"No way! You're telling me that brat still hasn't returned to the hotel!?"
"Yeah, I asked the villagers, and they said they saw a little boy with glasses walking alone into the forest!"
"What about his phone?"
"No luck — calling him gets no response, and the signal's spotty at best!"
This conversation took place in front of the Okuho Village police station.
Faced with Ran's tense expression, Kogoro Mouri and Hattori Heiji felt troubled but had no choice but to put aside their work and start searching.
At first, everyone was relatively relaxed, but as time passed and the sun began to set, their moods grew increasingly urgent.
The forest at night was very different from the forest during the day; a child staying there at any time could be in danger. Thinking this, Kogoro Mouri's calls were filled with tension:
"Come out quickly!"
"Conan!"
"Where are you?"
Hayashi Yoshiki joined the search.
The sky gradually turned red.
With only half an hour left before the sun would completely set, the group suddenly overheard two villagers talking nearby:
"Did you hear? There's a completely naked man floating on the lake."
"I know! My mom's bringing a blanket and heading over."
"Hey, hey! Excuse me, is that person an elementary school student?"
Hattori Heiji immediately ran up to ask.
But the two villagers answered that it was a high school student.
Though it didn't seem related to Conan, the group hurried to ask for directions and rushed over.
At the lakeside in the forest, they found a young man wrapped in a blanket surrounded by several villagers asking him questions.
Because of the familiar profile, Ran instinctively gazed seriously — then quickly froze.
"...No way, Kudo?!"
Hattori Heiji also called out instinctively.
The group immediately drew closer.
Originally showing no reaction while surrounded by villagers, Shinichi Kudo soon expressed a blank look upon hearing their voices. He looked up, confused:
"Shi... Shinichi? Is that my name?"
"What...?"
Faced with his genuinely unfamiliar eyes that weren't faked, Ran felt shaken.
Hattori Heiji was stunned too, but forced a smile, telling him not to say such nonsense.
However, Shinichi Kudo's confused expression remained. He seemed to react only slightly to his own name and identity as a detective, but had forgotten everything else and everyone.
The villagers surrounding him showed disdain upon hearing his identity, even saying they wished they hadn't saved him in the first place.
Shinichi Kudo showed no feeling in response.
He glanced briefly at Hattori Heiji and Hayashi Yoshiki, before locking his gaze on the former and asking him for clothes to wear.
"Has this kid really lost his memory?"
Kogoro Mouri found it hard to believe.
"And he has a severe cold too..."
"Severe cold... right! Conan! We need to find Conan quickly!"
"Well, I think you don't need to worry about that!"
Upon seeing that the person in front of them had lost his memory, Hattori Heiji quickly stood up to calm the anxious Ran, saying:
"Actually... Conan took the bus back first because he felt his cold was getting worse. That's what he told me before we went to the village office."
"By himself? What are you talking about, Heiji?"
"That's right, that's how it is..."
Heiji awkwardly smiled and winked at Hayashi Yoshiki.
"Hey, you better come help out too, little bro!"
His wink looked almost like a twitch, and Hayashi Yoshiki stared at Shinichi Kudo's face for a long moment, then, as if noticing Heiji's hint, said:
"Why didn't you say this sooner? You're way too careless."
"Be-because I was busy thinking about the commission, so I just brushed him off and forgot about it, haha."
"But even if he goes back to Mouri's agency, no one can really take care of him. Or is he planning to go to Dr. Agasa's place?"
Hayashi Yoshiki said, "Maybe we should call Dr. Agasa and ask."
"Right, right! Let's call Dr. Agasa!"
Ran, though worried, reluctantly accepted Heiji's confident explanation.
After that, she turned her attention to the seemingly amnesiac Shinichi Kudo beside her.
She looked at him with concern.
"Anyway, let's go back to the hotel first."
Hayashi Yoshiki said.
No one objected.
While taking the amnesiac Shinichi Kudo to the hotel, Hattori Heiji fell behind and whispered to Hayashi Yoshiki:
"What's going on? Why did Kudo suddenly recover but lose his memory?"
"He accidentally took a trial version of the antidote."
Hayashi Yoshiki said softly.
"What?"
"I just got a call from Haibara Ai. She said Dr. Agasa accidentally gave Conan the antidote instead of cold medicine... Things are pretty bad now — mainly because Kudo inexplicably lost his memory, and the antidote is time-limited. If his memory doesn't return before he turns back into Conan, what do you think will happen?"
"Both of them have severe colds and amnesia — people will definitely suspect his identity!"
"That's right."
Hattori Heiji immediately realized the gravity of the situation.
He looked at Shinichi Kudo, who silently stared blankly and followed them to the hotel, and for the first time, a headache struck him so hard he grabbed his head.
Hayashi Yoshiki didn't care much about Shinichi Kudo.
His gaze fell on Ran walking ahead, who looked worried and burdened but said nothing.
The sun had completely set.
Back at the hotel, Hattori Heiji quickly found clothes for Shinichi Kudo to wear; since their builds were similar, the clothes fit perfectly.
At that moment, Hayashi Yoshiki said:
"Kudo doesn't have any memory right now. I think we should take him to the crime scene from a year ago. Maybe it will trigger something."
"That makes sense. Although the sun has set, we should still try."
Hattori Heiji immediately agreed.
He thought Hayashi Yoshiki had considered everything carefully. The situation now required Kudo's memory to return as soon as possible... Also, he was very interested in why the village bore such hostility toward Kudo.
As they talked, the plan was set.
Ran, who had been silent all along, seemed to notice something and looked at Hayashi Yoshiki.
He fixed his gaze on Shinichi Kudo:
"Let's go, Kudo."