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Provoking the Grim Reaper was thrilling as hell.
Steven played dumb while knowing full well what he was doing, stealing a glance at Conan from the corner of his eye.
"N-no, he's not!" Ran hurriedly denied it.
"Shinichi's really good at reasoning. He's helped the police solve a lot of cases. He's an amazing high school detective."
She denied their relationship, yet spoke of him with unmistakable admiration.
Before any confession, the two of them really couldn't be considered a couple.
"I've heard of that high school detective you mentioned too," Steven continued.
"Loves the spotlight like his mom, Yukiko. Inherited his meticulous reasoning skills from his dad, Kudo Yusaku. People even call him the savior of the nation's police."
"But even so, I'm afraid his hands aren't free of wrongful convictions."
Steven wasn't holding a grudge.
He was carrying hatred.
Being falsely accused of rape and murder was a pain no one understood better than he did.
"That's nonsense! Brother Shinichi would never wrongly accuse anyone," Conan snapped back indignantly.
"Is that so?" Steven said, stopping short, a wicked smile flashing across his lips.
Curiosity killed the cat, and detectives were basically the cat version of humans. They couldn't stand leaving mysteries unsolved.
From what Steven knew of Conan, it was only a matter of time before he couldn't resist investigating him.
The fish had already taken the bait. The rest could be left to time.
Just then, the three actresses who had been chatting with Yukiko finally noticed Steven's group.
"And these four are…?"
Originally, five people had entered the theater together. However, Kogoro had a job protecting Yoko Okino and had split off at the backstage entrance.
"The man with the mustache is Steven, an artist's assistant," Yukiko explained. "This is Ran Mouri, daughter of the great detective Kogoro Mouri."
"The boy with glasses is a distant relative's child, Edogawa Conan. He's staying at the Mouri Detective Agency for now."
"And as for this lady, don't you find her familiar?"
Yukiko walked over to Vermouth and deliberately left them in suspense.
"Could it be…?"
The three actresses recognized Vermouth, but disbelief kept them from saying it out loud.
After all, they were minor musical actresses. They wouldn't dare dream of meeting an Oscar winner up close.
"That's right," Yukiko said with a smile. "She's the rising star of American cinema, Chris Vineyard."
"Wow, it's really her! I thought there was like an eighty-nine percent chance I was wrong!"
"The daughter of former American actress Sharon, who made a name for herself purely on talent. I'm so happy to see her today!"
"Lady Baroness and the Thousand-Faced Witch coming together to watch our show. I can't even imagine how lucky that is!"
"…"
Wait. Script unlocked?
Steven was genuinely surprised by how excited the three actresses were.
In the original story, Vermouth's identity as the Thousand-Faced Witch was known to only a handful of people.
Yet these three background characters just blurted it out. The organization's confidentiality was really something else.
"You didn't know?" Ran said when she saw Steven's puzzled look. "Chris is an amazing actress. She can play any role perfectly, with no trace of acting at all. That's why fans call her the Thousand-Faced Witch."
So that's how it was.
What they meant by Thousand-Faced Witch was acting range, not disguise skills.
Before Steven could respond, a mocking voice suddenly rang out.
"What a shame. I thought Lady Baroness coming this time meant we could finally solve that strange gift. Turns out she just brought a kid backstage to look around. How disappointing."
The previously harmonious atmosphere shattered. Everyone turned toward the source of the voice.
A blonde woman stood in the doorway, staring at Yukiko with undisguised disdain.
"What strange gift?" Conan asked immediately, interest piqued.
"This troupe received a gift three days ago."
"That was a golden apple spray-painted with gold paint, a so-called golden apple. Someone had even written the words 'For the most beautiful lady' on it in animal blood. Creepy, right?"
Yukiko didn't bother holding anything back and told them everything she knew.
Solving cases wasn't her strength anyway. That was what her precious son Conan was for.
Hearing this, Steven's mind immediately jumped to the corresponding plot from Detective Conan.
If it's fate, you can't dodge it. If it's disaster, it'll find you sooner or later.
Looks like his arrival had only altered a few timelines and who showed up, but the core plot of Detective Conan was still moving forward as usual.
Those meant to die would still die in the end.
Steven glanced at the blonde woman and the three actresses. He already had his answer.
Even though the victim hadn't appeared yet, the killer was definitely one of those four.
Speak of the devil.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a blond man walked into the backstage area.
The victim had arrived.
As a transmigrator with principles, Steven never interfered with the plot lightly.
Unless it benefited him.
"All right, my goddesses, don't be so nervous. This is obviously just some bored idiot's prank."
The blond man stayed calm and tried to reassure the four women.
"But, Keith…"
The actresses still looked uneasy, clearly unconvinced by his explanation.
"Who's he?" Vermouth asked, eyeing the blond man as she leaned toward Yukiko.
"He's the troupe's lead actor, Keith Flockhart. Someone invited him to star in a movie, so tonight is his last performance on this stage."
Yukiko watched him comforting the actresses, feeling that there was something hard to put into words between him and those four women.
A player?
The strange thought flashed through her mind, and she glanced at Conan, who was deep in thought.
Whether Lady Baroness would keep her title or not depended on her dear son stepping up.
"All right, calm yourselves down. Why don't you take Yukiko and the others to have a look inside the stage area?"
At the blond man's suggestion, the four actresses led Steven and the others out of the backstage.
Since there was no performance at the moment, most of the stage lights were off. The area was dim.
"Isn't this a bit much? They're going on in forty minutes. Aren't we bothering them too much?" Vermouth said, thinking of the actresses.
Interesting.
Her concern completely caught Steven off guard.
"Don't worry. The first twenty minutes are just narration to ease the audience in and set the stage as a Greek myth," Yukiko said. She had already timed it. A quick look around wouldn't affect the performance.
"Hey… who exactly are you?"
Taking advantage of the others chatting, Conan lowered his voice and stared at Steven.
"For every cause, there's an effect. Your retribution is me."
"High school detective Kudo Shinichi, did your brain shrink along with your body?"
"As for who I am, you'll find out sooner or later."
Steven's casual words made Conan's pupils contract sharply.
The Black Organization.
Gin's face flashed through Conan's mind.
"....."