Making Kaitou Kid Take the Blame

~

The next day was Monday.

In the morning, inside the abandoned building where the Maple Leaf Gold Coins were hidden.

"The place on this paper should be here, right?" Officer Takagi yawned, holding the "treasure map" and looking down at the layer of dust on the ground. He smiled sheepishly at the people behind him, "It looks like no one has been here..."

This place was indeed very remote. No wonder the detectives from the First Investigation Division felt comfortable letting a rookie like him lead the team here.

A group of officers took some photos first, then quickly found the several packages hanging from the ceiling.

Two officers slowly lowered the packages. Officer Takagi, wearing gloves, untied the ropes binding the packages. Upon seeing a pile of stones inside, he was utterly dismayed.

"These are... stones? Huh? Where are the Maple Leaf Gold Coins? Where are they? Weren't they supposed to be Maple Leaf Gold Coins in here?"

Officer Takagi poured out all the stones, even cutely flipping the package over to check. Then he opened the other two packages, only to find more piles of pebbles inside. Among the pebbles, a white, stiff piece of paper stood out conspicuously.

Officer Takagi picked up the stiff paper and saw a line of crooked writing:

"I've taken the Maple Leaf Gold Coins--Kaitou Kid, who occasionally needs money and wants to make a quick buck."

Kaitou Kid?

Officer Takagi stared blankly, thinking:

So, Kaitou Kid has started stealing Maple Leaf Gold Coins too?

Ekoda High School, Class 2-B.

It was currently break time.

Kuroba Kaito was talking with Nakamori Aoko when he suddenly felt his nose itch. "Achoo!" He sneezed.

Nakamori Aoko immediately put her arm in front of her, "Disgusting! Kaito, are you catching a cold? Darn it, don't infect me!"

"Idiot! How could I catch a cold?" Kuroba Kaito bickered with Nakamori Aoko.

"You must have caught a cold! Did you sleep with your stomach exposed last night?"

"Idiot! How is that possible!"

Koizumi Akako sat steadily in her seat, listening to Kuroba Kaito and Nakamori Aoko bicker. The tarot cards on her desk were flipped over one by one. When the last card was flipped, Koizumi Akako looked at the arrangement of the tarot cards with amusement, a smile suddenly appearing at the corner of her lips:

"This looks interesting. That guy Kuroba... seems to have been framed..."

Three days later, in the afternoon, after school.

Outside Teitan High School.

Shu Yunwen walked out of the campus quickly, carrying his bag.

At the school gate, the passenger door of a car opened, and a respectful person stood beside it, greeting him proactively, "Greetings, Lord Yunwen."

"Hello, Secretary Adachi," Shu Yunwen nodded and got into the car.

Adachi Roppei closed the car door for Shu Yunwen and returned to the driver's seat. He explained proactively, "Greetings, Lord Yunwen. Things at the agency are a bit busy today. Vice President Matsushita is entertaining guests at the agency, so he sent me to pick you up..."

"Mm, it's fine. The agency's matters are more important." Shu Yunwen raised his hand and looked at the digital watch on his wrist, "Please drive faster. I need to get home early tonight."

"Is there something going on at home, Lord Yunwen?" Adachi Roppei asked casually as the car started moving.

Shu Yunwen flipped through his backpack. "Nothing much at home. However, the teachers for several subjects assigned a lot of homework today, so I need to do my homework!"

"..." Adachi Roppei was speechless.

He just remembered that Shu Yunwen was still a high school student.

The car drove to Keqin Exorcist Agency. Shu Yunwen first went to the president's office to change his clothes before entering the reception room.

Adachi Roppei followed him in and poured him a cup of coffee. After spending a long time together, Adachi Roppei had learned Shu Yunwen's preferences. Compared to orange juice, cola, tea, and the like, Shu Yunwen preferred coffee. Both lattes and cappuccinos would earn a "good" from him.

In the reception room, the people sitting in front of him were acquaintances, so to speak.

Ono Yoko, her agent Yamagishi Eiichi, and the agency's president, Akechi Kunihito, who did not appear in the original work, were the guests this time.

Upon seeing Shu Yunwen, the three of them immediately stood up together and greeted him, "Greetings, Lord Yunwen. We are very sorry to trouble you to come here personally."

"Greetings to you too. The conditions at the agency are a bit basic. Please forgive us if the hospitality is lacking," Shu Yunwen nodded casually and turned to ask Matsushita Heisaburo, "Matsushita-kun, President Akechi and the others are here to sign the contract, aren't they? How are the negotiations going?"

Matsushita Heisaburo immediately replied, "Lord Yunwen, the draft of the contract has been prepared. As long as you agree, we can sign the contract now."

"Didn't I entrust all of this to you..." Shu Yunwen frowned. He disliked these kinds of tedious matters.

He had said two days ago that this matter was to be handled by Matsushita Heisaburo.

"Yes! It's my fault." Matsushita Heisaburo quickly lowered his head and apologized.

Ono Yoko, sitting opposite them, quickly said, "Lord Yunwen, please don't blame Vice President Matsushita. It's just that there's something I wanted to ask you about in person, which is why... I'm truly sorry, it was Yoko's capriciousness."

Shu Yunwen pouted and looked at Ono Yoko's demeanor.

Fine! With a beautiful woman pleading, even if he could see that Ono Yoko was putting on a bit of an act, he couldn't be bothered to pursue it.

