"No problem," Morizono Mikio nodded in agreement, then looked at Chi Shinnosuke, his smile tinged with helplessness. "You're just the same as ever."
Inside the car, Chi Shinnosuke's expression was calm, his mustache on his angular face trimmed meticulously. Amidst his composure, there was an oppressive aura of authority. "The heir of the Zhenchi Group being a suspect—even if cleared afterwards—will leave room for gossip. People will say it was the result of money and power trading. Even without evidence, you can't stop some people from spreading rumors. She shouldn't have dragged Feichi into this!"
Feichi couldn't help but poke his head out of Chi Feichi's collar, turning to look at his master's equally calm face.
Master really guessed right...
Morizono Mikio didn't say much more; his son was still lying in the hospital, after all. "Do you want to go greet Mr. Mouri Kogoro? There's also a young detective named Hattori Heiji, quite promising!"
"No need," Chi Shinnosuke said flatly. "I don't like getting deeply involved with detectives, especially those famous ones. Even if they have wide connections, they are all plague gods who easily bring misfortune to others. Maintaining a decent relationship is enough."
Chi Feichi observed Chi Shinnosuke's expression but couldn't discern anything. He also didn't recall his own dad having any beef with detectives.
However, this cheap father of his was quite perceptive, actually recognizing that certain great detectives were reapers...
"Are you going back now then?" Morizono Mikio's enthusiasm didn't wane. "If your place isn't tidied up, you can rest here for the night."
"I already arranged for someone to clean it up before I came back," Chi Shinnosuke paused. "Let's gather again tomorrow."
"Alright," Morizono Mikio smiled immediately. "So many years have passed in the blink of an eye. It's been a long time since we sat down and chatted."
"See you tomorrow then," Chi Shinnosuke looked at Feichi poking out of Chi Feichi's collar. "Is this the pet you're raising?"
Chi Feichi looked calm. "I named him Feichi."
Feichi looked at Chi Shinnosuke, stopping his tongue flickering.
Although Chi Feichi had plotted a little against Chi Shinnosuke, and Feichi felt less intimidated by him now, he was still a little nervous...
Chi Shinnosuke remained calm and nodded. "Get in the car."
Feichi: "..."
This is the feeling of being ignored...
After Chi Feichi said goodbye to Morizono Mikio and Morizono Yurie, he got into the car.
The car quickly drove away. Hattori Heiji and the others watched from a distance.
"Is that Mr. Chi's father? I couldn't see him clearly at all!" Toyama Kazuha was a bit curious.
"Come on, there's nothing to see," Hattori Heiji said casually. "My mother heard from Butler Shigematsu before that he seems to be a very strict person."
Conan looked around suspiciously. Strange, what was that guy Chi Feichi looking at after he left the house?
He really is mysterious...
On the departing car, Feimo found the right moment to land on the roof for a free ride.
Streetlights flashed through the car window. The sturdy driver with European heritage drove silently. As they sped along, the interior of the car alternated between light and shadow.
Chi Shinnosuke suddenly asked, "If this matter hadn't been resolved in time, and rumors persisted even after you were cleared of suspicion, what would you do?"
Chi Feichi continued to watch the street scene outside the window without turning his head. "Find a detective with a good reputation to reinvestigate. Use that detective's fame and supporters to prove my innocence again. Maybe it won't shut up those spreading rumors, but at least it will make others disbelieve them."
Chi Shinnosuke nodded, his tense expression relaxing considerably. "Not bad. When you have time later, go visit the company here in Tokyo. Take a consultant title first. If you have any ideas, you can mention them to the person in charge. Are you still going to school?"
"I want to graduate early and take the certification exams," Chi Feichi said.
"Are you confident?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll arrange it for you."
After the chat, there was silence the rest of the way.
Chi Shinnosuke looked down at two documents, and Chi Feichi busied himself with his phone.
Feichi looked left and right. It's clearly such a heavy atmosphere, why can these two do their own things so calmly? However, seeing Chi Feichi browsing the 'Bounty Hall' webpage again, he couldn't resist peeking at the screen.
Chi Feichi found a reputable smuggler on the 'Bounty Hall' webpage to order some weapons.
Originally, he thought about ordering after settling down, but staying at two different houses consecutively hadn't worked out, and he didn't want to delay any longer.
The other party replied quickly: [In stock, 10,000 USD. Pay one-fifth online as a deposit, the rest upon delivery. Tomorrow morning 2:00 - 3:00 AM, Table 2 at the rest area, 214 Futabacho 1-chome.]
[OK]
Chi Feichi was very satisfied with this time format. As long as they didn't tell him the date, it was fine. After replying, he checked his inbox messages.
First, he filtered out bounties outside Tokyo, then those with low cost-performance ratios. Finally, one bounty caught his attention.
The other party had left a message for the second time. The first time was to pick up something and deliver it to Nagano Prefecture, which he had ignored directly. This time, it was to pick up a document in Haido Town and deliver it to Futabacho. The time was 2:30 AM on May 11th. The reward wasn't small, 500,000 yen.
