Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 376 What's the date today?

Shiraishi demonstrated to Kobe what it meant to "desperately need money"—after Gen's phone was snatched away, he downloaded eight small loan apps in two minutes...

They are associated with seven violent organizations in Tokyo, making them practically a mini-meal of the Tojo Clan!

Just as Kobe nodded, seemingly understanding, a group of old men were also having a secret meeting on the other side of Tokyo...

"That idiot Ejiri is a disgrace!"

"You can't blame him, after all, he got entangled with that Takada..."

"Hmph, it's not mainly because I'm bothered by Takada, is it?"

"Exactly, isn't Shiraishi Kuro being a bit too high-profile? If this continues, who knows what else he might do!"

"Chief Executive Officer, shall I go and talk to Director White Horse?"

……

Several old men spoke up one after another, and Minabe, who was sitting at the head of the table, said calmly, "Actually... it's not bad to have such a person. After all, this way the people will believe that there is nothing wrong with our system, but we are just lacking a capable person."

"But……"

Just as someone was about to interject, Mino raised his hand to stop them, saying, "Of course, we can't let this go on forever... Hmm, how about this, in two years, the... Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo, right? Let's find another excuse the year before and take it down."

Upon hearing what Minobe said, the old men present all calmed down.

Well, that means giving him two or three years to "perform" before he can take his final bow!

……

Saturday, April 1, 2016, at midnight.

Shiraishi, who was fast asleep, suddenly opened his eyes.

"Huh?" Shiraishi stared as he stood up, puzzled. Sleep quality is also a kind of "health," and his sleep quality has always been very good, so why did he wake up in the middle of the night?

"Could something big have happened?" Shiraishi glanced at his phone. No one was calling him, so he called Ayako first.

"Hey, are you asleep? Nothing's wrong... just wanted to ask if anything's wrong... something's suddenly bothering me... um, I feel a bit uneasy... it's not a nightmare, uh... you don't need to talk to me, it's okay, I have to go out and check." Shiraishi reassured Ayako and then hung up the phone.

When Ayako heard this, she thought Shiraishi was having a nightmare and offered to come and find him, but of course Shiraishi refused—it was already so late.

"It's not exactly a bad feeling, really, I don't have any premonition at all," Shiraishi muttered.

I just woke up inexplicably, unlike a typical "premonition of crisis" or "premonition of hostility"...

Shiraishi glanced at his phone again, and, still feeling uneasy, dialed the criminal investigation office, only to be told by the officer on duty that "nothing happened."

"That's strange... Hmm?" Shiraishi suddenly realized—something hadn't gone unnoticed!
The date displayed on my phone is incorrect...

April 1st is correct, but...

How come it's already 2016?

"Is the phone broken?" Shiraishi felt a little strange, but at this point he only thought there was something wrong with the phone.

Shiraishi opened the calendar app and saw that the year column read "[2016]"...

Turn to the previous page of the year...

It's still 2016!
What is the probability that a mobile phone will suddenly have this problem?

Shiraishi sensed something was wrong!
So he opened the door, went into the living room, squatted down in front of the sofa, and looked at Ai...

Ai immediately started to frown, and then woke up—Ai is also the type who is sensitive to gaze.

"What are you doing?" Ai asked, puzzled, looking at Shiraishi who was staring straight at her.

"What year is it this year?" Shiraishi asked directly.

"Huh?" Ai looked at Shiraishi with a puzzled expression, then glanced at his left hand, which was still wrapped in bandages, and muttered, "It shouldn't affect his brain..."

"What year, what month, what day?" Shiraishi continued to ask.

"March... no, after midnight it's April... are you kidding me?" Ai said disdainfully.

"It's not a month... it's a year! Officer, be serious when you're being questioned!" Shiraishi gently reprimanded.

Ai: ...

"It's April 1, 2016, just past midnight... Is that alright?" Ai rolled her eyes at Shiraishi and said.

Shiraishi:……

After a moment of silence, Shiraishi tentatively asked, "What grade are you in now?"

Ai: ? ? ?
"What do you want to do? This isn't a matter of what grade you're in, is it?" Ai asked warily, pulling the blanket around herself even tighter.

"Speak quickly!" Shiraishi said impatiently.

"Didn't you say you'd let me go to first grade? What's wrong?" Ai said matter-of-factly.

"Huh? First grade? How is that possible... Look at this!"

As Shiraishi spoke, he went straight to rummage through Ai's little schoolbag, and then...

First grade textbook, first grade textbook, first grade textbook...

After taking out the books one by one, Shiraishi was also dumbfounded.

"Huh?" Shiraishi clearly remembered that it was second grade.

Immediately afterward, Shiraishi opened his phone and read various news articles...

Yes, the news content hasn't changed, including the "double red bean paste" from a few days ago, which is still trending, but...

