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"Huh?"
Kai's sudden approach drew the attention of not just Fumino Yukinoshita and Tomoko Suzuki, but also Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki.
Sonoko looked at Haruno and Yukino, her face showing clear surprise. "What is Kai-kun doing over there? Don't tell me he's a detective too."
Ran said nothing, but her curious gaze followed Kai as he walked toward the body.
"A detective?" Haruno repeated, sounding almost amused.
When she was younger and more naive, detectives had fascinated her. The job seemed noble and impressive, with clever people uncovering the truth and catching criminals. But after joining the corporate world and seeing the darkness behind high society's polished image, that childhood admiration faded.
Even the best detective, Haruno thought, could do little against real power and influence. The idea of a righteous detective now seemed almost laughable to her.
"Kai-kun isn't a detective," Yukino added calmly. "He's far more impressive than one."
Her tone stayed calm, but the way she lifted her chin showed clear pride. From her expression, it looked as if Sonoko had complimented Yukino instead of Kai.
Ran and Sonoko looked at each other, confused. They didn't really understand what Yukino meant, but her confidence made them hesitate to ask.
Fumino watched the young man walking toward the body. She finally remembered he was the boy who had come with her daughters.
Why was he stepping forward now? Was he planning to play detective too?
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"What is going on? Why is the body in such a strange condition?"
Conan ignored the crowd watching him and continued examining the corpse, his brow drawn into a deep frown.
The victim's face was deathly pale, his eyes wide and frozen in fear. Other than that, Conan saw nothing unusual. There were no wounds, bruises, or signs of poisoning anywhere. It looked like he had been scared to death.
Conan had seen deaths from extreme fear before, but this case felt different.
"It almost looks..."
"Like someone sucked his soul out," Kai finished from beside him.
"Yeah," Conan agreed absentmindedly. That description matched the corpse's condition almost perfectly.
A moment later, Conan realized what Kai had actually said. He turned quickly and stared at him.
"You?" He rolled his eyes. "I didn't take you for the superstitious type. His soul was sucked out? Give me a break..."
Conan was a skilled detective and came from a wealthy family. His mother was a famous retired actress, and his father was a well-known mystery writer. Still, neither of them knew anything about the secret world of Jujutsu society.
So Conan had never come across Cursed Spirits or Jujutsu Sorcerers. He believed in science and evidence, and he dismissed the idea of ghosts, Curses, or souls right away.
"Just because you don't believe in them doesn't mean they aren't real," Kai said, amused by the young detective's stubbornness.
Kai wondered if Conan would stay so confident after seeing the truth for himself.
Conan looked at him, clearly annoyed. He figured this guy didn't know anything about real investigations and was just talking about the supernatural to impress the girls.
He quickly decided that Kai was just another annoying teenager who cared more about attention than logic.
"You..." Conan began, ready to dismiss him.
Before Conan could say more, Kai turned his head and stared at a spot across the hall.
Conan looked where Kai was staring, toward the entrance. A man in his forties had just come in through the double doors. His head was down, and he walked with heavy, uneven steps, like he had drunk too much.
He stumbled further into the hall, swaying with each clumsy step.
"There it is," Kai murmured as a knowing smile flickered on his lips.
Kai had found the source. The man gave off such strong Cursed Energy that it was impossible to miss.
"What are you doing here?"
The man's sudden arrival caught everyone's attention, including Fumino's. She frowned as she recognized him.
Haruno and Yukino looked just as confused.
"Father?"
Their mother had clearly told their father not to come to the banquet. In the Yukinoshita family, Fumino's word was final, and her husband had never dared to go against her.
"Oh, is that Haruno and Yukino's father?" Sonoko asked, examining the staggering man with interest.
"He looks totally drunk," Ran said.
The sight reminded her of Kogoro coming home after a night of drinking. She was used to dealing with sloppy drunks.
"N-No way," Haruno muttered, struggling to believe what she was seeing.
Their father hardly ever drank. At home, he almost never touched alcohol, and she had never seen him like this before.
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Thud. Thud. Thud.
Mr. Yukinoshita didn't answer anyone. He kept his head down and shuffled across the floor toward the center of the hall.
"I asked what you're doing here," Fumino repeated, her patience finally breaking.
If the hall hadn't been full of important guests, she would have yelled at him. Instead, she kept her voice low and harsh as she stepped forward to confront him.
Her husband offered no response.
"WAIT!" Conan shouted before she could get any closer. "BE CAREFUL. THERE'S A STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT HE'S THE MURDERER."
Conan didn't have any real evidence yet, but Mr. Yukinoshita's strange behavior made him the most obvious suspect.
Fumino scoffed. "Do you expect me to believe that?"
To Fumino, her husband was weak, unambitious, and painfully timid. Those traits annoyed her, but they also made Conan's accusation sound ridiculous. Someone that cowardly couldn't possibly commit murder.
"Fumino, calm down," Tomoko said, quickly stepping between them. "I know Conan. He wouldn't accuse someone of murder merely to entertain himself."
She figured Fumino was just shocked to hear her own husband accused.
"I..." Fumino began, still convinced that her husband lacked the courage to kill.
"You should avoid approaching him so carelessly, Madam Yukinoshita," Kai warned.
Fumino stopped and turned to him. The boy her daughters brought to the banquet had already made a strong impression, and now his interference made her even more suspicious.
"Are you saying that you also believe my husband murdered someone?" she asked coldly.
"Believe?" Kai gave her a faint smile. "No. I'm certain."
Fumino's face grew stern, but Kai spoke again before she could reply.
"The situation isn't quite what you think. He didn't just kill that man. He ate him. To be exact, he swallowed the victim's soul like it was a midnight snack."
Fumino stared at him in disbelief. 'What kind of childish delusion is this?'
"..." Tomoko reacted very differently.
As soon as Kai mentioned a soul being eaten, several things suddenly made sense to her, and the way she looked at him changed.
The Yukinoshita family might not have possessed enough influence to learn the world's hidden truths, but the Suzuki conglomerate did. Its highest-ranking members knew about Cursed Spirits and Jujutsu Sorcerers.
When Tomoko first learned about them, she wondered if she was losing her mind or if the world had gone crazy. After the Suzuki family confirmed that the supernatural was real, the company began looking for Jujutsu Sorcerers and trying to make connections with them.
Those efforts had produced few results.
"Sir, could you be...?" Tomoko asked carefully.
"A pleasure to meet you, Madam Suzuki," Kai replied with an easy smile.
Her reaction showed him that she knew about Jujutsu society. He didn't confirm it directly, but his calm reply was enough.
"I see. Please, Tomoko is fine."
He truly was a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Tomoko quickly dropped her formal, businesslike attitude and spoke to him with real warmth and respect. Then she glanced at Fumino and let out a quiet sigh.
"The Yukinoshita family has remarkable luck."
Fumino frowned. Remarkable luck? What did that even mean?
She wasn't stupid. Even though she didn't know who Kai really was, Tomoko's sudden change in attitude told her a lot. Someone as powerful as Tomoko Suzuki would never treat a regular young man with that much respect.
Kai was clearly an important figure.
The question was why.
Fumino's anger slowly faded, replaced by strong curiosity as she looked again at the young man standing by the body.
"Hey!"
Only Conan seemed unimpressed. He stared at Kai with half-closed eyes and groaned.
"Can we stop with the silly jokes? Souls? Eating souls? Do you even know how a real investigation works?"
To Conan, blaming a mysterious death on ghosts or demons wasn't just silly—it was an insult to real detective work.
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