Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

...Back to reality, the note was written very neatly, even somewhat delicately, so it couldn't possibly have been written by that little girl.

It must be her mother.

The person above didn't say anything, just told Sano that the little girl should go home for breakfast and then go to school; it wasn't that anything had happened.

So don't worry.

...I'm not stupid, do I need to say it out of the blue?

Sano glanced at the end of the note, then looked at the rice ball on the table, feeling a slight headache.

In Japan, people have an extraordinary fondness for rice balls. Although Sano had eaten quite a few in his previous life, those were all freshly made hot rice balls... Although many people in Japan also like to eat hot rice balls, they usually heat them up before eating them.

The problem is that Sano's family doesn't have a microwave oven.

Should I borrow one from a convenience store, or just throw it away?

After scratching his head, Sano swallowed the rice ball whole, gulped down several mouthfuls of water to prevent choking, and then quickly went to school for a class.

It wasn't until evening that Sano was finally invited out to meet Gin.

...As for why the two sides, who are already so "familiar" with each other, still need to meet in person to give even a low-level task, we have to mention what happened last night.

When Gin was assigning the task to Sano, he casually mentioned the case in Ebara... After all, those two cases had quite a impact and had naturally made it into the newspapers long ago.

Well, two uninterrupted trips to Izu, two murder cases, and the former even involved more than one life, making one sigh that Sano is really unlucky. At the same time, Gin also noticed a detail.

"High school detective Shinichiro Sano is suspected of having had a conflict with the deceased and is being treated as the prime suspect."

...Gin had some suspicions. Given Sano's character, could it be that he got into a conflict with someone, killed them, and then used his identity as a famous detective to frame them?

So Gin arranged for someone to do a little research, and what they found was quite surprising.

Although Sano did have a conflict with the deceased, the murderer has already confessed to the crime, so the possibility of framing has been basically ruled out.

The real problem is that the "conflict" cannot be simply explained by the word "conflict".

Sano crippled one of the opponent's hands.

This may seem like nothing, but you should know that Sano did it openly and blatantly under his apparent identity.

Gin is certainly no stranger to Sano.

It was clear that beneath the other party's "arrogant" exterior lay an inner arrogance, or perhaps more accurately, self-confidence. No matter how outrageous the matter, if Sano did it, it was because he thought it was no big deal.

It can be handled.

To put it bluntly, the other party is actually quite cautious.

This time, however, is a little different.

Of course, it's also possible that Sano was simply used to being arrogant, which, combined with a bit of loss of control, led to that "unreasonable" thing happening.

Furthermore, for Sano, no matter how illogical something may seem, it will all become reasonable once the source is traced back to him...

Not to mention, judging from the results, there were indeed no problems.

Regardless, Gin still sensed something was amiss and, relying on his intuition, chose to probe directly by phone.

In the end, Sano impatiently hung up the phone, as if avoiding the issue, or perhaps giving up entirely, which made Gin feel even more strongly about it.

This guy is probably in trouble.

Therefore, Gin forcibly summoned Sano tonight for a face-to-face "confrontation".

Fortunately, Sano did not refuse to see him at all.

Otherwise, Gin might call in a sniper and go to meet the other side.

"...What exactly happened in Izu?"

Gin first had Sano take off his hat.

In order to better observe the other party's facial expressions and changes in eyes, he then asked in a tone that was ostensibly accusatory but actually probing: "Don't tell me you don't know how much of an impact doing such a thing could have on a famous detective like you, especially a mentally ill one. If that party hadn't kept quiet about it, you might have ended up back in jail, or even worse."

"So what if he's in? Getting out won't be difficult."

Sano said nonchalantly.

"But that will ultimately bring unnecessary trouble."

Gin narrowed his eyes: "Do you have some compelling reason to do it?"

"I heard that guy did something rude to your friend. I don't think you're that angry, or are you just taking it out on him, or is your relationship more than just friendship?"

