Chapter 420: Helping Dvalin
Natsume leaned back, her voice taking on a reflective cadence. "It was during that chaotic process that I crossed paths with Kaeya, Diluc, Barbara, Klee, Albedo, and a few others. Diluc, in particular, provided an immense amount of support when I had to... assist Dvalin."
Assist. A heavy, collective silence descended upon the room. Did Natsume honestly believe that beating a massive dragon until it woke up from its mind-control constituted 'helping'?
And Diluc... Amuro and the others exchanged subtle glances. You truly couldn't judge a book by its cover. To think that such a dignified, upright-looking gentleman would willingly participate in such a wildly reckless endeavor.
Completely oblivious to the deadpan stares directed her way, Natsume continued her tale. "Once the dust settled, my new friends promised to keep an ear to the ground for any news regarding my brother. With that assurance, I bid farewell to Venti and the rest, setting off to search other regions."
"Venti pointed me toward Zhongli next," she explained, gesturing vaguely with one hand. "He mentioned that Zhongli was quite old and possessed a vast wealth of knowledge, making him the perfect person to ask for clues. Unfortunately, my timing couldn't have been worse. The very moment I arrived at his location, a murder took place right in front of me. Before I even knew what was happening, the local authorities nearly locked me up as the prime suspect."
"If I hadn't made a split-second decision to run, and if Tartaglia hadn't stepped in to help, I never would have broken through the guards' encirclement. Escaping gave me the breathing room I needed to track down the real clues and clear my name."
Natsume paused, a wistful sigh echoing in her mind. 'Looking back on it now, those golden days when Tartaglia acted as my personal walking wallet and reimbursed every single one of my expenses were truly unforgettable.'
Floating nearby, Paimon nodded vigorously, her tiny hands planted firmly on her hips. "Exactly, exactly! Even though Childe totally used the Traveler to complete his own shady tasks back then, he ended up getting played for a massive fool by Mr. Zhongli in the end! You could say he suffered a total double loss." The little guide's eyes sparkled as she rubbed her chin. "But, I have to admit... Childe is definitely super generous when it comes to throwing around Mora!"
Amuro's eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch. Tartaglia. The name struck a familiar chord. His mind rapidly sifted through his intelligence files until the relevant data surfaced. Tartaglia was a former colleague of Glenlivet, holding the position of the Eleventh Seat of the Fatui hailing from Snezhnaya, a notorious branch within the overarching Teyvat Organization. Amuro recalled that the man's operational codename was 'Childe'.
Amuro also remembered Glenlivet's scathing assessment of the man. Glenlivet had openly mocked Tartaglia, calling him a simple-minded brute with more brawn than brains—and even then, claiming his physical prowess wasn't anything special among the Fatui Harbingers. Glenlivet had sneered that Childe actively dragged down their overall combat average, finishing his rant by expressing deep relief that he no longer had to associate with them. The critique had been merciless and exceptionally sharp. Then again, Amuro mused dryly, Glenlivet had never uttered a single positive word about any of his former colleagues.
"Ah? Sister Natsume, you actually stumbled right into a murder case back then?!" Conan's voice pitched up in feigned childish surprise, though his eyes instantly ignited with a predator's focus. The gears in his head began spinning at breakneck speed. "That's so surprising! So, who was the unfortunate victim? Did the police catch the killer? And what exactly was the modus operandi?" He fired off the questions in rapid succession, practically vibrating with excitement.
In that thrilling moment, the miniature detective completely forgot the stern warning Cointreau had just issued about not interrupting the adults. His chest swelled with an insatiable curiosity. A murder case directly involving the elusive members of the Teyvat Organization? It was the holy grail of information he had been desperate to uncover. He leaned forward, impatient to extract every last detail from Natsume.
"Isn't that exactly what I was about to explain?" Natsume laughed, reaching out to vigorously ruffle Conan's hair. She easily overpowered the boy's dissatisfied squirming, pinning him in place with a fond, inescapable head pat. "It's not good for little kids to be so impatient. As for the case... the victim was Zhongli. And the murderer was also Zhongli."
Amuro, Sonoko, Ran, and Conan froze.
