Chapter 67 Chapter 66 Under the Gentian Flowers: The Secret of Matsushiro Town...
Life is more than just goji berries.
There's also beer, barbecue, and peanuts.
While four police officers in Tokyo began working on the kidnapping case, Al was in the kitchen watching the proprietress press osmanthus and water chestnut cakes with a bamboo board.
The delicate fragrance of osmanthus blossoms filled this small area, carrying a hint of sweetness.
The black-haired girl stood on a small wooden stool, leaning on the edge of the table, slowly turning a hand-operated stone mill with both hands, and powder made from dried water chestnuts seeped out from the gaps.
She picked up a small brush and swept one of the ingredients for making the cake into a porcelain plate. The proprietress took the plate of water chestnut powder, poured it into a large wooden basin mixed with glutinous rice flour and starch, stirred it evenly, and then sprinkled it on the pressed osmanthus and water chestnut cake.
Finally, place it in a steamer, add water, and light the fire, and a long and leisurely mist will rise.
Al stood on a small stool and watched with the proprietress as steam gushed out from the gaps in the bamboo strips. A few scattered faces, some young and some weathered, were busy preparing meals for the guests.
"Tong, aren't you going up to keep an eye on things?" The proprietress wiped her hands on her apron and took out a mung bean cake. "That blond foreigner looks unusual. He must be an American."
“No, he’s a real Japanese, a policeman.” Al reached for the mung bean cake, but the proprietress slapped his hand and he jumped down to wash his hands, saying, “Let him dig for information, so he won’t keep testing me.”
Let Anke and Jianan help deal with Mr. Undercover's thirst for knowledge; she's not in the right state to play language traps with Bourbon right now.
In the early hours of the morning, he also had to deal with Scotland, which was even more difficult than Bourbon. Ale put down the sulfur soap in his hand, lathered his hands, and turned on the tap.
I'm mentally exhausted.
"Another undercover agent." The proprietress handed a pancake to a child who had just washed and was shaking off the water. Her eyes, moist with tears, showed worry. She looked down at the girl munching on the pancake. "Tong, you can't afford to mess with a tiger."
"Okay, don't worry." Elle licked the sesame seeds stuck to the corner of his mouth and smiled at the landlady. "Don't worry, Auntie, I'll arrange everything. Everyone will leave safely."
Sigh... The proprietress looked at the black-haired girl who had lowered her head to eat her mung bean cake again, and naturally thought of another child who was still missing. She sighed silently.
"Tong, you're leaving soon, right? Let me pack these water chestnut cakes in a food box for you."
"Hmm!" El took a sip of tea, savoring the aroma of mung beans, cleared her throat, and asked sweetly, "Do you have any extra mung bean cakes? I'd like to bring a few to my friend."
"Yes, yes, wait while I look for a paper bag... How about some Longjing tea cakes?"
"want!"
…
Second floor
The atmosphere downstairs was warm and delicious, but just one floor away, the atmosphere in the private rooms on the second floor became cold and tense as the ale left the room.
"Hmm, this is the first time I've ever had such an authentic Chinese breakfast."
The blond man broke the silence first, a slight smile appearing in his purplish-gray eyes as he looked at Anke and Jianan, who had looked up at him as he spoke.
"Really? Hahaha."
Then I received this reply.
The two responded briefly, then lowered their heads again, looking at the empty wooden tabletop.
Setting aside the intense emotions from her conversation with Ale, her two very light brown eyes, illuminated by the slanting sunlight streaming in from the window, were as clear and inorganic as the smoky glass beads rarely seen in a pinball machine.
Furuya Rei watched the two boys instantly switch to human mode after the girl left, pinched his brow with some unease, exhaled, and casually smoothed his bangs.
"What is Lager's real name? What are her physical characteristics?" He opened his light gray eyes to meet the two light brown eyes, tapped the table twice with his fingers, and asked directly, "El said she is unable to move around easily, why?"
