Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

"Bill, please."

As Sano was paying at the cashier, the little girl also picked out her favorite dishes and joined the queue.

However, just as Sano stepped out of the convenience store, he heard a noise coming from behind him.

"Uncle, cutting in line like that is wrong..."

"Tsk, what nonsense is this little brat spouting?!"

"what!"

Turning around, Sano saw vegetables scattered all over the ground and a little girl sitting on the floor scratching the back of her head. In front of the cashier was a middle-aged man who looked fierce, so much so that the other customers nearby did not dare to speak, for fear of getting into trouble for their act of bravery.

"Ouch, that hurts..."

The little girl didn't cry. She rubbed the back of her head, winced, and then busied herself picking up the scattered vegetables on the ground.

"...Thank you for your patronage. Welcome to visit us again."

Sano watched as the man, carrying a bag of beer, walked out of the convenience store and brushed past him. He narrowed his eyes, then followed after him.

What Sano didn't notice was that there was another pair of eyes watching his back inside the convenience store.

...A few minutes later, the little girl walked out of the convenience store carrying a large bag of groceries.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I stepped out the door, I saw the man who had cut in line and pushed me earlier kneeling not far in front of me, his face bruised and swollen.

The man, his face streaked with tears and snot, looked at the little girl as if she were his savior, and "walked" to her on his knees.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, I was really wrong. I shouldn't have cut in line, and I shouldn't have pushed you..."

The young woman was startled by the scene before her. It took her a while to recover after the other party kept apologizing. She generously said that her mother had taught her that it is good to admit one's mistakes and correct them. She told the man not to cut in line or push people around anymore, and then said that she had forgiven him.

Having gained the girl's "forgiveness," the man did not immediately relax. Instead, he looked around shakily, only to find that no matter how hard he looked, he could not find the man in the hat who had suddenly pulled him into the alley, had a friendly conversation, and asked him to apologize to the girl and obtain her forgiveness.

Chapter 317, 316: Is New Rye an Undercover Agent?

If that's the case, then it should be acceptable, right?

The man didn't dare to think too much. He got up and ran away frantically, leaving the puzzled girl standing there completely bewildered.

At the corner of the alley next to the convenience store, Sano, wearing a casual hat, confirmed that the guy had indeed done as he asked before nodding in satisfaction and turning to leave.

Further away, Shuichi Akai narrowed his eyes as he watched Sano's retreating figure.

...Surprisingly, a few days later, Shuichi Akai ran into the new executive of the organization who had inherited his codename.

Even more surprisingly, Shuichi Akai discovered that the other party had done things that should absolutely not be done by a core member of a criminal organization.

Shuichi Akai began to recall the information he had gathered over the past few days related to this new rye.

As someone who had spent several years in the organization, Shuichi Akai certainly understood how much trouble it would bring if the other party inherited his codename, Rye.

For this reason, no matter how you look at it, this new rye is definitely not a simple character.

Both for personal and professional reasons, it is perfectly reasonable for Shuichi Akai to collect information about the other party.

Even though Shuichi Akai's undercover identity was exposed and he was forced to defect from the organization, it does not mean that there were no other undercover agents on his side in the organization.

Despite being limited by these people, he won't be able to climb as high in the organization as Shuichi Akai did before, and some top-secret information can't be extracted.

However, information that isn't top secret is still quite easy to obtain.

The new rye whiskey member is said to have only been a member for a short time, and his total years in the organization are less than a year.

It's hard to say exactly how long it will take.

But at least these facts are enough to prove that the new rye is very capable and highly trusted by the organization.

The speed at which the other party's reputation rose within the organization was particularly astonishing, with all sorts of outrageous rumors circulating.

In addition to this, Shuichi Akai himself collected information that appeared to be from several missions carried out by this new rye, namely the case reports, in which the other party's performance was equally astonishing.

Cold-blooded and ruthless, skilled in stealth and long-range sniping, likes to carry and use small explosives, and can even... dodge bullets, or even charge into them. He has absolute confidence in himself; no, to that extent, it should be described as arrogant and domineering.

This is especially true considering the circumstances of their last meeting, which was also their first.

Mad Dog, Bomb Maniac, Faceless Man.

As the saying goes, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

A lot of information can be gleaned from the nicknames of these three new rye varieties.

Of course, none of these are important... at least not the most important.

Most importantly, this guy actually secretly intervened for the sake of a little girl.

This is clearly not right.