"Miss Yoko, is there something you wanted to ask me?" Shu Yunwen casually picked up the contract on the table, scanned it quickly, and asked--

Okay, the contract states that Ono Yoko's agency is willing to pay Keqin Exorcist Agency 14 million Japanese yen annually to handle all supernatural incidents involving her artists and within her agency. Of course, this is just for consultation fees. If a master exorcist is needed, the fee is 250,000 yen per session for a regular master exorcist, and for Shu Yunwen himself, the fee starts at over 1 million yen, with basically no upper limit...

This contract can be considered very generous.

Ono Yoko spoke, "Lord Yunwen, actually, I still want to know, how is Fujie Akiyoshi's vengeful spirit doing now? I also asked Vice President Matsushita, but Vice President Matsushita doesn't seem to know..."

Beside her, Matsushita Heisaburo's nostrils twitched. He didn't not know, he was just too afraid to say, alright...

Shu Yunwen frowned, then said, "Miss Ono, I've already told you twice. Fujie Akiyoshi committed suicide and then tried to frame you and ruin you. He's not worth your concern."

"...Lord Yunwen, please!" Ono Yoko stood up directly and bowed ninety degrees.

In essence, Ono Yoko was still a kind woman.

Even after Fujie Akiyoshi's suicide, he still tried to frame her, and even after death, he continued to harass her, but he was still someone she had dated, someone with whom she had shared happy memories. She wanted to know about Fujie Akiyoshi's situation.

"..." Shu Yunwen was silent for a moment, then said, "...Alright, since you want to know, I'll tell you. I've already sent his vengeful spirit away. It has completely disappeared from this world."

Beside him, Matsushita Heisaburo rolled his eyes dramatically.

Sent away? More like you ate him in one bite, right?

Hmm... that phrasing is also a bit off. It should be said that after Shu Yunwen ate Fujie Akiyoshi, he found him unappetizing and threw him all back up...

Of course, Matsushita Heisaburo would never dare to tell anyone about this, even if it killed him.

Ono Yoko asked again, "Really?"

"Of course, it's true! I'm a professional exorcist, and we have ways to eliminate such souls. Of course, if you want to know more details, I'm very sorry, but I cannot disclose that. Those are secrets belonging to us exorcists." What Shu Yunwen meant was that if she continued to ask, he wouldn't answer.

It's confidential!

"Thank you, Lord Yunwen." Ono Yoko was disappointed, but she finally stopped asking.

With two swift strokes, Shu Yunwen signed his name on the contract and handed it to Akechi Kunihito. "President Akechi, it's a pleasure to cooperate with you."

Akechi Kunihito quickly nodded. "I'll be counting on your continued care, Lord Yunwen. By the way, Lord Yunwen, my friend, Mr. Manaka, has been troubled by some matters recently. He's waiting outside now and hopes you can help him resolve them."

"Mm, I understand," Shu Yunwen replied.

After the contract was signed, Ono Yoko and Yamagishi Eiichi left first, while Akechi Kunihito stayed.

The guest waiting outside was Akechi Kunihito's friend, Mr. Manaka. Manaka entered, followed by two people: one was old and balding, with thick eyebrows and a face full of gray stubble. He was the director of a museum called "Chusei," named Ochiai; the other was much younger, appearing to be in his early thirties, an employee of the museum named Kubota.

Of the three, Manaka gave off an arrogant and rude impression, Director Ochiai was humble but quiet, and Kubota was quite obsequious.

After some pleasantries, Shu Yunwen glanced at his watch, not wanting to waste any more time, and got straight to the point. "Boss Manaka, what brings you here?"

Boss Manaka's expression stiffened. He glanced at Akechi Kunihito beside him. Seeing Akechi Kunihito give him a look, he continued, "It's like this, Lord Yunwen. I recently bought the Chusei Museum and plan to convert it into a hotel. However, in the past few days, strange noises have been heard in the museum late at night. We checked the surveillance footage and found that a medieval suit of armor walks around the museum every night..."

"Uh..." Shu Yunwen looked at the few people in front of him again, feeling somewhat speechless.

A museum called "Chusei," a walking suit of armor, Boss Manaka, Director Ochiai, and a guy named Kubota...

Damn it!

This is exactly the cast of characters mentioned in a murder case, isn't it? A victim, a murderer, and someone framed as the murderer. However, he remembered that in that case, Boss Manaka seemed like a really annoying guy, the kind who deserved to die. Now, in front of him, this Boss Manaka, although a bit arrogant, doesn't seem that detestable...

While Shu Yunwen was lost in thought, Boss Manaka's voice reached him, "...Although I'm not interested in what happens in that damned museum, nor am I interested in the scrap metal inside, and in fact, from another perspective, such rumors within the museum might reduce the number of visitors, making it easier for me to shut it down later..."

"But, such rumors will still affect my future hotel business. So, if possible, please help me take a look at the museum. If there's really anything bad, please help me get rid of it!"

"As long as you can make all these negative rumors disappear, I will pay you a large sum of money. Please!"

While speaking, Boss Manaka, despite appearing to be pleading and using "please" repeatedly, had an air of "you absolutely must help me solve this," as if Shu Yunwen owed him from a past life.

Shu Yunwen rolled his eyes.

Well, it must be said that Boss Manaka, in Shu Yunwen's eyes, suddenly became detestable.

Who do you think I am, that you can order me around like that?

This kind of trash deserves to be killed!

PS: Made some revisions.

I have to go out this afternoon, and I posted this too hastily without time to revise.