When Vermouth suddenly entered, Haibara was flustered and fidgeting beside me. I hit the back of Haibara's head to snap her out of it.
Thwack!
"Ugh..."
When I hit the back of her head, Haibara finally calmed down. The manager left the room. Vermouth, who had been watching, looked at Haibara for a moment, then sat down.
"Nice to meet you, Onmyōji Jin. As you may know, I'm Chris Vineyard."
"I see, Ms. Vineyard. Nice to meet you. I'm Onmyōji Jin. It's an honor to meet such a famous person."
Vermouth was a quite voluptuous beauty with platinum blonde hair and blue-green eyes. She was exactly my type.
"But why did your little sister seem so surprised to see me..."
"It's because many vengeful spirits are clinging to you. She was probably very surprised to see that."
At those words, Vermouth flinched for a moment, as if struck.
"Well, since you're a client, I won't ask why so many vengeful spirits are clinging to you."
"That's a relief."
I quickly made up an excuse. I could have just said she was surprised because Ms. Chris Vineyard is famous, but Haibara was flustered to the point of sweating cold, so I had no choice but to come up with this excuse. I'd have to scold her about this later.
"So what brings you here?"
"Well, an acquaintance of mine lost his car in this town. He asked me to find it, but no matter how much I searched, I couldn't find it. So I came. Plus, I was curious about Onmyō arts."
I pretended to think for a moment, then said.
"Asking me to find a car that isn't even yours... That's a rather difficult request. Do you have any information about the car? A photo would be helpful."
"I don't have a photo. The car is a black Porsche 356A. The owner is a man. It's a car over 50 years old, not easily seen."
As expected, there was no photo. The Black Organization would have no reason to take and keep photos of their own car.
"With just that, I can't find it. Among classic car enthusiasts, there are quite a few who own Porsche 356As. It's hard to locate with such limited information. If there were something distinctive about it... Is there anything else you can tell me?"
"No..."
"I see. Unfortunately, I don't think I can help you with my abilities. Since it's a very rare car, you'd probably get faster results by asking the police than an Onmyōji like me."
She seemed to understand, as she sighed and said.
"Hoo... I suppose you're right."
Vermouth took a stack of bills from her bag and placed it in front of me. I looked at it and shook my head.
"Since I couldn't help you, I won't accept this money."
Hearing that, Vermouth thought for a moment, then said.
"Then let me ask something else instead. You said vengeful spirits are clinging to me. Can you tell how many?"
"53."
I answered Vermouth's question without hesitation. Vermouth trembled slightly, as if getting goosebumps, and her complexion turned pale. And well she might, since it exactly matched the number of people she had killed so far.
"I-I see..."
Vermouth took more bills from her bag, placed them on the table, and stood up.
"We may see each other often. If something else comes up, I'll ask again."
"Understood."
She greeted me and left. I confirmed she had left, then hit the back of Haibara's head again.
Thwack!
"Ugh!"
"Are you trying to walk around with a sign saying 'I'm a very suspicious person, please suspect me'?"
"I said I get it, stop hitting me."
I asked Haibara, who was holding her head in pain.
"That woman has many vengeful spirits clinging to her, and seeing you so surprised, she must be a member of the organization."
"Hoo... You're right. She appeared so suddenly, I was really surprised too."
"If you keep getting surprised like that, you'll blow your cover and get people around you killed. If you're fine with that, keep being surprised."
"I'll be careful..."
Having warned her to this extent, I figured she'd understand, so I left it at that. We saw a few more clients and finished the day. Haibara's daily wage was now increased to 50,000 yen. Onmyōji work wasn't daily, and lately, not many commercial offers were coming in, so I had no choice but to raise it. It seemed the problem was that we had filmed too many commercials in a short period.
Haibara was using that money to access papers, buy books, and buy snacks. Among these, books cost the most; being specialized, they were quite expensive. So I sometimes supplemented it.
And now that we were entangled with the Black Organization, I also attached a shadow soldier to Haibara. I instructed it to actively step in if she was in danger, so there shouldn't be a problem. In fact, if I sent even one shadow soldier to infiltrate the Black Organization, they would be annihilated. There's no way they could handle a super-soldier shadow soldier that doesn't flinch even when shot.
