The Pirated Onmyoji of the Detective World

Ai Haibara naturally knew something about the people Conan mentioned.

What puzzled Ai Haibara was why Conan would connect Mr. James Black and Professor Moriarty.

Is it possible...

Just as Ai Haibara was suddenly filled with doubt and surprise.

Conan, who had been speaking seriously, suddenly chuckled, scratching the back of his head and saying with a smile, "He's also called James, but only Sherlock Holmes fans would make that connection! There are just too many foreigners named James, hehehe."

"Yes, that's true..." Looking at Conan who had suddenly become childlike, Ai Haibara silently breathed a sigh of relief.

However, out of Ai Haibara's sight, Conan, who had turned his head away, unconsciously revealed a solemn expression.

That's right, what worried him the most was actually—

Just as they arrived at the place, he noticed a man wearing a black knit hat who seemed to be watching the situation closely.

That man was one of the hostages in that bus hijacking incident.

Conan remembers clearly that when the police questioned him, the man said his name was—

Shuichi Akai!

What is his connection to this kidnapping case, or rather, to Mr. James Black?

"Ai, Conan, what are you talking about?! I think I heard you saying something about Mr. James?"

Just as Conan and Ai Haibara were lost in their own thoughts, Yu Aragaki suddenly appeared behind them.

"what!?"

The two were clearly startled by Aragaki Yuu suddenly appearing from behind them, and looked somewhat flustered.

"Mr. James... um, we were saying... we were saying Mr. James wouldn't have slipped away quietly because he regretted not inviting us to dinner, would he?" Seeing that Ai Haibara had already turned her face away and was trying to shift the blame to him, Conan could only awkwardly scratch his head and stammer as he racked his brains.

"Oh? I see!" In response to Conan's answer, Yuya Aragaki just smiled and glanced at the two of them, without exposing their lies.

His sudden question was simply meant to scare Conan, the little brat.

Unfortunately, perhaps because he was used to sudden frights, Conan didn't show any expression that would make him want to keep a photo.

It's such a pity...

On the contrary, Genta, who was not far away, became angry after hearing Conan's words. "I knew it! He just wanted to eat all those delicious things by himself!"

Chapter 556 Ai is going to treat us to dinner?

"Buy some soy sauce and onions?" Aragaki asked, putting on his coat as he held up his phone.

Ai Haibara's voice came from the other end of the phone, "Of course, if you want to eat fried shrimp tonight, you can buy some more shrimp, and... the seafood at the supermarket next to the south exit of Beika Station is fresher."

Yuu Aragaki naturally wouldn't refuse Ai Haibara's request. "No problem, I'll go check it out. Is that alright?"

"Hmm." Ai Haibara paused for a moment, then asked casually, "And, what about Masami-neechan..."

"She said she's free and will definitely come over tonight!"

Hearing Yu's reply, Ai Haibara, who had been holding her breath, immediately relaxed, and even her voice became cheerful without her noticing. "That's good! Oh, by the way, if you see any fresh ingredients later, you can choose whatever you want to eat, and I'll pay you back then!"

After saying that, without waiting for Aragaki Yu's reply, she immediately hung up the phone, jumped off the chair, and ran to the kitchen. "How about we bake another cake?"

The thought of her older sister instantly filled Ai Haibara with joy, and she secretly vowed to prepare a big meal for her.

That's right, a week has passed since Yuu Aragaki took them to visit the circus performance.

Ai Haibara also harbors resentment over not being able to see her sister back then.

In addition, Miyano Akemi has been busy with something for the past week.

Ai Haibara never "bumped into" her sister at Yu Aragaki's house.

So, at Ai Haibara's "suggestion," Professor Agasa warmly invited Yuu Aragaki and Masami Hirota to his home to thank them for taking care of the children.

……

On the other side, inside the Dayou Supermarket.

Conan and the Junior Detective League, who had just finished playing video games, walked out of the arcade chatting and laughing. They went to the food section on the basement floor, bought ice cream, and sat down on a bench to rest.

"Eating ice cream after a big battle is definitely the best thing ever!" Genta exclaimed with some delight.

"Yes, yes!" Ayumi chimed in at this moment.

Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya carefully stepped back, protecting the ice cream in his hands, avoiding the passersby who walked in front of him. "But there are so many people here now."

In response, Ayumi, who often goes to the supermarket with her mother, explained with a smile, "It's already past four in the afternoon, and everyone is out buying things for dinner."

"Dinner!" Genta exclaimed excitedly after taking a bite of his ice cream upon hearing the word. "I wonder what we're having for dinner tonight. I wonder if it'll be eel rice!"

