Chapter 51: The Great Demon King Ai Haibara

“Don’t you already have your answer?” Chi Feichi asked calmly, then added, “Our families have known each other for a long time, and you’ve always been considerate toward me. If I can help, I’m more than willing.”

Sen'en Kikujin fell silent again as he drove near 2-22 Second Avenue, then parked the car. Clenching his teeth, he whispered, “The rumors outside are true. The person I trusted the most has betrayed me!”

Well, that was easy to trick—he just confessed…

Chi Feichi thought to himself. Despite the difference in their statuses, Sen'en Kikujin had a point. He really had no ulterior motive regarding the Sen'en family. But in terms of cunning and experience, Kikujin was far less sharp than the old foxes Chi Feichi had met following his cheap stepfather.

“Is it Butler Shigematsu? He seems to be handling your company affairs,” Chi Feichi inquired.

“Yes,” Kikujin’s expression darkened. “He’s even blackmailing me, demanding I cancel tomorrow’s wedding or he’ll tell my father about this. He’s been our butler for years, practically raised me and my sister. I never expected him to…”

“Wait, the person I was looking for just came out. I need to take care of something quickly,” Chi Feichi interrupted softly, opening the car door to get out. “We’ll talk later.”

Suppressing his urge to confide, Kikujin nodded and glanced outside, spotting a small girl in a red jacket stepping out the door. He was speechless.

Yes, it was indeed a girl, but she was far too young—nothing like the girl he had imagined…

After getting Ai Haibara into the car, Chi Feichi gave Kikujin the address of the breeding facility, then pulled a vial of blood from his pocket and handed it to Ai Haibara in the back seat.

“Ai, can you find someone to identify this blood? See what kind of crow it belongs to and check if there’s anything unusual. Whatever the results, keep it confidential.”

Knowing Kikujin was on edge, Chi Feichi made sure to do this in front of him to avoid any misunderstandings.

Ai Haibara noticed the unprecedented seriousness in Chi Feichi’s expression, glanced at Kikujin behind the wheel, and nodded. “Understood.”

“This is crow blood?” Kikujin asked casually. “Is it from the crows that fought with Feichi and Rebeca?”

“No,” Chi Feichi denied. “I found this crow and want to know its species and if it has any illnesses. Having a report will help with the pet certificate.”

“Feichi got into a fight?” Ai Haibara asked.

“Yes, so I didn’t bring him out today,” Chi Feichi said. “But don’t worry, it’s nothing serious…”

“It’s just wrapped up like a white snake in gauze,” Kikujin chuckled, his earlier reticence breaking as he continued, “When I came back this morning, both it and my cat looked pitiful. My yard was trashed too—gave me quite a fright! By the way, I’m Feichi’s cousin, Kikujin Sen’en. He’s staying at my place now. You can call me Brother Kikujin, cute little miss.”

Ai Haibara’s expression flickered strangely. This guy sounded like a playboy. She retorted coldly, “You don’t look anything like him.”

“You two actually resemble each other a lot,” Kikujin shrugged off her attitude. “Feichi, could it be that Uncle Shin’nosuke has a daughter he’s hiding from us? No, that can’t be right—he and Aunt Kana couldn’t have a blue-eyed child. Maybe it’s from someone else…”

“No,” Chi Feichi cut him off calmly. “My father will be back soon. If you have doubts, you can verify with him.”

Kikujin quickly wiped the smile off his face and coughed, “I was just joking…”

Ai Haibara, noticing Chi Feichi rarely mentions his father, grew curious when Kikujin deflated. “Is your father coming back?”

“Yes,” Chi Feichi replied. “Maybe tonight, at the latest tomorrow.”

Ai Haibara paused, then asked, “Is he a harsh person?”

“No,” Kikujin answered, sensing the atmosphere cooling too much and taking over the conversation. “He’s similar to Feichi—calm and serious. I’ve never heard him scold anyone, but people naturally get nervous around him.”

Ai Haibara leaned forward to glance at Chi Feichi in the passenger seat, imagining a “stronger version” of him. Then she turned back to Kikujin. “He looks a lot like his father? Not his mother?”

Chi Feichi glanced at Ai Haibara: …

Clearly, they both preferred concise communication. Was Ai Haibara suddenly planning to betray that trait and become talkative?

Ai Haibara looked up at Chi Feichi: …

Why did she feel so looked down upon?

Only Kikujin remained unfazed, continuing cheerfully, “His personality is from his father, but his appearance leans more toward his mother. You saw his eyes, right? Just between us, Aunt Kana is a great beauty…”

…

At the breeding facility in Cupoto.

