Chapter 299: Okiya Subaru's Action
"Don't worry, there's no one around," Conan Edogawa confirmed, glancing left and right before fixing his gaze in a specific direction. "This way."
With that, he started walking, Heiji Hattori falling into step beside him. "Ms. Raiden's signal is moving slowly," Conan explained as they moved. "It seems she didn't take any transportation. She must be on foot, so we should be able to catch up."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Heiji urged, quickening his pace to match the small detective's.
"Is the Takahashi or Kondo family estate in this direction?" Conan asked, his eyes glued to the tracker on his glasses.
Heiji shook his head. "Not sure, exactly. Both of their properties are generally this way, but the Takahashi residence is a bit closer..."
His sentence was cut short when Conan abruptly stopped in his tracks.
"What is it?" Heiji asked, peering over his shoulder. "Did Ms. Raiden stop moving?"
"Yes." Conan lowered his head, his fingers moving to earnestly adjust his glasses. A frown creased his brow. "She stopped suddenly. I'm worried they might have discovered the tracker... Ah! The signal's gone!"
Heiji's easygoing expression tightened. "You think they found it?" he asked, his voice losing its usual swagger.
"It doesn't seem like it," Conan murmured, tilting his head as if listening to something only he could hear. "There was a sudden burst of electrical interference from that direction, and then the signal vanished. It doesn't sound like it was found and destroyed; it's more likely something interfered with it."
After a moment, Conan let out a dejected sigh. "Well, the wiretap is useless now, too."
Heiji gave him an impressed thumbs-up. "Nice. You even managed to plant a wiretap on them."
"Is this really the time for that? We're about to lose her," Conan shot back, giving Heiji an annoyed sideways glance before resuming his brisk walk. "Let's head to where the signal last appeared. There might be some clues left behind."
They were halfway there when Conan's phone chimed with an incoming text message. He initially paid it little mind, but a glance at the sender's name—Okiya Subaru—made him pause. Figuring the man must have discovered something at the Kamisato residence, he immediately opened the message.
"The person behind the destruction of the finals venue is the head of the Takahashi family."
A slow, confident smile spread across Conan's face. It was the kind of smile that promised a cornered culprit and an inevitable checkmate.
'Perfect,'he thought.'Just when I needed it, a pillow appears.' Now there was no need to worry about losing their target; knowing the destination made everything infinitely simpler.
Conan Edogawa and Heiji Hattori shared a look of understanding, immediately deciding to take a shortcut to the Takahashi family mansion.
On the other side of town, Okiya Subaru pocketed the phone he had just used to send the message. He stood in the quiet of Kamisato Ayato's study, having skillfully slipped inside and read the investigation results left open on the desk. With practiced, silent movements, he carefully restored everything he had touched to its original position, leaving no trace of his presence.
Then, he slipped back out the window as easily as he had entered. Deftly avoiding the patrolling servants, he began making his way toward the guest rooms where the Kamisato clan had arranged for them to stay.
As he neared the guest wing, Okiya decided to take a shortcut along a lakeside path to save time. Rounding a corner shaded by weeping willows, his usually narrowed eyes widened slightly.
He had assumed the path would be deserted. Instead, he saw Klee, adorable in her little red dress, squatting by the water's edge. She was staring down at something with intense concentration.
Okiya hesitated, debating whether he should approach. Just then, Klee seemed to make a decision. She pulled her large backpack around to her front and began rummaging through it. After a moment of searching, she pulled out a small, red, bag-like object that resembled a cute animal doll.
Taking careful aim at a spot in the water, she drew her arm back and threw it with surprising force.
Splash.
The doll-like object disappeared beneath the surface. Okiya was still wondering why the little girl would throw her toy into the lake when he heard it.
Bang—SPLASH!
A muffled explosion erupted from the water, sending a massive plume of spray into the air.
"Wow, what a big fish!" Klee cheered, her voice filled with delight. A moment later, a large, stunned fish was flung from the lake by the force of the blast, landing on the grass right in front of her.
Okiya Subaru stood frozen. "..."
He stared, his expression utterly blank. It was a rare, shocking sight to see his carefully controlled features shift so obviously.
'That was... an explosion, wasn't it?'
The sound was muffled by the water and the power wasn't overwhelming, but Okiya Subaru—no, Shuichi Akai—could confirm it from his long, hard-won experience as an undercover agent. That was, without a doubt, the sound of a bomb detonating.
This realization only made his expression more complicated. He could scarcely process how a child who looked to be under ten years old could possess such a dangerous item. More confusingly, he had clearly seen what she threw. It was just a doll. How could a doll possibly explode?
Okiya Subaru couldn't wrap his head around it. He paused for a long moment, collecting himself, before walking silently over to Klee.
"Klee," he asked, his voice a model of gentle curiosity. "What were you doing just now?"
Klee looked up at the sudden appearance of Okiya Subaru and blinked her wide, innocent eyes. There was no trace of guilt or unease at being caught. "Klee is blasting fish!" she announced cheerfully.
Blast... blasting fish?
Okiya honestly doubted his own hearing for a second.
Seeming to notice the strange tension emanating from him, Klee offered a comforting smile. "Brother Okiya doesn't need to worry. Klee has lots of experience with this kind of thing! I won't hurt anyone."
"So..." Okiya ignored her reassurances, his mind zeroing in on the critical question. "Was that a bomb you just threw?"
Klee was a member of the Teyvat Organization. Was she really playing with explosives at such a young age?
"It's not a bomb," Klee replied.
To Okiya's surprise, she denied it outright.
"That's a Jumpy Dumpty!" she explained, her tone bright and matter-of-fact. "It's a doll made to look like Klee's good friend, Dodoco. Jumpy Dumpty is Klee's friend, too, and it helped me bring the fish up."
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