Chapter 495
Both Heiji Hattori and Conan Edogawa, who were in the know, were very suspicious of Saiki Usaba's ulterior motives for cooperating so well this time.
Bo Yezaki was quite satisfied that he could enjoy the clattering sound of suspicion being deposited into his account simply by sitting down.
See, all the details we laid out beforehand will eventually pay off.
His previous reluctance to discuss the organization with Conan Edogawa stemmed from the fact that once the topic went deeper, it would be difficult for him to fool Conan without fabricating lies. In this regard, Saiki Usaba was too lazy to put his mind to it, so he simply addressed the issue at its root by stating, "Don't discuss this topic with me. If you want to discuss it, I can only suggest that you go to America to find your parents."
Sure enough, when Conan Edogawa tried to talk to him about the organization again, he was very restrained and could easily evade the question without Hakuba Saiki having to think too much.
And now, this resistance can still earn him so much suspicion when he occasionally cooperates, killing two birds with one stone and wasting nothing.
Usoppō Saiki gave himself a thumbs up.
The undercover system then showered praise upon them: "Wow, amazing! You easily amassed so much suspicion! Your trust level has also increased significantly these past few days… Was this all within your expectations?"
"Of course." Usakabe Saiki is quite susceptible to emotional appeal. "How great! I can finally have a normal vacation again!"
This time he doesn't need to do anything special; the others will definitely put on a great show.
As expected, although Kogoro Mouri was unmoved by the detective competition proposed by Saiki Usaba, in the eyes of a middle-aged man, only children would get excited about such a boring competition. He was just there for a vacation and had no interest in the truth about the Kamaitachi.
But Hattori Heiji and Edogawa Conan were very interested.
Knowing the main purpose of this event, Heiji Hattori helped Conan Edogawa by asking the two adults, "Aren't Mr. Amuro and Uncle Mori coming to the competition?"
Kogoro Mouri waved his hand: "Boring, you guys play by yourselves."
Amuro Tooru smiled politely and said, "Well..."
Seeing that Amuro Tooru didn't seem to take the paranormal photos seriously and didn't intend to engage in a childish competition, Usui Saiki spoke quietly.
"Don't refuse, the police definitely can't solve this, we can only rely on you."
Amuro Tooru hesitated for a moment before refusing.
Others might not know, but how could Bo Yezaki not know that he was a policeman? These words were meant for him!
Does that mean if he doesn't agree to this inexplicable competition, he'll be disgracing the police force?
...Has this kid forgotten that his adoptive father was also a public security officer in the Japanese police system? Or does he really have no sentimentality about the past at all?
Amuro Tooru easily saw through Usaku Saiki's provocation, but... well, his competitive spirit couldn't withstand provocation, so he fell for it.
Moreover, since Usoppō Saiki wants him to participate, he'd better not resist too much.
It was just a small matter. It wasn't worth it to be retaliated against by Bo Yezaki after refusing, although he always felt that Bo Yezaki was too vengeful and petty.
So Amuro Tooru sighed, and with a helpless expression after Hattori Heiji's persuasion, said, "Alright, I understand, let's compete then."
Kogoro Mouri patted him on the back: "I'm leaving these kids to you. I'm going to have a good vacation."
"Hi, hi, Mr. Mori." Amuro Tooru was fully immersed in playing the role of Kogoro Mori's eldest disciple.
Bo Yezaki was also very into the role, and after glancing at the time, he said, "Let's start now. You can investigate for a long time before you go to sleep."
Kogoro Mouri said absentmindedly, "Hurry up and go, all of you people are making the air quality worse..."
"Excuse me, is there something wrong here?" The innkeeper appeared with a worried expression.
Her child exclaimed, "Mommy! They're detectives, they're here to investigate the Kamaitachi!"
"Ah..." The proprietress was somewhat surprised and gave a forced smile. "I see. Although this rumor has brought traffic to this place, my father-in-law is very unhappy about it. It would be great if you could help me figure out what's really going on."
Just moments ago, Kogoro Mouri had been indifferent to the matter, but now he stood up abruptly: "Of course! Madam! Please leave it to me, Kogoro Mouri, to solve your problems!"
At this point, everyone with reasoning abilities, except for Usaku Saiki, had joined the battlefield.
Sitting at the dining table, Usoppei waved to them leisurely: "Good luck, I'm waiting for you."
Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama approached Saiki Usaku, asking with a mixture of fear and curiosity, "Usaku-nii, aren't you curious?"
Usoppon Saiki shook his head: "Trust me, this kind of thing is 100% done by humans. It might be some kind of test to kill someone in advance. Just leave it to the detectives. We'll just have fun."
These words earned them complex and speechless glances from those who were preparing to get busy.
Ran Mouri hesitated: "Bo Ye-nii, you're a detective too, right?"
“Oh, I’m not anymore,” Usakata Saiki replied with a smile.
Conan Edogawa knew that Usui Saiki would answer like that, so he rolled his eyes, walked over to the proprietress, and asked curiously, "Does the sickle in this photo remind you of anything, madam?"
The landlady led the detectives to the warehouse, and even the two magazine staff members from before followed, leaving only the woman's friend, Usakawa Saiki, and the two girls behind.
Bo Yezaki ordered a table full of food without any hesitation: "Come on, don't worry about them, they'll definitely be talking about it when we get back."
Hattori Heiji turned to look at Usui Saiki and Toyama Kazuha, who was smiling, and felt a subtle anxiety: "Conan... uh, you're closer to Usui Saiki than he is, does he have a girlfriend?"
