Zongman, working as a teaching assistant in Trasen

Seeing his reluctance, Officer Gao Mu quickly explained, "I'm just asking you the same question again. It's just a formality."

"...But, I'm under orders from our academy's chairman to rush to Nakayama Racecourse in Nagoya today to discuss something, and I absolutely cannot be late," Uozuka Saburo said awkwardly. "Can't you please be flexible and take my statement here, or even just waive it altogether?"

"I'm sorry, but this is the rule, Mr. Uozuka: the record of the main person involved must be done."

He lowered his hat, unable to say anything directly, so he could only offer gentle persuasion: "Please understand. The impact of this incident is far more serious than you imagine. You were the first person to discover one of the deceased. Your statement must be properly recorded in writing... If you're concerned, we police will help you contact the chairman of Tresen to explain the situation. We won't hinder your career."

"..."

What I care about is my future. What I care about is whether I can leave Tokyo before today!

Who knew there were so many passengers on the train? How long would it take you to take the statements? What if it takes the whole night? By the time a Tokyo gang fight breaks out, it'll be too late to leave!

Feeling a little anxious, but managing it well, he didn't show it on his face. Just as Uozuka Saburo was about to try and persuade him a little more, a soft voice suddenly interrupted him:

"Although taking notes is essential, can the time for taking notes be delayed?"

"Ok?"

The three of them turned their heads and saw a tall, voluptuous horse girl with a casual air. She walked gracefully and looked at Megure Jusan with a lovely smile. "I heard from my family, didn't you? That Detective Mori over there has solved so many cases. Has he not gone to the Metropolitan Police Department to give a statement?"

"Ah this..."

"..."

Having their sore spot hit, Megure Jusan and Takagi Wataru's faces instantly became embarrassed. They subconsciously glared at Mouri Kogoro who was still chasing Conan around the scene, and suddenly didn't know what to say.

"He, he's that... busy with work! Yeah! Always busy solving cases, so he kept postponing the statement..."

"Oh? So, Mr. Uozuka is a busy man too, huh?"

Walking silently to Uozuka Saburo's side and placing her hand on his shoulder, Miss Ma Musume chuckled and said, "Because, Mr. Uozuka is going to Nagoya with me to have a big meal and drink a couple of glasses of eggnog~?"

“…!???”

----------

"Wow!!! I never thought I'd get to see two super famous horse girls in the same day!?"

Sitting in a long and wide luxury business car, Maori Kogoro looked out the window at the scenery while paying his attention to the horse girl in front of him: "And it's the horse girl of the Mejiro family: Miss Mejiro Kouyou! I've been following you since you participated in the Gaoyue Sho race a few years ago. You run really beautifully!!"

"Fufu~ Thank you for your support Mr. Maori. I'm honored to have you as a fan."

Sitting upright opposite him, with Uozuka Saburo and Oguruma beside her, the horse girl named Mejiro Kouyou nodded in thanks to Mouri Kogoro, showing a true ladylike demeanor that was completely different from Mejiro McQueen.

"Thank you so much for helping our school instructors this time and finding the real murderer, uncovering the truth for all the citizens of Tokyo. I'm sure your name will be on the headlines again starting tomorrow morning~"

"Ahahaha~ No no, it's just a trivial matter, not worth mentioning!"

Chapter 171: Intent to Subvert the Organization

Complimented by such a beautiful girl, Kogoro Mouri almost instantly became complacent and subconsciously wanted to start bragging irrelevantly. He was only brought back to normal by an elbow from Ran Mouri next to him.

"Ahem, ahem...ah, it's really no big deal, huh." The respectable middle-aged man rubbed his sore ribs and said, "In fact, thanks to you for finding someone to call this car, we were able to continue our journey without being affected by this sudden incident. Please allow me to express my sincere gratitude to you."

"Haha~ It's okay, you don't have to be so polite, Mr. Maori."

Turning around, he looked at Uozuka Saburo, who was still a little weak but had recovered a lot, and smiled brightly. "After all, Uozuka-sensei often told us to help others within our ability. Isn't that what you agree with, Uozuka-sensei?"

"...Yeah, yes."

Uozuka Saburo said with a stern face.

He is currently searching for information about the name "Mejiro Mitsukoshi" in his mind, and trying to connect it with the organization's recent list of training personnel, trying to have a more systematic understanding of this "Egnog" who came out of nowhere.

————The result was nothing. In the organization's list of personnel to be trained in any direction in the past two years, or even in the contacts of the personnel sent out, there was no matter related to Ma Musume...

So where did this thing come from? When did our organization have a codenamed horsegirl member?

...Oh no, "eggnog"...isn't this the base wine?

It turns out that she is a candidate cadre who was introduced by a code member and initially recognized by the boss?

Uozuka Saburo suddenly realized.

Although the organization's external structure is quite loose, the peripheral members are a mixed bag of people, and sometimes they will even deliberately ignore the obvious problems of some guys, and as long as they don't betray, they can be reused.

