The unscrupulous detective in Conan

Chapter 1325: The Authority of a Righteous Woman

After all, the essence of capital is profit-seeking, accumulation, and expansion. It's about expanding at low cost while still obtaining high returns, and even gaining a very good reputation...

Is there anything more exciting than showcasing sophisticated skills and reaping huge profits?

Which capitalist wouldn't want to pull off such a high-level maneuver?
In terms of operation, capital is divided into different levels and stages.

There's no need to even mention the low-level kind who exploits employees for meaningless gains, gloats over what they think they've earned even though they haven't actually made any money, and ends up half-dead and bankrupt.

Using capital to violently annex and plunder, to obtain 100% profit and continuously expand, is basically not difficult, as long as you have capital.

The triangular trade, the transportation of slaves, the picking of cotton—these capitalist activities were all about the annexation and plunder of the labor value of the means of production. They were things that had been done for hundreds of years.

Using a cannon to swat mosquitoes at close range is no problem at all.

If there's any difficulty, it's in Fujino's method of plundering the means of production in a gentle, slow-cooking way, like boiling a frog in water.

If the profit gained from direct plunder is 100%, then the profit that Fujino gained was at least 100%.

Although the premise for this kind of opportunistic behavior to be implemented is that the party who owns the means of production is in crisis, and the capitalist acts as a benefactor to the party who owns the means of production in crisis, the conditions are very harsh.

But that's the time to show off your skills!

You have to put the other party in a crisis, right?
Why don't I just set up a trap for you, make you fall into it, and ruin you financially?

Don't worry about how the crisis started!
Tell me if I've helped you or not, shouldn't you be grateful to me?
What do you mean by smilingly turning your things into mine and expecting you to be grateful?

This is.

I even owed someone a favor...

For capitalists, nothing is more exciting than having slaves fall from the sky and work for them for free.

If there's anything else, it's a large group of ordinary workers united by holding hemp ropes and lampposts.

That thing is really exciting.

The kind in the physical sense.

Compared to her, even the gentle catgirl dared not utter a sound and could only be considered the younger sister among younger sisters.

"Eri Kisaki's lawyer fees will probably be several million yen. That's about it for cases like this where it's clearly just a reduction in sentence. It won't be much more than that. It'll probably just be a piece of cake."

"It's hard to say about Ishigami for now, but considering that he's penniless right now, he should accept the offer."

“After all, once he is put in jail, the shop will be left unattended.”

"He certainly wouldn't want to see his hard-earned shop become a dilapidated zombie store with no one to take care of it."

"However, we can't go too far. Let's just consider it a rental. The commission fee for Eri Kisaki is quite reasonable considering her sentence. It's a win-win situation."

"By the time he gets out, he'll probably be in his forties or fifties. It won't be easy for him to find a job then, so he can come back and run this little shop to make a living."

"However, as for the specific implementation, it will probably have to wait until before the trial."

“If we go now, he’ll probably be reluctant to leave his little shop.”

"Once he's been in detention for a few days and has witnessed the brutality of his fellow inmates and the loving care of the police officers, things will be simple."

Fujino was scheming in his mind about how to reasonably bring the small shops into his own hands, but he didn't think about directly annexing them.

The principle remains the same, but the key difference is that this time he didn't set up a scheme targeting the other party's means of production.

He merely exposed the truth about the murder and then sought personal gain afterward.

The crisis wasn't caused by him; if anyone should be looking for someone, they should be looking for those little Grim Reapers.

Moreover, our veteran capitalist, Mr. Fujino, is not the kind of capitalist who will stop at nothing.

While engaging in capital activities, he also considered other factors.

The main reason is that he still has some conscience. He feels that it is really too much to directly annex other people's means of production, destroy them, and take them for himself.

You should know that the people of Mika are very vengeful; even hurling a few insults at someone could attract their deadly attention.

In short, one should always leave room for maneuver so that you can meet again in the future. Don't go too far; learn to be gentle and have a way out in case something outrageous happens later.

Also, don't touch anything too strong, or you might end up shattered to pieces. In the family photo, only you are left in color. As for why the family photo turns black, it might be because of color blindness, but I can't say for sure why.

Also, be careful not to go too far and attract unwanted attention.

(I can't say this, it's been censored. Hmm, there might be some inappropriate tendencies involved. I hereby apologize and will never dare to write these things again.)
Even disregarding the fact that the Beika people have a strong desire for revenge, Fujino would not actually annex their means of production directly.

After all, he wasn't some outrageous slave owner from the Age of Exploration or a landlord from feudal society.

He just wanted to collect a few gold coins within a reasonable range.

It's about taking advantage of someone's misfortune, even if the amount of exploitation isn't much.

Ultimately, in Japan, how can you make a lot of money just by working hard if you don't exploit others?

The principle is there; whether you succeed depends on opportunity.

In short, one must never hesitate when opportunities arise. This is how initial capital accumulation works; only by completing the initial accumulation can one continue to leverage various opportunities to grow one's capital.

…………

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was afternoon.

After the case was resolved, Fujino set off on his journey to drive the children home.

The children were quite happy, showing no signs of having just witnessed a murder case.

Using the cat's paw they found, Fujino solved the case.

In other words, doesn't that mean they solved the case?

This is how the Junior Detective League learns to study.

Fujino was rather helpless, but there was nothing he could say. It was hard to give a proper evaluation, but his mental fortitude was pretty good, I guess.

"Fujino-kun, where are you?"

"Is something wrong?"

When Yoko Okino called, Fujino answered and heard her ask where he was.

At that moment, Fujino realized that the other person must have some private things they wanted to tell him.

After all, when it comes to matters concerning the interests of two people, it's generally necessary to remind the other party.

At the same time, it's also a reminder to those around you...

