"Alright, thank you for the hospitality, then I'll head back now."
After lunch, Senichi smiled and bid farewell to Haibara and the others, taking Conan with him.
This time, Senichi just took some preventive measures in advance, so there was no need to be nervous.
After all, he remembered that it was winter at that time in the original plot, and now it was still early autumn, so the timing didn't match.
He should be cautious when it truly reaches winter.
Leaving Conan, who seemed somewhat burdened, at the Mouri Detective Agency, Senichi drove straight back home.
Because Ayako went home for the weekend, there was no one at home.
After returning home, Senichi changed his clothes, took a shower, and then called Ayako.
"Are you busy?"
Listening to the slightly noisy background on the phone, Senichi didn't waste time and got straight to the point: "Are you coming home for lunch? I'm at home now, I'll prepare lunch in a while."
"I was just about to call you." Ayako smiled and said, "Mom asked us to come back for lunch. She said uncle Jirokichi returned to Tokyo, so we're having a meal together to welcome him back."
"Then, I'll finish tidying up and come to pick you up."
Senichi said: "Also, the acquisition of the online movie copyright I discussed last night should be negotiated as soon as possible."
"Alright, got it." Ayako sounded a bit helpless, "You always make plans for this and that, I don't even know if these things are useful..."
"Well... If it's timely, I just do it." Senichi chuckled, knowing that his actions of doing things randomly might seem strange to others.
After all, others weren't time travelers, so they couldn't possibly know which things would be valuable in the future.
And even if Senichi knew that these things would make money in the future, he probably couldn't afford such "throwing money down the drain" investments without strong financial strength.
From an investment perspective, it probably wasn't very rational.
But after all, it was an additional incidental product of preventing cases for rewards, so there wasn't much to ask for.
Having dried his hair, Senichi changed out of his bathrobe into casual attire, then shaved his beard, and tidied up his slightly disheveled hair with the hairdryer. After that, he walked towards the garage.
Driving again was completely different from before. Driving at forty to fifty kilometers per hour rendered the "Horsepower" useless.
However, Senichi didn't need to drive so fast. He lazily drove to the company and arrived downstairs.
He didn't intend to enter the company, as it would mean enduring the uncomfortable etiquette of receiving respectful looks and bows from the employees. Senichi didn't like that.
But the whole society was like this, and Senichi couldn't let the company become an outlier. So, he tried to avoid these hypocritical formalities as much as possible.
He ordered a cup of coffee at the café downstairs, with milk and sugar added to make it taste more like milk tea than bitter coffee. Then Senichi slowly started to drink it.
Accompanied by a small plate of delicate matcha-flavored cookies, the slight tea flavor and slight bitterness made the coffee taste even more delicious.
Of course, on the surface, Senichi was just idly drinking coffee to pass the time. But in fact, he was "reading."
After all, he had gained a lot of knowledge from previous lottery draws, some of which he had absorbed but not yet internalized. Senichi occasionally chose to "refresh his memory" with some knowledge.
Time always flies when you have something to do. Just as Senichi was absorbed in his "daydreaming," the sound of typing on the desktop brought his attention back to reality.
Raising his head, Senichi saw Ayako standing by the table with a smile on her lips.
"Ready? Let's go then." Senichi put down his coffee and got up from his seat, while Ayako grabbed a cookie and ate it as she followed Senichi out of the café.
Senichi drove, and the two chatted casually until they arrived at the Suzuki family mansion.
After parking the car, the two entered the house and walked to the living room, where they found the Suzuki couple and Suzuki Jirokichi sitting on the sofa chatting.
"You two are here." Suzuki Jirokichi waved with a smile when he saw them. "Come, sit down. I'll tell you all about my gains from my trip to Russia."
"What kind of collection did you bring back this time, Uncle Jirokichi?" Ayako teased. "Is it another gem? If so, maybe Kaito Kid will come to steal it again in the future."
"Hahaha, with the famous 'Kaito Kid Nemesis' Senichi around, even if that little brat thief comes back, he'll definitely leave empty-handed!"
Suzuki Jirokichi chuckled, then changed the subject, saying, "But let's talk about dealing with that thief another time. After all, the collection I brought back this time isn't gemstones, but precious oil paintings."
"Oil paintings?" Senichi's eyebrows raised slightly at the mention, showing some interest. "Whose work is it?"
After all, in his previous life, he also studied painting. Although he was stuck at the threshold of A-Rank without any progress, it was still an important part of his life, and he was still very interested in everyone's artwork.
"It's Vladimir Ivan's work, 'Mirror Lake'"
Suzuki Jirokichi replied, stroking his beard with a sense of pride. "This legend was not only a lover of Empress Catherine I of Russia but also a court painter. Several self-portraits of the Empress were done by him."
Hearing this, Senichi searched his mind for knowledge about painting and found that indeed, this was part of the new history after the changes in the worldline caused by the "Steins;Gate."
However, calling it a legend was akin to saying it was merely a rumor. Perhaps it was just a smear campaign by the Empress's enemies at the time, and there was no solid evidence in Russia's history to support this claim.
But disregarding these rumors, as a court painter and the Empress's exclusive portrait artist, the skills of this Vladimir Ivan were undoubtedly above A-Rank.
This was where Senichi's understanding ended. After all, he was just one of many talented painters, and his knowledge of art was mixed with a little historical context, rather than specializing in antique appreciation.
But he didn't need to be a specialist, because there was someone with detailed knowledge right beside him.
Under Suzuki Jirokichi's explanation, Senichi gradually understood why he was proud to have obtained "Mirror Lake."
Although the truth of this rumor was unknown, in history, this man named Vladimir Ivan voluntarily left the court after the rumors spread and devoted himself to painting. And "Mirror Lake" was his last work before his death.
There was also a slight touch of fantasy in it, which was why "Mirror Lake" was highly valued.