Assassin Profession Bounty

"The Messenger of the Cursed Mask... The Cold-Smiling Murder Case of the Cursed Mask?"

Coming to his senses, Fujino took a deep breath, glanced at the letter in his hand, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Human memories are stored in compressed form; they are only retrieved based on clues when needed.

He didn't have a deep impression of the case, so it wasn't until he saw the signature "Messenger of the Cursed Mask" that he was able to recall the memory by combining it with his existing recollections.

In his memory, the real culprit in the hit-and-run case from twenty years ago that he had previously investigated was actually Su Fang Hongzi.

At the height of her fame, to avoid the car accident damaging her reputation, she framed her female assistant for the crime, brutally murdered her, and faked a suicide out of guilt.

After that, she continued to exploit her female assistant, supporting her son, Aikawa Touya, to become a star, and continuing to extract the remaining value from the mother and son.

Then they established the Red Society, held charity performances and other charitable activities, and used children who became orphans due to traffic accidents to gain sympathy, pocketing all the donations.

But not long ago, Lan Chuan finally discovered the truth.

In order to avenge his mother and expose the old woman's ugly face, he plans to carry out the Mikaku people's righteous punishment on Su Fang Hongzi on the night of tomorrow's gathering.

The threatening letter signed "Cursed Masked Messenger" was sent because she didn't want to see truly kind-hearted people being used by Su Fang Hongzi.

Although Fujino did not suffer any direct losses this time, he even made a million.

But when he thought of the children who had been exploited, his expression gradually darkened.

"New Assassin class quest detected. Please check your inbox!"

Upon hearing this, Fujino casually opened the system interface and saw a mission light screen appear before him:

Assassin Class Quest: The Hypocritical Philanthropist

Mission Summary: A hypocritical philanthropist who enjoys collecting cursed masks has been embezzling donations under the guise of charity for fifteen years. He exploits children in orphanages to gain sympathy, causing countless children who should have received treatment to become disabled or die.

Go and expose the mask of hypocrisy! The world is already so dark, let's make it even darker!

Mission objective: Assassinate Su Fang Hongzi (by any means necessary).

Mission Reward: One million yen and one hundred Assassin Proficiency Points

"To expose the hypocritical mask... that's a bit childish."

Fujino stared at the assassin mission in front of him and couldn't help but make a comment.

One million yen to kill one person.

That's a bit too little...

However, that's about all the value Su Fang Hongzi has.

"The system understands me."

Fujino accepted the System Task.

Despite the dog system's questionable practices, it still proved quite effective in crucial moments.

Since they won't even leave him a pitiful chance for redemption, then let's just leave it at that.

If we can't go back, we can't go back. This dark and messed-up world doesn't need any redemption.

Only by venturing into the deepest darkness can one glimpse a sliver of light.

Fujino's expression gradually calmed down, but a cold glint suddenly flashed in his eyes, and a faint killing intent emanated from his body.

It seems he'll be playing the role of Xiao Hei this time too.

The next day, winter arrived again.

The sky outside Tokyo was filled with frost formed from cold air, snow piled up on both sides of the road, and the bare black trees next to it creaked and groaned in the cold wind.

Fujino, dressed in his usual suit, drove his Ford Taurus on the highway to Su Fang Hongzi's suburban villa.

Ai Haibara sat in her own passenger seat, resting her chin on her hand, gazing at the snowy scenery outside the window.

At this moment, she was dressed in a black Gothic Lolita outfit, with a long skirt cascading down her back, and her brown curly hair framing her face, giving her a cool and aloof air of a noblewoman.

She won this when she went shopping with Akemi Miyano a while ago and won a travel voucher for Izu.

She felt a little awkward, and she wasn't wearing anything...

I reluctantly changed into it for the party today.

Actually, Fujino didn't want to bring Ai Haibara along.

After all, there might be bloodshed tonight, and it might be inconvenient to bring someone along.

However... if we bring it along, it can serve as personal identification during the operation.

Yes, he definitely didn't want to see Ai Haibara dressed as Gothic Lolita.

After passing through the suburbs, a villa estate in the countryside came into view.