But then again, what shady things do I have with Yoko?
Thinking that he didn't have any complicated relationship with Yoko Okino, Fujino replied, "I'm driving those kids home right now."

"Oh, I see. All the children are here."

Yoko Okino responded with a sound of embarrassment.

Fujino immediately understood the meaning behind her words.

It seems he broke his promise to the children. He thought for a moment, then turned off the speakerphone and held the phone to his ear, asking, "Ahem, it must be something confidential about the case. I turned off the speakerphone. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Phew, Fujino-kun, you're so considerate." Yoko Okino breathed a sigh of relief. "I just finished recording the show and went to find the director of the Kamen Rider set that I promised the kids I'd take them to visit."

"According to that director, the filming schedule for the show seems to be a bit tight right now, and there's simply no time to entertain outsiders."

"We already agreed, so if we refuse them now, I'm afraid..."

"Oh, is that it?"

Fujino nodded and replied, "Actually, you don't need to be so nervous. After all, you meant well."

“But it’s still my fault in the end.” Yoko Okino sighed helplessly, to which Fujino couldn’t help but tease her, “You’re too thin-skinned.”

"Because it's embarrassing, I broke my promise to the kids..."

"I think you should learn more from Yuko Ikezawa."

Yoko Okino was quite puzzled by Fujino's words: "What are you going to learn?"

"Of course, it's her fearless, shameless spirit that's what makes her so special..."

"Who are you calling shameless!"

Suddenly, a tigress's roar came from the other end of the phone.

Fujino felt that the sound was exactly the same as the roar of a certain Eastern snow lotus.

Immediately following was Yoko Okino calming down the tiger: "Alright, Yuko, calm down. Fujino-kun was just using an analogy to let me learn from a mature senior like you..."

"What do you mean 'mature'? I'm the same age as you, okay?!"

"Ah, this, that."

Judging from Yoko Okino's tone on the other end of the phone, Fujino could already see the panicked and bewildered look on her face.

After a moment of helplessness, he said, "Don't worry about this for now. I'll explain it to the children."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Fujino-kun!"

Yoko Okino breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and then sincerely thanked Fujino.

After hanging up the phone, Fujino felt that Yoko Okino's personality was a bit too gentle and weak, and she lacked social skills.

Yoko is definitely the kind of girl who's a bit shy...

She really should learn from Yuko Ikezawa.

Not enough...

Well, just learn the good aspects and don't learn the bad ones.

It's very easy to lose followers after learning this.

The children overheard their older sister Yoko's phone call and immediately became excited: "Brother Fujino, was that Yoko-neechan on the phone just now?"

"Has everything been arranged regarding Kamen Rider?"

When can we get there?

Fujino glanced at the few children in the back row through the overhead rearview mirror and said casually, "Yoko specifically asked the director, but he said his schedule is tight, so the visit might have to be canceled."

"How could this happen..."

The little ones immediately lowered their heads, looking somewhat disappointed.

This feeling is similar to the regret you felt when you were a child and your parents promised to take you to the amusement park, but couldn't go because of other commitments.

It's quite uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the little ones weren't the kind of unruly kids who would throw tantrums.

After a moment of regret, they ultimately chose to accept it.

This is where these kids have an advantage. Although they can be quite mischievous in some ways, their intentions are good in terms of maturity and understanding.

Or, to put it another way, they might actually be good kids?
Forming a junior detective club to help others solve cases for free, even if the initial motivation is to gain a sense of self-worth, is also a way to accumulate practical experience through social interaction and then use that experience to help others...

In some ways, he's a model student?!
Thinking about it carefully, it might seem a bit reckless for a group of seven or eight-year-old kids to dare to solve a case, but it's actually quite impressive...

The little ones sighed helplessly, "Sigh, how should I put it?"

"I've already told my family that I'm going to visit the TV station..."

"Yeah, my sister seems to have asked me to get her autograph."

Fujino glanced at the slightly disappointed little guys in the rearview mirror, thought for a moment, and suggested, "Even though we can't go see Kamen Rider, we can go to the TV station for a visit."

"Want to take a look around?"

Sitting in the passenger seat, Ai Haibara glanced at Fujino, and with a slight smirk, shook her head, clearly understanding Fujino's thoughts.

I guess I just didn't want to disappoint these kids...

Is this a way of shifting expectations?
Well, since you're using benefits to lure me in, I'll help guide and assist you.

Who told it to be a support-type cat?
Of course, "support" refers to support in the normal sense.

As a mother of several children, she decided to speak up: "Although we can't watch Kamen Rider, we can still visit the TV station, right?"

As she spoke, she turned to the children and said, "Don't you want to see how those TV programs are usually recorded?"

"Speaking of which, there are a lot of celebrities there, and I think they would all give you an autograph if you wanted one."

Upon hearing this, the children immediately became interested:

"Yeah, TV stations are full of celebrities. Besides Kamen Rider, there are many TV dramas!"

"Speaking of which, Ayumi has always wanted to see that weather presenter!"

"Yes, it's really exciting that people who can only see it on TV can see it!"

The children's mood instantly shifted from low to expectant... or rather, even more expectant.

"As expected of Ai, she saw right through me."

"Yes, our Ai is as cute as ever."

Fujino glanced at Ai Haibara in the passenger seat and genuinely felt that it was wonderful to have such a thoughtful mother by her side.

They not only proactively helped smooth things over and guide the situation, but also complemented each other in deceiving the children.

To be honest, a disharmonious family environment is unacceptable.

After displaying her authority by crossing her arms, Ai Haibara sat in the passenger seat with her arms crossed, closing her eyes to rest without saying a word, looking relaxed and calm.

What is meant by the authority of a legal wife?
That's what authority is!
(End of this chapter)