Under His Thumb

"You phantom thief, you don't want someone to be killed by the Shadow Master while I'm arresting you, do you?"

Fujino's lips curled slightly, and his fist clenched slightly, which he displayed to Kuroba Kaito.

"..."

Kuroba Kaito glanced at Fujino's fist, which looked as big as a sandbag, swallowed hard, and was speechless.

Well, this guy is probably trying to blackmail him, right?

No, no, this is definitely extortion!

Although he could see that Fujino was blatantly extorting him.

But he still intends to pay 500,000 yen.

There was no other way; although it risked being taken advantage of, what the other party said made a lot of sense.

Every profession has its own set of principles.

He has his own principles as a magician.

It has to be said, Fujino, the sixth brother.

They had a firm grasp on his psychology.

His purpose in coming here was to comfort Murai Kazumasa's family.

If he wasn't mistaken, then the woman named Tanaka Kikue should be Murai Kazumasa's daughter or granddaughter.

Of course, the so-called comfort was nothing more than encouragement.

Yes, he didn't want to see anyone die at this party, and he definitely didn't give in because of the other party's... violence.

"I don't have 500,000 yen in cash on hand right now..."

"Don't you have cash?"

Fujino frowned.

Well, 500,000 yen isn't a huge amount, but if you convert it to cash, it would require at least 50 10,000 yen bills.

Most people wouldn't carry that much cash on them.

After a pause, Fujino continued, "Did you bring your bank card?"

"Bank card?"

Kuroba Kaito was stunned. "I do have a bank card."

"That's good."

Fujino then pulled out a black mobile POS machine. "I support mobile payments here."

Kuroba Kaito: "..."

Goodness, goodness.

Do you carry a portable POS machine with you all the time?

Wait, where did you pull that portable POS machine from?!

Fujino was speechless as he watched Kuroba Kaito casually pull out a mobile POS machine from somewhere, just like him.

Speechless, he pulled out a bank card from somewhere, swiped it on Fujino's mobile POS machine, and entered the PIN.

As a phantom thief, his bank card was naturally encrypted and not opened under the identity of High School Detective Kuroba Kaito, so he did not believe that swiping the card would expose his identity.

Even if the other party tries to trace it through the bank card information, they will only end up with a dead number from Swiss Bank.

[System balance credited: 500,000 yen]

A pleasant notification sound rang in Fujino's ears.

Fujino's smile gradually softened. After putting away the mobile POS machine, he patted Kuroba Kaito on the shoulder. "Pleasure doing business with you, client."

"Ha ha..."

That attitude changed so quickly.

Kuroba Kaito asked Fujino, "So what information do you need from me?"

"You joined the group quite early, so I think you should know something about Shadow Master."

Fujino asked, "Did Shadow Master and Escape King have any conflicts before I joined the group?"

"Contradiction?"

Kuroba Kaito pondered for a moment before replying, "If there's a contradiction, those two did have a big argument about Murai Kazumasa before. It was probably just before you came into this chat room that the Shadow Master suddenly said something like, 'This great magician will die, it's all your fault.' I can understand that statement. Ikasama Douji is Murai Kazumasa. Half a year ago, we discussed the escape magic. After that, probably because of the expectations of the people in the chat room, Mr. Murai held his last magic show not long after."

"The last magic show?"

"That's right, during that escape magic show, Mr. Murai passed away unexpectedly..."

At this point, Kuroba Kaito suddenly frowned.

Clearly, as a magician himself, he also felt sorry for the magician's death.

"Judging from the current situation, the murderer is very likely Mr. Murai's magic enthusiast. After learning that it was the people in this chat room who asked Mr. Murai to perform magic again and that he died, he took revenge on everyone in the chat room in order to avenge Mr. Murai."

Based on the evidence currently available, Fujino has decided against revealing any spoilers and has presented his current deductions.

"Knock knock!"

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Mr. Doi, we have prepared dinner."

"I see!"

Kuroba Kaito responded in Doi Taku's voice.

"Okay, let's go eat."

Fujino turned around and pushed open the door.

"Do you even have the appetite to eat?"

Kuroba Kaito stood up from the bed he was sitting on. "There's still a murderer lurking in the shadows, watching us and planning to kill us."

"Man is made of iron, and food is made of steel."

Fujino waved his hand dismissively, "In this situation where the enemy is in the open and we are in the dark, we have no way to take the initiative. We can only wait for the Shadow Master to be exposed. With you, the ever-changing phantom thief, and me, the Black Detective, the Shadow Master will be exposed as soon as he makes the slightest move."

