Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"answer me!"

In the parking lot outside Sasaki's house, Sayoko, with her hands on her hips, was angrily berating a boy with dark skin. She was clearly furious, slapping the hood of a car next to her.

"Why did you drive this car here? Mr. Toyama said he would arrange for you to switch to Sasaki's car to bring us here. Where is the car?!" Sayoko pushed away Conan, who was trying to persuade her by holding her hand.

"Brother Shou, didn't you say that even if we drove this little car, we would definitely be able to get in?"

"I didn't expect them to give the old man any face at all. I secretly took Sasaki's car to a friend's house for a party yesterday. When I woke up this morning, that bastard left a note saying he was going out for a drive and would be back tomorrow."

The boy looked at Sayoko with a wronged expression: "Stop yelling. If the old man finds out I made you angry, he'll beat me up again."

Although Hattori Mamoru seemed much more imposing than Sayoko, Conan immediately looked disgusted. It's baffling how Hattori Heiji raised his son; he used to be a fearless, rebellious type, yet his son is so timid.

“I told you long ago, I don’t want to take over his job and become the Osaka headquarters manager.”

Hattori grumbled, "I just want to graduate from university and take the civil service exam so I don't have to do any work. I can write novels and articles in my spare time. I don't want to be a policeman, a job that's hard work and doesn't bring me any joy."

"By saying that, you're basically mocking Grandpa Yuanshan too. This time, even Aunt He Ye will go berserk and beat you up."

“随便吧，反正我妈那个恋爱脑，最近更严重了，每次老头暴揍我的时候一开始都还拦着。”

Mamoru Hattori glanced at Conan and gave a smile that looked more like a grimace: "As soon as the old man started talking about how their child had to be better than him, my mom blushed and beat me even harder than the old man did."

"A happy beating? You were shy while you were hitting me, which is quite like Aunt Ye's style. My mom would never do that; she never hit me."

[What a pity, Hattori, my wife is slightly gentler than yours by accident.]

Conan nodded, then his eyes crinkled into a smug smile, leaving Hattori Mamoru completely bewildered.

Sayoko shook her head and said to Conan, "As for Dad, every time I do something wrong and make him angry, he shows me a bunch of videos of Mamoru being beaten up by Hattori when he was a kid. After watching them, I feel like I've been elevated, and then he tells me it's okay."

"Ahem." Conan clenched his fist to his mouth: "I think we should go back and find a coffee shop to sit in for a while. We can't get in anyway, so why not go get some desserts or ice cream and let Hattori and the others figure it out themselves."

"No! There's still one chance!" Sayoko raised her finger and slowly pointed to a furtive man in a black hoodie at the entrance of the parking lot.

"Usually at this time, a hidden character will appear at the mission location to help the protagonist enter a dungeon that was not originally accessible."

"Hidden characters? Dungeons! Do you think you're playing some kind of RPG game? Wake up!"

Conan rolled his eyes, turned around and saw his daughter waving at the man in black. He hurriedly told her to stop, but it was too late.

"Uncle! Tell me, what should we do if we want to get in?" Sayoko pulled an envelope out of her pocket: "You've been wandering around here for so long, you must know something, right?"

"This is what I do." The man took the envelope from Yoko's hand, tossed it around casually, and showed a hint of disgust.

"Hey, this is a bit too little."

"Alright, alright, there will definitely be other detectives coming later anyway, so let's make the most of small profits." Sayoko blinked and saw that Hattori Mamoru looked like he couldn't bear to watch, while Conan was confused. She then made a peace sign at them.

"Alright, alright, wait here."

The man took an old-fashioned cell phone out of his pocket and walked away from the group.

"What do you mean? Why will other detectives be coming later? How does Sayoko know he's the one who can take us in?"

"You... don't you know, even as an elementary school student?" Hattori Mamoru put his hands on his hips: "Ever since Prime Minister Kudo relaxed the application requirements for detective licenses five years ago, every high school has set up a detective club."

Sayoko raised her index finger: "High school detectives don't have the deep connections that professional detectives do, so they can't get involved in many areas, which is why the profession of detective assistant was created."

"It sounds like a job to help detectives get involved in cases or obtain information, right?" Conan suddenly realized, "Sasaki is dead? And his death is suspicious and a national event. Detective clubs in all the high schools in Osaka should know about it. Detective assistants will definitely have plenty of business today."

"You guessed right. As for that person, he's the only one standing outside now, so it doesn't hurt to ask. He looks like he's probably the one." (End of Chapter)