It was a European-style villa built with red bricks and white wood.

There is a large archway in the middle that runs through the entire villa, while the main entrance is unusually located on both sides.

The highway extends all the way to the gate of the manor, which shows how extravagant it is.

Looking inside from the entrance, the courtyard is paved with blue bricks, with a tall lamppost standing in the middle, topped with an exquisite iron sculpture of an angel.

Fujino parked the car steadily in the courtyard.

As soon as the two got out of the car, they noticed a man not far away taking pictures of the surroundings with a camera.

The man wore a black coat, a blue scarf, and had short black hair. He had a square face and exuded an air of authority.

At this moment, the man seemed to notice the two of them, turned around, picked up his camera, and pressed the shutter.

"?!"

Ai Haibara, like a startled chick, instinctively hid behind Fujino.

"Excuse me, you must be Detective Fujino, right?"

The man walked over and greeted him, "I am Katagiri Masaki, a photographer."

"So it's Mr. Katagiri."

Fujino replied, noticing Ai Haibara's expression, and naturally knew why she was acting this way.

After a pause, he turned to Katagiri Masaki and said, "Mr. Katagiri, could you please delete the photo you just took? She doesn't like being photographed."

"I'm so sorry..."

Katagiri Masaki also realized that it was inappropriate for him to suddenly take pictures of others.

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and explained, "I just thought this little girl was so cute, and she looked so fitting with the scenery here, so I couldn't help but take a picture... I'll delete it now."

"Isn't it cute?"

Ai Haibara tilted her head, looking somewhat puzzled.

She glanced at the clothes she was wearing and didn't think they were particularly cute.

"So cute."

At this moment, Fujino chuckled and said, "Ai, this outfit suits you very well."

"Um..."

Ai Haibara and lowered her head in response.

At that moment, another car drove into the manor.

The man who got out of the car Matsudaira Mamoru, a well-known baseball player. He had dark skin and was wearing an orange casual jacket.

Judging from his appearance, he should be in his thirties or forties, and should be comparable to Katagiri Masaki... but in reality he is only twenty-four years old.

Following behind him was a cool and aloof beauty with a blue coat, long, straight black hair, a blue scarf, a cold expression, and fair skin.

The aloof beauty is named Nagara Haruka, and she is a well-known tarot card reader.

After arriving here, Nagara Haruka acted all mysterious.

It perfectly matches the temperament of a psychic or diviner.

She glanced around, a hint of unease flickering across her otherwise calm face. Looking at the rooftop of the villa, she said in a flat tone, "From the moment I arrived here, I had a bad feeling... something big is about to happen... someone might even die."

"No way..."

Matsudaira Mamoru, a devoted fan of the fortune teller, hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"It's not just the villas..."

As she spoke, Nagara Haruka turned her gaze to Fujino: "I have a more serious premonition about Detective Fujino... even more serious than this villa."

"On my body?"

Fujino seemed somewhat surprised, but inwardly he thought to himself, "This fortune teller is quite something."

Indeed, if there really is a crisis...

Perhaps only he, the one who is going to kill someone tonight, is capable of it.

"Um?"

Ai Haibara also turned her gaze to Fujino.

She had also watched the fortune teller's program.

Although she doesn't really believe in things like divination.

But it's very accurate.

"That's right."

Nagara Haruka nodded, took a tarot card out of her pocket, and handed it to Fujino.

Fujino took the tarot cards. The cards were predominantly gray and black, and featured a menacing Spider with a skull on its face and eight legs.

This reminded him of the Spider that had hypnotized him last time.

I don't know what the connection is...

He glanced at the tarot cards and asked Nagara Haruka curiously, "What does the Spider symbolize?"

"The Spider represents chaos and fear, symbolizing the opposite of life: caution, estimation, loneliness, and fear."

Nagara Haruka gave Fujino a deep look and explained, "In my tarot decks, they usually represent death, change, destruction, and collapse."

"So that means it's a bad hand."

Fujino smiled and looked at Nagara Haruka: "Why do I feel like none of this has anything to do with me?"

"Indeed, I also have some doubts about my divination results... There are no absolutely bad cards in the Tarot."