“Now that I’ve reached an agreement with El, I think her intention to leave us alone is quite clear.” The blond man’s lips curled into a smile, and his gentle, neighborly demeanor vanished completely.
"Since it's a mutually beneficial arrangement, then please answer the questions properly."
The oppressive aura unique to bourbon spread out, causing Anke's breath to catch in her throat slightly. She felt an uncontrollable tightness and numbness in the back of her neck, and Jianan beside her clearly had a similar reaction, his back stiffening.
Faced with a codenamed member who was no longer disguised, the two boys, who rarely had direct contact with codenamed members of the organization, visibly paused, exchanged a glance, and then nodded to Bourbon.
“We don’t know Lady Rag’s full name,” Anko replied, “but she shares the same surname as Lady El, both being called Zhuge.”
Oh, so Zhuge Tongzhi is actually Ale's real name? Furuya Rei's eyes flickered slightly.
“As for appearance, I think it’s hard to give an answer based on hair and eye color.” Jianan gave a slightly lukewarm smile. Furuya Rei noticed that he seemed more comfortable speaking after the encore, but he preferred to beat around the bush when he spoke than his companions.
"Lord Rag is quite knowledgeable about hair dyeing and perming, and he usually prefers forest green contact lenses." He tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear and smiled lightly, "It's a pity I can't draw portraits, but Lord El is very good at character sketching, you can ask her."
"How old are you two? Twenty? Are you also Chinese?" Having successfully started the conversation, Furuya Rei nodded slightly, flexed his fingers on the table, and then asked, "Are Al and Lag the same age as you?"
The image of the girl leaping from mid-air flashed before his eyes. She appeared to be a minor, but the boundaries between childhood and adolescence are often blurred in East Asians.
Just like there isn't much difference between Furuya Rei's 29th and 22nd years old, as long as he changes into the University of Tokyo's uniform, he can totally play role-playing games with his childhood friend.
“It seems that Lord El didn’t tell you about the training camp.” Anke realized that El was just too lazy to be questioned, and her expression relaxed a little as she replied, “Most of the people in the training camp are orphans from all over the world.”
"Where one's hometown is basically determined by how much of their mother tongue they still remember." The girl picked up the teapot and poured tea into the teacups lined up on the glass plate, filling them about seven-tenths full. "However, Jianan and I have forgotten our mother tongues; now we only speak English and Japanese."
“I’m not Chinese, and the Chinese I’ve learned is only enough for basic communication.” Anke picked up her teacup and looked down at the water with tea leaves floating on it. “Lady Rag is terrible at teaching. In the training camp, only Lord El can talk to her.”
“Lord Rag said that China is a beautiful place, life there may be a little tiring, but it is peaceful and tranquil.” She pressed her fingertips against the slightly warm cup and smiled. “I want to go and see it after everything is over.”
Through her longing words, a profound and infectious love was so lightly conveyed to Furuya Rei, who had never met Rag.
He quickly filled in the blank image of Rag with keywords: a clear sense of identity, a complete and good education in his hometown, and an outgoing and cheerful personality.
“As for age, you can think of us as around twenty years old. Our birthdays are roughly set.” Jianan then brought the topic back. “As for the two of you, Lord El is almost nineteen this year, and Lord Rag is twenty-three.”
He's almost nineteen, but he wasn't even an adult when he got involved with Hiro last year. Reiichi Furuya calculated the months before and after and realized that Ay was much younger than he had imagined.
“Please, Mr. Bourbon.” He gestured with his hand, pointing to the teacup that had been turned to face Rei Furuya, and said gently, “Let me introduce the training camp on behalf of Lord El. How much do you know about it?”
“I didn’t say much about El.” The blond man picked up his teacup, making no mention of the information he had received from Curaçao, and said with a smile, “I’ll trouble you to start from the beginning.”
Jia Nan nodded calmly and began to explain: "The training camp was initially based in the United States, but it was later given to more important research members and was moved to Japan about two years ago."
