Chapter 66 Behind the Scenes

Tonight, the hotel will be hosting a masquerade ball.

The corridor was filled with people in exaggerated and bizarre poses.

A waiter pushes a food cart through a crowd that resembles a Halloween parade to serve food to guests.

He is none other than our protagonist, the cat demon.

Since strict identity verification is required to enter and exit the ballroom, Jingguang, a temporary imposter, naturally does not have a pass.

However, he didn't need to go to the top floor, because there was more than one film set tonight. His main stage was outside the ballroom.

The waiter first went to a guest named Judy's room and served her dinner, along with several napkins printed with yellow smiley faces on the plate.

This is one of the hotel's services; the smiley faces come in many colors and are randomly given to guests.

Judy thanked her politely, made no other request, and didn't touch the stack of napkins.

"It seems everything is normal on the FBI's end."

The FBI was originally Jingguang's biggest concern. The failure of the last mission, coupled with the disagreements before this mission, made their cooperation precarious.

But now it seems his worries were somewhat unnecessary.

Okay, just for now.

After meeting with the FBI, the waiter continued pushing the food cart down one floor.

Seeing two men smoking in the smoking area, he went up to them and handed them two cans of beer.

However, just like Judy, Hagiwara and Matsuda clearly didn't recognize the waiter in front of them as their colleague. This was, of course, thanks to the makeup artist.

Upon seeing the yellow smiley face, the two understood immediately, thanked the man, and began drinking and smoking, looking quite content!

"Let's savor the calm before the storm one last time, my friends."

The waiter hurried toward his next destination, only to unexpectedly encounter the white devil Amuro, who had just dressed up and was preparing for the ball, at the corner.

Perhaps out of instinctive understanding, Amrodo glanced at the waiter standing in the shadows around the corner, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

"You'll always recognize me, Zero."

Their encounter was brief, lasting only a moment. They looked at each other in silence before heading off to their respective film sets.

The waiter knocked on the door of the doctor's room and, as usual, served dinner: "The soup is a little hot, let me take it in for you!"

The waiter entered the doctor's double room and heard Uncle Mori snoring loudly. Even though his head was covered by the blanket and he was wrapped up tightly, the snoring was still deafening. He chuckled, "Aren't you going to suffocate like that?"

"There's nothing I can do, he's too noisy!" the doctor complained helplessly, clearly not recognizing who the other person was either.

"Alright then, enjoy your meal." The waiter set out the two sets of cutlery and divided the yellow smiley face napkins into two stacks. "Remember to call this gentleman up to eat, the food won't taste good if it gets cold."

"However, Mori-senpai will not be able to enjoy this meal."

After the waiter finished running the lap, he texted Conan to ask about the situation.

The detective replied instantly: "Everything is normal."

Jing Guang was quite pleased, unaware that he had made the biggest mistake of the night.

Conan's statement that "everything is normal" does not mean "the plan is proceeding without error" as Hikaru understands it, but rather that "there is currently no danger to his life."

The waiter has about an hour and a half until his shift changes, and he must stay at his post until then.

After returning to the kitchen, Jingguang pushed the food cart and resumed his food delivery journey.

When they arrived at the last guest's room, a little problem arose.

The waiter knocked politely on the door: "Hello, dinner has been delivered."

No one responded.

"Hello, dinner has been delivered."

Still, no one opened the door.

A sense of unease crept into Jingguang's mind, and he made a third attempt: "Hello, dinner..."

Suddenly, the door opened. A small head peeked out from the crack in the door.

"Cough cough... Is there anything I can help you with?" the little boy asked weakly.

The child looked to be around 10 years old, with a pale face and messy black hair as if he had just crawled out of bed.

Jing Guang leaned down and asked softly, "Little friend, where are your mom and dad?"

"No." The little boy gently shook his head.

"Hey, here's dinner. Your parents probably ordered it. Shall I take it in for you?"

Jingguang brought the tray inside and asked, "Little friend, have you eaten?"

"No."

When will Mom and Dad be back?

"They said... cough cough, they'll be back after the ball."

"Oh, I see. Then would you like to eat dinner by yourself?" Jingguang served the boy a bowl of soup.

To everyone's surprise, the little one got upset when he saw the cilantro floating in the soup: "No cilantro!"

"Hey? Then, I'll tell the kitchen to make a serving without cilantro, okay?" Jingguang coaxed.

"I don't want to eat, I feel uncomfortable..." The little boy pouted, his head drooping as he sat on the soft bed, his body sinking slightly into it. His voice was as soft and gentle as a ball of cotton.

Jingguang felt a pang of heartache. He touched the child's forehead and, sure enough, found he had a fever. He sighed silently and asked, "What's the little one's name?"

"Yukino Hiroshi".

"Hey, I know Xiao Guang is sick and not feeling well. He has no energy at all, and his stomach is empty, right?"

Xiao Guang nodded gently.

"So you still need to eat something. Eating will give you strength, and you'll recover faster. Hmm?" Jingguang gave the child an encouraging look.

Xiao Guang glanced at the bowl of soup, resolutely turned his head away, and said with a wronged expression, "I can't eat it."

Jingguang was also in a dilemma. As a chef, he knew that people with no appetite were the most difficult to please!

"How about we change to something else instead of this? Is there anything Xiao Guang particularly wants to eat?"

"I want... cough cough, I want to eat snacks!"

Jingguang couldn't help but chuckle to himself: Xiao Guang clearly has strict family discipline and can't eat snacks. Look how tempted the kid is!

