Chapter 468
The Extremely Filial Son and His Poor Mother
Conan Edogawa looked at the young woman on the hospital bed.
"I knew I hadn't misheard."
His words made the other two adults look at him.
“I ran into the Shirai couple at the hospital entrance this afternoon, and the funeral home staff were nearby. They were trying to break up the fight, and one of them accidentally dropped the body transport box. I thought the sound was strange; it was too soft.”
Conan Edogawa clenched his fists at his sides, his eyes filled with rage.
If, if he had noticed something was wrong then and gone to check...
"Don't overthink it." Aoyagi Akimitsu saw what he was thinking. "You were just a seven-year-old. If you had tried to rummage through the shipping crates back then, you would have been chased away before you even opened them, and everyone around you would have stopped you—so it's not your fault."
Conan Edogawa nodded slowly: "I know."
He paused, then regained his composure: "Mr. Aoyagi, Inspector Morofushi, I have roughly deduced the ins and outs of this series of events."
Morobuchi Kagemitsu subconsciously looked at Aoyagi Akimitsu.
Aoyagi Akimitsu was not surprised. He simply said, "We're in a hurry, so just give us the conclusion. We can explain the reasoning process later—wait a minute."
His expression suddenly changed, and he put one hand on his earphones. Because of the excellent sound insulation, the other two had no idea what he was hearing.
"Someone is coming."
Aoyagi Akimitsu's next words were like a thunderclap, exploding in their ears.
Morofushi Kagemitsu and Edogawa Conan's expressions changed simultaneously. As a public security officer, Morofushi Kagemitsu instinctively looked for a place nearby where he could temporarily hide.
Aoyagi Akimitsu was faster than him. He supported him with one hand and lifted Edogawa Conan with the other, taking three steps at a time to reach the machines closest to the door they had come in through, and put them down.
"Hide well," he said quickly. "They're coming from the main entrance across the street. From that angle, they won't see you if you stay behind. I'll stop them from getting close."
"then you……"
Morofushi Kagemitsu's hand slid from his shoulder to his arm without exerting any force. He realized he couldn't hold on to him.
"Nothing will happen." Aoyagi Akimitsu smiled gently at him. "If I couldn't even handle this many people, I wouldn't have been chosen to be an undercover agent back then."
Morofushi Kagemitsu's hand fell off his arm and hung down to his side.
He watched him turn and leave, but he didn't go far; he stood still in front of the hospital bed.
"Officer Zhu Fushi!"
Conan Edogawa grabbed Morofushi Kagemitsu's arm and called out in a low but urgent voice.
Morofushi Kagemitsu turned his head away, rested his head gently against the machine, and tried to lower his body as much as possible to listen to the sounds outside.
Aoyagi Akimitsu wasn't bluffing; a few seconds later, another electronic door on the opposite side opened.
The sound of the metal door retracting into the inside was like a blade scraping against a scabbard, sending chills down one's spine.
Fortunately, there were only two footsteps.
Morofushi Kagemitsu and Edogawa Conan remained calm and focused, making no move.
They dare not gamble. Many criminals are extremely sensitive to sound and the gaze of others. If they peek out, they are very likely to be discovered.
"You, you are—"
"Gin, what are you doing here?"
Two voices rang out one after the other. The first male voice sounded somewhat flustered, while the second female voice sounded older and more composed.
Morofushi Kagemitsu felt his arm being suddenly touched.
He turned his head and met Conan Edogawa's gaze. The restless elementary school student stretched out his finger and gently wrote a sentence on the back of his hand:
Do you know him?
Zhu Fujingguang shook his head and replied, "I haven't heard of it."
"I heard some interesting rumors, so I came to check them out."
Aoyagi Akimitsu used Gin's voice again, but this time it was no longer as gentle as before; it carried the coldness and subtle mockery characteristic of that assassin.
He took a few more steps forward, and the sound of his footsteps was noticeably different from when he was Aoyagi Akimitsu.
Morofushi Kagemitsu heard another slightly flustered footstep, as if someone was rushing forward. At that moment, the female voice said, "Alright, Bilson, don't be so nervous. He's not some kind of evil spirit."
“But you…” the man hesitated.
"Shut up," she said coldly.
It seems that of the two, the woman is not only older but also of higher status.
That's what Morofushi Kagemitsu thought.
