Slacker Assassin's Multiverse Daily

The true culprit behind that theft case was Anzai Morio, who had still been a high school student at the time.

The reason he learned about the ceremonial items was because Mamegaki Taeko had inadvertently revealed the information to him during a conversation.

Anzai Morio saw an opportunity in it, which led to the theft.

Later, because the police failed to find the culprit, the warehouse manager responsible for overseeing the storage facility at the time ultimately chose to take his own life under immense pressure and guilt.

As Mamegaki Taeko spoke up to this point, her emotions seemed to fluctuate once more.

But before she could continue, Anzai Morio's sinister voice came from the side. "Stop pretending to be pathetic... If you really thought those things were important, you wouldn't have blabbed about them so casually. If we're going to be honest, I did steal that stuff, but you're responsible for that man's suicide too. You're an accomplice as well, hahahaha..."

Perhaps feeling that there was no longer any need to hide anything now that things had come this far, Anzai Morio actually revealed the very words he had used to threaten Mamegaki Taeko.

Seeing the man drenched in sweat, enduring the pain in his shoulder while still sneering sarcastically from the side, Jiang Hang could not help looking at Conan beside him.

"Conan, I kicked this guy, and it looks like something might be wrong with his head too. You recorded everything he just said properly, right? That's all important evidence."

Although it would be troublesome to find evidence from back then now, with the man confessing in person and Mamegaki Taeko testifying as a witness, it would not be difficult to convict him.

In Japan, theft carried fairly severe penalties. Combined with the serious consequences caused by that theft all those years ago, as well as his blackmail and extortion over the years, it would be enough to keep him in prison for quite a long time.

Conan nodded solemnly. With what Mamegaki Taeko and Anzai Morio had said combined, he had also figured out the course of events.

Because of the mistake she had made in her youth, Mamegaki Taeko had feared that if the people around her discovered her past, they would look at her differently. That fear had become an enormous burden on her shoulders.

Meanwhile, Anzai Morio, the true culprit, still showed no trace of remorse even now. He had even used his past crime to threaten and extort Mamegaki Taeko.

That was what had led Mamegaki Taeko to use this method for one final negotiation with Anzai Morio.

Watching Shimasaki Yūji stay by Mamegaki Taeko's side, constantly comforting her and even saying that he would bear it with her, while Mamegaki Taeko wept uncontrollably in her lover's arms after telling everything, Conan felt that she had made this choice in order to attain true happiness.

That knife had not been meant to kill Anzai Morio. It represented Mamegaki Taeko's determination to draw a line between herself and her past.

It was just that Mamegaki Taeko had not expected Anzai Morio's reaction to be so intense.

Conan could almost imagine it: if they had not come to stop them, and the dispute between Mamegaki Taeko and Anzai Morio had continued escalating, it would probably have ended in bloodshed.

And if it had come to that, the happiness that belonged to Mamegaki Taeko would have slipped away from her.

With that thought, Conan looked at Jiang Hang beside him.

Preventing tragedies that might otherwise have happened... was that what he had been doing all along?

The Things Hidden Behind the Case

Soon, the police who had received the report arrived at the scene.

Because this case involved assault, the ones who came were the familiar Inspector Megure and Takagi Wataru.

However, since Anzai Morio was also implicated in a theft case from ten years ago as well as recent blackmail and extortion, the case would likely be transferred to Investigation Section Three, which specialized in handling such cases.

The recording from Conan's bug had already been handed over to the police. Based on its contents, Mamegaki Taeko would not have a criminal case opened against her. At most, she would be detained for a few days and fined.

As for Jiang Hang, who had kicked Anzai Morio to the ground, since he had acted to help someone in danger and the initial examination showed that Anzai Morio had not suffered any serious injuries, all he had to do was go to the police station and give a detailed statement.

Naturally, when it came to how the listening device had been placed on Anzai Morio, Jiang Hang and Conan explained it as a child's prank and an accident. They had not expected it to come in handy.

Inspector Megure did not pursue the matter any further.

And because police sirens were blaring at the shrine, the members of the production crew, who had been having a gathering at an inn not far from the shrine, all came over to see what was happening.

As for Imai Midori, who had hurried over after hearing the news, she was already an admirer of Jiang Hang, so she naturally believed without hesitation that he must have noticed something earlier and had deliberately come to stop tonight's tragedy.

She remembered the "more important matter" Jiang Hang had mentioned to her before he walked over to the production crew. Could it be that he had already noticed the problem then?

She only felt that Jiang Hang was becoming more and more impressive in her eyes, which instead left her somewhat conflicted.

In reality, Jiang Hang kept refreshing her understanding of the profession of "detective." But in a story, what method could she use to highlight his abilities without making the story less entertaining?

Still, that was not a question she could come up with an answer to just by standing there and agonizing over it for a while.

On the other hand, Gondō Taketoshi, the director who had been happily drinking earlier, had an especially colorful expression when he learned that something disastrous had nearly happened to his production crew.

After answering the police's questions, he turned his gaze toward Jiang Hang.

According to the police, Anzai Morio and Mamegaki Taeko had gotten into a conflict while he was blackmailing her.

