Taking Jobs Right in Front of Me, Huh?

"Huh, that's weird."

Conan had been eavesdropping, noticed something strange. "If it were at home, you wouldn't have bothered to come out and find a detective, Uncle. After all, it's your wife's watch. If you know it's at home, you should be able to find it by looking for it."

"My wife was a very forgetful person when she was alive. She would even take a long time to find the lipstick under a magazine. Actually, she was looking for that watch before she passed away..."

Masuda scratched his ear somewhat embarrassedly. "To be honest, I'm even more confused than her, so it's impossible for me to find that watch. I can only ask the detective for help."

"So that's how it is..."

Conan smiled, a hint of suspicion creeping into his eyes.

Since this watch was lost by his wife before her death, why does he say he forgot where he put it?

There's definitely something fishy going on behind this...

"Ahem!"

Fujino coughed lightly, afraid that Conan would talk too much and make his client's brain work, so he interrupted, "Now that the matter of the commission is roughly clear, let's talk about the commission fee!"

"My normal fee for finding lost items starts at 300,000 yen, but considering that the item you requested is a bit too simple, I'll give you a 50% discount and the fee is 150,000 yen."

As he spoke, Fujino took out a calculator from his pocket, placed it on the table, and began to calculate. "If you give me a discount, the commission fee will be 100,000 yen. However, depending on the circumstances of the commission, the price may be slightly higher."

What Conan noticed, he naturally noticed as well.

He was bored out of his mind and hired a detective, then ran into a whole bunch of trouble, and finally got involved in a murder case.

Fujino was used to this kind of client.

Even if there's some conspiracy, it doesn't matter. For him, the value of his client determines his stubbornness.

"One hundred thousand yen..."

Hōda Hideno was taken aback by what he heard, and an unnatural look flashed across his face.

"This is already the bottom price."

Fujino took a sip of Green Tea and said calmly, "I usually don't accept requests for less than 100,000 yen."

That wasn't a lie. After all, he's a Great Detective now, and even for a simple case, he wouldn't just take a few tens of thousands of yen and call it a day. That would be too beneath him.

Fujino usually adjusts his prices according to the customer's situation. He offers significant discounts to the poor, but for the rich... he will try to raise the price as much as possible within the limits of what he can get for frying.

But if you really can't even afford the bottom price, then there's really nothing you can do. Hiring a detective always requires being prepared to pay tens of thousands of dollars.

This is the norm in the entire market; if it were any lower, detectives would really have no way to make a living.

"Oh... thank you so much."

Hōda Hideno sighed, "I'll go check with other people."

"Have a safe journey."

Fujino stood up and politely saw the guest off.

"Hey, sir! How about I find your wife's watch?"

Conan had no intention of giving up on the client who had abandoned the case because of the price. He jumped down from his seat and stopped Hōda Hideno.

As a stubborn detective, he naturally has an inquisitive mindset about these kinds of things.

He was very curious!

"Don't worry, uncle!"

"Leave this to our Junior Detective League; you won't go wrong!"

"And we won't take a single penny!"

Before Conan could say anything, the kids seemed to have caught wind of the case and, fearing Conan would steal the credit, immediately came over, patted their chests, and made repeated assurances.

"..."

Fujino fell silent for a moment, watching the group of kids who were so enthusiastic about giving him their dry goods for free.

Although he knew that it was these kids who noticed his embarrassment, he still felt like he was being dissed.

And you've already stolen our business before we've even seen them off?!

Good grief, he used to be the one getting ripped off... but today he got ripped off himself!

Fujino strongly condemns this malicious act of working for free and engaging in cutthroat competition!

However, these people weren't strictly speaking detectives. Fujino sighed and suggested, "In that case, I'll go with you guys to take a look."

Ayumi turned around and blinked. "Brother Fujino, are you going to help too?"

"Yes, I'm a little uneasy about you guys going alone."

Fujino explained, and he wasn't lying; although the cases handled by the Boys' Freebies Group were all free, what they accepted was more outrageous—for example, human lives.

From the moment he accepted these requests, Fujino had already foreseen the scene: Ayumi being kidnapped, Mitsuhiko Genta, and Conan turning the tide.

"I probably won't be able to show you around Tokyo this morning."

Turning back, Fujino apologized to Ooka Momiji, glancing at Conan among the group. "Otherwise, I might be mistaken for a ruthless, snob detective."

Conan: "..."

Isn't that right?

"It's okay, there's really nothing much to see in Tokyo anyway."

Ooka Momiji shook her head slightly, then asked again, "But can I go with you to this request?"

"You want to go too?"

"Um."

Ooka Momiji nodded slightly and said truthfully, "I'd like to know what your daily life is like."

Actually, she wasn't very interested in visiting Tokyo, since for Kyoto residents, Tokyo's cultural heritage was roughly equivalent to that of a small rural town.

Rather than exploring Tokyo, she was more interested in learning about Fujino's detective life.

Fujino had no objection to the suggestion. They had originally planned to go sightseeing in Tokyo together, but now they were going to visit the client's home instead... In short, it wasn't a big problem.

Led by the other party, Fujino and his friends, along with a wealthy woman, went to the other party's home.

Fujino stood in front of a five-story duplex apartment building, looked up and sized it up. "People living in apartments like this can't even come up with 100,000 yen?"

Masuda's house is located here, surrounded by parks, Convenience Store, and bus stops.

Although it's not as valuable as a high-rise apartment, the price is still considerable considering the location; it should be over 20 million yen.

Logically speaking, someone who can afford to live in such an apartment should only need 100,000 yen; it shouldn't be something they can't afford.

"Sorry to bother you!"

When Masuda opened the door to his house, the children politely greeted him in the entryway. Ayumi was the first to change into slippers and enter the house. Looking at the red bouquet in the vase on the small cabinet, she exclaimed, "What beautiful flowers!"

"Pink carnations."

Ooka Momiji stepped forward and sniffed. "But it looks like it's been sitting here for a long time; the petals are starting to wither."

"These are the flowers my wife arranged three weeks ago, before she passed away."

Morita nodded slightly and replied, "Although I change the water every day, it still doesn't last long."