Conan: Feeling a Little Tired

Under Ei's rule, things were fine now. But back when the Raiden Shogun had issued the Sakoku Decree, aside from the Yashiro Commission, which of the Tenryou Commission and Kanjou Commission had not been far more of a mess than this place?

Compared to that, the procedures were merely a little slow. It was hardly bad enough to be considered terrible.

While Yin Kong chatted with the two new characters and cleaned the office, he unexpectedly heard the doorbell ring.

Had someone already seen his recruitment advertisement and come to apply?

But when he opened the office door, he saw several unexpected figures.

"Miss Mori?"

That was right. The girl who had suddenly come to visit was none other than Mori Ran, the female lead of the world of Detective Conan.

With her were a broad-foreheaded high school girl around her age wearing a headband, as well as Conan, who had already put on his glasses and looked almost exactly as Yin Kong remembered him.

"Mr. Yin Kong?" Mori Ran was clearly just as surprised, her face full of astonishment. "Could the [Smiling Detective] actually be Mr. Yin Kong? Huh, no, isn't this the Naruhodo Office?"

It was him?!

Conan, who had been following behind Ran with a pair of dead-fish eyes and obvious reluctance, immediately changed his careless expression upon seeing Yin Kong.

He did not know that Yin Kong had noticed him the instant he opened the door. The moment Conan recognized Yin Kong, he quietly shifted farther behind Ran to hide himself.

"Oh, that? I only just rented this office, so I haven't had the chance to change the sign yet." Yin Kong naturally could not have missed Conan's little movement, but he did not expose him right away. Instead, he looked curiously at Ran. "But what was that [Smiling Detective] Miss Mori mentioned just now?"

Just as I thought, there's something wrong with this guy!

Conan hid behind Mori Ran, his brows tightly furrowed.

He clearly remembered that just last night, Yin Kong had called her "Ran" again and again. Yet now he had switched to "Miss Mori." That was extremely strange.

Naturally, Mori Ran had no idea that Conan behind her had already begun to suspect him. After hearing Yin Kong's question, her expression immediately became awkward.

"Well..."

The broad-foreheaded high school girl took over.

"Actually, we heard that a handsome detective had appeared at the Naruhodo Office, and that his smile had the magic to make people's hearts race..."

As she spoke, she carefully examined Yin Kong again, then quietly muttered in a voice that she thought only she could hear.

"How should I put it? This is kind of disappointing."

It was not that Yin Kong was ugly. Rather, the rumors had praised his appearance so highly that they had naturally raised the girl's expectations to an extreme level.

Now that she had met him in person, she naturally felt a sense of disappointment.

Unfortunately, the girl's supposedly discreet muttering clearly did not escape Yin Kong's ears.

If Paimon had been here, she definitely would have laughed herself silly and mocked him mercilessly, right?

Hearing that, Yin Kong could not help touching his own face, puzzled.

He had not even paid for online shills. How had such ridiculous rumors come about?

Still, being this gossipy and fond of handsome men, this must be Suzuki Sonoko, right?

It was hard to imagine that such an ordinary-looking girl was actually the young lady of the Suzuki Financial Group.

Yin Kong had one good trait: he never forced himself to figure out things he could not understand.

"Rumors tend to exaggerate. That's nothing strange." After casually explaining, he led the three into the office and asked curiously, "So, do you two have a case for me? Please, sit."

Suzuki Sonoko had clearly come to see a handsome guy, but without a reasonable excuse, she probably could not have dragged Mori Ran along.

Mori Ran sat down in front of Yin Kong, looking hesitant.

It was still Suzuki Sonoko who spoke, sitting carelessly in her chair.

"That's right. Ran's boyfriend has gone missing, so we wanted to ask you to help investigate where he is..."

Yin Kong suddenly understood.

It seemed Conan had not yet received the bow-tie voice changer from Professor Agasa, so he had not called Ran yet.

"Miss Mori's boyfriend—is he the high school detective who was with you that day, Kudo Shinichi?"

Ran's face instantly turned red, and she shook her head.

"No, no, Shinichi and I are just childhood friends. We're not in that kind of relationship."

"I see. You're looking for someone." Yin Kong suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Conan hiding behind Ran. "But you shouldn't be asking me about Kudo Shinichi's whereabouts. You should ask this little guy instead."

Conan, who had been secretly watching Yin Kong, was caught off guard when he met his faintly smiling gaze. It felt as though his heart had stopped for an instant from fright.

"Little friend, we meet again."

"Conan? Why would Conan know where Shinichi is?"

Yin Kong said as if it were only natural.

"So your name is Conan. Aren't you Kudo Shinichi's illegitimate son? You should know where he is, shouldn't you?"

Before Conan could answer, a loud crack came from Mori Ran's direction.

With one careless motion, she had snapped off the chair's armrest and crushed both it and the iron pipe inside into a ball.

Yet this seemingly delicate young woman, with an A in both strength and speed, appeared utterly unaware of it as she smiled and asked.

"Sorry, Mr. Yin Kong, I didn't quite hear what you said just now. Conan is Shinichi's illegitimate son?"

Seeing this, Conan felt as if his heart had stopped completely.

Conan: Slightly Tired

Daily Mission: [Love That Cannot Be Conveyed].

Finally, just as the black hair behind Mori Ran began to slowly float upward, as though she had transformed into an asura on the spot, the daily mission prompt arrived fashionably late.

Yin Kong glanced over the mission details. It required Ran to find Kudo Shinichi, or confirm his whereabouts.

