Chapter 1: Lawyer Kumeimon

It was a holiday during Japan's Golden Week.

The sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly, making it a perfect day for an outing.

Early in the morning, Ran Mouri was excited and set off with her best friend Sonoko Suzuki, along with Conan, to take the subway to a suburban park for a spring outing.

The Tokyo subway, being a holiday, was even more crowded than usual.

At one station, the crowd thinned out, and a seat finally became available. Ran Mouri was about to let Conan sit down when she glanced over and saw an elderly man carrying a heavy bag. She smiled slightly.

"Sir, please take this seat."

The elderly man nodded and was about to sit down when a figure darted past and took the seat first.

Ran Mouri's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Upon closer inspection, the person who had taken the seat was a young man not much older than herself.

In his mid-twenties, with a side part hairstyle, he looked young and was dressed in a well-fitted suit, appearing quite presentable.

At that moment, he was looking down, flipping through some documents, seemingly oblivious to the disapproving glances of the surrounding passengers.

Seeing this, Ran Mouri couldn't help but cough.

"Excuse me... could you please give up the seat?"

However, the young man continued to look down, as if he hadn't heard her.

A hint of anger appeared on Ran Mouri's face, but she hesitated to say anything in a public setting.

Sonoko, on the other hand, was not so restrained. She reached out and slapped the young man's shoulder.

"Hey, we're talking to you! Are you deaf or something?"

The man finally seemed to react, lifting his head and looking at the two girls in front of him with a surprised expression.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Who else would it be?" Sonoko placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. "I'm saying, you're a grown man, taking an elderly person's seat, aren't you ashamed?"

The man looked around, his surprise growing.

"Why do you say I'm taking it? If I'm not mistaken, this isn't a seat reserved for the elderly or disabled, but a public seat, right? Or did he buy this seat?"

"Uh..." Sonoko was momentarily speechless.

Ran Mouri exchanged a glance with her and tried to speak in a gentle tone: "Giving up your seat for those who are weaker or older is a common courtesy in Japan, isn't it?"

"The weaker or older, you mean him?"

The man glanced at the elderly man and then at the serious-looking girl in front of him.

"On what basis do you say he is weaker? Are you judging by age and appearance?" The man's expression seemed intrigued. "For example, I look quite energetic, but in fact, I have a serious heart condition and won't live much longer. Would I be considered weak or strong?"

"Oh, is that so?" Ran Mouri immediately lowered her head and apologized hurriedly. "I'm sorry, I..."

But before she could finish, she heard the man's teasing voice—

"I'm sorry, I was just kidding."

"..."

"..."

Ran Mouri took a deep breath and glared at him fiercely.

"You're an adult, you should at least have some moral conscience. Please give up the seat!"

The elderly man shook his head at this point. "It's fine, young lady, I'm about to..."

"How can it be fine!" Ran Mouri's face turned red with anger. "This person, this person..."

The man glanced at her and then leaned over, gently touching the elderly man's backpack.

"This elderly man, though he looks small, is very strong. You can tell from the fact that he can easily carry a heavy bag weighing over twenty kilograms that he is someone who exercises regularly."

The man then patted the elderly man's chest, back, and thighs.

"Moreover, he has strong pectoral muscles, taut abdominal and back muscles, and the state of his calf muscles can be strongly felt even through his pants. Compared to me, who has to work hard to earn a living, he, who already receives a pension and can spend his time freely, looks very healthy!"

"Uh..."

Ran Mouri and Sonoko looked at each other in surprise.

The man continued, "Also, he is about to get off at the next stop. Didn't you notice? His backpack is full of fitness equipment, and the next stop is Cup户 Park, where a group of elderly people always gather to exercise at this time. It's just a two-minute ride. Not only is giving up the seat unnecessary, but even the act of standing up and sitting down is redundant, don't you think?"

The man's sharp words and smooth talk made Ran Mouri's face turn darker and darker.

As the man finished speaking, the subway came to a stop.

