Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Chapter 258 The Phantom Thief Lady's Invitation

This time, the crystal ball did not react at all; it simply lay there quietly.

"...No movement? So, there's no such thing as Izumi Sakai in this world?" The girl bit her lip angrily. "That despicable bastard, he has the nerve to call me a liar, but he's the one who's full of lies!"

……

Lin Xiuyi rode his bicycle safely back to the izakaya. The night breeze refreshed him: "What a load of bull! He even cursed me with bad luck tonight. He's just a charlatan."

"Senior? What did you say?" Midori Orikasa, who was waiting at the door, heard his muttering and asked curiously.

"I just ran into another conman who offered to tell my fortune at the Erding Destination exit," Lin Xiuyi said as he parked his bicycle. "The last conman was just arrested, and I didn't expect a new one to appear so soon."

"A liar?" Midori Orikasa frowned. "Should I have Meizuki kick her out?"

"No need, I'll hand it over to my superiors tomorrow or the day after, and have Officer Kitano and the others give them a warning," Lin Xiuyi said, then walked up to the girl and placed his hand directly on her forehead.

"S-senpai?" Midori Orikasa was taken aback when he suddenly reached out, and she froze on the spot, her cheeks flushing red.

"Your temperature isn't high," Lin Xiuyi withdrew his hand, looking puzzled. "Why did Yukiko say you had a fever?"

"I'm really fine!"

When Midori Orikasa heard him still thinking about what happened earlier, she felt both touched and a little embarrassed, and hurriedly offered a flustered explanation.

"My face was so red before because... right, it was because I had just finished work and was so tired!"

"Really?" Lin Xiuyi glanced at her suspiciously, then turned around and locked the door of the izakaya. He then patted the back seat of his bicycle. "Get on, I'll take you home."

"No need, right?" Midori Orikasa shook her head somewhat awkwardly. "The flower shop isn't far from here; I can ride my bike back by myself."

“Come on up,” Lin Xiu said with a smile. “Didn’t you just say you were tired from working tonight? To be honest, I’m the one who’s sorry. You came to the shop to learn cooking from me, but most of the time you’ve been helping out at the shop.”

Seeing his sincerity, Midori pursed her lips and finally carefully sat down in the back seat.

Watching Hayashi Hideichi's bicycle back as he rode ahead, Midori Orikasa hesitated for a long time before finally deciding not to approach him directly like Yukiko had done.

She simply reached out and gently tugged at Lin Xiuyi's sleeve.

A night breeze blew by, carrying a faint scent of cherry blossoms, but the girl's heart was beating faster than the rhythm of the wheels.

However, as Midori Orikasa mentioned before, the flower shop is very close to the izakaya.

The girl felt as if she had just gotten on the bicycle and had already arrived at her destination.

"Alright, you're home..." Lin Xiuyi stopped her bicycle.

"Thank you for giving me a ride, senpai," Midori Orikasa said, letting go of his hand and jumping off the back seat, her voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible disappointment. "Goodnight, senpai."

Lin Xiuyi waved his hand, returned the bicycle to the girl, and then returned to the izakaya alone.

As Lin Xiuyi turned into a dark alley, he suddenly felt a gust of wind coming from behind him.

His eyes narrowed, and his body instinctively darted forward while his right leg swept backward sharply.

"Ouch!" The figure in the darkness was kicked squarely.

Lin Xiuyi squinted, using the dim light of the streetlamp in the distance to make out the attacker's face: "...Miss Tomizawa? Why did you suddenly attack me?"

Tomizawa Chikage rubbed her shin, wincing as she looked up: "I just wanted to test your reflexes! You're really quick, and you don't show any mercy to women."

"I didn't know it was you behind me," Lin Xiuyi said irritably. "So, what do you want from me?"

"Do I have to do something to get you here?" Tomizawa Chikage asked, arms crossed and head tilted.

"You're coming to see me so late, it can't be anything good." Lin Xiuyi sighed, turned around and pretended to leave, "If you don't tell me, I'm going home to sleep."

"No!" Chikage Tomizawa quickly grabbed his arm. "I do have something to ask you... it's about Narumi's medical expenses..."

“You made a promise about this back then,” Lin Xiuyi said with a frown. “You can’t be short of money, can you? Let me make it clear first, I don’t have much money to lend you. If I had money, I wouldn’t be running an izakaya.”

"I'm not asking you for money!" Tomizawa Chikage rolled her eyes. "I can get the money tonight. I'm asking you for a favor."

