Chapter 40 The Blood-Stained Wedding Dress

"Such a cute little brother~"

Sayuri Matsumoto's gaze was quickly drawn to Seimei Suzuki and Conan. With a beaming smile, she reached out and gently patted both of their little heads.

"Ding! Congratulations on successfully checking in with Sayuri Matsumoto. Reward: One Crimson Bridal Gown. The host may claim it at any time."

[Equipment Name: Crimson Bridal Gown]
[Type: Armor]
[Quality: Rare]
[Effect 1 (Spiritual Inhabitation): You can choose a female spirit to become the host of the Crimson Bridal Gown.]
[Effect 2 (Grief Devouring): Resentment filled with hatred and reluctance is the best nourishment for the Crimson Bridal Gown. It can devour intense resentment, making the Crimson Bridal Gown stronger.]
[Remarks: This was originally a pristine white wedding dress, but unfortunately, it was stained with ominous blood...]

(ΩДΩ)

After reviewing the stats of the new item, Seimei Suzuki's eyelids twitched. Why did he have a feeling that the so-called female spirit was actually just what people called a female ghost?

"Little brother, what are your names?" Sayuri Matsumoto leaned over in front of Seimei Suzuki and asked in a gentle tone.

"My name is Seimei Suzuki, and I'm Sonoko-姐姐's younger brother." *(Note: 姐姐/jiejiie means older sister)*

Seimei Suzuki first introduced himself, then pulled Conan's arm and introduced him, saying, "His name is Edogawa Conan. He's currently staying temporarily at Ran-姐姐's house, and he's also my deskmate."

"The three of you, look over here! Today, the two of us will be taking on the job of cameramen~" Seeing this, Ran Mouri raised a portable video camera and began recording the three of them.

Sonoko smiled teasingly, "Teacher, please carefully plan out your kissing pose for later. Ran and I will help record the whole thing for you~"

"Leave it to me." Sayuri Matsumoto put her hands on her hips and responded cooperatively.

"Sayuri, I'm back."

A long-haired beauty wearing a black dress and a purple suit jacket pushed open the door to the dressing room and walked in, holding up a plastic bag in her hand. "I've already bought what you wanted. Warm lemon tea~"

"Sorry to trouble you, Kazumi."

"No way! Drinking it like this will ruin your lipstick. You have to use a straw."

Seeing that Sayuri Matsumoto was about to drink the lemon tea directly from the rim of the can, the long-haired beauty hurriedly stopped her reckless behavior and handed her a pre-prepared straw.

"Thank you~"

Sayuri Matsumoto took a sip of the warm lemon tea and felt her courage returning. Only then did she say apologetically, "Kazumi, I'm sorry, about what happened with Norihiro..."

"Please! At a time like this, what are your wild imaginations running to? Norihiro and I had an amicable breakup; it has nothing to do with you."

Before Sayuri Matsumoto could finish her sentence, the long-haired beauty interrupted her, rolling her eyes in helplessness. "Alright, I'm going back to work. See you later."

Watching the departing figure of the long-haired beauty, Seimei Suzuki touched his chin and muttered inwardly, "Emotional entanglements? It shouldn't be her; the motive for the crime is way too obvious."

In the world of *Detective Conan*, the more obvious a suspect's motive for a crime, the less likely they usually are to be the true culprit.

Moreover, there was no floating text reading "Available for Check-in" above the long-haired beauty's head. Such a typical extra character was hardly likely to be the murderer.

"Teacher, who was that just now?"

"Her name is Kazumi Takenaka. She's a good friend of mine from my university days." Sayuri Matsumoto took a sip of the lemon tea, her sparkling, beautiful eyes filled with tenderness.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

A heavy string of footsteps echoed from outside the door. A sturdy man wearing a black suit and standing over one hundred and eighty centimeters tall walked into the dressing room expressionlessly.

From Seimei Suzuki's perspective, this man in black looked practically like a little giant. Furthermore, there was a prominent knife scar on his left eye, and his entire body radiated the aura of a yakuza boss.

o(ﾟДﾟ)っ!

Upon seeing this, Ran Mouri and Sonoko changed expression drastically and, without a second thought, shielded Sayuri Matsumoto behind them.

"Who the heck are you?! What do you want? Ran, hurry up and use karate to throw this gorilla out of here!" Sonoko pointed at the man in black and shouted.

"Gorilla?"

Hearing this, the corner of the man in black's mouth twitched slightly.

(´･ᴗ･`)

Upon hearing those words, Sayuri Matsumoto couldn't help but cover her mouth and snicker.

"Eh? Isn't this Ran? Seimei, Conan, you guys are here too?" Just as Sayuri Matsumoto was about to speak up and explain, a familiar face suddenly popped out from behind the shadow of the sturdy man in black.

"Inspector Megure!"

Upon seeing the newcomer, Ran Mouri said with some surprise, "Inspector Megure, why are you here?"

Inspector Megure laughed. "When our superior's daughter is getting married, how could we subordinates possibly not show up to support her?"

"Your superior's daughter is getting married?!"

Seeing this, Sayuri Matsumoto smiled and introduced them, "Ran, Sonoko, this big uncle who looks like a gorilla is my father, Kiyonaga Matsumoto. He is the Superintendent and Director of the First Investigation Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."

!!!∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ

Upon hearing this, Ran Mouri and Sonoko's faces were filled with disbelief as they subconsciously glanced back and forth between Sayuri Matsumoto and the sturdy man in black.

To be honest, Kiyonaga Matsumoto and Sayuri Matsumoto looked nothing alike at all. The two of them were like a gorilla and a little white rabbit—completely different species.

"S-Sorry, we were way too rude just now." Recovering from their shock, the two girls apologized to Kiyonaga Matsumoto with embarrassed expressions.

Sayuri Matsumoto smiled and waved her hand. "It's fine~ It's all my dad's fault for always walking around with a stern face when he has nothing better to do anyway~"

"Mister, your hands are so big~"

Seeing the words "Available for Check-in" floating above Kiyonaga Matsumoto's head, Seimei Suzuki feigned childishness, walked up to his side, and reached out his little hand to measure it against Kiyonaga's right hand.

"Ding! Congratulations on successfully checking in with Kiyonaga Matsumoto. Reward: One Proficiency-level [Firearm Accuracy]. The host may claim it at any time."

"Seimei, come back quickly. You can't be so naughty." Seeing this, Sonoko anxiously called out.

"It's fine. Actually, I think this little brother is quite brave. Ordinary children wouldn't dare get this close to me." Kiyonaga Matsumoto's lips curved up slightly as he extended his large hand to pat Seimei Suzuki's little head.

In truth, Kiyonaga Matsumoto actually liked children very much, but his naturally villainous face caused ordinary children to not dare get close to him at all.

Therefore, Kiyonaga Matsumoto didn't think Seimei Suzuki was being naughty; instead, he felt that the child was very bold and extremely cute.

Seimei Suzuki used an innocent, childish voice to say, "When I first saw mister, I thought you looked quite scary. But I knew mister is a police officer, so I wasn't scared at all, because police officers are good people who specialize in catching bad guys, right?"

"The little brother is right. Police officers only catch bad guys, so good kids naturally don't need to be afraid." Kiyonaga Matsumoto smiled and nodded.