Raindrops slipping through the leaves struck the pool below, splashing up bursts of water.
The screams from the forest were drowned out by the torrential rain, as though they had never happened.
The pouring rain battered Fujino, soaking through his clothes.
The accumulated rainwater weighed down the brim of his Fishing Hat, dripping along his temples.
Fujino stood where he was, staring at the strange man before him for a long while before slowly stepping forward.
He pulled away the bandages on the man's face, revealing Takahashi Ryoichi's honest-looking features.
"He looks so honest. How could he do something like this?"
Fujino let out a faint sigh. "Still, you really are straightforward. You kill people at the drop of a hat. If it were me, I wouldn't kill her. She wouldn't be able to die even if she wanted to."
"Ryoichi?!"
Everyone in the villa gasped in surprise when they saw Takahashi Ryoichi being dragged back by Fujino.
"You bastard, what did you do to Takahashi?!"
Staring at the unconscious Takahashi, Kakuya Hiroki questioned Fujino.
"What did I do?"
A trace of impatience appeared on Fujino's face. "This guy is the strange man Ran and I ran into when we came to the villa earlier. Haven't you figured that out yet?"
"I saw this guy too when I arrived at the villa."
"But why was he dressed up like this?"
Seeing Takahashi lying on the floor in a black cloak, everyone began talking over one another.
"Maybe he was pulling some kind of prank again..."
Kakuya Hiroki spoke up for Takahashi, then turned his accusations back on Fujino. "But even if he was playing a prank, you couldn't beat him up like this!"
"I have to say, you really are a hopeless do-gooder."
Fujino scoffed.
He had seen through this middle-parted guy from the very beginning.
He was just a softhearted fool.
Then, he secretly summoned the head of the Great Axe from his Pocket Dimension.
Boom!
The twin-bladed axe smashed into the floor with a dull thud.
Everyone stared at the Great Axe on the floor and unconsciously swallowed.
Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at the do-gooder's face. "Does your family use a sharpened Great Axe for pranks?"
"If I hadn't reacted in time just now, I would've been split in half by that axe!"
"This..."
Kakuya Hiroki stared at the Great Axe on the floor, took two steps back, and wore a complicated expression as he found himself unable to speak.
"But why did he attack you, Fujino Senior?"
Conan noticed the inconsistency and asked Fujino.
"How would I know?"
Fujino shook his head, then turned his gaze toward Takahashi lying on the floor. "For that, we'll have to ask the person involved."
A moment later, a bucket of cold water was splashed over Takahashi.
Soaked like a drowned rat, he first scrambled to his feet before looking around wildly.
When he saw everyone standing around him, his legs gave out and he slumped back onto the floor.
"Why did you attack Fujino Senior?!"
Sonoko was the first to jump out.
Since it involved her idol, her tone unconsciously rose several notches.
"What are you even talking about?! I don't understand a word!"
Seeing that things had been exposed, he simply decided to play dumb.
"Still playing dumb?"
Fujino took a deep breath and adjusted the Fishing Hat on his forehead.
It was time to let the natives witness the terror of a spoiler.
He wondered just how powerful this hat's self-destruct effect really was.
Then, a smile curled across Fujino's lips.
"The reason you attacked me was to silence me, wasn't it?"
"What nonsense? I have no grudge against you. Why would I want to silence you?"
"You have no grudge against me... but I saw your build."
"The reason you wanted to silence me was to prevent everyone from finding out that you padded your body!"
The moment those words came out, they swiftly drew everyone's attention in the villa.
Once they recovered from their shock, they realized that Takahashi Ryoichi really was not fat.
He was a thin man with a normal build, perhaps even somewhat muscular.
Under everyone's gaze, Takahashi Ryoichi's expression suddenly became despairing.
"Killing someone just because your build was exposed would indeed be a bit of a stretch... but what if all of this was part of his Murder Plan?"
Fujino pondered aloud, then fixed his eyes on Takahashi Ryoichi and pressed the advantage. "To keep his Murder Plan from being exposed, he wanted to kill me to silence me. His goal was to secretly kill someone in this villa!"
Fishing Hat effect activated
"That's right! I wanted to kill that bitch Ikeda Chikako!"
Takahashi Ryoichi suddenly sprang up and roared at everyone.
The usual honest look was gone from Takahashi's face, replaced by the savage fury of hatred.
Ayako was startled by his appearance and even took two steps back.
"Takahashi..."
"Don't you find it strange that cheerful, sunny Atsuko would suddenly lose all hope?"
The hatred on Takahashi's face deepened as he explained to everyone, "One day, at the club office, Atsuko secretly showed me the novel she was writing."
At the mention of Atsuko, a trace of tenderness seemed to appear on his face. "Her eyes were shining back then. She was filled with hope that she would become a novelist someday."
"But not long after that, she hanged herself!"
At that point, the last trace of tenderness on his face vanished. He glared furiously at Ikeda Chikako. "At first, I couldn't understand why she did it. But after I saw that bitch's Blue Kingdom, everything became clear!"
"Blue Kingdom?!"
Ayako frowned at those words, clenching her hands tightly. "Could it be that Chikako..."
Before Ayako could finish, Takahashi shouted again, "That bitch's debut masterpiece in the literary world had practically the exact same plot as Atsuko's Azure Kingdom!"
"But that doesn't necessarily mean it was the reason Atsuko committed suicide. Besides, if Chikako really plagiarized it, Atsuko could have filed a complaint."
"You idiot, shut the hell up!"
Kakuya Hiroki, the middle-parted do-gooder, spoke again. But before he could finish, Takahashi rushed forward, grabbed him by the collar, and slapped him.
"You think Atsuko didn't file a complaint?!"
"But because of that bitch's status on campus at the time, as well as her connections on the committee, Atsuko's complaint was rejected outright. Her eligibility to compete was even revoked!"
Kakuya Hiroki endured the burning pain on his face, not daring to meet Takahashi's eyes as he silently turned his head aside.
As Takahashi spoke, he shoved Kakuya Hiroki away. Tears gradually welled in his eyes. "On the day Chikako received her award—the day before Atsuko killed herself—she called me and said she would never trust anyone again!"
"..."
At those words, the scene fell silent.
Everyone wanted to say something, but their throats trembled slightly, and for a long time, none of them could utter a word.
They all knew just how influential Ikeda Chikako had been on campus back then.
What Takahashi said did carry a certain degree of plausibility.
"Miss Ikeda, I think you should explain this matter."
Fujino's voice broke the silence, drawing everyone's eyes toward Ikeda Chikako.
A look of sorrow appeared on Ayako's face as she asked Ikeda Chikako, "Chikako, did Blue Kingdom really plagiarize Atsuko's work?"
"Shut up!"
Ikeda Chikako's expression turned vicious as she suddenly shouted at Ayako.
There was no longer any trace of a proud writer's dignity on her face. Instead, she looked like a dog with a broken spine after its weakness had been exposed.
Seeing everyone's strange expressions, she could not help taking two steps back. She shouted at them, "Do you really believe his baseless claims?!"
"Blue Kingdom was my original work! Other than Takahashi, does anyone else know about this?"
"You're accusing me of plagiarizing a dead person? How ridiculous!"
Suzuki Ayako frowned at those words and said softly, "Chikako, isn't that a little too much..."
Before you continue