"You want me to go stealing with you?" Lin Xiuyi asked with a strange expression. "Don't even think about it. I won't be a thief."

"That's not stealing! That's called robbing the rich to help the poor!"

Tomizawa Chikage snorted coldly, her right hand clutching her lower abdomen, her face slightly pale.
"I'm asking you to keep an eye out for what's going on outside, and to help me collect the money after I get it... I just had surgery, and too much strenuous work could easily reopen my wound."

Isn't this just letting people out for a walk?
That seems no different from simply stealing it outright?
Lin Xiuyi was about to refuse, but seeing her pale face and furrowed brows, he finally softened: "If you're not feeling well, you can wait..."

“I can wait, but Narumi can’t.” Tomizawa Chikage gave a bitter smile. “Tomorrow is Monday, and it’s time for him to pay the hospital bill. If he can’t pay the bill in full, he probably won’t be able to stay in the hospital.”

“Mr. Aso is currently performing abroad. When he left, I promised to take good care of Narumi for him… I can’t just stand by and watch Narumi be kicked out of the hospital.”

“…Alright.” Lin Xiuyi was silent for a moment before finally nodding.

"I knew you wouldn't refuse!"

Tomizawa Chikage's eyes lit up, and her previously pale face instantly regained its radiance. She dragged a suitcase out of the shadows. "Take this!"

“I still feel like I’ve been tricked by you,” Lin Xiu glanced at the girl, then looked at the box with surprise. “What’s this?”

“The equipment of a phantom thief,” Tomizawa Chikage explained, raising an eyebrow smugly. “These days, the security at the homes of the wealthy is incredibly tight. Without some tools, it’s really hard to steal money from their homes.”

"What's the target this time?" Lin Xiuyi asked.

"Don't worry, I always carefully select my targets, I never make a mistake," Tomizawa Chikage said confidently, raising her chin. "This time, the target is Ito Ichiro, the big boss of the Sumiyoshi-kai in Beika!"

"None of these gang leaders' money is clean. You shouldn't have any objections to using their money to treat Xiao Chengshi's illness, right?"

“The Sumiyoshi-kai has a lot of members in Beika,” Lin Xiuyi said with some concern. “Aren’t you afraid of making a mistake?”

A month ago, Ito Ichiro, the big boss of the Sumiyoshi guild in Beika, got involved in a murder case. In order to avoid being taken away by the police, he directly gathered hundreds of his underlings to surround the nightclub where he worked.

Seeing that things were about to escalate, the First Investigation Division quickly located Hayashi Hideichi, investigated the case thoroughly, and resolved the matter. Afterwards, Ito Ichiro even tried to recruit Hayashi Hideichi, but Inspector Samezaki turned him down with the statement, "He's still a minor."

"I'm a phantom thief, not a robber," Tomizawa Chikage waved her hand dismissively. "We steal—no, we take!—with skill, not violence. What good are their numbers?"

"By the way, did you send out a notice for this operation?" Lin Xiuyi asked curiously.

“Let it go this time,” Tomizawa Chikage said, touching the wound on her waist. “My body isn’t fully recovered yet, so sending a notice would make it more difficult. Once Narumi’s matter is resolved and my body has fully recovered, I’ll come back to steal it again and send a notice.”

"You want to steal it a second time?" Lin Xiuyi was speechless.

……

Lin Xiuyi, pulling his suitcase, followed behind Tomizawa Chikage and arrived near a mansion with a courtyard.

Moonlight spilled onto the roof of the mansion, casting a somber shadow.

“This is Ito Ichiro’s home in Beika,” Tomizawa Chikage said in a low voice, pointing to the mansion a few dozen meters away. “Gangsters like them, whose income is mostly obtained illegally, generally don’t dare to deposit their money in banks; they keep it in their own safe deposit boxes.”

“I’ve already surveyed the terrain around here. If we climb over the wall directly in front of us, we’ll reach the Ito family’s backyard.”

As the girl spoke, she gestured the route in the air with her fingers.

“The Ito family usually has about ten underlings left to guard the house, most of them in the front yard. As long as you avoid the patrolling guards, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

As she spoke, Tomizawa Chikage reached out and unbuttoned her shirt.

Based on the principle of not looking at what is improper, Lin Xiuyi was about to turn around subconsciously, but then he stopped and stood there with his arms crossed, looking at the girl with a half-smile.