The elderly man glanced at the group and then, with a straight back and a spirited demeanor, got off the train with his heavy backpack.

The two girls on the train watched him go, mouths agape, unable to say a word.

Clearly, the facts had been exactly as the man had described.

After a long moment, Ran Mouri stomped her foot and muttered.

"How can there be such an annoying person!"

The man smiled lightly, glanced at the group, and then lowered his head to continue reading his documents.

At this point, Conan, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke up.

"Uncle, you are a lawyer, right?"

The man raised an eyebrow and looked at the blue-bowed boy in front of him.

"How did you know?"

"It's simple!" Conan said in his childlike voice. "Uncle, today is a holiday during Golden Week, yet you are wearing a distinctive work suit and are on a subway that is usually crowded with office workers. In this situation, you are either a business traveler, a civil servant working overtime, or a freelancer."

"The documents you are holding, I saw that they contain people's addresses, family information, and their work situations. This suggests that you are in a profession that requires a lot of information, such as a detective or a salesperson."

"From your fluent and sharp speech just now, you could also be in a profession that often involves debates, so you might be a lawyer or a prosecutor."

"Of course, the most important evidence is..."

Conan pointed to the man's chest.

There was a badge pinned there, intricately carved with a balance scale, symbolizing fairness.

"You have a lawyer's badge on your chest! So you are a lawyer!"

After hearing Conan's words, the man laughed and clapped.

"Brilliant!"

He leaned in close to Conan, squinting his eyes.

"However, what I don't understand is—didn't you see the lawyer's badge at first glance? You know what it means, so why didn't you just say it directly, but instead gave a bunch of strange deductions?"

"Please don't mind him, he just likes to play detective games!"

Sonoko grabbed Conan's head, looking at the man with stars in her eyes.

She had been following Ran's lead and hadn't noticed at first, but upon closer inspection, the man in front of her was actually quite handsome!

"Can I have your contact information if it's convenient?"

"Of course."

The man smiled and pulled out a business card from his pocket.

It read: Kumeimon Kenji.

"I'll keep it well!"

Sonoko happily tucked the card into her pocket and exchanged her email address with him.

"Sonoko!" Ran scolded her with a glare.

"What's the problem!" Sonoko laughed, "And what he said just now made sense, didn't it?"

"That's not true, it's all nonsense!"

"Okay, okay, don't get so angry!"

As the girls argued, the man named Kumeimon squinted his eyes and looked at the boy who had spoken earlier.

"You seem to really like playing detective games, don't you?"

Looking at the man's half-smiling, half-serious gaze, Conan's heart skipped a beat, but he put on a bright smile. "Of course, I love solving mysteries! I want to be a detective when I grow up!"

"Is that so? That's not a good thing."

The man smiled and wagged a finger in front of Conan.

"Detectives are the most evil profession in the world. They always use the guise of justice to employ various despicable means, such as invading people's privacy, to find what they believe to be the truth, and then stand on a high moral ground to criticize and educate others, satisfying their desire to play with life or to feel superior to others... Little boy, you don't want to become such a person, do you?"

This guy...

The man's words were harsh, making Conan frown instinctively.

He opened his mouth to argue, but couldn't say anything out loud, so he awkwardly scratched his head and gave a childish smile.

"Ha ha ha, you got owned, didn't you! He's right! Who asked you to act so cocky and show off all the time! You're just like that deduction freak!"

Sonoko laughed and poked Conan's head with her finger.

Conan's mouth twitched in frustration and he glanced at the man with dissatisfaction.

He didn't know why the man said those things, but it made him feel uncomfortable.

Not long after, the subway stopped again.

Ran, with Conan, angrily got off the train with Sonoko.

"Lawyer Kumeimon, remember to contact me!"

Sonoko laughed and waved at the man before leaving.

The man raised an eyebrow, glanced at the group through the window, his eyes gleaming with an unknown thought.

Then he smiled lightly, lowered his head, and returned his attention to the documents in his hand.

(End of Chapter)