Venti
"Come to think of it..." Mentioning fortune-telling had reminded Xiayu of something. She turned to Ran and Conan. "Ran, you told me that when Sonoko had her reading done, you and Conan got one too. Mona even said Conan would run into someone connected to alcohol."
Xiayu looked at Conan with open curiosity, pressing him for confirmation. "So, Conan — you did meet someone connected to alcohol afterwards, right? Wasn't Mona's prediction spot on?"
Alcohol!
At that single word, Amuro Tooru's mind leapt instantly to the Organization — where every full member's codename was the name of a liquor!
In a heartbeat, his attention locked onto the small child he'd barely bothered to notice until now.
Someone connected to alcohol? Could this oddly-named kid have come into contact with an Organization member?
Caught completely off guard by this sudden brush with Black Organization business, Conan's body went rigid, a bead of cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"Ah... yeah, it was pretty accurate..." he thought furiously, racking his brain for an excuse vague enough to slip past the question.
Then it clicked — Hattori Heiji, who had force-fed him shochu as a cold remedy and triggered his first transformation back into his true form. Conan let out a breath of relief and said, "Not long after that, I ran into my big brother Hattori. He brought shochu for my cold, and by the next morning it was completely gone!"
Though the hangover that second day had been considerably worse than the cold, if he was being honest.
"Oh, so that's where the prediction came true!" Ran said, eyes widening in realization. Then she frowned. "Still, children really shouldn't be drinking." She shot a reproachful look at her father. "This is all your fault, Dad, for setting a bad example for Conan."
Amid Kogoro's indignant protests, Amuro Tooru studied Conan with a thoughtful gleam in his eye.
Was it really as the kid claimed — that the person connected to alcohol was that Hattori fellow?
After finishing his shift at Poirot Cafe, Amuro Tooru returned to his safe house — and discovered a new message waiting in his inbox. The sender: Cointreau.
His expression shifted almost imperceptibly. A light tap on his terminal screen opened it, revealing just a few words.
Congratulations on successfully taking a master. —From Cointreau
His face darkened completely. Every trace of the bright, sunny Amuro Tooru from the cafe had vanished, leaving nothing behind.
Cointreau's reach was truly terrifying. Not a single day had passed — he hadn't breathed a word of it to anyone in the Organization — and already Cointreau knew. He would have to move far more carefully from now on.
He shut the terminal, deciding that out of sight was out of mind.
Later, when he had the chance, he'd have Kazami dig up a file on that kid — Edogawa Conan.
Meanwhile, having thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle of Amuro Tooru taking a master, Xiayu returned home to tackle the work of the Teyvat Syndicate — an organization she had lately been running with all the diligence of an absentee landlord.
She contacted Neuvillette, who was stationed far away in Country F, and learned from him that the organization's plans were proceeding smoothly.
Her brother had spent years building a power base in Europe, after all — the groundwork was already there.
Though he hadn't been back in Japan long, reaching out to the Black Organization's key European members and persuading them to defect to Cointreau's side had taken surprisingly little effort.
The small handful who refused to submit — some even scheming to report him to the Organization — he had quietly arranged for Tartaglia to make disappear, each with a perfectly plausible justification.
Now, the majority of the Organization's European branch had fallen into Cointreau's hands.
The only complication was that he himself was in Japan, which made direct oversight inconvenient.
Fortunately, he had previously maneuvered the Organization into relocating its research operations to Country F. With Neuvillette keeping watch over there, things were more or less under control.
Still, to keep the Organization's boss appeased, a steady trickle of research progress reports would need to reach that old man.
Hmm. It seemed he really would need to ask Alhaitham to lend a hand with that.
Oh, right — Alhaitham had once drawn a vial of Conan's blood, and along with the APTX4869 obtained from the Organization, both had been handed over to Lisa at the syndicate's island base. Who knew how the research was coming along by now.
He'd have to check in with Lisa once she was free and see how far along they were on a working antidote.
With the important business sorted out, Xiayu finally relaxed and turned to her preferred form of recreation — pulling gacha.
It had been a while since her last wish. She'd been saving up, and at last she had enough for another ten-pull.
She went to wash her hands first, hoping today's luck would hold — praying for a new character, and not another weapon.
Xiayu took a deep breath. "Paimon, get ready — it's wishing time!"
"You got it! Good luck, Traveler! Paimon's rooting for you!"
Before Xiayu's expectant eyes, the wishing interface suddenly blazed with golden light — it was Venti!
A smile broke across Xiayu's face. Yes! Finally, the Anemo Archon is mine! Looks like my luck isn't so bad after all — I've nearly collected all seven of the Archons now.
Xiayu skillfully split off a portion of her consciousness into Venti's body — and in the next instant, she found herself gazing up into the boy's eyes, green as polished emerald.
"It's been a long time, Traveler..."