Conan: The Man Behind the Romance

Chapter 362: Sonoko wants to get closer to Xiaolan!
"What? The Maple Leaf Gold Coin has been found?!"

In a corridor of Tokyo Police Hospital, Megure Jusan said in a pleasantly surprised tone, "You are worthy of being Sonoko-sister, you are definitely the next famous detective!"

"Hahaha, of course!"

In an empty room, looking at the three Italian robbers piled together, Suzuki Sonoko looked proud and added: "But the one who really solved the puzzle and defeated the robbers was Xiaolan, I was just a cheerleader on the side."

Megure Jusan scratched his head. So, is being a cheerleader a very happy thing?
Thinking back to the past experience of following Kudo-kun and picking up cases for free... well, it seems that just being a bystander does feel pretty good.

What matters is participation.

Providing emotional value to the detective is also useful.

Megure Jusan said with emotion: "You are really a great help. It was indeed the right choice for me to entrust this matter to your firm."

"Hehe, of course. We will go to investigate the matter of the Eastern Arsenal later. Officer Megure, please send someone to take over the Maple Leaf Gold Coins and the robbers. The address is..."

After giving the address, Sonoko accepted Megure Jusan's repeated compliments and hung up the phone with a satisfied look on her face.

She looked at the gold coins scattered on the ground in the sack. They emitted such a bright and attractive light under the sunlight.

An atmosphere that tempted people to commit crimes filled the empty room. The three dazed robbers looked at the scattered gold coins with their Adam's apples rolling and their eyes full of greed.

Yuanzi walked towards the pile of gold coins with a straight look in his eyes.

The three robbers felt a sudden hope in their hearts and glanced at the other girl who was enjoying the breeze by the window.

Yuanzi approached the pile of gold coins, dug down a little from the top of the pile, and slowly lay down on it at an angle.

My shoulder is a little uncomfortable, please move it.

Yuanzi let out a sigh of relief, closed her eyes, turned over, and the shining gold coins rustled with her movements.

At the window, Xiaolan tilted her head in confusion, "Sonoko, what are you doing?"

"Hehe, Xiaolan, haven't you ever read a fantasy story?" Yuanzi smiled, "The dragons in the story love to sleep on gold coins. I have always been curious about what that feels like, and today I finally experienced it myself."

"Hey, so what does it feel like?"

"It's a bit cool and pretty skin-friendly. I think it'll be great for cooling off in the summer, much better than a water bed."

"No wonder dragons sleep on gold coins. They can breathe fire, so their body temperature must be very high." Xiaolan also came over and grabbed a handful of gold coins to feel the thermal conductivity. "Then why don't they sleep on silver coins? It should be about the same."

Yuanzi waved his hand. "I used to have it at my uncle's when I was a kid. The color alone is not as pretty as the gold coin. It turns gray over time, and it's not wear-resistant. Think about it, a dragon has scales on its body."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The three robbers were silent, as it turned out that a rich lady had come down to earth to bring misfortune to them.

No, your body is so delicate, can’t you just stay in your own little garden and drink afternoon tea?
How can it be possible that they come here and take away the fruits of our hard work?

Yuanzi suddenly sighed, "What a pity, Qian Su left at the beginning because of something, and she didn't see the gold coins falling from the sky. I just showed her the treasure map."

"We took pictures before, let's show them to her later." Xiaolan smiled, "Besides, these are gold coins worth 600 million yen, which are accompanied by many dangers. It's a good thing that she didn't come. I just hope that when the police take over later, they can send more people to avoid any accidents."

Xiaolan couldn't say she knew Chiso Aoyagi very well, but she knew that she and Hotaru were of the same type.

In short, there are no taboos.

With the maple leaf gold coins in front of her, if Aoyagi Chiso also happens to need some money, what will she do?

Considering that because of what happened with Yingsheng, her attitude towards the police probably wouldn't be very friendly, the answer seems obvious.

Robbery!

Xiaolan usually doesn't make such malicious assumptions about others, especially since Chiso Aoyagi is her teammate.

But the timing was too coincidental.

Aoyagi Chizu took a look at the treasure map with secret codes on it, and immediately said she had something else to do and left, which made it hard for Xiaolan not to be suspicious.

Having experienced several incidents before, Xiaolan is very aware of Aoyagi Chiso's intelligence, especially since she has spent much more time with Hotaru than she has.

In Xiaolan's eyes, Qingliu Qiansu was roughly regarded as a small version of Tianshu. It was not impossible for such a person to see where the secret code pointed to at a glance.

So, even though Xiaolan was not sure whether the treasure map that Yuanzi bought from the elementary school student was a prank, she immediately used all her brains to decipher the code as quickly as possible and reach the treasure location.

