Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Sonoko Suzuki: "?"

Of the four, only Ai Haibara remained calm, even with a slight smile on her lips.

Ah, I knew it.

"Don't worry, I won't charge you two salaries. You're just free labor, mainly to help me."

Sano comforted Kyogoku Makoto, preventing him from refusing Conan's unpaid work because he thought Kyogoku might be trying to get two salaries.

"Okay, I know."

Without further ado, Makoto Kyogoku nodded in agreement and then looked at Sonoko Suzuki and the others: "Then please come with me to the reserved rooms."

"Ok."

Sonoko Suzuki, Ran Mouri, and Ai Haibara followed Makoto Kyogoku away.

"Wait……"

Finally realizing he had been tricked... no, definitely tricked, Conan sensed something was wrong. He was about to take the opportunity to leave with Ran and the others to escape his part-time job, but Sano pulled him back: "You part-time worker, don't even think about going to rest. Get ready to work."

"Don't forget that you yourself said you wanted to participate in the commission."

Conan: "..."

Who the hell knew there could be such an outrageous "commission" in this world!

Sano, you bastard! I'll f*** you!

A moment later, Makoto Kyogoku returned and gave Sano and a sullen-looking Conan an apron, or work clothes, each of them, before assigning them tasks.

...It wasn't until almost dark that Suzuki Sonoko and her two friends, after putting their luggage in the room and going out to play, returned and had dinner. Then they said they were going to a fireworks festival nearby and asked Sano if she wanted to come along.

Sano naturally refused, but Conan insisted on going with him.

Sano certainly didn't intend to let this free labor slip away.

However, Ran Mouri softened when she saw Conan and spoke to Sano in a friendly manner.

Chapter 333, 332, Conan: There's absolutely no way anyone could possibly be interested in Sonoko!

Sano then temporarily let Conan off the hook.

"Are you alright, senior? If you feel very tired, you can go and rest first. Anyway, the peak period for today is over, and I can manage on my own from now on."

Makoto Kyogoku seemed to take great care of Sano, not only assigning him relatively simple tasks while taking on the more strenuous ones himself, but also suggesting that Sano could leave work early to go to the fireworks festival with his friends.

However, Sano was of course not interested in this; he was now only interested in figuring out what kind of relationship existed between Kyogoku Makoto and the original owner of this body.

Especially now that Conan is no longer an obstacle, Sano's probing has become increasingly bold and frequent.

Unfortunately, even so, Sano was unable to glean much information from Sonoko Suzuki and the others until they returned from the fireworks festival.

At most, it means that Makoto Kyogoku and the original Sano knew each other since elementary school.

As for how they met and what happened afterward, that remains unknown.

However, it is clear that although the two did not have much contact, their relationship was very good... at least compared to the original owner's other "friends".

Kyogoku Makoto is already a very good friend.

As for why it's so good, and just how good it is, Sano still doesn't know.

Oh, and there's also the issue of Sonoko Suzuki.

To Sano's surprise, the relationship between the two was essentially that of strangers; at least Sonoko Suzuki didn't know Makoto Kyogoku, even though Makoto's attitude towards Sonoko was still a bit strange.

There's a strange feeling about it.

There must be a secret here.

"...Well then, goodnight, senior."

Watching Suzuki Sonoko and the others go into their rooms, Sano nodded in response and then went into his own room.

The next day, Sano was dragged by Makoto Kyogoku to work at a beach stall called "Umi no Ie" again, where he ran into Sonoko Suzuki and the others, as well as Conan, who had left the hotel early to avoid working.

This time, in addition to the regular staff, Sano also saw a young man who was quite handsome, but still far from being as good-looking as him.

Who the hell is this?

How did he end up next to Death?

Sonoko Suzuki and her group didn't notice Sano until Makoto Kyogoku slammed his beer down on the table. Only then did they notice the dark-skinned man and turn their attention to Sano at the other end of the table.

Ran Mouri and the others were all taken aback: "Senior, you're here too?"

"Ah."

Sano nodded to the group, which was considered a greeting.

"...What, Sonoko, do you know them?"

Masahiko Michiwaki, who was about to complain about the poor attitude of the restaurant's staff, asked in surprise upon seeing this.

"Ah."

Sonoko Suzuki, who had just boasted to the other party that Ran Mouri's father and "boyfriend" were both famous detectives, bragged again: "He is a senior at our school and also a famous detective, even more so than the two I just mentioned."

"Hey……"

Michiwaki Masahiko narrowed his eyes, seemingly lost in thought.

