I'm in Conan, I'm not a gangster

Chapter 530 When one woman sets her sights on another, it's rarely because of love (2nd update)
The study door closed gently, leaving only Shiraishi E and Vermouth in the room.

Shiraishi E walked to the sofa, sat down leisurely, and poured himself a cup of tea. The tea was warm and fragrant. He lowered his head, took a sip, and remained calm.

Vermouth holstered her pistol, crossed her arms, leaned against the edge of the desk, and said with a slight smile, "See how much face I'm giving you? You said you wouldn't kill me, so I won't."

Shiraishi E looked up at her, her tone indifferent: "Even if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't kill her."

"Oh?" Vermouth raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"

“If you really wanted to kill her, you wouldn’t have explained so much.” Shiraishi E put down her teacup, her gaze sharp. “There’s no need to waste words on a dead person.”

Vermouth chuckled softly, a hint of admiration flashing in her eyes: "Then what do you think is the reason I'm here?"

Shiraishi E tapped her teacup lightly with her fingertips, pondered for a moment, and slowly said, "It's definitely not business. If it were business, you wouldn't waste time intimidating her."

“When a woman sets her sights on another woman, it’s never because of love.” He paused, his eyes turning slightly cold. “So, it’s either for her status or for her money.”

"As the president of the Tokiwa Group, Mio Tokiwa is no longer able to hold her position after the explosion of the twin towers. She will inevitably resign soon."

“So—” Shiraishi E raised her eyes and looked directly at Vermouth, “what you’re after is her money.”

“What’s more, she alone has earned hundreds of billions of yen.” He said meaningfully, “It would be hard for either men or women not to be tempted by that amount of money.”

Vermouth couldn't help but clap her hands and smile broadly: "Brilliant! You guessed it."

She tilted her head and asked with interest, "And you? Why are you here?"

Shiraishi E chuckled softly: "Didn't I say? It's hard for me not to be tempted by this money."

Vermouth widened her eyes slightly, feigning surprise: "You're here for the money too?"

“I was just here to accept her ‘thank you’ and stay for one night,” Shiraishi E shrugged. “But now, I’ve changed my mind.”

"After all, even if I don't take this money, you'll find a way to get it."

Vermouth pondered for a moment, then readily nodded: "Alright, you can have a share of this money. After all, you did a good job in this operation."

Shiraishi asked suspiciously, "Was I involved in this operation?"

Vermouth quipped, "If you hadn't knocked those FBI agents out, we probably would have had to fight them to the death."

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi E gave a helpless, bitter smile: "This really has nothing to do with me; it's the FBI that has a problem with their brains."

“If there were bombs, we could have dealt with them quietly, but they had to announce it on the radio.” He shrugged. “I had no choice but to knock out an FBI agent, and then the others rushed over and tried to attack without even asking what happened.”

"I had no choice but to fight back."

Vermouth burst out laughing after hearing this: "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Even a novel couldn't write a story like this."

Shiraishi sighed, "The FBI are a bunch of idiots. No wonder they've investigated you for so many years and found nothing."

—The small talk is over, it's time to get down to business.

Shiraishi E put down her teacup, her eyes turning serious: "There's something I want to ask you."

"Who hired the assassin 'Scobbin' to kill me?"

Vermouth was taken aback, clearly not expecting this question: "Schomy? I know nothing about that."

Shiraishi E said calmly, "I asked her, and she said it was a young man named 'Kudo Yusaku' who commissioned it."

Vermouth instantly understood and sneered, "Heh, it seems someone is trying to sow discord between you and Yusaku Kudo."

She thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, I'll check it out for you."

“In return—” she looked up, her tone subtle, “you do me a favor too.”

"Please pass on a message to Yusaku Kudo: I don't want to take action against him, but I have no choice... What can I do? I'm part of Rum's faction."

Shiraishi nodded: "I will pass it on." Vermouth smiled with satisfaction, said no more, and turned to walk towards the window.

A night breeze swept by, and she lightly leaped onto the windowsill, glancing back at Shiraishi E, her red lips slightly parted:

"Pleasant to work with."

As soon as she finished speaking, her figure disappeared into the night.

Shiraishi E put down her teacup and gently pushed open the study door. The corridor was silent.

He walked back to the bedroom and opened the door to find Tokiwa Mio already lying back on the bed, the blanket pulled up to her chin, her eyes wide open, staring straight at the ceiling.

When she saw him return, her gaze immediately shifted to him, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

Shiraishi E walked to the bedside, lifted the covers and lay down, turning her head to look at her: "Ask whatever you want to ask. Don't hold it in, it's bad for your health."

Upon hearing this, Tokiwa Mio immediately turned over to face him, her tone urgent: "Do you know that woman named Vermouth?"

"Yes." Shiraishi E nodded, not denying it.

"Are you one of them?" Her voice lowered, and her fingers unconsciously clenched the corner of the blanket.

Shiraishi E shook her head: "No, I've only collaborated with her a few times in private."

Mio Tokiwa nodded thoughtfully: "So, you're an assassin too?"

“No.” Shiraishi E chuckled lightly. “The profession of assassin has no future. They can’t do anything but kill.”

He paused, then said casually, "I'm a detective, I can do anything... as long as you can afford it."

Tokiwa Mio stared at him for a few seconds, seemingly assessing the truthfulness of his words. Then she asked, "So... is my Mori-senpai really a member of that organization?"

Shiraishi E paused for a moment, then ultimately chose to go along with Vermouth's words to avoid trouble: "Yes."

Tokiwa Mio's expression was somewhat shocked, but it quickly turned into understanding: "However, it's not hard to understand..."

She murmured softly, "My senior is so concerned about his image. He was always overshadowed by his wife, and he couldn't stand it, which is why he went astray."

Shiraishi E didn't reply, but simply said, "It's getting late, let's go to sleep."

"I can't sleep right now." Tokiwa Mio shook her head, her eyes still showing signs of shock. "How could I possibly sleep after just experiencing a life-or-death situation?"

She suddenly launched into a barrage of questions, like a curious child: "You're so young, how come you're so amazing? You're like Superman! What did you do before? Did you train in martial arts? Why are your reactions so fast?"

Shiraishi E was somewhat exasperated by her questions, but she still patiently answered them one by one.

They say what they can say, and make up what they can't say. Their main motto is "answer every question, but the answers are a mix of truth and falsehood."

Tokiwa Mio seemed completely absorbed in this question-and-answer game, asking one question after another, from Shiraishi E's fighting skills to his experiences, then to his preferences, and even suddenly blurting out: "What type of woman do you like?"

Shiraishi E: "..."

Has this woman forgotten that she was almost killed just now?

As we chatted, the sky outside the window gradually brightened.

Tokiwa Mio's voice grew softer and softer, and her eyelids began to droop. Finally, her head rested little by little on Shiraishi E's shoulder, and her breathing gradually became steady.

Shiraishi E glanced at her sideways and sighed softly.

I finally fell asleep.

He glanced at the time and realized he could sleep for another hour, so he gently adjusted his position and closed his eyes.

(End of this chapter)