Rice Flower Singularity (Part 1) My dearest daughter...
“Bourbon, this is not a place for little girls to visit.”
Vermouth leaned against the iron railing and spoke lightly. The two people walking towards the manor gate opposite her stopped because of her words.
This manor was an extremely secretive base of the organization, known only to her and the Boss in the past. A few months ago, it suddenly became the private property of that consultant, but the level of secrecy and security was not lowered but rather raised to the highest level.
So, how did Bourbon know? And with... such a young girl with him?
Vermouth had a smile on her lips, but her serpentine green eyes were coldly fixed on the orange-haired girl, passing over the blond man's shoulder.
Her upturned tuft of hair swayed naturally with her movements, and the warm aura she exuded made it seem as if she were simply visiting an old friend rather than arriving at the lair of a criminal organization.
Looking down, Vermouth met a pair of clear, golden eyes, like the gentle morning sun, with a hint of a smile in them.
Ha, she lowered her eyes, ignoring her own involuntary daze. She didn't even look away from him, appearing completely oblivious—she looked like a lamb that had strayed into the trap.
The beautiful woman stopped dwelling on this little incident; what mattered to her more was Bourbon's attitude. She took two slow steps forward, bringing her face close to Bourbon's—a distance from which he could simply lower his head and kiss her.
“Even if we have some agreement, Bourbon, revealing this place to unrelated people,” a silver pistol snapped against the blond man’s chest, “is an open betrayal.”
Bourbon's expression remained unchanged, still smiling, his half-fallen hair softly brushing against his cheeks, but his left hand unexpectedly gripped the gun pressed against his chest.
“Vermouth, please get this straight, this is an assignment from the consultant.” He turned to look at the girl beside him, “And this one—”
"She is the consultant's most important daughter."
Vermouth was taken aback: "...?"
She subconsciously lowered her head and looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka again, her eyes trembling slightly.
Damn it, my daughter?
The kind of person who climbed to the position of the organization's second-in-command in less than half a month suddenly set his sights on her based on just one seemingly normal action.
If it weren't for the failure of the Pacific buoy mission, which required him to handle the aftermath, the secret she had been hiding might have been exposed...
But his daughter is like that, innocent and naive?
Forced to assume the identity of a professor's daughter once again, Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed inwardly, realizing with dismay that she had long been accustomed to such unexpected events.
This singularity also has similar energy fluctuations to the previous two singularities. She has confirmed that this is yet another scenario where her own servants are causing trouble outside and she has to clean up the mess.
What can we do? We can only spoil them.
But unlike before, she was exceptionally unlucky after arriving at the singularity this time. Not only did she fail to bring any Servants with her, but instead of landing in Tokyo, Japan, she ended up in the completely unfamiliar town of Beika.
She thought nothing could shock her anymore, but just two minutes after landing, as she walked out of the alley and into a coffee shop, she bumped into a man with a pale face.
Then, the man coughed up blood and died.
Thus, Fujimaru Ritsuka was honored to become one of the three suspects, watching in disbelief as the sleeping Kogoro Mouri solved the case as if by divine intervention while unconscious.
She wanted to say something, but remembering her status as an outsider, she politely kept quiet. However, before leaving, she was politely stopped by a coffee shop waiter.
"Let's go, Ms. Fujimaru."
The sound ringing in her ears brought Fujimaru Ritsuka back to her senses. She looked at Amuro Tooru, or rather, Bourbon.
He gained the upper hand in his confrontation with Vermouth, raised an eyebrow at the beautiful woman who had been defeated, and provocatively lowered the muzzle of her gun.
It's the same face, but now this dangerous and indifferent expression is completely different from the gentle and smiling waiter just now.
Which face is the real him, or none of them? Fujimaru Ritsuka wondered curiously, but none of this was relevant to her mission. So she only let her thoughts linger for a few seconds before responding and walking over to Bourbon's side.
She nodded amicably to Vermouth and, led by Bourbon, went to find the organization's newly appointed second-in-command, the advisor.
The crime kingpin, whose real name is James Moriarty.
"Oh my, Bourbon, you're really reliable." Standing by the French windows, the elegant gentleman turned around, a playful smile on his face. "No wonder I took a liking to you at first sight."
"You flatter me, Mr. Advisor." Bourbon lowered his head humbly, his lowered eyelashes obscuring his purple eyes.
When facing his advisors, Amuro Tooru always felt a sense of tension, as if they could see through him completely, as if they could see through all his hidden secrets with just one glance.
This feeling of being watched made him always try to avoid eye contact with the consultant. Having come this far, he couldn't afford to fail now!
Fujimaru Ritsuka glanced left at Bourbon's respectful yet wary attitude towards Moriarty, and right at Moriarty's impeccably polite smile.
That's highly suspicious!
Moriarty stared at the young man's excellent disguise and couldn't help but chuckle. "Then, Bourbon-kun, would you please wait outside for a while? I need to catch up with Ritsuka."
The study door closed, and the footsteps faded into the distance. When Moriarty's gaze shifted to Fujimaru Ritsuka, the fifty-year-old man's smile held a hint of sincerity... and something suspicious.
"My dear daughter, you haven't encountered any bad guys who dared to harm you along the way, have you?"
"Who would dare?" Fujimaru Ritsuka thought to herself. Along the way, those menacing-looking people ran faster than rabbits at the mere mention of Moriarty's name.
