A Gathering of Three Gods
Fighting off a yawn, Sayu mumbled drowsily, "Master... I searched every corner of the Takahashi estate today, especially the study. Here's some of their confidential information." She fished a notebook out from inside her poncho and handed it over to Kamisato Ayato.
The pages were crammed edge to edge with densely written notes, and one glance was enough to tell it was the fruit of painstaking effort.
The corner of Ayato's mouth curved into a gentle smile. "Thank you for your hard work, Sayu. This operation was a complete success. With intelligence like this, in the event of Lord Takahashi's unfortunate passing, the Kamisato Clan will be able to take over the lion's share of his business without a hitch..."
Conan sprinted off in the direction where the figure had vanished, but whether he had simply been too slow or not, no matter how far he went, he couldn't spot a single soul.
Just as he began to wonder whether his eyes had deceived him, he noticed a light glowing in a pavilion some distance ahead — and through the blur, he could just make out the shapes of two adults and a child.
Could they have gone over there? Conan wondered. Is that Genta, or Ayumi? The silhouette looks kind of like Ayumi...
Without stopping to think it through, he hurried toward the pavilion.
As the distance closed, Conan gradually made out who was sitting inside.
"Miss Raiden, Mr. Zhongli, and..." His gaze settled on the little girl in green, and shock spread across his face. "Nahida?! What are you three doing here?"
Zhongli slowly set down his wine cup and turned, regarding this uninvited guest with perfect composure. A faint smile touched his lips, and he gave a slight nod. "To share an occasional evening with dear friends is one of life's great pleasures. Hence we have gathered for a modest drink, and to admire the beauty of the night."
"No, that's not what I..." Conan fumbled for the right words, then turned to Nahida. "What I mean is — Nahida, you actually know Miss Raiden and Mr. Zhongli?"
Then a thought struck him. Remembering that Mr. Zhongli's Vision was exactly identical to Lady Ningguang's, he asked, "Wait — at the 'Cocoon' product launch, Miss Ningguang said that Nahida was a friend of one of her elders. Could it be..." He looked at Zhongli. "That elder is you, Mr. Zhongli?!"
"That is so." Zhongli nodded.
Conan's mouth twitched, and he marveled inwardly: What an absolutely bizarre twist of fate! A doubt crept into his mind. How come all the high-ranking elders keep ending up in the same place?
His gaze drifted, entirely of its own accord, to Nahida, who sat on the stool alongside Zhongli and the others, her short legs swinging in the air, unable to reach the ground...
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Conan's mind: Could it be... that her seniority is high too? At that thought, his curiosity about Nahida deepened considerably.
Then, quite abruptly, Nahida met his eyes.
Conan's heart lurched. He instinctively looked away, feigning the idle, aimless gawking of an ordinary little kid.
But at that very moment, Nahida gave him a faint smile and spoke. "You guessed right. Though I'm many years younger than the two of them, if we're counting by seniority, I suppose I can be considered an elder to Kaveh and the others."
Conan froze. "...I didn't say anything out loud just now, did I? How could you possibly know..."
Nahida let out a soft laugh. "That's because Conan is still a little child, you see. Naturally, a child would be so curious, looking around at everything." A sly gleam flickered across her face, as though she had seen straight through his act.
She went on, "Besides — I can hear what you're thinking, you know." With that, she winked and broke into a playful grin.
Conan was taken aback.
He certainly didn't believe the part about hearing his inner thoughts — but it did prove, indirectly, just how sharp Nahida truly was, sharp enough to read other people's minds with ease.
He averted his eyes without thinking, unwilling to meet that gaze of hers, the kind that seemed to peer straight into a person's heart.
In doing so, he caught sight of Miss Raiden's figure — and only then realized that she hadn't said a single word since he'd arrived at the pavilion.
Recalling everything that had happened that day, Conan blinked and tilted his head up at Raiden Ei. "Raiden-neechan, when I went to investigate the Takahashi house with Heiji-niichan today, I think I saw you there. Were you present at the time?"
Raiden Ei had been prepared to simply deny it. After all, she had already given the police her alibi during their questioning, and there was no reason to go out of her way to tell the truth unprompted.
But suddenly, for reasons she couldn't quite name, her eyes lowered. After a long moment, she raised them and met Conan's gaze, her voice gone slightly cold. "So you saw..."