After retirement I became a guardian of troubled youth

The eyes of the former Mr. Reaper have night vision function, and blowing out the candles does not affect his seeing the situation in the room.

Luanbu stood facing the candle for a moment, then turned around to face him, apparently unaffected by the darkness.

Hikaru Ueno stared at him silently for a moment, and asked, "What do you want me to say?"

Luanbu bit the lollipop stick, tilted his head to look at him for a few seconds, suddenly laughed, and walked towards him.

The sound of leather boots hitting the ground echoed in the narrow room, and stopped after a while.

Edogawa stopped in front of Hikaru Ueno, only a dozen centimeters away from him.

This is far below the safe distance between two people, even if they can clearly perceive each other's breath.

Hikaru Ueno stared at him with downcast eyes, curiosity and excitement throbbed in the youthful emerald eyes, as if he was staring at some interesting prey.

That was a look he had never seen in Ranbu's eyes.

Looking at these eyes together, Hikaru Ueno froze for a moment, and frowned slightly unconsciously.

Such staring always made him feel a little uncomfortable.

He avoided Edogawa Ranpo's gaze, stepped back half a step, and repeated his question: "What do you want me to say?"

"Hmm..." Edogawa bit the lollipop in disorder, his voice became a little vague, "I thought...you should know it yourself."

Hikaru Ueno shook his head obediently, and answered truthfully: "I don't know."

He thought about it, and felt that such an answer seemed a bit blunt, so he changed his words silently: "I don't remember."

Edogawa was stunned, narrowed his eyes and stared at him for a moment, then suddenly approached half a step forward, approached him again, raised his head and looked at him.

The eyes that are close at hand show more obvious playfulness and curiosity.

"Don't remember?" he asked softly.

Hikaru Ueno continued to back away, his back touching the wall behind him, he tilted his head and responded with a sound.

"It's okay~ I can ask you again." Edogawa Ranpo paused for a moment and asked, "Where is your companion?"

Hikaru Ueno was at a loss: "Companion?"

"Yes." Edogawa Ranpo suddenly became very patient, shook the lollipop stick in his hand, and explained, "The thief who stole a lot of our things."

He asked, "You should know where he is?"

"..." Hikari Ueno, "I don't know."

Don't say where that person is, he doesn't even know who the person Ranpo is talking about.

In the original world, he never knew any thieves, or anyone who had the potential to become a thief.

Now in the parallel world, everything has changed drastically, and it is even more impossible for him to guess who the so-called "companion" is.

Edogawa Ranpo didn't seem to be surprised, but he showed a distressed expression, pondered for a moment, and asked him: "Then what should we do?"

Hikaru Ueno pondered.

"I don't know who he is, but I should be able to help you find him."

Edogawa Luanpo nodded: "Yeah, how can I find it?"

Hikaru Ueno: "If we are companions, he will definitely come to me after I go out."

Edogawa ranpo laughed: "So, you want me to let you out?"

Hikaru Ueno nodded solemnly, and looked at him: "There is no other way."

"That's not necessarily true." Edogawa waved his index finger in disorder, "If I don't let you go out, he will take the initiative to find you."

Hikaru Ueno's expression remained unchanged, and he said calmly: "But that will be very slow, you can't wait."

Edogawa Ranbu stopped talking, stared at him for a few seconds, and suddenly laughed again, looking very happy.

He stopped laughing and readily agreed, "Yes."

The next second, the young man spoke again: "But..."

An expected twist.

Hikaru Ueno quietly waited for his next words.

"I can't decide this matter." He spread his hands in regret, and said, "You have to get the boss to agree to let you go."

Ueno Hikaru said without hesitation, "Okay."

He thought for a while, and when the other party turned around, he spoke again: "I have one more request—an equivalent exchange."

"Equivalent exchange?" Edogawa Ranpo looked back at him.

Ueno Hikaru said confidently: "I'll help you find him, and you can also help me find something."

Edogawa Ranpo looked at him, was taken aback for a moment, raised the corner of his mouth, and showed a quite happy smile.

Hikaru Ueno: "?"

The person opposite suddenly took two steps forward, shortening the distance between the two to the extreme.

The lollipop stick hit Hikaru Ueno's forehead twice, and the young man's voice rang in his ears: "Do you know what's going on now?"

Hikaru Ueno raised his hand to cover his forehead, blinked, looked at him blankly, and asked obediently, "What's going on?"

Edogawa ran his eyes wide open, and looked at him amusedly: "You have been imprisoned by us, and you still want an 'equivalent exchange'?"

