Solving cases with Detective Conan's science? No, I'm a cultivator!

In contrast, the other two were much colder.

Tomizawa Taichi's face was even more gloomy.

……

Afterwards, Tomizawa Tetsuji paid Kitagawa Taki 1000 million yen as a thank-you fee, and also purchased one each of the Golden Light Talisman, Evil-Breaking Talisman, Spirit-Purifying Talisman, and Spirit Heart Talisman for 100 million yen each.

Kitagawa Taki explained the specific usage and effects to him. He was told to carry the Golden Light Talisman and the Evil-Breaking Talisman with him, while the Purifying Spirit Talisman and the Spirit Heart Talisman were to be used when encountering problems.

From then on, Kitagawa Taki earned 1400 million yen from a single exorcism request. More importantly, the Tomizawa family is a large conglomerate, and his exorcism business might just open up new avenues for him.

Chapter 13 I think I've fallen for him.

Teitan.

Class 2B

Seeing that Shinichi Kudo's seat was empty, Sonoko couldn't help but ask, "Ran, where's that guy Kudo?"

Xiaolan looked worried. "I don't know. I called him but no one answered, and I went to his house but no one was there."

Sonoko clenched her fists, indignant on Ran's behalf, saying, "That guy, I'm going to teach him a lesson if I see him again! How could he just disappear like that!"

Xiao Lan forced a smile.

Conan, having spent so much time with Ran, completely forgot to reply to her letter until the weekend ended and he asked for leave from school, at which point he suddenly remembered.

Ran felt her phone vibrate, took it out and saw it was a text message from Shinichi Kudo. The message said that he had encountered a very difficult case and couldn't get away, and he apologized.

Seeing Ran staring intently at her phone, Sonoko asked with concern, "Ran, is it a message from that guy?"

"Okay." Xiaolan briefly explained the contents of the message.

"That guy doesn't even answer the phone!"

……

Dr. Agasa's house.

While Kitagawa Taki was away, Conan secretly found Professor Agasa.

"Doctor, that guy won't suddenly come back, will he?"

Conan felt that Kitagawa Taki was a bit strange and didn't really want to run into him.

Dr. Agasa said, "No, Taki went to his office and said he wanted to talk to the landlord about renting the third floor as well."

Conan asked in surprise, "He wants to expand the agency?"

Dr. Agasa explained, "Taki cured the chairman of the Tomizawa Foundation's illness yesterday and received a large sum of commission."

"The Tomizawa Group? How much money?"

"It seems to be 1000 million."

"1000 million?!"

Conan jumped up from his chair in shock. Had the chairman of this conglomerate lost his mind? Believing in exorcists was one thing, but this reward was way too much!

Dr. Agasa scratched his head and chuckled, "I was shocked when I found out yesterday! Chairman Tomizawa even bought a few talismans from Taki for 100 million yen each!"

Conan twitched the corner of his mouth, too exhausted to even comment.

Dr. Agasa suddenly remembered something and said with a serious expression, "Shinichi, I know you only believe in science, but I have to tell you that Taki is a truly capable person."

Conan replied casually, "Yes, yes."

He never expected that Dr. Agasa, who had a doctorate in engineering, would also believe in Kitagawa Taki's ideas, which could only be attributed to the fact that the two were relatives.

"By the way, I made something that's really useful for investigations."

Professor Agasa took a red bow tie from the drawer of his desk.

"This is a bow tie voice changer. Just turn the dial inside, and you can imitate all kinds of voices—old people, children, men, women, you name it!"

Conan carefully observed the structure of the voice changer, then tried it out and found that the effect was indeed very good.

"But would it really be useful in a detective agency like that?"

That night, during the request to help the chairman find his daughter, he had already witnessed Kogoro Mouri's level of deduction.

“There’s one more thing, Shinichi, you should go to school!” Professor Agasa added.

"Go to school? My body has shrunk, how can I go to school?"

Professor Agasa explained, "I meant you would go to elementary school as Conan."

"Think about it, you're already a primary school student but you're not going to primary school, isn't that strange? It might arouse suspicion and even reveal your identity!"

