**Chapter 189: The Modified Version of "Stargazing"**

"Hahaha!"

Mutsumi Nishikawa laughed maniacally. "I will never let the police catch me!"

Death was inevitable, sooner or later, but she would not let this face accompany her through her final days.

With that, she leapt through the open secret door.

...

"Suicide due to shock?"

Fujino stepped forward, lowered his head, and gazed out the window. His expression was indifferent as he watched the beautiful blood splatter bloom on the castle lawn below.

Yeah, she was definitely dead.

Fujino wasn't one to care if the criminal was captured alive by the police—he wasn't a hero of justice, after all. 

At least he hadn't killed her with his own hands.

He felt no burden of guilt.

The sooner fools like this died, the better.

If the police had taken her and sentenced her to death, letting her live a few more years would've been a luxury.

After all, it seemed like prisons in Japan were fairly decent. Some elderly folks, when times got tough, would rob convenience stores just to get into prison, where they could live out their retirement.

...

That afternoon, the police arrived at the scene to collect the body.

At the same time, they found the real body of Masuyo Mamiya hidden in the secret passage.

With this discovery, the secrets shrouding the castle were fully revealed.

Fujino's 1.5 million yen commission was also paid in full by Takahito Mamiya.

Originally, Takahito Mamiya had intended for Fujino to stay for dinner.

But after recalling the scene of that old witch free-falling from the high tower and blooming into a bloodstain on the ground, Fujino felt nauseous.

He declined Mamiya's invitation.

To be honest, he didn't quite understand how people in the Conan world functioned.

How could they still sit down to eat after something like that?

How could they stomach it?

Well, maybe his mental resilience just wasn't strong enough.

...

Satisfied with his 3 million yen, Fujino made his way back to Tokyo.

Along with that, his detective level had also increased.

Now at Intermediate Two-Star level, he allocated points to his "Detective's Intuition," which leveled up to Beginner One-Star: **Detective's Intuition: Beginner One-Star (Increases deduction ability by 50%; actively triggering Detective's Intuition boosts deduction ability by 150%; active skill duration: 100 seconds).**

Definitely worth it.

As for physical abilities, even without any boosts, he was doing just fine.

As a detective, he felt it was symbolically important to enhance his deduction skills. Otherwise, if he encountered another unexpected murder case like before, it would be embarrassing.

After all, deduction isn't based solely on reasoning skills. Abilities like perception also contribute to deductions.

With his total attribute boost now at 180%, his deduction ability had increased by 180% as well. Coupled with a further 200% boost in reasoning skills, unless the case was extraordinarily complex, he should be able to solve it—especially those typical murder cases that plagued citizens of Beika City.

With this recent gain of 3.5 million yen, Fujino's balance had risen to 8.3 million yen.

A ten-pull on the intermediate gacha, with a system discount, would require 8.9 million yen.

He was about 600,000 yen short.

He could convert his living expenses into system currency to meet the amount, but it wasn't necessary.

After all, life still had to go on, and he needed to keep his living expenses.

Gambling on gacha was risky; the last time he hit the jackpot, but this time might be different.

That darn system was always tempting him to drain his money, only to give him strange, useless items.

Instead of gambling, Fujino was now more inclined to complete the tasks for the "CEO" career.

Opening a shop was second only to strengthening his own abilities, and slightly more important than gacha.

After all, if he could open a shop, he would have a steady stream of income.

...

Upon returning to Tokyo, Fujino glanced at the time. It was the afternoon, so he drove to pick up the kid.

Driving back home, he and Ai Haibara headed upstairs.

As they reached the door to the third floor, Fujino noticed an unpleasant smell.

It was a burnt odor, sharp enough to make his nose sting—almost worse than burning rubber.

Something was off.

Why was there a burning smell in the bedroom?!

Sensing that something was wrong, Fujino furrowed his brows.

Ai Haibara also showed a look of concern.

Pushing open the door, they were greeted by wisps of black smoke drifting out from the kitchen.

Without hesitation, the two of them rushed toward the kitchen.

Pushing open the kitchen door, the view was clouded with smoke. Through the haze, a faint silhouette could be seen.

