Outlaw in Conan's World, Tokisaki Kurumi

"Th-then... could you be part of some gang?"

Since Kurumi knew about drug trafficking yet was neither a detective nor the police, that seemed like the only possibility left.

Although Aso Narumi's guess was somewhat close in one respect, Kurumi still shook her head and revealed a mysterious smile. "As for that, it's a secret."

"But it's fine. Sister Seijitsu and I are friends, and since we're friends, I definitely wouldn't do anything that would harm you."

Though Narumi still felt somewhat uneasy after hearing Kurumi's words, she vaguely began to feel that Kurumi could be trusted.

It was inexplicable—and crazy.

"So..." Kurumi smiled at Narumi. "Although I don't know what you're hiding, I can sense that our interests on this island are aligned."

"Is that so?" Narumi could hardly believe that a girl younger than her had put her in such an awkward position, yet deep down, she agreed with what Kurumi had said.

Thus, during their following conversation, Kurumi continued showing that she was trustworthy while constantly drawing information out of Narumi.

She even deliberately used King Crimson to gently hold Narumi's hand in order to break through her defenses, creating the psychological illusion that she did not want to drink, yet could not control herself from doing so.

It was not as if Narumi had never considered leaving immediately.

Yet no matter how she moved, her body seemed beyond her control. She remained seated there, drinking cup after cup of the alcohol Kurumi poured for her.

Under Kurumi's devilishly seductive words and tone, Narumi drank more and more. By the end, her slightly flushed face had turned thoroughly red from the alcohol.

"Everyone has secrets..."

"Whether it's me, or you, Sister..."

The alcohol began affecting Narumi's brain, making her thoughts increasingly sluggish.

King Crimson May Become the Biggest Winner

The intoxication of alcohol gradually slowed Aso Narumi's thoughts further and further. Kurumi barely needed to guide her with a few words before Narumi began treating her as her closest friend.

Gradually, with alcohol opening her heart, Aso Narumi began revealing the secret she had buried in the deepest part of her heart for more than a decade.

Of course, Kurumi's rapid success in gaining Narumi's trust was not solely due to the special beer, which tasted no different from ordinary beer but had a far higher alcohol content.

Another reason was the immense pressure Aso Narumi had accumulated over the years.

On top of that, women were naturally more emotionally inclined.

Once she regarded Kurumi as someone she could truly trust, Narumi gradually shed the armor she had always used to conceal her heart.

Her entire face was already crimson. Without Kurumi needing to persuade her, Narumi snatched the bottle from Kurumi's hand as though giving up on herself and began pouring drink after drink down her throat.

"Hic!" After belching, Aso Narumi swayed as she looked at the smiling Kurumi before her, tears gradually filling her eyes.

"I... I don't know how to say it." Narumi's tongue was thick as she mumbled, "The reason I came to Moon Shadow Island wasn't just because I liked this kind of environment."

Now thoroughly drunk, Narumi began telling Kurumi her story after deciding to trust her.

It turned out that Aso Narumi, who had moved from Tokyo to Moon Shadow Island several years ago, was indeed a licensed doctor.

However, Asai was not her real surname.

"Just like you came here to investigate a drug trafficking ring, I came here to investigate something too."

Perhaps feeling hot, Aso Narumi tugged at her turtleneck sweater as she spoke, trying to cool herself down.

"Aso Keiji, who died in that fire more than a decade ago, was actually my father." Recalling the tragedy that had destroyed her family, Aso Narumi shed two streams of tears.

"My real name is Aso Narumi."

Seeing Aso Narumi open her heart and reveal the heavy secret she had long suppressed, Kurumi chose not to speak this time and simply listened quietly.

She also handed Narumi a tissue.

Taking the tissue Kurumi offered, Narumi wiped her eyes and gave a grateful smile. "Thank you. I've always wanted to find someone to tell these things to."

Having completely let go, Narumi continued, "I was sick at the time, so my father sent me to a hospital in Tokyo for treatment. That was why I wasn't there when the fire happened..."

Narumi's tone was filled with regret.

From her expression, Kurumi could guess that Aso Narumi had always regretted it—regretted not leaving this world together with her parents and sister.

