Mary's painful groans came from inside the room. Masumi stood outside, her eyes full of worry.
Toru was sitting on the sofa, drinking cola. Seeing this, he comforted her. "Don't worry. Although that antidote is single-use, it has already undergone human trials."
"Moreover, your cousin has personally taken it. As the inventor, she is very sure this medicine won't be life-threatening."
As for who the human test subject was, of course it was the unfortunate Kudo Shinichi.
Hearing Toru say this, Masumi could only suppress the worry in her heart.
She walked over and sat beside Toru, nudging him with her elbow in a very tomboyish way, then chuckled. "What exactly are you and my mother going to do? You're not going on a date, are you?"
Toru rolled his eyes at her. "Since your mother doesn't want to tell you, then I won't either."
Masumi pouted. "Hmph, you think I don't know what you're going to do?"
"I guess the Organization my mother is in is going to make a move against her, and you're going to deal with the danger."
Toru smiled. "Since you already know, why are you still asking?"
Masumi sighed helplessly. "My mother never tells me about these things."
"That's because your mother is afraid you'll be in danger."
"Even if she doesn't say anything, will the danger disappear?"
"Well, you're right about that, but even if you know what the danger is, what can you do? Instead of worrying about it then, it's better not to know from the beginning."
Masumi suddenly turned sideways and stared intently at Toru.
"What are you looking at me for?" Toru asked, a little puzzled.
"I hope you can do me a favor," Masumi said seriously.
"Tell me what you want me to help you with first. I won't make promises casually."
"I hope you can give me some tasks, well, tasks related to Mother's work. They don't need to be too difficult, just something I can handle," Masumi said.
Toru was a little puzzled and asked, "What are you doing this for?"
"I want to temper myself and become stronger. When I run into things like this in the future, I don't want to be a burden, I want to be someone who can help Mother."
"Our family is already very troublesome. We always have to face all kinds of danger. Mother and Brother are both like this. I also want to help them and support this family," Masumi said seriously.
Toru smiled slightly. "You're not playing your detective games anymore?"
Masumi shook her head. "Detective... like you said, it's just a game after all. It's not important."
Toru asked again, "Then can I understand this as you wanting to work for me?"
Masumi nodded vigorously.
"Then I'll make it clear, I won't pay you."
"I don't need pay. I just want to temper myself."
Seeing how eager Masumi was to work for someone, and that she didn't even want a cent, what else could Toru say? Of course, he agreed.
Masumi added, "But don't tell my mother about this. If she finds out, she'll worry about me again."
"No problem."
Toru readily agreed.
Masumi's ability and talent were both very strong, there was no doubt about that.
She was just too young right now and lacked experience in many areas, which was why she couldn't help her mother.
But with a little training, Masumi would definitely become a capable helper for him.
Once you get involved in some things, it becomes very difficult to leave.
Since Masumi wanted to work for him, Toru was naturally happy to accept.
And his goal was to have Masumi work for him for a lifetime.
As the two of them talked, Mary's painful groans inside the room became fainter and fainter, which meant the medicine had most likely taken effect.
Not long after, the rustling sound of getting dressed came from inside the room.
When the door opened, Mary, who had returned to her original appearance, appeared before Toru and Masumi.
Both of them looked at Mary in shock.
The Mary standing before them was not the middle-aged woman in her fifties they had imagined, but a mature and beautiful woman who looked only twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old.
She had slightly wavy golden hair, delicate features, and a lithe body like a leopard, giving off a strong sense of healthy beauty.
At this moment, Mary was wearing a T-shirt and outdoor pants that were easy to move in. Her bearing was stern, like a proud queen, and her sharp eyes, honed by years as a spy, were awe-inspiring.
"Mother?"
Masumi called out cautiously, disbelief in her voice.
Mary was already close to forty when she gave birth to Masumi.
By the time Masumi became self-aware, Mary had already begun to age.
So Masumi had never seen what Mary looked like when she was young. Now that she was seeing Mary in her twenties, she almost didn't recognize her for a moment.