A few days passed. After school, when I went to the Mori Detective Agency with Ran, Conan wasn't there for the first time in a while. It was a bit strange not seeing Conan, who had been there almost like his own home.
"Conan isn't here today?"
"He said he's going camping with Dr. Agasa and the Junior Detective League kids in a few days. So I think that's why. He's probably at Dr. Agasa's house preparing for the camping trip."
"I see."
After talking with Ran for a while, I returned home. A few days later, Ran delivered the news that Conan had been shot and hospitalized.
"What? He was shot?"
"Yeah. He went camping and happened to find a cave, where he ran into some bank robbers. He was shot while fleeing. Fortunately, he's past the critical stage."
"That's a relief. That kid... has terrible luck... It's not easy to run into that many incidents so often."
"I know..."
This episode seemed to be the 'Desperate Revival' arc. This case wasn't one Conan actively got involved in; it was just bad luck that he happened to encounter the criminals in a cave. Seeing this, it seemed even incidents loved Conan. They followed him wherever he went. They seemed truly destined for each other.
"Let's go together after school today. Sonoko, do you want to come too?"
When I also invited Sonoko, she agreed.
"Yeah, I'll go too. It's not like we're strangers."
So after school, we went to my house, picked up Haibara, and arrived at the hospital where Conan was staying. Conan was playing a new game with the Junior Detective League kids, and Kudo Yukiko was cutting fruit for them.
"Auntie Yukiko."
"Ah, you're all here."
"We brought some fruit too."
"Thank you."
Yukiko welcomed us warmly. Then Sonoko asked Yukiko.
"Have you heard from Shinichi lately?"
"He contacts me sometimes. He says he's working on some difficult case in cooperation with the police, but I don't know the details."
"Is that so?"
Ran just listened and didn't ask further. She seemed to have no interest in Shinichi anymore. Seeing that, Yukiko looked bitter. Conan was just playing games with the kids, not even aware we had arrived.
'With that attitude, no wonder he loses the girl.'
After watching quietly, Sonoko snatched the game console from him and said.
"We came because we were worried about you, you little squirt."
Only then did Conan see us, look embarrassed, and greet us.
"Ahaha, you're here."
"You're too late to greet us!"
Then Ran said.
"Don't be so hard on him. He's sick."
"We were really worried because we heard he was shot, but you don't even look like you're in pain..."
Then Conan pointed to his stomach.
"This is where I was shot. If it had been a bit higher, they said it would have been really dangerous. I was just lucky."
Then the Junior Detective League kids added.
"That's right. Conan was unconscious all day and just barely woke up."
"The doctor said he was really lucky."
"Th-That's right."
The Junior Detective League kids told us about what happened that day, painting Conan as a superhero. They seemed grateful to Conan for taking the bullet for them.
We ate the fruit Yukiko had cut for us, chatted for a while, then said goodbye and left the hospital. On our way out, we saw Heiji and Kazuha coming to the hospital, probably also to visit. Ran spotted Heiji and waved happily.
"Oh! Heiji, Kazuha~!"
"Oh~ Long time no see, everyone!"
"Are you both here to visit too?"
"Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen Conan."
Heiji knew Conan's identity and had solved cases with him, so it seemed he had made the trip even though it was far. Seeing this, Conan had some good relationships, at least.
"I see. It must have been hard coming all the way from Osaka."
"It's the weekend. Plus, it's a chance to go on a date with Kazuha after a long time."
At that, Kazuha blushed and looked embarrassed. Seeing that, Sonoko said enviously.
"Ah... I'm jealous. I wonder if Morgan-san is doing well getting his pilot's license."
Morgan was currently getting his PPL pilot's license in America, and then planning to get his next license, IR. Only with an IR could he fly at night and in bad weather.
"Who's Morgan?"
"Who else? My prince!"
When Sonoko casually blurted out such a cringey thing, Heiji looked a bit flustered.
"Ah... I-I see. Anyway, we're going to see Conan. Visiting hours are almost over."
"Yeah, see you later~"
We said our goodbyes and dropped the girls off at home.
