Outlaw in the World of Conan, Tokisaki Kurumi

This matter should be left to Conan and his group, who will be arriving in a few days.

The next morning, Kurumi, who had woken up early, found Aso Narumi sitting in the first-floor clinic after finishing her morning routine.

"Good morning, Sister Seijitsu!" Kurumi greeted Aso Narumi, who was wearing a white coat, with a cheerful smile while slinging her shoulder bag.

Seeing Kurumi, whom he had been agonizing over all night, Aso Narumi, who had decided not to dwell on Kurumi's identity, also showed a sweet smile.

"Good morning!"

Seeing that the other party seemed to be in good spirits, Kurumi looked around. After confirming that no one else was in the room, she walked up to Narumi and took out the file bag she had found last night from her shoulder bag.

"Huh? What is this?"

Aso Narumi, who was completely unaware of the matter, asked in confusion.

Kurumi just smiled, opened the file bag, and handed the musical score to Narumi.

"This? I found it last night."

"As for how I got it~" At this point, Kurumi paused for effect: "That's a secret!"

32 The Grim Reaper Arrives

Moon Shadow Island, which seemed calm on the surface but was secretly stirred by Kurumi's arrival, welcomed another ordinary day.

The sea in the early morning was shrouded in mist.

And in the hazy mist, a ship was sailing towards the port of Moon Shadow Island.

On the deck, a man with a small mustache wearing a suit rested his hand on the railing with a look of disgust and boredom, complaining about the terrible weather.

Behind the man, two people, one tall and one small, carrying backpacks, were the opposite of the bored man; both of them looked very excited.

Even though the weather was foggy.

However, unlike the tall girl, the excitement of the boy who was as small as an elementary school student was not because they were going to an island far from the hustle and bustle of the big city, but because of their purpose for coming here.

And this excitement was written all over the face of the elementary school student, who was the Great Detective known as the Grim Reaper, Edogawa Conan.

[On the night of the next full moon, shadows will begin to disappear again on Moon Shadow Island—Aso Keiji]

This sentence, made up of letters cut from newspaper clippings, was attached to a letter sent to Mouri Kogoro's detective agency a few days ago.

Unlike Conan, who smelled a case, Mouri Kogoro himself was not very interested in the vague information from this man who called himself Aso Keiji.

However, when the man called and said that the reward this time was a full 500,000, Mouri Kogoro's spirits immediately lifted.

So, early this morning, Mouri Kogoro took his daughter and Conan, who was staying at his house, and took a boat to Moon Shadow Island, located in the Izu Islands.

Still in Aso Narumi's clinic, Narumi and Kurumi, who had become good friends over the past few days, were happily eating breakfast and drinking milk.

"Sister Seijitsu, if my calculations are correct, shouldn't Mouri Kogoro and his group, whom you invited from Tokyo, be arriving soon?" Kurumi asked while drinking hot milk.

"Soon, I remember calling them two days in advance," Aso Narumi thought: "If they are indeed punctual, they should arrive today."

Looking at Kurumi in front of him, Aso Narumi, whose inner turmoil had been completely resolved, now completely trusted her.

"But, Kurumi, what do you think I should do?" Thinking of those culprits, although Narumi didn't want to take lives, she felt very uneasy just letting them go.

"Although there is the law..."

Before Narumi could finish speaking, Kurumi directly interrupted: "But the law comes too late."

Putting down her cup and wiping her mouth with a tissue, Kurumi said with disdain: "Not to mention that Japanese law doesn't have the death penalty. Just considering what those three scumbags did, do you think they deserve to live?"

"If the law were to handle it, these people would at most spend ten to twenty years in prison and then be released. Can this really be considered them learning their lesson?"

Kurumi's words made Narumi's relaxed expression become increasingly serious.

Yes, in Japan, where there is no death penalty, could these people who committed murder and caused her to lose her family have their crimes erased by simple imprisonment?

