Lost Lord Ranbu

If you talk about who is the most special to Ranpo, it must be Mori Ogai.

Could someone really want to ask Ranpo "Ogai Mori or Yukichi Fukuzawa, which one do you choose?" This kind of idiotic question, right?It's as foolish as asking a young child, "Which one do you like best, Dad or Mom?"

However, Ranbu obviously won't be in a dilemma like a young child. He can easily detect the loopholes in the question, and perceive the evil taste hidden under the language of the questioner—or, in other words, malice.

This is not just a matter of "who do you like more", but involves a larger dispute of interests, and may even lead to changes in the division of power in Yokohama.If Ranbu had to choose one, before he actually made a choice, whether it was Mori Ogai or Fukuzawa Yukichi, they would first shut up the questioner.

Choosing one of the two does not need to be put on the bright side.

"Mr. Mori, I'm coming!" Under the respectful sight of the guards, the cadre of the port mafia pushed open the heavy door of the chief's office, and he himself replaced the role of the messenger, "This afternoon What's the tea? Hey, I guess it's strawberry cake and black tea, I really want something salty—”

After seeing the extra people in the office, the twittering of the cadres suddenly stopped.

"What, why is ace here? Did Mr. Mori invite someone else?" Ranbu didn't hide it at all, showing his distaste for the other party on the surface, "Afternoon tea is the best place to relax and chat Way, if I had known that ace was there, I wouldn't have come here."

Ace, one of the five cadres of the Port Mafia, is a well-dressed man with elegant manners, but because he puts too much emphasis on elegant posture, it is a bit too exaggerated, like a nondescript imitation.

At this time, ace was standing in front of Mori Owai's desk, and seemed to be reporting to the leader.Hearing the voice, he turned his head to see Luanbu's face. The expression on his face suddenly became a little ugly, but he quickly regained his reserve.

Mori Ogai is no stranger to the turbulent undercurrent among cadres.

There is a feud between Luanpo and ace, and it is not a day or two that they can't get along well.

This contradiction is two-way.

Luanpo is very casual when talking to anyone, especially someone like ace who is ambitious and likes to use yin and yang to target the leader during cadre meetings, he will even say a few words unceremoniously.

Ranbu's dissatisfaction with ace can be simply understood as "seeing him unhappy", so ace's thoughts are much more complicated.

Ace made a big fuss in the port mafia's casino before, and finally became a cadre with a high payment.The cadre status established purely by money is naturally unconvincing, so ace has a private army, and his supernatural ability "Jewel King's Abnormality" can guarantee the loyalty of his subordinates.

But he himself doesn't have any martial arts skills, his physical skills are third-rate, and his supernatural powers are not of the combat type. He joined the port mafia just to find bodyguards, and he paid a lot of money for it.

However, as a cadre with low military strength, Edogawa Ranpo can receive strict protection comparable to that of a leader, while ace cannot enjoy this kind of treatment.The other cadres didn't mind this, but ace, who was used to haggling over every detail at the gaming table, obviously couldn't accept such differential treatment.

In this way, the relationship between the two will naturally not be very good.

However, their petty fights are still within the range that Mori Ogai can tolerate. If there is a conflict between the two cadres that is difficult to reconcile, and the troubles are to the point of splitting the organization, the leader will come forward to mediate.

But before that, Mori Ogai's partiality towards whom was very obvious, and only fools couldn't see it.

"Ranpo-kun and Alice go sit there first, this place will end soon." Mori Ogai smiled at the black-haired cadre who arrived later, and greeted him cordially.

Then, he did not forget to explain a few words to ace, to show that he has never favored one another: "Kids just like to party, and they clamored to come to my place for afternoon tea-ah, what did you say just now?"

"It's about the black organization." Ace lowered his head seemingly respectfully, his slightly longer sideburns covering his dark eyes.

He was well aware that he was not trusted with the Port Mafia.

When Mori Ogai meets alone with his trusted subordinates to discuss work matters, he generally does not let humanoid supernatural beings appear.No matter how harmless Alice's appearance is, its essence is the realization of Mori Ogai's supernatural ability, which is a manifestation of Mori Ogai's vigilance.

Mori Ogai said that Alice was here just to wait for Edogawa Ranpo to eat cakes together, ace would never believe it.

But it doesn't matter, he is not going to spend time to make Mori Ogai trust him, because with Edogawa Ranpo around, there is no need to put in effort to pretend to be loyal, as long as he has money... hmph.