"Really?" Ueno Hikaru suddenly looked down at his wrist and ankle, wondering, "No?"

Edogawa Ranpo: "?"

The reason why Ueno Hikaru thought he was not imprisoned by the other party was actually very simple.

Because his current situation is different from that of Bailan Jesso who was really imprisoned.

Bai Lan was locked in a large and beautiful room, and someone was guarding him all the time.

But now he is just in an ordinary small room, this is the first difference.

second.

Bran Jesso had shackles on his wrists and ankles, restricting his movements.

But he was clean, not to mention the shackles, not even a rope.

This is even less "imprisonment".

At most, in order to prevent him from leaving early, he was temporarily locked up in this place?

Ueno Hikari tilted his head and asked Edogawa Ranpo for confirmation: "You didn't imprison me."

"Then what do you think is captivity?"

Hikaru Ueno thought for a while, put his wrists together and stretched them out in front of him, "Is that so?"

Edogawa Ranpo: "...?"

Hikaru Ueno looked at him with a straight face, as if he didn't feel anything wrong at all.

It is estimated that the environmental conditions are difficult to achieve, but if they really want to imprison him, it should still be possible to tie him up, right?

Edogawa curled his lips in disorder, his expression became vivid in an instant, and suddenly he had a bit of the original feeling: "I don't even know, so you like this?"

He spread his hands innocently, and said, "Unfortunately, this is not my way. If you really want to do this... let him take care of you next time when you are arrested."

He looked away, a little disgusted: "That guy likes these things."

Hikaru Ueno was curious: "Who?"

Edogawa glanced at him in disorder, and before he could speak, a monotonous and sharp bell sounded in the room.

He pursed his lips and sighed: "Let's go, there's a meeting, I'll take you to see the boss."

He looked dispirited, as if he was not enjoying himself at all.

"Wait a minute." Ueno Hikaru said while following him, "You haven't promised me..."

Edogawa Ranbu suddenly stopped and turned to look at him.

"You don't really think you can negotiate terms with us, do you?" He grabbed Hikaru Ueno's wrist and shook it. "Not tying you up doesn't mean not imprisoning you. We don't have such a thing as entertaining guests here."

He paused, and looked at Hikaru Ueno: "Don't think about it, be good for a while, the boss can't promise to help you find what you want."

Hikaru Ueno let out an obedient "Oh", lowered his head regretfully, and silently followed him.

Edogawa opened the door with random steps, stopped for a while, raised his chin slightly, and signaled him to go first.

Hikaru Ueno raised his foot silently.

The next second, with a "touch", the door in front of him was suddenly closed again, and the iron door barely brushed against the bridge of his nose.

Edogawa Ranbu stood in front of the door, looked up at him, and said with a smile: "However... I can promise you an equal exchange in my own name."

Hikaru Ueno was puzzled.

"Because you're funny." He shook his lollipop stick, narrowed his eyes, and hid his green eyes, "I'm the world's number one detective. There's nothing in this world I'm looking for. something that can’t be reached.”

"Do you want to make an exchange with me?"

Hikaru Ueno asked, "What do you want?"

"Hmm..." Edogawa pondered for a moment, then suddenly pointed at him, "It's just you."

Hikaru Ueno: "?"

"I'll help you find what you want..." Edogawa Ranbu raised the brim of his hat and smiled, "You, mine."

The huge room was quiet. There was a long table in the center, and the two ends of the table were full of people, but no one made a sound.

Huge floor-to-ceiling windows surround half of the room, reflecting the city with tall buildings outside.

Ueno Hikaru followed Edogawa Ranpo, looked away, and looked at the people at both ends of the long table.

Five on the left and six on the right, plus the one sitting right in front, there are twelve people in total.

He didn't know most of them, except for the first three.

Directly in front of him was Mori Ogai, sitting on a chair with a high back, crossing his hands and fingers, looking past Edogawa Ranpo half-obscured in front of him, looking at him peacefully.

On the left and right closest to him are Nakahara Chuya and Dazai Osamu.

Nakahara Chuya and Dazai Osamu of this world.

The two of them are also looking over.

One glanced away and looked away, seemingly not interested in him.

The other looked at him with interest, with a playful smile on the corner of his mouth, and even waved at him leisurely after a while.

After looking at each other briefly, Ueno Hikaru already had a judgment in his mind.

They don't know themselves.

He looked away and looked at other places on the long table.

The seat next to Osamu Dazai was empty, and if nothing unexpected happened, Ranpo Edogawa should be sitting there.

