Jiangxia declined the offer. He squinted at the travel agency number printed on Ran Mouri's ticket, pulled out his phone, and muttered, "I'll just book a new set of tickets myself."
Suzuki Sonoko's family was relatively peaceful, with fewer people and fewer grudges, so if he went on their private boat, chances were they'd just… arrive. Safely. Without incident.
But if he joined a mixed-tourist cruise, well, with that many people crammed into one boat, odds were someone would be nursing a long-standing grudge and just waiting to settle the score mid-vacation. In that case, Jiangxia could conveniently collect a few ghosts, sniff out some murderous intent, and maybe even solve a crime on the side.
Contribute to society. Be a responsible law-abiding citizen. You know, the usual.
Judging by the poster next to the lottery counter and the Beika Department Store's general aesthetic, this trip wasn't exactly cheap.
But at this point, Jiangxia couldn't really call himself "broke." Yoko Kinoshita regularly threw him onto her shows, wealthy housewives increasingly came to his agency to "find cats," and every time he completed an "assassination" assignment, he got a juicy bonus.
Gin deducted the bonuses of any failed operatives and gave them to Jiangxia instead, so essentially, Jiangxia had multiple salaries stacked on top of each other like an overachieving pancake.
Plus, whenever Amuro Toru dragged him into a part-time gig, Jiangxia always made the employer pay him on the same day. Which meant Jiangxia could work one day and earn two to three months' worth of wages. So lately he'd been walking around radiating "Money is such a burden" vibes.
Even Dr. Agasa occasionally stuffed a "Thanks for inventing explosive first aid!" card into his mailbox, sometimes with money inside.
In short, ever since Jiangxia started emitting a faint aura of "I want to make money," the world had collectively started throwing it at him in increasingly creative ways. His 700 million yen haul from the Maple Leaf Gold Coin case hadn't even diminished—it had increased.
Ran and Sonoko didn't know every single one of Jiangxia's income streams, but just based on the agency's popularity and how often Jiangxia showed up on TV solving crimes, they could tell he wasn't exactly hurting for cash. So they didn't argue when he pulled out his phone to book his own ticket.
Unfortunately, Jiangxia failed.
—The Mermaid Island festival was just too popular. Unless he caught another boat and found a hotel on his own, there were no tickets left.
Jiangxia sighed and hung up, visibly disappointed.
Suzuki Sonoko, being unusually observant today, noticed his mood had dipped.
She tiptoed closer, preparing to offer her own boat again—if Jiangxia was just embarrassed about mooching off her money, she could temporarily downgrade the boat to economy class or something…
But before she could speak, Jiangxia's eyes shifted to the lottery table.
He stared at it for a few seconds. A faint imaginary lightbulb flickered above his head.
Then he marched toward the prize counter.
A middle-aged auntie stood at the booth. She didn't bat an eye at Jiangxia showing up in uniform during work hours—just smiled like he was a regular customer.
Jiangxia scanned the prize board. The top prize was labeled "Special Prize," and there were apparently two "First Prizes" to be won—the same one Ran had snagged earlier.
He asked, "Is the other first prize still available?"
"Yes," the woman answered, a bit surprised. She leaned in and whispered, "But the odds are really low. We have a few lottery stations set up, and the first prize might be in a different box. It could take a while, and even then, you might not get it… Honestly, it'd be more practical to just book a different ticket."
"It's fine. I'll try." Jiangxia casually picked two drinks, paid, and took the lottery tickets.
Sonoko had been about to warn him off the idea.
But then she remembered how hard Jiangxia was trying to join them on the same boat. Her heart went thunk. She held her cheeks, eyes filling with little pink hearts. The warning vanished from her brain.
Two seconds later, she snapped out of it, turned her back, and secretly whipped out her phone. She started typing a message to the travel agency—she'd just pay to squeeze in one more seat. Worst-case scenario, she'd upgrade the boat to something bigger. Problem solved.
But before she even finished editing the message, a surprised voice shouted behind her.
Sonoko turned around and saw Jiangxia standing there, casually holding up the lottery ticket.
The woman behind the counter gaped at the slip in his hand. She'd just seen the same one earlier in Ran's: "F-First Prize!"
Sonoko: "…"
Conan: "…"
…Are there really people who just will things into existence?
Ran didn't seem shocked at all. She just peered over and went, "Oh wow! The seats are next to each other!"
Jiangxia pocketed the ticket happily, grabbed the drinks for his coworkers, and called it a win.
With their trip to Mermaid Island now confirmed, Jiangxia went back to work. Ran and Sonoko headed home.
Conan stuck around to meet the Detective Boys. There was a live performance of Masked Superman in the Beika Department Store that day, and the kids had dragged him along. He'd tried to argue but, well… bear children. Resistance was futile.
Jiangxia was working the morning and evening shifts. He'd thought today's reward was simply scoring a ticket.
But when he came back for the evening shift, he caught sight of the Detective Boys roaming the department store.
…Could there be another case brewing?
He quietly assigned a ghost to shadow the kids—same building, so it wouldn't go far, and the energy cost would be low. If something did happen, Jiangxia could dash over right away. Standard procedure.
But by the time the department store was about to close, nothing had happened. The Detective Boys were just… watching Masked Superman.
Meanwhile, something felt off in the security room.
Jiangxia sat in the security office on the B2 floor. Across the table was a smiling elevator lady. On the table were a bunch of steaming cups of tea.
The woman's name was Ryoko. Supposedly under 30. Just joined the company recently. She had a cheerful, generous personality and often brought little snacks to share. So today's gesture—distributing refreshing drinks to the security team—didn't seem that strange.
Except…
Jiangxia discreetly glanced at the ghost floating nearby.
—Xiaobai reported that Ryoko had just slipped something suspicious into the drinks.
She didn't stay long in front of Jiangxia, just enough to watch him pick up a cup. Then she moved off, pouring tea for others.
Jiangxia waited until no one was looking, then subtly tipped his cup under the table.
As the liquid spilled, a puffed-up, clay-like pufferfish puppet appeared under the table. The puppet silently sucked up the tainted drink, puffed its cheeks, then rolled itself into a shadowy corner where no one could see. It quietly vanished.
Classic shikigami clean-up job.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 36/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*
Glossary:
European / European Emperor – A slang term for someone absurdly lucky, often in lotteries or gacha draws.