Not Quite Dead-What a Pity

"Ding! A new Detective Profession Mission has been detected. Please check it!"

Upon hearing this, Fujino turned his head to look in the direction from which the sound came.

Is he really gone?

Mihua is a really weird place.

Fujino looked at the light screen that had suddenly appeared in front of him:

Detective Profession Mission: The Mystery's Lodging

Mission objective: Unravel the mystery surrounding the Ogata Family.

Mission Reward: 500,000 yen, 50 Detective Reputation

'Only 500,000...'

Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly. 'The reward for this mission is a bit meager... Could it be that the person wasn't quite dead?'

"That direction... could it be from the room where my mother used to keep her Guqin?"

Tsuneo Ogata turned his head and, combining the sound of the string breaking, immediately discerned which direction the sound came from.

The group arrived at the door of that room.

The sliding door to the room was pulled open, and in the dimly lit room, a figure was violently smashed to the ground by a xylophone, his life hanging in the balance.

Fujino used his eagle eyes to observe the remaining signs of life before him, as if it were all expected.

Just as he suspected, the person wasn't quite dead yet.

What a pity.

"Aren!"

The Ogata Family members immediately recognized the figure; it was none other than Minoru Ogata from before.

Seeing their family members lying on the ground, seemingly oblivious to their fate, everyone looked terrified.

"How are you, Ren?"

Tsuneo Ogata quickly stepped forward to check on the situation, looking somewhat worried.

"What happened?"

At this moment, Ogata Kazuko, who had been away doing something, also came over and looked into the room with a puzzled expression.

"Brother, he got hit by a xylophone!"

Shiro Ogata hurriedly explained.

"Ah?!"

Kazuko Ogata gasped in surprise, covered her mouth, and turned pale, unable to utter a word for a moment.

"Beep beep beep!"

Just then, the pager in Haruna's pocket suddenly started beeping.

The shrill sound was particularly jarring in the quiet room, and combined with the sound of rain outside, it created an eerie and sinister atmosphere.

"Ah--!"

Haruna glanced at the contents of the pager and immediately let out a fitting scream.

"Um?"

Fujino turned his head and looked at Haruna with a puzzled expression.

That's such a slow reaction!

Shouldn't you have shouted it out just now?

"This... this is..."

Haruna swallowed hard, her eyes glued to the pager screen, looking on in disbelief. "A message from Mr. Akigo!"

"Mr. Qiuwu's message?"

Fujino stepped forward and took a look, and saw a message displayed on the pager. "Haruna, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Obviously, this text message wasn't sent by someone who's been dead for so long.

Fujino felt that it was most likely a prank like the one before.

"Is it another prank?"

Fujino glanced back at Kazuko Ogata, already knowing what was going on.

Although it's not certain yet, this woman is probably the only one who has time to send text messages.

Pagers can actually be used for mobile communication, so it's not impossible that she sent this text message while everyone was checking the situation.

But this guy who got hit by the xylophone...

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Fujino slowly walked towards Minoru Ogata and said, "Hey, you're not dead yet, are you?"

"Uh... of course I'm not dead yet."

Minoru Ogata seemed to have been woken up by the scream just now, and sat up to complain.

"What happened, bro?"

At this moment, Shiro Ogata, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but ask him a question.

"How would I know..."

He struggled to his feet, clutching his still-bleeding forehead, and gritted his teeth in pain. "I don't know what it was, it just knocked me unconscious."

"Ah Ren, was it this Guqin that knocked you out just now?"

Tsuneo Ogata looked at the Guqin beside him and guessed.

"I think so..."

Minoru Ogata glanced at the Guqin, then looked at Fujino with a questioning gaze. "The person who hit me with a hard object just now, could it be you two?"

Fujino: "..."

It's a real shame this person wasn't killed.

No!

Upon hearing this, Haruna quickly explained, "Fujino was in my room because of the shadowy prank, and then everyone rushed over."

"That's right."

Everyone present nodded.

Minoru Ogata rubbed his throbbing head. "Who else could it be besides you guys..."

"Didn't you see who hit you?"

Fujino asked him in a deep voice, "Judging from your wounds, the other party should have attacked from the front. Logically speaking, you should have seen his face..."

