Kamen Rider: I, Conan, am Faiz

"Although that's what I said, there are too many unreasonable things."

With his chin on one hand, Conan fell into deep thought and asked puzzledly: "First of all, why did Mr. Nagoro miss that crucial final match? Everyone who knows him says that his karuta skills are very strong. It is impossible that he chose to escape because of fear, and it is even more impossible that he hid for five whole years."

"And if all these events were caused by Mr. Nagoro, why did he wait until now to take action? Wouldn't it be more reasonable to take action when Miss Momiji joined the Satsuki Society?"

Thinking with a detective's brain, Conan felt that there were more and more mysteries, as if an invisible hand was deliberately arranging them...

Just as Conan was lost in thought, he suddenly felt a slight soft touch on his cheek, and the next moment, Ai's proud and tender little face came into view.

"I've told you many times that you don't have to carry all this alone. The Osaka Black Chicken is out now."

"Hattori?"

Conan tilted his head and looked, only to see that Hattori Heiji, who had been sitting at his seat just now, was nowhere to be seen.

Xiao Ai continued: "As for you, you should go and see the eldest lady of the Suzuki family first."

Conan became nervous when he heard this: "What happened to Sonoko?"

"It's okay. It seems that I have a fever due to inhaling thick smoke. I am now lying in the room to rest."

"You didn't tell me earlier!"

After learning about Sonoko's situation, Conan did not dare to delay for a moment and rushed out as fast as possible!

"Tsk~ you're quite affectionate."

Watching Conan's hurried back disappear before her eyes, Ai shook her head with some emotion, and then turned her gaze to Xiaolan not far away.

"You should have no objection?"

"How could that be? Yuanzi needs company the most right now~"

Xiaolan smiled, but her hands had already left a palm mark on the surface of the table.

Of course, Ai couldn't hide this little action from her, but the tsundere cat didn't want to reveal it in public, so she just kept it to herself.

[Alas, it’s time to find an opportunity to start the next step…]

With her chin in her hand, Xiao Ai was thinking about the plan in her mind, and she glanced at Miyano Akemi who was concentrating on tasting the salmon.

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Ooka family

As a political family that has been passed down from the end of the Edo period and has survived to this day, the decoration of the Ooka family is extremely simple and elegant, a standard traditional Japanese building, just like the castle of a local daimyo in the Warring States period.

"It's an honor to visit you so late at night."

"You're welcome. I'm... I'm really sorry for doing this so late at night."

When Ooka Momiji handed him tea, Hattori Heiji took the cup somewhat awkwardly, trying his best not to look at the purple kimono with cherry blossom pattern on Ooka Momiji.

[It went surprisingly smoothly...]

Picking up the teacup and taking a sip, Hattori Heiji couldn't help but feel emotional in his heart. He had thought that he would be given a hard time, but he didn't expect that he would be allowed in as soon as he reported his identity, and there was no obstruction throughout the whole process.

Seeing Hattori Heiji drink the tea she brewed, Ooka Momiji immediately showed a satisfied smile on her face, and then brewed a new pot of tea.

"Heiji, you came to visit me late at night. I don't think you're just here to drink tea~"

"you are right."

Putting the teacup aside, Hattori Heiji said seriously: "Mr. Yajima of your Satsuki-kai has been killed, and the body has been taken away by the police for forensic autopsy."

"Well, President Achiba has already told all members of our Satsuki-kai about this."

Sadness and sorrow flashed in the depths of his eyes, and Ooka Hongye's hands couldn't help but tremble slightly as he made tea.

"Mr. Yajima is a good man and an excellent karuta player. Although his family runs a big business, he is always very kind to others. Such a good man..."

When she said this, Ooka Momiji was obviously choking up, so she quickly paused to wipe away her tears.

"I'm sorry, it's embarrassing for you to see this indecent behavior, Heiji..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be sad for you, but it's really hard to lose a good friend..."

He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Ooka Momiji. After she wiped her tears, Hattori Heiji continued to ask:

"I heard that you were a member of the Nagoro-kai before you joined the Satsuki-kai, right?"

"That's right. Nagoro Shikao is my mentor. I learned all my current karuta techniques from Nagoro Sensei."

After calming down, Ooka Momiji calmly put away the handkerchief and said with a complicated expression, "I heard that the police consider Mr. Nagoro to be a suspect. Do you think so too, Heiji?"

"I don't know. Mr. Nagoro and I have never met each other, so I can only restore the truth of the case as a detective."

Standing up and stretching his muscles a bit, Hattori Heiji smiled and said, "So, can you please answer a few questions for me, Momiji? Maybe what you know is the key to solving the case."

"Understood. I will tell you the truth."

Standing up and looking into Hattori Heiji's eyes, Ooka Momiji smiled and waited for the other party's questions.

Hattori Heiji asked: "First of all, Hongye, do you know why Mr. Nagoro was absent from that crucial duel five years ago?"

Ooka Hongye shook her head: "I don't know. We couldn't contact Mr. Nagoro at all at the time. Even after we called the police, we couldn't find any trace of him. It was as if Mr. Nagoro had disappeared from the face of the earth."

"So after the Nagorokai disbanded, where did the original members go?"

"After the Nagoro-kai was disbanded, the Satsuki-kai expressed the hope that we could join, but most of the members eventually chose to leave the karuta competition. Only Mr. Sekine and I joined the Satsuki-kai..."

When she said this, Ooka Hongye suddenly paused, and then quickly gave an important clue.

"By the way, Mr. Sekine and Mr. Yajima have been getting very close recently, as if they were discussing something. Maybe Mr. Sekine knows some inside information."

"Thank you, that's a big help."

After learning this key clue, Hattori Heiji quickly stood up and rushed out.

"Heiji, do you know where Mr. Guam lives?"

After hearing this, Hattori Heiji stopped in his tracks and replied awkwardly after a moment: "I... I can ask Officer Otaki and the others to help look for it."

"Puchi~ I'll take you there, this way we can save some time."

Turning around and walking to the back, Ooka Momiji threw a coquettish glance at Hattori Heiji.

"Wait a moment. I'll take off my kimono and then leave. I don't want anyone other than Heiji to see me like this."