Everywhere the date has changed to 2016!
"What year was last year?" Shiraishi asked Ai again.

Ai looked at Shiraishi without saying a word, then got up and took out some strange instruments, saying, "Here, put your head here."

"I'm not mentally ill! I... at least I'm not mentally ill! Tell me quickly, what year was last year!" Bai Shi asked anxiously.

Seeing this, Ai said helplessly, "Last year... of course it was 2016!"

Shiraishi:? ? ?
"Is this year 2016, or was last year also 2016?" Shiraishi looked at her strangely.

"Of course... What's wrong?" Ai looked at Shiraishi, puzzled.

"And... what about the year before last?" Shiraishi pressed.

"Huh? A riddle? Of course it's 2015!" Ai said confidently.

Shiraishi:……

"What about next year?" Shiraishi continued, and seeing that Ai didn't answer, he urged again, "Hurry up and tell me!"

"It's 2017... What's wrong? Ah! What are you doing?" Ai exclaimed in surprise.

Then, Shiraishi lifted Ai up by her pajamas collar, just like he was carrying a kitten.

"Hmm? You weigh yourself every day, right? Let's look at the data!" Shiraishi said immediately.

It wasn't for weight loss; Ai Haibara mainly wanted to determine if she was growing—and the conclusion was yes!
but……

After reviewing Ai's observation data over the past few days, Shiraishi noticed a significant difference in her current weight compared to yesterday, though it remained roughly the same as on the first day...

Shiraishi:……

"What's wrong with you?" Ai looked at Shiraishi in confusion, wondering what was wrong with him.

"It's nothing..." By this time, Shiraishi was basically certain—time had been reset by one year!
Yes, the day of the week and the date haven't changed, only the year has gone back a year!
even……

What should have been second-grade material has become first-grade material, and judging from Ai's situation, she seems to have completely accepted this, and even feels that she is "having a mental illness".

Shiraishi was looking out the window at that moment...

They realized that the problem was with "time" itself.

but……

Shiraishi couldn't immediately determine why this problem existed.

"It's okay, you go to sleep!" Shiraishi glanced at Ai, feeling there was no point in explaining it to her.

If you absolutely must consult someone...

For the time being, Shiraishi could only think of Koizumi Akako—that is, the Red Witch!
Why could Shiraishi sense something was amiss, even though his perception hadn't changed? For a moment, besides the reason of being a "time traveler," the only other reason Shiraishi could think of was "supernatural power."

If someone with supernatural powers can sense this "abnormality," then Koizumi Akako should be able to as well!
“It’s even possible that everyone’s physical condition has returned to what it was a year ago? But I haven’t… Hmm, those who have died haven’t come back to life… Hmm… Suzuki’s sick leave is still in effect, so it seems his external injuries won’t heal either…” Shiraishi confirmed one thing at a time.

Everyone else seemed to accept this "setting" as if the world was supposed to be this way.

However, because Shiraishi's perception was not changed, he was unable to react to many things.

Shiraishi needs to observe further to determine exactly what has changed and what hasn't...

However, now is not a good time to observe, since it is already midnight. Asking people about "common sense" at this time will only make you look like a "die-hard April Fool's Day fan"!
Shiraishi's constitution was indeed strong enough that, despite such a huge psychological shock, he could still sleep whenever he wanted, and wake up in the morning to eat breakfast—confirming that the shelf life of the ingredients... or rather, their degree of spoilage, had not changed.

"What's wrong?" Ai asked, looking at Shiraishi, who seemed to be savoring her fried egg.

This is unlike usual. Usually, I just dump more than twenty fried or boiled eggs into my mouth and leave!

Is Saturday really that relaxing?
"It's nothing... I'm working overtime today. Be careful in the lab." Shiraishi said as he left, preparing to run to the police station!

Passing by a small shop, Shiraishi went in to check the expiration dates of the packaged food...

Well, products that should have expired on "a certain day in 2017" are now all marked with "2016", and some even have confusing expiration dates like "2016.12-2016.2".

After Shiraishi left, the shop owner was also confused—how come food safety is now under the jurisdiction of the police?
……

As Shiraishi passed by the 5-chome gate, he saw Kawai standing guard at the entrance with a wooden cane and approached him.

"Director!" Kawai quickly saluted.

Director Shiraishi often passed by the office during his morning run, but he rarely came closer, and Kawai understood that he probably had something to do.

"Kawa, what is the date today?" Shiraishi asked directly.

"Huh?" Kawai was taken aback for a moment, then realized it might be some kind of test, so he answered in a serious tone, "Reporting to the Director, April 1, 2016!" "What was yesterday's date?"

"November 2017, 3!"

"Why was yesterday 2017, but today is 2016?" Shiraishi asked seriously.

"Because... um... the Earth revolves around the sun?" Kawai searched through his knowledge of calendars, feeling no strangeness at suddenly returning to 2016.

