dealt with an MI6 named Akai Tsutomu over ten years ago... Could he be his father? Look into this direction."
Bourbon: "...Huh?"
No way, even this could be guessed correctly by Usuha Izuki?! That's a bit ridiculous, right? And why would the father be British MI6 while the son is American FBI? Did he run off to become FBI to avoid suspicion? But undercover work doesn't use real names anyway...
Was Usuha Izuki referring to the Miyano sisters back then, or hinting at this Akai Tsutomu?!
...This kid, what other surprises are there that I don't know about?!
"Achoo!"
Usuha Izuki sneezed and rubbed his nose: "Who's badmouthing me again..."
System: [That would be too many to count...]
"Forget it. Anyway, after explaining to the boss, I can continue house hunting." Usuha Izuki closed his flip phone.
[You call that explaining... Obviously just brushing him off...]
When asked, it was "intuition," "because I came back from the Middle East, his aura looked like an American," "do you need a reason to dislike someone?"...
And considering that Usuha Izuki had questioned Akai Shuichi being FBI the first time he saw him, having no evidence and saying it was intuition was completely reasonable. The boss was also half-believing.
As for the others...
"I'm very easy to get along with. If there's someone I feel I dislike, they must be an undercover agent."
—Just ask whether this reason made the boss accept it or not. He had to accept it even if he didn't want to, because it completely matched Usuha Izuki's consistent behavior.
Usuha Izuki checked his income: [Permanent residency rights—I'm already halfway there with points. I can probably take a long vacation before continuing.]
System: [That works too. Your efficiency is really quite high. Others actually just aim for the minimum guarantee in the early stages, waiting for Conan Year One to officially begin, since Conan's suspicion value weight is particularly high... What are your plans next?]
[...Anyway, let's buy a house and move first.]
Usuha Izuki sighed: [Although Akai Shuichi definitely won't come burn down my house, that house can't fit all my props anymore. Good opportunity to get a bigger one... Mm, maybe I'll have a chance to invite Conan to visit in the future. Let me think about how to decorate it...]
System: [...........]
You're already thinking about how to torment Conan? Isn't it a bit too early...