As expected of a professor, he managed to subdue so many criminals in such a short time.
“Professor,” Fujimaru Ritsuka said naturally, sitting down on the sofa, raising her head and seizing control of the conversation, “Instead of that, why don’t you honestly tell me what you did to Chaldea’s spirit particle transfer device?”
“Or let’s ask another question.” She flashed a bright smile, as if she were trying to please her father, but her words were anything but polite as she questioned, “Papa, are you trying to verify some kind of asteroid impact research at this singularity?”
Otherwise, she wouldn't have guessed why Moriarty would suddenly start building a criminal empire again.
"Hahahaha... How could that be!" Moriarty said seriously. "I've already lost once, and I know clearly that when facing you, I have no other way but to be defeated."
But he did seize everything from this criminal organization—its money, manpower, and resources—because he had a hypothesis that needed to be verified.
He, a thoroughly wicked man, took everything without hesitation, paving the way for his beloved daughter to grow up.
As for the spirit transfer, it would be unfair if too many Servants were involved in his subsequent plans.
Having a Master who is too powerful can be a problem.
Besides, as a father, it's forgivable for him to want to spend time alone with his daughter, right?
"However, Master, are these the only two questions you have?" Moriarty leaned closer, and Fujimaru Ritsuka could clearly see the pale blue butterflies fluttering on his clothes.
"If I asked you the purpose of doing all this, and where the Holy Grail is, would you answer?"
"Of course not!"
"That's good!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka stared speechlessly at her unconventional servant. The professor, seeing that she really didn't ask any more questions, choked for a moment. His daughter was truly extraordinary.
Well, although I had long since lost interest in Ritsuka's wicked nature, despite being in a master-servant relationship, this Master never forced any of her Servants.
The feeling of exchanging sincerity for sincerity... well, it's not bad actually!
Faced with Ritsuka's antics, Moriarty couldn't resist teasing her, so he adopted a cunning fox's expression, saying, "As a father, I can't help but give my lovely daughter everything she asks for."
But the Holy Grail isn't truly with him; it belongs to his partner. What Fujimaru Ritsuka needs to do is gain that person's approval, obtain the Holy Grail, and become the savior of certain people in this world.
"I have no choice but to reveal a little bit about the whereabouts of the Holy Grail."
Even if Fujimaru Ritsuka knew it was a trap, she had to go, because it was her responsibility. So she asked, "Where?"
"A banquet."
"banquet?"
Ran Mouri held the phone while Sonoko Suzuki complained on the other end, "I don't know what the organizers were thinking. The banquet was organized in a rush, but the scale was frighteningly large."
"The Suzuki family owes the organizers a favor, which is why I even had to cancel my meeting with Makoto to help organize this awful banquet!"
As if she had complained enough, Sonoko Suzuki got to the point. Since she was also one of the people in charge and had a lot of invitations, she wanted to ask the Mori family if they wanted to go.
"If you ask me, this theme will definitely be right up Conan's alley. It's just a shame that Kudo won't be able to get back in time; it's starting in a couple of days."
Ran Mouri looked at Kogoro Mouri. The dejected middle-aged man, who was munching on peanuts, agreed without hesitation after hearing that Yoko Okino would be invited to be the host.
At the same time, Dr. Agasa also received an email from an old friend, inviting him to attend a groundbreaking technology launch event.
Looking at the basement door, and thinking of Ai Haibara who locks herself in the lab as soon as she has a holiday, the white-haired old man scratched his head and readily accepted the invitation.
Two days passed quickly.
Fujimaru Ritsuka stood in front of a full-length dressing mirror, dressed in brand-new clothes. Her original combat uniform had long been thrown away by Moriarty, who looked at her with disdain, and who was now obsessed with dressing her up like Leonardo da Vinci.
"Ahem, Professor, are you sure... I should wear this to the event?" She stood hesitantly in front of the mirror. Behind her, an elderly gentleman with an air of British elegance picked up his tea and nodded in satisfaction.
"Oh, young Master, isn't this quite handsome?"
The well-tailored long dress covered Ritsuka's scars, outlining her muscular body honed by long-term training, her slender shoulder blades resembling butterflies about to take flight.
The thin morning sunlight streamed into the room through the window, dancing nimbly around the elegantly dressed young woman, vibrant and beautiful, like a free flower blooming freely.
"Youth is fleeting. At this age, you should be wearing clothes like this and socializing with other children your age," the professor sighed.
No, wearing such expensive clothes is just too much!
Furthermore, Fujimaru Ritsuka, somewhat troubled, lifted her skirt and awkwardly twirled around. She frowned, "...Do you have men's clothing?"
This outfit is too cumbersome in case of an emergency.
Moriarty watched the girl's skirt rise and fall, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, you'll know what's going on when we get there."
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. He paused, a smile playing on his lips, as if preparing for a good show. "What a coincidence, the tour guide I found for you has arrived."
Looking at the smiling fifty-year-old man, Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't help but get goosebumps. If Moriarty of Chaldea was a suspicious comedian, then he now possessed a certain same oppressive aura as when they first met.
Oh dear, which unlucky soul has become the prey in his web yet?
Fujimaru Ritsuka turned her head.
"Hello, consultant and... this lady."
Bourbon, who was walking slowly towards them, said, "We meet again."
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