“The research spans such a long period that it’s hard to find the answer. The earliest experimental record we’ve seen is about fifty years ago, and it should actually be earlier than that.” He paused for a moment. “However, it’s only been a little over ten years since it came under Rum’s supervision.”
“Lag and Lord El were among the first to enter the camp and receive codenames.” Jianan recounted the development of the training camp in a leisurely manner, with Lag and El clearly being the main figures. “Lord Lag is stationed at the training camp and rarely goes on missions.”
"The relocation of the training camp, the children's training plan, the arrangement of experimental personnel, and so on, were all arranged by Lord Rag, with Rum making the final decision." In other words, this also meant that Rag was directly monitored by Rum.
"Lady El is in the intelligence group, so she has more authority. She also arranges the placement of most of the members from the training camp." He chuckled as he said, "They're basically all assigned to the lower levels, which makes it safer for them to go on missions."
While safety was assured, it was also difficult for Rei Furuya, who had just joined the organization, to immediately obtain orders from higher-ups, even though he was aiming for the codenamed member's identity.
“The help we can offer is minimal, so minimal that the codenamed members would rarely notice.” Jia Nan winked meaningfully. “For example, we can create a slight time difference regarding the movements of a certain lord or the preparations for an encirclement.”
Oh dear, the blond man blinked slowly. No wonder Hiro was exposed immediately after a mission, before he could even leave the scene.
“But in the end, we’re just nobody.” Seeing that the other person understood her meaning, Jia Nan smiled and said, “Do you have any other questions?”
Rei Furuya pondered for a moment, then asked a new question: "Hmm, did you participate in the mission to hunt down Shuichi Akai?"
"Of course, that mission was quite exciting."
…
"It's time to catch the train."
Judging by the time, Eljuk, carrying two large paper bags in each hand, kicked open the door. After standing in the doorway and seeing the scene inside, he narrowed his eyes slightly. "Baka, what are you doing?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Rei Furuya felt his hand suddenly go empty. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Anko pull her hand back in shock, frantically waving her hands as if trying to explain but too anxious to know what to say.
This makes it even easier for people to misunderstand.
"Confirming the smell."
El's gaze became even stranger, sweeping over Anko's flushed cheeks before finally settling on Furuya Rei's still-placed hand, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.
“Anko said that a member with a codename is used to wearing Ralph Lauren perfume.” Furuya Rei, under the increasingly tangible gaze of the ale, put down the hand that had been holding Anko’s wrist and explained, “I happen to have a few with me and would like to ask her to help identify them.”
“Then you’ve come to the right person. Anke has a very keen sense of smell and taste,” the black-haired girl said slowly. “But you can just ask me directly. Tequila likes to use Ralph Lauren’s Red Horserun.”
"The guys in Gin's group are all big-breasted with chins and chevron beards, 178cm tall and burly, but not very bright." After saying that, Elle gestured with his chin toward Rei Furuya, "Have you finished asking them all? There's a car here to take us to the station."
"That should be about right." Rei Furuya stood up, having already taken a step, but stopped as if suddenly remembering something. "But...give me five more minutes?"
"Then I'll go downstairs first." The black-haired girl said, looking at An Ke, and calmly said, "An Ke, come downstairs with me."
"Yes, Lord El." Anke's face immediately fell. She jogged over and took the two large paper bags of snacks from El's hands, then followed the girl downstairs.
"Is there anything else you need to ask?" Kanan, still sitting at the table, watched the two ladies leave first, then looked at Furuya Rei questioningly, "Actually, Lady El knows more than we do. If it's something we can't ask her..." then they naturally wouldn't reveal it.
“This isn’t a good question to ask her.” Jia Nan’s eyes darkened, and she looked at Furuya Rei in front of her with a slightly helpless smile. “I probably wouldn’t get a real answer even if I asked her.”
"You just said that Ale is almost nineteen years old."
