Chapter 19: Conan: Life Is So Hard for Me…

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Pool? Conan instantly recalled the person Ai Haibara had mentioned—purple eyes, dressed in black, and with “Ike” in the name… Could it be the same individual? Since learning that Ai Haibara was Akemi Miyano’s younger sister, and hearing the profound sorrow in Ai’s tearful confession that night—a sorrow too deep to fake—Conan believed her words and accepted her. Yet, he had always harbored doubts about the man Ai described. The description bore the hallmarks of the mysterious organization’s style, with his elusive, secretive nature… Thinking this over, Conan’s heart raced with a mix of anxiety, tension, and a faint thrill. The likelihood was overwhelming… He had to investigate! He knew this was the man who had contacted Ai, so he remained cautious and prepared mentally. The man probably didn’t even realize it was Conan who called that night—much less that he was Shinichi Kudo…

Ike Hichio, overhearing Kogoro Mori chatting with Araki Yoshinori and sensing Conan’s somewhat displeased gaze, idly wondered whether he should sneak over and quietly say, “Hello, Shinichi Kudo.” He guessed Conan’s expression would be quite entertaining… After all, Conan’s constant suspicion of him warranted a little payback, didn’t it?

Conan, relying on his small child’s body to avoid notice, quietly fixed his gaze on Ike Hichio while giving himself a pep talk. I, Shinichi Kudo, have taken the initiative! The next moment, Conan felt that sense of control slip away as Kogoro Mori picked him up.

“All right, kid, time to head back,” Kogoro said, lifting Conan and turning to Naoko Kuroda and Takahisa Tanaka, “Ladies, please take care of the two girls.” Conan immediately snapped to attention. Even if he wanted to investigate Ike Hichio, or couldn’t, he couldn’t let Ran be alone with him. He put on his cutest face and begged, “Uncle, can I stay here with Ran and the others?”

Ike Hichio silently took out his phone, turned on the video recorder, and openly aimed it at Conan. Hm… No rush to expose him. Better to keep some evidence and see if Conan would be mortified enough to disappear if his true identity were revealed later. That might be more entertaining.

“No,” Kogoro said, carrying Conan away, “you’re sick with a cold; you need to behave and go back.”

Carried off, Conan didn’t notice Ike’s action. Imitating a child’s tantrum, he protested, “Ah—no, no, I want to stay with Ran! I don’t want to go back! Don’t make me go!”

Kogoro sighed, “Stop fooling around!”

“I want to see the snow too!” Conan’s childish voice rang out, then he drooped miserably, “Does Ran not want me? I just want to stay here and play with her. Why can she stay but I can’t…”

Ike quietly recorded, noting that his presence had strengthened the Detective’s resolve to stay. This wasn’t in the original plan.

“Good grief…” Kogoro rubbed his temples, but Conan’s new “play the pitiful kid” tactic was working. “Dad, maybe let Conan stay…” Not only Ran felt pity, but even Araki Yoshinori was touched by the little boy’s forlorn look.

“Yeah, it’s fine to stay. There should be cold medicine here. I’ll look for some—it’s no good for kids to be out and about when they’re sick.”

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“Kids are just kids—they get whiny when they’re sick…” Sonoko Suzuki grumbled but subtly helped Conan. Sick kids need some pampering, after all…

“All right, I can’t resist you little brat,” Kogoro relented, turning to carry Conan back, frowning as he scolded, “If you stay, you better not cause trouble!”

“Yes~!” Conan played the obedient child but caught sight of Ike Hichio holding up his phone aimed at him. He stiffened and turned just in time to see Ike put it down. A chill ran down his spine.

Was Ike gathering information? Had he sensed something odd about Conan’s identity and targeted him? Or was he attracted by Kogoro’s fame, having noticed something or with other intentions? Regardless of whether it was because of Conan or Kogoro, the situation looked grim.

Sonoko, having noticed Ike’s actions, curiously asked, “Mr. Ike, were you filming Conan just now?”

Conan, now standing aside, wiped cold sweat for Sonoko and listened carefully. Yes, they needed to find out who Ike was targeting first.

“Yeah,” Ike admitted calmly, “That scene was so warm and interesting, I wanted to save it so that when the kid grows up, he can look back on it. It’s quite a nice memory.”