However, when it comes to selecting internal members, especially core members, the selection criteria for "that one" are quite strict - sometimes even stricter than the "D members" on the continent across the strait.

But even with such a strict screening process, there are always some moles and spies among the official code members, which further depletes the already poor organization's finances...

As a result, a problem gradually emerged: there were too few trustworthy and capable code members, and the scope of business that the organization needed to manage was expanding year by year. Often, two or three code members had to manage all the business in an entire country. The workload was so heavy that even unscrupulous factories had to bow down to it.

But there are some things that are difficult to do if you are not a cadre member... Whether in terms of ability or position deterrence, some unruly members just like to make trouble for you, and if you are not a cadre and have no authority, it is easy to get into trouble.

Therefore, in order to make up for the shortage of manpower, the position of "reserve code cadre" was born: the formal code members themselves discover talents and examine their abilities and loyalty. After determining that they have the potential to become formal code members, they will report to that person. After approval, they can become reserve cadres and be awarded non-base wine codes, which are considered temporary codes.

Saburo Uozuka had been a reserve code officer for a period of time before. At that time, his code name was "B52 Bomber". However, it took less than three months for him to gain the approval of the boss and he was directly transferred to the normal code member promotion assessment.

To put it simply, this is a hard-working transition phase where you are asked to take on more work obligations in advance but only receive half the pay. It is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also does not provide much preferential treatment in the regularization evaluation. Basically, there are very few code members who are bored enough to develop such members - they would rather recruit more peripheral members to use as disposable cannon fodder for their own tasks.

So now, the question is: Among the code members in Japan, who has the heart and the time to develop a reserve cadre who is of high status, young, and has such good looks?

...Vermouth I C*******!!!

Finally connecting the dots in his mind, Uozuka Saburo looked up at Mejiro Mitsuaki, who was silently observing the Mori family's "daily comedy," and said tentatively, "Back then... at the Mejiro mansion, I was truly indebted to you for 'taking care' of me, Mitsuaki-san."

"Ah~ You finally remembered, Mr. Uozuka?"

He gave Oguruma, who was still a little worried about his health, a bag of snacks and told her to go bond with her first human friend of the same age, Ran Maoli. Uozuka Saburo leaned back in the backrest of the business car and whispered to Mejiro Kouyou, "I'll confirm your identity with Vermouth later. Now, report to me according to the format of Document No. 1916. If you make a mistake, I will kill you immediately."

"...Aren't our internal documents only numbered 1173?"

With a half-smile on his face, Mejiro Mitsuaki easily saw through Uozuka Saburo's verbal trap: "Lady Vermouth told me that you would use various methods to verify the authenticity of my identity... But I didn't expect you to use such an ancient and simple verification method?"

"...Just because it's old-fashioned and simple doesn't mean it's ineffective." Uozuka Saburo glanced at the Mori family and said, "At least for those cunning individuals who have ulterior motives and have done their homework to infiltrate the organization, this trick works every time."

"Haha~ Then you can rest assured, I'm a truly good cat, okay?"

Changing into a comfortable position, his body further exuded a lazy atmosphere. Mejiro Guangming confessed to Uozuka Saburo: "In fact, the reason why I am here is the same as yours: Lady Vermouth believes that I am not suitable to participate in the upcoming melee in Tokyo. There is a risk of exposing my true identity. So after asking Gin baby for permission, she allowed me to take the same train with you and secretly take care of you to complete the mission~"

"...Then why did you show up? Didn't you say 'in secret'?"

"Of course, because I judged that I could better fulfill the task of taking care of you by appearing in person, right?"

He quietly poked Uozuka Saburo's armpit with his finger, but he still didn't react. Mejiro Mitsuaki couldn't help but chuckle and whispered in his ear:

"And... just to keep a closer eye on you, have you ever attempted to collude with this detective to subvert the organization?"

"..."

Chapter 172: Are you having a teacher-student relationship?

The journey continued after a completely unexpected person joined the group.

Japan is not a country with a very large land area, and the Shinkansen is not the only means of transportation from Tokyo to Nagoya. It is only a distance of about 300 kilometers, and even if they drive there like they did, it will not take more than four hours.

Moreover, in order to perfectly carry out the instructions given by one of his daughters, the driver had been driving at the speed limit. In addition, they had already traveled some distance from Tokyo Station to Shinagawa District, so it was almost certain that they would arrive at the hotel they had booked in Nagoya in two hours.

This made everyone feel a lot more relaxed. Even Conan, who had been brooding over the train incident, was diverted and started chatting with Uozuka Saburo about some detective-related topics.

To be honest, compared to talking about horse racing girls with Kogoro Mouri, who was just a basic beginner and a long-time horse racing fan, Saburo Uozuka would rather chat with Conan, the little genius boy, about the detective's words, deeds and methods - at least he did "know" a lot of detectives and had taken the time to study their information.

Moreover, compared to himself who blindly deduced the detectives' ideas of solving the problem from the perspective of the victims and the murderer, people like Edogawa Conan who can truly look at things from the perspective of the detective himself can better help him understand the detective's thinking, which will be of great benefit to his future "knowing yourself and knowing your enemy".

