Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

"boom!!"

When the explosion occurred, Conan Edogawa was actually stunned.

They were talking when the receptionist returned with a suitcase bearing the logo of the Full Paradise Company. Just as she put the suitcase down and was about to push it in front of them, her hand slipped, and the suitcase slid off the reception desk...

Then he was sent flying.

That's right, it flew out.

—The moment the box slipped, the man next to him changed his expression drastically. He pushed Officer Matsuda aside with one hand, grabbed the receptionist by the collar with the other, and pulled her out from behind the table like a radish, throwing her in the same direction.

As for Conan Edogawa, perhaps because he had no hands to use, he had to use his feet to kick him a distance.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Before the three of them could react, the explosion occurred.

The close-range explosion made Conan Edogawa's ears ring. It took him several seconds to recover and hear the sound before he climbed out of the billowing smoke.

"My God, what's going on?"

"How scary! What was that sound just now?"

"You're not from Tokyo, are you? That sound is clearly an explosion!"

"Is anyone injured? Call an ambulance immediately!"

The surrounding area was filled with murmurs, and more and more people came to investigate after hearing the commotion.

The explosion wasn't particularly powerful; the first floor didn't appear to collapse. But it wasn't insignificant either; it blasted a large hole in the wall next to it, allowing Conan Edogawa to look up and stare directly at the people on the street outside.

Ignoring the astonished expressions of passersby, he immediately turned to look for others around him. When he saw the two people lying on the ground, his eyes widened and he rushed over.

The two men were closer to the explosion point. Matsuda Jinpei was underneath them, and the man who had pushed them away was on top of him, his clothes torn and tattered on the back.

"Officer Matsuda! Are you alright?"

Conan Edogawa didn't know the man's name, so he called him Matsuda Jinpei.

"……fine."

The man with reddish-brown eyes opened his eyes, his face somewhat gloomy.

Conan Edogawa twitched his nose and smelled blood. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that blood was flowing from the man's right sleeve, dripping down the back of his hand and onto Matsuda Jinpei's clothes, staining his white shirt with red spots.

He propped himself up on his knees and stood up again. Perhaps because of his injury, his fingers were trembling slightly. Matsuda Jinpei, on the ground, still had his eyes closed, and it was unclear whether he had fainted.

"..."

Conan Edogawa was filled with questions. Why did it explode? What exploded? Was it the suitcase? How was this man able to push them away in time? Did he know there was a bomb there beforehand?
But seeing the other person's actions, he only had one thought left:

"Uncle, you're injured and bleeding. Don't move around."

The man glanced down at his bleeding hand, casually moved his arm, and said without hesitation, "It's alright."

He paused after speaking, then looked at him apologetically: "Sorry, the situation was urgent just now, I had to kick you. Did it hurt?"

Conan Edogawa wiped the faint shoe print off his jacket and shook his head, saying, "It doesn't hurt."

"That's good."

The man spoke in a low voice, glancing at the people who had gathered around him before looking back at Conan Edogawa.

"You stay here and wait for your guardian to arrive. Don't wander off. By the way—" After giving these instructions, he gestured for Conan Edogawa to look at Jinpei Matsuda on the ground: "This policeman is unconscious. I remember he came with a friend. You wait for his friend to arrive, explain the situation to him, and ask him to evacuate the crowd immediately. Also, check if there are any more bombs on the first floor. Can you pass this on to me?"

Conan Edogawa nodded, then asked, "And what about you, Uncle?"

"There might be injured people and other dangerous items behind here. I'll go in and check first."

The man sighed silently. After saying that, he ran to the front desk, which had been blown to smithereens and was now just a pile of charred remains, and flipped over it with one foot.

His figure vanished in an instant amidst the still-lingering smoke.

Conan Edogawa watched him leave.

The friend of Officer Matsuda, I'm talking about Officer Furuya, right? They really do know each other.

It's a bit of a shame, though; he still didn't know the person's name this time...

"Matsuda!"

Less than half a minute after the person left, a familiar voice called out from behind Conan Edogawa.

He turned his head and saw a striking head of blond hair rushing through the crowd. Furuya Rei was running towards them from the direction of the exhibition hall, followed by Aoyagi Akimitsu.

Rei Furuya ran up to them and saw Jinpei Matsuda lying on the ground, unconscious. His expression immediately turned grim: "Why did Matsuda faint?"

His expression was truly frightening; Conan Edogawa, who had never seen him like this before, was stunned for a moment.

Aoyagi Akimitsu's attitude remained unchanged. He half-squatted down to look at him, then at Matsuda Jinpei, raised his hand to feel his pulse, and visibly breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you're all alright. I was really scared when I heard the explosion. What exactly happened?"

"...It looks like the box exploded."

Another voice spoke.

The group turned around and saw the staff member who had been standing at the front desk slumped on the floor. She didn't appear to be injured, except for marks on her collar that looked like she had been grabbed forcefully.

“A man came to pick up something, and this child and the curly-haired man came over one after the other to talk to him. I took his things and handed them to him, but because they were too heavy, I lost my grip and the box fell. The man's expression suddenly changed, he grabbed me and pulled me out, and then there was an explosion…”

Having worked at Mika for many years, even when an explosion occurred at close range, she was still able to calm down quickly and explain the whole story clearly.

Conan Edogawa nodded: "That's right. That uncle also told me to wait for you to come, saying that we need to evacuate the crowd immediately, as there might still be a bomb here."

After examining Matsuda Jinpei, Furuya Rei looked away from the bloodstains on the man's shirt and frowned, asking, "Does that man know me? What does he look like?"

"He was in his early thirties, with an unshaven beard on his chin, and looked very tired, as if he hadn't had a proper rest in a long time."

Conan Edogawa stated his deepest impression, adding a comment about his appearance: "Oh, right, he has a pair of reddish-brown eyes."

Rei Furuya froze on the spot for a moment.

Conan Edogawa was also taken aback by his reaction, feeling that something seemed to have exceeded his expectations: "...Inspector Furuya?"

Rei Furuya abruptly stood up, his sharp gaze sweeping across his surroundings: "Where did that person go?"

The receptionist saw the man leave and pointed to the original storage area: "He said there might be something dangerous there, so I went to check it out."

Without saying much, Furuya Rei took out his phone, dialed something, and ran towards the location, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Only Conan Edogawa remained, staring blankly at his departing figure.

His mind was in turmoil; he kept feeling like he'd made a mistake... (End of Chapter)