Daily Spy Life in the Detective Conan World

Chapter 52 Women, indeed, are a poison that dries to the bone.

Beikacho 4-chome.

This is Joel's house, an ordinary two-story house, a bit smaller than Natsukawa's, but even in Tokyo where land is incredibly expensive, such a house is not cheap.

"Mr. Natsukawa, thank you very much."

Joel bowed in gratitude, one hand pressing down on his pink coat against his chest, the other hand hanging naturally at his sides. As he bowed, his long hair cascaded down, flowing smoothly, making him appear very dignified.

"It's alright. I'm overjoyed to be friends with Miss Joel." Xia Chuan lowered his head and touched Anya's hair, then added, "Besides, Anya likes you a lot too, don't you think, Anya?"

Although Joel was a bit dazed, he also understood something from it, and his face flushed instantly, as if he had been drinking too much.

Was Mr. Natsukawa subtly revealing his true feelings?
At this moment, Joel blushed with embarrassment, disregarded all etiquette, straightened up, and fled.

With a bang, the door was slammed shut.

"Thank you, Mr. Natsukawa!"

A clear, ethereal voice came from behind the door, carrying a hint of nervousness and bewilderment.

Joel leaned against the gate, his fists clenched against his chest, the blush on his face showing no signs of fading.

Is this what those senior officers from the Metropolitan Police Department who got married were talking about—love at first sight?

Joel took a deep breath and bit his lower lip as he recalled everything that happened that night.

Normally, she wouldn't act like this. She shouldn't have sat down for coffee with a strange father and daughter, and chatted for so long that she became so nervous she forgot what she was supposed to do.

But Xia Chuan and Anya both gave her different feelings.

My vigilance has vanished, my wariness has disappeared, and my heartbeat is a little abnormal. Could it be love? I've actually fallen for a stay-at-home dad with a child. How strange, how sudden.

Joel thought he should talk to some of the married seniors in the Metropolitan Police Department another day and ask them what this feeling was all about.

By the way, you can ask Yumi-chan. Although she's not married, she seems to have a clear understanding of relationships between men and women.

"Goodbye, Auntie." Anya jumped up and down, waving her hand, her clear voice echoing through the Yoel family home.

Joel inside the door hummed in response, not caring whether Anya outside could hear him.

Back in the car, Anya displayed the pure joy and happiness of a child, remaining excited throughout the journey.

"Father, go after Aunt Joel! Anya wants Aunt Joel to be Anya's mother!"

Xia Chuan stared straight ahead, remained silent for a long time, and then softly hummed in agreement.

Damn, this fluttering feeling.

This feeling is somewhat similar to the feeling I had when I adopted Anya.

And Joel.

She was now sitting on the sofa at home, her coat having been removed at some point, revealing her delicate collarbones. A beige knitted dress that reached her mid-thighs covered her body. She leaned against the cushions, one hand holding a pillow and the other gulping down warm water.

After drinking the entire glass of water, Joel's complexion finally faded, and his racing heartbeat gradually calmed down.

I only shared a cup of cocoa with a man, so why do I have such a strange feeling?

I don't feel this way when I eat with my younger brother.

Oh, right, little brother, Yuri.

Joel put his finger to his lips, trying to recall what he had forgotten.

Why did I originally come to Poirot's Cafe?

A few minutes later, Joel opened his eyes wide in a daze and finally remembered why he had gone to Poirot's Cafe today.

It was Yuri who invited her.

尤里
Joel quickly picked up the phone on the table and dialed Yuri.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered, and then Yuri's somewhat disappointed voice came from the other end.

"Hey, what's up, sister?"

"Yuri, why didn't you go to the coffee shop?"

"I'm sorry, I suddenly had some work to do and was too busy to come over. I'm really sorry I forgot to tell you."

Yuri lay on a bench in Mihana Park, his head resting on the armrest, his eyes vacant.

Sister, have you finally remembered yourself?
"Oh, I see. It's alright, Yuri. Work is important."

Joel was relieved; she had been worried that something might have happened to her brother on his way here.

After all, Natsukawa had just mentioned the Wolf of Mikasa.

Although the Wolf of Mika only targets girls, the younger brother is a cute boy, so it's possible he could be targeted as well.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Joel hung up the phone.

The next morning.

Spring is in full bloom, flowers are in bloom, and a gentle breeze is blowing.

The chirping of birds echoed from the branches.

The lobby of the Mori Detective Agency.

Anya sat upright on the sofa, swinging her legs back and forth, looking forward to today's trip.

"Father, are you really not planning to come along?" Anya turned back to look at Xia Chuan standing next to her with some disappointment.