"The room was so dark at the time, how could I see clearly?"

Minoru Ogata complained resentfully, "I heard a noise and turned around to look when I was hit."

"Didn't you see anything clearly?"

Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly. "If you didn't see it, why are you so sure it's us?"

"Who else besides your family would attack me?"

Minoru Ogata did offer a reasonable conjecture, which shows he had some self-awareness.

"Hmm, that makes sense. If I wanted to knock you out, I would probably do the same thing... but I would definitely use a better technique." Fujino rubbed his chin.

Minoru Ogata: "..."

The people present. "..."

So you often do this kind of knocking on people?

From what you're saying, it seems you're quite dissatisfied with that person's method?

After a brief silence, Kazuko Ogata suddenly spoke up, "Since both of them have alibis, could it be that someone broke into our house and knocked Minoru unconscious?!"

"Could it be a thief?"

"Possibly."

"After all, someone just played one of those pranks..."

Everyone agreed with Kazuko Ogata's suggestion.

Only Fujino sensed something was wrong.

Because he didn't catch a glimpse of anyone else from beginning to end.

There was only this one family in the house.

Moreover, in his view, these actions were less about trying to kill and more about intimidation...

The target of the intimidation was Haruna.

As for Minoru Ogata, staying up late and coming to this room to do something reckless...

Fujino felt that it was probably related to stamps.

Based on his guess, Minoru Ogata's purpose in running over in the dark was probably to take possession of the Guqin.

After all, the piece that Haruna loved to play on her Guqin most during her lifetime was "Spring is Coming."

Based on the Music Box's melody, he probably believed the stamp was on the Guqin.

As for who the mastermind is, Fujino cannot determine.

Judging from the way he hit the person, the other person had no soul at all. His technique was too clumsy, and there was no art or beauty in hitting the person. He didn't even have a soul.

It was less like knocking and more like smashing...

It must be some kind of mechanism that fishes the Guqin into the air and then crashes it down.

As for the ritual music... the broken strings were probably caused by that mechanism.

The Ogata Family called the police, and nearby officers quickly arrived at the scene.

After investigating outside the house, they found no useful clues.

It was raining, and the surrounding yards had become muddy.

Generally speaking, in a muddy yard like this, someone passing by will definitely leave traces.

However, no signs of trespassing were found around the courtyard.

The possibility of outside intrusion was quickly ruled out.

After searching the outside area without success, the group moved inside to conduct their search.

Fujino took this opportunity to begin investigating the newly released System Task.

Judging from the mystery, the system's goal should be to help him find out who the mastermind behind these pranks is, or rather, who the real culprit is who destroyed Minoru Ogata's property.

At the time, the Ogata family was all in Haruna's room, so it was unlikely that they would do it themselves.

Fujino guessed that the person must have used a mechanism or something similar...

A mechanism that allows it to operate from Haruna's room.

Fujino pondered for a moment before heading to Haruna's room.

He glanced around and then activated Eagle Vision again.

With the enhanced Eagle Eye Vision, he quickly found some clues.

—Hair clips scattered on the ground.

"Handpin?"

Fujino crouched down, picked it up from the ground, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly realized. "So that's how it is."

After searching for a while, the group found no thief and gathered at Haruna's room.

"Where were you and your wife in the period leading up to the incident?" the young police officer Tsuneo Ogata.

"At the time, my wife, my second son, and I were chatting in the kitchen."

Wasn't your son, who suffered a head injury, in the kitchen with you at the time?

"Yeah, I thought he was taking a shower."

Tsuneo Ogata sighed, "But who knew he would be attacked..."

Is that so?

The young officer thought for a moment, then looked up and asked the two men, "May I ask what you were talking about in the kitchen?"

"He was lecturing the two of us old folks in the kitchen..."

Kazuko Ogata chuckled, "He said it's really impolite of us to pry into Haruna's visit, since we're asking so many questions."

"Get to the bottom of this?" the officer asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Well, actually, I met this old gentleman through a pager."

Haruna explained, "They were just asking about things we'd already discussed."

"Exactly, the three of you have gone too far."

