Chapter 144

At a vantage point 100 meters from the Tohsaka house on a tree, Shinji concealed his presence from midnight until five in the morning.

His body's energy and heat were completely suppressed within, his presence so well hidden that even his body heat couldn't be detected. He adjusted his breathing to match the occasional breeze, blending seamlessly with the environment. This technique was what Shinji had mastered as concealment, or more specifically, Presence Concealment.

In this state, Shinji was unlikely to be discovered by anyone. The reason he didn't use Hades' Invisibility Cap was the concern that Gilgamesh might detect it, so caution was necessary.

After seeing Gilgamesh, who had wandered outside all night, return to the Tohsaka residence, Shinji turned his attention to one of the many-faced Hassans who was still vigilant on a nearby tree. He flashed a grin, revealing his white teeth.

They had been neighbors all night, but Hassan never noticed Shinji's presence beside him. Yet, at that moment, for some unknown reason, Hassan suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

Hassan glanced at the tree beside him, feeling puzzled—could a Heroic Spirit still feel cold?

...

Even though he had memories of FZ, Shinji knew he had to gather information to account for any unexpected details. So far, it seemed like Kirei had summoned Assassin early, following the original development. Tohsaka Tokiomi still had Archer, the skipping student Waver still had Rider, and Maiya's hiding spot had been discovered during Shinji's reconnaissance last night.

What remained were Saber and her group, who had yet to arrive in Fuyuki, and the Caster group, whom he had searched for all day but couldn't find.

Of course, the most crucial role for Shinji in this game was the group of Kayneth, whom he hadn't "coincidentally" encountered at the hotel yet.

But Shinji wasn't in a hurry; he would meet them sooner or later.

...

At seven in the morning, Shinji arrived at the hotel front desk. He flashed a smile and got a morning newspaper, then used his charm to get a free cup of coffee before starting his work.

In the hotel lobby, Shinji chose a table in the corner as his workspace.

He placed his wooden box on the table and took out a stack of newspaper clippings of unresolved murder and missing persons cases from across Japan in recent years. He also pulled out a magnifying glass, a notebook, and a regular pen.

Shinji carefully examined each case one by one.

Honestly, from a detective's perspective, Ryunosuke's crimes were almost perfect. Compared to him, the culprits in Detective Conan seemed childish.

Even though Ryunosuke was purely playing a game, seeking new victims like trying new cocktail recipes for fun, his methods and body disposal were nearly flawless.

In five years, with almost forty victims across the country, half of them were classified as missing. This alone proved his high-level and flawless criminal methods—at least as an ordinary person.

As Shinji meticulously organized the details of each case and searched for clues, he gradually became engrossed.

Shinji had a premonition that if Ryunosuke focused on perfecting his crimes, he could achieve it!

As a detective enthusiast who had even worked as a detective for a month in the previous world, Shinji, after learning about Ryunosuke, still couldn't sketch a clear profile of him from these cases.

No, that's not entirely accurate. The profiles of the perpetrators from these cases didn't match the Ryunosuke he remembered from the anime!

Each case revealed a different psychological state of the perpetrator during the crime.

In other words, it was impossible to consider the perpetrator of these cases as the same person!

This was unbelievable!

Of course, these were cases before Fuyuki.

The recent cases in Fuyuki were different. The culprit left a clue—a magic circle drawn in blood.

Ordinary people wouldn't understand it, but informed magicians could follow this clue and quickly identify Ryunosuke.

However, those informed magicians were currently focused on their known opponents in the Holy Grail War.

Thus, the detective Miyafuji Shinji emerged, pursuing the criminal as an ordinary person, upholding justice!

Returning from his thoughts, Shinji realized it was nearly noon, and his coffee had gone completely cold.

Just as he was about to get another cup of coffee, the front desk lady approached with a fresh cup, smiling brightly.

"Mr. Miyafuji, here's your coffee." She placed the cup in front of him with a bow.

"Thank you."

Shinji smiled, mentally rating the lady—around twenty years old, makeup scored a ninety, without makeup probably an eighty, body... even though she was holding her stomach in, she scored an eighty.

Trying to strike up a conversation, the lady glanced at the newspaper clippings and today's highlighted murder reports on the table.

"Mr. Miyafuji, why are you interested in these..."

"Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm a detective."

Shinji took a sleek black business card from his pocket and handed it to her. "This is part of my work."

Seeing the detective agency and his name in gilded letters on the card, the lady found him even more perfect.

Handsome, gentlemanly, and serious about his work—an ideal husband candidate!

No way, she had to find a way to get more information, like whether he was single. After all, her friends were also eyeing him!

She had to act fast!

The lady tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, bent down, and pointed to a case report on the previous day's newspaper. "I remember this case happened near my home factory. There were many police officers that day."

"Really? I was planning to investigate the scene."

Perfect timing! The lady was delighted but kept a straight face. "Really? Would you like me to guide you after I get off work? You seem new here and unfamiliar with the area..."

"No need, I wouldn't want to put a beautiful lady like you at risk of being noticed by the criminal."

The lady blushed, feeling charmed by his gentlemanly demeanor and poetic words. Being not very educated, she could only think, "So poetic!"

After politely declining the lady's offer, Shinji noticed a woman descending the elevator and heading to the front desk. This woman was his actual reason for staying at the hotel—Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri from Kayneth's group.

With fiery red hair that looked like it was ablaze but an icy demeanor, Sola-Ui exuded an air of nobility. Shinji could sense her inherent nobility, as expected of the daughter of successive heads of the Clock Tower's Department of Spiritual Evocation. Even though she wasn't the eldest and didn't inherit the Magic Crest, her status was significant, and it was normal for her to consider herself noble.

Sola-Ui went straight to the front desk, complaining about the hot water issues in the bathroom. After demanding immediate action, she noticed something—the set of men's casual clothes hanging at the front desk.

For some reason, Sola-Ui thought that her summoned Servant (Lancer) would look very handsome in those clothes! And if he wore them, standing next to her, there was only one word to describe them—perfect match!

"Those clothes are..."

"Miss Sola," the receptionist bowed and looked towards Shinji, who was sitting at the table in the lobby, chatting with the staff. "Those clothes were purchased and delivered here by that gentleman, as he hasn't returned to his room yet, so they are temporarily stored at the desk."

"Oh..." Sola-Ui glanced at Shinji and responded casually before leaving the front desk.

Why hadn't she thought of it? Though Lancer was a Heroic Spirit, if he wore ordinary clothes, he could go out with her!

No, she had to get Lancer some casual clothes and find a reason to go out with him, ditching her fiancé!

At that moment, Sola-Ui made up her mind, completely overlooking the fact that Shinji was also quite attractive. Her mind was only on the polite Lancer!

Oh, Lancer~

Shinji, having guessed her thoughts, felt a bit puzzled.

His plan was to sabotage the room's water heater multiple times, prompting Sola-Ui to come down and complain, giving him a chance to offer help and gain Kayneth's favor, eventually getting closer to Lancer. But it turned out she was interested in his clothes?

This unexpected development made him think maybe he didn't need to offer to fix the water heater after all.

If it were a casually dressed Lancer, he had a high chance of encountering him.