[TL/N: New Book -
Anime Group Chat in a Doomsday World!]
-------
"Haha, I knew it."
Conan couldn't help but smile as he watched the three kids sitting at a table, giggling over a comic book. They were utterly engrossed, their supposed "further training" long forgotten.
Shaking his head, Conan turned away from the trio and headed toward the bookshelves. He had no intention of interfering with their antics. Instead, he began browsing for something to read himself. His rest time was limited, after all.
According to Bartolomeo's rigorous training schedule, the next stage would begin in just ten days. While Conan didn't resist the demanding regimen—especially given the results it produced—he knew the value of taking a proper break when the opportunity arose.
However, just as he picked up a pure English mystery novel, hoping to immerse himself in its narrative and ease his mental fatigue, a shrill alarm suddenly blared from the direction of the library's entrance.
"Huh?!"
Conan, whose senses were finely tuned to danger, snapped his head toward the sound. To his surprise, the three children who had dragged him here were already gathered by the window, peering outside with curiosity.
"Hey, be careful!" Conan warned sharply, noticing how Genta pressed his large face against the glass. The library's windows, made from simple, fragile glass common in the 1990s, could easily shatter with just a bit of force.
As he spoke, Conan walked to the window and looked down with the three little ones. Peering down, he spotted a police car pulling up to the library's entrance. A familiar figure stepped out of the vehicle.
"Inspector Megure?" Conan murmured, his expression shifting to one of surprise.
Meanwhile, Ayumi stood on her tiptoes, her voice brimming with excitement. "Look! It's a police car! Do you think there's been a case?"
"Did someone get murdered in the library?" Genta asked with unsettling enthusiasm.
"..."
Conan turned to look at Ayumi. How could someone say such morbid things in such a sweet voice?
Still, Inspector Megure's appearance piqued Conan's curiosity. As the head of the Metropolitan Police Department's First Division, Megure's presence was a clear sign that something unusual was happening.
Without hesitation, Conan leaped down from the windowsill and dashed toward the elevator.
"Hey, Conan! Where are you going?!" Genta shouted as the three kids scrambled to follow.
Together, they piled into the elevator. But before long, the elevator stopped, the weight sensor indicating it was overloaded.
With a resigned sigh, Conan decided to take the stairs. His advanced physical abilities allowed him to reach the first floor well before the elevator.
Downstairs, Inspector Megure and his officers were busy coordinating their investigation. Conan's eyes immediately lit up when he spotted Officer Takagi nearby. Without hesitation, he pulled Takagi aside.
"Officer Takagi, what's going on here?"
"Hey... aren't you Detective Bartolomeo's assistant? Conan, right?" Takagi looked momentarily surprised. But for reasons Conan couldn't quite explain, the officer—ignoring any notions of confidentiality—proceeded to spill every detail of the case.
Takagi explained that a staff member from the Beika Library had gone missing a few days earlier. The man hadn't left behind any trace, and no one had been able to contact him since.
The odd part was that the missing man had a peculiar daily habit: he always called his wife from the library's landline before heading home. This routine, which openly wasted company phone bills, had continued for years.
However, on the day he disappeared, his wife didn't receive her usual call. Convinced that something terrible had happened, she reported the incident to the police, claiming her husband must have been murdered in the library.
The logic was flimsy at best, but the police had taken her claim at face value. An investigation was launched, focusing on the possibility of foul play at the library.
Remarkably... her instincts weren't wrong.
In the world of Detective Conan, after all, even the most outlandish assumptions could turn out to be true.
After listening to Takagi's account, Conan's eyes glinted with excitement. He scanned the bustling police officers, already suspecting that their search would yield no results.
Sure enough, the police didn't disappoint.
Despite deploying dozens of officers to comb through every corner of the library, they found no trace of the missing staff member.
Inspector Megure finally turned to the library director, offering a polite apology. "Sorry for the disruption." He then ordered his team to broaden the investigation to the area surrounding the library.
However, Conan, ever observant, noticed something peculiar. As soon as the police withdrew, a flicker of relief passed over the library director's face.
"Something's off! That director is hiding something!"
Conan's instincts flared, and his mind began racing. Whatever the truth behind this case was, he was determined to uncover it.
...
...
That night, the Beika Library showed no signs of change despite the police activity earlier in the day. As usual, it closed promptly at 5:30 p.m.
One by one, the employees left, and soon, the building fell into complete darkness.
However, at that moment, four small heads suddenly emerged from the library's restroom.