Conan Edogawa looked at Heiji Hattori in shock, but quickly realized why he had asked such a question: "I don't think so. You... I think you're overthinking it."
“Okay,” Hattori Heiji said sheepishly, “I just think… uh, Usopp-san is a little too popular.”
He likes Kazuha Toyama, and the main reason he came here this time, besides helping Conan Edogawa, was to get Conan Edogawa to delete the recording that made him feel ashamed... At times like this, his usually straight-man mind unexpectedly became a little sensitive.
Since they weren't talking about anything particularly dangerous, neither of them tried to avoid the other; they just kept their voices down.
Therefore, Amuro Tooru, whose hearing is more acute than that of ordinary people, noticed that the two people lagging behind were whispering to each other. So he slowed down and paid special attention, and then heard Edogawa Conan's response.
"Brother Bo Ye has always been well-liked."
Toru Amuro: "…………"
For Conan Edogawa, this conclusion was easy to reach. Although he disliked Usaku's terrible personality, he had to admit that Usaku Saiki was always very successful when he wanted to be liked.
But for Amuro Tooru, even though he had seen Usaku Saiki playing well with children and knew that Usaku Saiki favored girls over boys and had a good relationship with several women, putting Usaku Saiki as having good interpersonal skills still felt like a niche description that was unheard of.
Amuro Tooru thought with a heavy heart, "The observational skills of Shinichi Kudo, a high school detective who often helps the police solve cases while still a high school student, are naturally beyond question. But the fact that Shinichi Kudo came to such a conclusion shows that Saiki Usaba is quite good at putting on an act in front of people outside the organization."
Why can't you put on an act in front of him too!
Even the mentally strong undercover agent couldn't help but feel that, even if he was being deceived, he wanted to enjoy being treated kindly by Usakabe Saiki, instead of having to think for a long time about whether every word he heard was a conspiracy.
It's too draining. Even though I keep telling myself not to overthink it, it's still very draining.
For example, after meeting Conan Edogawa at this hotel, he began to suspect that Usaku Saiki's insistence on him taking leave to accompany him here might have ulterior motives.
But what kind of conspiracy could this hotel possibly have? At most, there's a case about to happen... Did Usakabe Saiki specifically send him here to stop the case?
Amuro Tooru, lost in thought, followed the landlady to the warehouse, where she waited for the landlady to find the large scythe that appeared to be used by the weasel in the photo, as evidence of a human committing the crime.
The proprietress was searching when suddenly the lights went out, followed by chaos in the darkness and a few shouts. When the lights came back on, Kogoro Mouri, Heiji Hattori, and the female writer were already injured.
The wound looked like it had been cut by a weasel.
Amuro Tooru finally faced the incident squarely—he was standing at the door when it happened, and no outsiders entered, yet someone was still injured. He didn't believe in the Kamaitachi, which meant the culprit was among the people in the room at the time... but how did he do that?
The lights were off for only a short while, and all he had to do was find the knife, precisely slash the other person without making a scene, and then put the weapon away before the lights came back on...
Amuro Tooru's gaze lingered on a few people before he raised his hand and dialed the police.
The group went to the warehouse without any problems, but returned in shock and injury. Kazuha Toyama and Ran Mouri couldn't sit still any longer and quickly came over to borrow the hotel's first-aid kit to help with the treatment and bandaging.
Usakabe Saiki also asked, feigning concern, "Do you need any help?"
Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama naturally replied, "No need, Usoha-nii just needs to rest."
So Bo Yezaki lay down with a clear conscience.
Hattori Heiji gritted his teeth: "Usui-nii, are you really not going to consider solving this case together?"
“No,” said Bo Yezai sincerely. “If I join in, it will be too predictable. It’s better for you guys to handle this kind of thing yourselves… Although the police will be here soon, I think the police will have to rely on you.”
Amuro Tooru's smile grew increasingly fake—this kid Usopp won't speak unless he kicks the Japanese police, right?
But soon, Amuro Tooru couldn't even maintain that fake smile.
The person who came was named Yamamura Misao, a childhood friend of Morofushi Kagemitsu—and also the most unreliable policeman he had ever met.
But Usoba Saiki, contrary to his usual behavior, took the initiative to greet him: "Officer Yamamura! I've heard so much about you!"
Yamamura Misao paused for a moment, looking at him with confusion: "H-Have we met before?"
“I once encountered a cult in Gunma Prefecture, and I heard that you were the police officer who brought it down.”
Yamamura Misao was initially puzzled, but after a moment's thought, he remembered: "Oh—that case, but I don't think I've ever seen you before..."
"It's good that you didn't see me, because those cult members insisted on electing me as their leader. I was afraid of causing some misunderstandings, so I ran away quickly. I hope I didn't cause you any trouble."
Yamamura Misao finally recognized him: "Oh! You're that Edogawa Conan!"
After saying that, he glanced at the elementary school student Conan Edogawa and added, "I wasn't calling you... But speaking of which, I thought it was a pseudonym at the time, I didn't expect there to actually be people with that name, and more than one..."
Conan Edogawa: "…………"
—Bo Ye-kun! So you're the Conan Edogawa from Gunma Prefecture?! Could it be that the "several guys named Conan Edogawa" that Inspectors Matsuda and Hagiwara were talking about are you?!
--------------------
Conan: Bo Ye has always been quite popular.
Bourbon: Such a niche description
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
