The Omamori Were Useless!

After taking a group photo, Hattori Heiji led the group on a day trip to Osaka. However, it happened to be the off-season for events, so they just ate ramen and visited nearby attractions.

Soon, it grew dark. While buying a Polaroid camera, Kazuha accidentally left her wallet at the store, so the group returned to Osaka Castle.

Just as Kazuha was about to go back for her wallet, it started to rain.

None of them had brought umbrellas, and just as everyone was struggling to find a place to shelter from the rain, Fujino pulled out an umbrella from somewhere.

"..."

Everyone stared at the umbrella that Fujino had taken out, and a moment of silence followed.

Where did you pull it out from?!

However, the puzzled crowd didn't pay much attention to it, since they had known about Fujino's magic skills for quite some time.

After Kaito Kid can conjure up cloaks and such at will, so it's quite reasonable for Fujino to pull out a few umbrellas...

However, Fujino didn't bring many umbrellas.

Who carries so many umbrellas when they go out?

The four umbrellas were given to He and Ye Xiaolan, and the two of them went to a nearby shop to look for the wallet.

The other three are Conan Hattori on one side, Akemi and the Shimo-Kasa Sisters on one side, and Fujino and Ai Momiji Ai the other.

Fujino held up an umbrella, Ooka Momiji squeezed to the right, and Ai Haibara squeezed to the left.

A light drizzle fell, and the three of them huddled together in the rain.

"Ah--"

The brief silence was shattered by a scream.

Someone's on fire!

Of course, burning refers to burning in a physical sense.

A man, engulfed in flames, fell from the top of Osaka Castle 'Tenshukaku onto a street not far away.

"?!"

Conan Hattori frowned, and as if sensing something, they followed.

'Why do I get the feeling that these two get a little excited when they see a dead body...'

Fujino watched the two leave, his eyes slightly narrowed, a hint of speechlessness in his gaze.

Shouldn't death be a very serious matter?

Why is it that when these two people are replaced, it's like Siddy saw a bone?

These two seem to have always been like this.

That's alright then.

He looked up and gazed thoughtfully at the top of Osaka Castle's Tenshukaku.

Yesterday, those two old men told him about two cases of charred corpses near Osaka Castle, which might be related to the robbers from thirteen years ago. They said those people might be making a comeback soon, and today he encountered someone who caught fire and fell from there...

Fujino quickly assessed the situation, then sent the other girls away to find Kazuha and Ran.

After all, it was a body that had fallen from such a height and was being burned; the death must have been gruesome. It wouldn't be good for a girl to see something so terrifying.

Inside a shop near Osaka Castle.

Kazuha successfully found her wallet.

"Thank you so much, auntie!"

Kazuha happily took the wallet and began to examine it.

"Kazuha, why is your wallet full of Omamori?"

Ran couldn't help but glance at the colorful talisman bag and couldn't help but ask in confusion.

"Of course it's used to ward off evil spirits!"

Kazuha said in a serious tone, "Every time you come to Osaka, a murder occurs. This time I obtained so many talismans, it seems that these talismans must have worked. We didn't encounter any murders while we were out playing this time!"

"Is that so..."

Ran smiled helplessly.

"What?! You said a man engulfed in flames fell from the Tenshukaku?!"

Before Kazuha could even feel happy, the proprietress couldn't help but call out.

Kazuha: "..."

She silently took out several Omamori from her wallet.

"It seems... these Omamori are useless."

Ran, standing to the side, couldn't help but give a wry smile.

It seems that the power of the curse has once again triumphed over the Omamori.

No...

It must have been the power of death that triumphed over the amulet.

No matter how powerful the amulet, it's useless against the power of death.

—Tested by Juzo Megure

"You're here?"

At that moment, a few girls walked in from outside the store.

What are you doing here?

Kazuha turned around and looked at the group in surprise. "Where are the others?"

"Fujino sent us to find you."