...If this child wasn't so young, or maybe because he had been following Kogoro Mouri every day and had been imbued with righteousness, and his words revealed a recklessness to "eradicate all evil", then just for his amazing insight, Uozuka Saburo would have been tempted to bring him into the organization.

————Or develop him into a reserve cadre of your own, and bring him along to be trained intensively by Big Brother?

It just so happens that you are still young, and if you see more of the ugliness of society, maybe you will be able to "figure it out" directly!

Thinking of this, Uozuka Saburo secretly glanced at Mejiro Mitsuaki, who happened to look over at him unintentionally. After meeting Uozuka Saburo's gaze, he was not at all flustered and even secretly winked at him.

"......cut."

"Ok?"

Conan, who was talking about Sherlock Holmes, was attracted by the obscure interjection of Uozuka Saburo. When he looked up, he saw that the other party turned his head away, as if he didn't want to respond to Mebai Guangming's greeting, which made him smell something strange in an instant.

"Uncle Yuzhong, Uncle Yuzhong?"

"...What are you doing? If you have something to say, say it now! If you have to fart, fart now!"

"You... aren't you having a teacher-student relationship with that Miss Mejiro?"

"..."

"Oh, it hurts! I was wrong, I was wrong! Ouch~!"

After giving Conan a good earful for whispering such nonsense, Uozuka Saburo smiled awkwardly at the others. He glared at Conan and growled, "I'm really, really curious: where did you get that ridiculous conclusion? From what perspective, and with what logic did you come up with?"

"Wow... I'm sorry..."

Forcing back the tears that welled up in his eyes, Conan rubbed his red right ear aggrievedly and whispered, "I just saw that you two seemed to know each other before, but your attitude towards each other was a little strange, so I wanted to ask you quietly..."

"...Next time, even if you really want to ask something, remember to ask it in a way that others can accept."

Seeing the man's height barely exceeding his calf, Uozuka Saburo reluctantly gave up the idea of ​​lecturing him further and said earnestly, "Do you know that asking an educator if they are romantically involved with their students is a very serious accusation? It could very well ruin someone's life!"

"Of course I know. Please don't look down on me like that."

Conan curled his lips, realizing that the other party was still looking at him as if he was a child. He explained with some dissatisfaction, "Back then, there was a teacher in our school who secretly fell in love with a girl from the class next door and had that kind of relationship. As a result, when the affair was exposed, the school fired him on the spot. Until now, no place dares to accept his application. He will spend his whole life atonement for his actions."

"Fuck... then he really deserves to die." Uozuka Saburo said with disgust, "He attacked an elementary school girl. Such a bastard deserves to die ten thousand times!"

"Elementary school? No, no, it's junior... uh."

Quickly realizing that he had almost let the cat out of the bag again, Conan quickly laughed and changed the subject, "It happened to a senior from our elementary school after she entered junior high school~ Ahaha, ahahaha... Anyway, I understand the consequences you're talking about!"

"Then why are you asking me? You came here just to get beaten up?"

"Eh? No, no... I just wanted to come over and ask you something, to communicate with you in advance."

If it's not that kind of relationship, that would be best, but if it is that kind of relationship... I really have to chat with this young and handsome uncle, who even has a bit of a look that surpasses my own, and tell him about "Japan has a complete set of criminal laws."

"So, Uncle Uozuka, what's going on between you two? I'm really curious."

"...Go, go, you little brat, why are you so gossipy? Be careful or you won't be able to find a girlfriend in the future."

Seeing that Conan showed no sign of restraining himself, Uozuka Saburo had no choice but to turn his big head away and made up a story: "It's just that their parents saw that I was handsome and handsome, and wanted to matchmake one of their sisters to me as a wife. From now on, I will be her big brother————Are you satisfied with this explanation?"

"...It's not nice for me to say this, but..."

No longer struggling against Uozuka Saburo's large hand, the little boy raised his head, looked at him seriously and said, "Don't you think you are a little too confident about your appearance?"

"..."

“Ahhhhhh it hurts! My head! My head is going to break, ahhhhhhh!!”

----------

After some insignificant episodes, Uozuka Saburo and others finally arrived at the destination an hour and a half later, and found a nice Chinese restaurant to have dinner together to celebrate their arrival in Nagoya and the start of their journey.

————Of course, during the meal, one cook poisoned another cook, which attracted the local Nagoya police, which was another insignificant episode.

Chapter 173: Single Room with Large Bed! ?

"Then it's settled, Oguri? Tomorrow morning at 10:00 am, we'll buy tickets together at the entrance of the Chukyo Racecourse~"

"Well, that's a deal, Xiaolan."

"Bye~See you tomorrow~"

"See you tomorrow, Uncle Uozuka!"

“Hahaha! Zhongshan Racecourse, here I come!!!”

"..."

With lifeless eyes, he shook his right hand and watched the Mejiro family's business car take away the Mori family of three. Uozuka Saburo felt helpless.