Fortunately, Jiang Hang had appeared and stopped the conflict before it could escalate further, bringing the situation under control.

He let out a deep sigh of relief. Although a blackmail incident involving a member of the production crew was still no minor scandal, the impact was far less serious than someone dying on set.

Gondō Taketoshi looked at Yoko Okino beside him.

A month ago, Yoko Okino had been involved in a murder case, when her ex-boyfriend had committed suicide in the room where she lived.

He remembered that the case seemed to have been solved by Kogoro Mouri.

Even though the final investigation proved that it had nothing to do with Yoko Okino, having her ex-boyfriend commit suicide in her room was still a stain that would be difficult for her to erase.

Although Yoko Okino's agency had paid an enormous price to suppress the impact of the incident, she had still been affected considerably.

If a murder case had occurred on his production crew as well, Gondō Taketoshi, as the director, would inevitably have borne some of the blame.

Fortunately, Jiang Hang had prevented the tragedy. Gondō Taketoshi had already owed Jiang Hang a favor, and now he naturally felt even more grateful to him.

He could not help comparing Kogoro Mouri and Jiang Hang in his mind.

The former had solved several murder cases in succession over the past month, making the name "Sleeping Kogoro" especially famous. The latter had only encountered one murder case this past month, and the incident that had truly made him famous was actually his confrontation with Kaito Kid a few days ago.

A famous detective's reputation naturally had to be built through all kinds of cases.

Kogoro Mouri had solved nearly ten murder and kidnapping cases in a single month. He was exactly what people imagined a famous detective should be.

Although Jiang Hang had quite a reputation within the police force, to ordinary people, aside from his confrontation with Kaito Kid, he had no particularly notable cases to his name. At most, he had helped the police find the culprits behind several murders from years ago.

Previously, Gondō Taketoshi had thought Kogoro Mouri was still the better detective when it came to deduction. He had wanted to curry favor with Jiang Hang only because he owed him one. But now, that might not have been the case.

Perhaps what had happened today was not as simple as Jiang Hang claimed—not merely a chance encounter.

It was highly possible that Jiang Hang had discovered the conflict between Anzai Morio and Mamegaki Taeko beforehand, allowing him to stop the tragedy at just the right moment.

Perhaps Jiang Hang truly had not encountered many murder cases over the past month, but behind the scenes, who knew how many tragedies he had already prevented?

Thinking of that, Gondō Taketoshi immediately felt deep respect for Jiang Hang.

Once Jiang Hang had finished answering the police's questions, he hurried over and offered him his most sincere thanks.

"You don't need to thank me for something like this. More importantly, Nachi Shingo from your production crew was also brutally extorted by that man Anzai. You'll have to handle that matter yourself," Jiang Hang told the director.

Gondō Taketoshi wiped his forehead and said he would handle those issues carefully.

Making sure the police were not paying attention to them, he explained to Jiang Hang in a low voice, his face full of helplessness.

Only then did Jiang Hang learn from his explanation that Anzai Morio had once been one of Xiao Zhongda's lackeys.

The reason he had been able to join Gondō Taketoshi's production crew was that, before his downfall, Xiao Zhongda had sent him there to secretly photograph the celebrities' private lives and use the images for blackmail and extortion.

Although Xiao Zhongda had been out of power for some time, out of caution, Gondō Taketoshi had not fired Anzai immediately. He had planned to wait until the crew had settled that month's wages, then dismiss him in a more prudent manner.

Unexpectedly, Anzai Morio seemed to know that he would not be able to stay with the crew much longer. So, during his final days there, he had frantically used the celebrity scandals he had secretly photographed to blackmail them, intending to grab one last haul before leaving Tokyo.

But Anzai Morio probably never imagined that, after extorting those celebrities so smoothly all this time, he would end up falling today at the hands of Mamegaki Taeko, a "high school classmate" he had considered no threat at all.

Having stopped another tragedy and ensured that a scumbag received the punishment he deserved, Jiang Hang remained in an exceptionally good mood over the next few days.

After learning that Anzai Morio was connected to Xiao Zhongda, Jiang Hang passed the information on to Chihiro Ayasato, who was still handling matters related to Xiao Zhongda. He believed Chihiro Ayasato would be able to find more records of Anzai Morio's crimes within Xiao Zhongda's intelligence company.

Now, Jiang Hang stood once again on the rooftop of the Beika Art Museum.

Unlike the empty rooftop from a few days ago, there was now an aviary up there.

There was plenty of room at the agency, but keeping a golden eagle there would have been rather cramped.

Moreover, Jiang Hang's agency was beside a shopping district. Some of the neighbors were afraid that the imposing eagle might hurt them. Taking everything into consideration, Jiang Hang had simply built the aviary at the museum instead.

Thanks to the jewelry exhibition and a batch of new exhibits, along with effective management and promotion, the museum's daily visitor traffic had now stabilized at a very respectable level.

However, the passage leading to the rooftop was well concealed. Ordinary visitors could not find the way up, so there was no need to worry about tourists wandering onto the roof.

