A Friendly Duel
"Good point. So which one was it, then—Takahashi or Kondou?" Hattori scratched his head, looking troubled. "We've narrowed it down to the two most likely suspects, sure, but we don't have a shred of actual evidence on either of them."
"Are we really just supposed to wait until they make their next move before we can gather anything?" Conan frowned, unable to hide his frustration.
But sitting around like that was far too passive—and risky, too.
"Heiji! Conan! Over here, quick!" Toyama Kazuha spotted the two of them finally finishing up and waved them over eagerly. "Kamisato's little sister is about to spar with someone—some gorgeous lady we've never seen before, and she looks crazy strong. Hurry up, I thought you two were gonna miss it!"
"Coming!" Hattori Heiji called back loudly.
They were up on the mountain, after all—no matter what they wanted to do, they'd have to come down first. Hattori and Conan exchanged a glance, reluctantly set the matter aside, and joined Kazuha and Ran. Following the girls' gazes, they looked out toward the open ground in front of the Sacred Sakura tree.
Their timing was perfect. Just as they arrived, Kamisato Ayaka bowed gracefully toward a tall woman standing with her back to them—a woman with a long purple braid, dressed in a violet kimono.
"My lady, thank you for agreeing to spar with me. I know full well that I am no match for you—but I wish to learn just how vast the gap between us truly is."
"Then I trust you won't disappoint me."
Still catching up on the situation, the two newcomers quietly asked Kazuha and Ran what was going on.
Kazuha scratched her head, looking a little puzzled herself. "Honestly? I'm not too sure either. Right after you and Conan walked off, Ayaka and Guuji Yae came over, and then they took all of us to the Sacred Sakura tree to make wishes. Apparently wishes made there come true—according to Yae, anyway."
"That's not a real tradition," Xia Yu cut in, a dark line appearing over her head. "It's just Yae's marketing strategy, if you ask me."
Ran chimed in from the side. "That's what Ayaka said too. But Sonoko refused to believe it—she insisted it's better to hedge your bets, and she wanted to pray to the Sacred Sakura for her romance with Kyogoku-kun to go smoothly. So we all went along. And that's when we ran into Miss Raiden Ei."
As she spoke, Ran looked toward the woman in the violet kimono on the field. Clearly, this was the Raiden Ei she had just mentioned.
"Mm-hmm." Kazuha nodded rapidly. "Did you know? She's actually that elder of the Kamisato family! When Xia Yu mentioned her before, I figured she'd be some ancient old lady—who would've guessed she'd be such a gorgeous, intimidating young woman?"
At that, Yae Miko laughed behind her sleeve. "Don't let Ei's appearance fool you—her seniority runs far deeper than you'd imagine."
"Well, I'll be," Hattori muttered in wonder.
"Yeah," Mitsuhiko said. "Yae-san said she's so strong that nobody can beat her."
"She even bragged that one of Xia Yu-san's friends blocking a single strike from her was a pretty impressive feat," Genta added.
"And then the grown-ups said something we didn't catch, and somehow it turned into Ayaka-san asking Raiden-san for a lesson," Ayumi finished.
"Nobody can beat her?" Hattori Heiji crossed his arms, mouth twisting in displeasure. "Wow, talk about a big mouth. Even I've never gotten arrogant enough to say something like that!"
He fully intended to see for himself what this Raiden Ei was actually capable of.
Conan glanced sideways at the sulking Hattori, eyes half-lidded.
Really? Getting worked up over that? Come on, Heiji, that's just childish.
Then Conan turned a probing gaze on Raiden Ei herself.
She had close ties with the Kamisato siblings and Yae Miko—yet she carried no Vision. Could it be that Miss Raiden Ei wasn't actually part of the Teyvat Syndicate?
And besides, Yae Miko had said those things right in front of Xia Yu, and Xia Yu hadn't contradicted her. That amounted to tacit agreement. Could this woman really be even stronger than Xia Yu-san?
Frankly, Conan couldn't quite imagine it. What kind of person could outclass Xia Yu-san in raw combat skill?
With that thought, Conan turned his full attention to the field.
Ignoring the chatter around them, the two facing each other before the Sacred Sakura tree had already begun.
"Then—pardon me!"
The moment the words left her lips, Kamisato Ayaka's eyes sharpened. Her hands clamped tight around the hilt of her blade, she leaned forward and lunged, drawing her katana in a single lightning-fast thrust.
Raiden Ei's gaze didn't so much as ripple. She tilted her head slightly, and the strike slid harmlessly past.
In the same breath, her right foot slid back a single pace—and her naginata swept upward at an almost unimaginable speed, knocking Ayaka's blade aside.
With a crisp ring of metal on metal, the two weapons sprang apart.
Ayaka felt a tremendous force travel down the length of her opponent's weapon, leaving her hands tingling and numb.
Yet she didn't retreat. Instead, her grip on the hilt tightened with renewed resolve, and she whirled around to block a blade that had somehow materialized at her back.
"Your speed is lacking. Focus!" Even with her strike turned aside, Raiden Ei remained utterly unhurried—she still had composure to spare, enough to calmly point out Ayaka's weaknesses mid-exchange.