Shiro Ogata looked at the elderly couple speechlessly, "Just like my brother, they looked like they were interrogating a criminal."

"It's really nothing."

Haruna didn't seem to care about these things, and said softly, "I started collecting stamps because of Mr. Akigo. It's good to be able to talk to him more and get to know him better... [I even asked if I could come here again?] So I didn't really take it to heart."

'No wonder he's an art student...'

Fujino glanced at Haruna speechlessly, then coughed lightly. "Speaking of which, I already know who knocked Minoru Ogata."

"Well?"

Everyone turned around in surprise.

Haruna seemed to think this was expected.

After all, he's Great Detective.

"You already know who smashed Mr. Ren's things?"

The police officer stepped forward, feeling that Fujino looked somewhat familiar. "Excuse me, who are you...?"

"I'm Fujino."

"Fujino?!"

The police officer was taken aback upon hearing this, then shook Fujino's hand and exclaimed excitedly, "Are you the Great Detective Fujino?! I've heard so much about you."

"The Great Detective..."

"Fujino?!"

Everyone present was surprised.

"Actually, this case is somewhat related to Ms. Haruna..."

Under everyone's gaze, Fujino reasoned, "The reason you're questioning Ms. Haruna is actually because of those stamps worth 200 million yen, am I right?"

"Stamps worth 200 million yen?"

"The police officer standing nearby asked in surprise."

"That's right. My grandfather actually collected four stamps worth 200 million yen during his lifetime."

Minoru Ogata, standing to the side, didn't dare to act presumptuously in front of the Great Detective. Recalling what had just happened, he felt that it was this detective who had used some special method to hit him. He honestly replied, "Originally, after we got those stamps, we bought a lot of things... but when we checked our stamp collection, we found that the stamps had disappeared. We searched the whole house but couldn't find them."

At this point, he turned to look at Shiro Ogata: "The only one who isn't in a state of panic is probably Grandpa's beloved eldest grandson."

"Is that why you're questioning Haruna?"

Fujino around at everyone and said, "The stamps are missing, and you all instinctively suspect that Mr. Akigo has already given them to her."

"That's true."

Minoru Ogata nodded. "To be honest, I still have my doubts about that."

The Ogata couple, standing to the side, lowered their heads in shame.

"But I really never received those stamps..."

Haruna said with a hint of helplessness, "I didn't even know these stamps existed."

"Who knows if you're faking it?"

Minoru Ogata had another episode, "He even brought a Great Detective with him... I think you..."

"Um?"

Fujino's gaze gradually sharpened.

"Hmm..."

Minoru Ogata was speechless.

"Actually, Haruna brought me here not to find treasure. Before this, she asked me to find Mr. Akigo and return the Music Box. I just dropped her off on the way."

"We've heard of that Music Box too."

Minoru Ogata pondered, "It must have been secretly given to her by my grandfather around Christmas the year before last."

"The year before last?"

Haruna said in surprise, "But I only got this Music Box last Christmas."

"How could that be?"

Tsuneo Ogata looked somewhat uneasy and said, "My father passed away on December 6th last year, so there's no way he could have given away the Music Box."

"Let alone going out to meet secretly."

Kazuko Ogata chimed in, "He's been hospitalized and incapacitated since the spring of the year before last."

"Hmm, if that's the case, then since Mr. Akito lost his mobility, someone should have been communicating with Ms. Haruna on his behalf..."

Fujino looked at Shiro Ogata: "Am I right, Shiro?"

Everyone present was surprised upon hearing this and turned their gazes toward Shiro.

"Actually, it was my grandfather who asked me to do it..."

Shiro Ogata looked at Fujino, his expression also showing some turmoil. He then lowered his head, took a deep breath, and explained, "He doesn't want Haruna to be alone like her grandmother. He wants me to continue comforting Haruna in his place after he's hospitalized..."

Fujino: "..."

What kind of kind grandfather are you? You're actually going to woo your grandson's girlfriend yourself, aren't you?

"Ahem."

Fujino quickly coughed lightly, interrupting the melodramatic scene unfolding before his eyes. "Speaking of Minoru Ogata, the reason you went to that room earlier was actually to look for the Guqin, right?"