Chapter Twenty-Four: Conan: Tang Ze, Save Me!

That evening, sitting on the edge of his bed with a notebook full of names, Karasawa felt like a hitman ticking off targets as he crossed out "Edogawa Conan."

It was weird, but strangely exhilarating. Karasawa posed with the notebook for a moment before tucking it away into his inventory. Something filled with spoilers like this couldn't be left out in the open; if Amuro Tooru found it and saw "Furuya Rei" written inside, there would be no explaining that away.

"That's my second Co-op now. I don't know why Conan would sneakily give me 'Hidden Breath,' but I'll take it," Karasawa muttered, wrapping himself up in his duvet. "It’s better than nothing. This skill might actually be useful for a speedrun of a Palace."

Tucked into his cocoon, he closed his eyes and drifted into sleep, waking up in the deep-blue bar.

"Welcome." Leon was behind the counter, polishing a glass as usual. Today, he was slightly more welcoming than before, offering a nod and a faint smile. Once they had grown familiar, Leon usually maintained the attitude of a cynical friend who couldn't be bothered, rarely acting as polite as he had on the first day.

"You're in a good mood today. Something good happen?" Karasawa sat down, quickly noticing the change. "Oh? New stock!"

Previously, the liquor cabinet behind Leon had only held a few bottles of Bourbon whiskey. Though they were inexhaustible and replenished themselves, it had always been just those few bottles. Now, a new set of bottles sat on the top shelf. Karasawa didn't need to look at the labels to know what they were.

Rye whiskey!

It had to be. Although he hadn't formally met him, Karasawa had caught a glimpse of Akai Shuichi from afar today. He was pleasantly surprised that even a distant sighting counted toward an achievement.

"So just seeing them is enough? It doesn't matter if we aren't acquainted?" Karasawa picked up a glass of Rye poured by Leon and took a sip. "That’s not bad at all..."

Unlike the rich, mellow Bourbon, the intense, throat-burning Rye felt refreshing and novel. He wondered if Leon could mix cocktails once the liquor selection grew... If the requirements for lighting up the "Black Organization" menu were this broad, he had some ideas. After all, many of the Organization’s codenamed members died quite quickly; he didn't have much time to "check in" on them.

"If the Easter eggs were too hard to design, it wouldn't be any fun," Leon shrugged, pouring a drink for himself.

"The person I saw today really was Akai Shuichi. And he’s linked to Rye whiskey—it seems the plot has shifted a bit..." Karasawa swirled his glass, his thoughts wandering. "I wonder what kind of ability Akai Shuichi will cough up..."

If he happened to get a 'Sniper' skill, that would be almost embarrassing! Karasawa happily began planning his new strategy. Dreams really did have everything!

***

Karasawa woke up the next day with a smile on his face. It was a good thing Amuro Tooru hadn't installed surveillance in his room; otherwise, the sight of Karasawa waking up with such a glowing, sinister grin would have been enough for Amuro to drag him to a psychiatrist. It was borderline psychopathic.

Habitually, Karasawa picked up his phone to check the calendar before getting out of bed. Excellent—a day off. This high school life of one day on, one day off was enough to make the neighbor's kids weep with envy.

He lazily hugged his quilt, rolling over to try and catch a little more sleep. He understood the logic: his consciousness had been in the bar, so his body was fully rested, but he felt a lingering, hollow exhaustion. He felt he needed to sleep properly, otherwise, it felt like he’d pulled an all-nighter.

Just as he closed his eyes, his phone chimed. A new email.

"Hmm?" Karasawa opened one eye, glancing at the phone. He didn't recognize the notification sound. Since coming to Tokyo, he rarely received messages from the people he knew. He tapped the screen to wake the phone up again.

"HELP!!! COME QUICK!!!" He opened the email; the string of exclamation marks stung his eyes. He checked the sender: "Edogawa Conan."

"Good grief..." Karasawa covered his eyes with one hand, feeling a strange sense of loss. Hadn't they just made their deal yesterday? How was it that he was expected to start work the very next day without so much as a warm-up? Truly, no skill came for free.

Grumbling to himself, he dutifully got up to change. Since no location was mentioned, Conan must have meant the detective agency upstairs. Clearly, Conan couldn't be in any real danger there, so he likely needed help bailing him out of a sticky situation.

Karasawa resignedly took out the gold fan he’d received from Maru Tanjiro, packed it in a box, and used it as an excuse to tell Enomoto Azusa he was going upstairs to deliver a gift of thanks. He left the café and headed up.

The Mouri Detective Agency was on the second floor, while the Mouris and Conan lived on the third. It was still early, and the agency wasn't open yet. A cute girl stood in the stairwell, hesitating with her bag in hand outside the agency door.

Karasawa looked up the stairwell and saw Conan standing between the second and third floors, peeking through the railing with one eye, staring at the girl with a stiff expression. When he saw Karasawa appear below, he seemed relieved and ran down.

"Please, find a way to lure her away," Conan whispered urgently, his tone desperate, as if his life depended on it. "Uncle Mouri will be down to open the shop in ten minutes!"

Turning back, Conan put on a bright, innocent smile and said to the girl, "Big sister, this is the big brother I was telling you about! He’s really amazing, just as good as Shinichi-nii! He’s a good friend of his, too! He must know where to find him!"

The girl, who had been wavering about whether to enter the office, brightened up. She trotted down the stairs, pulled a photo from her bag, and handed it to Karasawa. "This is the person I'm looking for... Kudo Shinichi. You know Kudo Shinichi, don't you?"

"Yes, we're classmates. May I ask why you're looking for him...?" Karasawa took the photo. It showed Kudo Shinichi in his Teitan uniform, walking through a crowd after school, looking at the camera with a slightly surprised expression, as if caught off guard.

Karasawa raised an eyebrow. He immediately made the connection; he knew which case this was. He glanced at Conan, who was watching the girl like she was an enemy combatant, and understood why he’d asked for help.

"I've been looking for him. He suddenly disappeared, I can't reach him, and he hasn't been to school. I don't know what to do..." The girl nervously twisted the hem of her pleated skirt, looking down, afraid to meet his eyes. "I just want to see him. I... I'm his girlfriend!"