"Hey! Genta, you're squishing me!" Mitsuhiko complained, trying to straighten up as Genta pressed against him.
"Shh!" Ayumi quickly turned around, pressing a finger to her lips to silence the two boys.
Then, with sparkling eyes, she looked at Conan, grabbed his arm, and shook it eagerly. "Conan-kun, Conan-kun, what do we do next?" she asked, her voice full of anticipation.
Conan sighed, glancing at the three kids with exasperation.
He had explicitly told them to go home, but they had insisted on staying and hiding in the library with him. Reluctantly, and only to avoid them interfering with his plans, he had agreed to let them tag along.
Ignoring Ayumi's question for the moment, Conan walked toward the elevator. Something about the air in the now-empty library caught his attention.
Thanks to his improved physical abilities from recent training, Conan's senses had become sharper than ever.
The crowded atmosphere earlier in the day had masked it, but now, in the silence of the night, a distinct, unsettling smell reached him.
It was the unmistakable scent of dark blood and decomposing flesh.
There was a corpse in the Beika Library.
The body wasn't missing; it was hidden—somewhere no one had thought to look.
Conan's mind raced as he confirmed that the only people present were himself and the three kids. Deciding against wasting time running around, he approached the elevator and activated its manual override.
Sliding his small hands into the gap between the elevator doors, Conan took a deep breath. His training from the past month paid off as he summoned his newfound strength.
Screeeech—
With a grating metallic sound, Conan forced the elevator doors open, using only his child-sized frame to accomplish the feat.
"So this is the benefit of consistent training," Conan muttered to himself, a small smile tugging at his lips. The ease with which he accomplished this task—a feat he once could only manage with Ran's help—filled him with a sense of satisfaction.
The three children behind him were utterly stunned, their wide eyes reflecting their disbelief.
"Wow! Conan-kun, you're so strong!" Ayumi exclaimed, her voice filled with admiration.
In their childlike innocence, the three didn't realize Conan's strength bordered on superhuman. To them, it was simply impressive.
"Tch! Not a big deal! If I ate three bowls of eel rice, I could do that too!" Genta huffed, jealousy evident in his voice as Ayumi's praise irked him.
Only Mitsuhiko, the most logical of the group, spoke up, his curiosity piqued. "Conan, why did you open the elevator door all of a sudden?"
Conan turned to him with a crooked smile, then looked at Genta, the tallest of the group. "Genta, try pressing the elevator's up button now."
"Huh? Is this safe?" Genta muttered nervously, glancing at the dark elevator shaft. Despite his apprehension, he obediently stood on tiptoes and pressed the button.
The sound of grinding gears echoed ominously from within the shaft.
The children froze, their eyes fixed on the elevator's inner workings.
And then, as the elevator began its slow ascent, a pale, lifeless figure came into view.
A corpse.
The children's faces drained of color as the grisly sight emerged.
"It's real!" Ayumi gasped, her voice trembling.
Conan's sharp eyes locked onto the body, and a crooked smile spread across his face. The scent of death and the thrill of solving a mystery stirred something deep within him.
This was why he couldn't resist a case.
As Conan stared at the corpse, he began explaining to the three children:
"Do you remember this morning?" he asked, his voice calm and analytical.
"There were seven people in the elevator, and the total weight registered as 450 kilograms. Yet, when we stepped in, the elevator sounded the overweight alarm."
He paused, giving the three a moment to recall.
"While it's true there were seven people, don't forget—we're children. Even the heaviest among us, Genta, doesn't weigh more than 50 kilograms. That's far less than an average adult's weight."
"But despite that, the elevator was still overloaded."
Conan's expression grew sharper as he drove his point home. "That can only mean there was additional weight in the elevator—weight we couldn't see."
As he finished, Conan slipped his hands into his pockets, exuding a quiet confidence as though he stood center stage. His reasoning had an almost theatrical flair, and Ayumi's eyes sparkled with admiration as she watched him.
But just as her excitement peaked...
A low, chilling voice broke the silence.
"What a brilliant deduction."
"!!?"
The three children froze in terror, their nerves already rattled by the sight of the corpse.
As the elevator continued its ascent, the source of the voice emerged from the shadows—a man with a cold, lifeless expression. His gaunt face, illuminated faintly by the dim light, made him appear like a murderous specter risen from the depths.
It was Director Shuji Tsugawa, the manager of Beika Library.
Unbeknownst to most, Shuji Tsugawa was one of Tokyo's most prolific drug smugglers. Using his position as the library's director, he transported illegal substances under the guise of importing books from overseas.
