After treating the group to a big meal and having their fill of fun, Miyauchi Hikage took the impossibly beautiful Shiina Mashiro home under the somewhat envious gaze of Ito Kaiji.
Feeling Ito Kaiji's stare, Miyauchi Hikage patted his shoulder and told him to keep working hard; once he had money, finding women would be easy.
This guy was completely unlucky with women in his original story. He wondered if, after changing his future, his luck with women would be any better.
But Miyauchi Hikage felt it was a bit of a long shot.
After all, his wimpy dog aura in the videos had already become deeply ingrained in people's minds, establishing his persona.
But who knows, maybe one day this guy could find a rich older woman who likes his style.
He just wondered if Ito Kaiji liked steel wool balls.
Miyauchi Hikage muttered this in his heart, and then said goodbye to the others outside of Beika Town.
He took Shiina Mashiro back home.
Actually, Miyauchi Hikage had already brought Shiina Mashiro to his house a few times before.
Although the house Shiina Mahiru was currently renting was more than enough for two people, Shiina Mashiro was an artist, after all. If her art supplies and finished manuscripts weren't organized, they could quickly pile up and fill the entire house.
Then Miyauchi Hikari had mentioned his villa in Beika Town, saying that only Miyauchi Hikage lived in that large villa, and a room could definitely be cleared out to be used as a studio for Shiina Mashiro.
Although Shiina Mahiru felt it wasn't quite right, seeing that Miyauchi Hikage himself had no objections, she tacitly agreed.
After all, Shiina Mashiro already knew his secret; there was no need to pretend in front of her anymore. In any case, his house had plenty of empty rooms, so it was no problem to clear one out for Shiina Mashiro.
Of course, when Shiina Mashiro came over before, Miyauchi Hikari and Shiina Mahiru would also come along to see, and at the end of the day, Miyauchi Hikage would send them back.
As for why he bypassed the other two and brought Shiina Mashiro back to his home alone this time, it wasn't to do anything, but simply to introduce Jerry to her.
Originally, upon seeing Miyauchi Hikage return with a girl, Jerry, who had just arrived home this afternoon, had wanted to hide and not be seen.
But as Miyauchi Hikage proactively called it out to meet Shiina Mashiro, it quickly ran out from a small hiding hole with a look of surprise and greeted Miyauchi Hikage and Shiina Mashiro.
He didn't know if it was his own imagination.
It felt like after being away for over a week, Jerry's appearance seemed to have further evolved to resemble its cartoon counterpart.
Like its head had become rounder and bigger, and if you looked closely, you could even seem to see a bit of a neck. Overall, it seemed a bit more anthropomorphized than before.
This was Shiina Mashiro's first time seeing Jerry in person. Before, she had only seen what Jerry looked like in Miyauchi Hikage's diary and in the photos Kuroneko posted in the chat group.
But photos, after all, were not as lively as the real Jerry.
Looking at this little mouse, which was only the size of her palm, Shiina Mashiro gently squatted down.
"I'm Shiina Mashiro, Hikage's partner." This was what Miyauchi Hikage had told her; they were partners now.
Saying this, she extended her hand towards it, as if wanting to shake its hand.
But even her hand was a bit too big for Jerry.
Jerry looked at Miyauchi Hikage with some confusion. Hikage then briefly explained his current situation to it.
To be on the safe side, although Jerry had a phone and an encrypted communication channel set up by Miyauchi Hikage, the communication between the two of them was naturally not that timely.
Hearing that Shiina Mashiro had recognized the unique Miyauchi Hikage in a crowd at a single glance, Jerry immediately clutched its stomach and started laughing at him.
Its appearance was as if to say: Weren't you acting so tough before? How come I was gone for just a few days and you've already been exposed?
To this, Miyauchi Hikage cleared his throat with some embarrassment, stating that he had now found a solution, and then asked if Jerry had synchronized the knowledge from him.
To this, Jerry naturally nodded.
Even with a distance of fifty or sixty kilometers between them, Jerry could still maintain synchronization with Miyauchi Hikage's current state.
Just like the previous Golden Rule, Jerry had managed to bring the Goko family from poverty to a comfortable life in just over a week. Even after leaving the Goko residence now, the items it left behind could help the Goko family consolidate this fortune for a while longer.
Making these gestures, Jerry also remembered that Shiina Mashiro was still waiting for it.
Since Miyauchi Hikage had already pulled this woman over to their side as a mole, they were indeed partners in the same camp now.
So, it immediately moved enthusiastically to Shiina Mashiro's hand and gave her a friendly greeting.
From its appearance, it seemed to be indicating that if Shiina Mashiro had anything she didn't understand in the future, she could come to it for help anytime.
Seeing this mouse almost treating Shiina Mashiro as the lady of the house, Miyauchi Hikage told Jerry to behave, and at the same time, began to ask about the changes to its body.
"You've been in someone else's house for so long, didn't you notice your appearance starting to change?"
Miyauchi Hikage said this, taking out his diary and showing the images of Jerry when it first came to this world and its current appearance.
Jerry looked at its two slightly different forms, its expression looking a little dissatisfied.
After all, in its original world, it was much rounder and better-looking than it was now.
However, it quickly began to gesture based on its own guesses.
It might be because Jerry's identity was being adapted by this world, or because the revival of the supernatural had caused some of the world's rules to change.
"But is the progress of the supernatural revival this fast? Didn't it used to be measured in years?" Miyauchi Hikage muttered.
Or was it because the plots of those stories were about to begin, so the supernatural revival also started to rush its progress?
If this continued, perhaps in a few months, Jerry would be able to completely recover its original form.
In any case, Miyauchi Hikage currently had no ability to stop such a major event concerning the entire world; he could only prepare to welcome the new era.
