A "Chance Encounter" at the Museum
The library where Lisa worked.
"Well, well, cutie. What brings you to see your big sister today? Aren't you usually scurrying off to keep your distance from me?" Lisa asked with a smile when the Traveler appeared out of nowhere.
"I was not," Xiayu protested, refusing to admit that hiding from Lisa had ever crossed her mind.
"Oh~ So you're telling me you came all this way for no reason at all? Then won't you stay for a cup of afternoon tea?" Lisa settled into a chair by the bookshelves, resting her cheek against one hand, and gazed at Xiayu languidly. "Weather like this is simply made for taking it easy, you know."
"Well... actually, there is something I need from you." Xiayu's gaze darted away, a little guiltily, then snapped right back as she hurried past the subject. "But that's not important—later. The main reason I came today is to ask whether you've found any drugs hidden in this library."
Xiayu remembered that the director of this Beika Library was apparently involved in drug trafficking, and had even killed a man to cover it up—though, of course, all of that had only come to light after Conan showed up.
But there had been no reports of any library staff going missing, which meant the director hadn't killed anyone yet. The drugs, however, were surely already in play. The problem was that catching him would require evidence. Without something concrete, who would believe a word about a library director secretly smuggling narcotics?
That was why Xiayu had come to find Lisa today—to see whether the director had stashed any drugs in the library recently, and whether she could catch him in the act. If she pulled that off, she could test whether a world quest like this would actually respawn. Which might mean that someday, she wouldn't need Conan to appear at all—she could complete the world quests herself. As for asking Lisa for help... that was just a convenient afterthought.
But Lisa's answer dashed those hopes—
"I'm terribly sorry, cutie. Nothing yet." Lisa sounded genuinely regretful. "The section I'm responsible for covers biology and medicine, which is quite a ways from the children's wing—not exactly convenient for me to wander over. I have managed to slip over there a few times to have a look, but perhaps because the director's been resting lately, I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary on the shelves. Ah—what rotten timing."
"Ah—" Xiayu heaved a sigh of her own.
"Pfft." At the sight of Xiayu sighing with such a gloomy face, Lisa couldn't hold back a laugh. "Are you really that desperate to finish your quest? Don't worry, cutie—your big sister will help you. All this moping won't do you any good. The quest isn't going anywhere. It'll get done eventually."
Xiayu flushed slightly. "Ahem. Right. I know."
The truth was, she'd simply let her expectations run a little high, and hitting a wall right out of the gate had left her disappointed for a moment.
Still, Lisa had a point. The quest would wait for her; there was always a way. Worst case, she could keep a closer eye on Conan from now on and tag along to mooch off his world quests. Besides, the main questline hadn't even shown its face yet.
Seeing that Xiayu had stopped dwelling on her setback, Lisa smiled and changed the subject. "By the way, cutie—was there anything else you needed from me? I refuse to believe you trekked all the way here just to ask one question. You could have simply sent me a message. No need to make the trip in person, hmm?"
"Ah? Actually, I came today to invite you to the museum with me." At Lisa's question, Xiayu laid out her second reason for the visit.
She'd heard a rumor near her home lately—that the suits of armor in the Medieval Art Museum had been walking around on their own. The moment she heard it, she'd realized this was obviously the museum murder case from the original story. The killer was a museum director again—just a different one, the director of the art museum this time.
In that case, the director had been taking revenge on his treacherous new employer. The man had promised to keep the museum running, but after buying it, he'd gone back on his word and planned to turn the place into a restaurant.
Frankly, Xiayu didn't think the man deserved to die for it. Once he owned the museum, what he did with it was nobody else's business. Breaking a promise was distasteful, sure—but with no contract signed and no law broken, the worst anyone could do was condemn him morally. The problem was that the man had been insufferably smug about it, mocking the museum staff to their faces again and again, and worst of all, brazenly trashing the artwork right in front of a director who loved every piece in his collection. He might as well have been begging for a knife in the dark.
"Oh~ You mean the case at the Medieval Art Museum?" Lisa guessed it at once. She could hardly help it—it was one of the more memorable cases from Conan's early days.
"That's the one." Xiayu confirmed her guess. "I was chatting with Ran today, and she mentioned the rumor caught her interest, so she's going to visit with her father and Conan. Which means the case is bound to happen at the museum today—so obviously, I have to be there to snag that world quest for myself."
"Then couldn't you just go by yourself, cutie? No need to drag your big sister along. I was planning to head home and rest the moment my shift ends." Lisa stifled a yawn and asked, mildly curious.
"It's a little weird to wander a museum alone. What if Conan thinks I deliberately ran into them and gets suspicious?" Not that she hadn't been planning to "coincidentally" cross paths with them, and not that she didn't genuinely hate the idea of looking lonely wandering an art gallery solo—but she couldn't exactly admit any of that, so she dredged up whatever excuse came to hand.
She'd considered asking Xiangling first, but Xiangling was swamped with the restaurant and had no time. When she'd asked Alhaitham, he'd replied that it would be inconvenient given his identity—which made no sense to her, since when had a scholar's job ever stopped him from anything? That left Lisa: free, and perfectly plausible company.
Lisa studied Xiayu's expression, and whether or not she'd seen straight through to the truth, she didn't refuse again. A smile curved her lips as she gave in. "Oh, very well. Your big sister will sacrifice her precious rest and escort you on this little outing. You'd better be properly grateful, cutie~"
"Yeah, yeah. Thank you for your sacrifice, Lisa-nee. I'll treat you to a nice dinner sometime soon—deal?" Xiayu rolled her eyes inwardly. Who was doing all this for, anyway? It was for the quest, for everyone—not like she was the only one who benefited. Still grumbling in her head, she couldn't deny she was genuinely happy to have company.
Lisa leaned back in her chair, watching the delight bloom across Xiayu's face. "Then I shall look forward to that thank-you, cutie."
Before long, the end of Lisa's shift arrived.
By the time Xiayu and Lisa reached the art museum, it was a little past four.
Once inside, Xiayu had to admit the collection was genuinely lovely, and the galleries—each category of works given its own carefully planned section—were laid out beautifully. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why the original story had featured so few visitors. Only the rumor of the walking armor had started drawing crowds recently.
"Xiayu! Xiayu-nee—"
She and Lisa had barely made it through one exhibit hall when a familiar voice called out behind her. She turned, and sure enough—there were Mouri Ran and Conan waving her down, with Mouri Kogoro standing at their side.
Xiayu had assumed it would take at least another wing or two before their paths crossed. She hadn't expected to "coincidentally" bump into them this fast. She and the protagonists really did have quite the fated connection, didn't they?