"That's true..."

Kuroba Kaito recalled that night when Fujino, wielding a Wooden Sword, leaped two or three meters to chase and slash at the Spider, and nodded in agreement.

Hilarious! Who would dare to lay a hand on this guy in front of him?

It was afternoon.

Because it was winter, the days were short and the nights were long, so it was already getting gloomy before six o'clock.

The group arrived at the dining table, except for Conan.

Because Fujino had given Conan two magical cold medicine pills beforehand, he was now sleeping like a log under the influence of the medicine.

At the dinner table, the people in the magic chat room began discussing their favorite Japanese magicians.

"If we're talking about magicians, then it'll be Kuroba Toichi."

Fujino casually mentioned a magician he knew best.

"I also prefer Kuroba Toichi."

Ara Yoshinori also said the same thing.

Kuroba Toichi had already died openly eight years ago.

Although he has been dead for many years, as a representative of an era of magic, he still has a large number of magic enthusiasts and fans.

Especially people of Ara Yoshinori's age.

Kuroba Kaito glanced at Fujino in surprise, not expecting that Fujino was actually a fan of his father.

After a pause, he echoed, "Me too."

"I admire Kinoshita Yoshiro, who had already amassed a multitude of titles by the age of twenty."

Hamano Tatsuya said the same thing.

"Why do you all like magicians who are already dead... I still prefer Kazumi Sanada who is still alive."

Kuroda Naoko made a sarcastic remark, then turned to Ran and Sonoko and asked, "Do either of you have a favorite magician?"

"If I had to name my favorite magician..."

Sonoko paused, a blush creeping onto her face. "Of course, it's Kaito Kid!"

"But, Kaito Kid is a thief..."

"And we can't be sure if he's Japan."

"I've faced him twice."

At that moment, Fujino suddenly said, "I'm certain he's Japan. Although he's disguised very well, my intuition tells me..."

After a pause, Fujino continued, "And in terms of magic techniques, Kaito Kid's magic is indeed very impressive. As for whether he is a magician... I don't think only those who perform magic on a magic stage are magicians."

Then, Fujino turned to Kuroba Kaito and asked meaningfully, "Isn't that right, Mr. Doi?"

"Haha... I think so too. The stage for magic is not singular."

Kuroba Kaito gave an awkward laugh.

After lunch, we cleaned up the dishes and started discussing the entertainment arrangements for the evening party.

Originally, the arrangements should have been made by Escape King, the organizer of this gathering.

However, the Escape King was already dead and did not attend.

The telephone line also inexplicably broke.

So, under Hamano Tatsuya's leadership, everyone decided to use magic to make the decision.

Sonoko was blindfolded and made to mark on cards with names written on them, indicating who was the proxy host of the party.

After that, Hamano Tatsuya performed a prophetic magic trick.

Kuroda Naoko is the acting host, you guessed right.

Tanaka Kikue was in charge of heating the bathwater, and she guessed correctly.

However, he was wrong when he tried to guess who was in charge of the entertainment program.

He initially guessed it was Doi Takuki, but in reality, it was himself.

After the decision was made, everyone went to take charge of their own tasks.

Ran and Sonoko went to check on Conan, who was still sleeping with a cold. Hamano Tatsuya went upstairs to prepare for the show, Ara Yoshinori planned to get some red wine from the wine cellar. The college student who came to work went to the kitchen to prepare side dishes, Tanaka Kikue went to demolish the house to boil water.

"You should have noticed something about that magic trick just now, right?"

Fujino slowly walked up to Kuroba Kaito and asked.

"Hmm, a very simple magic trick."

Kuroba Kaito nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, Tanaka Kikue, who performed that magic trick, was a plant. Before Hamano prepared the magic trick, Tanaka Kikue had already designated the person to perform those tasks on those cards."

Don't you find it strange?

Fujino asked suddenly.

"Strangeness?"

"If the people were predetermined, then why would Hamano Tatsuya say that you are in charge of the entertainment program?"

Kuroba Kaito was taken aback by what he heard, and looked at Fujino in surprise. "You mean..."

"If I'm not mistaken, you should have been the one preparing the entertainment program, but for some reason it became him."

After a pause, Fujino continued, "And the only person capable of making such a change is Tanaka Kikue, who prepared in advance. But why would she change the originally fixed person? Is there some necessary purpose in doing so?"

"Are you saying?!"

Kuroba Kaito swallowed hard. "Tanaka Kikue is the Shadow Master?"

"We don't know that yet."

Fujino shook his head, then turned his gaze upstairs. "We'll know if we go up and take a look."