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

After resolving the issue of choosing a location for his firm, Kitagawa Taki began working on the renovations.

The renovation company, also recommended by Dr. Agasa, offered Kitagawa Taki a relatively favorable price.

Kitagawa Taki doesn't have much money right now, so they're keeping things simple and doing only the most basic renovations.

In the end, after paying the rent and completing the renovations, Kitagawa Taki had almost no savings left.

However, exorcism agencies rely on word of mouth. Once you build a reputation, word will spread, and business will naturally follow. You can't rush business.

……

The new semester is approaching.

Shinichi Kudo and his two classmates also moved up to the second year.

Sonoko Suzuki lay listlessly on her desk. Taki Kitagawa had texted her before the start of the semester to tell her he was resigning.

"Ah—Taki-sensei!"

Ran Mouri comforted her, "Sonoko, even if Kitagawa-sensei doesn't become a teacher, you can still be friends with him!"

Sonoko Suzuki immediately perked up, realizing she had been overthinking things. "That's right! If Taki-sensei isn't a teacher anymore, then I can openly launch my offensive!"

"Lan, thank you!"

Ran Mouri was speechless; that wasn't what she meant at all.

Sonoko Suzuki asked, "Ran, are you free tomorrow? Come with me to Professor Agasa's house to see Taki-sensei! Oh, no, I should call him Taki now!"

Ran Mouri declined shyly, "Tomorrow? Tomorrow won't work, I made plans to go to the amusement park with Shinichi."

Sonoko Suzuki looked at Ran Mouri with an "I understand, I understand" expression, and drawled out, "Oh, oh—"

Ran Mouri hurriedly explained, "I made a promise with Shinichi before that if I win the Kanto region karate championship, he will treat me to a trip."

Sonoko Suzuki thought for a moment and said, "Ran, how about I go too?"

Ran Mouri exclaimed in surprise, "Ah, Sonoko, what are you going to do?"

Seeing that Ran Mouri seemed to have misunderstood, Sonoko Suzuki said, "Ran, don't get me wrong. I'm not interested in that mystery fanatic. I just wanted to invite Taki to come along, but it seems a bit... a bit... if I'm the only one inviting him..."

Ran Mouri understood: Sonoko wanted to invite Taki Kitagawa to hang out, but she felt awkward going alone.

"Don't worry, if you want some alone time, we can play separately."

Ran Mouri retorted, "What? Sonoko, it's just a normal trip to the amusement park."

Then he added, "You should go and invite Kitagawa-sensei, Sonoko."

Sonoko Suzuki immediately messaged Taki Kitagawa to ask where he was, as she wanted to personally invite him.

She looked at Kitagawa Taki's information—No. 12, 5-chome, Beikacho, 2nd floor—and it felt very familiar.

Sonoko Suzuki showed her phone to Ran Mouri and asked, "Ran, isn't this near your house?"

Ran Mouri exclaimed in surprise, "39-12, 5-chome? It really is! It looks like it's right across from my house. Is Kitagawa-sensei living there?"

"Ok!"

……

After school.

Sonoko Suzuki and Ran Mouri travel together in the Suzuki family's van to the Mouri Detective Agency.

As soon as she got out of the car, Ran Mouri noticed that the words "Kitagawa Exorcism Office" were posted on the second-floor window of the office building across the street.

Some time ago, she noticed that there was renovation work being done across the street.

Ran Mouri pointed to the large characters and said, "Sonoko, this agency isn't owned by Kitagawa-sensei, is it?"

Sonoko Suzuki checked the address: "Hmm, this is the place."

Ran Mouri murmured, "Exorcism agency... Is Kitagawa-sensei resigning to become an exorcist?"

"Let's go, Lan!"

As she spoke, Sonoko Suzuki was about to pull Ran Mouri up the stairs.

Ran Mouri looked frightened and said tremblingly, "Sonoko, I heard this building is haunted, that's why it hasn't been rented out for so long!"

"Huh?" Even though Sonoko Suzuki was braver, it was impossible for her not to be afraid of ghosts.

Swallowing hard, Sonoko Suzuki mustered her courage and said, "It's okay, it's not dark yet!"

While the two were still downstairs debating whether to go up, Kitagawa Taki came down the stairs.

He learned from the message that Ran Mouri was also coming, and guessed that she must know about the ghost rumors, since she lived right across the street, so he came down to pick them up.

Kitagawa Taki laughed and said, "Sonoko, Ran, are you worried about the ghost story?"