Masumi looked at Mary, then at Toru sitting on the sofa, and commented, "I wanted to deny that you were going on a date just now, but now that I see this, I'm really starting to wonder what you're going to do."
Earlier, Masumi had thought her mother would return to the appearance of a woman in her fifties. Even if Mary didn't look old, standing next to Toru would still show the age gap between them.
But now, with Mary in her twenties standing beside Toru, they looked like a couple no matter how you looked at it.
Mary glared at Masumi. "What were you talking to Toru about just now?"
"Nothing, Mother. Let's not talk about that. Standing together like this, we don't look like mother and daughter, we look like sisters."
Masumi happily ran over to her mother and hugged her arm.
She looked at Mary's beautiful face, then took out a mirror and looked at herself, her expression turning a little dejected.
Compared to Mary, she, who was like a tomboy, was really too lacking in femininity.
However, Mary showed no sign of happiness. Instead, she frowned. "Masumi, go get the makeup."
"Okay!"
Masumi thought her mother was going to put on makeup, so she excitedly brought over a set of cosmetics.
Mary sat in front of the mirror and began working on her face.
Soon, Masumi and Toru realized something was wrong. Mary's makeup was making her look older.
Although Mary wasn't a master of disguise, as a queen among spies, her makeup skills were also extremely strong.
After adding some wrinkles to her face, Mary looked as if she had aged more than ten years in appearance.
"Mother, what are you doing?"
Masumi was a little surprised. Women loved beauty, but there was no mother like this who would use makeup to make herself ugly.
Mary said calmly, "MI6 has photos of me when I was young in their archives."
"If I appear with the looks of someone in her twenties, it will only make MI6 suspicious. This time, I'm intentionally letting MI6 see me in an older state."
"That way, when they continue looking for me in Japan later, they won't think I can turn into a child."
As expected of someone who had been a spy her whole life, Mary thought of everything thoroughly.
After putting on makeup, Mary stood up and looked at Toru. "Let's go. There's no time to waste, we'll leave now."
"Masumi, stay here and don't go anywhere."
"Okay," Masumi said helplessly.
Toru didn't say any more unnecessary words. He got up and left the hotel room with Mary, taking the elevator to the underground parking lot.
After getting into the silver Porsche, with Masumi no longer by her side, Mary finally said, "I thought I would have to return to my original appearance before asking you for help."
"In this state, at my peak, dealing with those MI6 people would be easy."
Toru started the car and said with a smile, "What, do you regret asking me for help?"
Mary shook her head. "No, I still need your help. Neither you nor my niece can say for sure how long the effects of this drug will last."
"To be safe, it's better for you and me to stay together."
After a pause, Mary's expression turned complicated. "...My niece is truly amazing, to be able to invent such a drug."
"Do you know how I feel right now?"
Toru asked, "Turning back the clock, achieving immortality?"
Mary nodded slightly. "You haven't grown old. You don't know the sadness of physical decline after getting old, nor do you understand how your mindset changes after aging."
"When you grow old and your looks fade, when your body functions get worse and worse and you gradually approach death, you miss your youth more and more, and you want to go back."
"How many emperors and generals have had such thoughts."
Toru's heart stirred when he heard this. He asked, "Do you have other thoughts now?"
Mary slowly nodded. "I somewhat understand the Organization's pursuit. After feeling this body I have now, I even wanted to support my niece and have her continue her research."
"Before, I was a little hesitant about whether to help you seize the Organization. I actually wanted to destroy it more."
"But now, I've made up my mind. I will help you gain power in that Organization."
Toru knew that Mary had finally been tempted, tempted by immortality.
He thought of Vermouth.
Clearly, Vermouth was the one who had always remained young, yet she didn't care much about her own life.
It was highly likely that Vermouth had taken that drug too early, so she had never experienced what true old age felt like and had never gone through those physical changes.
But Mary was different. She had truly grown old, which was why she was so fanatical about turning back the clock.
While Toru was thinking, he heard Mary say, "I have a piece of news here that you might be interested in."
"What news?"
"News about a nuclear weapon."
Toru almost slammed on the brakes!
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)