Chapter 65: So You’re the One They Call a Childhood Trauma, Huh?

"A bunch of damn rats!"

The library director, gripping an iron pipe, glared coldly at the descending elevator.

Lying atop the elevator was the corpse of a man.

He looked away, glancing at the floor indicator panel.

"First floor, huh?"

He muttered, then turned toward the stairwell.

"Escaping won't be that easy."

He ran from the third floor to the first.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he stared at the elevator doors that were just about to open and let out a sinister laugh:

"Finally caught up with you."

Ding!

The sound of the elevator arriving rang out.

The moment he heard it, the director rushed forward.

Prying open the elevator doors with his bare hands, he drew the iron pipe from behind his back and shouted into the elevator:

"Prepare yourselves, you damn little rats!"

But... his voice echoed into silence.

The elevator was empty.

"Gone?"

He blinked at the vacant space inside, startled.

Realizing what had happened, he muttered:

"Looks like they got off partway down?"

"Clever little rats!"

Sneering, he slammed the emergency stop button on the elevator.

"Without the elevator, no matter how clever you are, you're trapped in here like fish in a barrel!"

Tap tap tap...

Just then, a set of footsteps echoed behind him.

Huh?

Could there be someone else besides those little rats?

The director frowned.

As he turned around, something big, black, and very thick suddenly filled his vision.

A wooden sword.

WHACK!

"Aaargh!"

A dull thump rang out, followed by a pained scream.

Just as he turned his head, he was smacked squarely in the face by some sneaky bastard with a wooden blade.

The sharp pain forced him to clutch his head, his twisted face contorting in agony as he stumbled backward into the elevator.

The iron pipe in his hand clattered loudly to the ground.

After the pain subsided a little, he lifted his head with a snarl.

What greeted him was a young man in a black vest and slacks, standing at the elevator doors with a wooden sword in hand.

For some reason, the director felt as though the glasses the youth wore were gleaming with a ghostly, chilling light.

He glanced at the fallen iron pipe outside the elevator…

Then at the wooden sword in the young man's hand.

Yeah... no way he could win this.

Without hesitation, he tried to close the elevator doors.

But the buttons didn't respond.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered…

He'd just stopped the elevator himself!

He was the fish in the barrel!

As he froze in disbelief, Fujino once again raised his wooden sword...

Deep into the night, the sound of howls echoed through the library.

The screams were so miserable they could not move anyone to tears.

To someone who didn't know the situation, it might have sounded like someone was slaughtering a pig.

Hearing those blood-curdling cries, the kids hiding on the second floor began to tremble.

Conan, though, was brave.

Grabbing a flowerpot, he followed the direction of the sound cautiously.

Then... he saw something he'd never forget for the rest of his life.

Inside the dim elevator shaft, a man was beating another person's head viciously with a stick-like object.

As he hit, he muttered under his breath:

"You're the so-called childhood trauma, huh?"

"Glowing red eyes, huh?"

"Pretending to be a ghost, huh?"

"Keep it up, I dare you..."

Who the hell was this guy?!

That kind of beating could kill someone!

Had the director murdered yet another victim?

Shaking off the thought, Conan furrowed his brows.

Without hesitation, he crouched low, adjusted the settings on his soccer shoes, and aimed at the flowerpot he'd just set down.

BANG!

A loud explosion of motion and sparks!

The flowerpot shot like a bullet toward the back of the person doing the beating.

Hearing the sudden whooshing sound, Fujino, who had been striking the director, suddenly felt a surge of danger.

Thanks to his enhanced senses, he reflexively dodged to the side.

CRASH!

The flowerpot exploded inside the elevator shaft.

If that had hit... I could've died.

Fujino stared at the broken shards on the ground, swallowing hard.

He already had a pretty good idea who was behind this sneak attack.

Turning his head, he saw a familiar figure standing in the light—

wearing the iconic blue suit and still-smoldering soccer shoes.

It was Conan.

"Fujino?!"

Seeing clearly through the flickering light, Conan recognized the "attacker."

Who else could it be?

Fujino looked back at Conan, his eye twitching.

This little brat—paying back a life-saving rescue with sabotage?!

His grip on the wooden sword tightened.

Conan, noticing the sharp glint in Fujino's eye, felt a cold sweat trickle down his back.

Seeing the older teen looking like he was about to beat him to death, Conan had no words.

He scratched his head and stood there, awkwardly pretending to play dumb.

(Pretending-to-be-innocent.jpg)

"So, Fujino, why are you here?"

After a long pause, Conan finally broke the silence with an awkward question, his eyes full of confusion.

"I heard someone scream here, so I came to check it out..."

Fujino walked over and firmly rubbed Conan's messy hair, lifting him slightly off the ground and scolding him:

"And how many times have I told you? Kids should speak to their elders with respect!"

"Yes, Fujino... nii-san..."

Conan tried to squirm away, but one glance at the director foaming at the mouth made him behave instantly.

His expression turned into one of complete despair.

Numb.

After giving Conan a solid hair-ruffling session and settling the score for the sneak attack, Fujino finally asked:

"So, little Conan-kun, what the hell are you doing here so late... and what's with that lunatic who attacks on sight?"

"It was the director!"

Conan pointed to the man now lying unconscious and foaming at the mouth.

"He was dealing drugs in the library and murdered someone who accidentally caught him!"

"Seriously?"

Fujino faked a shocked face.

"Yes!"

Conan nodded proudly.

Then pointed at the elevator:

"The victim's body is hidden on top of the elevator shaft."

"So he killed because of the drugs..."

Fujino paused for effect and asked again:

"Then where are the drugs?"

"They're in the children's library."

"He hid them behind the bookshelf, stuffed inside books so no one would notice."

"Ah, I see."

Fujino smiled and nodded.

Half an hour later, Inspector Megure finally arrived.

As for why he was late? He claimed it was due to traffic.

Who knows?

Frankly, at this pace, if there had been danger, the person who reported it might have already died before help arrived.

Waiting for the police?

You'd be better off defending yourself.

Based on Fujino's statement—

The police found the victim's body atop the elevator shaft and a huge stash of drugs behind the bookshelf in the children's section.

This discovery got Inspector Megure super excited.

The entire back of a bookshelf was packed with drugs!

Even though it wasn't as much as what they found on Tsukikage Island, it was still a huge bust.

(End of Chapter)