Next to Nakahara Chuya was the short-haired woman he had seen at the detective agency before, leaning on the back of the chair with her legs crossed and looking this way, looking a little impatient.

Out of politeness, Ueno Hikaru slightly bent the corner of his mouth towards her.

The woman sneered suddenly, turned her eyes away, and stopped looking at him.

Ueno Hikaru innocently looked at Edogawa Ranpo.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm the last one." Edogawa Ranpo didn't respond to him, and led him forward directly, while still talking, but it didn't make people feel too embarrassed.

"It's okay." Mori Ogai smiled, motioned him to take a seat, and turned his gaze to Hikaru Ueno who consciously stood behind him.

"Ranbu mentioned you to me." He greeted Shang Yeguang very naturally, as if the two were not in an opposing relationship at this time.

"Really?" Ueno Hikaru was surprised and looked down at Edogawa Ranpo.

The other party only left him a hat of Mo's affection.

Ueno Hikaru thought for a while, then returned to Mori Ogai: "My honor?"

Mori Ogai laughed, leaned forward slightly, and suddenly cut to the point: "So, what do you want?"

He smiled at Hikari Ueno's slightly surprised expression: "Ranbu will not bring people here casually."

"Hmm." Ueno Hikaru looked down at the hat again, and replied truthfully, "I want you to let me go."

Before Mori Ogai could respond, he continued: "I don't know where my companion is. But after I leave here, he will definitely come to me."

"So, let me out, and you will find him soon."

He and Mori Ogai looked at each other.

"Hmm..." Mori Ogai thought for a moment, then readily agreed, "Yes."

Hikaru Ueno was taken aback, a little surprised.

He originally thought that the other party would be like Ranpo just now...

Mori Ogai smiled, as if he had seen through his thoughts: "Ranpo has already promised you, how could I refuse."

"but……"

His voice suddenly sank a little, and his eyes turned to Edogawa Ranpo.

The young man was unwrapping a new lollipop at this time, feeling the gaze cast by Mori Ogai, he raised his head calmly and met his gaze.

The purple lollipop swayed in the air and was swallowed by him.

Under the watchful eyes of Mori Ogai, Edogawa Ranpo bit on the candy, and muttered vaguely: "Hmm, it tastes like grapes."

Mori Owai smiled without saying a word, waited quietly for a while, and asked him, "Is it delicious?"

Edogawa took down the lollipop randomly, licked his lips, puffed his cheeks as if reminiscing, and said, "It's so-so."

Mori Ogai looked at him and said, "Then next time, I'll bring you something else to try."

"Okay." Edogawa Ranpo readily agreed, "I also want chocolate."

"No problem." Mori Ogai withdrew his gaze and looked at the others.

It seems that the matter of Ueno Hikaru has passed like this.

Dazai Osamu let out a long "Hey -" and cast a curious look.

He leaned over to this side, looked up at Hikari Ueno, and waved to him.

Hikaru Ueno: "?"

In the next second, the purple lollipop was in front of his eyes, and Edogawa said dissatisfiedly: "Don't talk to him."

"Wow—Mr. Ranpo is too much..." Dazai Osamu put on a sad posture, looking at Hikari Ueno pitifully, "He won't let you talk to me."

Ueno Hikaru followed the words of the two people: "Then I have no choice but to ignore you."

Osamu Dazai was stunned for a moment, then sat up straight suddenly, and turned most of his body to look at him.

He asked seriously: "Next time, do you want to try to be caught by me?"

Hikaru Ueno was stunned for a moment, with a dazed look on his face.

Before he could figure out how to respond, there was a loud noise from the huge floor-to-ceiling windows.

The glass shattered all over the floor, but the whole room was plunged into darkness, as if it was enveloped by a huge cloth in an instant.

The sound of the chair flipped over instantly sounded.

Hikaru Ueno felt two people grab his arm at the same time.

But within a second, one of them was forced to let go.

The surrounding air twisted the moment the man let go of his hand.

Hikaru Ueno hesitated for a moment, grabbing the unexpected guest with his empty hand.

A hum sounded in the darkness, and the distorted air returned to normal.

Hikaru Ueno felt like he had landed on a patch of wet dirt.

He stood firm, opened his eyes and looked at the opposite person suspiciously.

The black-haired young man was still clutched by him, and he was staring at him unhappily, hinting him to let go with his murderous eyes.

Hikaru Ueno hesitated for a moment, and gripped even tighter.

"Gongmi?" He hesitated and asked, "Are you my companion?"

Hibari Kyoumi looked at him expressionlessly, not answering his question.

He said, "Let go."