Chapter 93: An Explosion Occurs
When the three of them finally reached the designated coordinates, the street corner was completely deserted. All that remained of Mona's presence was a flimsy folding table and a single, rickety wooden stool sitting abandoned on the pavement.
Bourbon's critical gaze swept over the crude setup. He raised an eyebrow, genuinely questioning how Kaeya's so-called 'Astrologer' friend managed to con anyone into paying for a fortune-telling session with such a pathetic display.
Kaeya stepped up to the table, his fingers plucking a small slip of paper pinned beneath a rock. Mona's elegant, hurried script scrawled across the surface. She wrote that she had gone ahead to track Klee's exact coordinates through her divination, leaving behind a very specific instruction for Kaeya: Prepare for the cleanup in advance.
Bourbon frowned, his mind snagging on the phrasing. Kaeya had already boasted about this astrologer's ability to track people through the stars, so the tracking part was expected. But cleanup? In the underworld, that word carried a very specific, bloody connotation. Was this eccentric friend planning to execute Klee's kidnappers on sight? Toru Amuro ran through every possible scenario, and none of them ended without someone needing to dispose of a body or erase a crime scene.
He pushed the grim thought aside. Speculating on a murder that hadn't happened yet was a waste of time; securing Klee's safety took absolute priority.
Dropping his casual Toru Amuro persona, he gave Kaeya a sharp nod and immediately began sweeping the immediate vicinity for physical clues.
Cointreau, however, remained perfectly still, leaning casually against a nearby brick wall.
It wasn't a lack of concern for Klee that kept her anchored in place. Natsume simply understood the absolute certainty of Teyvat's power system. With Mona's hydromancy in play, the astrologer was guaranteed to find the little spark knight long before any mundane detective work could bear fruit. They only needed to wait for the call.
Still, she made no move to interrupt Bourbon's frantic search. She had no logical way to explain to a seasoned intelligence officer that reading the stars was a more reliable tracking method than forensic science. Let him work; it kept him occupied.
It didn't take long for Bourbon to return, brushing dust from his knees.
"Scuff marks in the soil," he reported, his voice clipped and professional. "Dragged heels. Klee was likely incapacitated—drugged, most likely—and carried off. Based on the depth and stride of the footprints, we are looking at two perpetrators. One male, one female."
He gestured toward the asphalt. "Tire treads indicate a vehicle parked in a hurry, then peeling out. The tracks head east." Bourbon pointed sharply down the street, signaling Kaeya to bring the car around for an immediate pursuit.
Farther down that exact eastern path, Mona was already on the move.
She walked with her eyes glued to the hydro-divination compass hovering just above her palm. The water rippled, reflecting a starry sky that guided her straight toward Klee's shifting coordinates.
Just ahead of her, five children were dawdling along the sidewalk, laughing and bickering as they slowly drifted into her path.
"Mona-san? What are you doing out here?"
A young, inquisitive voice broke her concentration. Mona blinked, pulling her gaze away from the watery astrolabe to find five children staring up at her. She immediately recognized the boy in the glasses.
It was the Detective Boys. Conan had spotted the strangely dressed figure muttering to herself down the street, and upon closer inspection, realized it was the very same astrologer Sonoko had dragged him to see days ago.
Her exorbitant fees and eerily accurate readings had left a deep, unsettling impression on the young detective. He had fully intended to track Mona down for a follow-up investigation to debunk her methods, but the looming shadow of the Black Organization had monopolized his time. Bumping into her now was a stroke of luck, though her frantic pacing suggested she wasn't open for business.
"Ah, Conan. It is you." Mona waved a hand dismissively, pretending it took her a moment to recall his name. "I am in the middle of urgent business today. I cannot read your stars right now. If you require guidance, come find me tomorrow."
Ayumi tugged on Conan's sleeve, whispering loudly, "This older sister is a fortune-teller? Have you tried it, Conan? Is she accurate?"
Haibara crossed her arms, shooting Conan a dry, sidelong glance. "I certainly didn't peg the great detective as a believer in the occult."
Conan ignored Haibara's teasing smirk. He leaned down to whisper a quick reassurance to Ayumi before looking back up at Mona, smoothly slipping into his high-pitched, innocent child persona. "Are you in trouble, big sister? The Detective Boys are really good at helping!"
Taking the cue, Genta and Mitsuhiko puffed out their chests, eagerly crowding around Mona. They began rattling off a list of their greatest solved cases, practically begging her to trust their professional expertise.
Conan's mouth twitched into a flat line as he was unceremoniously shoved aside by the two heavier boys. Right. So confident, considering I do all the heavy lifting for this group.
Faced with a barrage of sparkling, eager eyes, Mona's hurried demeanor cracked. She sighed, relenting to their enthusiasm. "A friend's child has gone missing. Her name is Klee."
"Klee?!" Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi shouted in unison.
The realization that the victim was their new, explosive little friend shifted their excitement into fierce determination. They were ready to hunt down the culprits themselves.
Conan simply stared.
He wasn't even surprised that Mona knew Klee. His eyes drifted to the glowing ornament on Mona's outfit. The metallic casing of her Vision was identical to the one Klee carried. It was only logical they ran in the same circles.
Haibara leaned in close, her voice dropping to a barely audible whisper. "I'm starting to buy into that little theory of yours."
The statistical probability of two people wearing identical, highly customized gemstone ornaments happening to know each other in such a short timeframe was practically zero. The only rational explanation was a direct, organized connection.
Conan blinked, momentarily thrown off. He watched Haibara mouth the word Vision.
Wait. She was only now believing his deduction about the Vision holders belonging to the same hidden faction? He had spent the last several days walking on eggshells, terrified of scaring her into a panic by mentioning that Kaeya likely had ties to the Black Organization, and she hadn't even believed his core theory until this exact second?
Before Conan could process his frustration, Mona stepped forward, physically blocking the kids from charging blindly down the street.
"Hold on, I do not need a search party," Mona instructed, pointing toward a drab residential apartment block a short distance away. "I have already consulted the stars. Klee's coordinates are localized within that building ahead. However, the leylines—ah, the atmospheric interference is thick today. I cannot pinpoint her exact position from here. I need to sweep the building floor by floor with my scryglass to find the right room."
Mona kept the truth to herself. The false sky of this world made hydromancy incredibly sluggish. Back home, a single drop of water could pinpoint a target across nations. Here, she had to practically be in the same zip code.
Conan's eyes narrowed into skeptical half-moons. Finding a kidnapping victim through astrology? It defied every law of forensic science and logical reasoning. It was absurd.
Yet, the three actual children swallowed the explanation without a second thought. Though slightly disappointed they couldn't play detective, they trusted Mona implicitly and immediately fell into step behind her, marching toward the apartment block.
Conan and Haibara exchanged a look. They had zero physical leads of their own. Following the astrologer was their only play. Conan rationalized it quickly—the apartment building fell perfectly within the geographic radius of where Klee vanished. Analytically speaking, it was a highly probable hideout for a kidnapper.
He sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
Still, the idea that a fortune-teller could bypass an entire police investigation with a bowl of water rubbed his logical brain the wrong way. Could her divination truly be that flawless?
Lost in a spiral of doubt and scientific stubbornness, Conan followed the group until they stood directly beneath the shadow of the residential building.
They gathered at the entrance. Conan opened his mouth, preparing to suggest a systematic, door-to-door inquiry to narrow down the suspect pool.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion violently shattered the afternoon quiet. The ground trembled beneath their feet as a massive shockwave blew out the windows of a third-floor apartment, sending a plume of thick, black smoke billowing into the sky.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]