The anger in her heart grew stronger, and Narumi, who had been hesitating whether to take revenge with her own hands, gradually changed her mind.

This was probably what they called getting angrier the more you thought about it.

"But, the Great Detective Mouri Kogoro is coming. If I make a move, will he find out?"

Narumi's words made Kurumi somewhat speechless.

"I say, if Sister Seijitsu wanted to make a move from the beginning, why did you call them here? Are you that eager to be a martyr?"

Narumi felt a little awkward when Kurumi said that.

She retorted: "It's not... it's not because you're here!"

As she said the last part, Narumi's voice became smaller and smaller.

In her original plan, without Kurumi's presence, she would have returned to the room with her father's gifted piano after killing those people to reunite with her family.

The main reason she had invited Mouri Kogoro was that she needed a witness.

"Honestly!"

Looking at Narumi's pitiful appearance, Kurumi couldn't help but say, "Let's not talk about the past for now! According to the new plan, we'll deliberately let Mouri Kogoro discover the matter of your father, and then guide them to find those scumbags selling White Powder!"

"As for what happens next, leave it to me!"

Kurumi, full of confidence, had already made ample preparations for the upcoming actions.

Half an hour later, Narumi, whose clinic was about to open, was wiping the glass door with a rag.

Recalling what Kurumi had told her before leaving, Narumi didn't quite understand why Kurumi had specifically told her to pretend not to know each other.

Unable to figure it out, Narumi wiped the window while speculating if Detective Mouri Kogoro had some past grudges with Kurumi's faction during his career.

And in order not to bring trouble upon herself, Kurumi had specifically instructed her to pretend not to know her.

Just as Narumi was lost in thought, a female voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the Community Center?"

Stopping her movements, Narumi turned around and saw the Mouri Kogoro trio.

The one who had just asked her the question, judging by her appearance and age, should be Mouri Kogoro's daughter.

As for the last boy in the group who looked like a primary school student...

Narumi didn't quite know what to think.

If she said it was Mouri Kogoro having a child late in life... Narumi felt it was unlikely.

As for whether it could be Mouri Ran... Narumi looked at Conan's innocent face and suddenly began to wonder if she had been mentally unwell these past few days.

Silently shaking her head, Narumi deliberately pretended not to recognize Mouri Kogoro, pointing with her finger towards the corner not far away and saying, "Turn at the corner ahead, then walk straight down the road until you reach the end!"

And so, after receiving the trio's thanks, Narumi watched their departing backs, her mind pondering something unknown.

Meanwhile, Kurumi, standing on a hillside somewhere, was looking down at the trio as they slowly walked towards the Community Center.

Ignoring the usual protesters in front of the Community Center's main entrance, Kurumi pondered how she would torment Conan, that clueless kid, in the coming days.

33 The Plan is Underway

There were many ways to torment someone. Rather than using forceful means to bully Conan directly, Kurumi preferred to oppress him psychologically.

A wicked smile tugged at the corner of her lips as a small idea popped into her mind.

After strolling around the mountain and taking a few landscape photos she felt were nice, Kurumi descended the mountain along the mountain path and arrived at the clinic.

Pushing open the glass door and walking in, Kurumi found Aso Narumi, who had just finished cleaning.

"Kurumi?"

"Good morning, Sister Seijitsu~" Kurumi greeted Narumi with a grin, then asked curiously, "I saw it on the mountain just now. Sister Seijitsu, what do you think of Mouri Kogoro?"

Kurumi's question made Aso Narumi pause for a moment before she asked in surprise, "The mountain? Kurumi, you could see here from the mountain just now?"

Narumi knew very well that the nearest mountain was still three to four hundred meters away.

Although one could indeed overlook the village below from a high vantage point, but...

Thinking of this, Aso Narumi looked at Kurumi and noticed that Kurumi was only carrying a camera bag. Besides that, she didn't see any binoculars or similar items.

"About that~" Kurumi said proudly, "I'm very confident in my eyesight!"

