Life Was Hard, and Ai Sighed

"Can I come with you?"

At that moment, Ai Haibara on the bed, suddenly spoke.

She revealed the appearance of a little girl.

"Ha?"

Fujino exclaimed in surprise.

He then looked at Ai Haibara and was momentarily stunned.

"I also want to see how the detective handles the case!"

She continued to look like a little girl.

Fujino: "..."

Fujino stared at Ai Haibara's expectant expression and his brow twitched.

What is she doing?

His brain was working at lightning speed.

"Is it not allowed?"

At this moment, Fujino did not respond for a long time.

Ai Haibara continued to maintain that little girl appearance.

She even added a pair of expectant little eyes.

"..."

The little girl's gaze made his scalp tingle.

Fujino took a deep breath, paused, and then said, "That's fine, but you've only just woken up, so you must be very weak."

"Absolutely no problem!"

Ai Haibara got up from the bed.

"Since that's the case... then you can come along too... it's nothing anyway..."

Although Fujino had seen a collection of Ai Haibara's Ai Haibara cuteness.

But the actual experience...

He ignored his sister, but was deeply shocked.

If Fujino didn't know that she was an 18-year-old otaku girl who had shrunk after taking a drug, she would really think that the little girl in front of her was a little girl who was less than 10 years old.

All I can say is that the Miyano family are all top-notch actors.

This acting is so good, it's a shame it's not being used for Oscars.

After receiving Fujino's reply, Ai Haibara went to the restroom to change her clothes.

Inside the toilet.

Ai Haibara glanced at her slightly indifferent face in the mirror and couldn't help but sigh softly, "This kind of performance is really tiring..."

Her actions just now were all part of a strategy to stay in the Fujino family.

To be honest, she didn't quite understand why she was doing this, why she wanted to stay here.

It might be because of Fujino, or it might be because of Akemi Fujino...

Okay, the main reason is still Akemi Fujino.

Akemi Fujino looks so much like her older sister.

That meticulous care reminded her of her past more than once.

She cherished this feeling, even though it was just a false illusion, but she still wanted this illusion to continue.

If you want to stay here, you obviously can't get around Fujino.

Although Fujino is a good person, he is extremely calculating when it comes to personal gain...

If she can demonstrate some value, the probability of her staying will definitely increase significantly.

Perhaps, if she goes after them, she can be of help.

Life is tough, sigh.

Soon, Fujino, along with Akemi Miyano, Ai Haibara, and Kaori Niina, drove to the publishing and editing office of Detective Saburou.

As for Akemi Miyano, she will also be there.

All I can say is that she believes Ai Haibara needs someone to take care of her.

To avoid disturbing Fujino's work.

This reason sounds familiar.

The Ford Taurus slowly came to a stop.

Fujino opened the car door, and what came into view was a tall building with several lights still on.

At the top of the building stands a glowing 'University Hall' sign.

"The University Hall?"

Looking at the sign on the rooftop, Fujino murmured to himself.

This "University Hall" is not a university library or any university building.

It is a well-known publishing house in the Conan World.

If Fujino remembers correctly, when watching anime in his previous life, he often saw the name 'Shogakukan' at the beginning of novel adaptations.

He initially thought it was some kind of elementary school, but it turned out to be an editorial office in Japan.

This University Hall should correspond to the Shogakukan.

"That's right, this is the publishing house of the Detective Saburou' written by my father."

Kaori Niina heard Fujino's whisper and responded.

"Let's go inside without delay."

Fujino nodded, and then he and the three girls entered the University Hall.

Inside the elevator, Fujino looked around at the two pretty girls and the little girl, feeling a bit strange.

Why does it feel like a big family trip for no apparent reason?

As he pondered, he suddenly recalled the classic trio.

That said, wouldn't you say he's now part of a trio?

The classic trio consists of childhood sweethearts, her father, and a troubled elementary school student.

On his side are the Soul Lotus, who was tricked into becoming the older sister, and her younger sister...

Conan: Oh no, I've become a substitute.

At that moment, Ai Haibara, who was standing at the very front, suddenly turned her head.

She seemed to have noticed Fujino's gaze.

A look of confusion appeared on his usually indifferent face, and he tilted his head.

Fujino coughed lightly, then looked away and turned his gaze back to the flashing elevator operation indicator.

Soon, the elevator arrived at the fifth floor, which is the studio of the editor of "Detective Saburou" by Taro Niina.

Newspaper editorial offices were notorious for working overtime and staying up late in those days.

So even though it was past 7 p. m., the office was still brightly lit.

People in business suits were working in the office in all sorts of ways, clearly working overtime.

Led by Kaori Niina, Fujino arrived in front of a middle-aged man who had become overweight.