Nagara Haruka looked away, thought for a moment, and said, "If it were Detective Fujino, I think the interpretation would be that he possesses unlimited potential within him."

"Is that so..."

Fujino remained expressionless upon hearing this, only his eyes narrowed slightly.

He felt that the fortune teller in front of him was not simple.

For no apparent reason, I thought of Koizumi Akako.

Fortune tellers in the Conan World...

There's something there.

"Alright, let's not just stand there like that."

At this point, Katagiri Masaki, seeing that the topic was becoming increasingly esoteric, changed the subject. "Now that everyone is here, let's go inside and talk about it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door on the right side of the villa was pushed open.

A young and cute maid, dressed in a red maid outfit and with short brown hair, stepped out and said, "Welcome everyone."

At that moment, the other door was pushed open, and another young and cute girl dressed in a red maid outfit came out. "Welcome everyone."

"..."

Fujino rubbed his chin, looking left and right at the two girls in front of him, feeling somewhat curious.

He remembered that the two girls were twins, named Shimo-kasu Honami and Shimo-kasu Minaho.

Rumor has it that the two girls not only wore identical maid outfits, but their voices, appearances, tones of voice... even their 3D features are exactly the same...

After staring at it for a while, Fujino felt his eyes getting a little sore.

Yes, they are all exactly the same.

Some of them give you a chill down your spine.

Even with his keen senses, he couldn't tell the difference.

As I always say, rich people really know how to have fun.

Not content with just one maid, they even had two identical maid sisters.

"Stare..."

Just as Fujino was finding fault with the two sisters.

Ai Haibara, standing to the side, cast a somewhat suspicious glance at him.

From the moment she started watching, she noticed that Fujino had been staring at the two of them.

Fujino... could he possibly like this type?

Twin sisters?

Ai a little confused and lowered her head, lost in thought.

"Fujino will enter through the east gate," said Shimokasa on the left.

"Mr. Katagiri, Mr. Hirata, Ms. Nagara, please enter through the west gate," said Shimokasa on the right in the same tone.

"Should we enter separately?"

Matsudaira Mamoru looked at Shimokasa from left to right, appearing somewhat puzzled. "Why?"

"This villa is divided into east and west sides. Guests staying in the west rooms need to enter through the west door," said Shimokasa on the right.

"Guests staying in the rooms on the east side should enter through the east door," said Shimokasa on the left.

"If this mansion doesn't follow the rules, it will bring disaster upon itself."

The two sisters gave a mischievous and wicked smile, "Because this is... the mansion where the Cursed Mask lives."

As soon as the words were spoken, a large flock of crows cawed in unison, suddenly taking flight from the roof of the mansion. Coupled with the two sisters' sinister laughter, it created an eerie and terrifying atmosphere.

The others swallowed hard.

Fujino, however, didn't think it was a big deal.

LOL, I'm not scared at all.

He's probably the scariest person here today.

Hmm... being Xiao Hei does feel a bit different.

Following Shimokasa, Fujino and Ai Haibara entered the mansion through the left-hand gate.

The interior of the mansion has an unusually eerie style, with an indescribable gloomy and abstract feel, and masks hanging everywhere that make people's hair stand on end.

Although Fujino already knew the truth, he still asked Shimokasa, "By the way, are you and that woman just now sisters?"

"Yes."

Shimokasa nodded and said, "We are twin sisters, and for now there is no distinction between sisters... My name is Shimo-kasu Honami, and I am in charge of the east side of the mansion, while Minaho is in charge of the west side."

"So that's how it is."

Fujino nodded in understanding, temporarily confirming which Shimokasa was referring to.

"Mask?"

Ai Haibara walked up to a strange mask.

She looked up and curiously examined them.

"Teacher Su Fang likes to collect masks."

Honami walked over. "These are only a small part of her collection."

"I never knew Miss Su Fang had this kind of hobby..."

Fujino echoed, glancing at the masks around him.

The room was full of masks, which was quite in line with Su Fang Hongzi's style.

After all, she wore that hypocritical mask for fifteen years.

It wasn't even noticed by outsiders...