However, because she was stuck for a long time due to an umbrella signal, Xiaolan was still quite pessimistic after reaching the destination.

The gold coins must have been transferred by Qingliu-san a long time ago.

With her sharp mind, she could definitely tell at a glance that the umbrella was a sign of rain in the weather forecast, and referred to the sign of a store.

It is a sunny day today and there is a sun on the plaque.

Unlike me, I wandered around in vain for a long time, and finally saw that the garden was too hot. I planned to buy her a parasol, and then I happened to go to that store.

Then when I saw the shining red sun, it suddenly occurred to me that this was a possibility.

Ugh.

After all, I am still too bad.

With such unwilling thoughts, when three Italian robbers rushed in from outside the door, Xiaolan didn't even give them the chance to draw their guns, and knocked them down neatly.

After falling to the ground screaming and no longer able to resist, the Italian bandits' expressions immediately changed from ferocious to confused. They asked questions blankly, wanting to know how they were discovered.

Xiaolan was too lazy to answer such a silly question. She just confiscated all their guns and threw them into a pile.

However, after Sonoko carefully took the pistol, she asked with sparkling eyes, and Xiaolan still spoke.

——"How could your lame tracking trick be hidden from anyone? Especially when I was stumped by the umbrella code, running back and forth on those streets, you didn't find a place to sit and watch the show, but actually followed me. I really don't know what you were thinking."

——"Besides, the three of you have been gathered together all the time, wearing sunglasses. You look ferocious and don't look like good people. It's difficult for me to pretend not to see it even if I want to."

In terms of anti-tracking, it was not only Yingsheng who taught Xiaolan.

On Saturday afternoon, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the operation to capture Vermouth, the police also provided some training to Xiaolan.

Although Xiaolan doesn't dare to call herself an expert in this area, she can easily discover a few clumsy criminals.

Ignoring the robbers' annoyance, Xiaolan looked around the house and saw that the ground was empty. She looked up at the ceiling and found four hanging sacks.

There may have been gold coins inside, but now there are probably only stones left.

Xiaolan sighed inwardly, found the mechanism, and put the sack down. At the same time, she was still thinking: This might be another unsolved case, the missing gold coins or something. Although she doubts Qingliu very much, there is no evidence after all.

——"Wow! They really are gold coins!"

Suddenly, Yuanzi's exclamation came from the side. Xiaolan was stunned. She looked carefully and saw several sacks full of gold coins shining in the sun.

huh?

……

……

Yuanzi threw a handful of gold coins into the sky and squinted his eyes comfortably in the golden raindrops.

"It's not so bad. It's only 600 million. A money transport truck can carry more money than this. Instead of stealing gold coins from the police, the robbers might as well rob the money transport truck. The risk is smaller and the profit is greater. By the way, the weight of the equivalent paper money is lighter than gold, so it is easier to transport."

"........."

Xiaolan picked up two gold coins and placed them on Yuanzi's eyes. "As expected of my dear young lady, you really know a lot."

"Hehe, of course."

Sonoko closed her eyes and held Ran's hand. "But Ran, you are so amazing now. Not only are your reasoning skills super strong, but you can easily defeat the bad guys. You are not afraid of them even if they have guns in their hands. You are so much more handsome than Kudo. You are a stronger version."

"No, it's just that the bad guys are too weak."

Xiaolan couldn't help but look out the window again. She had only been with Yingsheng for a month, but she had already reached her current level. Aoyagi Chisu should not have been unaware of it.

Could it be that she was also stuck with the umbrella code like me, but lacked my luck and was beaten to it by me before she could figure out the trick?
If so, there's a chance she'd be stalking him.

Given her level, it’s normal that she didn’t notice it.

In this case, there is a high probability that she is nearby and will take action when the police arrive.

What should I do? Should I stop it myself?

"Did you hear that, you robbers? You are very weak." Sonoko tilted her head and stretched out a little finger. "Why do you commit crimes when you are so weak? You are too careless."

Looking at the gold coins sliding down from Yuanzi's eyelashes, Robber A was speechless and choked, "It's obviously because you guys were too foul, okay? Who would have thought that a high school girl could be this good!"

"Hehe," Sonoko pumped her fist, "Our Aida Detective Agency is super strong."

Xiaolan rolled her eyes, "So, you guys were just being careless when you followed us so arrogantly?"

"That's right!"

Robber B gnashed his teeth and said, "We are a professional team. If we hadn't been careless for a moment, how could we have capsized in the ditch and been captured by a girl like you? If you have the guts, let us go and fight us face to face again. We will definitely not lose this time!"

"...Are you an idiot?" Xiaolan asked speechlessly.