Ace sneered in his heart, and on the surface, he still had enough etiquette: "It is about the black organization, I hope this matter can be handed over to me."

Mori Ogai didn't reply immediately, his attention was attracted by the combination of Ranpo and Alice for a moment, and then he answered slowly under the slightly dissatisfied gaze of ace: "Oh? Leave it to you?"

"Yes." Ace put his hand on his chest, "With my financial resources, it is very easy to settle down the black organization. They are a multinational organization whose main business is drug production, and they also have contacts in the military and political circles. I have already made arrangements for countermeasures, and I can start to act immediately."

"Hmm..." Mori Ogai blinked, crossed his hands on his chest, and seemed to be thinking seriously about his proposal, "Originally I wanted Dazai-kun to handle the follow-up, but recently he is busy investigating other things, Zhong Yejun is not very good at dealing with mice that hide their heads and show their tails..."

After a while, the leader made a decision.

He replied: "Well, since you asked for it, I will leave it to you to deal with it. Anyway, let them understand how vicious retaliation they will receive for seizing the territory of the port mafia."

"It's a great honor." Ace smiled.

"However——" Mori Ogai made another request, "Ranpo-kun was investigating this matter before, and you have to make a handover with him. How about bringing him along?"

Ace's smile froze on his face.

Before Ace could speak, Luanbu reluctantly raised the silver fork in his hand, and protested without any motivation: "Mr. Sen, I told you that I won't work today, can't I?"

"No, Ranpo-kun." Mori Ogai refused him, "It's working time now, you have to work hard."

The blond girl sitting across from Ranpo looked at him unhappy: "Rin Taro doesn't mean anything anymore."

Mori Ogai seemed to have compromised, and spread his hands again: "Okay then, when Ranpo-kun comes back, I can reward you with something else."

Ranpo fiddled with the cake in front of him indifferently, obviously not interested in the reward Mori Ogai said: "What? Special bonus? Promotion? I don't need that kind of thing..."

"Detective agency."

"..."

The movement of ravaging the butter in disorder.

"If the incident can be resolved this time, I will not interfere with the detective agency in the future. It is your private army. In Yokohama, I allow the port mafia to provide privileges for the detective agency to act—how?" Mori Ogai smiled.

He is sure that Ranpo will agree to his request, and the detective agency is just a reward to motivate the child.It would be nice to let Luanpo go out for a walk, anyway, he is a member of the port mafia after all.

Sure enough, after Mori Ogai said this, Ranpo didn't say anything against it, but he seemed a little unhappy: "Since Mr. Mori has said this to this point, there is no way... I see, I I will go, but the detective agency has to keep its word."

"Of course." Mori Ogai responded, and told ace, "The plan cannot keep up with the changes, but we still have to be fully prepared. Ranpo-kun can assist you."

Although he said that "the plan cannot keep up with the changes", Mori Ogai knew that this was not a "change" at all, and everything was "in the plan".

There is a tacit understanding between the two that has been cultivated over the years, and Mori Ogai believes that Ranpo already understands what he means.It should be said that Luanbu should have known what he was planning when he received the "afternoon tea invitation" he called.

Luanbu was persuaded, but the mood of the other cadre was ignored by the leader.

Ace barely restrained himself, not letting the ferocious expression appear on his face, which made his smile look a little stiff: "I don't need other people to intervene, I can do it by myself."

Mori Ogai didn't care about his faux pas, after all, he didn't have any expectations, and it would be good to let the chess pieces that were about to be discarded play their final usefulness.

"For more than ten years, Ranpo-kun's suggestion has been indispensable in the operations of the port mafia. Do you have any objections?" Mori Ogai, who had already issued the order, was unmoved.

ace: "No, no..."

"Then, Ranbu-kun, ace, deal with this matter immediately." The leader urged.

Having said this, Ace knew that there was no way to change the leader's mind, so he could only hold his breath and said to Luanbu, "Then let's go."

"Hmm..." Ranpo glanced at Mori Ogai, then at the cake on the plate, and finally chose to throw down the silver fork.

He thought to himself that Mr. Mori really wasn't going to let him finish the meal.

It's fine if you don't prepare his favorite salty snacks, even the black tea in the teapot is boiling hot, it doesn't look like you can finish it in a short time.If you eat sweet and greasy food without tea to match, then afternoon tea is not afternoon tea, but if you deliberately delay the time to tease ace, something may happen...

Forget it, let's do it this time.

"Alice, goodbye." Ranbu bid farewell to Alice, and pouted at ace, "Aren't you going to teach someone a lesson? Let's go then."