Chapter 48: Walking the Dog
Upon returning to the safehouse, Natsukawa opened the document.
The leather portfolio was quite thick, but inside were only two sheets of A4 paper.
The two sheets contained detailed personal information on two individuals.
One sheet featured a photo of a partially bald man, with a red stamp in the lower right corner.
A circular kanji for "death" (死) was stamped there—reddish-black, like a death sentence.
Looking at the name, it read "Yuu Mumu."
According to the personal information, this Yuu Mumu was the president of Kyogi Enterprises, a commercial computer software development company.
No wonder he's balding. It's an occupational hazard.
The second sheet of personal information listed the name as Haruki Tokinin.
According to the file, this person's profession was software engineering development, but the résumé stated he was currently working as a driver for Yuu Mumu at Kyogi Enterprises.
Going back further, two years ago, Haruki Tokinin had been a software developer at Kyogi Company.
Later, it seemed he'd started his own business with a friend.
A year ago, the company went bankrupt, and his friend committed suicide.
Six months ago, he'd returned to Kyogi Corporation, practically begging the company president, Yuu Mumu, for any position—even offering to work as a driver.
Needless to say, if nothing unexpected happened, the president was about to meet his demise.
Even without the red stamp, President Yuu Mumu would likely die soon at Haruki Tokinin's hands.
He was biding his time, undoubtedly waiting for the perfect chance to take revenge. The documents clearly stated that when Tokinin started his company, he'd faced relentless attacks from Kyogi Corporation.
Any project Tokinin's company pursued would be targeted by Kyogi.
They'd undercut him countless times, which was the direct cause of Tokinin's company's collapse.
Yuu Mumu was marked for death, and Haruki Tokinin would join the Organization after carrying out the assassination.
He clearly had outstanding achievements in software technology. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to negotiate with the Organization and wouldn't warrant sending a codename member to assist him with murder.
However, for safety's sake, Natsukawa still called Vodka to confirm the details.
After receiving confirmation, Natsukawa was about to hang up.
"Hey! You have three days to deliver the money to the Dahei Building."
Vodka was still resentful about Natsukawa hanging up on him earlier, and his tone was particularly harsh, as if he wanted to point a gun at him through the phone.
"Got it." Natsukawa replied indifferently.
After hanging up, Natsukawa headed downstairs and found that all three surveillance screens were now showing static.
This meant that Ueda, Nakajima, and Takeshita were all dead.
Compared to these new commercial software developers, the three of them who'd been developing games were obviously far less valuable, and the Organization never showed any mercy to those who were useless.
"Check the schedules of these two people for me. I need to deal with them tomorrow."
After handing the information to Franky and giving a brief explanation, Natsukawa rushed home.
9:30 PM was the time Natsukawa had promised Anya.
Bond hadn't been taken out for a proper walk in many days, and the farthest he'd gone recently was the backyard. If this continued, the dog would probably go stir-crazy.
Back at the Apartment
When he arrived home, Anya and Bond were already prepared.
Anya was fully equipped, wearing a little dress and carrying a small bag containing waste bags and a scooper.
Anyone who'd ever walked a dog would recognize the purpose of this equipment.
"Papa, I can't wait any longer!"
"You can't wait any longer?" Natsukawa sighed helplessly.
"Yes! Bond can't wait any longer!" With that declaration, Anya climbed onto the dog's back.
Seeing this, Natsukawa suspected Anya had ulterior motives. Whether she was actually planning to walk the dog or simply wanted to ride Bond around town like a horse, only Anya knew for certain.
"Woof?"
Bond barked in confusion. Why are you riding on me when you're supposed to be walking me?
It'll be inconvenient for me to use the bathroom later!
Understanding Bond's thoughts perfectly, Anya remained completely unconcerned, settling in comfortably.
She was exhausted from the past few days of constantly watching Café Poirot from her window, which had given her some eye strain.
As for whether Bond would be inconvenient when nature called...
"Bond, if you need to poop, just let me know!" Anya said cheerfully, squinting contentedly as she enjoyed the ride.
Encountering Conan
Just outside the apartment building, the two of them and the dog encountered Conan.
Conan had changed out of his filthy clothes, his disheveled appearance somewhat improved, but he seemed downcast, not even noticing the trio right in front of him.