"I think so." Sonoko nodded in agreement. "Not to mention that you have been subdued, why should we take unnecessary risks? Even if we are really those stupid and naive high school girls, we dare not give you another chance when you are so sure that you will win."

Robber B was stunned.

Robber C hesitated and said, "Then...if we do it again, we will definitely lose?"

Xiaolan said helplessly: "Okay, then I'll give you a chance..."

"what?!"

Several people cried out in shock.

Yuanzi, who was speechless about the idiot robbers, quickly looked at Xiaolan. Just as he was about to speak, Xiaolan raised her hand to stop him.

The robbers were delighted, thinking that these naive high school girls really didn't know how treacherous human nature could be. They would definitely teach them a lesson later!
I was just careless just now and was caught off guard. If I had been serious, it would have been easy to defeat a mere little girl.

The other girl doesn't seem to have the fighting power, so... hehehe...

Xiaolan said: "Ask a question: how many people followed you before? If you answer correctly, I will let you go immediately." The three robbers were stunned.

what? !

Someone was following us just now?!
"one!"

"two!"

"Three!"

The robbers exchanged glances and gave each of them an answer.

Yuanzi curled her lips, thinking that these guys were just dreaming. Xiaolan was not some encryption software that could allow them to try the power-on password at will.

Xiaolan shook her head. "Unfortunately, they are all wrong. In fact, there should be four people."

Robber A sneered, "If you ask me, there is clearly not one. You are teasing us!"

"That's why I said you were so weak. You couldn't even detect an elementary school student following you."

Xiaolan sighed and looked towards the door, "Conan-kun, come out with your new friend. Your sister Sonoko will give you a seat. You can roll around in the gold coins."

"Eh?! Rolling around in the gold coins?!"

Suddenly, a little boy's voice was heard from outside the door, and a chubby little boy in grass green long-sleeved shirt immediately pushed the door open and ran in.

"Great!"

Yuanzi was having a lot of fun burying his hands in the hill of gold coins, pulling them out, and having a lot of fun.

When he saw the children rushing in, he immediately stood up, shook the gold coins on his body, and acted like an adult.

However, the look in his eyes when he looked at Xiaolan was quite resentful.

Xiaolan took Sonoko's hand and said, "I'm sorry, but the kids have been a great help this time."

"Yuanta, wait a moment. No one is allowed to go first."

Another thin kid in a blue shirt with a few freckles on his face ran in.

"Wow, so many gold coins, so beautiful."

A girl in a red sailor suit stood at the door, her eyes sparkling, very cute.

"When did Sister Xiaolan find us?"

Conan, wearing a blue suit, was the last one to come in. Looking at the two kids having fun on the pile of gold coins, his expression had an inexplicable sense of helplessness of an old father.

"It's the same reason I gave to the robbers. You guys also ran while following us. That would be too conspicuous." Xiaolan looked at the three robbers. "Gentlemen, I think you should have realized by now that you are actually very amateur."

The three robbers were already stunned when they saw the children coming in. When they heard these words, they all lowered their heads.

So embarrassing.

When I get out of prison, I'll just sell ice cream, not commit crimes...

No future!
"Big sister who bought me the eel rice, you guys are amazing. You actually found the treasure." The chubby Kojima Genta looked at Sonoko with admiration, then turned to look at Conan, "See, I told you that what I picked up was a treasure map, but you didn't believe it at first, Conan."

Conan's eyes twitched, "Who would have thought that you would pick up such an important thing on the road? The robber gang couldn't even take out a piece of paper, huh..."

The three robbers buried their heads even lower. They all suffered from myasthenia gravis. They were very sorry.

Conan curled his lips, "And you don't even believe it yourself. You sold the treasure map for a meal of eel."

Kojima scratched his head, "I still believe it, but that's the super deluxe supreme version of eel rice." He looked up at Sonoko again, "Why did big sister buy the treasure map in my hand at that time? Did she know it was real?"

Sonoko snorted lightly, "Because a certain brat's brother made Xiaolan very unhappy today, I was planning to find something to distract Xiaolan, but I came across this. Um...haha, my luck is really top-notch."

As I talked, I became happier.

Conan's heart moved, knowing that Kaito Kidd had already started the plan, but he did not ask any further questions, just looked at Xiaolan.

"Sister Xiaolan is really skilled. I was planning to call the police, but before I could even get through, you beat all these people down."

Xiaolan raised her eyebrows and smiled: "Conan is also very well behaved today, it seems that he must have made good friends in school."

"That's right!"

"Of course!"

"We are all good friends of Conan!"

The three real kids quickly came up to Conan, raised his hands, and struck a special effects pose like Kamen Rider.

"We are the Junior Detective Team!"