Pilsner is a type of beer; in other words, the man who was reprimanded and stepped aside was a codenamed member, and the female member who had the authority to command codenamed members was clearly not a simple person.
"Did he send you?" the woman's voice asked again, this time addressing "Gin".
Her voice betrayed suspicion: "I've heard all about it. There are quite a few people in the organization who are questioning you. He's the culprit, and yet you're helping him?"
Morofushi Kagemitsu: "..."
He and Conan Edogawa, who was standing next to him, exchanged a glance and saw confusion in each other's eyes.
Morobuchi Kagemitsu was even more puzzled.
He was very familiar with Gin's position—at least his position in the organization three years ago. Even Rum's orders might not be completely heeded by Gin; the only one with the authority to order him to obey was probably the leader.
...So, this woman is referring to the new leader, Aniset's father, Godvasel?
According to information from two undercover juniors, the new leader's rise to power seems to have been questionable, and many people are dissatisfied. Could Gin be one of them? Did the new leader send him here as a test? And did this woman see through this and mock him?
Morofushi Kagemitsu had too few clues, so he didn't continue thinking about it. He began to worry about how Aoyagi Akimitsu would answer this time.
Unless some very unfriendly questions were asked when Gin's identity was "borrowed," theoretically, Aoyagi Akimitsu would not know the purpose of Gin's trip.
"I had no intention of betraying the organization."
Aoyagi's version of Gin speaks coldly, his voice revealing a genuine, chilling murderous intent.
"But what exactly are you doing in this underground rat's nest?" His voice was cold. "Even if it's you, if you do anything that affects his interests, he won't let you off the hook."
"Wait, Gin, watch your manners! She is—"
The male voice reprimanded.
"Rum's men."
Aoyagi Akimitsu seemed to have gotten information about this person from Ireland, and he turned to the other person:
"You're no match for Curaçao in terms of intellect, no match for Glenn in terms of competence, and you only got your codename because of your father's legacy—no wonder Rum only sent you to this place with only birds and beasts to be a bodyguard who's just a figurehead. You're a complete waste."
This codename member was indeed a misnomer. He was furious, but mindful of Gin's reputation, he could only angrily say, "Mr. Rum is here too!"
Upon hearing this code name, Morobushi Kagemitsu was startled.
However, the next second, he heard Aoyagi Binko chuckle and say:
"Him? He's too busy taking care of himself."
His words were utterly confident and mocking.
Zhu Fujingguang was taken aback.
What does Aoyagi Akimitsu mean? ...What happened to Rum? What else does he know?
"you……"
The man's voice was furious, but it was clear that Aoyagi Akimitsu had no intention of wasting any more time with him. All three of them knew that dragging things out would only hurt them.
Click. That's the sound of a pistol being disengaged.
"Lady Karasuma Mochizuki," Aoyagi Akimitsu unusually used polite language, his tone gentle as he said, "you still won't say anything, is that it?"
Morofushi Kagemitsu had already vaguely guessed the woman's identity, so he wasn't surprised when he heard her address.
He was simply curious about who Aoyagi Akimitsu was pointing a gun at.
……
Aoyagi Akimitsu held Beretta in his left hand and pointed at the lifeless woman in the glass jar.
Before him stood Karasuma Mochizuki, staring at him with a mixture of shock and anger.
At the age of sixteen, she went to the United States to get married at the behest of her family, and at seventeen she had her first child, a boy. Now she is sixty-one years old, and her face is etched with the marks of time.
She stared at the long-haired man before her, his cold face reflected in her eyes. She didn't recognize him at all.
She retorted angrily, "I don't believe Godivaser would let you do this! She's his own sister!"
The room was completely silent.
Aoyagi Akimitsu quietly gazed at Godivasel's biological mother, his own blood grandmother.
This was the first time he had seen her in person.
He continued to point the gun at the body of his aunt, uncle, and adoptive mother inside the jar, his finger firmly on the trigger without trembling.
Using a child to threaten a mother is truly shameful. But he's done far too many shameless things over the years; he's long since broken all moral boundaries, and besides…
Aoyagi Akimitsu laughed:
"Blood ties? What's the point of discussing that for people like us?"
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
Karasuma Mochizuki is Godivasel's biological mother and the protagonist's biological grandmother, which was clearly foreshadowed earlier in the story.
In the next chapter, I'll post a family tree (which I drew myself). (End of Chapter)