When Jiang Xia left the Police station.
The Ghost Infant, dragging a leg-pulling Shikigami almost its own size, pattered over to Jiang Xia's side.
—The Old Curator had been arrested, and the Shikigami's resentment had largely dissipated, allowing it to be completely detached from the leg.
Jiang Xia walked out of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and turned into a small street.
Taking advantage of no one being around, he bent down and picked up the Ghost Infant and the Shikigami.
As the Old Curator was taken into custody, the Shikigami's obsession vanished.
Now, it was just a soulless paper Shikigami.
Collecting a Shikigami wasn't as troublesome as collecting a Ghost Fetus.
Jiang Xia pricked his fingertip and casually pressed a drop of blood onto it.
A crimson mark appeared on the Shikigami, quickly turning black, and finally solidifying into a cursive 'Z' symbol.
Jiang Xia held the newly acquired ghost, examined it for a moment, and then stored it in the Tattoo space over his heart.
He had Ghost Fetuses, he had killing intent, and now he had Shikigami.
Although there were very few, going from nothing to something was a qualitative change, a breakthrough.
Jiang Xia exhaled a puff of mist, pulled up his trench coat collar, and walked expressionlessly down the cold street, feeling that the future was bright.
—Having spent so long in this world, he finally looked a bit like a Spiritual Medium.
...
Jiang Xia originally thought that it would take some time for the other leg-pulling Shikigami, which lacked evidence, to yield results.
Unexpectedly, when he woke up the next day, while he was debating whether to go to class or to the Detective Agency for work...
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department called to inform him that the murder case he had taken over from the neighboring Detective had been resolved—the Police had found evidence.
Jiang Xia listened, then put down the phone with satisfaction.
Boss Amuro is truly useful.
...
With this matter resolved, Jiang Xia no longer had to agonize over his day's schedule.
He headed straight to the Police station to handle the follow-up to that case.
Upon arriving at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Jiang Xia, as usual, released the Ghost Infant, letting it wander around to see if there was any excess killing intent or Shikigami.
He himself found a long bench to sit on and looked to his side.
A familiar face was sitting there.
—The neighboring Detective who provided the murder case lead had also arrived.
...
After they both completed their statements.
As the Police Officer organized the signing documents, the neighboring Detective looked at Jiang Xia and shook the newspaper in his hand at him.
Then, amidst the rustling of paper, he laughed, "It seems I'm about to have a Detective neighbor."
Jiang Xia: "A Detective?"
He turned his head and saw a large photo on the newspaper—the person in it was himself.
The background was yesterday's medieval exhibition hall.
Last night, when Jiang Xia was surrounded by reporters at the exhibition hall entrance, he didn't say much due to his inexperience.
But the Old Curator beside him was very talkative. The Police also didn't stop the Old Curator: in this world, cases had little secrecy.
The Old Curator, looking at the camera, pondered for a moment, then praised Jiang Xia profusely.
Perhaps he suddenly realized that the stronger his opponent, the less embarrassing his defeat would be.
...
Additionally, besides the Old Curator, last night, the little girl from the kidnapping case happened to be playing nearby with her father.
When the father and daughter stumbled upon this incident, they excitedly recounted Jiang Xia's moving story of rescuing the hostage, and immediately many reporters swarmed them, demanding details.
Furthermore, some well-informed media outlets discovered that Jiang Xia was Kudo Shinichi's classmate.
Coincidentally, Kudo Shinichi, who had frequently appeared in newspapers recently, had been out of touch, and there were even rumors that he had been killed.
Thus, a sensational headline was born.
—Two High School Detectives appearing one after another, and they happened to be in the same class.
Such a coincidence was enough for the media to fabricate several pages out of thin air.
Jiang Xia: "..."
He took the newspaper handed to him by the enthusiastic neighboring Detective, read it with a hint of speechlessness, and felt that the media in this world had incredibly wild imaginations.
However, although he was being manipulated by the media, to quickly increase his reputation, receive more commissions, and thus come into contact with more people who might turn into ghosts after death... he needed a certain level of buzz.
Jiang Xia was different from other High School Detectives.
He didn't have hundreds of cases to accumulate experience.
And sensational headlines like "Kudo Shinichi's Ghost Possesses Him" could, like a Detective "who suddenly falls asleep at a crime scene and begins to deduce," quickly make Jiang Xia a household name due to their uniqueness.
"..." In short, it was complex, a complex feeling.
After finishing, Jiang Xia silently returned the newspaper.
Then he pretended to adjust his pant leg, bent down, and picked up the Ghost Infant that had run over, along with the leg-pulling Shikigami it had conveniently brought back.
...
After completing their statements, as they were leaving, the Police Officer brought two envelopes and gave them a special bonus.
It was said that because the victim in the case taken by the neighboring Detective was abandoned at a festival and his body publicly burned, there were many witnesses and a huge impact. Therefore, its successful resolution was worthy of commendation.
Jiang Xia listened to this reason and was silent for a moment.
When he took the envelope, he felt the rough kraft paper and had a nagging feeling that the money was tainted with the scent of a salary thief.
...
A week later, as expected, the festival immolation case also appeared in the newspaper.
Jiang Xia looked at his photo in the newspaper, thought for a moment, bought several copies of the newspaper, and also bought a notebook.
After returning home, he cut out all the stories with his name on them and carefully pasted them into the notebook.
He heard that in this world, many famous people had a habit of pulling a Detective aside and asking to hear their case-solving stories.
So Jiang Xia decided to create such a collection first.
In the future, if anyone asked, he would just hand it over and let them read it themselves.
Also, these reporters' photography skills were good; the photos they took were quite nice.
...
The next day, after Jiang Xia woke up, he checked the school schedule.
There were no exams today.
So Jiang Xia comfortably skipped class.
He carried a watering can and garden shears, tending to the potted plants in his home and the plants growing in his yard—these were all ingredients that could be used in ghost mint.
During the pruning, Jiang Xia picked the ripe fruits and leaves, cut them into appropriately sized pieces, and spread them out in the basement to air dry.
Those that had already dried were collected and taken to the living room, rolled into homemade cigarettes, and then stored in sealed boxes—a very practiced routine.
After finishing, Jiang Xia checked the time and found it wasn't even noon yet.
So he picked up a cage of cats and decided to go sit at the Detective Agency, waiting for clients to arrive.