Ooka Momiji explained, "The few of them went to see the person who fell near the Tenshukaku... and told us to go eat first and not go to the crime scene."

"That person fell from the Tenshukaku when it was on fire."

Ai Haibara said calmly, "It seems that he is afraid we will see the state of the corpse's death, which is why he said that."

"In that case, let's go have dinner first."

Ran suggested, "Ai is right. If we saw a corpse like that, we definitely wouldn't be able to eat dinner..."

"Oh well."

Kazuha nodded. "I do know a nice restaurant across from Shinbashi."

When Fujino went to check, Conan Hattori were nowhere to be found, and a crowd of onlookers had already gathered around.

The corpse was charred and twisted with broken limbs, and was even smoking...

Fujino was somewhat skeptical. Wouldn't these onlookers be too scared to eat dinner after seeing a corpse?

Could it be that with Hattori Heiji's presence in Osaka, the general public has long since developed the same objective and calm attitude towards the various tragedies as the Beika City?

"Advisor Fujino, you're here too."

The main branch was right across the street, Goro Otaki arrived at the scene with several police officers.

Fujino nodded slightly. "Yes, I went out with Hattori today... and then we happened to run into a case."

"Hattori's here too?"

Upon hearing this, Goro Otaki glanced at the corpse, seemingly unsurprised.

Yes, the Grim Reaper of the West is confirmed.

"The deceased should be a man named Kato Yuji."

Fujino crouched down and examined the corpse, then glanced at the group of cosplay tourists he had seen during the day among the crowd behind him. "As for their companions, they should be the people we met during the day..."

"Those people?"

"We found it!"

Before Otake could even begin questioning them, Hattori and Conan ran back under their umbrellas, carrying an evidence bag containing a lighter. "We found the lighter on top of the Tenshukaku. This is probably what set it on fire."

"The lighter cap was closed."

Conan added, "Furthermore, there was a dry, fan-shaped area under the lighter. Before the lighter was put down, there must have been a round object that blocked the rain. After that, Mr. Kato picked that object up and then put the lighter down."

As he spoke, he smiled at Hattori Heiji and said, "I told you so, didn't I, Heiji!"

"Ah, that's right."

Hattori Heiji nodded and glanced at Conan.

This kid actually interrupted him...

Coming to his senses, he continued, "There are fragments near that lighter. I think that round thing must be related to those fragments."

"What about the photos and fragments?"

Fujino asked the two of them, "You didn't collect them, did you?"

Conan: "..."

Hattori Heiji: "..."

Collecting... well, it seems I haven't actually collected anything.

"..."

Fujino hadn't expected these two to be so unprofessional.

Before the police arrived to preserve evidence, they took away the evidence from the crime scene and then destroyed the scene in the process.

Coming to his senses, he glanced at the police officers around him, and found it unsurprising.

The first thing these people did upon arriving at the scene was not to go to the roof, but instead to linger and collect evidence at the spot where the body fell...

I'm numb.

Since everyone is unprofessional, it's like picking the best among the short ones.

"Officer Otake, the deceased's belongings have been collected!"

The silence was broken by the voice of a police officer standing nearby.

Upon hearing this, Otake, who was in charge at the scene, didn't pursue the matter too much. After all, that was the son of the department head... He had watched the other person grow up, so naturally he wouldn't say anything.

So the group turned to look at the victim's belongings.

The belongings included a key, wallet, cigarettes, telephone, watch, a fragment, and a scroll.

"A scroll, and there's a dragon character on it?"

Otake picked up the scroll, opened it, and asked in confusion.

"Well?!"

The group of tourists behind them were all surprised when they heard the voice, and their expressions became strange.

Fujino noticed their expressions and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Looking back, he was wearing white gloves and picked up the shard.

The fragments are yellow ceramic shards, resembling those of a jar, and have some gold dust attached to them.

It's exactly the same as the fragment I saw last night...