132: Chapter 132: A Homeland Never to Return To

The next morning.

Sonoko Suzuki's phone call came early.

Today was Saturday.

Simultaneously, snow began to drift down.

Flakes gradually fell, painting Beika Town in a blanket of white.

One could only wonder if the pristine snow would soon be stained by the blood of some unlucky soul.

But that had nothing to do with Fujino anymore.

As dawn broke, refreshed after a full night's sleep, Fujino drove the car, carrying two girls and one death god elementary schooler, towards their destination – the snowy mountain.

It being the weekend, the ski resort was quite crowded.

Likely prepared in advance...

Honestly, Fujino still hadn't figured out how these people kept track of this world's seasonal changes, let alone the shifts in time.

Perhaps it was simply because he wasn't a native, but a transmigrator.

But thinking back on his original body's memories, the past seventeen years seemed quite normal.

It was only recently that the seasons and time started going haywire.

All thanks to a certain death god elementary schooler's presence.

Fujino glanced towards Conan in the back seat, his expression akin to looking at a husky.

Conan, sensing the gaze, responded with a similar husky-like expression.

Soon, the group arrived at the ski resort.

Entering the resort required tickets.

Since they came together, they split the cost – AA style.

As for Conan, being an elementary school student, he got a half-price ticket.

Of course, the tickets themselves weren't overly expensive.

The real cost lay in purchasing ski equipment and attire.

Ran and Sonoko had their own ski gear. Only Conan and Fujino needed to buy or rent.

Conan's expenses were covered by the child support provided by 'Edogawa Fumiyo'.

Fujino, however, had to pay out of his own pocket.

He bought a relatively good set of ski equipment, costing him nearly 150,000 yen.

Fortunately, he hadn't sunk all his money into the damn gacha system; otherwise, he would have had to borrow from the wealthy Sonoko Suzuki.

The 11.1% system discount naturally triggered, saving him several tens of thousands of yen.

The 150,000 yen equipment ended up costing him just over 130,000 yen.

Besides these costs, there was the accommodation fee at the nearby ski resort hotel, which could only be described as slightly pricey.

But luckily, it had hot springs.

Under a large tree at the ski resort.

"North country scene, a hundred leagues locked in ice, a thousand leagues of swirling snow..."

Fujino, clad in a black ski suit and black goggles, held a snowboard, gazing at the snowy landscape, murmuring poetry from his past life.

"Fujino-senpai, what poem is that you're reciting?"

Since Fujino recited the poem in proper Mandarin, even with a slight northeastern accent, Sonoko didn't understand it.

"It probably means, 'Hokukoku no fūkei, senri no hyōketsu, banri no yuki ga mau',"

Conan, who arrived with Sonoko, wearing a classic blue ski suit, translated into Japanese. He then looked at Fujino puzzledly, "But speaking of which, Fujino, do you know Chinese?"

"Yes, I do. My dad was Chinese, after all," Fujino answered truthfully.

Indeed, his deceased 'cheap dad' in this world did have Chinese heritage; otherwise, why would his eyes be black, clashing with the Conan world aesthetic?

However, his Chinese proficiency wasn't from his original body's memory, but from his own fluent language skills from his past life.

"So Fujino-senpai has Chinese heritage!"

Ran, wearing a pink ski suit, exclaimed, "No wonder Fujino-senpai's eyes are black."

"Eh?"

Sonoko, standing nearby, looked surprised, curiously examining Fujino's ink-black eyes. "I just noticed! Fujino-senpai's eyes are actually black!"

"Seriously?! You're only noticing this now?"

Conan complained silently nearby.

"But speaking of which, Conan-kun, where did you learn Chinese?"

Fujino suddenly asked, a doting smile typically reserved for children on his face, though inwardly, it was pitch black.

"I learned it with my dad in Hawaii,"

Conan blurted out subconsciously, then immediately realized his mistake.

"Oh, is that so?"

The scheming smile on Fujino's face deepened. "But for Conan-kun to learn Chinese at such a young age is truly remarkable."

"Yes, yes!"

Ran nodded in agreement beside them. "I didn't even know this child could speak Chinese."

"But speaking of which, since Conan-kun knows Chinese, that time you called me 'Tongzhi,' that strange name... you probably weren't just saying it randomly, right?"

Fujino suddenly grinned at Conan, the smile growing wider.

"Conan-kun, you should know what 'Tongzhi¹' means in Chinese, right? It's not a word to be used casually, you know."

Accurately speaking, Conan certainly wasn't his 'comrade'.

Having a Japanese person call him 'comrade' just felt weird.

"Haha, I don't understand, just know a little bit!"

Conan put on a husky-like silly grin, acting like a naive child in his high-pitched voice.

Good grief, no wonder this guy kept targeting him...

He remembered that incident all along!

Crap!

He thought this guy didn't know Chinese!

Screwed!

Ran suddenly asked. "It felt very profound, somehow majestic."

Fujino thought for a moment, then replied, "Mm... It's a poem by a great figure from my homeland."

"A great figure? How come I've never heard of them?"

Ran looked puzzled.

Conan also couldn't help but frown.

Could there actually be someone unknown to him, the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei Era, the death god elementary schooler addicted to cheats?

"That is a dream deep within my dreams,"

Fujino chuckled softly. "And also a homeland to which I can never return."

The two girls looked utterly bewildered upon hearing this, while Conan frowned, silently thinking how dramatic Fujino was being.

What dreamland, homeland never to return to?

Is his chuunibyou acting up?

"Eeek!"

Just then, a scream sounded from behind them.

Turning around, they saw a girl resembling Ran crash headfirst into a boy resembling Kudo ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Shinichi.

Those two were none other than Nakamori Aoko and Kuroba Kaito.

Kaito wore a blue ski suit with yellow ski pants, while Aoko wore a light blue ski suit with white pants.

The two collided head-on, creating a large indentation in the snow where they fell.

"Huh?"

Fujino stared at the two who had crashed face-first into the snow, his lip twitching slightly.

Good grief, running into Kaito Kid even while skiing?

Fate, truly wondrous!

Awakened! Frozen Fish...

Uh, wait, he didn't bring the frozen fish this time.

Fine, let him experience the thrill of the utility-pole-slicing slash instead.

1. Note: Tongzhi means comrade, but is also modern slang for homosexual