Chapter 158: Two Purposes
Mountain Villa
Smoke curled upward from the snow-covered mountain villa.
Red flames illuminated half the sky, but everyone remained hidden inside, completely unaware of the danger outside.
Natsukawa and his group of five followed the villa's owner, Aragoshi, to the living room.
Along the way, Sonoko remained sullen, constantly staring at Doi Takaki with lifeless eyes.
This guy's physique was twice the size of her fantasies!
From an elegant, handsome gentleman to a chubby, freckled nerd—Sonoko's mood had plummeted from the peak of Mount Fuji straight to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
"I didn't expect the Magician's Apprentice and Big Spender to know each other. I couldn't tell from the group chat at all that you two were acquainted."
Doi Takaki said this while glancing at Natsukawa every now and then.
He had thoroughly investigated everyone's information in the chat room, except for Big Spender—someone who had joined at the same time as him.
This meeting had truly caught him off guard. In short, Natsukawa has been secretly investigating me all along, hasn't he? He must have hacked into my computer—otherwise, it would be too much of a coincidence for us to meet in the same chat room.
"No, it's not like that," Sonoko shrugged. "Ran and I were just about to leave when we asked Natsukawa-san to give us a ride, only to find out he was also coming to this party. Uncle Mouri is really something—he promised to pick us up, but then suddenly couldn't make it. Luckily, Natsukawa-san was available, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to attend."
"Ahaha, my dad also accepted a request at the last minute. After all, nobody turns down money, so there's nothing we can do about it."
Ran looked a bit embarrassed, but there was nothing she could do—her dad's schedule was dictated by work.
Sonoko remained silent.
Speaking of people who turn down money, my uncle Jirokichi seems to be one. He spent money like water, buying useless things every day. She'd heard he recently took a fancy to some gemstone and was planning to buy it for his dog to wear.
Absolutely ridiculous!
"Those two are really fated to meet~" Tanaka Kikue raised an eyebrow teasingly.
"Mister Chubby, can you take a picture with me?" Anya grabbed the camera and ran to Doi Takaki, tugging at his sleeve.
"Huh?" Doi Takaki flinched, glancing at Natsukawa, who was chatting with Aragoshi and not looking in his direction.
Why does this little girl want a picture with me? Doi Takaki couldn't help but feel suspicious. Could Natsukawa be trying to trap me somehow?
Or had Natsukawa already told his daughter about his identity as Kaitou Kid, and now his daughter was a fan?
"Because I think Mister Chubby has an elegant aura about him. Is it okay to take a picture?"
Under Doi Takaki's disguise, Kaito secretly nodded in approval. He hadn't expected that his natural charisma couldn't be hidden even by a disguise. This little girl really has good taste.
On the other side, Aragoshi, who was chatting with Natsukawa, glanced at his watch with worry and said dejectedly, "It's already this late. Why haven't Shadow Mage and Escape King arrived yet?"
"Indeed, it's already 6:30. If they're any later, their cars might not be able to make it up the mountain."
"Let's call and confirm. Without Escape King, our group leader, we don't know how to arrange the program."
After discussing for a while, the group decided that Aragoshi, as the homeowner, would make the call. He was the only person in the villa who knew Escape King's real address and name. As for Shadow Mage, although he had accepted the invitation, no one knew his real identity, so even if they wanted to contact him, they couldn't.
The phone rang for a while before being transferred to voicemail.
"This is Nishiyama. No one is available right now. Please leave a message after the beep."
"No one's answering."
Aragoshi frowned, pondering. Without the group leader, the program couldn't be arranged properly, since Escape King was the one in charge of organizing activities.
At that moment, Natsukawa's phone suddenly vibrated.
"It's Uncle Mouri calling."
Natsukawa glanced at the contact on his phone and handed it directly to Ran. "Uncle Mouri is probably looking for you."
Ran nodded, took the phone, and went to answer it.
Meanwhile, Conan had taken over a dozen photos of Anya and Doi Takaki.
"Is that enough?" Conan put down the camera and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. This Anya is really bossy. Doesn't she know I'm still a patient?
"Okay, that's enough!" Anya happily took the camera back, completely ignoring Doi Takaki, who was grinning and ready to admire the photos with her.
Doi Takaki: ...
You said you thought I had an elegant aura, but now you're ignoring me after getting your photos.
At least let me see them!
Oh well, it's not my real appearance anyway, so I don't need to look.
Doi Takaki walked over to Natsukawa, who had just sat down, and asked, "Natsukawa-san, why did you choose to join this magic enthusiasts' chat room?"
Although he was already certain that the other party was there because of him, he still wanted to hear the explanation. Even if the chance of it being intentional was 99%, there was still a 1% probability that joining the same chat room was pure coincidence.
"Of course, I want to know Kaitou Kid's purpose~" Natsukawa crossed his legs, giving him an "I see right through you" look.
"Ahaha, Natsukawa-san, don't joke around. There's no Kaitou Kid here. I don't know anything about him." Kaito remained as stubborn as ever.
Natsukawa glanced at Kaito with a knowing look and didn't bother replying.
He was too lazy to argue with Kaito. No one could break through this guy's stubbornness. Besides, if he really wanted to make him admit it, he'd need concrete proof.
"By the way, why did you come to the magic enthusiasts' gathering? Are you doing market research? Planning to enter the magic performance industry like your father?"
Kaito shook his head, not denying his identity as Kaito Kuroba this time.
Turning to look at the chat room members discussing something, his gaze finally settled on Tanaka Kikue.
"Red Herring—the previous user of this username was the famous magician Harui Fuden. I joined this chat room because Harui-san invited me.
A month ago, Harui-san died in a magic accident when his escape trick failed.
However, a few days later, I discovered this account had been reactivated, and someone was using it to continue chatting.
Not only that, but the chat style is exactly the same as Harui-san's, which makes me very suspicious.
And then there's the Shadow Mage who joined the group chat after you and me—that person's behavior is strange. I checked their IP and authentication information and found that the credentials were stolen.
My purpose today is twofold: to confirm who is using the username Red Herring, and to identify who this Shadow Mage is that stole someone else's identity.
Now it's confirmed that Red Herring is Harui Fuden's daughter, Tanaka Kikue. Next, I need to confirm the identity of that strange Shadow Mage.
Speaking of which, you should have noticed by now—that person has some serious mental issues."
(End of Chapter)
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