The library where Lisa worked.
"Well now, little cutie—what brings you to see your big sister today?" Lisa smiled lazily when the Traveler suddenly appeared. "Don't you usually stay as far away from me as possible?"
"That's not true," Natsuyu replied flatly, firmly denying that she had ever deliberately avoided Lisa.
"Oh~ so you're saying you didn't come to see me for any particular reason?" Lisa leaned back in a chair by the bookshelves, resting her head on one hand as she spoke in an unhurried tone. "In weather like this, it's perfect for relaxing. How about staying for afternoon tea?"
"Well… actually, I do have something to ask you," Natsuyu said, glancing away guiltily before quickly bringing her gaze back and steering the conversation elsewhere. "But that can wait. What I really wanted to ask is—have you discovered any drugs hidden inside this library?"
Natsuyu remembered that the head librarian of the Beika Library had been involved in drug trafficking in the original story—and had even committed murder to cover it up. Of course, all of that only came to light after Conan got involved.
Right now, however, there were no reports of missing library staff. That meant the librarian hadn't killed anyone yet—but drugs were almost certainly involved. Still, without concrete evidence, accusing the head librarian of secretly trafficking drugs would get nowhere. No one would believe such claims based on words alone.
That was why Natsuyu had come to Lisa today: to see whether the librarian had already hidden drugs somewhere in the library, and whether she could catch him red-handed. If that worked, she could also test whether world missions would still trigger under such circumstances. If so, she might not always need Conan's presence to complete them in the future.
As for asking Lisa for help—well, that was partly convenience.
Unfortunately, Lisa's answer shattered Natsuyu's hopeful expectations.
"I'm afraid not, little cutie," Lisa said regretfully. "The area I manage mainly covers biomedical literature, which is quite far from the children's reading section. It's not very convenient for me to go over there. I did look a few times when I had the chance, but perhaps because the head librarian has been resting recently, I didn't see anything suspicious. Ah—what a shame."
"Ah—" Natsuyu sighed as well.
"Pfft." Seeing Natsuyu's crestfallen expression, Lisa couldn't help laughing. "Are you really that eager to complete your task? Don't worry—big sister will help you. Sighing like that won't do. The task isn't going anywhere. You'll finish it eventually."
"Right… I know," Natsuyu said, a little embarrassed.
She had simply gotten her hopes up and then hit a setback right at the start, which left her momentarily disappointed.
But Lisa was right. The task was still there—there would always be a way forward. If worst came to worst, she could just keep a closer eye on Conan in the future and tag along for world missions. Besides, the main storyline hadn't even shown up yet.
Seeing that Natsuyu was no longer dwelling on the frustration, Lisa smoothly changed the topic. "So, little cutie, what else did you come to see me about? I don't believe you ran all this way just to ask me that one question. You could've just messaged me."
"Huh?" Natsuyu paused, then explained her second purpose. "Actually, I wanted to invite you to go to the art museum with me today."
Earlier, Natsuyu had heard rumors near her residence about a medieval art museum where the suits of armor supposedly walked on their own. She immediately recognized it as the art museum murder case from the original story—where the culprit was, once again, the museum curator.
In that incident, the curator committed the crime to take revenge on the new owner, who had gone back on his promise. The owner had sworn to continue operating the museum, but after buying it, he decided to turn it into a restaurant instead.
Honestly, Natsuyu didn't think that alone deserved death. After all, once he bought the museum, what he did with it was technically his right. No contract was signed, no law was broken—it was, at most, a moral issue.
But the owner had been unbearably arrogant. He openly mocked the museum staff and relentlessly belittled the artworks—especially in front of the curator, who genuinely loved art. At that point, it was practically asking for trouble.
"Oh~ you mean the medieval art museum case?" Lisa immediately caught on. It couldn't be helped—this was one of the more memorable early cases in Conan's story.
"Yes," Natsuyu confirmed. "I was chatting with Ran earlier, and she said she was really interested in the rumor. She's planning to visit the museum today with her father and Conan. So I'm sure the incident will happen today—and naturally, I have to go and pick up this world mission."
"Then couldn't you just go by yourself?" Lisa yawned lazily. "Why do you need me to come along? I was hoping to head home early and rest after work."
"Going alone would be kind of strange," Natsuyu replied. "What if Conan thinks I'm deliberately running into them and starts suspecting me?"
Which… wasn't entirely untrue. She was deliberately arranging an "accidental encounter." And she didn't particularly want to wander around an art museum alone—it felt a bit lonely. Still, she couldn't exactly say that out loud, so she settled for a convenient excuse.
She had originally wanted to ask Xiangling, but Xiangling was busy preparing for the restaurant's opening. Alhaitham had also declined, claiming his identity made it inconvenient—though Natsuyu had no idea what was inconvenient about being a scholar. In the end, only Lisa had both the time and the appropriate identity.
Lisa looked at Natsuyu thoughtfully. Whether she saw through her real thoughts or not, she didn't refuse again. Smiling, she agreed, "Alright then. Big sister will sacrifice her precious rest time and accompany little cutie on this trip. You'd better thank me properly~"
"Got it, got it," Natsuyu replied, exasperated. "Thank you for your noble sacrifice, Sister Lisa. I'll treat you to a meal sometime—how about that?"
Honestly, she was doing all this for the mission and for everyone's sake. Still, despite her complaints, Natsuyu was genuinely happy to have someone accompany her.
Lisa leaned back against the chair, watching Natsuyu's cheerful expression. "Then I'll look forward to your gratitude."
Before long, it was time for Lisa to get off work.
Natsuyu and Lisa arrived at the art museum a little after four o'clock.
Once inside, Natsuyu found the exhibits surprisingly impressive. The artworks were neatly organized by category, and the layout was well planned. She couldn't understand why the museum had been so unpopular in the original story—aside from the recent surge in visitors due to the rumor about walking armor.
"Natsuyu!"
"Natsuyu, big sister!"
They had barely finished touring one exhibition hall when familiar voices called out from behind them. Turning around, they saw Ran Mouri and Conan waving at them, with Kogoro Mouri standing nearby.
Natsuyu had expected it would take a while before she ran into them. She hadn't anticipated their "accidental encounter" to happen so quickly.
Looks like she really did have a strong connection with the protagonists.