Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 443 You're the one who plays the hero and saves the damsel in distress?
"This must be Uchida-kun?" Ayako greeted him upon seeing him.

"That's right, you are... Director Beika's girlfriend?" Uchida looked at Ayako, carefully concealing his slight disappointment.

"Yes, happy birthday, sorry to bother you." Ayako said, presenting the red wine gift box she had prepared.

"Thank you." Uchida looked pleasantly surprised.

As soon as Uchida led the four people—one large, one small, and two very small—into the villa, a dozen or so people immediately surrounded them…

"Is she really Director Mika?"

"As expected of Uchida-kun..."

"Hello, Director Mika, could you please sign your name for me?"

……

The number of students in the villa was more than Shiraishi had imagined—Uchida had originally said there were only four or five close friends.

But now...

Shiraishi estimated that all the students from the mystery club should be here!

"Alright, alright, everyone, please don't crowd here. Please, Chief Shiraishi... and this lady, take your seats first."

At this point, Manabu Sawai, the president of the mystery club, mediated the situation and restored order.

It was clear that because so many people had come, the tables in the living room and dining room of the villa had been pushed together, and the chairs around them were a motley collection, obviously put together...

"These two kids must be Chief Mika's sister and her little follower, right?" Sawai said, patting Conan's head.

Conan: ...

"Yeah! He's super loyal!" Ai nodded vigorously.

"So, this lady..." Sawai looked at Ayako with a smile, "is she Chief Beika's girlfriend?"

Although Sawai seemed to be showing some emotional outburst, Ayako instinctively didn't feel too disgusted.

“That’s right, isn’t it a bit disappointing for everyone? It doesn’t seem as special as it used to be?” Ayako replied humorously.

“No, I think Chief Mika’s girlfriend should look like you,” Sawai continued with a smile.

Ayako, with her experience, had already figured it out...

This guy's "smiling face" isn't because he has any feelings for her, but rather... because he has feelings for Uchida Asami!
Ayako guessed that Uchida must have hinted to the other members that she and "Chief Beika" were very close... Even if he didn't lie directly, the atmosphere he created was much closer than it actually was.

In this situation, Sawai, being a sycophant, would naturally be somewhat hostile towards "Chief Beika," but at the same time, the huge gap between them left him helpless. When he saw that "Chief Beika" had come to the birthday party with a female companion, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Shiraishi also noticed this...

However, it wasn't something Sawai noticed, but rather she overheard someone whispering behind her—roughly mocking Uchida for making it sound like "Chief Beika" was pursuing her, only to find out that while he did grace her birthday party with his presence, he brought his girlfriend!
Of course, Shiraishi wouldn't specifically expose this kind of vain behavior from girls.

Shiraishi, the "special guest," has arrived, and the birthday party continues—it's nothing more than eating and drinking while Shiraishi, in the center, talks about those strange and bizarre cases, and... the most famous ones, the arrests of "big shots."

Bai Shi then spoke eloquently—this was exactly what he came here for. If he could inspire a belief in becoming a police officer among these people, and then one or two of them would pass the professional exam, that would be a huge success…

……

Ayako, whether genuinely enjoying the performance or simply finding it captivating, listened with great enthusiasm to it again.

Meanwhile, Conan and Ai were already standing idly by...

Conan was thinking about whether he could secretly talk to Ai about the "Black Organization"—since being tricked by the two last week, Conan hadn't had a chance to talk to Ai alone at school.

For the first two days, it was because Conan harbored resentment, but later... it was because Ai ignored him!

"Shiraishi-kun..." Conan will call her that for now; he can't exactly call her "Sherry."

"Tsk tsk, is this your first love? So young, and you already like this kind of bitch?" Ai said, sipping her orange juice while observing Uchida.

Conan: ...

"I didn't... I'm not... Don't talk nonsense!" Conan was also going crazy.

……

Just then, Uchida opened the red wine that Shiraishi and Ayako had given him, and Shiraishi specifically reminded him, "By the way, students under the age of 20 among you are not allowed to drink it!"

