Conan: I'm Not a Model Worker in the Winery

"Master Bai Ma, why did you come back so early today?"

"The afternoon classes are boring, and there are no pleasing people around."

"...Master Bai Ma, let me help you with your bag..."

White Horse Mansion.

Bai Batan got out of the car that had been specially designed to pick him up, still wearing the school uniform of Jianggutian High School. He naturally handed his bag to the old butler who offered to help him carry the bag.

The light white horse rode briskly, leaving the old butler far behind, and went up to the second floor.

He originally wanted to go back to his room directly, but when he passed the stairs, he noticed that there seemed to be faint voices coming from a room. He paused and walked towards that room.

The villa was very empty. Apart from the old butler, there were only five servants active on the first floor. It was quiet upstairs...

Bai Ma Tan walked lightly to the room at the end of the corridor. He stopped halfway with his hand raised to knock on the door. His eyes darkened as he listened quietly to the scattered voices coming out of the room:
"Pandora's whereabouts...as soon as possible! I'm not protecting you just to let you eat for free..."

"...Recent events... You should all know. If we can't find the person... you will end up like those people..."

The voices in the room were excited for a moment and then quickly calmed down. Bai Ma Tan couldn't hear it clearly.

Only after the sound completely disappeared did the white horse detective knock on the door.

"Father, can I come in?"

After receiving a positive response, Bai Ma Tan opened the door naturally.

"Ah Tan, you're back so early today?"

"Um...Father, has something happened again?"

"Oh! It's nothing serious, but you came at the right time. I was busy with the Metropolitan Police Department and neglected this. I have something to ask you..."

"What is it?"

"About Kaito Kidd."

……

Ekoda Shrine.

No one noticed that the four sneaky men talked for a while behind the shrine warehouse and then disappeared into the woods.

Gin glanced at the phone he had stuffed into the cracks between the tiles, then walked a little further in and sat cross-legged on the grass. "So you were the one who answered the phone before?"

The person he was asking was not Kuroba Kaito, nor Koizumi Akiko, but a masked man dressed in black who had the temperament of a brewery.

However, the masked man had already taken off his crow mask, and with a kind smile he held down Kuroba Kaito's head, and pulled the latter to sit on the grass together:

"Mr. Blade thought of this after listening to what I said. You are really sharp."

"...The only ones who knew I would come to the shrine should be the old man in your family and those two." Gin looked at the face opposite him that looked very similar to Kuroba Kaito, and had a strange feeling in his heart, as if he had seen him somewhere before. "But most people don't pay too much attention to analyzing the information in the other person's words when answering the phone, especially those who don't have much contact with them. When relaying the content, they won't specifically report the phone number... So it's unlikely that the old man relayed it to you. It's more likely that you pretended to be him and answered the call. It has nothing to do with how sensitive you are."

Kuroba Kaito was stunned when he heard this.

It was also the first time he saw Gin speak so many words in one breath... "Um, Uncle Blade, and dad, did something happen between you two just now?"

Kuroba Kaito's eyes moved back and forth between the two of them.

——Yes, this man in black wearing a crow mask... and even a crow, is Kuroba Kaito's father:
Black Feather Touichi.

He was also the first to discover Gin, although this was largely due to his crows.

However, when Kuroba Kaito came over, he almost mistook his father for a member of the Black Organization. If Gin hadn't said something, Kaito would probably have pulled Koizumi Anko and ran away.

The witch, Koizumi Akako, seemed to realize that the two adults had something to communicate, and wisely did not say anything. She just silently took out a bench from under her skirt and sat behind Gin - don't ask her why she had a bench.

The witch can do anything...well, probably.

The man in black, Kuroba Touichi, turned his head to look at Kaito, nodded slightly, but did not answer, only said: "Kaito, you have grown up."

Kuroba Kaito looked confused: "Ah? What happened?"

"Nothing, just expressing my feelings." Kuroba Touichi sighed and continued to face Gin, "Mr. Blade, I really trouble you to take care of Kaito during this period of time."

Gin said calmly, "It's nothing. He's one of ours, so we should take care of him... But you came to me specially, what do you want to say?"

There was a little indifference in his eyes when he looked at Kuroba Toichi, and underneath the indifference was a bit of vigilance and inquiry - Gin was sure that he had never come into contact with the other party, and the only person he had ever met was teacher Vermouth, but he himself had never met Kuroba Toichi, and he had even used news about the other party to lure Kuroba Kaito into joining the Five-Star Team...

Although the other party did not act mysteriously in front of him for more than a second, Gin's first reaction was that the other party might be looking for trouble.

But this posture is a little bit different...

Just as Gin was trying to figure out his purpose, Kuroba Touichi sighed and said with a more serious expression, "I came to see Mr. Blade because I do have something to tell you... Actually, I should have told you this earlier, but the accident eight years ago caused me a lot of damage, and I only fully recovered recently."

...Eight years ago?

"Is it the fire?" Gin was reminded. He still remembered that Vermouth had asked him to help investigate the cause of his teacher's death. "What you want to tell me is related to what happened eight years ago?"

“It’s related.”

"You should know about the Five Star Group. With Kaito here, the people below won't hinder your investigation." Gin kept his hands in his pockets. "So, why don't you go find your apprentice, but come to me instead?"

He didn't believe that Kuroba Toichi didn't know that Vermouth was his apprentice.

In terms of closeness, Gin felt that it was a bit outrageous for Kuroba Toichi to come to him...

Hei Yudao raised his hands slightly, his face remained calm, "Well, I know Mr. Blade must be suspicious of my sudden visit, but how about you listen to what I have to say first?"

Gin raised his eyebrows, rummaged in his pocket, kept his left hand still, and threw three candies with his right hand, landing in the hands of the three people, "Go ahead."

"Thank you."

Kuroba Daoyi smiled slightly, put the candy in his mouth in front of Gin, savored it carefully, and slowly spoke:
"Some of what I am going to say is based on my speculation, and of course, some of it has been confirmed..."

From the moment Gin and Kuroba Toichi started their formal conversation, Koizumi Akako and Kuroba Kaito completely became listeners, pricking up their ears and listening attentively to their elders telling "stories".

"And the main thing I want to tell Mr. Blade is... about that organization."