Chapter 54: Swordsmanship Lv. 0

“Take them along as well.”

Koumo’s face darkened as he roughly grabbed Conan, who was trying to escape, then turned to the group of unruly kids rummaging through the apartment.

“Conan wants to invite you all to his place for dinner. Who wants to come?”

“I do!”

“Me too!”

At the mention of food, Genta, the little chubby kid with the rice ball hairstyle, jumped out first, followed closely by Ayumi and Mitsuhiko, who gathered around Conan.

“Can we really come?”

“Does this mean the Mouri Detective Agency… can officially recognize our Detective Boys group?”

“Yay!”

Conan braced himself as the kids chattered excitedly while he led them out of the apartment, finally casting a look at Koumo filled with silent grievance.

Damn Kido...

If he brought these kids back to the detective agency, he had no idea how the uncle would react.

“Be careful on the way!” Koumo called out cheerfully.

After all, they were just kids; they were manageable.

“Goodbye, uncle!”

“…”

…

After sending the kids off, Koumo found his sleep gone. He flipped through a few books but couldn’t focus.

Checking the time, it wasn’t too late.

He decided to use the spare key and visit again the residence in Mihama Town, Block 2.

The Kudo Residence.

The Kudou couple had only lived there for two days before flying out of Japan.

Probably because no one had tended to it for a long time, this old two-story Western-style house looked a bit like a haunted mansion from the outside.

Next door, Professor Agasa’s house was unusually quiet, the gate locked tight—he must be out.

Koumo had no intention to visit. With a hint of excitement, he took out the spare key and opened the door.

He had been here a few days ago, but this time the feeling was completely different.

This time, he had rented it himself, without the awkwardness of entering someone else's home—though the paperwork would still take some time.

*Creak!*

Koumo walked around with his hands behind his back. Apart from the library and the second-floor bedrooms of the Kudous and Shinichi, he explored almost the entire house.

On the left side of the entrance was the dining room; on the right, the spacious living room furnished with European-style sofas and a fireplace.

Further inside, to the left were the bathroom and restroom, and the stairs led up to the second floor.

On the right, it resembled a small inn.

Several guest rooms were vacant and could be tidied up for lodging.

It would be a nice perk once staff were hired.

However...

Koumo thought of Shuichi Akai, who would later disguise himself as a graduate student and borrow a room here.

It felt like he was occupying someone else’s stronghold prematurely.

Forget it, it wasn’t like there weren’t other houses nearby.

Walking all the way to the library, Koumo’s breathing quickened considerably.

This was the most important part of the house, and would be his future office—

A two-story circular study like a library.

Under the dome-shaped ceiling light, with walls lined by shelves overflowing with books, the desk was surrounded by a pen holder, fountain pens, a small lamp, a telephone, and stacks of documents...

It completely fulfilled the fantasies of his previous life.

With all this, even at half rent, it wasn’t cheap.

It hurt a little.

But since he was going to open a detective agency here, he couldn’t just borrow it for free. Otherwise, it would feel like he was always inferior to Conan.

He could only try to earn more money.

Koumo sat at the desk, his mind wandering.

He didn’t know much about other treasures in “Conan,” only recalling the Karasuma family’s Twilight Villa—a super treasure made of gold.

Could he find a way to gather enough money to buy it early?

That villa alone could make him a tycoon in this world, but then he’d have to deal with the Black Organization and the flood of malice that came with immense wealth.

He recalled that the Black Organization’s boss was Karasuma Renya, the original owner of the villa.

If the villa’s treasure was exposed, the Black Organization would become his greatest enemy—

Thinking this way, it seemed he had a real reason to destroy the Black Organization.

“Tch.”

Koumo shook his head repeatedly, dismissing such dangerous thoughts.

He was far too weak at the moment.

…

Mihama Training Hall.

After leaving the Kudo Residence, Koumo didn’t return home but went to the public area of the training hall to continue practicing kendo.

He hadn’t hired a sparring partner yet; even the basic exercises were already challenging.

Earlier that morning, he had gone through a grueling session, and now he was just barely managing to make his movements look decent, struggling to fully control the shinai.

This was despite having reread Suwa Yuji’s “Kendo Guide” several times.

It felt like his mind and body were disconnected.

Without the blessing of talent, the effort he had to put in seemed multiplied several times over.

The only gain was that he successfully recorded swordsmanship at level 0, and his body grew a little stronger—the kendo practice replaced running as his new body-strengthening exercise.

His swordsmanship hadn’t improved much, but he was certainly getting stronger.

It wasn’t that he had no talent, just that his talent lay elsewhere.

“Keep practicing.”

Koumo gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

Get stronger!

He couldn’t rely on judo and keep pestering Kogoro Mouri. Now that he had finally gotten a top expert’s kendo book, even if it took time, he had to grind himself into a professional.

Then he could level up his profession and bind the kendo talent.

“Kido?”

As the evening wore on and the number of people in the training hall dwindled, Koumo’s sweat-soaked figure caught the eye of a mustached fellow practicing across from him.

Panting heavily with his tongue out, the man looked at Koumo in disbelief.

“I thought you said you didn’t know kendo? No, wait—how can you know kendo?”

He wasn’t well versed in kendo, but Koumo’s awkward moves bore the marks of a famous school style, not like he was practicing blindly on his own.

He even vaguely reminded him of Suwa Yuji wielding his sword.

“Are you messing with me?” the mustached man doubted his sanity.

“I found a great teacher,” Koumo replied, wiping sweat with a towel.

Compared to his earlier near lifeless state, his physical fitness was visibly improving, with abs even starting to show.

“What kind of teacher is that good?”

The man was slightly skeptical.

He had personally witnessed Koumo’s terrible talent in judo.

“Could it be you have talent in kendo?”

The man seized the excuse to glance at Koumo’s training outfit, noticing the firm muscles peeking through.

The perfect strength reminded him of his younger days.

A long-lost memory.

“I really want to meet that Coach Kageyama who helped you recover. The results are incredible. Who would have thought you looked like that not long ago?”

“You want to meet Kageyama?”

Koumo sensed the man’s determination to dig deeper.

Usually, by this time, the man would be drunk out of his mind, not showing up at places like this.

Clearly, Suwa Yuji had inspired him.

“He opened a gym over in Block 5 and is currently looking for trainees. I can introduce you.”

“Really?” Kogoro Mouri’s face lit up.

Recovering bit by bit was agonizing; he needed a reliable coach like this.

He had thought Koumo was hiding something.

“Of course. The tuition isn’t expensive either.”

Koumo was about to head home.

“By the way, uncle, I’m planning to open my own detective agency and want to commission you to handle the formalities... the office will be at the Kudo residence in Block 2.”

“Huh?”

The mustached man pointed at himself.

This was the first time he’d received such a request.

“You mean... you want me to help you set up the detective agency?”

Koumo: “The commission fee is 300,000 yen.”

“No problem at all!” The man patted his chest confidently. “You found the right person. Nobody knows this stuff better than me. I’ll start preparing the documents as soon as we get back!”