Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

What a cunning and treacherous fox!
Eri cursed inwardly, but immediately replied aloud, her tone full of disdain.
"It's not just that he sleeps in class; he's also very lazy in his daily life. His room is often a mess, and he doesn't like to clean."

"Moreover, Shuichi is also very lecherous. He often reads unhealthy magazines with Kogoro, and I've caught him several times."

"Yes, yes, there's more!"

Yukiko's eyes lit up, and she quickly added,

"He was also very aloof. When we were in school, he almost never spoke to any of the other students except for a few of us."

“When he was in junior high school, a girl gave him a love letter,” Eri Kisaki continued, “and he rejected her outright, saying ‘I don’t have time for dating,’ and didn’t apologize even after making her cry.”

With Eri Kisaki's "help," Yukiko spoke even more enthusiastically.

The two girls, who usually fought and bickered over Lin Xiuyi, were now working together seamlessly, taking turns to "belittle" his image, trying to portray him as a problem teenager who "slept in class, had a cold personality, lived a sloppy life, and had a lewd heart."

Tomizawa Chikage and Orikasa Midori listened, barely managing to suppress their laughter.

Ikeba Shizuka sat to the side, listening with a smile, showing no displeasure whatsoever. Instead, she nodded from time to time, as if she were taking notes.

Yukiko and Eri Kisaki exchanged a glance, both feeling anxious. Why wasn't this trick working?

"Enough! Stop talking!"

Just then, Lingzi, who had been silent all along, suddenly stood up, her small face full of anger, her eyes red, as if she was about to cry at any moment.

She glared at Eri and Yukiko and retorted loudly.

"Onii-chan isn't like that at all! If he were really that bad, why would you keep bothering him and staying with him all the time?"

This question left Eri Kisaki and Yukiko speechless.

The two opened their mouths, but didn't know how to refute it.

Lingzi is telling the truth. The reason they have been surrounding Lin Xiuyi is because they have seen his strengths.
Those so-called "flaws" are actually quite endearing in their eyes.

Tomizawa Chikage and Orikasa Midori could no longer hold back and covered their mouths to secretly laugh.

Liuli also lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Although Lingzi's words were direct, they resonated with everyone.

"Lingzi is right, Lin Jun is actually quite cute."

Ikenami Shizuka gently took Reiko's hand, pulled her to sit down beside her, and tenderly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Lin Jun can still get into Didan High School even if he sleeps in class, which shows that he is intelligent. His dislike of socializing with classmates shows that he is unconventional and does not follow the crowd. His laziness and dislike of cleaning show that he is not fussy and focuses his mind on more important things..."

Eri and Yukiko stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief.

Is this how you forcefully whitewash something?
They were clearly pointing out flaws, but how did they all become virtues in Ikenami Shizuka's mouth?

"Then... what about being a womanizer?" Tomizawa Chikage asked deliberately, suppressing a laugh. She wanted to see how Ikenami Shizuka would cover up this "flaw." Ikenami Shizuka smiled slightly and said calmly, "It's actually quite normal for boys to like reading those magazines."

"The Analects says, 'A gentleman is attracted to beauty but not to licentiousness; he expresses his feelings but restrains them by propriety.' Although Mr. Lin reads those kinds of things, he has never made any frivolous moves towards women. On the contrary, he is always the first to step forward when a woman is in danger. This is the true spirit of a gentleman."

After she finished speaking, the entire courtyard terrace fell into an eerie silence.

Eri Kisaki and Yukiko were completely convinced.

They realized that no matter how many flaws they pointed out about Lin Xiuyi, Ikeba Shizuka could always find a reason to beautify them.

Reiko, however, seemed to have found her strongest ally. She nestled close to Shizuka Ikenami, nodding vigorously, and even looked at Shizuka Ikenami with a hint of admiration in her eyes.

After a brief moment of shock, Tomizawa Chikage, Orikasa Midori, and Ruri finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.

……

At the same time, Hattori Heizo drove Hayashi Shuichi, Mori Kogoro, and his group of Kyoto University classmates through the brightly lit city of Osaka, and finally came to a slow stop in front of the main entrance of the Osaka City Museum.

It was already late at night, and the museum had long since closed.

Under the cool moonlight and the distant city neon lights, the magnificent antique-style buildings cast large, heavy shadows, adding a touch of mystery and depth to their daytime solemnity.

The wrought iron fence surrounding the museum was tightly closed, with only a few lonely streetlights casting a dim yellow glow, barely illuminating a small area.

Everyone got off the bus one by one, and the slightly cool night air invigorated them.

Their trip was not for sightseeing, but with a specific purpose: to investigate the bizarre disappearance of the samurai sword.

Hattori Heizo took out copies of case materials he had collected through various channels from a folder he carried with him and distributed them to everyone.

Using the light of streetlights and flashlights, everyone strolled slowly along the sidewalk outside the museum, comparing the cold words on the papers in their hands with the actual layout of the massive building in front of them.

Hattori Heizo walked at the front, looking at the documents as he explained the most perplexing parts of the case to the others in a Kansai accent.
"According to the official police records at the time, as well as reports from inside the museum."

"After discovering that the samurai sword in the treasure room had disappeared, the curator immediately called the police via internal phone and personally led the security chief to seal off all exits of the museum as quickly as possible, including staff and freight exits."

"At the same time, entry and exit were strictly prohibited for anyone, including all staff, researchers, and a few visitors who had not yet left the museum."

He paused, looked up, and gazed at the building before him, which resembled a massive fortress in the night.
"The entire process, from discovering the theft to completing the sealing off, was verified by cross-referencing the testimonies of multiple parties involved, and took no more than ten minutes. It can be said that the reaction was as fast as it could be."

“According to the information, after the police intervened, they conducted a very thorough investigation,” Konoe Daishi adjusted his glasses, “and questioned all the people who were in the museum at the time, but no one was seen carrying a long, narrow object that looked like a samurai sword out of the museum.”

"After all, it's not a pen or a small statue, but a complete samurai sword. It's extremely difficult to take it out in full view of everyone without attracting any attention."

Upon hearing this, the perceptive Yoshida Aoi tilted her head slightly and offered a crucial conjecture.

"Do you think it's possible that although the katana did disappear from the display case, the thief didn't take it out of the building before the museum was sealed off, but instead hid it somewhere inside the museum?" (End of Chapter)