Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

The warm sunlight shines through the glass onto the round table placed by the window.

Two boys who looked exactly the same sat on the left and right sides of a round table. One of them held the chess pieces in his right hand, while the other tapped the table with his left hand from time to time, watching the other's moves.

A chess piece fell lightly. On this inferior chessboard, all the pieces were black. They were playing a single-color game.

"Um……"

It was Artemis' turn next. He picked up a chess piece and looked at the chessboard in distress.

Just then, the butler came in. When Artemis saw this Goldwasser man, she immediately turned her head away.

"Master Artemis, I have requested leave from school." The butler said respectfully, "Mr. Goldwasser wants you to have fun. It would be even better if you are willing to send him a postcard."

Anatoly graduated from college early with two doctorates. Artemis, who was the only one who needed to go to school, kept silent and he didn't even look at her from beginning to end.

Anatoly smiled politely, "We understand." He paused and asked, "Do we need to prepare our own luggage for Japan, or will you do it for us?"

"Mr. Goldwasser said that the two young masters are already adults, so of course you will prepare them yourselves."

Fourteen-year-old Anatoly nodded: "I understand, you can go down."

The butler bowed again and quietly left the study.

The sound of him closing the door and the sound of Artemis putting down the chess piece almost overlapped. As soon as Artemis' hand left the chess piece, he suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"Did you make a wrong move?" Anatoly saw it at a glance.

Artemis looked at the chessboard and shrugged his shoulders in frustration: "Yes, I accidentally misread it..."

"Even if everything is black, you must distinguish between the enemy and yourself."

Anatoly reminded helplessly. He raised his hand to pick up the chess piece that had just fallen and moved it to a position two squares away: "Repent this move."

Artemis smiled when he saw his brother put the chess piece where he had originally intended to put it, but then he realized that this meant his moves had been seen through, and he sighed.

Anatoly thought about the chessboard and soon placed another piece. When he heard his brother sigh, he looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to lose again." Artemis said sadly, "I've never beaten you before..."

"Because you are mentally unstable." Anatoly said calmly, "Are you still thinking about Cinderella and her son?"

Last night, they executed the traitor Cinderella, and her son was killed with her. They even maliciously messed with her mentality before the execution.

And all this is to avenge their mother.

Artemis held his chin, his eyes fixed on the two black chessboards in front of him that were intertwined and strangled with each other, and nodded imperceptibly.

"Kind of."

He proposed to induce Cinderella to kill her son and then kill her. But when he was about to do it, he hesitated.

——He had witnessed his mother taking poison to save him. In addition to revenge, this kind of coercive behavior also reminded him of his mother.

Anatoly saw the hesitation at that time, but he did not have that shadow, so he put on brown contact lenses, went to the execution ground in place of his brother, and completed all the operations.

"To threaten the mother with a child is really too much..." Artemis whispered, "Next time just kill them all together, no more tricks."

Anatoly remained silent.

The two continued to play chess. Neither of them had the habit of watching the game in silence. As they made their moves, they casually discussed their upcoming trip to Japan.

The black pieces on the chessboard became more and more numerous, forming a dark mass. Seeing the chess game becoming more and more complicated, Anatoly remained seated obediently, while Artemis began to move from time to time, occasionally distracted by looking at the bookshelf.

In addition to detective novels, there were also books on Anatoly's major. Under Goldwasser's guidance, he studied biology and pharmacy.

Artemis crossed his legs. The bruises on his arms and thighs from Gin's beating had not yet faded, and they would hurt slightly whenever he moved a lot.

The burn on his pelvis didn't hurt anymore, but the tattoo artist had tattooed another snake there, which made him feel a little disgusted.

"Does your body still hurt?" Anatoly naturally noticed his brother's movements.

"pain."

Artemis felt that he was going to lose again, so he calmly slid into a bad state. Once he relaxed, his tone became lively again: "Gin was too much. He hit me, and scolding you was even worse."

He said with dissatisfaction, and added: "If he falls into my hands one day, I will definitely carve...write 'Defeated by Artemis' on his body."

Anatoly smiled again. His smile was very faint. Russians don't like to laugh for no reason. A casual smile or laugh will make them feel like a fool. But in front of his brother, he always smiled helplessly and tolerantly.

"You're too impatient."

He put down the chess piece, blocking his brother's last escape route, and said gently:
"There are also many loopholes. The bomb is not placed in place. If you really want to retaliate, you can put a colorless, odorless, slow-acting toxic gas in his car. He has drug resistance, so the effect will be delayed until the mission. In this way, his death can be blamed on the FBI, and he can even die with the title of the trash he hates the most..."

Artemis: "..."

Artemis: "...So you hate him so much? But I just wanted to tease him and make him apologize to you. I didn't really want him to die."

"So you are very simple." Anatoly sighed, "Or you are too willful."

Artemis was confused.

Anatoly made this comment without looking at his brother's expression, but focused on the chessboard in front of him.

Artemis looked at his brother. He saw the light of the sunrise flowing along the lines of his face all the way to the chess piece. His emerald eyes were like the finest emeralds, sparkling with dazzling luster.

Although this is the same color as Goldwasser, he won't hate it because it comes from Anatoly.

As he was thinking this, the sound of a chess piece falling rang out again, along with the other party's announcement -

"you lose."

"..."

Artemis felt calm.

He had anticipated this, so even though he set a new losing streak record, he was not discouraged at all.

"You really won," he said.

Anatoly looked at him and said, "No, I won by a narrow margin."

Artemis was startled.

"…Artemis, my brother, do you know what your greatest weakness is?"

Those emerald green eyes stared at him intently.

……

"Buzz-"

Aoyagi Binguang was awakened by the vibration of his cell phone.

He sat at the round table by the bedroom window, surrounded by cool-toned decorations. There was no light on in the room, and the moonlight outside the window fell quietly on him.

The chessboard on the table was also bathed in the moonlight, with all black chess pieces on it. Opposite him was an empty table.

The sleepiness faded away quickly, and in just a blink of an eye, he realized what had just happened.

——He actually fell asleep sitting on the chair.

This is really...

Aoyagi Binkou laughed at himself. He stood up by holding the handle of the seat. His long hair, which had been carefully washed, slid down his shoulders. It was not completely dry, and a few strands of hair stuck to the skin exposed between his bathrobe.

He walked to the desk and picked up the phone that had just vibrated.

[President Kawai died, and his son had no idea about the organization, so I didn't deal with it.]

This is the email he sent while he was in the hospital this afternoon.

【understood. 】

This is the email sent by Gin, who gave him this task, a minute ago.

----

This chapter was supposed to include the task review + binge eating, but I stayed up too late yesterday and am very sleepy now, so I divided it into two chapters.

The previous chapter was slightly revised, adding about a thousand words (3600→4700). (End of this chapter)