"It's alright, you can continue your post." Shiraishi shook his head helplessly.

……

Upon arriving at the police station, Shiraishi happened to see Kuroki and Kanzaki, and immediately stopped them, asking, "Is Chief Ebihara at work today?"

"Huh? Is the old director coming today?" Kuroki asked in surprise.

His expression immediately turned somewhat strange—even if the old director came back to visit, shouldn't it be called "going to work"?

Shiraishi could tell from his reaction that although Ebihara officially retired on November 30, 2016, he was already retired on April 1, 2016, and would not come back to work because of the time reset!
"It's nothing," Shiraishi said, shaking his head.

Upon arriving at the office, Shiraishi immediately made a call to the car loan company…

"Yes, right... You've definitely been making payments for seven months, right? Okay... It's all right now."

Shiraishi checked and found that the bad news was that the loan was still in place, but the good news was that the money being repaid hadn't been cleared out...

If the loan is also "rolled back," Shiraishi really won't be able to resist dragging Ebihara back and arguing about whether he should continue working now that it's April 2016!
……

Shiraishi took a walk around the police station and found that everyone's physical condition hadn't changed much, but... it wasn't exactly unchanged!

The external injuries are all there, but...

The signs of aging seem to have lessened slightly!

However, since they were all adults, the difference was not very obvious. If Shiraishi hadn't had such strong observation and memory skills, and if everyone else hadn't been like this, Shiraishi probably wouldn't have been able to notice this subtle sense of incongruity.

Moreover, as Shiraishi's "subordinates," Shiraishi can see their ages in the attribute list, and they have indeed all decreased by one year!
Immediately afterwards, Shiraishi went to the deputy director's office to see Deputy Director Himekawa, who was also at work that day...

"Hmm? Director, is there something you need?" Bi Chuan asked, standing up as Bai Shi entered.

Shiraishi looked at him carefully...

Well, the difference between 59-year-old Hakukawa and 58-year-old Hakukawa is quite obvious in Shiraishi's eyes!
"Deputy Director Bichuan, how many years until you retire?" Baishi asked to confirm.

"Next October... What's wrong?" Bi Chuan asked, puzzled.

"October 2017, right? It's nothing." Shiraishi said, patted him on the shoulder, and left.

Bichuan:? ? ?
Bi Chuan was completely bewildered and had no idea what was going on...

Until yesterday, he should have retired this year!

"It seems those who have already retired don't need to come back, and those who haven't retired... can't retire anymore," Bai Shi muttered to himself.

As for the underlying principles, how long this situation will last, and whether it will recur next year... Shiraishi has no idea.

Then Shiraishi drove to Okutama Town, to the manor villa of Koizumi Akako in the mountains!

If one absolutely needs to find someone to discuss this matter with, then the only one who can be consulted is Koizumi Akako, who is also a "supernatural being." For this reason, Shiraishi specifically canceled his date with Ayako.

"Huh? Go find... Koizumi-san?" Ayako was also surprised when she heard Shiraishi's reason.

"Yes, I'm here to ask about some things." Shiraishi didn't say much more.

"Could it just be that I didn't get enough rest?" Ayako didn't think much of it, assuming it was just because she had a nightmare last night.

but……

Is it a bit too traditional to go to a shrine maiden for nightmares?

Can't you see a doctor?

"No, I have something I want to confirm with Koizumi-san..." Shiraishi indicated that he was not trying to exorcise evil spirits.

Whether I'm sick or not, do you think I don't know?
……

Shiraishi had arranged with Akako beforehand. After the demon butler Hasco opened the door with a sinister look, he led Shiraishi directly into the Red Magic Room.

Hongzi was dressed in casual clothes and was reading some books with strange symbols drawn on them.

"Is there anything you don't understand about Red Magic?" Akako adopted a teacher's posture.

When Shiraishi said he had something to consult, Akako breathed a sigh of relief—he should have come much sooner! Have you even been studying properly?

"What is today's date?" Shiraishi asked directly.

Hongzi: ? ? ?
Hongzi initially thought he was playing a trick on her, but then she wondered—could he be trying to play a game with me?
If you get angry first, you lose!

“April 1, 2016,” Hongzi replied calmly.

"How about yesterday?"

“March 31, 2017,” Hongzi said matter-of-factly.

Shiraishi was momentarily disappointed, but he didn't give up immediately. Instead, he pressed on, "Yesterday was 2017, why is today 2016?"

“What is this…why…” Hongzi was impatient at first, then her expression froze—a situation that no one else had shown before.

The next moment, a bright red light shone from Hongzi's eyes...

"Master! What have you done?" Hasco immediately questioned Whitestone.

In Haske's view, the fact that his master had a problem after Shiraishi asked three obvious questions seemed to be... some kind of curse?
but……

At this moment, the red light in Hongzi's eyes subsided, and she said weakly, "Hasco, you go out first."