Anya looked at Conan, who was about to bump into them, and asked curiously, "Conan, what's wrong with you?"
Bond, displaying remarkable intelligence, reached out with his paw and gently pressed against Conan's forehead, stopping him.
Huh?
Pushing the dog's paw away, Conan barely came to his senses, looking up to find himself mere centimeters from Bond's nose—the distance between them was only about three centimeters.
What a pity.
Natsukawa sighed internally. They almost kissed. Ran almost got NTR'd by Bond.
But it wasn't a big deal. Bond was a male dog and had been vaccinated, after all.
"Conan, where have you been?"
Natsukawa asked curiously.
Before returning home, he'd heard from Franky that Conan had run to the coat check to ask about Tequila.
After wasting two ten-thousand-yen notes, he'd been tricked into searching for a nonexistent car rental shop in Beika Town.
A bit of a disaster, honestly.
Whoosh!
Anya, sensing her father's thoughts, thoughtfully climbed off Bond's back and gently patted Conan's shoulder, looking mature and wise beyond her years:
"Conan, what are you looking for? Tell me if you're having trouble. As the leader of the Detective Boys, I'll definitely help if I can!"
"Really?" Conan turned to Natsukawa hopefully. "Then, Uncle Natsukawa, could you drive me to Aoyama Car Rental? I heard it's in 5-chome, but I can't find it anywhere. But since you have a car, you should know where Aoyama Car Rental is, right?"
Natsukawa was both amused and exasperated. This kid is still looking for that car rental shop. He really has perseverance.
But it was Anya who promised to help you, not me!
Helping was absolutely out of the question. Not only did Aoyama Car Rental not exist, but even if it did, he was busy walking with Anya—he didn't have time to play detective games with Conan.
"You said you could rent a car at Aoyama? There shouldn't be any car rental shops in 5-chome, right? I've never seen one there."
Natsukawa thought for a moment and added, "You could ask Uncle Mouri. Maybe he knows something. I remember Uncle Mouri rents cars fairly often, so he should be familiar with the rental places around here."
"That's right!"
Conan's face lit up with sudden realization. The Black Organization business had blinded him to the obvious fact that he had Kogoro Mouri, who frequently rented cars for cases.
"Oh! What are you guys going to do?" With his burden suddenly lifted, he finally asked about their plans.
Anya waved the leash in her hand enthusiastically. "Walking Bond!"
"W-Is that so? If you actually put the leash around Bond's neck, maybe I'd believe you."
Conan retorted dryly. One end of Anya's leash was wrapped around her wrist, while the other end dragged on the ground, leaving Bond completely unrestrained.
If Conan didn't know that Bond was exceptionally well-behaved and remarkably intelligent, he would definitely have lectured Anya about proper dog-walking etiquette.
"By the way, Anya and Uncle Natsukawa, be careful out there. I just heard fire trucks pass by several times. There might be a fire or something nearby."
Anya put her hands on her hips and looked serious. "I know! Anya isn't a child anymore. I'll be careful!"
"Whatever you say~" Conan quickly left, not wanting to prolong the conversation with Anya any further.
After Conan departed, Anya looked thoughtfully at the dog leash in her hand.
"What's wrong?" Natsukawa asked, puzzled.
"Papa, Bond doesn't like dog leashes. If you really want to put it around someone's neck, can you put it around mine instead?"
Anya looked completely serious as she prepared to loop the dragging end of the leash around her own neck.
"Absolutely not!"
Natsukawa quickly stopped her. If he actually put it on her, someone would definitely call the police. He'd be accused of child abuse, and where would he even go to defend himself?
"Woof!"
Suddenly, Bond barked urgently, tugging at Anya's bag before forcefully grabbing her clothes in his teeth and swinging her around.
"Whoa—Bond, what are you doing?!"
"That's fun! Anya wants more! Bond, do it again!"
Anya was tossed through the air, landed steadily on her feet, and grinned as if she'd discovered a wonderful new game. Just as she was about to urge Bond to do it again, she noticed Bond's paw outstretched, seemingly pointing ahead urgently.
"What's up ahead?"
Anya looked in the direction of Bond's paw, her expression growing curious.
(End of Chapter 48)
[+100 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review!
P*atreon/Soulforger (30+ advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01