Seeing Genta guessing what to have for dinner, Mitsuhiko suddenly had a very interesting idea. He turned to everyone excitedly and suggested, "That's right, how about we play a menu deduction game?"

"Ok?"

"What kind of game is a guessing game?"

Ayumi and Genta looked at Mitsuhiko with a puzzled expression.

Even Conan turned his head to look with great interest.

"How do I play?" Genta asked, scratching his head after stuffing the last bite of ice cream into his mouth.

"Oh, you've come to the right person!" Mitsuhiko said, becoming quite smug.

The next moment, Mitsuhiko suddenly pointed to the cashier and said, "Menu deduction is to collect the receipts that everyone throws away and deduce what they are going to cook for dinner from the list on the receipts!"

In the corner of the checkout counter that Mitsuhiko pointed to, there was a small rectangular plastic box containing many shopping receipts that had been carelessly discarded by customers.

After saying that, taking advantage of the fact that no one else was paying attention to him, he reached into the box and grabbed a few receipts. "Ready? I'll start!"

Then, Mitsuhiko casually picked up the first receipt and read out the items on the list, "Potatoes, onions, and six chicken eggs..."

Before Mitsuhiko could finish reading, Genta, who was standing next to him, asked in confusion, "What is a chicken egg?"

"It's just an egg!" Conan explained helplessly.

"And what else..." Mitsuhiko continued reading the receipt after seeing that Genta understood, "A packet of ground beef, breadcrumbs, that's all."

Upon hearing these familiar names, Ayumi Yoshida immediately thought of the dishes her mother used to make, and quickly replied, "I know, it's butter biscuits! Hmm... wait, but butter biscuits seem to be made with wheat flour..."

"Maybe they still have some wheat flour left at home. After all, that's a staple food in most households, so we don't have to buy it every time," Conan suggested at the opportune moment.

"That's right!" Ayumi cheered up again.

The next second, she was the second to pick up a receipt and read aloud, "Now look at mine, um... there's chicken thigh meat, ketchup, a bag of green peas, and finally tomatoes, cabbage, and celery!"

"It must be chicken rice!" When it comes to food, Genta is very discerning and immediately guessed what the other person's dinner was.

Mitsuhiko, who was standing next to him, added, "There's also a vegetable salad on the side!"

"Hehe." Genta smiled and exchanged a glance with Mitsuhiko before picking up a small bill and saying, "Now it's my turn."

"Wow, this person actually bought so much stuff!" Genta opened the crumpled receipt and found that there were several other receipts mixed in with it.

"Okay, I'm going to start now!" Genta excitedly picked up the first receipt and read, "It has potatoes, onions, beef, wheat flour, and sugar on it, that's it!"

Upon hearing the list Genta gave, Mitsuhiko muttered to himself, guessing, "Well, it's either potato meatballs or potato soup or something like that..."

Ayumi, who was standing to the side, thought for a moment and then retorted, "But if that's the case, most people wouldn't use sugar but salt or pepper, right?"

"I think the sugar is probably going to be used somewhere else, after all, it's a very common seasoning in the kitchen!" Conan said with a smile, his interest piqued by the little game.

"I see, that makes sense!" Mitsuhiko nodded, a look of sudden realization on his face.

“Then let’s look at the second receipt!” Genta said, looking at the second receipt.

Chapter 557 Mole

"What are you guys doing?"

Just as everyone was waiting for Yuan Tai to read out the list from the second receipt, a question from behind startled the children.

"Ah! I'm sorry, we didn't mean to..." Conan jumped up from his seat as if on cue, squinted his eyes, bowed and apologized to the people behind him.

At the same time, he didn't forget to grab the stack of receipts from Yuan Tai's hand and hand them to him without even looking at them.

It's important to know that secretly taking someone else's shopping receipt is, to some extent, an invasion of the customer's privacy.

Whether it's discovered by the customer or the convenience store staff, they're bound to get a scolding.

The three children in the Junior Detective Club also turned their heads to look behind them, their faces pale.

"Big brother Aragaki!?"

The children were relieved when they saw the smiling figure standing behind them.

It was only at this moment that Conan finally raised his head to look at Aragaki Yuu standing in front of him and slowly let out a sigh of relief.

"Long time no see!" Seeing Conan standing awkwardly in front of him, Yuu Aragaki greeted the children kindly.

I don't know what's wrong with these kids. I just called out to them from behind, and they got so scared.

"What a coincidence, Aragaki-nii!" Conan, coming back to his senses, scratched his head awkwardly, then looked at Aragaki Yu with a puzzled expression. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to buy some groceries for dinner!" Aragaki Yu gestured to Conan by holding up two plastic bags in his left hand, while also glancing at the shopping receipts Conan had just slipped into his right hand. "And you guys, what are you doing sitting here?"