Winning is everything: Conan

Facing the incredulous Keisuke, Sakaguchi Masayoshi smiled, but his expression carried a sense of relief.

"It's true that Tsuyoshi Maehara made me lose my son, but he was also just a child with parents. I'm a lawyer who handles juvenile cases, so I can understand the feelings of parents separated from their children. No matter what happened, a mistake was made, so I want to give his family the highest possible compensation as a form of atonement."

After hearing his words, Keisuke sighed.

"Like I told you before—how do you know you really made a mistake?"

"Uh... wasn't it me?" Sakaguchi asked, bewildered.

"Think carefully. Do you really believe you could do something like that so easily, in such a foolish way? Didn't you hear what I said in court?"

Sakaguchi was stunned.

Indeed, Keisuke had said as much, and if he really thought about it seriously, those things weren't so easy to accomplish.

"So, it really might have been an accident, you understand?"

"But... the password was me..."

"Password? What password? What does that prove? There are so many different words in Japanese that can mean the same thing, with various uses and no strict rules. You can say 'good morning' (おはよう) to someone at night. You, a middle-aged man half out of his mind, said 'good night' to a dog. How can you be so sure that what you said was the password?"

"Uh..."

Sakaguchi blinked.

After thinking it over carefully, he really had no way of confirming what he had said at that moment. After all, as Keisuke Kumiko pointed out, he was getting old, and his memory had deteriorated significantly.

"Could it be... that I really didn't kill anyone?"

Sakaguchi fell silent, and for a moment, even he found it ridiculous.

Ridiculous that he couldn't even confirm the truth for himself.

After a long pause, he shook his head.

"But in the end, Maehara Tsuyoshi died because of my dog, and that won't change. Based on the requirements of civil liability, I paid his family three times the compensation."

"..."

Keisuke stared at Sakaguchi Masayoshi for a while.

Then he reached out, patted him on the shoulder, pulled his body slightly to the right, and pointed toward the distant horizon.

"You see that mountain? There's a temple up there—Beika Temple. I think you should be the Great Buddha statue inside."

"Well, Attorney Kumiko, you're too polite."

Sakaguchi Masayoshi knew Keisuke was mocking him, but he wasn't angry. He simply continued smiling in relief.

Keisuke shook his head.

There was a contradiction in this world.

Even though murders happened frequently, and anyone had the potential to be a criminal, people were still easily swayed by emotions and committed crimes on impulse.

Yet, despite this, most people still had a fundamental goodwill toward others.

The most intuitive example was what had been mentioned before—most people who had no direct connection with him had a positive impression of him, rather than zero or negative.

This led to a situation where, after committing a crime, many people would kneel and confess as long as the famous detective gave them a hint—even if there was no definitive evidence.

"The human heart is truly unpredictable..."

Keisuke curled his lips. In his eyes, everyone was a fool.

"Actually, I wasn't planning to sell the house at first," Masayoshi Sakaguchi suddenly said.

"But a few days ago, I saw a little girl with brown hair squatting outside my yard, crying in front of my house. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me her sister had been murdered and that she was now homeless, with her only relative gone. Seeing her so pitiful, I was deeply moved and thought that, no matter what, Maehara Tsuyoshi was alone too..."

"Alright, alright, I get what you're trying to say."

Keisuke interrupted Sakaguchi Masayoshi, stopping him from continuing with his sentimental, remorseful speech.

"So what about that little girl? You're so kind and philanthropic—don't tell me you adopted her as your goddaughter?"

"Not exactly, but she's currently staying at my house."

"..."

Kumiko nearly bit his tongue.

His mouth fell open as he looked at Sakaguchi Masayoshi in shock, observing his kind expression.

"You're truly something else!"

Keisuke Kumiko sighed.

Regardless, he couldn't understand this seemingly noble spirit.

He might admire this kind of person, but he wouldn't be one himself.

"Alright, enough nonsense. Give me my money."

Keisuke extended his hand toward Sakaguchi Masayoshi.

His purpose for coming here today was to get his money, not to hear about good deeds.

Masayoshi Sakaguchi nodded, pulled out a stack of checkbooks from his pocket, tore out a check, quickly wrote the amount and name, and handed it over.

Keisuke Kumiko took the check and saw that the amount written was 1.5 million.

"The extra five hundred thousand can be considered as my overdue payment."

"That's great! Happy to do business with you!"

Keisuke Kumiko grinned and pocketed the check.

After getting the money, he had no intention of lingering. He chatted a bit more with Sakaguchi before preparing to say goodbye and leave.

"Uncle Sakaguchi, I'm back!"

At that moment, a young girl's voice called out from the street.

She was wearing a school backpack. She had short brown hair, a delicate oval face, and a pair of large, beautiful eyes under her curved eyebrows.

Just as he was about to leave, Keisuke Kumiko frowned slightly.

For some reason, this girl seemed a bit familiar.

Her eyes were calm yet seemed to contain a hidden intelligence—something rare to see in a child's gaze.

"Welcome home!" Masayoshi Sakaguchi greeted her with a smile. "This is the child I just mentioned. Ai, come here. This is Uncle Kumiko I told you about—come say hello."

The girl walked over politely and bowed slightly to Keisuke.

"Hello, Uncle Kumiko. My name is Haibara Ai. Please guide me well."

"..."

"..."

Alright.

Now he had stumbled into a whole new mess.

Keisuke Kumiko put his hand on his forehead. No wonder the girl looked familiar.

It turns out she was the legendary otaku goddess from anime.

Haibara Ai, whose real name was Miyano Shiho, the genius girl from the Black Organization. Like Kudo Shinichi, she had shrunk after taking the drug.

But according to the story, she should be living at Dr. Agasa's house right now.

So how the hell did she end up here... in the home of this so-called "Rice Flower Buddha" for no apparent reason?

Keisuke Kumiko thought about it but couldn't figure it out.

But he didn't dwell on it too much.

What did it matter to him if the original characters were alive or dead?

This world might be called "Conan's World," but it was vast—his survival wasn't tied to the plot.

"Kid, live a good life with Uncle Sakaguchi. The outside world is dangerous, so don't wander around too much!"

Kumemon patted Haibara Ai's head with a smile.

Then, he didn't stay any longer. He bid farewell to the two of them and left.

In the courtyard, Haibara Ai silently watched Keisuke walk away.

Her calm, large eyes seemed to flicker for a moment, but soon returned to normal.

...

After leaving Beika's residential area, Kumiko's first stop was the bank to cash his check.

Walking through the shopping district, Keisuke Kumiko observed his surroundings carefully.

He was watching the favorability bars above people's heads.

(End of this chapter)