Shiina Mashiro listened to the conversation between him and Jerry, her expression still unchanged. She just blinked and asked Miyauchi Hikage if the arrival of the new era would have any impact on her drawing manga.
Hearing Shiina Mashiro's question, Miyauchi Hikage thought about the killer tennis, killer basketball, killer soccer, and killer cuisine that might appear in the near future, and couldn't help but joke with her.
"When the supernatural is fully revived in the future, maybe you mangakas can also create some kind of super-powered manga."
For example, allowing readers to feel as if they are in the scene, or simply like some web novels from his previous life, where reading the manga allows one to learn the abilities within it.
Seeing Shiina Mashiro's earnest listening expression, Miyauchi Hikage quickly waved his hand again. "Don't take it seriously. I'm just saying it's a possibility. And if it really comes to an era where everyone is a superhuman, it would have to take several generations of transition."
He didn't know if Shiina Mashiro understood, but after nodding, she quickly confirmed with him again: "Then at that time, you have to help me draw manga too."
Miyauchi Hikage shrugged. "When that time comes, I'll just help you bring over all the popular manga from my previous life, alright? You can draw whichever one you like. I guarantee you'll become the greatest mangaka of that era."
Then, he added, "If you have any manga you want to create, I can also help you perfect the plot and settings."
Hearing the latter sentence, the reaction on Shiina Mashiro's face clearly became much happier.
She nodded, then extended her pinky finger again, as if wanting to make another pinky promise with Miyauchi Hikage.
However, compared to last time, there was an extra Jerry this time.
After thinking for a moment, Jerry also extended its toe to join in, indicating that it could also help.
In any case, after the pinky promise, he let Shiina Mashiro and Jerry interact for a while to bond, and at the same time, while Mashiro was drawing, he chatted with Jerry for a bit about what it had been doing outside these past few days.
When it was about time, Miyauchi Hikage got up and prepared to take Shiina Mashiro home.
He had no choice. Shiina Mahiru had already called to ask for the second time. After all, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, alone in a house could easily lead to sparks flying. Although she trusted Miyauchi Hikage's character, that would be a matter for a few months later.
In any case, amidst Shiina Mashiro's reluctant mood, Miyauchi Hikage sent her home.
"Alright, Jerry my boy, you've been out playing for so many days and were even worshipped as a god by a whole family. Now that you're back, it's about time to get down to business. I'll have to trouble you to make another trip tonight."
After returning home, Miyauchi Hikage didn't rush to take out those sealed ghosts and vengeful spirits. Instead, he gave Jerry a new task.
It was still Miyauchi Hikage dictating, and Jerry writing.
Soon, several notes were written by Jerry.
"Go on. It's been a long time since I've seen that great detective. After so long, he should have already sorted things out with his girlfriend."
For the entire day today, Miyauchi Hikage's mind had been filled with Miyano Shiho's complaints and resentment, to the point that even though she was one of the few first-batch diary holders who hadn't joined the group, he could know from her constant musings the requests that had refreshed for her today.
Miyano Shiho had been chanting his name in the laboratory with an almost prayer-like intensity, so he decided to respond to her plea.
In any case, Conan would definitely be happy to do this kind of thing. He would just remind Conan to protect Miyano Shiho's sister, and the rest would be up to Miyano Shiho herself.
After feeding Jerry a piece of butter cake, Miyauchi Hikage rubbed its round head and reminded it to go and come back quickly; they still had to study vengeful spirits together later.
Hearing that there was another task later, Jerry gave Miyauchi Hikage a resentful look.
If I had known, I would have stayed outside and played for a few more days. Coming back to find a new mistress is one thing, but there are so many things waiting for me to do.
But after making a funny face at Miyauchi Hikage, it still obediently went to complete the task.
***
Beika Town, Mouri Detective Agency.
Conan was boredly reading a mystery novel in Ran's room. Ever since his identity was exposed to Ran, his wonderful life was gone forever.
Before, he could affectionately call her Ran-neechan. Now, the moment he acted even slightly like a child, he could feel Ran's death glare.
He had no choice. After all, he had deceived her for a month or two. Now, he was just reaping what he sowed.
The only good thing was that after being exposed, he could now interact with Ran in her room with his original personality.
But what truly made Conan feel helpless were that Tom and Jerry, who started the fire but didn't put it out.
They said they wanted to pull him into their organization to change the world together, and his simple worldview had been greatly impacted after personally seeing a ghost.
But after helping him grow bigger for half an hour, they hadn't come to find him again, making him wonder if something had happened to that Tom.
Fortunately, with a familiar knock on the window, Conan's spirits were instantly lifted.
He quickly ran to the window and looked at the familiar little mouse.
Since their last meeting, a full four murder cases had passed.
He opened the window and asked about Tom, and why it had been so long since they came to find him.
Jerry spread its hands and then gestured that it had been on a business trip recently and had just returned to Tokyo today.
Do mice need to go on business trips?
Conan's lip twitched, but his attention was quickly drawn to the note Jerry took out.
He took the note and saw on it the thing he most wanted to know right now.
Information about the inventor of the drug that had shrunk him!
According to the note, the inventor and her sister were currently being suspected by that organization, and they might even be about to be disposed of.
The note was asking if he wanted to take this opportunity to save the sister, and use that favor to get the inventor to join his camp and help him develop an antidote.
Did he even need to be asked?
Recently, having witnessed the truth of the world, Conan had been pestering Professor Agasa to invent many new gadgets for him, just waiting for a suitable opportunity.
So Jerry took out another note. There wasn't much written on it, only the name of a bank and a person's name. Then it made a gesture, indicating that whether he could save her would depend on his own ability.