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

"Wow—"

In the archives, Conan Edogawa, sitting behind a pile of documents, heard the door open again and looked up to call out:
“Mr. Aoyagi, I’ve found it…”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw two people standing at the door.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Morofushi Kagemitsu looked at the child who was standing there dumbfounded, gave an embarrassed smile, and followed Aoyagi Akimitsu into the room. The latter casually closed the door behind him.

He quickly noticed that there was another person in the room; judging from the name tag on his chest, he should be the archives administrator.

The caretaker, a man in his early thirties, was sitting behind another table. On the table was a half-eaten bento box, and near the window was a picture frame.

He was also taken aback when he saw the two people come in.

Morofushi Kagemitsu glanced at the cat in the man's arms, and had already made a general assessment of the unfamiliar administrator's professionalism. He smiled amicably and said, "Sorry, something came up and I'm only just arriving. Has this kid caused any trouble here?"

Hearing this tone, the administrator glanced at Morofushi Hiromitsu's black hair and blue eyes, then at Edogawa Conan's black hair and blue eyes, and seemed to understand something.

"No." He added, "This child is quite well-behaved; he's been sitting here quietly the whole time."

As he spoke, he looked at Aoyagi Akimitsu, his voice unconsciously lowering a few decibels: "However, you guys need to hurry. It's against the rules for me to let you in, and it wouldn't be good if someone else caught us."

Aoyagi Akihiro nodded: "Don't worry. I checked outside, there's not much of a person around here..."

Seeing that he still needed to communicate with the administrator, Morofushi Kagemitsu did not interrupt them and walked straight toward Edogawa Conan.

As Conan Edogawa approached, he quickly held up a thick file to block his view and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "What are you doing here? Are you here to investigate as well?"

Morofushi Kagemitsu did not answer, his face still showing a gentle smile, but his hand reached directly to Edogawa Conan's hand and picked up the bugging device that was under his palm.

He glanced at the small mechanical device and said in a low voice, "Sorry, I can't tell you right now. And you, how did you and Mr. Aoyagi get in?"

The emergency exit wasn't far from the archives; someone fast could run there and kick the door open in three seconds. Therefore, Aoyagi Akimitsu hadn't said much to him, only advising him to pretend to be Conan Edogawa's guardian when he went to find the child, thus avoiding arousing the administrator's suspicion.

"Uh..." Conan Edogawa was a little embarrassed, "It was Mr. Aoyagi who gave me the money, saying he needed to find some information and asked me to keep it a secret."

Zhu Fu Jingguang: "..."

Conan Edogawa looked at his strange expression and felt helpless.

His initial plan was to create some noise outside the door to lure the person out and then subdue them with a tranquilizer dart—a common tactic used during infiltration investigations. This would facilitate their operation while minimizing the public's awareness of their investigation.

However, professional Aoyagi Akimitsu stopped this behavior. He first stood at the door and secretly looked around, saying that this person could be solved with money, and there was no need to waste the only anesthetic needle.

Compared to an ordinary administrator, the arrival of this police officer is perhaps the real...

Thinking of this, Conan Edogawa lowered the file and looked at Aoyagi Akimitsu through the top.

Aoyagi Akimitsu was talking to the administrator when he seemed to notice their gaze. He turned his head, glanced in their direction, and nodded almost imperceptibly.

Conan Edogawa: "..."

...Although the Japanese Public Security Bureau can be difficult to deal with at times, if there are really hidden reasons behind the accident at this hospital, given the size of the Takeuchi family and their influence in Gunma Prefecture, it is no longer something that the local police can handle; it must be handled by higher-level public security officials.

Moreover, he trusted Mr. Aoyagi, and his willingness to bring this police officer, whom they had met a few times, was probably due to this consideration.

Morofushi Kagemitsu had no idea what Edogawa Conan was thinking.

He only managed to see the whole process of the child's facial expression changing because of his height advantage, and sighed inwardly.

It was all too obvious. Whether it was the suspicious look or the furtive glances at Aoyagi as if seeking help, there was absolutely no attempt to hide it… This kid's acting was really terrible. But none of that mattered to him. Ignoring these trivialities, Morofushi Kagemitsu thought of the unfinished question they'd posed when they entered and continued softly, "Conan-kun, have you found the information you need to be careful about?"

Conan Edogawa glanced at Aoyagi Akimitsu again, and seeing that they all had their backs to him, he realized that this was an opportunity that the other party had deliberately created.

He quickly picked up several different files and flipped to the pages he had noted down earlier: "Yes, while Mr. Aoyagi was away, I found the records of those six surgical accidents."

Morofushi Kagemitsu looked at the large pile of files on the table, as well as the few pages that had been clearly turned over, and remained silent for a moment.

His acting skills and ability to conceal his flaws are indeed lacking, but his efficiency seems to surpass that of many of his colleagues.

And you also need good luck. Sometimes when you're looking for information, especially finding a specific part from a large amount of data within a set time, it's not just about being careful and patient, but also about having good luck.

No wonder Aoyagi, who is always independent and sometimes even willful, was willing to take this child with him.

—For some reason, this thought flashed through Morofushi Kagemitsu's mind.

Conan Edogawa also had no idea what Kagemitsu Morofushi was thinking.

He looked at the records he had dug out, his brows furrowing unconsciously.
"—Mixed-race."

He didn't notice whether the people around him were listening, and quietly shared the problem he had discovered.

"In these six cases that led to patients becoming vegetative and eventually dying, all the victims were of mixed race, with at least one parent or grandparent being of foreign descent."

……

The young detective's deep voice traveled clearly through the listening device and earpiece to Aoyagi Akihiro's ears.

He ignored it and continued communicating with the administrator.

The administrator didn't notice what the two people, one big and one small, were doing not far away.

At this moment, he was completely immersed in his own world—the young man in front of him, who looked to be only college students, was not only generous but also a good listener, making him unable to resist confiding more of his troubles to him.

"She seemed to be never satisfied."

He closed his eyes, his voice filled with pain and dryness, pouring out his grievances to someone he was meeting for the first time that day.

“She always objects to what I like. She doesn’t allow me to keep a cat at home because its fur is a hassle to clean up. She doesn’t allow me to play video games or go fishing on weekends. She’s even unhappy that I go straight home after get off work. She thinks I don’t get along well with my colleagues. They didn’t even invite me to a dinner party. I feel ostracized.”

“I had a big fight with her last night, and the lunchbox she prepared for me today only contained a bunch of leftover white rice, with no vegetables at all.”

"To be honest, sometimes I really don't want to go back. Every time I drive back to my apartment, I sit in the car for a very long time, and I have to mentally prepare myself before I get out..."

Aoyagi Akimitsu listened to this bunch of pointless family gossip with a smile, without the slightest impatience on his face.

He gently stroked the cat, which he couldn't keep at home and had secretly brought to the office. The administrator, engrossed in his story, didn't even notice his pet cat being taken away by the other man.

"That sounds really pitiful."

Aoyagi Akimitsu let out a soft sigh, then said in a regretful tone, "Is your wife the girl in the photo? Judging from her demeanor, she doesn't seem like such a mean person."

He felt a gaze on his back.

“No, she’s my ex-girlfriend.” The administrator looked at the photo, his voice low and hoarse. “They are completely different. She was a very gentle person. If it weren’t for her accident, I would never have married my current wife.”

"Really? It seems you two had a very good relationship in the past..."

Beneath the soft touch lay a subtle struggle; he felt those blue eyes watching him, but he nonchalantly stroked the cat in his arms again. (End of Chapter)