Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Four: The Essence of Magic

On the drive to Osaka, Ai Haibara had fallen into a deep slumber, exhausted by the rollercoaster of emotions she had endured. Her tea-colored hair swayed gently in the breeze as she rested in Fina’s arms, a faint smile gracing her lips—as if, in her dreams, she had already caught a glimpse of her sister.

"Captain, why did you come along?" Fina asked in a hushed tone from the backseat. "Asking that shrunken detective a few questions shouldn't require this many people. Frank and I would have been enough. Don't you need to calibrate the natural energy of this world?"

"It cannot be calibrated," Vernon replied. He snapped his fingers, and a fine, faint pollen drifted onto Haibara’s face, causing her to sink even deeper into her peaceful sleep. "While the natural energy in the space around our home appears stable in distribution and quantity, it is actually constantly exchanging spatial coordinates as it vibrates over time. To organize it, I would at least need to understand the pattern of those coordinate shifts."

Vernon glanced back at Haibara in Fina’s arms. "She is one such coordinate. If that Edogawa Conan is another, the pattern will be easier to find."

"APTX-4869... are you saying we have to find every person who shrunk after taking that drug?" Fina asked. "According to Haibara, that so-called Black Organization has been using this drug for a long time. There might be many others shrunk by it, perhaps scattered to every corner of the planet. How are we supposed to find them?"

"We shall try," Vernon replied, turning his gaze back to the road. The matter of natural energy was closely tied to the formation of this planet's collective consciousness, but it had little bearing on their mission of extracting energy. Honestly, if it proved impossible to track, Vernon wouldn't break his back scouring the world; he would simply report the findings when he returned to the Clock Tower.

Dozens of minutes later, as Frank drove a vehicle equipped with Clock Tower’s advanced technology through the backroads and into Osaka, Heiji Hattori and Conan’s group arrived at the Tsutenkaku Tower. Throughout the journey, Heiji had been busy detailing their itinerary to the others.

"Hey, Hattori, why did you bring me all the way to Osaka?"

After strolling around the tower for a while, Kogoro Mouri wandered off to smoke out of boredom, giving Conan the perfect opening to pull Heiji aside. Just as Heiji was about to explain, he suddenly felt a gaze fixed intently upon him. He turned toward the window and saw Frank leaning against the railing on the roof of a nearby building. Naturally, there were others around Frank, but he, perpetually clad in black, stood out far too much.

"Hey, Kudo, that person over there seems to be staring at us," Heiji said, pointing across the way.

"Huh? Where?" Conan stood on tiptoes, peering across, but he saw nothing.

"Right there!" Heiji turned back, only to find that Frank was gone. "Eh? He’s gone."

"Fina, what’s wrong? Knowing the nature of those detectives, if I had stared just a little longer, they probably would have come running over themselves," Frank asked Fina, who had pulled him back.

"Something isn't right. I don't know if you felt it, but I sensed a faint trace of magic on that boy, Conan. It was very subtle—not from a practitioner, nor someone who had been subjected to a spell, but rather the lingering residue of someone who had been in close contact with a magical source." Fina was unsure if her senses had failed her; she had just double-checked the data on the shuttle, which indicated that magical energy was generally stable, unlike a world with active spellcasters.

"Magic?" Frank asked, looking at Haibara.

"It isn't her, and it isn't the drug. This is the first time I've sensed the scent of magic. The waters of this world may run deeper than we imagined," Fina said with concern. She had read similar accounts in ancient texts: worlds that appeared perfectly normal on the surface, yet hid terrifying entities in the shadows. For an investigator in such a world, a single misstep could mean the end of everything.

Though Frank and Vernon sensed nothing, they both became hyper-vigilant at Fina’s warning. As for Haibara, she only cared about finding Conan and getting answers.

At the Tsutenkaku Tower, Heiji and Conan searched for a long time but found no sign of the person who had been watching them. Conan shot Heiji a skeptical look. "Hattori, you must have been seeing things."

Heiji was stubborn. "Impossible. That guy’s clothes were too distinct—all black in the middle of summer. There's no way I misidentified that."

*All black?* Two figures flashed through Conan’s mind: Gin and Vodka, whom he had seen at the amusement park not long ago.

"Where! Where!" Conan jumped up, bracing himself against the railing and scanning the area frantically.

"Hey, hey, what’s wrong with you?!" Heiji asked, bewildered by Conan’s sudden outburst.

"Conan! Don't lean on the railing! It’s dangerous!" Ran Mouri walked over and pulled him down.

"Sorry, Ran-neechan," Conan said, barely maintaining his disguise before whispering into Heiji’s ear, "The people who turned me into this were also dressed in all black."

"What?!" Heiji jolted, his mind flashing back to the nightmare he’d had a few days prior.

"Sorry, sorry, Hattori-kun, I’m here," Yusuke Sakata said as he jogged over, snapping Heiji out of his trance.

Heiji pulled himself together and continued with the plan, guiding them to the next location with Sakata. If those men in black were truly members of the organization Conan spoke of, acting abnormally now would be dangerous and could easily implicate others.

As they left the Tsutenkaku Tower, Ran Mouri glanced back, feeling as though someone unfriendly had been watching them from behind.

Inside the police car, Kogoro Mouri felt completely out of place. Who brings guests sightseeing in a patrol car? What kind of hospitality was this? But looking around and seeing that he was the only one reacting strongly, he decided to keep his mouth shut. In truth, Ran and Conan were equally uneasy, though they kept it to themselves as they were preoccupied with other thoughts.

Sakata looked at Heiji with a hint of confusion. He thought they were hosting close friends, so why had Heiji been so silent since getting into the car? This wasn't the usual Heiji. Could this version of Heiji still serve as his alibi? If things continued like this, he might have to change his plans.

With everyone in the car deep in their own thoughts, the vehicle slowly made its way toward a ramen shop Heiji had selected. Not far behind them, two cars were in pursuit: one driven by Frank, and the other a taxi. In the passenger seat of the taxi, a beautiful young girl was taking deep, rhythmic breaths to settle the surging internal energy within her, while the driver, driven by a mix of gossip and a sense of shared camaraderie, used all his skill to keep the police car in his sights.