While waiting for Conan and Detective Takagi to return, Ai Haibara was coaxed into joining Chi Feichei for morning exercises.
At first, Ai Haibara intended to follow through to the end, then she gritted her teeth and persevered, but finally, she decisively chose to give up, holding Hassashi and watching from the side.
Running around the park for so long was just the warm-up? She wasn't doing it anymore; let whoever wanted to do it!
"Giving up is the right choice. Children aren't suited for excessive training. It's fine to stop when you feel you've reached your limit."
Chi Feichei did so appropriate exercises himself and then stopped decisively.
Actually, his situation was similar to Makoto Kyogoku's; neither could progress rapidly in the short term.
It was just that Makoto Kyogoku couldn't find the path forward, while his own physical fitness couldn't increase rapidly for the ti being.
Both could only calm down and consolidate their foundations for now.
Exercise is addictive, especially using the thod of extra training, feeling oneself grow day by day, providing a cathartic feeling akin to rebirth through fire.
But when extra training reaches its limit and the effectiveness gradually decreases, that feeling is maddening.
He had experienced several peaks and troughs in physical fitness improvent in his past life, felt the sensation of exercise addiction, and learned to control it.
Walking the sa path again in this life, he had more experience in handling it and knew when to stop.
After a short while, Conan and Detective Takagi returned and reported on their investigation, seemingly having recovered from the ghost story.
As for whether they would still be scared at night, Chi Feichei didn't care.
Once the three children woke up, he drove the group to talk with the real culprit, Kitagawa.
At 9 AM, Kitagawa confessed, and Detective Takagi called Sato Miwako.
In less than ten minutes, more than ten police cars arrived, and police officers with fierce expressions got out.
Kitagawa was startled.
"Officers, I… I killed her because she forced to marry her… No, no, I'm not trying to argue, I've already confessed! Huh?"
Except for two officers who ca to handcuff him, the other officers slowly closed in on Detective Takagi nearby, their expressions grim.
"Takagi—"
"W-wait…"
"Takagi, you're caught! Give up resisting!"
"You brat, accept your punishnt!"
The surroundings were chaotic, occasionally punctuated by Detective Takagi's weak explanations.
The three mbers of the Detective Boys were stunned.
"S-so scary…"
"I was wondering how Takagi was so fast, turns out he called for special backup!" Sato Miwako walked over from the side, smiling at Chi Feichei.
"This ti, the deduction wasn't mine." Chi Feichei decisively distanced himself.
"Eh?" Sato Miwako was sowhat surprised.
"It was Detective Takagi and Conan who figured it out!" Mitsuhiko explained.
"Chi-niisan figured it out long ago," Ayumi revealed Chi Feichei's little sche with a smile.
"But he didn't want to give a statent!"
Sato Miwako felt exasperated lines appear on her forehead.
To avoid giving a statent, he figured it out but didn't deduce it aloud.
Indeed, still the sa Chi Feichei who drew pictures and let the police reconstruct the cri thod themselves.
"So cunning," Genta sighed helplessly.
"The statents will be left to us, since we were with him."
"But, Officer Sato," Mitsuhiko pointed towards Detective Takagi.
"Aren't you going to help him?"
Sato Miwako broke into a sweat and lowered her voice.
"There's nothing I can do either, and Inspector gure is waiting for him back at the Tokyo tropolitan Police Departnt…"
"But, if you hadn't been caught first, Detective Takagi probably wouldn't be in such a pitiful state, right?" Genta retorted with half-lidded eyes.
Sato Miwako put her hands on her hips, full of resentnt.
"I didn't want to either! Who knew that jerk July actually found out my location!"
Hassashi popped its head out from Chi Feichei's collar and reminded him, "Master, she called you a jerk…"
Chi Feichei remained impassive, listening quietly.
"July?" The three children were puzzled.
Conan couldn't help but look over.
He had thought Sato Miwako was caught because the art museum staff found them during their rounds and called the police.
He hadn't expected July to be involved.
"Officer Sato, did you encounter July?"
"No," Sato Miwako's face darkened slightly.
"I don't know why he knew I was there. I was just waiting when a large group of police officers rushed in. I only found out later from Inspector gure that July provided the information."
"What exactly did he say?" Conan pressed.
"Did he provide the exact location of the restroom? If July alerted you to the specific location, then July must have been near us at the ti."
"He ntioned the restrooms at the Beika Art Museum and told the police to search floor by floor," Sato Miwako recalled, rubbing her chin.
"We aren't sure if he knew my exact location."
"He?" Conan noted Sato's use of the masculine pronoun.
"Has the Tokyo tropolitan Police Departnt confird July's gender?"
"Not yet," Sato Miwako waved her hand.
"I just feel that anyone who would do sothing like this must be a jerk of a man! I was only hiding things so Mr. Higashida could make it to his daughter's wedding!"
Hassashi: "Master, she called you a jerk again…"
"So," Mitsuhiko looked thoughtful.
"Officer Sato got caught, and Detective Takagi is in such a ss, all because of that July?"
"He must be a really bad guy!" Genta declared.
"Selling Officer Sato's information directly to the Tokyo tropolitan Police Departnt, and we didn't even know when we were discovered," Ai Haibara also joked with a straight face.
"He's quite a capable jerk, too."
"Everyone says he's a bad person," Ayumi was getting confused and turned to ask Chi Feichei.
"Chi-niisan, is that true?"
Hassashi: "Master, they're calling you…"
"Looking at it this way, he is quite the jerk." Chi Feichei looked completely calm, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Hassashi: "…"
(╬ Ò ‸ Ó)
How could Master calmly watch others curse him and even agree with them?
Did he have to sacrifice himself to this extent just to avoid suspicion of being July?
"Uh, okay, actually, he's not really a bad person," Sato Miwako saw the children joining in the criticism and quickly explained to them.
Although she was resentful, she didn't think July had done anything wrong.
If it were a situation where the police were captured by criminals, having soone with July's information gathering abilities provide them with intel would be a huge help.
"Actually, it was wrong for us to investigate behind Inspector gure's back in the first place. It has nothing to do with whether July reported it or not."
"Then who is he exactly?" Ayumi asked, puzzled.
"Well…" Sato Miwako hesitated for a mont.
"He helps the police catch criminals and gets paid for it. Besides that, he also provides information and such in exchange for rewards. Of course, it's not just the police; he accepts tasks from others too, as long as the reward is sufficient…"
"Isn't that just a detective? A really amazing detective, right?" Ayumi turned to look at Chi Feichei.
"Is he as amazing as Chi-niisan?"
Chi Feichei had been listening to the Tokyo tropolitan Police Departnt's view of him, but hearing Ayumi suddenly drag him into it, he remained outwardly calm but felt a drop of sweat inwardly.
So, sotis the innocent words of a child might inadvertently reveal the truth…
"Then, can we get rewards for helping the police catch criminals in the future?" Genta asked eagerly.
"It's different," Sato Miwako didn't connect it to Chi Feichei and quickly explained with a smile.
"The criminals he catches are ones who have been fugitives for a long ti, which is why the police commission him. And so criminals are very dangerous; if you encounter them, you must stay far away! No, it's best not to encounter them at all!"
"Fighting dangerous criminals, that sounds like Masked Rider," Mitsuhiko asked seriously.
"So he's actually a good person, right?"
"It's hard to say, because he might also help others commit cris. Walking the line between good and evil…" Sato Miwako felt it was difficult to explain to the children.
"Anyway, he's a very mysterious person who might help the police, or might cause trouble for the police!"
End of Chapter
User Comments
0 comments from readers