"You know, when I saw the reports about it from my hospital bed, I never believed that my father would kill my mother and sister before dying in the flames."

At that point, hatred and fury appeared on Aso Narumi's face.

"I was still young then, and my father and the others had already died, so afterward, I lived with relatives in Tokyo."

"But even so, although I stayed in Tokyo, I never believed my father could have done something like that. I did everything I could to investigate the truth behind it."

Hearing Narumi's words, Kurumi could feel all the hardship and suffering she had endured over the years.

"So, after finally graduating from medical school a few years ago, I came to Moon Shadow Island as a female doctor."

The conversation was gradually reaching the point, so Kurumi knowingly asked, "Then did Sister Seijitsu find anything?"

"I..."

Narumi opened her mouth, but the next second, her whole body went limp and she collapsed onto the tatami, letting out faint breaths.

She fell asleep already? Observing Narumi lying on her back with King Crimson, Kurumi discovered that she had truly fallen asleep.

"Good grief..." Narumi's alcohol tolerance was even worse than Kurumi had imagined, making her sigh involuntarily.

Obviously, leaving Narumi here to sleep was not feasible.

Setting aside the environment of an izakaya, Narumi was a beautiful doctor with an excellent reputation across the island. Who knew what might happen in this private room after Kurumi left if a drunken Narumi were sleeping here?

"Forget it, I'll take you home." After putting on her shoes and walking over to Narumi, Kurumi bent down to pick up Narumi's women's shoes from the floor, intending to put them on her.

However, when Kurumi's hand touched Narumi's calf, the soft skin beneath those smooth stockings made her heart itch a little.

Just from Narumi's leg shape and how she felt, Kurumi concluded that her legs were definitely top-tier.

Though they were still not as good as hers or Vermouth's...

After indulging herself with a few extra touches, Kurumi finally slipped the shoes onto Narumi's feet.

With the backpack containing her alcohol on her back, Kurumi looked at Narumi and, after thinking for a moment, decided to carry her home in a princess carry.

After having King Crimson adjust Narumi's position in her arms, Kurumi opened the door and walked out without looking back amid the astonished gazes of everyone in the izakaya.

Outside, it was once again late at night.

After leaving the lively, noisy izakaya behind, Kurumi walked alone down the dark, silent road with Narumi in her arms.

To prevent any unpleasantly familiar unexpected incidents, Kurumi even silently prepared to summon King Crimson.

However, to Kurumi's disappointment, she did not encounter anyone with ill intentions after seeing her and Narumi, two seemingly defenseless women, during the entire walk back.

When she reached the clinic's entrance, Kurumi had King Crimson take over her task and carry Aso Narumi while she slipped her hand into Narumi's skirt pocket to feel around for the keys.

Fortunately, the villagers were already asleep at this hour, and there was no one else around in the quiet surroundings.

Otherwise, if anyone had seen Narumi floating in midair in such a strange position, this island would probably have been filled with rumors of a supernatural phenomenon by the next day.

She made her way upstairs in the dark, while behind her, King Crimson continued diligently carrying Narumi.

Upon reaching the clinic's second floor, Kurumi had no idea which room was Narumi's bedroom. She could only push open the doors one by one to search.

Restroom, bathroom, storage room, bedroom!

Having finally found Narumi's bedroom on the second floor of the clinic, Kurumi turned on the light and had King Crimson gently place Narumi on the bed.

King Crimson Felt Very Happy

Aso Narumi, undeniably a beautiful woman, was now drunk and sleeping defenselessly on the bed.

Her flushed cheeks, slightly parted soft lips, and full chest rising and falling with her breathing gave Kurumi a truly satisfying sight.

"Honestly, it's a good thing it's me. If it were another man..." With her arms folded beneath her chest, completely unconcerned that the movement made it appear even fuller and more prominent, Kurumi smiled teasingly. "You'd be in danger like this, Sister Seijitsu."

Though Aso Narumi was undoubtedly older than Kurumi in physical age, as a transmigrator, Kurumi was undoubtedly Narumi's elder in terms of mental age.

The tempting scene before her, enough to invite wrongdoing, made Kurumi, who liked beautiful girls, particularly moved.