Hearing this, Aso Narumi was even more surprised.

Without suspecting that Kurumi was bragging, based on their interactions during this time, Aso Narumi could tell that Kurumi wasn't lying to her.

"Is it really that amazing!"

"Of course, but let's not talk about that for now." Kurumi asked, "Sister Seijitsu, you haven't answered my question yet."

"Question?" Aso Narumi said "Oh," and her expression became a little conflicted. "I feel like Detective Mouri doesn't seem very reliable. Can he really solve my father's case?"

Kurumi wasn't too surprised by Aso Narumi's answer.

Even she herself often doubted Mouri Kogoro's professional abilities.

From her initial investigation, Mouri Kogoro, as a private detective, was best at investigating things like extramarital affairs. As for cases involving murder, this Great Detective could only be considered mediocre so far.

However, based on her knowledge of the plot from her previous life, Kurumi strongly suspected that this uncle, who loved to drink and was lecherous, was not as simple as he appeared, especially given the keen insight and sharp mind he displayed when it came to his family, Mouri Ran, and his estranged wife, Eri Kisaki. This further confirmed that Mouri Kogoro had been hiding his true abilities all along.

Therefore, Kurumi couldn't give a definitive answer to Narumi's doubts.

"Perhaps he's not always reliable, but since their family is here now, let's continue according to the original plan."

Aso Narumi nodded and said, "That's the only way."

After chatting for a few minutes, Aso Narumi glanced at the clock on the wall and suddenly remembered something.

"Right, I almost forgot!" Aso Narumi clapped her hands and said, "Today, there's a memorial service at the Community Center for Kameyama, who died three years ago!"

Although she was talking about the heavy topic of someone's death, Aso Narumi's beautiful face wore a very happy expression.

That excitement was almost as great as celebrating the New Year.

However, Kurumi could understand.

After all, Kameyama, the former village chief, was one of the main culprits who had killed Narumi's family back then.

He was dead, so Aso Narumi was naturally very happy.

Especially after learning that Kameyama had been scared to death by Sister Seijitsu's words, Kurumi felt happy for her.

"I'll go up and change first, what about you, Kurumi?"

Sister Seijitsu clearly wanted to share this happy event with Kurumi.

"I'm not from this island, so it probably wouldn't be appropriate for me to participate as a mere tourist." Although Kurumi had been invited and wanted to have some fun, she felt a bit troubled when she considered her identity made it inconvenient.

Hearing Kurumi's answer, Sister Seijitsu realized she had gotten too carried away in her excitement and hadn't considered that aspect.

"That's true..." Sister Seijitsu looked a little disappointed.

Night, inside a community center near the sea.

"Seriously, how long are we going to wait!" Mouri Kogoro grumbled unhappily, sitting casually on the steps in front of the community center's entrance, smoking a cigarette. "From this morning until now, besides that fat guy with glasses talking about a cursed piano, we haven't gotten any clues at all!"

"Dad, do you really think there's such a thing as a curse in this world?" Mouri Ran leaned against a pillar. Although she was bored, she was very curious about what the fatty had said earlier.

Especially the panic and fear he had shown seemed to prove that the piano had something terrifying like a curse or evil spirits.

Regarding his daughter's unscientific remarks, Mouri Kogoro said righteously, "How could there be such a thing! Those evil spirits and curses are just the result of villagers spreading rumors."

As a former police detective and current detective, Mouri Kogoro never believed in the existence of such things.

He was a firm materialist.

Unlike the father and daughter discussing curses, Conan, sitting on the steps, was seriously contemplating his findings.

The villagers' fearful reaction to the name Aso Keiji and the seemingly old piano that produced perfectly normal sounds made Conan very suspicious about what might be hidden within.

Coupled with the strange letter sent to the Mouri residence, Conan felt a sense of foreboding.

While the family outside the house was lost in their own thoughts, inside the solemn and somber Buddhist memorial service, a man in a black suit sneered as he opened the door and walked out.