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

after a while.

Conan Edogawa finally finished asking questions and listening, got up from his chair, and said goodbye to Kazuki Takeuchi.

"Thank you, Takeuchi-nii-san. This information is very important to me... Uncle Mori." He smiled like a child.

Kazuki Takeuchi nodded slightly, his expression calm.

He is usually a quiet person, not saying much at home or at school, but for some reason, he suddenly talked so much when facing this child he had just met.

"I'm going back." He glanced into the distance, his voice hoarse from overuse. "Don't worry, I know the rules for detectives. I won't tell my father that I spoke with you."

Conan Edogawa's face lit up with joy: "Thank you very much."

Takeuchi Kazuki turned and left. After he had been gone for a while, Edogawa Conan emerged from the park in a different direction. During this time, he kept looking around to see if there were any suspicious people.

I never expected to hear something like this from the Takeuchi family... Although it was Uncle Mori who received the commission, he's a bit unreliable. Should I tell Mr. Aoyagi?
Conan Edogawa pulled out his phone as he thought about it.

Just as he turned on the screen and was about to send an email, something cold and hard suddenly pressed against his head from behind, giving him a light tap.

"!!"

Being unexpectedly tapped on the back of the head, even with a light touch, sent a shiver down Conan Edogawa's spine. He whirled around, his body tense as he looked behind him, then froze in place—

"A-Mr. Aoyagi?!"

Aoyagi Akimitsu was still wearing his disguised face. He adjusted his thin-rimmed glasses with his left hand and held a can of coffee in his right hand, which was the can of coffee he had just used to hit him.

"Conan." He smiled at him. "Do you remember what I said to you when we parted?"

"..."

Conan Edogawa glanced at Aoyagi Akimitsu, who was facing away from the sun and whose expression was mostly hidden in the shadows, and then looked at the empty and deserted surroundings. A bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead.

"Don't run too far, make sure someone can always see me within your field of vision..."

He spoke softer and softer, glancing at Aoyagi Hinami's face, and couldn't help but defend himself: "I remember everything. But there's a reason for this."

Aoyagi Akimitsu looked at him and said, "You're here to gather information, aren't you? I just saw you and that young man from the Takeuchi family walking outside from upstairs, which is why I was able to come looking for you."

Conan Edogawa nodded: "That's right, I found out something very important..."

"So what?" Aoyagi Akimitsu interrupted.

Conan Edogawa was taken aback.

"Don't forget, you're just a seven-year-old child who can't even kill a chicken right now."

"So what if you hear important intelligence? If the person who hears it has no self-defense capabilities and is completely unprepared, and cannot guarantee their own safety in transmitting the message, what use is it even if it's the nuclear launch code for some country?"

Aoyagi Akimitsu spoke calmly, without a trace of anger, only his pair of emerald green eyes looking down at Edogawa Conan from a superior angle.

For some reason, Conan Edogawa inexplicably associated the image with a poisonous snake.

Aoyagi Akimitsu slightly raised his chin, ignoring what the shrunken detective was thinking, and simply gestured for him to look into the distance:
“For example, there’s a pond there. It’s not difficult for a strong adult to throw you in and drown you. There are no surveillance cameras here, so the case can be closed quickly as ‘accidental child falling’.”

As if that wasn't enough, he added, "Like the night you shrunk, if those two had casually thrown you onto a water activity while you were unconscious, you would be gone, and it could have been closed as an accident."

Upon hearing this, Conan Edogawa sensed that the topic had seemingly veered off course. However, he still instinctively analyzed and offered his explanation:
"No, they wouldn't do that. They were in a hurry to leave. Besides, that place is quite a distance from those projects. If they really were moving me, they would have seen me change halfway there..."

The thought of this possibility sent a chill down his spine.

"—I'll see you shrink, marvel at how that drug could have such an effect, and bring you back alive."

Aoyagi Akimitsu gently added what he couldn't finish: "Then, you will suffer a fate worse than death, and even implicate your mother and father, who share similar genes with you and may also be of research value."

He paused subtly, a strange look flashing across his face, but it seemed like just an illusion.

He continued to stare directly at Conan Edogawa, and seeing that the other person remained silent, he softened his tone:
“I don’t want to blame you, Conan. Actually, I’m glad you found an important clue so quickly, but I must remind you that no matter who you’re facing or what you’re doing, you have to be vigilant—before you find out the truth, learn to protect yourself first, okay?”

After his parents went to America, few people spoke to Conan Edogawa like that. He felt his cheeks burning and gave a soft "hmm".

He said, "Okay."

"It's getting late, we have to go back." Aoyagi Akimitsu handed him the coffee: "This can is for you, I remember you like this."

Conan Edogawa reached out and took it, then looked at the packaging. It was indeed the brand he usually drank.

"Thank you." He presented the paper with both hands and expressed his gratitude. "Mr. Aoyagi, I just..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted again. He stared blankly as Aoyagi Akimitsu reached out his hand to him a second time; this time, his palm held a mechanical object the size of a button.

"Judging from your expression, I suspect there's some serious news within the Takeuchi family," Aoyagi Akimitsu said. "To avoid missing you next time you wander off, you should take this transmitter with you so I can find you anytime."

Conan Edogawa: "..."

Conan Edogawa: "Mr. Aoyagi, I already know I was wrong."

Aoyagi Akimitsu said gently, "I know, I'm just doing this in case. Here you go."

Seeing his unyielding attitude, Conan Edogawa thought for a moment and then took out a small box from his pocket.

Aoyagi Akimitsu looked at the small box: "What's this?"

"This is a new invention that Dr. Agasa gave me yesterday. He said that this transmitter has been improved, with a longer receiving distance and is more difficult to be scanned by the existing devices."

Conan Edogawa gave a brief introduction, took out one of the devices, broke it in two, kept one half for himself, and handed the other half to Aoyagi Akimitsu: "This is a receiver. You can use it by plugging it into your phone."

"That doctor is really amazing."

Aoyagi Akimitsu took it and looked at it, his eyes filled with admiration: "He and Mr. Kuroba improved the magic props a couple of days ago. I'd like to pay them a visit when I get back."

Upon hearing him mention inventions, Conan Edogawa was flooded with unpleasant memories, and couldn't help but reveal a half-moon eye: "Um, Mr. Aoyagi, the professor is only good in certain areas. Many of his inventions are simply unreliable. I advise you not to have too high expectations..."

When the topic turned to people he knew, his tense nerves, which had been on edge because of the organization, gradually relaxed.

The two walked together along the path toward the park exit.

Aoyagi Akimitsu glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before asking, "What did you find out from Takeuchi Kazuki?"

Finally back to business, Conan Edogawa's relaxed expression turned serious again.

“This hospital has experienced serious medical malpractice incidents,” he said, frowning. “More than once.” (End of Chapter)