Chapter 28: Conan Is Nothing But a Spendthrift!
Page 1 of 3
At the breakfast table, Mamiya Mitsuru could not help giving a quiet little laugh at the thought of how easily he would be able to leave.
Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko ate their breakfast in silence. They cast timid glances at the snickering Mamiya Mitsuru, and suddenly the jam-covered bread on their plates no longer tasted appealing.
This uncle’s behavior was genuinely frightening...
“He’s completely nuts,” Fei Chi grumbled from inside Chi Feichi’s sleeve. “He suddenly started laughing and scared me...”
Chi Feichi remained calm throughout.
Was it really strange to laugh suddenly while eating?
He had seen people split a piece of bread in half and point at it while discussing the future trends of the world economy. He had seen others pick all the rice out of sushi, arrange the grains one by one across the table, assume a solemn posture of prayer, and claim they were performing a spirit-summoning ritual. He had also seen someone insist that he could turn back time, then use the food in his hands for experiments until everyone around him was left utterly bewildered...
More than that, during lunch, Shimei Fukuyama had once sat beside him and asked whether he could hear the kelp in the soup talking.
At the time, a patient nearby had wandered over and answered, “Kelp that has been cooked can’t talk.” Fukuyama Shimei had immediately turned to gaze at the man thoughtfully.
A candle for that poor fellow.
The correct answer was: “No.”
Just two simple words. The more one said, the more likely one was to say the wrong thing.
As for Mamiya Mitsuru suddenly snickering to himself, that was not a serious matter at all... Keeping the uncle from falling into Fukuyama Shimei’s hands was Chi Feichi’s final act of kindness.
Chi Feichi finished his food and rose. “I’m full. Please take your time, everyone.”
“Ah, all right.” Mamiya Mitsuru hurriedly composed his face, though a strange anticipation still glimmered in his eyes.
Chi Feichi shook his head without saying anything further. After going out into the courtyard, he called Kuroba Kaito.
The phone rang several times before it was answered. Kuroba Kaito’s groggy voice came through. “What is it? It’s the weekend. I’ve found a new target, and I stayed up late researching it last night...”
“The treasure in the castle has been found.” Chi Feichi briefly recounted what had happened, omitting nothing Kuroba Kaito ought to know.
For example, what the treasure was; that it had been found by a little boy named Conan; that the former lady of the house had actually been a maid who had undergone plastic surgery; and, of course, Mamiya Mitsuru’s strange condition...
“I think you’re responsible for Mr. Mamiya Mitsuru’s problem.”
Kuroba Kaito had still been marveling inwardly at how bizarre and entertaining the whole affair was. At those words, he jumped straight up. “What does that have to do with me? I left there several days ago. You can’t blame me just because he’s developed a problem, can you?”
“While you were there, he probably wore a smile on his face while cursing you a hundred times a day in his heart. That kind of thing puts a great deal of strain on the mind.” Chi Feichi helped Kuroba Kaito carry the blame, then carefully set it straight. “Put simply, he held it in for too long and it damaged him. His condition isn’t serious, though. He just needs to relax for a while.”
“That’s good to hear.” Kuroba Kaito sounded somewhat guilty. In truth, he felt that Uncle Mamiya was a rather decent person. “By the way, be careful of that little brat named Conan. Last time, he suspected that we knew each other because of the connection between the Red Herring and the Scarecrow. Now he’s gone to the Mamiya residence...”
“It’s fine. No one in the Mamiya family mentioned you. At least, nobody did while I was there,” Chi Feichi said.
He had originally analyzed the possibility of Kuroba Kaito being exposed, but no one had mentioned him at all.
Perhaps the matter of the castle treasure had distracted everyone’s attention. Perhaps it was because Kuroba Kaito had left several days earlier.
Chi Feichi felt the more likely possibility was that, after satisfying both of those conditions, Kuroba Kaito had triggered some kind of “avoidance mechanism.”
After all, Kaito Kid was Aoyama’s true son...
“Still, you should get that brat to leave as soon as possible, just in case he discovers something,” Kuroba warned. “He seems to be investigating you. Be careful. Don’t let him uncover anything shady.”
“After hearing that I came out of a psychiatric hospital, he seemed to have much less of a problem with me.”
Kuroba Kaito immediately burst out laughing. “It couldn’t be because you were acting so suspicious that he suspected you of doing something bad, could it? Just how suspicious were you acting for him to start investigating you...?”
“Mr. Kuroba,” Chi Feichi said calmly, “Fei Chi misses you.”
Kuroba Kaito was unconcerned. “Send it over!”
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
Hearing Kuroba Kaito mention it, Fei Chi crawled out through the collar of Chi Feichi’s shirt, propped itself up beside the phone, and began eavesdropping. It happened to hear that last sentence.
“...”
Chi Feichi glanced at Fei Chi. “The red-banded snake is a species that preys on its own kind. Recently, it has been studying whether eating venomous snakes can cause it to evolve.”
“Stupid snake! A snake swallowing its own kind to evolve is impossible, all right?” Kuroba Kaito scoffed. “And how could a snake possibly have so many thoughts? Even if it did, how would it tell you? If I actually believed what you were saying... please reserve me a bed at Aoyama Fourth Hospital.”
Fei Chi said mournfully, “Master, when you have time, buy two vials of antivenom and keep them ready for Kuroba Kaito...”
On the other end of the line, Kuroba Kaito suddenly sneezed. “Am I coming down with a cold...? Forget that. Are they sending you back to the hospital now? Should I have Jii come and get you out?”
