Not long after everything was finally settled, the police arrived—fashionably late, as always.
Natsuyu explained the situation and then handed Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi over to the officers, who would escort the children home.
As for Conan, since he was heading in the same direction as her, Natsuyu brought him back instead.
Before leaving, she called Ran to explain what had happened. She learned that Ran and the others, worried sick about Conan, hadn't even made dinner yet. Natsuyu took the chance to invite Ran to have dinner together at Xiangling's restaurant.
Ran hesitated at first, afraid of troubling them.
But the moment Kogoro Mouri heard that the restaurant had new alcohol, he agreed without a second thought.
Good food and drinks? That was reason enough.
Ran, helpless, could only go along with it.
At the restaurant, they sat in the same seats as before—
only this time, Lisa was missing.
"Mr. Mouri, I heard you like drinking. Why don't you try our restaurant's new wine?"
Xiangling poured him a full glass with a warm smile.
Kogoro didn't stand on ceremony. He downed it in one gulp.
"Not bad, not bad! This tastes great. What wine is this? I'll buy a bottle myself next time."
He was curious—he had never tasted anything like it before.
"It's Dandelion Wine. Natsuyu just bought it today at the department store."
When Conan heard "department store," he knew he hadn't been mistaken earlier.
The familiar figure he saw during the day really was Natsuyu—she must have been buying the wine then.
"Dandelion wine? You can make alcohol from dandelions?"
Ran had never heard of such a thing.
Conan leaned in to look at the bottle too. He was just as curious.
Reading the label, he saw that it was produced by Dawn Winery.
In his memory, that was a well-known winery in Country H, and its owner was supposedly a noble.
So it's from there… How have I never heard of this before?
"I heard it's brewed from dandelion seeds," Xiangling said thoughtfully.
"They must be using some special technique."
Natsuyu poured herself a glass.
The liquid in the cup was crystal clear, faintly scented with flowers—perhaps dandelion petals were used as well.
She took a small sip.
It really was good.
The flavor was gentle, not sharp or harsh, with a soft hint of fruit.
No wonder it's Venti's favorite… It's worth the price.
With Xiangling's dishes, Natsuyu drank several glasses in a row.
By the time Xiangling noticed, Natsuyu was already slightly tipsy.
What happened after that was mostly a blur.
She only vaguely remembered that after everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Ran invited her to attend a wedding—and said she wanted to introduce her to a friend.
But the details were hazy.
Ugh… I didn't expect this body's alcohol tolerance to be so bad.
I really misjudged my limit.
She had even gotten drunk in front of Conan.
At least Xiangling had been there—hopefully she hadn't said anything strange.
When Natsuyu woke up, Xiangling hurried over with a cup of honey water.
"Traveler, does your head hurt after sobering up? Drink some warm water—I added honey. It should help."
Natsuyu was thirsty anyway. She thanked her and drank it all in one go.
Then she asked what happened after she passed out.
Xiangling summarized briefly, then said:
"Ran invited both of us to the wedding two days later—ah, no, it's tomorrow now. She also wants to introduce her good friend to you."
Xiangling shook her head.
"I declined—I still have the restaurant to run. But I agreed for you."
"Go, go. It'll be good for you to get out and relax. Don't think I don't know—you've been contacting Diluc every night lately, discussing winery funding, haven't you?"
Natsuyu froze.
"How did you know…? We don't even sleep in the same room."
"Well, the business is just getting started, of course it's troublesome," Natsuyu admitted.
"This is important for building our organization's influence. We can't rely on Diluc alone."
"And there's a time difference between here and Country H. I can only contact him at night—I wasn't trying to hide it."
She clasped her hands dramatically.
"Great Lady Xiangling, please forgive me."
Xiangling crossed her arms, exasperated.
"Traveler, I'm saying you've been too busy and need proper rest. Ran invited you to a wedding—go and relax a little. Try different food, too. When you come back, tell me about it. I can learn from other chefs' experience."
Natsuyu squinted at her.
"Xiangling… do you really think going out with Conan counts as 'relaxing'?"
Xiangling was momentarily speechless.
Her mouth opened, closed, then she stammered:
"Well… it's not guaranteed something will happen every time, right? Conan hasn't had cases every day lately."
"And… are there any wedding-related cases early on?"
She thought hard—but couldn't recall any.
Natsuyu couldn't either.
After all, in some ways, she and Xiangling shared the same memories.
If Xiangling couldn't remember, Natsuyu usually couldn't either.
Still—this was a real world now. And with her presence as a variable, the plot wouldn't always follow the original path.
Sometimes, knowing the future could even be misleading.
It was best treated as a reference—not something to rely on completely.
Since she had already agreed to Ran, Natsuyu decided not to go back on her word.
At most, she would just stay alert and resolve any incident quickly if something happened.
The next day, Natsuyu arrived at the Mouri residence at the agreed time.
After knocking and stepping inside, she saw someone besides Ran and Conan—
Short hair, tea-brown in color, wearing a blue headband, and dressed in the same Teitan High School uniform as Ran.
So this must be Ran's good friend—Sonoko Suzuki.
They introduced themselves.
As expected, Sonoko was lively and outgoing. Within minutes, everyone was chatting comfortably.
When Sonoko learned that Natsuyu was a few years older than both her and Ran, she refused to believe it.
"What?! Natsuyu, you're actually older than us?! You don't look it at all!"
She leaned in close, examining her face.
"This skin—this face—you look younger than me!"
Ran nodded in agreement, smiling.
"Yeah, when I look at Natsuyu, I can't tell she's already graduated and working."
Sonoko gasped.
"Do you have some kind of skincare secret?!"
"There's no secret," Natsuyu said calmly.
"I think I was just born like this."
That only made Sonoko more envious.
"Ahhh! I want that too!"
"…."
They chatted as they headed toward the wedding venue.
Conan trailed behind, looking bored.
Girls really are sensitive about age and skin, huh…