Chapter Three: You Win—This 100-Yen Coin Is Yours

“I... I really will shoot!”

The silver fox cried out with a trembling, cracked voice, like a female beast cornered with no way out.

This madman before her, clad in black and playing a deadly game with her life, stirred a profound sense of instability and danger in her heart.

She had a premonition—if she dared to pull the trigger, she would die.

Just as this lunatic had said, she would see her own brains splattered.

“Y-you… back off, back off!”

Watching the woman’s hand tremble as she gripped the gun, Nara Hikaru sighed deeply, shaking his head with regret.

“I’ve already given you a chance. You only needed to pull the trigger to solve all your problems.”

“Unfortunately, you wasted it.”

Even Conan, whose eyesight surpassed the ordinary, failed to see when Nara Hikaru acted.

He only caught a shadow of black streaking through the air.

In the next moment, the silver fox’s pistol was knocked flying, soaring high into the sky.

The notorious counterfeit ring leader of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department now collapsed weakly to the ground.

Nara Hikaru, expressionless, reached out and caught the falling gun by its handle.

Then, he pressed the pistol against the silver fox’s head.

At that instant, the silver fox truly felt the looming threat of death.

For the first time, she understood the feeling of those whose heads she had once held at gunpoint.

“Ma’am, allow me to offer some advice.”

“Before action, words are always powerless. Every sentence you utter here is weaker than a sincere pull of the trigger. A bullet would carry away all your troubles.”

Nara Hikaru’s finger rested on the trigger.

No one present doubted whether this enigmatic, terrifyingly skilled figure in black would actually fire.

The children of the Junior Detective League had already covered their eyes, afraid to witness what might follow.

The elementary school boy who had the tranquilizer gun aimed at the silver fox hurriedly adjusted its sight.

However, just as Conan moved the tranquilizer gun, Nara Hikaru turned his head to look at him.

Immediately, a sense of fatal danger spread through Conan’s heart.

Even the famed high school detective’s body involuntarily trembled.

At this moment, Conan understood why Nara Hikaru could play a death game even with a pistol pressed to his own head.

This man... was like a terrifying demon risen from some hell.

A single glance from him was enough to intimidate any ordinary person.

He had no doubt that even if he fired the tranquilizer gun, the dart would not hit Nara Hikaru.

But Nara Hikaru’s bullet would kiss his forehead, showing him his own brains.

“...Who is this guy?! Why is his style so utterly different from the usual in Mihama Town...!”

Conan whispered to himself as alarms rang in his mind.

He instinctively associated the black clothing with the Black Organization members.

That silver-haired man in black who had hit him from behind at the Tropical Paradise once had a similar aura...

Then, he saw Nara Hikaru pull the trigger.

“No, no! Don’t kill!”

The elementary school boy known as Death God burst through the door, abandoning his disguise, shouting to stop Nara Hikaru.

Yet the bullet had already left the barrel, tearing through the air with a roar as it sped toward its target!

Bang!

The gunshot echoed instantly from the third floor of the Ren River Building.

At the nearby Owatari Police Station, the officers shuddered instinctively.

They stepped out of the station, looking up toward the Owatari News Agency on the third floor of the Ren River Building, exchanging tense glances.

Though nervous, they drew their sidearms and began ascending the stairs.

They remembered children had told them about kidnappers at the Owatari News Agency.

Previously, they had dismissed it, watching the kids enter the building to investigate. Now, hearing gunfire, they could no longer ignore the situation.

No matter the danger, they had to check it out.

If possible... they would rescue those children endangered by their own negligence.

Inside the Owatari News Agency, Ai Haibara, who had been watching Nara Hikaru closely, finally exhaled in relief.

The bullet that had been fired at the silver fox’s head had grazed her hair at a sharp angle.

Though it blew off her hat and some strands of golden hair, it caused no real injury—far from killing the black-clad kidnapper and counterfeit printer.

“Ah, my head! My head!”

The silver fox screamed in terror, feeling a chill on her scalp after the gunshot.

Her clothes were soaked with cold sweat from head to toe.

Seeing the frightened, utterly defeated female criminal before him, Nara Hikaru disengaged the pistol’s safety and casually tossed the gun aside.

Then he crouched down and pulled out a hundred-yen coin he had taken earlier.

“Ma’am, it seems you won this game. This hundred-yen coin is yours.”

“Besides that, I must say, you’re lucky... If you had pulled the trigger—whether the gun fired or not, whether the bullet hit or missed—I would have made sure you saw your own brains.”

Regret tinged his voice.

In truth, Nara Hikaru did feel regret.

This kidnapping group was not particularly vicious, but the woman’s plan to harm children was beyond his tolerance.

So he intended to drive her to madness, forcing her to shoot.

That way, he could justify lethal self-defense against the use of deadly force.

Alas, this woman lacked the courage.

She was foolish, creating troubles she could not solve, yet her folly spared her from inevitable severe consequences—for now.

“Among all the criminals I’ve encountered in Mihama Town, you are the weakest.”

Nara Hikaru stood up and glanced toward the wide-open door pushed aside.

As if responding to his movement, two officers from the Owatari Police Station appeared at the doorway, nervously aiming their guns at the only adult who seemed able to move—the black-clad man wearing sunglasses, clearly no ordinary man.

“Don’t move! You have nowhere left to run. Surrender now!”

Hearing the officers’ warning, Nara Hikaru shook his head and sighed again.

“You always arrive after everything is over. It’s too late, and utterly meaningless.”

“What can you protect by doing this?”

The officers exchanged confused looks.

Why did he sound like some old-timer in this line of work? Meeting for the first time, was this not a bit rude?