The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

Chapter 1299 There are no normal people left on the stage.

Chapter 1299 There are no normal people left on the stage.

"Domoto Kazuki was indeed an excellent musician, and therefore, like every great artist, he was an arrogant fellow."

Following Asai Narumi's lead, Haga Kyosuke brought the topic back to the upcoming concert.

As a renowned musician from a musical family, he was naturally among those invited to the opening ceremony, and he certainly has his own insights into this grand concert.

"Of course, he's mostly very humble. To balance everyone's opinions and expand his influence, he'll compromise and give up a lot. But deep down, he's principled and has a strong commitment to his performances," said Kyosuke Haga, picking up his phone to show the news page. "His pipe organ, it's said, was played by Bach, right?"

"That's true. He specially transported some components from a church in Germany and redesigned the plans during the architectural design phase," Tang Ze nodded. "Of course, I have no way of verifying whether it's true or not."

"Yes, and then he invited Kawabe Kanade, who has Stradivarius. As far as I know, although Kawabe Kanade graduated from his academy, she wasn't very familiar with his people before this concert. Ms. Akiba Reiko is probably in a similar situation. Akiba Reiko doesn't seem to have been the initial choice, but rather Kawabe Kanade was added as an additional condition for lending Stradivarius." Haga Kyosuke steered the conversation to the real point of discussion, "Kawabe Kanade wants to use his platform to collaborate with people she's had difficulty connecting with in the past. For Domoto Issuke, she's a restless element."

"It sounds like you're accusing Domoto Ikki of causing the bombing." Asai Shigemi looked up from the news page. "You think he did it?"

"No, not at all. After all, the concert is his personal affair, and Kawabe Kanako can only negotiate with him; she can't really control him. If he's not satisfied, he can refuse. The current lineup is the result of his careful consideration." Haga Kyosuke shook his head. "So I think the person who caused the explosion must have a good relationship with him. They're probably someone who values ​​his opinion."

Tang Ze roughly understood Haga Kyosuke's logic.

The two performers who died in the explosion were a pianist and a cellist.

If the two of them cannot satisfy Kawabe Kanade, then they will largely fail to gain Domoto Ikkei's approval. Killing them will not cripple the concert.

Kawabe Kanade's skill level met Domoto Ikkei's requirements, but Domoto Ikkei actually preferred Yamane Shion, a student he had personally trained, from the beginning. He accepted Kawabe Kanade mostly because of her violin.

Kawabe Kanako was also injured in the explosion and unable to attend, but it just so happened to be the day her koto was sent for maintenance and repair. Therefore, the Stradivarius was intact and could be borrowed by Yamane Shion, whom Domoto Kazuki valued even more.

"You mean that the culprit seemed to be causing trouble for the concert, forcing Domoto Ikki to change performers at the last minute, but in fact his actions did not really harm the concert. On the contrary, they made the performance closer to Domoto Ikki's original plan." Tang Ze made a simple summary.

"Yes. That's why I think the police investigation might be going in the wrong direction right now." Kyosuke Haga smirked. "But who killed the person is something the police need to worry about. That's not the direction we need to investigate, right?"

Even if the possibility that the perpetrator intended to target the concert is ruled out, the bombing case is ultimately rooted in various grudges and personal entanglements.

Having worked with the Heart Monster in various ways for some time, Yuga Kyosuke knew that their attitude towards these kinds of entanglements was just like the messy things that happened in his family back then: as long as innocent people weren't involved and there was a reason and evidence, how you handled the grudges was your own business.

As phantom thieves of the heart, they always need to be wary of those aspects that go beyond ordinary interpersonal relationships. Those that are excessively distorted and divergent can harm innocent madness, or if left unchecked, they may leave behind endless poisonous emotions.

Therefore, in Haga Kyosuke's understanding, the reason they were concerned about this bombing case and even dragged him in to analyze it was not to find the real culprit, but rather to find out who the mentally ill person in this case was.