"!!!"
A collective look of utter bewilderment washed over their faces. Of all the possible answers they had anticipated, that paradox was absolutely not one of them.
Conan's eyes widened to the size of saucers, his features slack with disbelief. However, possessing the seasoned mind of a high school detective, he recovered from the shock far faster than the others. A sudden flash of inspiration struck him like lightning. He had literally just seen Mr. Zhongli walking around Osaka. The man was obviously alive, perfectly healthy, and completely free of any legal trouble., the casual dynamic between Natsume and Zhongli back then clearly indicated they had known each other for quite some time.
If the victim and the killer were the same person, and that person was currently breathing... there was only one logical conclusion.
Conan took a deep breath, the sharp, confident gleam of a detective returning to his eyes. "Mr. Zhongli staged his own murder back then. It was a faked death!" He raised his chin slightly, radiating absolute certainty in his deduction.
Amuro quietly snapped his mouth shut. He had arrived at the exact same conclusion, but the boy had beaten him to the punch by a mere fraction of a second. The undercover agent stared at Conan's focused, intense expression. Once again, the sheer brilliance housed within that tiny frame sent a ripple of unease through him. This boy was far, far too sharp to be an ordinary elementary school student.
"Not bad, Conan. Your brain turns quite fast," Natsume praised, validating the boy's deduction with an amused smile.
While Ran and Sonoko exchanged deeply confused glances, urgently pressing for the reasoning behind such a drastic stunt, Natsume held up a hand to calm them. "The motive was actually quite simple. Zhongli wanted to retire. However, he wasn't entirely at ease leaving his..." She paused, her brow furrowing as she searched for a civilian-friendly term to describe an entire nation. "...company. He needed to know if his top executives, Ningguang, Keqing, and the others, possessed the ability to handle severe, unexpected crises if they suddenly lost his guidance."
Ran frowned, her gentle features pinching with distress. She simply couldn't comprehend the logic. Aside from inflicting terrible grief upon the people who cared about him, what possible positive effect could faking one's own death bring?
Sonoko, on the other hand, thought of the massive Suzuki financial empire. From a corporate standpoint, she could somewhat grasp Mr. Zhongli's underlying motive. Yet, she remained equally baffled. Did a boss really need to go to the extreme of staging a gruesome murder just to test their subordinates' competence? Wasn't he terrified that the ensuing panic would spiral completely out of his control?
also, if corporate rivals or individuals with ulterior motives caught wind of his vulnerable state during the charade, wasn't he worried that his faked death might be turned into a very real one?
Drawing upon her illustrious past experiences as the self-proclaimed 'Deduction Queen', Sonoko knew such a backfire wasn't just possible—it was highly probable. In the countless bizarre cases she had witnessed alongside Conan and Ran, there was certainly no shortage of victims who had been far too clever for their own good. They would set up elaborate traps or fake scenarios, only to inadvertently hand a real murderer the perfect opportunity to strike, ultimately digging their own graves.
Seeing the deep skepticism painted across her friends' faces, Natsume decided to frame it in terms they could easily digest. "Think of it like this: Zhongli is the supreme chairman who dictates the general direction of the entire conglomerate. Meanwhile, Ningguang, Keqing, and the rest are the senior executives who handle the boots-on-the-ground management and daily operations."
"This 'company' had been flourishing under Zhongli's absolute protection and guidance for a very, very long time," she explained, her tone turning slightly solemn. "Because of that prolonged dependency, he was deeply concerned that the moment he stepped down, the entire structure would collapse into chaos."
"To test their resilience, he artificially engineered a massive crisis. He wanted to observe, from the shadows, exactly what kind of countermeasures Ningguang and the others would deploy when they believed he was permanently gone. By doing it this way, he remained in control. If an unexpected accident occurred or if the executives failed, he could simply step out of the shadows, reveal the truth, and resolve the disaster before it caused irreparable damage."
"That is just way too reckless!" Sonoko exclaimed, her eyes wide with sheer amazement. Despite her awe at the scale of the man's audacity, a deep undercurrent of doubt and worry lingered in her voice.
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