Upon hearing Gin's question, Sano raised an eyebrow... He even knows about the groping incident. Did this guy specifically arrange for someone to investigate what happened that day?

What's going on here?

Sano doesn't think Gin is just bored and wants to gossip about his interpersonal relationships.

"If you want to hammer, just hammer. Why do you have so many reasons?"

Sano didn't think too much about it. Having just finished his uncle's marriage, he was a bit lazy and in a state of mind that was close to taking things as they come... Although he had been like this before, he still couldn't help but think about it sometimes.

Not now.

This is something even harder to control than the subconscious.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Gin didn't say anything more in response to Sano's statement. He simply handed the mission documents to Sano and then got into the car.

"Big brother, how are you?"

As soon as he got in the car, Vodka started asking questions.

Chapter 354, 353, The Thug in a Suit

Gin shook his head, it was unclear whether he meant no or he didn't see anything wrong.

"It seems we still need to get them to speed things up over there."

After letting out a long breath, Gin looked at Vodka: "Contact Rum and have him arrange for Bourbon to go there as well."

Vodka paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I'll contact them right away."

...Sano was unaware that Gin had done many things behind his back, and even less aware that his "boss" would also be "affected" as a result.

Even if he knew, Sano wouldn't care, because he was busy with other things right now.

That's right, it's the long-awaited enhancement.

Actually, Sano could have been strengthened a long time ago, but he didn't feel anything, so he didn't move... even now he still doesn't feel anything.

But who cares?

Anyway, intuition isn't always accurate.

Who knows, we might even come up with some new fun to have.

With that in mind, Sano no longer hesitated. However, as the notification sounded, his first concern was not the target of this enhancement, but the enhancement points that had been consumed.

A thousand points?

Wasn't it also 1,000 points last time? Why didn't it "increase in price"?

Could it be that I remembered it wrong?

Sano paused for a moment, then counted on his fingers to make sure he remembered correctly; this upgrade did not involve a "price increase."

...Has this reached its limit, or is there a bug?

Will I have to withdraw the incorrect points from my own account to make up for it after I realize it?

After blinking, Sano didn't complain... After all, it was a good thing, or at least not a bad thing, and there was no way to verify it, so why bother?

Open the box! Open the box!

Sano turned his attention back to the target of this enhancement.

"Random enhancement in progress. Congratulations, host, your suit has been enhanced successfully..."

Suit?

Sano was taken aback again. He currently only had three pieces of clothing-related enhancements.

Vest, special forces uniform, and idiot coat.

The first two are self-explanatory. The last one, though ridiculous, is undeniably powerful in terms of its effect. After all, a guaranteed one-second hard crowd control is quite useful in battle... even though it's still incredibly ridiculous.

I didn't expect it to be clothing again, and a suit at that... Do I even own a suit? Could it be that I've mistaken someone else's things for mine again?

Sano pulled out the location; thankfully, it was at home, so at least he didn't need to go out and buy or rob anything.

With the new equipment, Sano naturally had no desire to do the mission himself this time.

He casually tossed it to Ito Taka and became a hands-off manager.

Of course, Sano also told half the amount of the prize money, and only after receiving confirmation did he happily run home to see his new equipment.

Finally, Sano did indeed pull out a dusty suit from under that pile of tattered clothes.

Enhancement item name: Thug Suit.

Grade: A.

effect:

1. Thug (burst attribute +100).

2. Elite (When wearing this enhancement item and entering other forms, it will grant that form an elite enhancement effect).

Restrictions: None

Note: Elegant, timeless.

Sano: "..."

What the hell does this name have to do with the notes?

After venting his frustrations, Sano returned to his business... though there wasn't much to focus on.

After all, there are only two effects, and they need to be as brief as possible.

But since it's an A-grade item, its effects are naturally not weak. The former's burst attribute bonus of 100 points seems to be the standard combination for this grade.