He had devised a clever—albeit risky—method: hiding the drugs between the pages of library books, where no one would suspect. However, when a library staff member stumbled upon the stash, Shuji Tsugawa had no choice but to silence him. He killed the man and concealed the body in the elevator shaft, planning to dispose of it once the commotion died down.
Tonight, Shuji Tsugawa had returned to the library under the cover of darkness to hide a fresh shipment of contraband.
What he hadn't expected, however, was to find company.
"Children, isn't it a little late for you to be out?" Shuji Tsugawa asked, stepping out of the elevator with a deceptively gentle smile.
But in the faint reflection of the elevator's steel doors, Conan caught sight of the metal pipe hidden behind his back.
"Conan-kun..." Ayumi whimpered, taking a step back. Mitsuhiko and Genta followed suit, their faces pale with fear.
Yet Conan stood his ground, his gaze unwavering. He raised his head, his confident eyes gleaming behind his glasses.
"Oh? Director Tsugawa, it's unusual for you to be at the library this late," Conan remarked casually. Then, without hesitation, he added, "But I think I know why. You're the murderer, aren't you?"
His words were sharp, piercing through the tense atmosphere like a knife.
Shuji Tsugawa, however, wasn't easily intimidated. As a seasoned criminal, he had encountered countless threats in his line of work. He smirked and stepped closer to Conan, his tone feigning innocence.
"Hahaha, what are you talking about, kid?" he said, his voice syrupy with false kindness. "A murderer? I don't have the faintest idea what you mean."
But as he approached, his expression darkened. With no warning, he swung the metal pipe, aiming straight for Conan's head.
"Conan-kun!" Ayumi screamed, her voice trembling with terror.
"Watch out!" Mitsuhiko cried, his voice breaking.
Even Genta, typically slow to act, surged forward instinctively, attempting to shield Conan.
Yet none of them expected what happened next.
CLANG!
The sound of metal colliding with something solid reverberated through the dim corridor.
Everyone froze, their expressions frozen in shock.
When their eyes focused, they saw Conan standing firm, his leg raised high above his head.
He had blocked the pipe with his foot.
A visible dent marred the metal pipe where Conan's shoe had struck it, evidence of the overwhelming force behind his seemingly slender leg.
Tsugawa's face twisted with disbelief. His gaze darted between the warped pipe in his hand and Conan's calm, composed figure.
"This... this can't be possible!" he stammered, his voice trembling.
Fear crept into his eyes as his mind struggled to reconcile the scene before him.
Conan, meanwhile, lowered his leg slowly, his expression unchanging.
Even though Conan's physical abilities only matched the peak of normal human limits, his intensive training in techniques like Tempest Kick had honed his leg strength to an impressive degree.
Sure, kicking a steel pipe wasn't exactly painless, but Conan wasn't about to let the discomfort spoil such a dramatic and heroic moment.
Style was everything.
Ignoring the dull ache in his foot, Conan raised his head, a sly smile spreading across his face. His eyes locked on Director Tsugawa.
"You don't hesitate, do you?" Conan remarked coolly.
"To attack a child so ruthlessly…"
"That says a lot about you." He paused, letting his words sink in before continuing.
"It seems the death of that staff member wasn't just a simple vendetta."
"Maybe... they saw something they shouldn't have. Isn't that right?"
Director Tsugawa's composure faltered. The sight of a mere child bending a steel pipe with a kick had completely thrown him off. His confidence evaporated, and he began to step back cautiously.
"Who… who are you!?" he demanded, his voice trembling with unease.
Conan straightened up, adjusted his glasses with a calculated gesture, and introduced himself with quiet determination.
"My name is Edogawa Conan," he declared. "And I am a detective."
The director froze, unnerved not only by Conan's declaration but by the unrelenting sharpness in the boy's gaze.
Conan continued, stepping forward deliberately, his words landing like hammer blows.
"This morning, something caught my attention..."
"Why were there so many foreign-language books in the children's section of the library?"
He let the question hang in the air for a moment before answering it himself.
"Just now, I figured it out. Among those foreign-language books, there must be something you're trying to hide. A secret you don't want anyone to uncover."
He leaned in slightly, his devilish grin making Tsugawa's blood run cold.
"Am I right?"
The relentless logic and precision of Conan's words forced Tsugawa to confront the truth he had desperately tried to conceal.
For reasons he couldn't quite explain, Director Tsugawa suddenly wished he had been arrested earlier by the police.
If that were the case, he would not have encountered this scene that directly shattered his worldview! !