May 11th...
Chi Feichi checked the date on his phone: September 13th. He decisively gave up and turned to look at Feichi, who was peeking at the screen.
Feichi saw Chi Feichi looking at him, froze for a moment, and sighed inwardly. Without me, Master's life would be difficult. "Master, it's tomorrow..."
Chi Feichi nodded and sent an 'OK' via private chat.
These kinds of bounties that could be done on the way were the most comfortable.
An anonymous account quickly sent the specific details: The pickup address was a locker at Haido Station. Deliver it to a man sitting at the bar counter in a bar in Futabacho, and relay two sentences.
This kind of thing usually couldn't see the light of day. It might be stolen trade secrets or some prohibited data, but he didn't care what it was. Just deliver it.
The car drove through the bustling commercial streets and office districts, entering a quiet villa.
There was an elderly couple looking after the house. They must have received notice before their arrival and cleaned up. However, with only five people living in such a large house, it still seemed cold and empty.
After returning to his room, Chi Feichi put Feichi on the table and opened the window to let Feimo fly in.
"Hi, my handsome master! Hi, my cute companion!" Feimo greeted them in a very good mood. "The environment here is really nice, just as comfortable as the Morizono house, and much quieter than theirs. It's just that there's only a commercial district ahead, so food isn't very easy to find..."
Feichi just heard the crow cawing and looked confused. "Master, what is it shouting?"
"It's greeting us and saying you are its cute companion." Chi Feichi took out his phone to check the time. 21:55.
He could wait another hour. It would be best if Chi Shinnosuke was asleep. If not, he could find an excuse to go out. With Chi Shinnosuke's personality, he wouldn't ask many questions.
"Am I cute?" Feichi turned his head doubtfully to look at his long snake body, shook his head, and stopped thinking about it. "Master, tell it that it is also my cute companion."
Chi Feichi was silent for a moment. He knew communication would be a big problem. "Can you guys write?"
"A little bit!" Feichi nodded vigorously.
"I know Japanese, Chinese, English, German..." Feimo stopped, turning to look at Feichi, who was still nodding: "..."
"Careful with your spine," Chi Feichi pressed Feichi's head down to the tabletop, then released his hand and rummaged in the drawer. "It's okay, Feimo, continue."
"Anyway, I know a lot," Feimo couldn't help but look at Feichi. "Some I don't remember clearly, some I can't name, but I can write simple communication and simple words."
"Very knowledgeable." Chi Feichi found an old notebook from his childhood and a handful of pens in the drawer. He tested them one by one, picked two that still worked, and put them on the table. "Communicate amongst yourselves. I'm going to take a shower. Feichi, tell Feimo about our situation. Say whatever you want."
The snake and the crow were smart; they immediately understood Chi Feichi's intention and bit onto the pens to start drawing characters in the notebook.
Chi Feichi slacked off, went out to take a shower, and returned to find the two pets chatting happily. They didn't even notice him entering.
Feimo used his claw to turn the page, and then each took a side of the notebook, scratching away with the pens in their mouths.
While Feichi wrote, his tail wagged happily, slapping Feimo's wing with a thwack.
Feimo was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and continued writing furiously.
Chi Feichi walked over and saw the dialogue between the two pets.
Feimo: [Why did you hit me?]
Feichi: [Not on purpose]
Feimo: [Alright, continue]
Feichi: [Let me tell you, sometimes Master walks without sound, especially when he's not wearing weights. Like that thing... the thing humans are very scared of...]
Feimo: [Like a ghost?]
Chi Feichi standing behind them: "..."
Feichi: [Yes! Also, he doesn't know tomorrow's date or what day of the week it is. Tomorrow, the day after, the day after that are all the same. If you don't believe me, you can test him. It really makes one worry how he'll live alone. But luckily, he has us.]
Feimo: [That amazing?]
Feichi: [He's undergoing treatment at the hospital and taking medicine. But I don't really understand what the doctor meant by split personality.]
Feimo: [Split personality?!]
Feichi: [The doctor said it's cured. What's wrong?]
Feimo: [That's good! Split personality means there are two or many minds in his body. If not cured, if he changes personality, he might not recognize us!]
Feichi: [That scary?]
Feimo: [Yeah, scared the crow out of me!]
Feichi: [Good thing, good thing. Scared the snake out of me!]
The two pets frantically drew crooked characters, occasionally turning their heads to see what the other wrote before burying their heads to draw again.
Chi Feichi watched for a while. He suddenly thought of the early days of chat software in his past life, when people could chat endlessly about nothing. However, the frequency of the two pets shaking their heads and drawing characters was a bit too fast. He immediately reminded them, "Don't write too fast, you'll hurt your spines."
"Mommy! Scared the snake to death!"
"Mommy! Scared the crow to death!"
Feichi zipped to the other side of the table, and Feimo quickly hopped away twice. They both looked up at Chi Feichi, then sighed in relief in unison.
Chi Feichi: "..."