The short-haired boy silently pressed a button on his phone under the table.
"So, you know her exact birthday, right?"
Chia-Nan paused in his long press of the button, and loosened his grip.
"What's the date?" The blond man scratched his cheek, saying uncertainly, "A kid who's just come of age... he should be quite concerned about that..."
“Mr. Bourbon.” Jia Nan interrupted him, took out her phone from under the table, found a picture and showed it to Furuya Rei, saying, “Please write down this forum link, and my social media accounts.”
"Oh, okay?" Furuya Rei took out his phone and took two photos, not understanding why. Before he could ask any questions, he saw two incoming call notifications pop up on his and Kanan's phones at the same time, from Elju and Anko respectively.
“If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late. Let’s keep in touch online.” Jianan stood up and extended his right hand to Furuya Rei.
"Have a safe journey." A few glimmers appeared in his usually calm, light brown eyes, and the emotions that were on the surface of his eyes were replaced by a genuine, faint smile. "I wish you a pleasant cooperation with Lord El."
Just then, Noah's Ark forcibly connected to Furuya Rei's call, and Elju's somewhat displeased voice came through the receiver.
"Baka, I guess you can fly to the train station, right?"
Rei Furuya reached out and shook hands with Kanan, smiling, "Well, I definitely will."
"Huh?" The woman's voice on the phone raised its tone slightly.
"I'll drive."
“.
…
Meanwhile, at the Mori office
Conan quickly finished reading the letter left for him; the lengthy explanation could be summarized in three sentences:
1. Great Detective, this is Elle. I'm going to solo with Bourbon.
2. Here's a portrait of Rum and some intelligence. Use it to negotiate with those undercover agents, using their cunning and deception.
3. An unnamed FBI agent has planted a listening device in the PhD student's house. Please remind him to respect his privacy. :)
After reading the last paragraph marked with Photoshop, Conan initially looked like a beady mess, unable to understand the Japanese text for a moment. Then, he realized what he meant and his eyes turned into crescent moons filled with speechlessness.
Mr. Akai, you...
Zhuge Tongzhi's emotions, which were initially somewhat worried, have become complicated. He seems to be relieved by the confident tone in the other party's letter, but he is also unable to completely put his mind at ease because of the other party's ambiguous wording.
And why didn't you take him with you! Conan, folding the letter, jumped off the toilet seat, pushed open the door, and strode out with his hands in his pockets.
He'd promised to wear his detective badge properly, but now he'd completely forgotten about it, along with his reputation as a famous detective. The black-haired, blue-eyed child pouted as he thought this.
More than intelligence, what he really wants is cooperation (sulking).
However, this explains Midorikawa Hikaru's attitude this morning. Conan pulled his hand away and rubbed the back of his head, pacing around the room, pondering how to further integrate the information he had.
As Conan orbits the sun, Ran Mouri, standing at the center of the orbit, finishes reading the last sheet of a stack of letters. She carefully folds the letters again and puts them back into their original envelopes.
“It’s a letter.” The long-haired girl’s face flushed slightly as she pressed the thick letter to her heart. “What a romantic way to communicate. I’ve always wanted to have a pen pal.”
What a thoughtful girl. Conan looked at Ran Mouri, who was in a good mood, and casually said, "But in modern society, email is still more convenient. Writing letters is inefficient, and they might get lost in the process of delivery."
“But Conan, I think a letter can carry more longing than an instant mail.” Ran Mouri bent down, poked the child’s forehead, and gave him a gentle smile. “Because every stroke is written with care by the writer.”
"Oh dear, talking about this makes me want to write to Shinichi." She patted her cheek, making the skin even redder. "But I have no idea where that guy is now."
The meaning of these sentences is that Conan, covering his forehead where he was poked and using his arm to cover his involuntary blushing cheeks, is that Ran misses him very much.
Ah, actually, you can write a few letters to practice even without an address. He can help Lan with some suggestions.