A few more days passed. Conan was discharged safely, and Morgan got his license. So I bought a Cirrus Vision Jet G2, a 7-seat single-engine jet, and stored it at Teterboro Airport near Manhattan. Of course, I modified both an inspection version and a personal use version, and stored the inspection version. I planned to fly it whenever I got bored.
I also bought a vessel for Morgan. Not a large yacht like the previously purchased 'Palmer Johnson Khalilah', but a moderately sized, ocean-going yacht called the 'Bering 70', which I also modified. I had told him his dream was to sail around the world, so it would be strange not to have a yacht. Buying all of this probably cost about 15 billion won.
With everything done, when Morgan returned to Japan, Sonoko made a huge fuss, crying and carrying on.
"Boo-hoo~! It was so hard waiting for you."
"Calm down. I was just here two weeks ago."
"Two weeks is too long!"
"I-Is that so? Anyway, everything is finished now, so I'll be in Japan for a long time."
"Really? Then let's go on a trip!"
"Huh? Aren't you going to school now? And it's not even vacation, yet you want to go on a trip..."
Ran, who had been watching from the side, also calmed Sonoko down.
"Sonoko, I know you're happy to see him after a long time... but Morgan-san just got back from America, so he must be tired. So I think you should think about a trip later."
"I suppose you're right..."
Sonoko was still inexperienced in love and a bit lacking in consideration for her partner. This couldn't be helped, but I thought she would improve gradually.
And so Morgan started living in our house again, and Ran and Sonoko came to our house every day to hang out before going home. But Ran had to prepare Kogoro's meals, so she couldn't stay long.
That day, I was walking Ran home when the agency seemed a bit noisy, so I went in with her.
"Dad, we're home~ Oh, you have a guest."
The guest was a middle-aged woman with her hair neatly tied back and slightly sharp eyes. This woman was clearly Heiji's mother, Hattori Shizuka, Heiji's mother and the wife of Heizo. True to the Conan universe, where mothers are quite beautiful, Shizuka was also a remarkably attractive milf, on par with Kudo Yukiko.
"Both of you, be quiet for a moment. She's an important client."
Seeing Kogoro, who had dressed up neatly and even shaved after a long time, he seemed smitten by Shizuka's beauty. Ran and Conan looked at him with pitying expressions.
"Honestly, Dad... Here he goes again."
But Shizuka, while talking with Kogoro, kept glancing at me. She must have heard about me from her husband and son.
"So, the person Akenami-san is looking for is a middle school classmate?"
"Yes, we were in the same kendo club."
"Then wouldn't the graduation album have an address?"
"Well, you see, she transferred before graduation."
Hearing that, I approached Shizuka and stared intently at her face.
"Son-in-law, why are you doing that?"
"What's the matter..."
Everyone was flustered and asked me, but I instead asked Shizuka back.
"I don't understand why you're lying, Heiji's mother."
At that, everyone was shocked.
"Eh~!!! Heiji's mother??!!"
"Yes. From a distance, her spirit felt familiar, so I wondered if I'd seen her somewhere before. But up close, I can clearly see. The surname Akenami was probably her maiden name, or a made-up one."
Then Ran said, surprised.
"Eh~!? That's impossible! She doesn't have dark skin like Heiji!"
"That's probably because Heiji takes after his father, Superintendent Hattori."
"Ah~ I see..."
Then Shizuka also seemed surprised and flustered for a moment before speaking.
"As rumored, you're amazing, Onmyōji Jin. To be honest, I didn't believe in things like Onmyō arts... Let me greet you properly. I'm Hattori Shizuka, wife of the Osaka Superintendent. And Heiji's mother."
Hearing that, Kogoro was shocked and asked Shizuka.
"Are you really the wife of the Osaka Superintendent?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you make this request..."
"It was a test."
At that, Kogoro seemed surprised again.
"Huh? A test? For me?"
"Yes, that's right. Heiji would always come home injured after being with Mr. Mori. So I wondered if Mr. Mori might be treating Heiji harshly under the guise of detective lessons. Also, when you came to Osaka, you didn't stop by our house, so I was worried you might be a cold-hearted person without any blood or tears."
"Th-That's not true..."