"Tch, you've got a quick head. I was actually planning to tease you a bit," Tomizawa Chikage said with a regretful smirk, then took off her jacket completely, revealing the bodysuit she was wearing underneath.

"You're not that kind of promiscuous woman, why would you have nothing better to do than show me your naked body?"

Lin Xiuyi scrutinized the girl's clothes: a black, tight-fitting leather outfit, but with numerous bandages wrapped around her left arm, right leg, and waist, making it look extremely strange.

"These bandages, besides camouflage, must serve another purpose, right?"

"Of course, otherwise why would I bring them along?"

As she spoke, Tomizawa Chikage opened her suitcase, took out a multi-functional night vision device and put it on her head. Then she picked up some bandages and wrapped them around her hair.

After doing all that, she took out another package and handed it over.

"Here, these are your clothes."

"I have one too?" Lin Xiu was taken aback.

"Or do you want those gangsters to see your true colors?" Tomizawa Chikage raised an eyebrow, a hint of mockery in her eyes.

Lin Xiuyi opened the package, inside was a white shirt, a black tailcoat, a top hat, a white mask that covered half of her face, a pair of white gloves, a retractable cane, and a red cloak.

"...Are you trying to get me to cosplay as Tuxedo Mask?"

Looking at these exaggerated costumes, Lin Xiuyi's lips twitched involuntarily.

"What Tuxedo Mask?" Chikage Tomizawa asked blankly. "I just bought this on a whim at the shopping street today. Since you're going to be the Phantom Thief Lady's partner tonight, your outfit can't be too old-fashioned."

Although Lin Xiuyi was helpless, since he had already promised to help Tomizawa Chikage, he had no choice but to take his clothes and run to a corner to change.

"Tch, why run so far? Do you think I'd be spying on you?" Tomizawa Chikage curled her lip.

A few minutes later, Lin Xiuyi, having changed her clothes, emerged from the shadows.

His tailored tuxedo accentuated his tall and straight figure, while a white mask covered the upper half of his face, revealing only his well-defined jawline. His red cape swayed gently in the night breeze, making him appear like a mysterious gentleman who had stepped out of a classical painting.

Chikage Tomizawa's gaze lingered on him unconsciously, and for a moment she forgot to look away.

"Can we begin?" Lin Xiuyi awkwardly moved his hands and feet.

The outfit that Tomizawa Chikage chose for him was the perfect size, but it was the first time Lin Xiuyi had ever worn such an exaggerated outfit, and he was quite unaccustomed to it.

“Hmm, let’s begin,” Tomizawa Chikage said, snapping out of her reverie. “A white tuxedo would probably look better.”

Lin Xiuyi glanced at her speechlessly. If he changed his tuxedo into a white one and his white mask into a monocle, he could easily cosplay as Kaito Kid!
The two tiptoed to the backyard wall of the Ito family's house.

The courtyard wall wasn't high; Lin Xiuyi and Fu Zeqian took a running start and climbed over it, landing silently inside the courtyard.

"You can stay here." Tomizawa Chikage stopped Lin Xiuyi, who was about to go further inside. "If everything goes well, I will bring cash and meet you here."

"If I run into trouble over there, you should show up here and help me distract the gangsters."

"...Are you really alright on your own?" Lin Xiuyi's gaze fell on her waist.

"Don't worry, the gunshot wound from last time has almost healed."

Tomizawa Chikage felt a warmth in her heart, winked at him, and then, with her long legs, moved like a hunting feline, cautiously surveying her surroundings as she stealthily made her way towards the mansion.

Lin Xiuyi watched her retreating figure, and couldn't help but feel a little worried for her.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Before the patrolling underlings arrived, Tomizawa Chikage had already climbed onto the second-floor roof and slipped into the room through the half-open window.

Lin Xiuyi hid behind a tree, keeping an eye on the movements at the mansion.

Time passed slowly, and the mansion was quiet, save for the occasional chirping of insects and the sound of vehicles passing by in the distance.

Lin Xiuyi raised his wrist to check the time. Almost twenty minutes had passed. Tomizawa Chikage should have succeeded by now, right?
He was still pondering this when he suddenly heard a loud bang from the direction of the mansion, followed by someone shouting, "Oh no! Big Brother has been killed!"

Lin Xiuyi's pupils shrank suddenly, and her heart sank. This was not part of the plan!

He instinctively reached out, but then saw a dark figure leap nimbly out of the second-floor window—it was Tomizawa Chikage, carrying a bulging backpack…

(End of this chapter)