"Our cooperation only have ive sequences for the diary."

  This is the highest restri pced on the diary holder, meant to prevent the diary's writer from being exploited as a tool.

  Ren emphasized this rule.

  "The diary enforces this very strictly."

  "For those of you who hold the diary, this should be sidered a serious matter."

  "As for whether the diary has a self-proteeism,"

  "I believe it does."

  "Of course, I 't be certaiher it has a proteeism for you."

  "But I think there must be some kind of punishment meism for the holders."

  "Amamiya, I have a question!"

  Sonoko eagerly raised her hand.

  "I want to ask about this punishment meism."

  "Did that ice queen and that arrogant brat get caught?"

  "No."

  Ren shook his head slightly.

  "Even though I chose to self-destruct the diary at the beginning, both Shinomiya and Sanzenin Nagi are cautious people."

  "They iigated my identity, but they didn't take any unnecessary as."

  "At noon in Tropical Land, I remihem that the diary also has a lottery fun."

  "I inally thought someone would try tet me because of it."

  "But surprisingly, none of them made a move."

  "I think that's to be expected."

  Sonoko uood why the ice queen and the tsundere girl had chosen to stay put.

  Given how bizarre this situation was, entering someone like Amamiya—who had been reborn and now carried a diary of unknown in—was already unusual enough. If they had acted rashly, that would have been strange.

  "That ice-cold girl, Shinomiya, isn't stupid."

  "She was raised with a self-tered mi from the beginning. She never does anything without absolute certainty."

  "Amamiya, since you willingly told her about the diary, there's no way she would act recklessly."

  "And that arrogant brat is more rational than most people. She wouldn't take unnecessary risks just for some immediate gains."

  "Besides, that so-called arrogant brat isn't actually a bad person. She just has a bit of a prideful streak."

  While the ice queen acted like an egoist, that was only a front.

  The Shinomiya family had never sidered Shinomiya Kaguya as a true heir.

  She was merely a princess raised uhe family's influence.

  If she hadn't preteo be cold and calg, she would've ended up as nothing more than a puppet uhe trol of the family's former heir.

  As for the tsundere Sanzenin Nagi, deep down, she was just a spoiled little girl.

  Even though she was the only granddaughter of Mikado Sanzenin, she had never abused her status for anything eous.

  The most extreme thing she had ever done was helping Shinomiya out a few days ago.

  Sonoko was very familiar with their personalities.

  So, she was certain that even if Amamiya actally exposed some fws, those two wouldn't actually do anything to harm him.

  "But, Amamiya, you have a point."

  "If the diary is as magical as you and Ran describe, where simply writing in it or reading it brings bes—"

  "Then it definitely must have a proteeism for its owner and a punishment meism for its holders."

  Sonoko was vihat both systems existed.

  The holder of the diary would never have a higher priority than its rightful owner.

  To prevent the owner from being maniputed by the holder, there had to be severe protes aies in pce.

  "I think so too."

  Ren also believed in the diary's proteeism.

  His assumption carried a of risk, but he had gambled on the fact that the diary would protect him.

  Fortunately, he had bet correctly. There was o test the diary's prote system firsthand.

  "Mouri, now that you know Shinichi's identity, does that mean you're willing to accept him?"

  "No."

  Ran shook her head slightly.

  "It's hard for me to accept him after realizing how much Shinichi has lied to me."

  "And I don't believe he was hiding everything just to protect me."

  "He had his own… selfish reasons too."

  "But I don't want to dwell on his selfishoo much."

  Even though she uood it clearly, she wasn't in the mood to eborate.

  But she wouldn't badmouth Shinichi behind his back either.

  "Amamiya, I want to ask about the rest of the story."

  "Mouri, I o crify something first. No matter how fasating the story is, it's been sixteen years since I st experie, so I 't remember every detail perfectly."

  "I only give you a general idea."

  "Of course, if somethi a deep impression on me, I might remember it more clearly."

  "I uand."

  "In that case, tell me—what do you want to know?"

  After making sure his discimer was clear, Ren waited to hear her questions.

  "I want to know about the major events that happeo Shinichi in the inal story."

  "And… whether my parents reciled in the end."

  "…"

  For a moment, Ren was stunned.

  Then, he lowered his head and smiled.

  "Mouri, you really are someone who aluts others first."

  "Maybe that's why you ended up pying su important role iory."

  "The story begins when Shinichi is transformed into a child and moves into your home."

  "From then oakes on the name Edogawa , whidirectly leads to your father, Kaining mnition."

  "In the course of the story, Shinichi enters tless troubles—some of which he stirs up himself, and some that iably find him."

  "As for the most important person Shinichi enters ter… that would be Miyano Shiho."

  "She shares the same fate as him—taking the same poison and turning into a child."

  "And she's also the one responsible for developing that poison."

  "If you don't want to get too deep into the details, you think of her as—"

  "The woman Sherloes admired most: Irene Adler."

  "…So, if she's the one who shares the same fate as Shinichi, does that mean she's also his destined partner?"

  As soon as the name Irene Adler was mentioned, Ran uood immediately.

  Irene Adler was the one woman Sherloes ever admired.

  Since Amamiya had chosen to pare Miyano Shiho to her, the implication was obvious.

  Ran pursed her lips but quickly let go of the thought.

  "They're rades."

  "As for the story itself… think about it. What kind of stories do readers find the most engaging?"

  "Stories about iing people and iis."

  "Exactly. Miyano Shiho's introdu served that exact purpose. She essentially repced Watson."

  "Because Shinichi had to keep his identity a secret, you couldn't fill that role. So, someone else had to take it."

  "Shinieeded an ally. He also needed a source of information. Miyano Shiho's presence filled that gap perfectly."

  "…"

  Ran remained silent for a while before shaking her head.

  "So, ier parts of the story… did Watson end up developing feelings for Holmes too?"

  "No, that would be too much of a generalization."

  "But let's just say… some of the ter story developments leaned in that dire."