Just then, Kogoro Mouri came out of the room with his luggage: "Yeah, Saitama Prefecture's No. 1 Night Festival is a famous folk event throughout Japan. I heard you can see a lot of beautiful women there. Don't you want to reconsider?" Kogoro Mouri originally wanted to invite Natsukawa to join him.

Last time, during the gold nugget incident on Shikishima, Natsukawa helped him earn a full 20 million yen. To express his gratitude, he planned to invite Natsukawa on a trip together.

The entire trip included food and lodging, a rare treat for the famous detective Kogoro Mouri. It's surprising that Natsukawa didn't give him any face.

"It's all Dad's fault. I told you to invite Xia Chuan earlier. There's no reason to invite him at the last minute," Xiao Lan complained as she packed her things.

Yesterday, she asked her father to invite Natsukawa-san in advance. He had agreed, but as soon as the TV was turned on and Yoko Okino was drinking beer, the famous detective forgot everything.

"Haha, how could I have expected that? I thought the invitation would be the same today."

Kogoro Mouri awkwardly scratched his head and laughed.

Xia Chuan was clearly unemployed, and he thought it wouldn't be too late to invite him today. Unexpectedly, Xia Chuan happened to have something to do.

I really don't know what a professional stay-at-home dad would do if he left his child behind.

"It's alright." Xia Chuan smiled and shook his head. "It's good that Anya is going to have fun. I'm busy today and don't have time to accompany Anya. It would be nice if I could go to the World's Number One Night Festival in Saitama Prefecture with Uncle Mori. At least I won't be bored staying at home alone."

"Dad is so unreliable. He bought five tickets, but now that Xia Chuan isn't going, one of them is just wasted."

Xiaolan was still very unhappy.

Wouldn't it be a waste of a ticket if my own father did this?

A ticket costs 10,000 yen, which isn't particularly expensive, but it's definitely not cheap either.

Ever since Dad made 20 million, he seems to have become quite extravagant, drinking every day. He'll probably spend all the money sooner or later.

Sure enough, with Mom not home, Dad can't save a penny. He hasn't even bought a car yet; he's spent it all on alcohol.

"In that case, can I call Aunt Joel?" Anya skipped over to Xiaolan's side and tugged at her trouser leg.

"Aunt Joel?" Xiao Lan lowered her head curiously. "Is she Anya's relative? Now we have an extra ticket. If Anya's aunt agrees, we'll definitely be fine."

"Right, Dad—"

"Yes, yes."

Having messed things up, Kogoro Mouri's status in the family plummeted, and at this point he dared not defy his daughter at all.

"Is that so? But Anya, you should contact Miss Joel first, as you might have to go to work today."

"No need, Aunt Joel is off today."

Anya had finished her call sometime earlier.

Xia Chuan thought about it for a moment and felt there was no problem. However, after doing this, he even had the urge to not deal with his work.

Just thinking about Miss Joel flipping her hair, lifting her leg, and smiling made him swallow hard.

Ahem, dusk, you mustn't lose your composure.

Xia Chuan shook his head, trying to banish the image of Joel from his mind.

Women are indeed a deadly poison.

However, there's nothing I can do about not going to the World's Number One Night Festival with Kogoro Mouri; Frank had already booked a helicopter with the IRS for today.

And the matter with the winery, the Giant Wood Enterprises, also needs to be dealt with today.

I'm too busy today to go out with Anya.

Besides, can going out with the Grim Reaper duo be called having fun? Isn't it about solving cases?

He still had some recollection of the World's First Night Festival.

"Alright then." Xia Chuan looked at Anya's suitcase, then at the suitcases of the three members of the Mori family.

"Uncle Mori, I probably won't need a car today, so you can take my GTR. That way we can save on car rental fees."

Anya was going to bring along Yoel, someone the three Mori family members didn't know, so Natsukawa felt a little embarrassed and offered to use his car as an apology.

"That's great!"

Kogoro Mouri laughed heartily, thinking that this would save him some money.

Actually, when he first invited Xia Chuan, he had this idea in mind: to save on car rental costs and have enough money to take Xia Chuan and her father on a trip.

Renting a car isn't cheap these days, so we should save money wherever possible.

Conan appeared before them with dark circles under his eyes, looking dejected as if he hadn't slept well all night.

He really didn't sleep a wink all night.

The black-clad organization and the young man with the boyish face from last night kept him tossing and turning, unable to sleep all night.

Unable to sleep, he got up and read through Sherlock Holmes's Study in Scarlet again, until he finally fell asleep around 5 a.m.

"Conan, whose wall did you climb over last night? Why are you so tired?"

Xia Chuan made a joke.

"Hehe." Conan forced a smile. "I'm just so excited about going to the World's Greatest Night Festival tonight that I can't sleep."

"So fake!"

Anya silently complained in a low voice.

(End of this chapter)