"It sounds like you're more supportive of Domoto Kazuki needing to change his mind." Asai Narumi glanced sideways at this former patient who had once been a music enthusiast to the point of being almost obsessive.

"No, I just mean that performers at that level must all be fanatics." Kyosuke Haga didn't seem embarrassed at all about the criticism directed at him, and answered quite frankly, "It's just that his fanaticism doesn't hurt people much, and it might actually be one of the reasons that has brought him to his current position."

7

Hibiki Haga was elected to the Hall of Fame because of his long-standing struggle with the truth behind his parents' deaths. After discovering that the elders he considered family were indeed involved, his emotions finally erupted.

However, if Domoto Kazuki's obsession and distortion are merely his own artistic path, it may be a source of internal conflict and suffering for him personally, but it may be a blessing for music itself.

Artists who can focus on their own pursuits and remain unmoved by worldly fame and fortune are extremely rare.

"I think the problem might lie with those people who are closest to Domoto Kazuki, besides Kawabe Kanade and Akiba Reiko, who are involved in the concert."

Kyosuke Haga started counting on his fingers.

"Shine Yamane experienced having her spot snatched away midway, only to unexpectedly regain it. The back-and-forth pressure might make her overly neurotic and hysterical. Lala Chigusa also faced being replaced, but with Kanako Kawabe's example before her, it's hard not to harbor a sliver of hope that she might be able to take her place. And then there's Kenya Domoto, the son of Kazuki Domoto. On the path of art, he'll only ever see his father's back for the rest of his life. Now, organizing an event, and encountering so many setbacks, he might be rejected by his father again—"

"Stop, stop for a second." Asai Narumi held up her palm. "If you keep analyzing things like this, there won't be any normal people on this stage anymore."

"Indeed, there aren't any." Haga Kyosuke answered with surprising frankness. "There are very few people in this line of work who are mentally sound."

""

"I did see that." Glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, Tang Ze affirmed his spirit of daring to even criticize himself.

It's not accurate to say he's pessimistic or exaggerating.

The arts industry is often exceptionally brutal, and it shares many similarities with competitive sports.

The ceiling determined by talent and comprehension is there, and practitioners still need to study and practice diligently for ten years. Beneath the glamorous stage and respect lies a career of long-term self-examination, hard work, self-discipline, and restraint.

Putting everything else aside, just look at Akiba Reiko, who works in vocal music.

Avoid raw, cold, and spicy foods. Maintain good physical condition, drink herbal tea, and be careful with your voice to prevent damage.

Even if you follow all these precautions, you cannot completely avoid fluctuations and declines in your voice, nor can you completely eliminate the possibility of your voice breaking down in the future.

In contrast, some gifted individuals may never pay attention to using their voice scientifically, indulging in smoking and drinking, yet their voice functions show no change as they age. It's as if God has fed them so much that they're about to vomit.

It is really difficult to remain calm and completely free from any emotional fluctuations in the face of this situation.

"The concert is only two days away, we need to identify a target to focus on. Among these people, who do you think we should pay the most attention to?" Asai Shigemi skipped over his Khan-like mobilization and asked only for a conclusion.

Kyosuke Haga's fingertips unconsciously fumbled for the cap of the bottled water in his hand, gazing into the distance at the bustling tennis court.

Over there, Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki were playing ball when they were jumping around across the net, seemingly discussing something, making quite a scene.

After a moment's thought, to Tang Ze's surprise, he gave a very accurate name.

"It's Sho and Takumi, the personal tuner of Domoto Kazuki. He probably has the biggest psychological issues."

"Oh? You're quite accurate in your targeting. How did you come up with this person? You didn't suspect him before." Tang Ze was genuinely curious now.

Considering Pu and Jiang's behavioral logic, their target and the perpetrator may indeed be highly overlapping this time, because Pu and Jiang seem to have rather abnormal thought processes.

However, Tang Ze hasn't told anyone any of this yet. It seems that Yuga Kyosuke's previous psychological analysis might actually be quite accurate in pinpointing this name.