“This… is.” Hasco glared at Shiraishi before leaving and closing the door behind him.

Hongzi seemed to have regained her composure by this time, though her face was still somewhat pale.

"What's wrong with you?" Shiraishi asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing, I just used up too much energy breaking through the effect of the Confusion Spell." Hongzi's face was still a little pale.

"Confusing Charm? You're saying this is a Confusing Charm?" Shiraishi asked hesitantly.

A confusion spell!

It is common in magic because it is used to interfere with people's cognition, so its application is widespread.

For example, Red's red pupils, reddish long hair, and Hasco's pointed ears are all unusual features that are not noticeable because of the presence of the Permanent Confusion Charm.

but……

Not only is the scope of "cognitive change" now unknown, but even "matter" and even the "human body" have truly changed!

Hongzi paused for a moment, then said, "It may not be magic, but the effect is similar to the Confusion Spell, except... the effect is amplified infinitely, and even time itself is confused."

Shiraishi:? ? ?
Indeed, upon careful consideration, Shiraishi realized that the current situation partially matched the characteristics of the "Confusion Charm" in magic—the stronger the mental state of the target, the less likely they are to be confused, and if they are "reminded" by external forces, the "Confusion Charm" will be more likely to fail!

only……

Even for a top-tier supernatural being like Hongzi, confusion is unavoidable. Meanwhile, for an ordinary person, even if reminded, they wouldn't feel anything strange.

"This... is something a human can do?" Shiraishi asked in surprise.

Hongzi looked at Baishi and said, "Of course not. No matter what he was in the past, being able to do something like this means he must already be a god."

Shiraishi:……

Seeing Shiraishi's worried expression, Akako was quite unfazed.

"Don't worry, whatever He wants to do, at least He doesn't mean any harm," Hongzi speculated.

"Do you have any clues?" Shiraishi asked, puzzled.

"No, but... if his goal was simply to reverse time, he wouldn't need to do it this way. He could have just reversed it directly, making sure everyone had no memories at all, which would have been much simpler. But now he's under even more pressure, managing to preserve memories and distort cognition to make all of humanity adapt to the time reversal," Hongzi said matter-of-factly.

He really is, I cried my heart out.

Hearing Akako say that, Shiraishi finally breathed a sigh of relief... Just kidding!
"And what's the use of thinking too much?" Hongzi asked the most crucial question.

Even if Shiraishi doesn't like it, and even tells him who's behind it, what can he do?
“This level of supernatural power can already be considered ‘nature’ itself. There’s no point in thinking about it too much. Instead, we should think about how to utilize this phenomenon… At least if it can be repeated a few more times, it would be equivalent to extending the lifespan of current humans,” Hongzi said calmly.

In this way, the natural mortality rate will indeed decrease!

Although those who have died will not come back to life, they have at least a year of aging gone, which will lower the mortality rate.

“However, pregnant women have not been affected... If this continues for a few more years, the birth rate might be saved.” Shiraishi said, shaking his head.

"Well... it's not that simple. Humans are amazing; they can self-regulate. As a result, more people will die in other ways to maintain balance," Hongzi said matter-of-factly.

"Could it be... the homicide rate is going to increase?" Shiraishi felt a sharp pain in his teeth, then his expression suddenly froze: "Wait! This year... I mean last year the homicide rate did increase... Could it be..."

Bai Shi suddenly wondered if it wasn't just this year that it started, but that he had only just discovered it this year.
Indeed, in a sense, Shiraishi this year is completely different from last year—because Shiraishi once stepped into the realm of Lv.11!
Aside from being a time traveler, this should be the only area where Shiraishi is "essentially" stronger than Akako!

“No, last year was 2016… the year before was 2015… um… my understanding should be correct.” Shiraishi counted on his fingers.

“Yes, these things always require preparation time. The number of unnatural deaths should have started to rise little by little from that point on.” Hongzi nodded in agreement.

Of course, these are all just speculations. Hongzi's claim that "humans can regulate themselves" is only theoretical and there are no actual examples.

and……

"Even if it's not for self-regulation, this will still increase the homicide rate... After all, resetting time like this, although He has tried his best to control the impact, still..."

"It's one thing for students not to advance to the next grade, but for those adults who toil for status and money, their seniority may increase in the future, but no one will retire or step down."
"Lovers keep falling in love, but because their wedding date is set for after April 2017, they can't get married, which adds to the uncertainty... Even if it's just out of animal instinct, the homicide rate will increase," Hongzi said with a hint of sarcasm.

Considering the motives behind various murders, Shiraishi nodded in deep agreement...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Dongdong: Speaking of which, it'll be April 3rd in the book tomorrow too... Please give me a monthly vote!

(End of this chapter)