As the saying went, a gentleman did not take advantage of another's weakness. Kurumi would not do something so despicable as acting however she pleased while the other person was unable to resist.

"Sleep well."

After turning off the bedroom light, Kurumi turned and left Narumi's room.

Though it was already late at night outside, the quiet, deserted darkness was more convenient for Kurumi's next move.

Click.

When the door closed, Aso Narumi, lying on the bed in the darkness, opened her eyes.

She watched the door and quietly listened as the footsteps outside grew farther away. Then Aso Narumi sat up from the bed.

In truth, Aso Narumi had already woken when Kurumi placed her on the bed and tucked her in.

Although her brain was still somewhat sluggish from the alcohol, it did not have much of an effect on her thoughts.

"Who exactly are you, Kurumi?"

Everything that had happened at the table remained vivid in her mind. Recalling Kurumi's actions, tone, and attitude, Aso Narumi dismissed several guesses about Kurumi's identity. Though it was highly likely that Kurumi was involved with the underworld, Narumi could sense that Kurumi truly treated her as a friend rather than wanting to use her.

As a proper doctor, Aso Narumi had met many people over the years, including plenty of gang members.

Compared with those people, Kurumi seemed less like a gang member and more like the young lady of a family that commanded gangs, judging from her temperament and behavior.

"What a headache..." The more she thought, the more Narumi felt she had no clues at all, and waves of pain began throbbing through her head.

Throwing back the blanket and getting out of bed, Aso Narumi poured herself a glass of water and revealed a self-mocking smile.

"But do I really have the right to doubt someone else?"

Under the moonlight, Kurumi left the Moon Shadow Island clinic and headed alone toward the Community Center near the sea.

As she interacted more and more with Aso Narumi, Kurumi gradually recalled some details from the plot.

For example, the musical score code Aso Keiji, Narumi's father, had left behind in the Community Center's storage room.

However, although Kurumi remembered that the thing was in the Community Center's storage room, the Community Center was so large that she had no idea where the storage room was.

With no other choice, Kurumi could only use the dumbest method to find the score as quickly as possible: searching room by room.

Of course, Kurumi's primary target was the first floor of the Community Center.

To avoid being discovered, Kurumi chose to enter the Community Center through a locked door near the sea.

To keep anyone from hearing the lock being broken, Kurumi swiftly activated King Crimson and used Time Erasure to erase the process of King Crimson breaking the lock before easily entering.

Controlling her footsteps as she walked softly along the Community Center's corridors, Kurumi had King Crimson become intangible and pass through each wooden door to inspect the room beyond it.

The darkness did not affect Kurumi's movements. Around several minutes later, she found a room filled with all kinds of miscellaneous items.

This is probably the storage room...

Activating Time Erasure once more, Kurumi broke the lock and pushed open the door into the pitch-black room.

Searching through box after box filled with various objects without any leads was truly irritating and tedious.

But for Kurumi, who was well-trained and could perfectly control her emotions, this was nothing at all.

More than ten minutes later, after swiftly and quietly searching through a large pile of cardboard boxes, King Crimson finally found a brown document envelope.

The outside of the paper envelope was specifically labeled with the name Aso Keiji, apparently left by some unknown kindhearted person.

Opening the envelope, Kurumi saw several sheets of musical score she could not understand.

This should be the score Aso Keiji left behind.

Holding the envelope, Kurumi quickly left the Community Center.

Once she reached the inn, Kurumi activated Time Erasure again to avoid letting the owner sitting behind the counter notice her movements, then returned to her room.

"King Crimson really is incredibly useful!"

With a broad smile, Kurumi patted the muscular chest of King Crimson beside her and openly praised the powerful Stand that had brought her so much misfortune until now.

After happily taking a shower in the bathroom and changing into pajamas, Kurumi burrowed into the soft blankets. She planned to give the thing to Aso Narumi tomorrow and discuss their next plan of action.

Especially regarding the three culprits who had destroyed Aso Narumi's family—if Narumi said tomorrow that she did not want to spare them, then Kurumi would act on her behalf and deal with them.

And if Aso Narumi chose to let go of her hatred, then...