### Chapter 66: Conan’s Theory

"Haha! Fujino, you've done it again, a huge accomplishment!"

After finishing the case, Megure Thirteen approached Fujino, patting him on the shoulder.

As expected, Fujino's cases were never small! This was a murder case! Megure had been troubled by it earlier in the afternoon, and now, Fujino had solved it by evening.

And he had also seized a good several kilograms of drugs!

"So, Megure, is there a reward or bonus for this case?" 

Instead of basking in Megure's praise, Fujino inquired about the reward. Praise and recognition didn't matter much to him—the small cash prize did.

He thought, though it wasn't as outrageous as dealing with a multinational gang, it should at least be a decent amount, like 100,000 to 200,000 yen. Even that would be enough.

"Uh…"

Megure hesitated. The reward for the bank robbery case was promptly approved due to the police department's urgent situation. However, this time…

In the end, he said, "I'll apply for a reward for you, Fujino."

Upon hearing this, Fujino's expression changed slightly, but he quickly forced a smile. "Alright then."

Though not frequently receiving rewards, Fujino knew well enough that such rewards required rigorous approval.

In Japan, it often took a day or two to process such approvals.

"Don't forget! We discovered the body!"

"Yeah, exactly! Fujino only subdued the criminal!"

"Even though it was Fujino who solved the case, we also played a part!"

At this point, the Kids Detective Group, who were unhappy with Megure's praise solely for Fujino, started arguing for their share of the credit.

Seeking praise and recognition is in a child's nature. Hearing Megure praise only Fujino made them feel unfairly treated.

"Ugh…"

Megure sighed, glancing at the kids. These kids were always fighting for credit. If not for Fujino, they might have ended up as 'dead rats,' right? But it was also true that their screams had attracted Fujino.

After some thought, he crouched down and patted the seemingly obedient Mitsuhiko on the head. "Of course, you all played a part too!"

"Exactly!"

"Our Junior Detective League…"

The kids cheered up, delighted at the recognition.

"Megure, what about the criminal?"

At that moment, a uniformed officer came running from a distance, asking Megure how to handle the criminal. "Should we send him to the hospital first or take him to the police station for questioning when he wakes up?"

After all, Megure Thirteen was the highest-ranking officer present. Any decisions needed his approval.

"I think we should take him directly to the police station."

Satou Miwako, who had finished processing the scene, came over and said, "Fujino-kun's swordsmanship is exceptional. Even though he's unconscious from the beating, he's unharmed… Just splash some water on him when we get back."

Satou was quite confident in Fujino's sword skills.

Don't ask her why just splashing water would work. The previous Italian robber had been handled similarly.

Megure nodded and waved his hand. "Then let's take him to the police station for interrogation!"

At this scene, Conan frowned.

Thinking back to the horrifying scene he had witnessed, he felt a cold sweat on his back.

The person was beaten to the point of foaming at the mouth, and they were fine? Was this some kind of scam?

That wasn't any sort of detective logic!

Of course, this was just Conan's internal monologue.

If Fujino heard these thoughts, he'd probably lift Conan and give him a good kick in the backside with his big boots, tossing him from the third floor. Just saying, kicking someone with a flower pot.

Using a super-electromagnetic cannon flower pot as a form of Conan logic?

"Fujino… do you know swordsmanship? Where did you learn it?" 

"Learned swordsmanship?"

Fujino turned and looked at Conan. "Have you heard of the Konoha Swordsmanship Dojo? I learned swordsmanship there from Suwa Yuji."

He certainly couldn't say he learned it from the system.

Recalling the swordsmanship masters he knew, only Suwa Yuji came to mind.

"Are you talking about Suwa Yuji, your swordsmanship teacher?" 

At this moment, an astonished voice came from the side.

Fujino turned to see Satou Miwako looking at him with surprise.

Wow, did she know Suwa Yuji?

Fujino frowned. "Satou, you know him?"

"No."

Satou shook her head and continued, "I've only heard of him. I heard he recently achieved the rank of 8th Dan in swordsmanship. If your teacher is him, it's no wonder."

'No wonder he could beat someone so badly without leaving any injuries.'

Satou thought to herself.

"I did hear he was aiming for a higher rank, but I didn't expect him to advance so quickly."

Fujino scratched his head, reflecting on Suwa's rapid promotion.

Swordsmanship 8th Dan is already a top level in Japanese swordsmanship. Moving further would be honorary 9th and 10th Dans. At 46 years old, if he wasn't interrupted by a certain small detective, his chances of reaching such honorary levels were quite high.

That's quite a big deal.

Fujino thought to himself.

Seems like he should visit the Konoha Swordsmanship Dojo one of these days.

But the name Konoha just felt odd…

Would their dojo have a secret technique called "Thousand Years of Pain"?

---

After finishing the paperwork at the police station and returning home, it was already deep into the night.

Parking his Ford Taurus in the underground garage, Fujino opened the bedroom door and collapsed onto the bed.

"Damn, traffic was a nightmare."

As he turned over on the bed, he muttered, "I wasn't even driving a Mazda… How could there be traffic? Guess I'll have to get a motorcycle soon; I have a motorcycle license."

In the early 1990s, traffic jams in Japan were quite common.

No restrictions, no odd-even license plate rules, and trucks and large vehicles could drive into the city center.

So, traffic was a major issue.

A motorcycle would be quite handy in such situations. You could even slip onto pedestrian paths in emergencies…

Not to say it's immoral, but that's how some drivers did things.

**Congratulations to the host for completing the detective career task: Library Murder Case**

**System Reward: 500,000 yen and 100 reputation points have been issued**

**Current detective level: 300 reputation points remaining**

**Current balance: 1,650,000 yen**

At that moment, the system's notification sound came into Fujino's ears as he lay in bed.

He sat up, looked at the system balance, and felt a rare sense of comfort.

After all, a little money still gave him some sense of security in this world.

**(End of Chapter)**