Chapter 271: Respective Actions
"Lyney? Lynette? What are you two doing here?" Kudo Shinichi stared in astonishment at the siblings who had materialized before him, his eyes subconsciously darting to their waists. Sure enough, the glowing glass orbs—their Visions—were still there.
Lyney and Lynette exchanged a brief, knowing glance before the magician spoke. "Kudo-kun, while we've learned a fair bit about you from Natsume..."
"...I didn't expect Detective Kudo to be so familiar with us," Lynette finished, her voice a soft monotone.
Hearing this, Shinichi's heart seized. He had made a mistake.
The encounter had been so sudden that he hadn't processed the critical detail: the magician and his assistant had met Conan, not Kudo Shinichi. Logically, he shouldn't know their names.
A cold sweat prickled his brow. He could feel the siblings' strange, analytical gazes on him, and suddenly, the photos they had just snapped of him were the least of his worries.
Just as the silence stretched into something unbearable, Ran smiled and offered a lifeline. "Oh, Conan must have told Shinichi all about you, Lynette. That boy tells him everything."
"Is that so?" Lynette commented coolly. "That's not surprising. That child does have a strong desire to express himself."
Lyney sighed, a hint of theatrical helplessness in his voice. "Lynette, while that may be true, it's not very polite to say it so bluntly."
Seeing them accept Ran's explanation so readily, Shinichi allowed himself a fraction of relief, but then he registered the full weight of their words. His mouth twitched. So that's how the people from Teyvat saw him.
'What do you mean, a strong desire to express myself?'he thought, irked.'I'm just diligently explaining the reasoning process, that's all!'
Wait. A far more critical thought cut through his indignation. Lyney and Lynette were members of the Teyvat Organization, and they had just seen him in his true form as Kudo Shinichi.
If they told the Black Organization... Ran and everyone else would be in grave danger.
'No,'he told himself, forcing a calm he didn't feel.'Don't scare yourself. Analyze the situation.'
Based on his previous contact with Teyvat's members, the various departments didn't seem to be in constant communication with one another. He knew that the Liyue Department, which Ningguang belonged to, and Kaeya's as-yet-unnamed department had some cooperative ties with the Black Organization. However, Lyney and Lynette's group seemed to have had no contact with them at all.
, even if it was just a collaboration, the Black Organization would never let outsiders know about the existence of their core drug, APTX4869, or the state of its subjects.
The knot of tension in his chest loosened slightly. Considering Natsume's relationship with them, perhaps the situation wasn't entirely hopeless.
The top priority now was to convince them to delete the photos. Later, when he was back in his guise as Conan, he could find an opportunity to probe them for more information.
In the end, Shinichi used the excuse of a confidential case, pleading with Lyney and Lynette to keep his appearance in London a secret. He had no way of knowing if they would tell others within Teyvat, but for now, he had no choice but to trust them.
Upon hearing his reasonable request, Lynette readily deleted the photos from her camera.
Of course, she had already backed them up. Deleting the local copies in front of Kudo Shinichi was a meaningless gesture.
On the other side of the banquet hall, Kogoro Mouri, having been abandoned by his daughter, looked utterly bewildered. His English was poor at best, and he couldn't even begin to guess the meaning of the words being exchanged by Lady Diana and her friends.
It was only when Neuvillette, seemingly unable to bear the awkward spectacle any longer, stepped in to translate a few sentences that the conversation could proceed smoothly.
After a few drinks, Kogoro found Neuvillette to be an increasingly agreeable fellow. He completely cast aside his initial wariness of the man's stern expression and was soon on the verge of slinging a boisterous arm around Neuvillette's shoulders. Later, in a fit of high spirits, he even tried to demonstrate a shoulder throw on the Iudex, only to be nearly thrown himself. He wasn't even angry, simply laughing it off with drunken cheer.
Meanwhile, in Osaka, Japan.
With Conan out of the country and Okiya Subaru seemingly preoccupied with his own investigations, Natsume seized the opportunity to visit Osaka again this weekend. As before, Thoma was there to pick her up upon her arrival. The two of them made a beeline for their true destination: the venue for the upcoming idol competition finals.
Kamisato Ayaka and Kamisato Ayato were already there, waiting for her.
"Huh? It looks like there's still a long way to go before this is finished." Natsume looked around the active construction site, a confused frown on her face.
Compared to their work on the island base, the progress Kaveh and Zhongli had made here was far behind schedule.
Kaveh, who had just walked over with Zhongli, heard her comment and explained with a helpless sigh, "This isn't a deserted island, after all. There are too many eyes and ears around. Mr. Zhongli can't afford to be too obvious with his methods."
"But the finals are only a week away. Will it be ready in time?" Natsume asked, a note of worry in her voice.
"I believe the Head of the Kamisato Clan is not anxious, so there must be a solution." Zhongli turned his head, his calm, golden gaze falling on Ayato, who had been standing silently to the side.
He reasoned that since the young clan head had never once pressed them about the construction schedule, he must have already had a contingency plan in place.
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