"May I ask who you are...?"

The man looked at Fujino, who had come with Kaori Niina, and felt that he looked familiar. He asked curiously.

"My name is Fujino, and I'm a detective."

Fujino extended his hand and politely shook hands with the man.

"Fujino?"

The man clenched his fists, pondered for a moment, and then exclaimed in surprise, "Are you the High School Detective Fujino?!"

"That's right, I came here this time... Miss Niina, can you tell me the details of your request?"

Fujino paused as he spoke, then turned his gaze to Kaori Niina.

Kaori Niina nodded knowingly.

After obtaining Kaori Niina's consent, Fujino continued, "I have accepted Ms. Niina's investigation into her father's disappearance, and I have some questions I would like to ask you."

"So it was about Mr. Shinna's request..."

The man glanced at Kaori Niina, then at Fujino. "In that case, please feel free to ask me any questions you may have."

"Does Mr. Taro Niina send his manuscript to your editorial office every week?"

"Yes, Mr. Shinna's original manuscript is delivered on time every week."

The man raised his wrist and glanced at the time. "Tonight is the deadline for submitting the manuscript. I think the original manuscript will be sent over in a little while."

"Could I see those original manuscripts?"

"That's not a problem..."

As he spoke, the man walked to the side, found several stacks of original manuscripts clipped together with paperclips, and handed them to Fujino.

Fujino took the manuscript, glanced at it, and after a long silence, asked Kaori Niina, "Are you sure these signatures are your father's?"

Fujino was referring to the signature on the far right of the cover of the original manuscript, below the title.

In Japan, generally speaking, the author's name is left on the original manuscript.

"Yes, these are all my father's signatures."

Kaori Niina nodded. "I already confirmed it when I came last time."

"Miss Kaori, you don't need to worry too much."

The man gave a simple, honest smile. "If you ask me, Mr. Shinna must have been so engrossed in writing that he forgot to contact you."

"I don't think so."

At this moment, Fujino suddenly held up the original manuscript and said, "Didn't you notice that the signatures in the sixth and seventh chapters are almost all the same?"

"Chapters 6 and 7..."

Kaori Niina took the original manuscript and examined it carefully. "It seems so. These two signatures are exactly the same."

"But what could be wrong with that?"

The honest-looking man looked puzzled. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."

"It can't be a coincidence."

Fujino's voice deepened slightly. "Everyone's signature is almost unique, let alone this kind of cursive artistic signature. Although it is possible to make the signatures exactly the same after many times of contact, this is a calligraphy brush... The brushstrokes of a calligraphy brush cannot be exactly the same twice."

"The signatures are exactly the same, so they are obviously printed. If it was to save trouble, they could have used the same signature from the first chapter. Why did they start printing from the sixth chapter?"

"Could it be because..."

Kaori Niina looked worried, "After the sixth installment, my father was no longer able to sign autographs?!"

That should be the case.

Fujino nodded.

Ai Haibara, watching this scene from the side, had a hint of doubt in her eyes.

If she remembered correctly, less than ten minutes had passed between when they entered the room and when they obtained the manuscript.

Within just ten minutes, Fujino noticed something was wrong.

It's as if they already knew there was a problem with the original manuscript...

How did he manage to do that...?

Thinking of this, Ai narrowed her eyes slightly, sensing that things were not simple.

Are you sleepy?

Akemi Miyano noticed Ai Haibara's squinting eyes. "If you're sleepy, I can take you back first... It looks like this case will take a long time to resolve."

"No."

Ai Haibara shook her head. "I think this kind of work is very interesting."

Is that so?

Akemi Miyano smiled and said, "It seems you have the talent to become a detective in the future."

"A detective?"

Ai Haibara lowered her head and fell into deep thought.

"In that case, my father..."

Just then, a sobbing voice came from the side.

Kaori Niina's eyes gradually reddened, and tears welled up.

"Being sad won't help until the matter is clarified..."

Fujino offered a word of Kaori Niina, then turned to the man and asked, "Mr. Shinna, has anything unusual happened lately? Your editorial department usually talks to the authors when they start a book, right?"

"That's right, our editorial team did meet with Mr. Shinna a few times before we started publishing the book."

At this moment, the good-natured man, after learning that the matter was not so simple, also revealed a serious expression. "If there's anything unusual, it might be the fact that Detective Saburou has resumed serialization..."

After all, we asked Shinmei-sensei to resume the serialization four years ago, but the reply we received was that Detective Saburou was dead... People can't come back to life.

"We had originally planned to abandon this series, but two months ago, Mr. Shinna called again, saying he wanted to restart the Samonji series..."

Upon receiving the news, we immediately halted a serialized novel to make room for Detective Saburou's typesetting.