If Jiang Hang found it too troublesome to go through the museum to reach the rooftop, he could also use the Rope Dart to get to the top in three seconds.

As for feeding Altair and cleaning the aviary, Jiang Hang had entrusted those duties to Miyano Akemi.

Jiang Hang had initially wanted to hire a professional for the job, but Miyano Akemi had volunteered to take it on herself.

She seemed to feel that her usual work was too easy and was somewhat embarrassed about it, so she had proactively offered to help him care for the eagle.

Since Altair was a reward from the system, and Jiang Hang had trained it himself, its temperament was quite gentle as long as it had not received an order from Jiang Hang. Thus, he could safely leave the task to Miyano Akemi.

As long as Miyano Akemi was careful, there definitely would not be any problem with Altair.

Jiang Hang was currently continuing to train Altair on the rooftop while also attempting deeper communication with it.

After the Anzai Morio extortion incident had ended a few days earlier, Jiang Hang had received a new reward from the system.

This reward, however, was somewhat different from the ones Jiang Hang had received before.

In addition to requiring Jiang Hang himself to meet certain conditions, it also required him to develop a higher degree of mutual understanding with his eagle.

The reward he had received this time was another branch of the Eagle Vision function: "Shared Eagle Vision (Beginner)."

The effect of this skill was simple. Once he mastered it, Jiang Hang could directly access Altair's perspective to search for whatever he wanted to know.

Jiang Hang could indeed see very far with Eagle Vision now, but observing from the ground and observing from high in the air from a bird's-eye view were completely different.

More importantly, Jiang Hang's speed on the ground was limited. Even if he could become the Mount Akina Speed King, he could not possibly be faster than a golden eagle flying through the sky.

When hunting prey in a dive, a golden eagle could exceed speeds of three hundred kilometers per hour. Once a creature on the ground was targeted by one, it was basically impossible to escape its pursuit.

However, although Jiang Hang had already obtained the Shared Eagle Vision ability, he had only barely mastered it so far.

As soon as Altair moved more than two meters away from him, or Jiang Hang lost focus even slightly, Shared Eagle Vision would immediately disconnect. It was still far from the ability's performance in the game.

There was nothing Jiang Hang could do about that. He could only spend time slowly improving the synchronization rate between himself and Altair.

After yet another failed attempt to share Eagle Vision over a greater distance, Jiang Hang rubbed his eyes.

"Jiang Hang, is this how you train your eagle? It really looks quite unusual." It was Miyano Akemi, who had come to feed Altair and happened to see the strange sight of Jiang Hang and his eagle staring wide-eyed at each other.

"I'm building mutual understanding between us, but it isn't going very smoothly yet." Jiang Hang shook his head, then took several pieces of fresh meat from Miyano Akemi and tossed them toward Altair.

Watching Altair catch a small piece of fresh meat Jiang Hang had thrown while still in midair, Miyano Akemi could not help but marvel. "I think you've already trained Altair very well. I've never seen an eagle as smart as it."

A faint smile appeared on Jiang Hang's face. "Compared to ordinary eagles, of course it's impressive. But my expectations for it go far beyond just this."

As he spoke, he seemed to recall something and looked at Miyano Akemi beside him. "Oh, right. That memory card you told me about before—I went to check on it over the past two nights."

Miyano Akemi froze for a moment, then recalled it. After hiding her identity and staying at the art museum, she had given a more detailed account of herself and the affairs within the Black Organization.

While she had been in the Black Organization, she had usually only been able to contact her younger sister once in a long while. Aside from the occasional phone call, they would also mail things to each other.

What Miyano Akemi told Jiang Hang about was a somewhat unusual memory card her younger sister had sent her not long ago.

Although the memory card appeared to contain only ordinary files, Miyano Akemi, as a peripheral member of the Black Organization, had discovered hidden files from the organization on it. However, without the password, she had been unable to access the card's real contents.

Miyano Akemi did not know whether her sister had deliberately sent it to her or had accidentally mailed her the wrong thing.

But she felt it might contain quite a few secrets about the Black Organization, so to be safe, she quickly hid the memory card away.

And last night, Jiang Hang had gone to where she had hidden it to check whether the Black Organization had discovered the memory card.

Now that Jiang Hang had already checked it, Miyano Akemi looked at him with some concern, wanting to know the results of his investigation.

"I took it out from the place you mentioned last night. It's with Professor Agasa now for examination."

Jiang Hang continued, "Professor Agasa is still cracking the password on the memory card. It would naturally be best if we could get some intelligence about the Black Organization from it."

However, Jiang Hang was not optimistic about it.

"But I think you'd better not get your hopes up too much. Since the memory card passed the Black Organization's inspection and ended up in your hands, someone from the Black Organization may have tampered with it long ago."

Before Miyano Akemi had prepared to leave the Black Organization, she had indeed been ready to die, and she had also left behind quite a few things concerning the Black Organization.

The memory card Jiang Hang had secretly retrieved was one of them.

It was just that the Black Organization had been far more shrewd than she had imagined.

Over the past ten-odd days, whenever he had the time, Jiang Hang had gone at night to investigate the places where Miyano Akemi had hidden her things.