In a corner, there was a lavishly furnished enclosure.

A large bamboo rat saw Chi Feichi and hurriedly nudged his companion. “Stop eating. Wait a moment. That person is here again!”

The smaller bamboo rat kept gnawing bamboo. “So what if he’s here? It doesn’t affect me eating.”

“Every time he comes, the bamboo rats he takes never come back,” the larger one said seriously. “I have a bad feeling, like the meat pot we secretly saw back home. Maybe they’re already dead!”

The smaller rat shuddered and looked at the larger one hesitantly. “But didn’t he say… not to eat us two? He wants to raise us properly.”

The larger rat replied bitterly, “He only said the others can’t be eaten. Maybe he wants to fatten us up for himself. We can’t let our guard down!”

The smaller rat stopped chewing bamboo. “What should we do then?”

“We absolutely can’t get chosen and taken away!” the larger rat declared firmly.

“But the first time he came, he said, ‘These two look fat, just these two.’ The second time, he said, ‘These two look weak and don’t eat,’ and then took them away,” the smaller rat said confusedly. “So are we supposed to eat or not? Get fat or not?”

“Well…” The larger rat hesitated, looked around, then lowered his voice, “Let’s listen to what he says before deciding. Shh, he’s looking this way.”

Chi Feichi glanced away, amused by these two silly bamboo rats with strong survival instincts…

Ai Haibara had already gotten a cage from the caretaker and looked up at Chi Feichi.

“Pick whichever ones you want,” Chi Feichi said.

“Some look really weak,” Ai Haibara hesitated after looking around. “Can I choose more?”

Chi Feichi noticed that more than half the bamboo rats did look sickly. “It’s probably because they’re not suited to the environment. Take them all if you want.”

“Really?” Ai Haibara looked a bit embarrassed.

“No problem. They probably won’t live long anyway,” Chi Feichi said. “I’ll arrange for someone to deliver them to you.”

Nearby, the smaller bamboo rat whispered, “Brother, this time he was talking about being unaccustomed to the environment…”

“Eat!” The larger rat grabbed bamboo and chomped fiercely. “Hurry up and eat! Act lively! Make sure he knows we’re adapting well!”

The smaller rat quickly copied, nervously glancing around. “Brother, he’s looking at us again…”

Chi Feichi sighed. Ideally, taking those two bamboo rats away would be best to ease their nerves. But since they needed daily feeding, it was troublesome. It was better to leave them here with someone else to care for them…

Ai Haibara watched as the caretaker packed one bamboo rat after another into cages and loaded them onto the truck. The big cage she had been holding was used too, emptying out more than half the bamboo rats at once.

Smaller bamboo rat: “Brother, this little girl seems even fiercer…”

Larger bamboo rat: “Shh, she must be the legendary big demon lord!”

Chi Feichi looked down at Ai Haibara and took out his phone.

Click.

Ai Haibara froze and looked up at Chi Feichi. “Why are you taking pictures of me again?”

“Wait a moment…” Chi Feichi began editing the photo.

Ai Haibara immediately remembered how “fierce” she was and turned her head away. “I’m not looking!”

“Really not looking?” Chi Feichi asked.

Ai Haibara hesitated. She did want to see how he was mocking her photos. “Maybe I will…”

Chi Feichi lowered his phone.

The photo showed Ai Haibara and some of the bamboo rats waiting to be loaded. The frightened bamboo rats huddled together in cages, while Ai Haibara looked calm.

Above the bamboo rats, a caption was added: [Trembling under the gaze of the Great Demon Lord]

Ai Haibara was silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out to snatch the phone.

But Chi Feichi was quicker, grabbing the phone and putting it away.

Ai Haibara looked at Chi Feichi with a pitiful expression, quickly calculating the odds of defeating him or successfully grabbing the phone in various scenarios.

“I’m keeping this as a memento,” Chi Feichi said, lightly patting Ai Haibara’s head.

Ai Haibara immediately wilted, thinking it might not be so bad to give him a memento. She looked down at the ground and said, “Don’t spread this around.”

“All right,” Chi Feichi agreed, then told the caretaker to deliver two bamboo rats to the address he gave that morning when contacting Koizumi Akako.

After Chi Feichi and the others left, the larger bamboo rat stopped eating and nudged his companion. “Okay, stop eating. If next time he picks the fat ones, we’ll be in trouble. Let’s control our weight—not the fattest, not the thinnest…”

“Brother, you’re smart,” the smaller one said, “But what if next time he picks the ones who are neither fat nor thin?”

The larger bamboo rat tapped the smaller one with bamboo, sighed, and fell silent.

Life as a bamboo rat is truly difficult…