Chapter 356: The Secret Shadow Approaching Haibara 7
Tazo Usaki did not put up a fight. In truth, a heavy sense of dread had already settled in his gut the moment he failed to catch up with the other three children in the woods. Not seeing them at the scene had offered him a fleeting, desperate sliver of hope. He had tried to convince himself that they had simply gotten lost, tripped, or wandered off the trail entirely. Now, staring at the gathered crowd, the last remnants of his wishful thinking evaporated. His shoulders slumped, and he confessed to his crime without another word.
Conan and Sera Masumi stood frozen. They exchanged a blank, utterly bewildered glance as the case hurtled toward an abrupt conclusion. Their minds were still turning, ready to dissect the suspect's alibi, cross-examine the statements, and hunt down the decisive physical evidence. Barely a few minutes had passed since the initial questioning began, and the murderer was already spilling his guts.
Sera narrowed her eyes, a faint crease forming on her forehead. Something about the pacing felt incredibly unnatural, though she could not quite pinpoint the source of her unease. Conan, on the other hand, exhaled a quiet breath. He had experienced enough bizarrely fast resolutions lately to simply adjust his mindset and move forward.
His gaze shifted across the clearing. Baizhu stood near the edge of the trees, gently checking over Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta. However, two distinct figures were noticeably absent. Haibara and Qiqi were nowhere to be seen. Conan pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The culprit was already in custody, meaning the immediate threat was neutralized. The girls should be perfectly safe, wherever they were hiding.
The scene then transitioned into the standard, dreary routine of a criminal's confession.
Tazo stared at the dirt, his voice trembling as he recounted the events. He suffered from severe claustrophobia. During an argument, the victim had maliciously locked him inside a cramped, pitch-black wooden shack. Panic had consumed him. Trapped in the suffocating darkness, he had desperately grabbed an old axe resting against the wall and swung it wildly in an attempt to break down the door. In the chaotic struggle that followed, the heavy blade had accidentally buried itself into the victim's back, killing them instantly.
His tone then shifted, growing defensive as he mentioned the aftermath. He admitted to chasing the children who had stumbled upon the scene, eventually cornering the two little girls and locking them inside that very same shack.
Baizhu stepped forward, his usual calm demeanor shattering. "You locked Qiqi and her friend in that shack?" His voice pitched higher, laced with raw anxiety. "Where exactly is this place? Tell me you didn't do anything else to them."
Tazo flinched, his eyes darting away to avoid the doctor's piercing stare. "If she hadn't played that sick prank on me, I wouldn't have locked those kids in there to begin with..." He swallowed hard, his gaze drifting toward the dense canopy of the forest, where a thin, dark plume of smoke was beginning to rise against the sky. "And then... set a fire."
A heavy, suffocating silence dropped over the clearing.
"Ugh!"
A collective gasp rippled through the onlookers. Before anyone could process the horrific admission, a blur of motion cut through the air. Conan's eyes widened in sheer shock. Diluc, who had been standing as still and silent as a statue just a second prior, lunged forward. His gloved fist connected squarely with Tazo's abdomen with a sickening thud, sending the man sprawling into the dirt right in front of the stunned police officers.
Conan winced. He completely understood the fiery surge of protective anger driving the redhead, but assaulting a suspect in broad daylight surrounded by law enforcement was incredibly reckless.
"Excuses," Diluc spat, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. He completely ignored the startled shouts of the officers around him, glaring down at the groaning murderer. "If you were truly as innocent as you claim, you would never have resorted to arson. To intentionally harm innocent children..." Diluc let out a harsh, mocking scoff. His crimson eyes burned with a cold, unforgiving fury as he stared at the pathetic figure on the ground.
In truth, Diluc had known about the culprit's actions well in advance. He had even secretly fanned the flames of the very fire this man had started to ensure their larger plan unfolded perfectly. Yet, the obvious fact remained: the initial spark, ignited with the malicious intent to destroy evidence and burn two little girls alive, came from Tazo's own hands. Watching the coward stand there and try to justify such an atrocity made Diluc's blood boil. The punch had been more than deserved.
Misao Yamamura cleared his throat awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "Ah, well... sir, it is generally best not to hit... er, I mean, accidentally bump into the suspect so casually."
The inspector delivered the reprimand with zero conviction. Around him, the other police officers conveniently found the surrounding trees absolutely fascinating, turning their heads away. It was painfully obvious that every single officer present sided entirely with Diluc and had absolutely no intention of pressing charges for the sudden outburst.
Conan stood speechless. 'Well, I suppose the police are just going to let that slide.'
Despite the blatant disregard for protocol, Conan felt his perception of Diluc shift. It was not an entirely new revelation, but witnessing the man's visceral, unhesitating reaction to children being in danger solidified his underlying theory. Diluc was, at his core, an upright and fiercely reliable protector. He possessed the unwavering moral compass of a true knight. Ever since Conan had deduced that Diluc was a high-ranking member of the mysterious underground organization known as Teyvat, and more, the brother of the enigmatic Kaeya, he had kept his guard up.
Both men clearly doted on little Klee and treated the Detective Boys with genuine kindness. However, Kaeya maintained shadowy connections to the Black Organization. The cavalry captain possessed a deep, calculating mind, always planning his next move. In certain fleeting moments, Conan had glimpsed a chilling, casual disregard for human life hidden behind Kaeya's charming smile.
Diluc was entirely different. He rarely displayed overt emotion, maintaining a stoic facade, but his protective instincts were explosive and genuine. They were complete opposites, perfectly mirrored by the elemental colors of their respective Visions. One was a calculating, freezing ice; the other was a righteous, consuming fire. They were fundamentally incompatible. Watching Diluc now, Conan felt entirely convinced that the relationship between the two brothers was just as fractured and hostile as rumors suggested.
On the ground, Tazo curled into a tight ball, clutching his throbbing abdomen. The sheer force of the blow had caused his vision to swim with dark spots, stealing the breath from his lungs. As Diluc's harsh rebuke echoed above him, the murderer scrambled to defend his actions.
"I... I may have set the fire," he coughed, spitting out a mouthful of dirt, "but it hasn't been burning for long! The flames shouldn't... no, they definitely won't be that big yet! Those two girls will be perfectly fine!"
Unfortunately for him, the moment the words left his mouth, a junior police officer burst through the tree line. The young man was panting heavily, his face pale with panic. "Inspector Yamamura! The search team just radioed in! They found a small wooden shack deep in the woods, and it is completely engulfed in flames!"
Yamamura jumped, his relaxed demeanor instantly vanishing. "Then hurry up and put it out!"
"They can't!" the officer shouted back, his voice cracking. "When the search team arrived, the fire had already spread too fast. The flames have reached a point where nothing can be done!"
A horrified chill swept through the crowd.
Conan was the first to break the paralysis. Without a single word, he sprinted desperately toward the direction of the smoke. Baizhu darted after him, lagging only a fraction of a second behind the young detective. Diluc and Sera Masumi immediately broke into a run, following closely on their heels as they raced toward the burning inferno.
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