Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

...Even though it was just a small knife, held between the fingers.

How could it have such incredible strength?

After a brief exchange, the Stand user quickly found himself at a disadvantage.

...to reason with each other.

This person is quite strong, probably not much different from Amuro Tooru.

Under normal circumstances.

Sano is probably evenly matched with him?

However, as Sano's own skills gradually absorbed the essence of martial arts bandages, even without mentioning that martial arts bandages improved along with Kyogoku Makoto's improvement, he also became much stronger... Especially in special environments like rainy days, the advantage of agility will be even greater.

Not to mention that Sano even pulled out Rye's exclusive melee mode.

Faced with such an unorthodox, even wicked, thing.

Their strength was already significantly reduced, so the amount of ability they could unleash was even lower.

therefore.

After barely dodging Sano's stab once again.

The Stand user retreated frantically without hesitation, drawing his pistol and aiming it.

"Bang bang bang!!"

The bullet flew toward Sano, and even though it was impossible for it to hurt him, it did cause him considerable obstruction, preventing him from immediately pursuing the enemy.

...After all, it was a rainy day.

Although Sano was less affected, he was still affected to some extent.

Dodging bullets has become much more difficult.

"If you're going to play melee combat, then play melee combat. But why pull out a gun? Isn't that a bit unsportsmanlike?"

After making a sarcastic remark, Sano only heard the Stand user reply, "Am I the one who lacks martial ethics? I only have a dagger, while your knife is like rain when you swing it. You were the one who cheated by using a weapon cheat first, okay?"

"Oh."

Sano didn't waste any more words.

In the brief moment between dodging bullets, he managed to throw out a throwing knife.

As a result, it was easily dodged... unfortunately.

This time, Sano threw something far more powerful than an ordinary throwing knife.

"boom!"

The throwing knife suddenly exploded.

Although the power wasn't too great and didn't cause any significant actual damage to the Stand user, it still affected his movements to some extent.

Especially the impact force when it enters the ear.

Whether it will lead to deafness is still uncertain, but at least for now, it's a temporary tinnitus.

My head felt like it had turned into a complete mess, and I was dizzy.

Sano seized the opportunity and kicked the swaying Stand user in the chest, helping the sleepy person finally lie down.

"I'm sorry I have no interest in knowing about your affairs, but I won't kill you either, because your affairs are none of my business. If you kill someone, I'll send you to jail."

"...No, you won't."

But after the Stand user recovered a little and his eyes became clear,

That's what they said.

"Ok?"

Sano raised an eyebrow and felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

...Wait, that's not right.

There's no signal here, so how could I have received a call?

Just as the surprise began, the Stand user who was being trampled under Sano's feet laughed.

"Aren't you going to answer?"

"..."

Sano narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Stand user.

"Which one."

Sano answered the phone.

"it's me."

The voice on the other end of the phone was clearly that of a voice changer.

...As far as Sano knows, a certain second-in-command seems to be used to using a voice changer.

Ok……

So this guy actually still has connections with the brewery?

That's not too strange, after all, this thing was created by one of the higher-ups in the brewery. After his original "boss" was gone, he made contact with someone even higher up, which is reasonable.

However, what Sano didn't quite understand was...

Since he's connected to Rum, he should know perfectly well that this Stand user alone couldn't possibly defeat him, so why...?

Acting without authorization?

Then Rum has even less reason to help cover up and clean up the mess, right?

Or is there some unknown, more important role this guy plays?

As his thoughts raced, Sano deliberately asked, "Who are you?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone before a helpless reply: "...I'm your boss."

……boss?

Now it was Sano's turn to fall silent.

...I thought Rum was the one who started it all, but now he says it is.

Is he the boss of the distillery?

Hasn't this guy been "retired" for years? How come he's suddenly reappeared?

An eerie silence followed.

Sano was too lazy to beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "So, my good boss, can you explain why you first arranged for someone to keep an eye on me, and then sent this guy to provoke me into a one-on-one fight?"

"No, I didn't arrange for anyone to keep an eye on you. You should know that I haven't been involved in the organization's internal affairs for a long time. As for the latter, I was unaware of it either. I just received a timed message from him, which is why I contacted you."

He explained things to his own organization's boss with utmost sincerity and patience.

Sano raised an eyebrow and simply smiled.

"So, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"Spare his life."

"I need a reason, on what grounds?"

“There’s no reason, and I’m not saying you have to spare him or anything. I just want to make a fair deal… If you’re willing to spare his life, then I can turn a blind eye to your future struggles with Rum. Besides, we’ll meet sooner or later, and at that time, this kid will be part of the real truth you want to know. Whether he lives or dies is entirely up to you. I won’t force you.”

Then came another round of patient explanation.

This tone of discussion was quite reassuring for Sano.

In particular, the boss's explanation of the pros and cons does make some sense.

The battle between Sano and Rum.

Although the two sides are completely unequal, and Rum doesn't really need to follow the rules, Sano is not really just an ordinary executive.

Therefore, Rum could only follow the proper procedures.

Find Sano's weakness, and then "handle it according to the law".

What Sano had to do was prevent Rum from finding a weakness until he finally revealed it himself—but the two were different, so the fundamental weakness was not the same thing. Simply put, he had to avoid being discovered for breaking the rules and doing something unruly.

I personally think this part isn't very difficult.

After all, he has so many cheat codes on him, and they're not all useless decorations.

But since this boss has brought it up now...

That means that even if Sano did everything perfectly, he probably wouldn't be able to get past that.

The saying is "turn a blind eye".

That's a bit intriguing... Sano raised his hand and wiped the raindrops from his forehead.

"What limits?"

"Internal strife is the limit."

The answer given on the other end surprised Sano a little.

This shows that even if Sano kills Rum openly under the guise of being Rye without any reason, as long as he can persuade some people to support him and prevent the situation from developing into him betraying the organization and being fundamentally opposed to the organization, the final result will still favor him.

...He's the second-in-command, after all. How can he be so insignificant when it comes to bargaining chips?

Sano glanced again at the Stand user at his feet.

Or perhaps, in that boss's eyes, this guy's bargaining chip was too valuable?

"...What did you mean when you said he was part of the real truth?"

Sano asked another question.

This time, the boss didn't say anything more, just left with "You'll see," and then hung up the phone, leaving Sano speechless.

Then look at the Stand user with an innocent face.

Sano smacked his lips and threw the throwing knife, which grazed... or rather, hit the Stand user's ear squarely, embedding itself in the soil below, spreading red specks.