"Xiao Guang, there are no snacks in the kitchen! But we have desserts, which are much tastier than snacks. Do you want some?"

"What kind of dessert is it?" the boy asked eagerly.

Jingguang glanced at the time, thought for a moment, and replied, "Hmm... how about lemon pie? It's sweet and sour and tastes really good!"

"good--"

Jingguang quickly ran back to the kitchen to make lemon pie, but this time he was short on time, so he made it simple, without mousse, cream, or icing.

However, the pie crust was baked with great care and even had a beautiful shape.

Jingguang returned to Xiaoguang's room, and the little boy's melancholy expression vanished the moment he saw the lemon pie.

"Here, have a taste?" Jingguang cut a small piece for the other person.

Xiao Guang took a small bite carefully and exclaimed in delight, "So delicious!"

"Eat slowly, don't choke, have some porridge."

While eating, Xiao Guang suddenly looked up and asked, "Will big brother go to the dance?"

"My job is here, I don't go up there!"

Upon hearing this, the little boy lowered his head again.

"What's wrong? Missing your mom and dad? It's okay, the ball will be over soon."

"Big brother, will Kid kill people?" His voice trembled slightly; it turned out that this was what he was worried about.

Jing Guang earnestly reassured him, "Don't worry, there are many police officers up there. They will definitely not let the bad guys succeed."

"But they all say that Kidd killed someone and the police didn't catch him."

"It was an accident last time, but it will definitely not happen again this time!" Jing Guang assured him confidently.

Xiao Guang nodded as if he understood, and continued to quietly eat his lemon pie.

Jingguang sat beside him and watched him eat. He thought that since there was still enough time, he would wait until the child finished eating before leaving.

Before I knew it, snowflakes began to fall outside the window.

Lightly dancing and swirling, lingering in the embrace of the wind, like lovers dancing a waltz, reluctant to part.

Jingguang recalled some things and thought about tonight's dance, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

"What are you thinking about, big brother?" a soft voice asked.

“I was thinking about my brother. I used to want to go out and have a snowball fight when it snowed, but my brother would drag me to recite poems.” Jingguang’s smile deepened. “If my brother were here, he would probably say: ‘The white snow, disliking the lateness of spring, adorns the trees in the courtyard as flying blossoms.’”

"That sounds really profound."

"My brother is a very learned and wise man. I've always admired him," Jingguang said proudly, a look of longing on his face. "And you, Xiaoguang? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No!" she answered crisply, tossing her head back.

But Jingguang could easily see through this childish answer. He guessed that Xiaoguang was sulking because he was sick and couldn't go to the dance.

Jingguang smiled and said, "Xiaoguang, once you're better, you can go wherever you want. You can play with your brothers and sisters, with your friends, whatever you want."

"Really?" The little boy's eyes lit up immediately, and he asked excitedly, "Can I play with my little brother again when I get better?"

Jingguang smiled and ignored the self-defeating lie, saying earnestly, "Yes, so you have to be a good boy, take your medicine and eat on time, and get plenty of rest so you can recover quickly, understand?"

"Um!"

"Alright, you've finished eating, I should head back now." Jingguang was clearing the plates to leave when Xiaoguang made another request.

"Big brother, could you go and check on my snowman for me? I haven't seen it all day and I'm a little worried. It's in the little garden."

Jingguang agreed, thinking that the child probably caught a cold while building a snowman, which is why he had a fever. He had a similar experience when he was a child.

Here's a brief introduction to the hotel's layout. Viewed from the side, the overall building presents a "B" shape:

The main building is located to the north, consisting mainly of bedrooms and a dining room, with a total of 12 floors.

The south side is the annex, which mainly houses various entertainment and leisure venues and a conference reception center, with a total of 5 floors.

There is a connecting corridor between the main building and the annex, but it is not on every floor; it is only on the 1st and 5th floors.

Tonight's dance party is on the top floor of the main building, and the garden Xiao Guang mentioned is the rooftop of the hotel's annex. It's planted with many plants and flowers, providing an open-air party space for guests.

Jingguang calculated the time and felt that he should have time to go see the snowman first before meeting up with Conan, since their agreed meeting place was closer to the annex building.

But when Jingguang changed shifts and put on civilian clothes, he received some unfortunate news: Ling told him that the jewelry expert Tushi had just fallen off the elevator platform and died.

Jingguang was startled and quickened his pace to the garden.

Because he knew all too well what this meant: the ball was on the top floor, with a lift connecting to the roof of the main building.

If the elevator malfunctions, then the FBI agents who should actually be guarding the rooftop...

Jingguang slipped into the small garden. It was a cold night and snowing, so no one else would come.

As soon as he entered, he saw the snowman that Xiao Guang had mentioned. After a day, its face had indeed melted and deformed, and its eyes had fallen off somewhere.

Jing Guang put on his night-vision goggles and peered towards the main building, then gasped in shock:

Where is the FBI on the rooftop?

He saw a short-haired woman standing at the edge, her back to him so he couldn't see her face.

The man opposite the woman should be Cohen.

Further behind, the reconnaissance helicopter was parked on the roof, and a man who looked like Calvados was standing near the tail.

Kagemitsu suddenly realized that handing over complete air superiority to Akai in order to demonstrate his sincerity in cooperation might have been a mistake.

"Where are the Akai people?!"

But that wasn't the most desperate thing, because Jingguang discovered:

He lost contact with Conan.