Although the regulations aren't that strict, since Shiraishi was there, he definitely had to remind her; he couldn't pretend he didn't see it.

Soon after, after a few rounds of drinks, someone suggested a "second round"...

Of course, these college students' "second meeting" was just a regular karaoke session.

Meanwhile, Uchida, who was celebrating his birthday that day, was already asleep.

"Oh no, Uchida is probably looking forward to today too much..." Sawai said helplessly upon seeing this.

"The cake hasn't been cut yet..."

"If we just ignore her and eat her up, Uchida will definitely be unhappy, right?"

"Let's save the cake for tomorrow. Let's go to the karaoke place we booked first. It's not far from here, just at the foot of the mountain."

The group had already started discussing the matter.

Shiraishi looked at Uchida and frowned, as if he had discovered something.

However, Shiraishi did not dampen everyone's enthusiasm, and Ayako then took the initiative to say, "It's getting late, I'll stay with Ai and Conan, and I can also take care of Uchida-san. If she wakes up, I'll tell her to come find you."

"Eh? It's okay... It's not like it's your first time here." Sawai seemed a little embarrassed to trouble Ayako.

Ayako originally wanted to stay, but Shiraishi said, "Ayako, you should come too... otherwise I won't be able to drive."

Although Shiraishi can be immune to the effects of alcohol, now is the time to set an example.

Hearing Shiraishi say this, Ayako then joined everyone for the "second meeting," while Ai and Conan, who did not have guardians, naturally had to come along as well.

Uchida was the only one asleep on the sofa.

"Oh, right, you guys go first, I'll go upstairs and get a blanket for Uchida." Ayako, who was the last to leave, didn't forget to get a blanket for her.

But just then, the back door of the villa, which connects to the living room, suddenly opened... "Hmm?"

……

The karaoke place was indeed not far from the villa, only a five-minute drive away, and "the two children were also picked up by someone." Only Shiraishi and Ayako accompanied the college students to the karaoke place they had booked.

Ayako seemed a little absent-minded at this moment, but most of everyone's attention was on "Chief Mika".

Although Shiraishi isn't a particularly skilled singer, his level is adequate for karaoke—after all, how could a seasoned Kamishiro shinjutsu not know how to sing karaoke? From singing himself to managing the atmosphere, he's quite professional!

"Kuro, are you really okay?" Ayako asked Shiraishi quietly as he finished singing a song.

"Yes, don't worry." Shiraishi nodded.

Just then, Sawai suddenly looked out the window and said, "Ah! Wait, wait... isn't that the villa we rented?"

The villa complex is on a small hillside, while the karaoke bar is at the foot of the hill. From there, you can see a villa on the hill emitting black smoke!

"That's right! Oh no... Could it be on fire?"
Is Uchida still sleeping inside?

She's not answering the phone!

In the midst of the panic, someone suddenly said, "Don't be afraid, Chief Mika is here!"

Sawai: ...

All eyes immediately turned to Bai Shi. Seeing this, Bai Shi said, "I'll drive back first, don't worry."

Sawai gritted her teeth, asked another classmate for the key, and got into Shiraishi's car. Shiraishi didn't say anything, just sped back to the hotel. Ayako wasn't good at speeding, so she didn't talk about not drinking and driving, since there was always the possibility of emergency avoidance.

Upon arriving at the villa, Shiraishi didn't stand on ceremony with Sawai, simply watching him rush into the villa, and then...

Before long, the others arrived, but they looked at the "Director Mika" standing in front of the villa with suspicion.

Hayasaka Tomoko, the vice president of the mystery club, asked in confusion, "Chief Beika, what... happened? Where's Chief Sawai?"

To their relief, although there was a considerable amount of smoke, the villa did not appear to be on fire!

"What's the matter... Hmm, it seems your observation skills need improvement. Let's go in and take a look," Bai Shi said mysteriously.

When everyone followed Shiraishi in, they found Sawai Manabu in the living room, posing in an oTR position...

Hearing someone enter, Sawai slammed her fist on the floor and exclaimed, "Damn it! I really can't do anything..."

