The Look in Her Eyes Confirmed It: She Was About to Be Murdered

"By the way, Sonoko, was there anyone among the guests today with their face wrapped in bandages?"

The moment they entered the villa, Ran recalled what she had seen earlier and nervously asked Sonoko.

"Wrapped in bandages?"

Sonoko looked surprised.

After thinking for a moment, she replied, "No one who came today was injured. Why are you asking about that, Ran?"

"I just saw someone with their face wrapped in bandages run from the suspension bridge to the back of the villa."

"You must have seen wrong."

Sonoko looked a little impatient and waved her hand. "Maybe it was a cat or a dog or something. There are wild animals in this forest."

"I definitely didn't see wrong!"

Ran frowned, then looked at Fujino. "Senior Fujino, didn't you see that strange person in a black cloak too?"

Fujino nodded. "We did see a strange person run behind this villa while we were on the suspension bridge."

"That's strange... Could it be?!"

Sonoko's tone suddenly changed. "Ran, could that person you saw have been the Black Reaper?!"

"The Black Reaper?!"

"That's right!"

A serious expression appeared on Sonoko's face as she explained, "Legend has it that someone wearing a black cloak once died in this forest. Whenever a young girl in the bloom of youth comes to this forest, he will..."

"He'll..."

Ran swallowed and stared intently at Sonoko.

"He'll jump out, tie that girl up, drag her back to a cabin in the woods, and eat her!"

"Ah!!"

"Ha ha ha!"

Seeing the horrified expression on Ran's face, a mischievous grin gradually appeared on Sonoko's face.

Once she recovered, Ran realized she had been teased and shot Sonoko a resentful look. "Honestly, Sonoko, you're still trying to scare me at a time like this!"

"Sorry, sorry. I just wanted to see what fearless Ran looked like when she was scared."

Still smiling, Sonoko waved her hand, then began thinking about the Bandage Man Ran had mentioned. "But that Bandage Man you saw really is kind of strange."

"Forget it. It's not every day we get to come here and have fun, so don't think about it."

Sonoko's little head could not figure out what that Bandage Man was, so she simply stopped thinking about it.

She then called out to Fujino and Ran, "Your rooms are on the second floor. Hurry up and put your luggage away... Everyone else has already been resting for ages."

"But with so many rooms, which two are ours?"

The three of them went up to the second floor, and Ran looked over the several doors lining the hallway in confusion.

Fujino, meanwhile, furrowed his brow and wore a thoughtful expression.

If he remembered correctly, the Bandage Man was in one of the rooms on the second floor.

In the original story, Ran had been attacked by that strange person because she casually opened a door.

Perhaps... he could take the opportunity to fish the Bandage Man out and force him into the open.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Fujino stepped forward and opened the doors on both sides of the second-floor hallway.

Behind the first door was a middle-parted guy with two and a half years of practice under his belt.

Fujino gave him a glance, then closed the door.

Behind the second door was a fat man who looked honest and simple, but whose physique was unusually sturdy, forming a sharp contrast with his guileless-looking face.

Fujino gave him a meaningful look, then closed the door.

As for the last room, it contained a delinquent-looking drifter who was smoking and holding a pair of triangular briefs.

Looking at the naked young man before him, Fujino felt his scalp tingle.

He shook his head and silently closed the door.

After finally finding two empty rooms, he called out to Ran, "Ran, these two empty rooms should be the guest rooms Sonoko prepared for us."

At that moment, Conan, who was standing nearby, looked at Fujino with a speechless expression.

Would it kill this guy to knock before opening a door?

Fujino noticed Conan's gaze, and the corner of his mouth curled into a faint smile. He said to Ran, who was about to take Conan into the guest room, "Ran, how about Conan stays in my room tonight?"

As he spoke, he gave Ran a meaningful look.

Ran nodded knowingly. Recalling their earlier discussion about Conan being a child with psychological problems, she understood what Fujino meant.

She then chuckled. "In that case, Conan will be in your care, Senior Fujino!"

"Huh?"

Seeing how well Ran and Fujino understood each other, Conan was completely baffled.

Before he could recover, Fujino had already dragged him away.

Fujino rubbed his dog-like head and smiled meaningfully. "Conan, don't you like spending time with me?"

"Looks like we'll have to take good care of each other tonight!"

"Ah... ha ha ha..."

This guy was definitely doing it on purpose!

Definitely!

The sky gradually darkened as fierce winds howled, as though a storm were bearing down on the city.

After sorting out their luggage, everyone who had come to the villa as guests that day gathered in the living room downstairs.

Sitting at the dining table, Sonoko began introducing Ran and Fujino to everyone who had come to the villa.

Just as Fujino remembered, these people had all belonged to the same university club.

The middle-parted guy sitting directly across from them was Kakuya Hiroki, a film magazine editor with two and a half years of practice under his belt.

The fat man sitting diagonally across from them was Takahashi Ryoichi. He currently worked at some food company, though his face looked rather bloated.

The last guy, that bird-like fellow, was Ota Masaru, a car salesman.

One look was enough to tell he was bad news.

"Next is my older sister. Back in university, she was in charge of making costumes."

As she spoke, Sonoko pointed at Ayako, who sat nearby with a gentle smile on her face, then grinned mischievously. "By the way, she's looking for a husband now!"

"Honestly, Sonoko."

Ayako narrowed her eyes and smiled softly. "Don't go saying things like that."

"Hee hee!"

Sonoko laughed, then pointed at the short-haired woman sitting diagonally across from Fujino. "Finally, this is Miss Ikeda Chikako. Back then, she was responsible for directing and screenwriting films, and she was even president of the Film Research Club!"

"Nice to meet you."

"Could she be Ikeda Chikako, the screenwriter of the currently showing Blue Kingdom?!"

Ran looked curiously at Ikeda Chikako, who was greeting them.

Blue Kingdom was a dark horse film that had received countless rave reviews and won all sorts of awards shortly after its release.

Ikeda Chikako had naturally become a somewhat famous screenwriter as well.

Even Ran had heard of her.

"That's right!"

Suzuki Ayako smiled and nodded. "That was Chikako's work from her university days, and it was also the work that marked her debut in the literary world!"

"Alright, let's not bring up the past anymore."

Ikeda Chikako waved her hand awkwardly, and the old classmates began exchanging pleasantries.

Then, when Ayako's usually gentle and peaceful face showed a trace of loneliness as she mentioned a girl named Atsuko from their university days, Ikeda Chikako suddenly slammed the table and shouted, "Don't bring up anything about Atsuko again!"

Everyone looked at Ikeda Chikako in surprise.

Fujino was also startled out of his thoughts about knocking someone out by the loud bang, and he turned his gaze toward her.

Hmm.

The look in her eyes confirmed it: she was about to be murdered.

A System Task had been added earlier to the Bandage Murder Case.