Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"I see. Are you the people that Tomura-kun introduced to me? You are indeed very handsome."

Wearing a shit-green military uniform, Keisaburo Axie, holding a Japanese sword with a five-pointed star blade in his hand, greeted the three young men at the wooden gate of his Axie family.

With the Sino-Japanese War about to break out, he accepted the conscription order and returned to his hometown. He realized that it would be difficult for Japan to win this military action which was called glory but was actually an invasion. So he could not wait to seek help from his old friend Tomura and got the young man introduced by the other party.

The three of them jumped off the borrowed army bus and saw Takuzo Axe nodded to the soldiers who were fawning on him, then looked them up and down.

"It seems that you have already known each other during your journey. Please follow me to the reception room."

The four of them walked along the wooden path, admired the artificial scenery in the yard, and sat down in a room with little decoration. Straight to the point, Keisaburo Axie immediately recognized the people according to his friend's description.

"This young man seems to be not used to the Japanese sitting posture. He was also very curious about the startled deer in my yard just now. I guess he is Arimura Toya-kun, who grew up in the United States and whose father returned from abroad for business."

"As expected of you, Mr. Fujiang. Teacher Tomimura said that you have strong observation skills." Arimura immediately relaxed after getting the other party's permission to sit cross-legged despite his discomfort.

"This young man in kimono, I heard from Tomimura-kun that one of his students is a nobleman from a samurai family. The sword on your waist is much better than the one in my hand. It must be Tachibana Hachiro-kun."

Of course, Tachibana Hachiro's kimono was rather plain, and his wooden clogs and accessories showed that they were of some age. Axie Keisaburo also knew that this family was just a group of fallen nobles, so he only treated him as a junior when communicating.

"As for this person, Tomimura-kun often wrote to me about a student who gave him a headache, but he was very smart. His ancestor was a magician who performed for the Emperor. You must be Kuroba Arisada."

Dressed in a suit, Kuroba kept smiling and took a sip of the tea in front of him. He waited until Keisaburo Axie explained his identity clearly before saying, "It's been a long time since my family performed for the Emperor."

"Really? That's a pity." Axie Keisaburo glanced at the three people in front of him and explained, "I consulted Tomimura-kun on how to make the family further in the war, but he entrusted it to you three. So what different opinions do you three have?"

"Needless to say, if we want to take our family one step further at this time, of course we should let all the men in the family join the army."

As expected, Tachibana Hachiro said something that made the other two frown. In fact, they had no idea how many times they had heard Tachibana Hachiro's radical remarks on the way here, and they didn't take the words of the impoverished noble seriously.

This man longs to restore his family to its peak, and naturally regards following the emperor as his goal. Arimura, who grew up in the United States, and Kuroba, who studied abroad, both think that it is the most ridiculous thing in this era for a country to be controlled by an emperor.

"It is too inhumane to use the war against China as the basis for the family's rise."

Arimura did not directly say that the war could not be won, because with the national frenzy going on, even though he was an American citizen, he did not dare to say so, for fear of dying mysteriously the next day.

Kuroba touched the table, and then confidently suggested that Keisaburo Axie be transferred from military to business.

"With only Mr. Axe in the military, there is no way for the family to prosper. However, starting a business in Hakodate with the power of the military will definitely be safer than relying on killing people." Axe Keisaburo stroked his beard and said "oh", but did not say who he agreed with. However, in the eyes of the latter two, Tachibana Hachiro must be out.

After just taking a sip of tea, Keisaburo Axie knocked on the tea table and called the girl named Riko Axie to enter the tea room.

The three turned their heads to look at the sliding door in confusion. Through the paper window, a thin figure was reflected on the door. The sliding door slowly opened. Hei Yu only saw a young girl with childish hair combed up. The other party lowered her head, and when she raised her head, she was a girl with fair skin and plum-red lips.

"This is my only daughter, her nickname is Riko." Axie Keisaburo grinned at the three people in front of him: "In fact, I told Tomimura that the best way to carry forward the family is to marry a smart son-in-law, and he recommended you three to me."

"Teacher Tomimura did mention this before he came, but we are not here for Ms. Riko."

Tachibana Hachiro only glanced at Axie Riko and never looked up again. Instead, he bowed his head and asked Axie Keisaburo: "I hope to follow Mr. Axie to the war in China. It is my dream to contribute to the empire."

"No problem at all."

Keisaburo Afue then asked his servant to take Tachibana Hachiro to the guest room, leaving Arimura and Kuroba to tell him his plan.

"In order to provoke the start of war in Asia, the United States sold weapons to China, and was preparing to sell something to both China and Japan that could change the situation of the war in an instant."

Seeing that both of them were staring at him in surprise, Keizaburo Axie coughed and said, "This thing will be shipped to two countries in the fifth year after the start of the war. If it is China, it will be Shanghai, and if it is Japan, it will be Tokyo. But no matter where it is, the place it must pass through is Hakodate."

"Five years from the outbreak of the war is enough to see who will win. If Japan wins, we will sell to China. If China wins, we will sell to Japan. This is to prevent the war from ending easily."

Kuroba looked at Axie Keisaburo and said, "Then why did you reveal such a confidential matter?"

The man in front of him stroked his beard and put forward an incredible idea.

"I thought, if I leave this thing in Hakodate, it will stay in my hands."

He narrowed his eyes and said, "If I hide something like this for decades and then sell it, it must be very valuable."

"How can you be sure that we will help you?" A trace of disgust flashed in Youcun's eyes, as if he looked down on people like Fu Jiang.

"Of course it's because you have to help me..." (End of this chapter)