Sonoko Suzuki chuckled dryly, "No, we just arrived."

Ran Mouri nodded in agreement.

"Let's go up there! I'll show you around!"

With that, Kitagawa Taki led the two upstairs.

With Kitagawa Taki leading the way, the two of them were no longer so afraid.

Upon opening the door, the interior was simply furnished: a desk, several sofas, a coffee table, and a few unopened boxes in the center.

Kitagawa Taki apologized, "I'm sorry, it's still a bit messy here, I haven't tidied up yet."

"It's okay, I'll help you tidy up!"

Sonoko Suzuki acted immediately, and Ran Mouri joined in the cleaning.

Kitagawa Taki couldn't stop her no matter how much he called, and couldn't help but sigh that Suzuki Sonoko really didn't have the slightest bit of a spoiled princess attitude! Mouri Ran was much more efficient at doing housework than him!

While the two girls were busy packing, he wasn't idle either. He unpacked several large boxes and took out the contents to organize them.

By the time he had sorted and arranged the items, the two women had almost finished packing.

Looking at the various talismans, calligraphy brushes, and other items on the desk, Sonoko Suzuki asked curiously, "Taki-sensei, what are these for?"

"These are used to draw talismans."

Kitagawa Taki finally managed to gather all these things.

"Also, please stop calling me teacher. I've already resigned. Just call me by my name, Kitagawa or Taki, it's fine."

Both of them nodded.

"By the way, Sonoko, you came to see me this time because..."

"Oh, I'd like to invite Taki-sensei... Taki, let's go to the amusement park together tomorrow!"

"An amusement park? Great!"

How could Kitagawa Taki refuse an invitation from a beautiful woman?

Which amusement park specifically?

Sonoko Suzuki looked at Ran Mouri; she had forgotten to ask earlier.

Ran Mouri exclaimed, "Dorobiga Paradise!"

Chapter 9 Urgent, urgent, urgent

"Taki, how come you can exorcise spirits?"

In Sonoko Suzuki's view, these are things that require a lot of time and effort to learn.

“I learned it from someone in New York when I was studying abroad.”

Yes, just like the Hawaiian Technical College in Conan.

Sonoko Suzuki asked somewhat fearfully, "Then...do ghosts and monsters really exist in this world?"

Ran Mouri also became more attentive, clearly concerned about the issue.

Kitagawa Taki nodded solemnly and began to explain: "Of course it is. This place used to be haunted. Many people from the companies that rented this place fell ill. You should know that, Ran, right?"

Startled by being suddenly called upon, Ran Mouri stammered, "Ah... I... I know a little bit."

"Haha, it's alright, I've already taken care of that ghost!"

Seeing that the two of them were somewhat frightened, Kitagawa Taki resumed his usual tone.

Sonoko Suzuki patted her chest, relieved, and said, "Don't scare us!"

She had no doubt about the truthfulness of what Kitagawa Taki said.

Sonoko Suzuki laughed and said, "Taki, I'll introduce you to some business opportunities in the future!"

Large families like the Suzuki family have many members who believe in this.

"We're heading home now. See you tomorrow!"

See you tomorrow, and thank you all for today!

……

the next day.

Kitagawa Taki, Suzuki Sonoko, Mouri Ran, and Kudo Shinichi arrived at Dorobiga Park together.

Kitagawa Taki thought it would just be him and Sonoko yesterday, but he didn't expect that Ran Mouri and Shinichi Kudo would also come.

He already knew what was going to happen next; wasn't this just the same plot where Shinichi Kudo shrunk in the original Trails of Cold Steel? He had a very deep impression of this case.

The group strolled around the amusement park and tried a few rides. Meanwhile, Shinichi Kudo, oblivious to romance, kept talking about Sherlock Holmes, leaving Kitagawa and the other two speechless.

"By the way, Kitagawa, I heard from Professor Agasa that you run an exorcism agency?"

After Kitagawa Taki resigned, Shinichi Kudo consciously changed how he addressed him, clearly treating Kitagawa Taki as a peer, unwilling to be taken advantage of.

"Yes, what's wrong?"

Kitagawa Taki guessed that this guy was probably going to say something that would spoil the mood.

As expected, Shinichi Kudo said, "Exorcism? There are no ghosts in this world. They're just made up by people. You have to believe in science! You have no future running this exorcism agency!"

Kitagawa Taki's lips twitched. Where does science come from in this world? I think it's more like Detective Conan!