Model worker and his little darling

"A rhinoceros beetle..."

The three little ones, full of energy, walked ahead singing.

Conan followed behind, exhausted, and finally plopped down under a big tree.

"Why would you come here to collect insects in this sweltering heat?"

The three little ones standing nearby hadn't seen a single rhinoceros beetle for a long time and began to question their existence, while Mitsuhiko started flipping through an insect guide.

Seeing Conan sighing at the trash on the ground, Professor Agasa chuckled and explained, "Although the villagers usually clean up, there was a festival last night. The colorful lights illuminating the floats, with fireworks as a backdrop, were truly indescribably beautiful."

Seeing Professor Agasa's immersive expression, Conan's eyes widened. "Huh? Professor, you were here last night, weren't you? The back garden."

Upon hearing this, Professor Agasa scratched his head guiltily, "No, um..."

Before Professor Agasa could explain, a childish voice suddenly rang out from the side.

"Ugh, why didn't you bring us along?"

"Too cunning, coming alone."

Faced with the three little ones' accusations, Professor Agasa explained that he had some personal matters to attend to last night. Ai Haibara, who was standing nearby, also yawned and explained on behalf of the professor, and the three little ones finally turned their attention back to the rhinoceros beetle.

Seeing that the three little ones couldn't find a rhinoceros beetle even following the insect guide, Conan started explaining that the environment here wasn't suitable for rhinoceros beetles to survive, and most importantly, the season for catching rhinoceros beetles had already passed.

"what?"

The three little ones were very disappointed, but Professor Agasa immediately comforted them, "Don't be so disappointed. Here are some other treasures I've prepared for you, things you'll definitely like."

Upon hearing about the treasure, the three little ones instantly regained their enthusiasm.

Professor Agasa proudly pulled out a piece of paper with the words "マルムシニテント" written on it in strange strokes, a code leading to the treasure.

The three little ones were completely confused, only able to make out a ball of insects and a tent.

After some thought, the three little ones decided to look up the answers.

"Conan!"

Seeing this, Haibara pushed Conan away, saying, "You can't rely on Conan Edogawa. It's wrong to expect help from others when you haven't even tried."

Professor Agasa, who was standing nearby, smiled and gave a hint: "Lie down and think about it carefully, maybe you'll figure it out."

Then, Haibara gave a hint, "If you still can't figure it out, go wash your face and come back to think about it again."

However, the three little ones didn't appreciate it. Ayumi angrily shouted, "The Doctor and Ai are the worst!"

Haiyuan:......

Just then, Professor Agasa leaned down and whispered in Conan's ear, his tone somewhat uncertain, "Shinichi, could you please sneak over to the place indicated by the code to check the situation? If Ai or I go, I'm afraid they'll find out."

Upon hearing this, Conan stared at the code in his notebook and scratched his head.

This surprised Professor Agasa, who instantly gained confidence and laughed, "Could it be that even you can't decipher my code?"

Conan looked embarrassed. "I'm so sorry."

The three little ones beside them also became confident. "So Conan is just like us. Now I can rest assured. He really is just a first-grader."

Conan's lips twitched. As long as Mitsuhiko was happy, he immediately offered his own thoughts: "The so-called 'ball insect' is a type of nail-like insect, just like the tents humans use to protect themselves from external enemies."

Faced with Conan's prompting, the three kids greedily wanted more and surrounded Conan, asking, "And then, um?"

Conan looked dejectedly at Professor Agasa, who was smirking behind him. "Even after carefully examining their common characteristics, I can't seem to find the answer."

Just then, Conan's phone rang. Seeing that it was Ran, he immediately ran to the side.

Haibara leaned against a big tree, watching the three little ones huddled together and whispering, feeling somewhat helpless.

A few days ago, she sensed someone was watching them near the doctor's house, and now that feeling had returned. She was certain it wasn't someone sent by Yu Lu.

The only ones who could contact her, besides the organization itself, are the mysterious organization that kidnapped her last time. Yu Lu said that the organization is full of magicians, and magic is something completely foreign to her.

Sachiko Kawakami told her not to show anything unusual, that they would find out who it was.

But now her biggest worry is the safety of the doctor and the others. They know nothing and have no sense of security whatsoever. Magic, that strange thing, could very well harm them without them even realizing it, just like when she was taken away without knowing anything last time.