But when this topic came up, Ran Mouri became sullen. "Shinichi, that guy, after America, he disappeared somewhere again. I'm not going to write to him."
"Hey, no!" Conan lowered his arm, about to say something to defend himself, when he heard three knocks on the door of the Mouri Detective Agency.
"Wait a moment, they're here!" Ran Mouri put the letter away and went downstairs to open the door to the agency for receiving visitors. Conan, who had failed to make his move, followed behind her with a frustrated gait.
"Hey, Officer Morofushi, Officer Yamato, and Officer Uehara?"
After the crisp sound of the door opening, a girl's surprised and delighted question came from the doorway, "What brings you here?"
Upon hearing who it was, Conan quickly quickened his pace and arrived at the door at the same time as Kogoro Mouri, who rushed out of the bedroom upon hearing the noise. They were then pushed aside by the uncle, who had quickly changed into a suit.
"Do you three have a case that you need me, Kogoro Mouri, to handle?" Kogoro Mouri straightened his bow tie with a professional air, his humble words revealing an undeniable radiance of confidence.
After being jostled and staggering a few steps, Conan regained his footing, raised his hand to shield his eyes from the uncle's overly confident, bright light.
Outside the office stood three Nagano Prefectural police officers in suits—two men and one woman—each exuding a powerful aura that set them apart from the crowd.
Standing in the center of the three, Yamato Kansuke had a dark and rugged face, with unruly and scraggly eyebrows. A deep scar, the one that cost him his eye, ran across his left eye, making this police officer look like a gang leader who had climbed to the top through countless battles.
The man to his left was handsome, with sharp lines in his phoenix eyes that were upturned at the corners, yet this did not detract from his refined and gentle demeanor. Moreover, he did not need to speak; just by looking up, he exuded a sense of high intelligence.
He is none other than Yamato Kansuke's childhood friend, police officer Mr. Morofushi Takaaki, who works in Nagano Prefecture and is also the older brother of Morofushi Kagemitsu. The two share the same upturned phoenix eyes.
As his name suggests, Zhu Fu Gaoming grew a mustache, just like Zhuge Liang in historical records. However, it was not the ancient long and beautiful beard, but a small mustache that added a touch of mature charm to him.
Faced with the confident and radiant Kogoro Mouri, Kansuke Yamato twitched his lips slightly but remained silent, while Takaaki Morofushi smiled slightly, silently passing the task of explaining to his partner.
Then, standing to Yamato Kansuke's right, Uehara Yui, who had grown up with the two of them, smiled and said, "Yes, we have come to seek Mr. Mori's help."
The policewoman, whose features were devoid of any gentleness, wore a neat bun, and her professional makeup beneath her parted bangs gave her a sharp and sophisticated look.
"A case has occurred in Nagano Prefecture." Uehara Yui's thin lips, tinged with vermilion, curved into a beautiful smile as she spoke, but her words carried no kindness whatsoever. "A series of murders has occurred in the tunnels of Matsushiro Town."
“This case is very complicated.” She faced Kogoro Mouri, but her eyes, like the two people beside her, were fixed on Conan, who had walked up to the old man’s legs. She said, “We hope to get your help.”
They had worked with Kogoro Mouri before, but compared to the uncle who was terrible at criminal reasoning, the three of them quickly realized that the young detective named Conan Edogawa had truly extraordinary reasoning talent.
Without exposing him, questioning him, or doubting his identity, the busy Nagano trio smoothly accepted this exceptionally talented detective and joined forces with him to achieve a perfect conclusion to the case.
After the case was closed, both the Nagano trio, who had witnessed Conan's formidable deductive abilities, and Conan, whose expectations had been raised by the three police officers' ability to advance the case, were left with a deep impression on each other.
So, when faced with another tricky case, Yamato Kansuke, Morofushi Takaaki, and Uehara Yui choose to come to the Mori Detective Agency to seek the help of a clever detective.