The lingering sound echoed, and the air in the room was quiet for a moment.

clap clap clap-

Xiaolan was the first to applaud, "You are all really great kids, brave and kind, and you've formed a small group after only knowing each other for one day, and you have great compatibility."

Conan looked hopeless, "It's because these guys followed me halfway and couldn't run anymore. I wanted to follow them alone but they wouldn't let me. In the end, it turned out like this inexplicably. The Junior Detective League or something..."

"Um?!"

The three little ones looked at them together.

Conan raised his hands in surrender, "I mean, this detective team is really amazing. Once it was formed, everyone felt stronger again."

"Because then we become a team, so we have to work together when investigating cases." The little girl said this, and then looked at Xiaolan, "Hello, Xiaolan, I'm Yoshida Ayumi, and I'm in the first grade class B of Teitan Elementary School."

The other two kids also quickly introduced themselves.

After the freckled kid Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya introduced them, he asked, "Did Xiaolan and Conan know each other before? Why did Conan transfer to another school? He wouldn't tell us no matter how we asked."

Xiaolan shook her head, "This is Conan's own secret, I can't tell it."

Conan sighed, "I just used to live in the countryside and just recently came to Tokyo. What other reasons could there be?"

He said this to Xiaolan.

Xiaolan just smiled but said nothing.

The three little ones hurried over and curiously asked Conan what the countryside looked like and whether it was as beautiful as in the cartoons.

Conan had no choice but to tell them the information he had prepared in advance.

Xiaolan was also listening with a smile at the window. Soon, three police cars drove up from the river and stopped downstairs.

Three minutes later, a handsome young man in a light blue suit showed his police officer ID to Xiaolan.

"Hello, Ms. Mori. I am Inspector Shiratori of the Criminal Investigation Division's First Investigation Division, the Third Division of the Criminal Investigation Division."

"Congratulations to Officer Shiratori for recovering and being discharged from the hospital." Xiaolan smiled and gently pulled her cheek, "Because a lot of things have happened during this period, I hope you don't mind."

"of course."

Shiratori Renzaburo also tugged lightly on the cheek. Of course, it was him, who had just been discharged from the hospital at noon today.

Yuanzi was confused by their actions and scratched his face, blinking, "What does this mean?"

"Just saying hello." Xiaolan raised her hand and gently pulled Yuanzi's face, holding her arm, "Let's go, Yuanzi, let's leave this to the police."

Sonoko puffed up her cheeks like a pufferfish and said angrily, "No, Xiaolan, you must be hiding something from me."

"No, I'm absolutely honest with Sonoko."

Xiaolan said goodbye to Shiratori Renzaburo and was about to walk out, but saw that he looked hesitant, opened his mouth to speak, and then stopped.

"Anything else? Officer Shiratori."

Shiratori Renzaburo was a little afraid to look into Xiaolan's eyes, and turned his gaze away and said, "Because many recent events have shown that the three search departments are greatly lacking in high-level combat power, so... in order to avoid accidents on the way to transport the gold coins, the police hope that Miss Lan can provide assistance."

Yuanzi's brows suddenly frowned, "Isn't it enough for us to help you solve the case? We also have to be responsible for the escort?"

"This……"

“The police know they have shortcomings, so they should make up for it instead of looking for volunteers to do it for you.”

After saying this, Yuanzi pulled Xiaolan away.

Xiaolan didn't move, and patted the back of Sonoko's hand, "Don't worry, it's not a big deal." She looked at Shiratori Renzaburo, "Let's make it clear in advance, I will charge a commission fee."

Shiratori Renzaburo heaved a sigh of relief, "The police will definitely pay a generous commission!"

Sonoko poked Xiaolan's cheek and said, "This is no longer a detective job. Why don't we just change the name of our firm to Yorozuya?"

“…I didn’t agree to your joining.”

"Hey, Lord Lan is so heartless."

Police began counting the gold coins at the scene.

Xiaolan continued to look at the scenery by the window.

Sonoko walked over to Xiaolan and whispered, "You and Suigetsu-kun must have had some trouble with the police. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Why do you say that?" Xiaolan asked back.

"Because of what happened between you and Kudo in the classroom. And yesterday at the church, your relationship with the police was also very tense. Really, you helped them save people. Now the police asked you to help escort the gold coins. Obviously, they are trying to prevent you from robbing along the way."

Sonoko glanced at the pile of gold coins and snorted.

"These guys are really judging others by their own standards. If we wanted to rob the company, why didn't they just not call the police?"

"Have you forgotten that there are children? They might think that we called the police out of necessity." Xiaolan paused, "No, why is it us again? Yuanzi, I'm serious. You'd better not ask about this matter."

"Ah, hey..."

Sonoko tapped her chin, "Is Xiaolan going to start doing this in the name of doing good for me?"

(End of this chapter)