"Conan, have you noticed that Sonoko seems... preoccupied lately?"
Mori Ran carefully straightened Conan's tie, smoothing out the wrinkles on his little suit jacket before abruptly changing the subject.
"So you've noticed it too, sis. Sonoko's been going out every other day recently, and always comes back very late."
Conan stood quietly before the mirror, glancing up to meet Ran's eyes as he recalled Natsume Sonoko's recent behavior.
"I've got something to take care of—heading out now!"
Just as the two were still whispering, a clear, bright voice came from nearby. A familiar figure hurriedly stepped through the door of the Mori Detective Agency.
After closing the door behind her, Natsume Sonoko rushed downstairs wearing a light green dress that gave off a vibrant, youthful energy.
Today was special.
Over the past few days, the entire City had become covered with those magical symbols and patterns left by Kanzaki.
These magical patterns had a searching, probing function—they could locate the power source needed to operate this ancient magical circle.
Sonoko had just reached Kanzaki's location, her footsteps not yet still, when she happened to see Kanzaki holding a long sword and chanting something.
Beneath her feet, the magical script and patterns began glowing with a faint crimson light, as if undergoing some strange chemical transformation, starting to merge with this peculiar space.
Kanzaki Kaori raised her long sword high, stepping in rhythms reminiscent of a shrine maiden's ritual dance.
Tiny points of starlight shimmered across her body, then coalesced into a massive pillar of light visible to the naked eye, plunging into the ground below.
Simultaneously, in hidden corners of Beika City unseen by Sonoko, identical patterns lit up one after another, as if the body of the magic was gradually being assembled.
The magical effects were dazzling, and the results they achieved were extraordinary. Right now, when certain ability users were left scratching their heads, only magic could counter magic.
Bathed in this radiant light, Beika City immediately took on an unusual atmosphere. The many illuminated magical patterns now affected nearly half the sky above the city, staining it crimson like blazing clouds.
The fiery clouds didn't last long. Starting from their edges, the red gradually receded, as if concentrating toward a single direction. As the area covered diminished, the remaining red grew increasingly vivid.
Looking up at the changing sky, Sonoko watched intently where the red was gathering.
'No mistake about it—that direction leads to the Mori Detective Agency.'
Sonoko nodded faintly to herself, finding it consistent with her suspicions.
"Let's head that way." Kanzaki Kaori had completed the ritual, sheathing her long sword while keeping her eyes fixed on the blood-red sky.
Sonoko took an extra glance at Kanzaki's long sword—over two meters long, similar to tools used in rain-praying rituals in some parts of Japan, also known as ritual swords.
Moving toward the area where the red intensified, Kanzaki advanced swiftly without a word, making Sonoko feel inexplicably nervous.
"The Mori Detective Agency? Isn't that where you live?"
A puzzled expression appeared on Kanzaki's face as she turned to look directly into Sonoko's eyes.
The atmosphere grew somewhat awkward. Sonoko silently gazed at the familiar signboard, a sheepish smile appearing on her face.
"So that's how it is. No wonder you said you'd found clues about the source before—it's because you live nearby." Kanzaki paused, seeming to understand something.
The deep crimson in the sky enveloped the Mori Detective Agency, but as the two stepped inside, all anomalies vanished without a trace.
"Sonoko, did you bring a friend over?"
Emerging from some corner as usual, Conan maintained his typical ghostlike appearance, his face full of childish innocence that disarmed suspicion.
However, with Conan's appearance, Kanzaki's expression finally shifted, a complex light entering her gaze.
--+--
The night wind blew with some urgency.
"Gemstones? I know a bit about the term, but what does it have to do with Conan?"
On the rooftop of the Beika Hotel building, Natsume Sonoko gazed at the distant scenery. She understood each individual word, but their connection left her confused.
Gemstones—those special individuals who developed supernatural abilities without undergoing brain development, the so-called natural espers.
The probability of their birth seemed extremely rare worldwide, even more precious than Academy City's Level 5s. The Level 5s were merely the pinnacle among 2.3 million people, but compared to the world, that was just a drop in the ocean.
"Magic was born to allow those without talent to catch up to those with it. Some of the earliest magic originated from people's idol worship of Gemstones. In other words, we are among those who understand Gemstones best—those who worship idols naturally come into contact with their radiance."
"To prevent accidents, I verified it several times. He is indeed a Gemstone, no doubt about it. Moreover, Gemstone abilities are often very strange—sometimes even the Gemstones themselves don't understand them. They don't require conscious thought, manifesting almost like bodily instincts."
Kanzaki Kaori answered seriously, sitting down at the rooftop's edge while calmly watching the city lights.
"But even if Conan is a Gemstone, normally he shouldn't be connected to this magic circle, right? He probably knows nothing about magic."
Natsume Sonoko voiced her doubts.
"No, precisely because he's a Gemstone, it's possible for him to pull so many people into the magic, even if he's completely unaware of it. This is something ordinary magicians couldn't accomplish. Whether for abilities or magic, Gemstones themselves are miracles." Kanzaki insisted, her tone growing more serious.
Sonoko still had plenty of questions, but then she thought of something.
"Kanzaki, do you know when this magic circle was reactivated?"
"Judging by the magical traces attached to it, about two months ago. Of course, I mean two months in reality."
Imitating Conan's mannerisms, Sonoko slowly paced the rooftop, adjusting nonexistent glasses as she thought.
So what difference was there between two months ago and now? And it had to be connected to Conan.
Wasn't it obvious?
Sonoko had a sudden moment of clarity. Two months ago was exactly when Conan came to live with the Mori family. And before that, Conan was Kudo Shinichi, a famous high school detective.
The culprit behind this change was the Black Organization—specifically, their shrinking drug.
Could it be that something added to the shrinking drug caused this change?
But Sonoko didn't have any of the shrinking drug on hand, though she still had some data. She could only take things one step at a time.
"Not knowing the cause doesn't matter—I still have several solutions." Kanzaki suddenly stood up, a strange expression crossing her face.
"How do we solve it?"
"The simplest method is to directly destroy the source's vessel." Kanzaki said thoughtfully.
"Absolutely not!"
Natsume Sonoko hurriedly stepped forward to reject Kanzaki's proposal.
Even if that kid could be really annoying sometimes, this method was completely unacceptable.
"Of course, that approach is only a last resort. Actually, there are alternatives." Kanzaki continued with a faint smile.
"We could place Conan inside a box that blocks magical perception. That would create a brief gap to escape the magic circle's influence. However, creating such a box would require significant time and effort, and I'm in a hurry right now."
"Alternatively, we could find a way to remove the magic circle's effect on us. For example, we could use the separation ritual ancient magicians employed after gatherings, or make this damaged magic circle voluntarily release its hold on us."
As Kanzaki's words fell, Sonoko wore a thoughtful expression, seemingly processing everything she'd just heard.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.