“I’ll definitely have to go back for a while. My father isn’t here, and as my appointed guardian, Mr. Mamiya feels he can no longer fulfill his duties. He’ll certainly send me back first and inform the doctor,” Chi Feichi explained. “And if Mr. Jii is to look after me as my appointed guardian, he’ll need my father’s approval as well. I’ll ask my father first whether he has anyone suitable in mind.”
“That works. But you’d better find two free days to accept Miss Suzuki’s invitation,” Kuroba Kaito said with a laugh. “I’ll invite you to a magic show starring the one and only Kaito Kid!”
“Understood.”
“Aren’t you curious what kind of magic show it is?”
“I’ll find out when the time comes. I’m hanging up.”
“Hey, wait...”
Chi Feichi ended the call and then phoned his own dear father.
“Father, Mr. Mamiya has run into some trouble and can no longer serve as my appointed guardian.”
“You don’t want to return to the hospital?”
“That’s right.”
“I understand. I’ll contact someone for you.”
“I’ll be going out for a few days. Please help me keep it from Dr. Fukuyama.”
“How many days?”
“Three. Also, please order a batch of bamboo rats from China for me. Any quantity will do.”
“Understood.”
The call ended.
Such simple, direct communication was wonderfully efficient.
When Chi Zhenzhong called Mamiya Mitsuru, Chi Feichi received a call from Sonoko Suzuki as well.
Sonoko invited him to visit the Suzuki Museum of Art, which was scheduled to open in Osaka the day after tomorrow. She also told him that Kaito Kid had his eye on the Egg of the Resurrection and that invitation letters had already been sent out.
After ending the call, Chi Feichi opened a webpage.
Bounty boards were generally maintained by various countries and recorded wanted criminals.
Deep within the internet, however, there was another webpage resembling a mission hall. The login accounts were the professional license numbers issued by different countries.
Compared with the bounty boards, this site, known as the “Bounty Hall,” was far more interesting.
There were speculators posting criminal bounties, official agents from various countries lying in wait to fish for suspects, people commissioning deliveries, and even a missing-cat notice with a surprisingly high reward.
The forum was not entirely black, nor was it entirely white. It was a chaotic, lively gathering place where every kind of character crossed paths.
Chi Feichi entered the accumulated bounty pool and searched for the codename “Scorpion.”
Since most bounty missions were conducted in the shadows and their difficulty could not be properly assessed, bounty hunters had no formal rankings. Like detectives, they were judged by reputation.
Having lurked on the forum for some time, Chi Feichi had learned about several prominent figures. Scorpion was one of them.
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
Scorpion was also a bounty hunter. Age unknown, appearance unknown, gender unknown—an utterly mysterious figure.
Most of the bounties Scorpion accepted were assassination jobs. On the rare occasions when payment was specified, the demand was usually for artifacts or treasures from the Romanov dynasty.
A bounty hunter with an intensely focused purpose, as well as decisive and ruthless methods.
Chi Feichi felt that one sentence described Scorpion perfectly:
No one knows who I am, because anyone who knew my identity is already dead!
Bounty hunters themselves carried bounties as well. No one cared about some rule forbidding members of the same profession from killing one another. If one fell into the hands of a fellow hunter, one had to be mentally prepared to be exchanged for money.
In the bounty pool:
Identify Scorpion and provide a photograph and location: three million dollars.
Capture Scorpion and deliver the hunter to the police: more than nine million dollars in official and privately accumulated rewards combined.
In addition, there was a private bounty for capturing Scorpion and handing the hunter over to the client: thirty million dollars, with goods of equal value accepted in exchange...
Chi Feichi fell silent.
When he had captured Jiro Numabuchi and assisted with a criminal investigation some time ago, he had earned only one hundred thousand dollars in total.
And even capturing Jiro Numabuchi had depended heavily on his knowledge of the story.
A valuable young woman like that, and Conan had merely called the police and let them handle the arrest without earning a single cent...
What a waste of resources!
What an irresponsible spendthrift!
Fei Chi glanced sideways at the screen, its eyes going wide. It even stopped flicking out its tongue. “So many zeroes! Master, are we going to capture this person?”
“No rush.” Chi Feichi searched for “Kaito Kid” as well.
In the bounty pool:
Provide identity information: sixty thousand dollars.
Capture and deliver to the police: three hundred and ten thousand dollars.
Taking advantage of the attention surrounding the theft of the Egg of the Resurrection, Kuroba Kaito’s price had risen again—by five thousand dollars.
After all, Kaito Kid had not offended many people. These bounties had been accumulated by law-enforcement departments from various countries as part of their efforts against crime.
Official agencies generally did not offer excessively high rewards. For large bounties, they would secretly contact bounty hunters instead.
A bounty pool grew to a high amount mainly when numerous private bounties accumulated after someone had offended one person after another.
Kaito Kid also had no shortage of private bounties.
Some wanted his identity investigated and the information told only to the employer. Some wanted to spend a day dating Kaito Kid. Others simply wanted him captured and delivered to them... The rewards ranged from one hundred thousand to one million dollars. They were obviously posted by fans or wealthy people with too much free time. Without any hatred premium, they were utterly incomparable to Scorpion.
Take Jirokichi Suzuki, for example. The old man was merely bored out of his mind. He did not post a bounty; he wanted to challenge Kaito Kid himself. He was the sort of unpleasant fellow who seemed to say, “I have food to eat, so I won’t steal your rice bowl. I’m just bored after filling my stomach and want to make sure you don’t get this meal.”
Ahem... In a certain sense, he belonged to an even more obnoxious category: “I have food to eat, but I’m bored and still want to steal your rice bowls. Not only do I want to take your food—I also want to climb above you and lord it over you for fun.”
Page 3 of 3