Conan thought about it and realized that what Professor Agasa said made sense.

However, the thought of having to go back to elementary school and spend all his time with a bunch of little kids gave him a headache.

"That's settled then! I'll go back and talk to Xiaolan. Oh, and there's also the child support payment to Uncle Mori."

Conan clasped his hands together, wanting to ask Professor Agasa for help.

"Doctor, could you pay for this for me first?"

"There's nothing I can do. How much do you want to pay?"

"One million yen, I guess."

If it's too little, Conan is worried that Kogoro Mouri will kick him out.

……

School in the afternoon.

Sonoko and Ran rode home in the same car because Sonoko was going to the Kitagawa Exorcism Office, so she went the same way as Ran.

"Ran, I'm telling you, yesterday Taki and I exorcised a spirit..."

Once in the car, Sonoko launched into a long, detailed account of the exorcism that took place at Kitagawa Taki yesterday.

Xiaolan was stunned as she listened, since she hadn't seen it with her own eyes and therefore didn't have the same direct experience as Yuanzi.

"Uncle Tomizawa gave us a thank-you gift of 1000 million yen!"

All the previous comments were as intuitive as this.

"1000 million?" Xiaolan opened her mouth slightly. Her firm hadn't earned that much in years.

"Yes! Taki is really amazing. He's handsome, highly educated, capable, and most importantly, very considerate."

As she talked, Yuanzi became infatuated with flowers again.

"Lan, I think I've really fallen for him!"

Xiaolan nodded, indicating that she understood, seeing the infatuated look on Yuanzi's face.

Sonoko often says she likes this or that, and the only thing they have in common is that they're handsome.

"It's not that kind of liking! At first, it was definitely because of Taki's looks. After that roller coaster ride, I felt like I was smitten."

As Sonoko recalled the scene from that day, she was absolutely certain that her heart had raced.

Seeing that Sonoko seemed serious, Ran asked, "Sonoko, are you going to confess to Kitagawa?"

"That's right, I, Suzuki Sonoko, will definitely win over Kitagawa Taki!" Sonoko looked determined to succeed.

Actually, she had no confidence at all. She felt that she was not pretty enough, and unlike Xiaolan, she was not academically excellent or virtuous enough to manage the household. All she had was that her family had some money.

In fact, this is a typical psychological phenomenon of feeling inferior in front of someone you like.

The two chatted all the way to their destination.

After saying goodbye to Ran, Sonoko went up the stairs to the second floor.

The door was open, but Yuanzi still knocked on it.

Kitagawa Taki had already spotted Sonoko and said, "Sonoko, just come in, no need to be so polite!"

"Taki!"

"This is?"

Sonoko looked at the several boxes piled in the corner and asked curiously.

Kitagawa Taki explained, "I also rented the third floor, intending to use it as a place to live. These are the appliances I bought, such as a TV and a washing machine."

He has never been stingy with his spending; he can always earn more money later. Compared to the expenses of cultivating immortality, these are nothing.

It's a bit of a shame that there aren't any smartphones or computers yet; computers these days are too old-fashioned.

I wonder when these things will appear, given the chaotic timeline of Detective Conan.

"If you need any help, just let me know!"

Sonoko was very happy. From now on, she could come directly here, and it was on her way to meet Ran.

Kitagawa Taki laughed and said, "Don't worry, I won't be polite."

"Uh-huh."

"By the way, Taki, could you let me see ghosts or something?" Sonoko asked a little shyly. "I'm a little curious."

After witnessing Kitagawa Taki's amazing methods yesterday, Sonoko was itching to try them out herself.

Aren't you scared?

"I'm scared, but I'm also very curious!"

Kitagawa Taki understood: Sonoko was someone who was both naive and playful, afraid of ghosts but also curious to see what they looked like.

Actually, there's nothing wrong with just looking at them; most spirits aren't that scary.

"Not now, but it will be fine when I become stronger."

Kitagawa Taki is currently at the second level of Qi Refining, and his control over spiritual power is insufficient to open the spiritual eye for others.

Chapter 14 Yoko Okino Encounters a Ghost

Conan successfully entered Teitan Elementary School as a transfer student.