Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

“Teacher Uchitake…”

Okita watched as Otaki and his men led her out of the interrogation room. She covered her mouth and leaned against the wall. As the president of the detective agency, she had the most contact with Uchitake-sensei and the best relationship with her. Seeing this scene now was really painful for her.

"murderer!"

"abnormal!"

"A corrupt teacher!"

The media reporters, who were deliberately placed in front of the criminal investigation department by the Osaka police to take photos, hurled insults at Ms. Uchitake. Although they all lived in the city's affluent areas, it did not prevent them from empathizing with the ordinary people who lost everything in the West City bombing.

"Ha ha."

Hearing the scolding directed at her, Ms. Uchitake was not saddened at all. Instead, she looked smugly at Takuya Ono, who was being led out of the interrogation room by other police officers.

"Look! That poor child has come out too!"

"He's that illegitimate son of Sasaki Kiyose... Oh, I forgot, his father isn't Sasaki Kiyose."

"His mother is from Xicheng District, who knows who his father is?"

Besides being famous throughout Asia for its fencing, Osaka's West Ward streetwalkers are also a striking sight. Despite Tokyo's crackdown on the sex industry over the past decade, those who make a living from this profession have instead moved to Osaka.

Two sentences that escaped from the whispers instantly snapped Ono Takuya back to his senses. He glared fiercely at those who had subtly implied he was a bastard without a father, and hurriedly tried to prove himself verbally. "I am Sasaki Kiyose's son! I can get a DNA test!"

He turned his head and saw Sasaki and her daughter standing to the side. Although he had previously looked down on this blood-related sister and his father's nominal wife, as he considered himself the eldest son of Sasaki, he now had to rely on her to prove himself.

"Sister, please help me..."

Holding her mother Chiyo in her arms, Sasaki looked at Ono Takuya with complicated emotions. No one knew better than the mother and daughter whether this boy was a member of the Sasaki family. But with her father dead, the rest of the Sasaki family were all good-for-nothings. Even if she wanted to lead the family to Tokyo, the Prime Minister might not even look at them. Having a capable male member would at least make things a little better for the family.

Sasaki, who is not entirely clear about the details of the bombing case so far, guessed that the police were probably covering up something of the truth and also thought that Ono Takuya might not be innocent. But since he hadn't been exposed, he could keep it hidden.

“He hasn’t mentioned his mother yet.” Sasaki Chiyo helped her daughter make up her mind: “He’s a heartless man. We can’t count on him. If he comes back, our mother and I might be in even more danger.”

She didn't rely on any family or company. Sasaki Chiyo's heart belonged entirely to the Prime Minister of Tokyo. Or rather, after being so frightened in the mansion, she wished she could give up the entire company and production line, hoping that Lord Kudo would give her and her daughter some money for the sake of the automobile and military factories, and then send them away.

The US or China, it doesn't matter. In the US, as long as you have money, that's fine. In China, you have more control over the countries that join the East Asian alliance, so you can take a few more steps to obtain citizenship.

Takuya Ono left resentfully without receiving a response, and Takeru Uchi disappeared from the Criminal Investigation Department. The reporters rushed back to their companies to start writing articles, afraid of being a step behind others. It seemed as if the case was over, but then a shout of "Stop!" sounded, reeking of alcohol.

"Wait!" (End of Chapter)