Kaito Kuroba, nearby, almost burst out laughing. Having been stumped by Ike’s words several times before, he sensed a hidden slyness—and now his intuition was confirmed! It was indeed a nice memory, just for everyone except Conan…

Sonoko’s eyes lit up, “Could I get a copy? You don’t know, this little brat is usually so clever. I’d love to see his reaction when he grows up!”

“Of course,” Ike agreed. “Give me your email; I’ll send it.”

“Um… could you send one to me too?” Ran Mori smiled shyly. “I think it’s a nice memory. Conan hardly ever does this stuff—it’s rare and thus precious.”

“No problem.” Ike gathered the girls’ emails and sent the files.

Conan looked utterly resigned. Though he had reasons to stay and investigate, he was only making a fuss for Ran’s and Sonoko’s safety. Acting like a child was exhausting—how could they treat him this way?

It was so hard for him… And absolutely no one could find out Conan was Shinichi Kudo; otherwise, his lifelong reputation would be ruined!

Kaito waited nearby, wanting a copy too, but wasn’t in a hurry to ask—it could wait until later.

The group chatted for a while longer. By noon, Escape King and Shadow Master hadn’t arrived yet, so they stopped waiting and went to lunch.

Since Conan hadn’t left with Kogoro, he missed the radio broadcast about Escape King’s murder and the burning of the suspension bridge. Instead, despite his cold, he kept observing Ike Hichio. At the same time, he grew suspicious of the butler hired by Araki Yoshinori, Kiyohiro Sugama—black clothes, sullen expression.

After sensing Conan’s scrutiny, Ike felt relieved, realizing Conan wasn’t solely focused on him, and stopped paying attention to him.

At the table, the conversation turned to favorite magicians.

“Kaito Kuroba,” Ike confidently named his cheap teacher. Though Kuroba hadn’t personally taught him, Ike had studied his notes and learned his disguises—he considered him his teacher.

“I like Kaito Kuroba too!” Araki Yoshinori agreed.

Doi Takaki, Kaito’s disguise, smiled brightly, “Me too!”

Toshiya Hamano, known as “The Vanished Pani” in the chatroom, spoke up, “I prefer Motoyasu Tsukumo…”

“Why do you all like dead guys? I like the super popular Kazumi Sanada!” Naoko Kuroda asked Sonoko and Ran.

As expected, Sonoko answered promptly: Kaito Kid.

Conan lowered his head to think. Did liking Kaito Kuroba mean something?

Araki Yoshinori was the villa’s owner, Sugama Kiyohiro was his hired butler, and there were Ike Hichio and Doi Takaki… Though the number seemed too large, if they were from the organization, they would have acted by now.

Gathered for a team-building event? Impossible…

Overthinking made the already feverish detective’s mind clouded; his vision darkened, and he suddenly collapsed onto the table.

Everyone scrambled to carry Conan to his room, gave him cold medicine brought by Doi Takaki, then went downstairs.

By night, Escape King and Shadow Master still hadn’t come, and the phones were unreachable.

When Conan groggily awoke, someone was dead!

After dinner, Toshiya Hamano was missing. The group searched his room and, looking out the open window, saw Hamano lying in the snow.

The area around was open with no footprints.

Doi Takaki ran ahead and confirmed the death, his face darkening. “Yes, this is a crime beyond human capability without wings… a baffling case!”

Though Ike Hichio had arrived first, he declined to see the body. Now under Conan’s watchful eye, even with Conan’s skills, finding the real culprit wouldn’t be difficult, but being suspected was troublesome…

With no signal in the mountains and the landline dead, and because of Ike Hichio, the group hadn’t received Conan’s warning about the burned suspension bridge. They set out together to report it.

As expected, after discovering the destroyed bridge, they all turned back.

However, Ike noticed that near the woods, Takahisa Tanaka lagged behind and disappeared briefly when others weren’t paying attention.

This was likely Tanaka’s real plan: if no one noticed the bridge’s destruction, she could retrieve the murder tools on the way.

Back in the living room, the group fell silent.

Ike sat aside, sketching in a notebook.

Most of Conan’s cases had motives rich with story, which he remembered clearly.

Motives could identify the culprit, but the method of committing the crime…

Actually, he hadn’t paid close attention to how the ropes were threaded when the body was moved. He only remembered a sailboat pattern.

But that was enough. Knowing the key point, if he thought carefully, he could piece together the exact method.

Hesitating briefly, Conan summoned courage and approached Ike, tilting his head cutely, “Brother Ike, are you drawing?”