Outlaw in the World of Conan, Tokisaki Kurumi

As he spoke, Conan, trying to escape the menacing aura of his childhood friend, took the lead and scurried out of the room on his short legs.

"That's more like it! Children should be obedient!"

Mouri Ran was pleased with Conan's attitude and walked out of the room with a smile, leaving Mouri Kogoro and Hirata, the two men, staring at each other.

Meanwhile, Narumi, who had been searching for the missing Kawashima in the dark with the villagers, returned to her clinic alone.

Upon reaching the second floor, Aso Narumi heard a man's voice coming from the storage room.

"Kawashima!"

Aso Narumi would never mistake the voice of Kawashima, one of the murderers of her family.

Especially that standard duck-like voice.

Although she knew Kurumi was the one who kidnapped Kawashima, and that she would secretly bring Kawashima to her for interrogation.

But when she actually pushed open the door and saw Kawashima's lecherous face with her own eyes, Aso Narumi, filled with rage, just wanted to kill this man to pay respects to the souls of her departed family.

As the furious Narumi walked into the room with a cold expression, Kawashima, thinking he had finally been discovered during his kidnapping, looked at the beautiful island doctor with eager eyes and said excitedly, "Doctor Asai! Call the police quickly! I've been kidnapped by this woman! Hurry!"

Kawashima, who had been shouting, thinking he could be saved, saw that Narumi didn't react. He subconsciously assumed she was frozen because he was tied to a chair and another person was standing in the room.

"Doctor Asai! Why are you just watching?"

When Aso Narumi remained silent, and instead Kurumi in the room smiled and greeted him, Kawashima finally realized that the two of them were working together.

Instantly, Kawashima, who understood, was greatly alarmed.

"Shout! Mr. Kawashima, why aren't you asking for help anymore?" Kurumi, who had taken in Kawashima's reaction with amusement, dangled the knife in her hand, feigning realization. "Oh! Could it be that Mr. Kawashima has finally understood the problem?"

Staring intently at Aso Narumi, who still hadn't spoken, Kawashima loudly pressed her, "Doctor Asai! Are you working with this person? Why are you doing this? Don't you know who I am?"

As a barrage of questions poured out of Kawashima's mouth, Aso Narumi finally spoke.

But she didn't look at Kawashima; instead, she turned to Kurumi, who was taking a recorded cassette tape from a tape recorder. "Kurumi, did this guy spill everything?"

"Of course!" Kurumi nodded. "He confessed everything from start to finish, including what Kuroiwa and the others did."

Learning that Kurumi had finished her task, Aso Narumi's anger subsided slightly.

She walked up to Kawashima and looked down at the arrogant capitalist of the village, sneering, "Mr. Kawashima, don't you understand yet? Do you really think no one knows about what you've done!"

Startled by the change in attitude of Narumi, the usually kind female doctor, Kawashima was both shocked and angry. "Why, why are you doing this? What's your relationship with Aso Keiji?"

Kawashima didn't understand why Asai Narumi was treating him this way.

He hadn't provoked her in years, and why was it about Aso Keiji?

That was something that happened over a decade ago!

Seeing Kawashima's expression, Aso Narumi laughed in anger. "Why? You killed my father, mother, and sister, and then falsely accused him of being insane when he killed his family! You defiled my father's reputation like that, and you still have the nerve to ask me why!"

Honestly, Kurumi, standing by, had never seen Narumi so angry.

"You... you're also Aso Keiji's daughter? How come I didn't know?" Hearing Narumi's voice filled with hatred and resentment, Kawashima finally understood.

Without a word, Aso Narumi stared fiercely at Kawashima and asked coldly, "Kurumi, how should we deal with this man next?"

Not knowing that Kurumi had already broken Kawashima's spine, Aso Narumi, seeing him tied to the chair, couldn't help but worry that he might find an opportunity to escape.

However, what Kurumi said next surprised Aso Narumi and angered and terrified Kawashima.

"Don't worry, I actually made preparations at the Community Center. Now... Mr. Kawashima..." Kurumi said, looking at Kawashima. "Can you feel your body right now? Hmm... I mean, from the neck down."

Hearing Kurumi's teasing tone, Kawashima, with a bad premonition, stammered, "What did you do to me?"

"What did I do?" Kurumi asked, feigning a cute surprised expression, and pointed to Kawashima's neck. "You know, the spine is very important! If it's injured, you'll probably end up like this, Mr. Kawashima!"