Shuichi Akai watched Sano's figure disappear without taking any rash action. Instead, he turned around and approached the little girl who was about to leave the convenience store.

"Young lady, can I ask you something?"

Looking at the tall and imposing Shuichi Akai in front of her, the little girl instantly became wary: "What do you want to say first? Leading the way won't work, not even candy."

Akai Shuichi: "..."

Is this a reminder to myself that you should offer something sweet first when you ask for something?

Amused, Shuichi Akai patted the little girl's head, told her to wait there for a moment, and then went into the convenience store to buy some candy.

"Hey, little girl, I don't need you to lead the way, I just want to ask if you know someone."

Shuichi Akai didn't want to get entangled with the little girl any further and asked directly, "That person's features are very obvious: a man with pure white hair. Do you know anyone like that?"

"White hair?"

The little girl, whose routine had been interrupted, didn't have time to ask if she could get the lollipop by answering a question. She scratched the back of her head in confusion and shook her head.

"It seems not..."

"Yeah."

Having received the answer, Shuichi Akai stood up and patted the little girl's head again: "I understand. Thank you for answering my question. It's getting late, let's go home quickly."

After saying that, Shuichi Akai left.

Since New Rye and this girl don't actually know each other, it eliminates the possibility that the other party acted secretly out of personal feelings.

In the end, there is only one possibility left.

That is, the other party took action entirely out of a "moral sense".

Criminals and organized killers, in theory, shouldn't have anything to do with the word "morality".

However, as a former member of the organization himself, Shuichi Akai had also met members who were not serving in the organization voluntarily.

...Although those who have climbed to this position are unlikely to have been "working" involuntarily, and judging from their known behavior, they don't seem to be "involuntarily" at all; on the contrary, they seem to enjoy it.

However, if the situation is really just that one in ten thousand possibility, and New Rye is helping the little girl out of a sense of morality, then that would be interesting.

When the red light came on, Shuichi Akai stopped in his tracks. He had encountered a similar situation before.

During Shuichi Akai's undercover work, a member of the organization, whose code name was unknown, did something similar in front of him, stemming from a sense of "morality."

That person was an undercover agent planted in the organization by the Japanese Public Security Bureau.

...Could it be that the new rye is also an undercover agent?

Shuichi Akai recalled a crucial, albeit minor, detail from the information about the new rye.

"Teammate killer".

It is said that the death probability of teaming up with New Rye is unusually high. The outer members are better off, perhaps because of the large number of them, so their death probability does not seem too high, especially with the comparison of "code-named teammate".

"Almost all the codenamed members who teamed up with Rye are dead. I heard that only one person has survived so far, and he's still teaming up with me steadily. I think his codename is Vodka?"

...A near 100% mortality rate is undoubtedly abnormal.

If New Rye was intent on sabotaging the organization and thus deliberately killed his teammates, that would make sense.

Of course, this is just gossip and rumors, and it's hard to say how true and credible it is.

However, the fact that "vodka and rye often go together" is something that needs further investigation.

While such "accurate" information cannot be said to be absolutely correct, Shuichi Akai does not quite agree that it is completely unfounded.

Gin actually assigned one of his long-time henchmen to a new executive as a regular teammate.

It's a bit hard to understand.

What deeper meaning lies behind this?

The green light came on, and Shuichi Akai continued forward.

Forget it, with the current intelligence, it's impossible to analyze anything deeper.

Intelligence is something that can never be fully extracted overnight.

Moreover, New Rye is ultimately just a member of the organization; compared to him, the much larger organization should be the more important focus.

If I have the chance in the future, I'll try to get in touch with them and see if I can make any other discoveries.

On the zebra crossing, Shuichi Akai curled the corners of his mouth. Since they were both rye, their connection seemed to be quite deep.

……

The next day, Sano triggered his school attendance mission and went to school for classes.

Then, at the school gate, Sano unexpectedly bumped into Ran Mouri and Shinichi Kudo, who were on their way to school together.

……Um?

This kid hasn't turned back yet. Does the drug's effect last that long? It can't possibly stay this enlarged form forever, right?

Is Death Elementary School Student about to disappear?

Good morning, senior.

"Yo, Sano!"

As Sano wondered what was going on, Ran Mouri and Shinichi Kudo, who had noticed him, both greeted him.

But then Ran Mouri subtly stepped on Shinichi Kudo's foot, saying, "Shinichi, speak properly to your senior!"