Chapter 31: The Distortion of Humanity or the Collapse of Morality

The next day, Fujino boarded the Shinkansen to Kyoto.

Inside the special-class carriage, he gazed absently at the scenery flashing by the window, lost in thought.

He had some impression of Numabuchi Kiichiro.

He remembered that this was a man who had managed to escape the clutches of the Organization for over a year without being executed—a real wolf among men…

An extremely difficult opponent to deal with.

Even with Fujino's current strength, subduing him wouldn't be easy.

The reason he took on this job wasn't just because of the generous two million yen reward—

More importantly, he hoped to find clues about his parents' murder from that man.

Numabuchi Kiichiro had escaped the Organization's control a year ago, and in his flight, he'd killed several men in black suits...

Coincidentally, on the night his original host's parents were murdered—they were wearing black suits too.

The two incidents lined up too well.

So, Fujino had reason to suspect that Numabuchi Kiichiro was the murderer.

Plus, considering that in the Conan world, every case somehow ties back to the Black Organization...

He planned to capture Numabuchi Kiichiro and interrogate him thoroughly.

If it turned out he wasn't the killer, he'd just hand him over to the police.

But if it was him...

Silently, Fujino took out a photo of his parents from his dimensional storage space. A faint chill flickered in his dark pupils.

At that moment, a girl's voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts:

"Are you perhaps Detective Fujino—the one who took down that drug cartel all by himself recently?"

Snapping back to reality, Fujino turned to look at the girl standing next to his seat.

She looked young, in her early twenties, her face flushed shyly as she gazed at him.

Staring at the pure-looking girl before him, Fujino frowned slightly in confusion. "Miss... do you know me?"

"How could I not?"

The shyness on the girl's face quickly turned to excitement. "That incident caused a huge stir in the detective community!"

"...Was it that big of a deal?"

Fujino wasn't aware of how much of a splash that Moonshadow Island case had caused among the detective circles, so he found her reaction puzzling.

"Could I... get your autograph?"

As she spoke, she pulled a Sherlock Holmes detective novel from her backpack and handed it to him.

"I suppose... sure."

Fujino took a fountain pen from his pocket. "Where would you like me to sign?"

"Right here," she pointed at the title page.

Nodding, Fujino signed his name, "Fujino Tomoharu."

"Thank you so much!"

The girl bowed deeply and then quickly left.

"...Am I really that famous now?"

Watching her figure disappear down the aisle, Fujino chuckled softly to himself.

Yep, a typical pure-hearted girl of the Detective Conan universe.

A detective fangirl... how nice.

"Detective?!"

Meanwhile, across the carriage, a woman was staring at Fujino with wide, panicked eyes.

She had shoulder-length hair, and bright red lipstick, and wore a form-fitting pink office suit—a typical career woman look.

"Damn it... Why is there a detective here of all places?!"

Sensing that something felt off, Fujino frowned slightly and glanced over his shoulder.

Seeing nothing unusual behind him, he scratched his head. "Was it just my imagination?"

As soon as Fujino turned his head back around, the woman who had been secretly observing him let out a long breath of relief.

Clenching her teeth, she glared at Fujino's back and cursed in her heart:

"Seriously... How do I keep running into detectives everywhere I go? Hopefully, that guy doesn't find out about the deal that's about to go down..."

———

"Next stop, Nagoya! Next stop, Nagoya! Passengers getting off, please prepare…"

"Nagoya already?"

"Looks like we'll be in Kyoto soon."

Stretching lazily, Fujino listened to the train's announcement.

His mind drifted, recalling the Four Heavenly Kings of Nagoya from his past life…

"Fujino? What are you doing here?"

Looking around in confusion, he finally glanced down—

Standing next to him was a certain short-statured boy, looking at him in surprise.

"Conan?"

Fujino froze for a moment.

"How many times do I have to tell you—call me Big Brother Fujino!"

With a meaningful smile, Fujino ruffled Conan's spiky hair. "You know that, don't you, little Conan?"

"Listen to me, Fujino!"

Conan's face took on an unnatural seriousness for a child his age. "Just now, I overheard two men in black talking—they said there's a bomb hidden in someone's suitcase on this train! And that bomb… will explode in less than ten minutes!"

He didn't have time to quip back at Fujino's teasing, nor did he notice the strange look that was now creeping across Fujino's face.

All he could do was hope Fujino would believe a child's desperate warning.

Fujino's smile gradually stiffened.

Hold on—

Why is this harbinger of death on this Shinkansen too?!

Thinking back to the earlier announcement about Nagoya station, an ominous feeling swept over Fujino like a cold wave.

The Shinkansen bombing case!

If he remembered correctly, the workaholic bomber from the Organization had indeed planted a bomb on this train...

And more importantly—it was in this exact carriage!

Damn it!

Cursing under his breath, Fujino took a deep breath and asked Conan, "Where's the bomb?!"

"I only know it's in this carriage."

Good!

For a split second, Conan's annoyance toward Fujino lessened slightly.

Excitedly, he added, "That person went to the dining car earlier and came back carrying a black suitcase."

"A black suitcase…"

Fujino's gaze slowly shifted toward the corner of the carriage—landing on that suspicious-looking woman.

"It's probably her."

Standing up, Fujino slowly approached the woman, his tone turning stern.

"Miss, could you open your suitcase, please?"

"Why should I?"

The woman's heart began to pound as she locked eyes with Fujino's serious expression.

"What's in your suitcase?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Ignoring Fujino's demand, she clutched her suitcase tightly and tried to walk away.

"Wait!"

Fujino grabbed her wrist.

"I said I'm not opening it! Let go of me!"

The woman struggled to free herself, but when she couldn't break away, she suddenly shouted:

"Help! This man's harassing me!"

Just as she expected, her scream immediately drew everyone's attention.

After a slight pause, she suddenly came up with another idea and shouted louder:

"Help! This man's trying to molest me!"

"What?!"

"In broad daylight?!"

"I heard this guy's supposed to be some detective—didn't expect he'd be this kind of scum!"

The surrounding passengers all started condemning Fujino angrily.

A female reporter riding this train was already drafting tomorrow's headline:

[Shocking! Young Detective Harasses Woman in Broad Daylight—Is This the Distortion of Humanity or the Collapse of Morality? The Rights of Women Demand…]

(End of Chapter)