Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 407, 401. Shortcut: A Detective Who Can't Be Promoted.

"If only it were that simple. Uncle Lin, do you think I didn't ask Xiaolan?"

Sonoko Suzuki was exhausted. After returning to Tokyo from Izu Beach in Shizuoka Prefecture, she took the opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with Ran Mouri.

The final answer from Ran was that Ran had her own reasons for doing this, and they hoped she could understand.

When Sonoko Suzuki offered to help, she was unsurprisingly refused by Ran Mouri.

According to Ran Mouri, she doesn't know whether what she's doing is right or wrong, good or bad.

What Ran Mouri considers a good thing might be a bad thing for someone else.

Therefore, she couldn't involve her friend, and naturally, she was unwilling to accept her friend's help.

Does Ran Mouri's approach sound familiar? Of course it does, because Conan thought the same thing.

Why not reveal his identity? Because he didn't want to implicate Ran Mouri.

Although they sound like they follow the same pattern, Ran Mouri and Conan's behavior has the most fundamental difference.

For example, after Sonoko Suzuki approached Ran Mouri to express her concern, Ran frankly admitted the risks of what she was doing.

This also indicates that they do not want their friends to get involved.

On the other hand, Conan keeps saying he's worried about Ran's safety, but he ends up staying at her house for a long time.

Putting everything else aside, if Gin really finds out that he is Shinichi Kudo, do you think Kogoro Mouri and Ran Mouri, who have taken Conan in for so long, will be spared?

Let's assume that Kogoro Mouri and Ran Mouri are ordinary people, or at the very least, third-rate detectives who only know how to catch cats and dogs.

This arrangement led Gin to believe that the father and daughter were simply adopting a child out of kindness, and that was still possible.

But Kogoro Mouri has now been turned into a famous detective by Conan. Sleeping Kogoro, what a great reputation!
Would a renowned detective like him not know the identity of a child who has lived in his house for so long and whose origins are unknown?

To put it bluntly, Gin went to great lengths and overcame all difficulties to find out the identity of this elementary school student.

You, the dignified "Sleeping Kogoro," such an authoritative detective, how could you not figure out who this brat is?
I can see you're deliberately protecting this brat. Die!

Therefore, this kind of "wanting both" behavior is unacceptable, and it is also the most criticized aspect of Conan.

Sonoko Suzuki now knows from her conversation with Ran Mouri that her best friend is in trouble.

It's impossible for her to stand idly by.

But Sonoko Suzuki did not rashly choose to "help" herself. Aren't there too many examples of people doing good deeds but making mistakes because of their ignorance of a certain industry?

Therefore, Sonoko Suzuki chose to seek help from "professionals".

This girl's innermost thoughts could go on for three days and three nights without end. After listening for a long time, Lin Longma finally asked:
"Alright, Sonoko, just tell me straight, how exactly do you want me to help you?"

"Emmm," Sonoko Suzuki hesitated for a moment, then cautiously began to speak:
"Since Xiaolan is so eager to become a famous detective, Uncle Lin, could you help her?"

"Me? Help her? Help her become a famous detective?" Lin Longma looked like a little monster assigned to catch Sun Wukong, his eyes filled with incomprehension and confusion as he looked at Suzuki Sonoko.

No, sis, aren't you overestimating me a little?
Honestly, was it difficult to make Ran Mouri famous? It was difficult in some ways, but easy in others.

If Conan weren't with Ran Mouri, Ryoma Hayashi could easily arrange several "fresh" murder cases for her to solve.

When the murderer kneels down and confesses, the media at the scene snaps photos, and it gets headline news—his fame will skyrocket. Most importantly, Ran Mouri is a beautiful young woman in the prime of her youth, and Ryoma Hayashi never underestimates the motivation of these old perverts.

As soon as Ran Mouri's photos were released, she naturally attracted a large number of fans.

They were all long-time fans of ten years, and they came uninvited.

However, this method only works when Conan is not with Ran Mouri. What if Conan finds the real culprit while he is with her?
What if we follow the clues and find something we shouldn't have?
With Conan's stubborn temper, Lin Longma didn't think the kid would know what it meant to be blissfully ignorant.

If he had understood this principle, he wouldn't have been ambushed by Gin.

But if he didn't take this shortcut, Lin Longma really didn't think he had any ability to "create" a famous detective.

If detectives were that easy to find, all of Tokyo or the entire island nation would be teeming with all sorts of famous detectives by now.

Why is it that nowadays, when people mention famous detectives, it's always the same few names?
There's a saying in the entertainment industry: "Small fame comes from promotion, big fame comes from fate." This saying also applies to the detective world.

Famous detectives can't be made through hype; otherwise, people like Kogoro Mouri wouldn't be so "precious."

Even after the news that Ookami Shuzen and Senma Kōdai had become senior consultants at Isshin Consulting was released, the company's business took a step up.

This is the most direct manifestation of the influence of famous detectives. If such useful detectives could be cultivated, major corporate groups would probably have already started to promote their own famous detectives.

Why let outsiders earn this money?

If famous detectives were so easy to promote, they wouldn't command such exorbitant prices.

As an industry "expert" and the boss of two famous detectives, Lin Longma's judgment is undoubtedly authoritative.

Now that Ryoma Hayashi says there's no way to promote her, then there's no way. Sonoko Suzuki has also given up on the idea of ​​letting her friend take a shortcut.

"Uncle Lin, how about you help Xiaolan find some high-profile commissions?"

"This request isn't hard to find, but do you really trust Xiaolan's reasoning ability that much?"
Aren't you afraid she'll mess up the case?

Ryoma Hayashi is definitely not afraid that Ran Mouri will mess up the commission, because he has two trump cards in his hand—Senma Kazuyo and Ogami Shuzen.

These two veteran detectives are enough to provide a safety net for any detective-related commissions or business transactions.

Putting aside Conan's external brain, even if Ran Mouri couldn't handle it, she could still arrange for someone to clean up the mess if she asked Ryoma Hayashi to do it.

But none of this is free.

There's no such thing as a free lunch except in your own family. Although Sonoko Suzuki calls Ryoma Hayashi "uncle," it doesn't mean that Ryoma Hayashi is actually her uncle.

These are all debts of gratitude, which need to be repaid.

In particular, if Ryoma Hayashi decides to help, and Ran Mouri messes up the request, then the more Ryoma Hayashi helps, the more favors Sonoko Suzuki will owe.

Debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay, especially for heiresses of large conglomerates like Sonoko Suzuki.

As long as she doesn't want to ruin her reputation in the industry, she'll only keep repaying these favors.

Ryoma Hayashi helped Ran Mouri, but it was out of a favor for Sonoko Suzuki, which sounds quite interesting.

(End of this chapter)