Upon hearing this, Kawashima's emotions gradually shifted from fear to extreme anger. "You! You devil! What did you do to me!"

Even so, Kawashima still held a sliver of hope that Kurumi was just trying to scare him.

Unlike Kawashima, who was furious, Aso Narumi's face lit up with the joy of revenge upon hearing this news.

39 Aso Keiji's Gift

As a legitimate doctor, Aso Narumi naturally knew the impact that damage to the human spine would have on the body.

Watching her enemy now acting like a stray dog, shouting all sorts of obscenities at them, Aso Narumi knew that if this guy continued to bark, the people outside searching for him in the village might notice.

"Kurumi, do you have anything to stuff in his mouth?" Aso Narumi asked Kurumi, who picked up the rag that had been used to gag Kawashima from the floor and handed it to Narumi.

"You... you two bitches will get what's coming to you!" Although he couldn't move his body, Kawashima bit his teeth hard and kept his mouth tightly shut to prevent it from being gagged, trying to resist Narumi.

Grabbing Kawashima's jaw with one hand, Aso Narumi squeezed the rag with her right hand, trying to force it into his mouth.

However, even though the rough and dirty rag had already torn his lips, Kawashima still kept his eyes closed, vowing not to open his mouth.

Seeing Kawashima's lack of cooperation, and Aso Narumi's face turning red from the exertion, Kurumi couldn't stand it anymore.

She walked up to Kawashima and gestured for Aso Narumi to hand her the rag.

"This scum!" Narumi cursed Kawashima, and feeling a bit tired, handed the rag over.

Ignoring the unpleasant smell emanating from the rag, Kurumi gripped it in her right hand and pulled out a lighter from her pocket with her left, holding it under Kawashima's nostrils.

Smiling, Kurumi turned back to look at Narumi and said, "In my hometown, we have other methods for dealing with people who think they're so tough."

As she spoke, Kurumi flicked the switch on her lighter.

A jet of flame instantly erupted from the lighter, and the orange-red fire plunged nearly halfway into Kawashima's nostrils.

The sudden, intense pain caused Kawashima, who had been closing his eyes like an ostrich, to open his mouth with a gasp.

However, before he could even let out a cry of pain, the quick-handed Kurumi shoved a rag into Kawashima's wide-open mouth, sealing it shut perfectly.

With the searing pain in his nostrils and his mouth blocked, Kawashima couldn't scream. He turned bright red, veins bulging on his forehead from the agony.

Tears streamed from the corners of his eyes, and on the verge of collapse, Kawashima began to cry.

Although Kawashima's miserable state made Narumi feel a pang of sympathy, the thought of him and the others who had murdered her family surged a perverse sense of revenge within Aso Narumi.

Ignoring Kawashima, who was crying silently with his head down, Kurumi called Aso Narumi outside the room.

"Who's next?" Kurumi asked, knowing the remaining participants.

Aso Narumi thought for a moment in response to Kurumi's question.

Of the four culprits who had murdered her entire family, Kameyama, who had been scared to death by her years ago, and Kawashima, who was no different from the dead, were already accounted for. Only the current village chief, Kuroiwa, and Nishimoto, who was always withdrawn, remained.

The order in which these two were dealt with wouldn't affect their future plans, but considering that Nishimoto deeply believed in the curse on his father and was constantly paranoid, Aso Narumi decided he should fully experience the fear and unease that the 'curse' brought him.

"Kuroiwa," Narumi said, her tone turning cold as she mentioned her enemy.

Kurumi smiled, very pleased with Narumi's response. "Good, then next..." she said, glancing back into the room. "Let's get some more use out of this scum, Kawashima."

The next morning, the villagers who had searched for Kawashima all night finally decided to continue their search that morning due to the darkness.

Village Chief Kuroiwa felt that openly announcing Mr. Kawashima's disappearance would undoubtedly cause panic among the island's residents.

However, as he tried his best to cover it up, Mouri Kogoro stopped him and chose to call the police.

He believed that Mr. Kawashima's disappearance and the tape recorder left in the piano were deliberate acts. Coupled with the warning letter signed by Aso Keiji and the fact that the police Mouri Ran had brought in last night confirmed that one of Aso Keiji's envelopes was missing from the warehouse, it solidified Mouri Kogoro and Conan's suspicion that the island harbored a dark secret, while also causing some initial panic.

Especially Nishimoto, Hirata, and Kuroiwa, who reacted the most strongly.