Ostensibly, it was an invitation to Kogoro Mouri, but in reality, their true intentions were elsewhere.
This is a brilliant strategy from Nagano's military tactics: get rid of Goro and keep Conan.
Of course, it couldn't be said so bluntly. Amid Kogoro Mouri's self-deprecating laughter, Morofushi Takaaki glanced down at Conan and understood that the other understood his and his childhood friends' request.
He cleared his throat with a cough, interrupting Kogoro Mouri's refusal, and said gently and slowly, "As the saying goes, 'Power is the ability to control based on profit.'"
"Ahahaha, Officer Morofushi is right, that... that... that kind of 'situation'." Kogoro Mouri paused for a moment, clearly not understanding the meaning of the idiom, and stood at the door, somewhat embarrassed, scratching the back of his head.
He turned to Yamato Kansuke and Uehara Yui for help, but the two, who were not fans of classical Chinese literature, were clearly helpless and could only look at their friends with questioning eyes.
But when faced with the question, Morofushi Takaaki simply smiled and stroked his mustache, his gaze fixed on Ran Mouri, who was deep in thought.
Sure enough, in just three seconds, Ran Mouri raised her hand and exclaimed in sudden realization, "I remember now, this is from the 'Initial Planning' chapter of 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu."
"It means that the so-called situation refers to the strategy of adapting to changing circumstances by taking advantage of favorable conditions." The girl, who was excellent in classical Chinese and loved the Three Kingdoms, explained fluently to everyone, her eyes crinkling as she looked at the nodding Morofushi Takaaki, "Isn't that right, Officer Morofushi?"
"That's exactly what Miss Lan wanted to say."
Having his ancient saying interpreted by a fellow enthusiast, Morofushi Takaaki smiled slightly, not needing to explain it himself. His dark blue eyes looked at Conan, who stood inexplicably proud beside Kogoro Mouri's legs. "This case is complicated, and we hope to find out the truth as soon as possible. Do the three of you have some free time?"
"I don't have any cases lately," Kogoro Mouri readily agreed. "When are we going to that... uh, Matsu-something-town in Nagano?"
"Matsushiro-cho, formerly known as Kaizu Castle. This case occurred in a war-era tunnel there that was never used." Morofushi Takaaki explained briefly, then said, "The case is urgent. Please depart tomorrow. I will explain the details to you tomorrow."
"no problem."
During the farewell greetings between Kogoro Mouri, Ran Mouri, and Takaaki Morofushi, Conan received eye greetings from Kansuke Yamato and Yui Uehara. He grinned at the two officers who were not a hindrance in solving the case.
The trio quickly set off back to Nagano to prepare case investigation materials for tomorrow.
Not far from the scene of that serial murder case, Furuya Rei and Elju, wearing raincoats, walked along a wild path and climbed deep into Elephant Mountain in the dim light of a continuous drizzle.
A row of collapsed houses appeared before them, half-enclosed by a few broken yellow warning lines, tearing open the dense forest like a wound.
Rei Furuya saw traces of a great fire among the collapsed stones.
It wasn't the season for gentians to bloom, but perhaps because of its location deep in the mountains, the scattered clusters of deep purple flowers still created a sea of blossoms, gently enveloping the ale that was leading the way.
The black-haired girl in the transparent raincoat stood there for a moment, looked at the collapsed houses in front of her, and then stepped into the rubble.
Gentian flowers swayed in the drizzle.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Tequila: The Unlucky Wine That Got the Wrong Suit and Was Blown Up in the Train Chapter
…
Bourbon speeds to the station
Al put his driving skills last.
That is, after hagi
This is what they mean by "the student surpasses the teacher" (just kidding).
…
The gentian flower symbolizes justice, honesty, and understanding your sorrow.
She's also the prefectural flower of Nagano Prefecture!
I think it fits the theme of this chapter perfectly (awkwardly).
So they forced it to open (the question was whether a year of Conan's studies was too comprehensive).
…
Mwah!
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