Ai Haibara quickly moved forward and turned on the exhaust fan.

As the fan whirred to life, the black smoke gradually dissipated.

What greeted their eyes was Akemi Miyano, standing at the stove with a large spoon in hand, wearing an apron.

"Are you... cooking?" Fujino asked, eyeing Akemi as he tried to make sense of the scene.

"You're back! I was trying to cook you dinner..." Akemi replied awkwardly, a sheepish smile on her face. "But, as you can see, it didn't turn out well."

Fujino: "..."

Ai Haibara: "..."

Neither of them expected Akemi Miyano's cooking to cause such a commotion.

Dinner had usually been prepared by Ai Haibara, with Akemi helping. 

In reality, Ai Haibara was always the main cook.

A moment later, Akemi's culinary masterpiece was placed on the table in the dining room.

Fujino eyed the dish before him, his lips twitching involuntarily.

Ai Haibara stared at the "dish" with a similarly odd expression.

Sitting in front of them was a fish head, floating on a black broth, its face turned upward, eyes wide open in death. The black broth swirled with a thick, ominous smoke.

It was a modified version of "Stargazing."

A truly bizarre dish had been created.

And it had even been... "upgraded."

In a way, Akemi Miyano was a genius.

Fujino silently cursed to himself before asking, "Where did you learn this?"

"From a cooking show with Yoko Okino on TV... I didn't expect it to turn out like this…"

Akemi Miyano, her face smudged with soot, looked utterly apologetic, like a child caught doing something wrong.

"..."

In situations like this, the typical solution would be to eat the failed dish quickly, then offer sincere compliments.

But this wasn't some romance game scenario, and Fujino had no romantic interest in Akemi Miyano.

This kind of dish could seriously harm someone!

"Phew…"

Fujino sighed, staring at the fish head in the bowl. It seemed oddly familiar, and he suddenly asked, "Where exactly did you get this fish head?"

"From the freezer."

"You mean that frozen fish?"

Fujino recalled the fish in the freezer.

"Yep."

Akemi Miyano nodded earnestly.

Fujino stared at the fish head in the bowl and let out a soft sigh.

No wonder it looked so familiar.

It was the same fish that had been battered during the Kaitou Kid incident.

Looking somewhat dejected, Akemi Miyano lowered her head in shame. "I'm really sorry, Fujino. Not only did I mess up your kitchen, but I also ruined your fish…"

"It's fine. That fish was already bad anyway."

Fujino waved it off, clearly unbothered.

That frozen fish had been through quite a lot—it had been used to smash a toilet on the Queen Selizabeth, not to mention clobber Kaitou Kid. It was hardly clean.

Thinking of this, Fujino asked, "But why did you suddenly want to make dinner?"

"I just wanted to do something within my ability," Akemi Miyano said, clutching her apron tightly and biting her lip. "I don't have a job right now, and I can't help with detective work. You're still a student, Fujino-kun, and I feel bad for always causing trouble... If I don't do something, I feel guilty…"

"There's no need to feel guilty. You just woke up from a car accident not long ago; don't think too much about it."

Noticing her unusual demeanor, Fujino offered some comfort.

"Yeah, in your current condition, it's not a good idea to go out to work," Ai Haibara added, nodding in agreement.

Over the past few weeks, she had learned a bit about Akemi Miyano's situation, including the fact that she had lost her memory after the accident.

In a way, they were both like guests living under someone else's roof, not really contributing much.

Fujino had noticed this a while ago.

To be honest, he had briefly considered having Akemi Miyano work and turn in her paycheck, acting like an unscrupulous capitalist.

But after thinking it over, he had abandoned that idea.

Having her work would only complicate things.

Plus, even if she worked, she would only make about 100,000 to 200,000 yen a month.

On the other hand, keeping her at home to help with chores and be on call was actually more convenient.

But since she brought it up, it couldn't be ignored.

This is why Fujino disliked dealing with people's emotions

. They were unpredictable.

"But…"

"Alright, from now on, you can handle the cleaning, alright?"

Fujino waved dismissively.

While it wasn't a perfect solution, it was a reasonable compromise.

Cleaning was safer than having her cook.