The Dog with a Broken Spine

Raindrops falling through the leaves splashed into the pond, creating ripples.

The screams from the woods were drowned out by the pouring rain, as if they had never happened.

The torrential downpour beat down on Fujino, soaking his collar.

The accumulated rainwater crushed the brim of his fishing hat, dripping down his temples.

Fujino stood still, gazing at the strange man in front of him for a long time before slowly walking forward.

He peeled back the bandages on the man's face, revealing Takahashi Ryoichi's honest face.

"You look honest, so how could you do something like this?"

Fujino sighed softly, "But you really are honest, killing people at the drop of a hat. If it were me, I wouldn't have killed her. It would be hard for her to die."

"Ryoichi?!"

Everyone in the villa looked at Takahashi Ryoichi, whom Fujino had dragged back, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"What did you do to Takahashi, you bastard?!"

Staring intently at the unconscious Takahashi, Kakuya Hiroki questioned Fujino.

"What did I do?"

Fujino showed a hint of impatience, "This guy is the same strange person I met with Ran when we came to the villa. Haven't you guys figured it out yet?"

"I saw this guy too when I came to the villa."

"Speaking of which, why is this guy dressed like this?"

Looking at Takahashi, who was lying on the ground in a black cloak, everyone started chattering.

"Maybe he's playing some prank again..."

Kakuya Hiroki made an excuse for Takahashi, then turned his attention back to Fujino, "But even if he was playing a prank, you can't beat him up like this!"

"I say, you're quite the softie, you know."

Fujino scoffed.

He had seen through this middle-parted guy from the very beginning.

Just a good-natured person.

Then, he secretly summoned the axe head of the Great Axe from his personal space.

"Boom!"

The Great Axe hit the floor with a dull thud.

Watching the Great Axe on the floor, everyone couldn't help but swallow.

Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at the good-natured person's face, and said in a deep voice, "Does your prank involve a sharpened Great Axe?"

"If I hadn't reacted quickly just now, I would have been split in half by an axe!"

"This..."

Kakuya Hiroki looked at the Great Axe that had fallen on the floor, took two steps back, and was speechless with a complicated expression on his face.

"But why did he attack Fujino, Brother?"

Conan discovered a doubt in the matter and asked Fujino.

"You're asking me? I don't know either."

Fujino shook his head, then cast his gaze at Takahashi, who was lying on the ground, "We'll have to ask the person involved about this."

A moment later, a bucket of cold water was thrown on Takahashi.

Drenched like a drowned rat, he first flailed and sat up, then began to look around.

Seeing people standing all around, he slumped to the ground weakly.

"Why did you attack Senior Fujino?!"

Sonoko jumped out first.

Because her crush was involved, her tone couldn't help but rise a few notes.

"What? What are you guys talking about?! I don't understand?"

Seeing that his scheme had been exposed, he decided to play dumb.

"Still playing dumb?"

Fujino took a deep breath and gently touched the brim of his fishing hat.

It was time to let the natives witness the terror of a spoiler.

He wondered how strong the self-destruct effect of this hat was.

Then, a smile appeared on Fujino's lips.

"You attacked me to silence me, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about? I have no quarrel with you, why would I want to silence you!"

"We may not have a quarrel, but I saw your figure."

"You want to silence me to prevent the truth about your body enhancements from being exposed!"

As soon as these words were spoken, they quickly attracted the widespread attention of everyone in the villa.

When they came to their senses, they realized that Takahashi Ryoichi was indeed not a fat person.

Instead, he was a slender man with a standard, even somewhat fit, physique.

As Takahashi Ryoichi was stared at by those around him, his face suddenly turned despairing.

"Killing someone just because their figure is exposed is indeed too far-fetched... But what if all these things are part of his murder plan?"

Fujino pondered for a moment, then fixed his gaze on Takahashi Ryoichi and pressed his advantage, saying, "To prevent his murder plan from being exposed, he wants to silence me. His goal is to secretly kill someone in this villa!"

[Fishing Hat effect has been triggered]

"That's right! I want to kill Ikeda Chikako, that bitch!"

Takahashi Ryoichi suddenly erupted, shouting at everyone.

The Takahashi before them now bore no resemblance to his usual honest and simple appearance; hatred and ferocity were etched on his face.

Ayako was startled by his demeanor and even took two steps back.

"Takahashi..."

"Aren't you all surprised that the usually cheerful and sunny Atsuko would have a change of heart?!"

The trace of hatred on Takahashi's face intensified as he explained to those around him, "One day, in the club office, Atsuko secretly showed me a novel she was writing."

Mentioning Atsuko, a hint of tenderness appeared on his face. "Her eyes were shining then; she truly hoped to become a novelist in the future."

"But the cheerful girl she was, she hanged herself not long after!"

As he spoke, the last vestige of tenderness vanished from his face. He glared at Ikeda Chikako with burning eyes, "At first, I couldn't understand why she would do that, but it wasn't until I saw this bitch's 'Blue Kingdom' that everything became clear!"

"'Blue Kingdom'?!"

Ayako frowned upon hearing this, her hands clenched tightly together. "Could it be that Chikako..."

Before Ayako could finish, Takahashi shouted again, "That bitch's debut work, the one that announced her arrival on the literary scene, has a plot that is exactly the same as Atsuko's 'Azure Kingdom'!"

"But that doesn't necessarily mean it's the reason Atsuko committed suicide. Besides, if Chikako really plagiarized, she could have filed a complaint."

"You idiot, shut up!"

The ever-reliable, middle-parted Kakuya Hiroki spoke up again, but before he could finish, Takahashi lunged 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, and her connections within the organizing committee, Atsuko's complaint was directly rejected, and she was even disqualified from the competition!"

Kakuya Hiroki endured the stinging pain on his face, not daring to meet Takahashi's gaze, and silently turned his head away.

As Takahashi spoke, he pushed Kakuya Hiroki away, tears gradually welling up in his eyes. "On the day Chikako received her award, the day before Atsuko committed suicide, she called me and said she would never trust anyone again!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the scene fell into a heavy silence.

Everyone wanted to say something, but their throats trembled slightly, and they couldn't utter a word for a long time.

They all knew about Ikeda Chikako's influence on campus at the time.

What Takahashi said did indeed hold a degree of plausibility.

"Miss Ikeda, I believe you should explain this matter?"

Fujino's voice broke the silence, drawing everyone's attention to Ikeda Chikako.

A look of sadness appeared on Ayako's face as she asked Ikeda Chikako, "Chikako, did 'Blue Kingdom' really plagiarize Atsuko?"

"Shut up!"

Ikeda Chikako's expression turned ferocious, and she suddenly yelled at Ayako.

At this moment, there was no trace of her proud scholarly demeanor; instead, she resembled a crippled dog whose spine had been broken and exposed.

Seeing the strange looks on their faces, she couldn't help but take two steps back and shout at them, "Are you really going to believe his baseless words?!"

"'Blue Kingdom' is my original work! Does anyone else know about this besides Takahashi?!"

"You find it laughable to accuse me of plagiarizing a dead person!"

Suzuki Ayako frowned upon hearing this and said softly, "Chikako, isn't that a bit too much to say..."