It wasn't until quite some time later, when the other tourists around them suddenly started to stir and rumors spread that "the body of a murdered girl with short brown hair has been found in the grove next to the tram tracks," that Conan abandoned the others and ran over without a word.

"Conan! Seriously..."

Sano glanced at Conan's back. He was, of course, a little surprised that nothing unexpected had happened at last night's fireworks display.

With Conan, that plague god, around, Sano absolutely did not believe that this trip could end peacefully.

However, considering that this trip is three days and two nights long, there is still at least one day and one night left, so it's not a problem if the trouble starts a little later...

And here it is now.

However, the setting of "the female corpse with short brown hair"... Sano recalled the conversation he had with Makoto Kyogoku last night, in which he mentioned that "a brown-haired woman was murdered nearby a year ago, but the investigation was unsuccessful." It seems that this is probably not a coincidence.

Sano's gaze quietly shifted to Suzuki Sonoko... To be honest, he wasn't very familiar with the technical terms for colors, but he knew that brown was a color similar to tea color or coffee color.

Sonoko Suzuki's hair is of this type.

Could it be that the central figure in this "case" is Sonoko Suzuki?

Sano glanced again at Michiwaki Masahiko, and at a round figure sitting behind Suzuki Sonoko's table... well, actually it was just a fat guy wearing a hat and sunglasses.

Father, like son.

With Sano's keen observation skills, it would be incredibly easy for him to spot something amiss between the two.

During his conversation with Sonoko Suzuki and the others, the former would occasionally make awkward movements and change his expression, probably because he had unintentionally touched on some important topic.

The latter was intentionally or unintentionally glancing in Sonoko Suzuki's direction... It's unclear who he was glancing at, but he definitely had ulterior motives.

Of course, there's one more person who might have a problem: Makoto Kyogoku.

Although Sano believes that Kyogoku Makoto is unlikely to be a bad person.

This is not only because after yesterday's interaction, Kyogoku Makoto's image in Sano's eyes has become that of a kind-hearted but taciturn person, but also because of his strange attitude towards Suzuki Sonoko, and his service attitude, which, while not exactly friendly, was at least not too harsh, suddenly changed after Michiwaki Masahiko appeared.

Besides, even Ran Mouri privately approached Sano last night, saying that she felt Kyogoku Makoto looked familiar... probably had seen him somewhere before but forgot.

In short, Sano doesn't think that a character like Makoto Kyogoku will become a disposable item, and that he might have more "scenes" to appear in the future.

Therefore, it is highly unlikely that they will be involved in this case... at least they shouldn't be the "murderer".

However, paying more attention will definitely not lead to any mistakes.

"Senior, let's go take a look over there too. See you at the inn later!"

Ran and the others shouted at Sano, and after receiving a response, they immediately chased after the direction Conan had run off in.

……

That night, Sano and Kyogoku Makoto had returned to the Kawaraya Inn. After dinner, they continued to busy themselves entertaining guests.

However, due to various limitations, Sano found it difficult to extract more accurate information from Kyogoku Makoto in a short period of time, and thus gradually began to consider quitting.

Moreover, barring any unforeseen circumstances, something is bound to happen by tomorrow at the latest. It's hard to say whether Sano will need to attend to other matters at that time, so it's better to run away as soon as possible.

"Kyogoku, I'm not going to work tomorrow. It's a rare opportunity to come to Izu, so I want to go out and have some fun."

Makoto Kyogoku turned around and nodded silently: "Okay, then I'll settle the wages with you later."

"Ah."

...Although Sano was not short of money, he did not intend to pretend to be generous and not ask for payment.

After all, this is what Sano worked so hard to earn, why shouldn't he take it?

"Crash..."

Suddenly, the faint sound of rain could be heard.

Turning his head again, Sano saw Kyogoku Makoto take an umbrella and put it outside the door, so he turned back.

It was probably given to Sonoko Suzuki and a few others.

Ran Mouri said that Masahiko Michiwaki invited them to have dinner at some... well, a pretty famous restaurant, one of the places.

...Thinking back to the scene in the afternoon when Conan suddenly came to him and started nagging after the group returned to the hotel, Sano still found it somewhat amusing.

"Hey, Sano, don't you have a feeling that there's something wrong with that Michiwaki Masahiko?"

"What's the problem?"

"A garden, it's just a garden!"

"How could anyone in this world possibly be interested in Sonoko? After all, he's not blind. I think that guy must have something else in mind!"

Upon hearing this, Sano's lips curled into a smile.

Chapter 334, 333: The way to protect flowers is to let them bloom?

If Sonoko Suzuki were to hear this, Sano would be sure that Conan would suffer a terrible fate.