"It's precisely because no one suspects him that he's so pathetic." Kyosuke Haga shook his head slightly, unscrewed the bottle cap, and shook the water inside. "He's a tuner, and he only works for one person, and he only tunes one instrument. People may acknowledge his loyalty, but more often than not, he's not even considered a professional in the field."

The story is rather tragic when you go into details.

To prove your work ability, you should take on the most challenging jobs possible. The more irreplaceable a technical job is, the more respect and recognition you will receive.

For someone like Fukuto to work for a world-class pianist for so long, everyone knows he must be exceptionally capable. Otherwise, it's unlikely that Domoto Kazuki would have kept him working for over thirty years based solely on personal relationships. But the exact extent of his abilities remains unknown.

After all, his job was largely maintained by his relationship with Domoto Kazuki; he was essentially Domoto Kazuki's accessory. When Domoto Kazuki no longer needed this accessory, his value vanished instantly.

In stark contrast to him were probably sound engineers like Hansmura.

Because he played a wide variety of niche instruments, Hansmura naturally earned a professional master's evaluation, as he had to go to great lengths to invite people over to participate in the performance preparations, like today. Meanwhile, the score and the taku, along with Domoto Kazuki's piano, became old friends left behind.

"I specifically looked into his situation. He became a piano tuner because of his perfect pitch, developed through training, coupled with years of frontline work, which made him extremely familiar with the piano and understand the condition of every part of it." Yuga Kyosuke sighed deeply as he said this. "Actually, perfect pitch is something that sounds impressive, but it doesn't really represent any real talent."

In the music industry, are ears important? Of course they are.

If a person can't even tell whether they're singing off-key or not, they won't go far in music. Not everyone is Beethoven, who, despite being deaf, persevered through sheer willpower to maintain their musical perception and continue their journey. Besides, Beethoven wasn't born deaf, but people with hearing problems are essentially no different from those who are born deaf.

However, having ears to be proud of is not enough.

Day after day, year after year of practice, maintaining a love and reverence for music, learning humbly, and performing proudly—lacking any one of these will prevent you from reaching the pinnacle.

Pu Hejiang chose the path of tuning, which is already a "second-best" option in the music circle. Now he doesn't even have that second-best opportunity anymore. But he used to be with real top musicians, receiving applause and spotlights together, and he truly understands what it feels like to stand at the top.

This pain and sense of loss were enough to drive him insane.

"Well, I kind of agree with that—" Tang Ze's gaze fell on the tennis court in the distance, and he nodded in deep agreement.

"Achoo!"

"Shinichi—" Ran Mouri, who had been bickering with Sonoko Suzuki for a while, squinted at him. "If you don't want to play doubles with us, just say so. It's no fun if you deliberately catch a cold."

"No way!" Shinichi Kudo raised his hand innocently. "Besides, if it's a doubles match with Kyogoku-kun, it doesn't really matter whether I have a cold or not."

Having Sonoko Suzuki and Ran Mouri each bring their male partners to play mixed doubles tennis? Who could possibly beat them?!

If Makoto Kyogoku is standing opposite you, swinging his tennis racket with all his might, then it's no longer a question of whether you can win or not; it's a question of whether you can win even if you want to.

"It's not that exaggerated." Hearing his show of weakness, Sonoko Suzuki patted her flushed cheeks. "Makoto isn't just all brute force. He doesn't only use his power in tennis!"

"Kyogoku-kun even used some techniques." Thinking of the smoking, spinning attack helicopter falling downwards, Shinichi Kudo felt even more apprehensive. "That seems even more terrifying now."

Makoto Kyogoku, accompanied by Sonoko Suzuki, competes against another couple.

Regardless of the opponent, considering that Makoto Kyogoku still has a strong need to prove himself in front of Sonoko Suzuki, any match he plays would be a killer tennis game.

"That's an exaggeration. Not everyone who can fight will injure someone in every sport. If you say that, Ran will be unhappy." Sonoko Suzuki quickly changed her tune. "Ran is really good now. Look at her playing against me, I still beat her 30-0!"

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