"We're relatives! Relatives!" Seeing the pitiful armrest continuously creak beneath Ran's "delicate hand," Conan's little face turned pale with fright. He hurriedly waved his hands in explanation. "Brother Shinichi is only seventeen. How could he possibly have an illegitimate son as old as me? Right, Sister Ran?"

"Oh, right."

Ran froze upon hearing that, and the killing intent boiling within her finally faded away.

Only then did she notice the broken armrest she had twisted into a tangled lump. She immediately bowed in embarrassment and apologized.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Yin Kong. I accidentally broke your chair. I'll compensate you at its original price."

"It's nothing, really. These tables and chairs were going to be replaced soon anyway." Yin Kong naturally did not care. Smiling, he praised her, "But Miss Mori is truly a woman of temperament, a heroine among women. That Mr. Kudo Shinichi is really enviable."

Ran's face turned completely red. She lowered her head and weakly protested.

"Shinichi and I really aren't in that kind of relationship..."

This guy did that on purpose, didn't he?

Conan, who felt like Ran had nearly sent him off with one punch, glared viciously at Yin Kong as well. This was already the second time the other party had "slandered" him as the Kudo family's illegitimate son.

If looks could kill, Yin Kong would have been riddled with holes by Conan's glare by now.

Sonoko also looked at Yin Kong in confusion and asked.

"So why did Detective say this brat is that Kudo guy's illegitimate son? Do you know each other?"

"I wouldn't say we know each other. We just ran into each other at Tropical Land Amusement Park last night." Under Conan's gaze, which was practically about to leap up and punch him in the knee, Yin Kong smiled and patted his head. "Come to think of it, he was wearing a really strange set of adult clothes then, pretending to be Kudo Shinichi. It was quite amusing."

Yin Kong, who planned to use the opportunity to clear some stamina, was pleasantly surprised to discover that when farming artifact domains, he did not necessarily have to control the characters himself. He could also leave them to their own consciousnesses.

"A Thousand Years of Rock!" "Oz, reveal thyself!" "Nakuomikazuchi!" "Vortex Vanquisher!"...

Clearly, no one knew that an intense battle had already begun inside Conan.

Ran raised her head in surprise.

"What? Conan, you were at the amusement park last night too?"

Conan's expression stiffened.

Because he suddenly realized that if Yin Kong kept talking to Ran like this, she might discover that the strange clothes "Conan" had worn yesterday were actually identical to Kudo Shinichi's.

If that happened, it would be difficult to prevent her from making some strange connections.

Ran and Sonoko were one thing, but this Yin Kong in front of him was far too strange. He absolutely could not let him guess his true identity.

"Well, um... Actually, Brother Shinichi took me to the amusement park yesterday too. He was just afraid I'd disturb you two, so he let me go play by myself. Ahaha."

Seeing Conan's smile gradually become forced, suspicion finally appeared in Ran's eyes.

"Is that so? Conan, you seem very flustered."

Meanwhile, Sonoko bluntly said.

"Leaving the brat behind while running off on a date yourself? That's seriously awful."

Hearing Sonoko badmouth him to his face, Conan was naturally very unhappy.

Unfortunately, he could not explain himself right now and could only complain inwardly.

Forget it. As long as he could fool them, taking a couple of jabs from that old hag Sonoko was not unacceptable. He was used to it by now anyway.

Ran argued.

"Sonoko, Shinichi isn't that kind of person. There must be some other reason."

Just as expected, Ran was the best.

However, before Conan could feel comforted by Ran defending him, Yin Kong spoke again.

"Since Conan is not only related to Mr. Kudo, but also went home with him from the amusement park, perhaps he knows some clues?"

Conan could not help wondering whether Yin Kong was targeting him.

Otherwise, why did every word this guy said make him break out in a cold sweat?

Sure enough, Sonoko was already staring at him suspiciously.

"Brat, you don't really know something, do you?"

Ran also looked at him and gently said.

"Conan, if you really know anything about Shinichi, please tell me, okay? I'm really worried about him."

Hearing Ran ask him like that, even with a hint of pleading in her voice, Conan's heart softened, and he quietly said.

"A-Actually, Sister Ran, Brother Shinichi went to investigate a case."

Ran froze. She had not actually expected Conan to truly know anything, and she immediately said with delight.

Conan turned his head away, not daring to look into her eyes.

"Yes, but Brother Shinichi said it was a very dangerous case. He also told me not to tell anyone, so I didn't tell you."

"So that's how it is? Shinichi really is still the same—once he hears about a case, he ignores everything else."

Just as Ran was about to be fooled, Yin Kong suddenly said.

"So that's what it was?"

"W-What is it, Brother Yin Kong?"

The moment Yin Kong spoke again, Conan became incomparably nervous.

If he had known things would turn out like this, he would never have let Sonoko drag Ran to this office.

"Nothing much. Little Conan, can you let me take a look at your glasses?"

Sure enough, Yin Kong's question made the great detective's heart skip a beat again.

"His glasses?" While Conan was still thinking frantically, Ran asked curiously, "Mr. Yin Kong, is there something strange about Conan's glasses?"

Yin Kong smiled and explained.

"Miss Mori may not know this, but when I met this little guy yesterday, he wasn't wearing glasses. And I do think there's something a little off about this pair. I may need to inspect them before I can tell exactly what the problem is."

Ran nodded.

"Is that so? Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Yin Kong. Conan, let Mr. Yin Kong inspect your glasses, Conan?"

Seeing Conan remain unmoving, Ran became even more confused.

"Maybe he's afraid I'll break his glasses?" Yin Kong smiled slightly and promised, "Don't be afraid, little guy. Big brother will be very careful. Even if I break them, I'll definitely buy you a new pair."

But in Conan's eyes, that friendly smile contained nothing but aggression.