They definitely knew something!

As the villagers, suppressing their fear of Aso Keiji's curse that was spreading across the island, began searching for Kawashima, Mouri Kogoro sat in Village Chief Kuroiwa's office discussing matters related to Aso Keiji.

On the sofa by the wall, Conan, sitting next to Mouri Ran, couldn't sit still.

For some reason, he had an indescribable feeling, as if someone was deliberately targeting certain people in the village.

What is going on here? Conan shook his head inwardly as he watched Kuroiwa vaguely recount the tragedy that had occurred years ago.

Something's wrong. This man Kuroiwa is definitely hiding something...

Just as Conan was wondering if he had missed any clues, Hirata, the village chief's secretary, knocked on the door.

"What is it, Hirata?" Village Chief Kuroiwa noticed Hirata, who had just entered, carrying a paper box that looked like a cake box. "What's that?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kuroiwa," Hirata, who was already confused about the situation, could only apologize. "I just found this in the hallway outside. At first, I thought it was just clutter, but when I saw this note attached to the box, I brought it over."

With that, Hirata held the handle of the box with one hand and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket with the other, placing it on Kuroiwa's desk.

Picking up the note, Kuroiwa saw a line of text written on it: "A small gift for Village Chief Kuroiwa – Aso Keiji!"

Reading the signature on the note, Kuroiwa was so shocked that he almost lost his balance and fell.

"What!"

Hearing Kuroiwa exclaim Aso Keiji's name in surprise, everyone in the room, including Hirata and the Mouri family, stood up in astonishment.

"This gift box was sent by Aso Keiji?" Mouri Kogoro carefully examined the rather thick-looking box, trying to find any clues about what it contained.

"Impossible! It must be a prank!" Kuroiwa, pale with panic, stammered an order to Hirata, "Hirata, go! Throw this thing away!"

"Wait a minute!"

Hearing Kuroiwa's intention to throw the box away, Conan, who had moved closer, immediately stopped him. "It smells like blood in here!"

Update tonight

The garbage sorting initiative in a few residential areas in my jurisdiction has started these past two days, so I've been working overtime. I'll be able to update tonight.

Plus, I'm on duty tonight, so conservatively, I should be able to put out three to four chapters.

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40 Yoshikage Kira Calls Himself an Expert (Chapter 1)

The light blue cubic box was adorned with beautiful, pleasing patterns on all sides.

Combined with the delicate ribbon accents, the box placed before everyone looked like a cake box carefully chosen by someone.

If one received this gift on their birthday, it's likely no one would be unhappy.

However, if the sticky note on the box bore the signature of someone who had died in a fire over a decade ago, it's probable that this 'gift' would bring anything but surprise and happiness.

but rather shock and fear.

"Kid, don't just spout nonsense!" Mouri Kogoro eyed Conan suspiciously, his expression serious, and began to mutter.

It wasn't that he didn't believe Conan, the child who sometimes acted like a little adult. It was just that Mouri Kogoro felt what Conan was saying was too outlandish.

However, Conan was one of their own. No matter how much Mouri Kogoro disliked Conan at times, he still chose to believe him.

So, Mouri Kogoro leaned his head closer and sniffed.

Before him, Village Chief Kuroiwa, who was still startled by the name Aso Keiji, watched Mouri Kogoro nervously. The sweat on his forehead was clearly visible.

"Mr. Mouri..." Village Chief Kuroiwa asked hesitantly, too shocked to speak clearly.

Ignoring Village Chief Kuroiwa's call, Mouri Kogoro's expression grew increasingly grave as he carefully sniffed the paper box.

"Conan's right, there really is the smell of blood in here." As a former detective, Mouri Kogoro was naturally no stranger to the unique scent of blood. His tone was now extremely serious.

"Dad!"

"Mr. Mouri?"

"No way!"

Mouri Ran, Village Chief Kuroiwa, and Hirata all looked at the now serious Mouri Kogoro in astonishment and exclaimed.

As everyone's voices fell, the atmosphere in the room immediately became incredibly heavy. In the silent space, even the sound of their breathing was clearly audible.

Carefully untying the ribbon bow, Mouri Kogoro slowly opened the box.

In the room, as Mouri Kogoro moved with caution, everyone's eyes were fixed on the beautifully wrapped gift box.

Time ticked by, and the tense atmosphere around them made even Mouri Kogoro unable to resist swallowing.