"You guys are a mystery club, right? These kinds of lines from shonen manga aren't popular in mystery novels," Shiraishi said sarcastically, as if it were a given.

Meanwhile, the others still didn't understand what was happening...

"Cough cough... Huh? You guys..." Hayasaka then saw that the source of the thick smoke in the house was the two children, who were burning firewood in the fireplace of the villa, while also pouring water on it, and they had even turned off the vent!
Seeing this, Hayasaka quickly stepped forward and opened the gout vent, asking in confusion, "What are you doing? What happened?"

"That's something Sawai-kun will have to explain," Shiraishi said, looking at Sawai.

Sawai: ...

"When...did you find out?" Sawai asked weakly.

"If I had to say, it was when Uchida was asleep, right? Her sleeping state was clearly different from normal sleep. Afterwards, I tasted the residue at the bottom of Uchida's cup and found that it did indeed contain sleeping pills..."

"In this way, even if we don't know what kind of conspiracy it is, we know that there must be a conspiracy. Then... when it was time to leave, Ayako and I were actually the last to leave. We saw you quietly come back and move the sleeping Uchida from the sofa to the floor."

"And then you even relit the birthday candles and placed them under the fax machine... It's quite obvious what you were planning to do. Then, when you were at karaoke, you left for a while and came back to find the fire. I think you were probably there to send a fax, right?"

Bai Shi then began to speak eloquently.

As is well known, the Eastern Island Nation has its own unique circumstances. Although Shiraishi doesn't find it convenient, fax machines still occupy an important niche in the lives of ordinary people, and in government agencies, they are indispensable. It seems that as long as those old-timers who are used to fax machines don't all die, they will resolutely refuse to replace them...

Using this device, Sawai devised a very simple ignition device—that is, to place an open flame under the fax machine, and then let the fax machine eject the paper, ignite it, and thus cause a fire!
However, when Sawai came in, he knew something was wrong—not only was Uchida not there at all, but there were also two little kids wearing masks and covering their faces while smoking.

The other members of the mystery club stared at Sawai in shock...

"President, you really..."

"Why? Sawai, what did Uchida do to offend you?"

"Even though Uchida is scheming, unsociable, two-faced, and manipulative... you can't just kill her!"

The club members questioned him in disbelief, and two girls who seemed to like Sawai asked him a long question.

“I…” Sawai’s face was also full of bitterness.

At this moment, Shiraishi said, "No, I think Sawai-kun didn't want to kill Uchida-kun, but quite the opposite... to be a hero and save the damsel in distress, right?"

Sawai just smiled wryly and remained silent; at this moment, he really didn't want to say anything more...

“Otherwise, we wouldn’t have deliberately placed Uchida in an empty spot without any kindling, and he would have immediately discovered the fire and rushed in after arriving,” Shiraishi said matter-of-factly.

“That’s right. Actually… I confessed to Uchida last month, but she rejected me. After that, I came up with this idea… If I could rescue her from the fire, maybe I would be treated differently? I didn’t expect…” Sawai said helplessly.

"Idiot! What do you think a fire is? You think you're so smart, have you ever thought about what would happen if your plan failed?" Shiraishi suddenly roared and lifted him up.

"I'm sorry!" Sawai was startled, and then said with remorse.

"Really... to set fire to something like this."

"I really misjudged you, President!"

"Chief Mika, arrest him!"

The two female simps immediately turned against him and severed ties with him...

Just then, Uchida also came down from upstairs. After Shiraishi discovered Sawai's arrangement, he roughly guessed what Sawai was going to do. So after Sawai left, he carried the people up to the second floor and left Conan and Ai behind.

At the same time, fire sirens sounded outside...

Shiraishi threw Sawai on the ground and said, "Go explain this to the fire department yourself!"

Shiraishi knew there was no real fire, but other people still called the fire department.

Although unsuccessful, the nature of the incident was still too egregious, and Shiraishi estimated that the prosecution would still file charges; the only question was whether or not a prison sentence would be handed down…

(End of this chapter)