Chapter 44

How could they possibly let go of flesh and blood delivered right to their mouths?

"In the end, after the most fanatical demon worshippers had all disappeared, the remaining members finally realized the danger. Though they still held their cannibalistic rituals on schedule, they handed the Maple Leaf Gold Coins, which could summon demons, to the most cautious member of the organization and had him find a place to seal them away permanently.

As time passed, the ogres' sins continued to loom over Verona Creek Town to this day, yet no one knew of the Maple Leaf Gold Coins that had started it all.

Until one day, a descendant of one of the worshippers rediscovered them among the many burial objects in his family graveyard and sold them off as ordinary gold coins...

Perhaps only Karasuma Renya, who had happened to read a worshipper's diary seventy years ago and, influenced by it, began investigating the mysteries of the occult, still remembered this long-buried history?"

Chapter 69: Kaedehara Kazuha

"Perhaps only Karasuma Renya, who had happened to read a worshipper's diary seventy years ago and, influenced by it, began investigating the mysteries of the occult, still remembered this long-buried history?"

After the scene of Karasuma Renya reading the diary appeared, the entire cutscene came to an abrupt end.

If not for the Geo Archon still waiting backstage, Yin Kong would have cursed on the spot.

Genshin's cutscenes had always been heavy-hitting, but this had caught him completely off guard.

Yin Kong was certain he had missed quite a few details just now.

Unfortunately, cutscenes in the game could not be replayed.

Still, he had probably caught the two most crucial pieces of information:

First, the ogres' descendants were still entrenched in Verona Creek Town, continuing their evil deeds and even holding regular rituals.

Second, Karasuma Renya—the impossibly mysterious boss who had founded the Black Organization—had apparently begun researching mysterious powers after being influenced by a demon worshipper's diary.

Even the mysterious drug that had turned Kudo Shinichi into Conan might have been born from that.

"Unforgivable!"

After hearing Yin Kong's account, Shikanoin Heizou's tone naturally became extraordinarily furious.

He had encountered countless criminals of all kinds. At least half the criminals in the Inazuma Shogunate's prison had been put there by him.

But clearly, the existence of these cannibalistic maniacs had still utterly shattered his worldview.

After all, compared to these lunatics who worshipped demons and fed on their own kind, even Fontaine's moral bottom-feeders suddenly seemed rather decent.

"Traveler, please allow me to bring these scum to justice!"

With Shikanoin Heizou's hatred of evil, he wished he could fly straight to Verona Creek Town in Italy and wipe out these demons wearing human skin in one sweep.

"Don't act rashly, Little Deer." Though Yin Kong felt much the same way as Shikanoin Heizou at that moment, he knew it would be highly inappropriate. "Let's hear Mr. Zhongli's opinion first."

Whenever he could not decide what to do, asking Zhongli was a good habit Yin Kong had recently developed.

Zhongli pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "I agree with Yin Kong's view. Please remain calm, Mr. Shikanoin.

You have only just arrived in this world and are unfamiliar with it. Given our identities, leaving the country alone would already be quite troublesome. And with the language barrier, acting rashly would only alert the enemy..."

Shikanoin Heizou gritted his teeth, unwilling to accept it.

"But—"

Zhongli's tone softened slightly as he persuaded him, "Rest assured, neither the Traveler nor I are trying to stop you. But if we are to eradicate evil completely, we must first make thorough preparations. And I can assure you, it will not take long."

By the end, Zhongli's tone had become uncharacteristically stern.

Clearly, given Zhongli's character, even if this was not Liyue and those in danger were not his people, he would never stand idly by.

Only after the discussion ended did Yin Kong remember to open the system interface and invite [Kaedehara Kazuha] into the party.

"[Through drifting wind and rain, I return barefoot with blade in hand.] I never imagined that even in another world, we would have another chance to travel together. It seems there truly is a bond between us beyond imagination."

Only when he saw Kazuha truly join the party did Yin Kong finally breathe a sigh of relief.

This limited-time event still involved many complications he needed to deal with, but at least the reward was already in hand.

"Great. With Kazuha's help, we'll be even more certain of dealing with the ogre organization."

Shikanoin Heizou was also greatly invigorated.

Back in Inazuma, he and Kazuha had often been reliable partners.

Kazuha's extraordinary sensitivity to nature in particular often produced miraculous results while tracking down criminals.

At that point, Shikanoin Heizou quickly asked, "Traveler, why don't we inform that police officer about this?"

Yin Kong was somewhat surprised.

"Notify the police?"

Though the "curse" on the twelve gold coins had been removed, they had not originally planned to tell anyone else about this.

After all, it involved too many things, and it would be easy for further complications to arise.

Kazuha guessed, "I take it Heizou means to lure the snake from its hole?"

Since someone had been pulling the strings behind that bandit leader and specifically wanted those gold coins, it meant he most likely knew about the legend connected to them.

He might even have been one of those scum."

"Exactly." Shikanoin Heizou looked quite pleased as he added, "So not only do we need to call the police, we should also make a big show of publicizing the twelve swapped coins. Then we just wait for the rabbit to come to us."

With that settled, Yin Kong no longer needed to take the coins away in advance.

He quietly left the [Mantendo] game company at once and headed to the snack street next door, where he found Kuki Shinobu and Paimon wandering around.

To Yin Kong's surprise, two familiar figures were with them as well.

"Traveler!"

Hearing Yin Kong call out, Paimon whipped around too.

The moment she saw Yin Kong, she excitedly waved at him.

Seeing that Yin Kong was safe and sound, Kuki Shinobu finally relaxed completely and teased, "You finally showed up. If you'd taken any longer, Paimon wouldn't have been able to tell whether her snacks were savory or spicy."

Yin Kong smiled. "She can still eat, so it's not a big problem."

Amid little Paimon's protests, Yin Kong pinched her chubby cheeks before turning to Conan and Professor Agasa, who stood nearby with an awkward smile. "How did you two end up together?"

Yin Kong was not at all surprised that Inspector Megure had failed to keep an eye on Conan.

After all, this great detective had Professor Agasa helping him cover things up.

At the mention of it, Paimon puffed herself up proudly. "Yin Kong, let me introduce you. This is Edogawa Conan, my newly recruited underling."

Yin Kong raised an eyebrow, seeming to understand something. "Why did you suddenly decide to recruit an underling, Paimon?"

Paimon explained with a serious expression, "Look, even Itto has A-Kou, Genta, and A-Shou as his three underlings. I can't lose to him, can I?"

Yin Kong suddenly understood. "So you set your sights on the Junior Detective Agency?"

Paimon nodded vigorously. "That's right! When we run into Itto someday, we'll have an underling showdown!"

After thinking it over, Yin Kong decided not to remind Paimon that Shinobu technically counted as a member of the Arataki Gang too. She alone could probably hold off the entire Junior Detective Agency.

Besides, A-Kou and the other two had not entered the card pool either, so they probably could not be pulled.

And Paimon could not possibly have thought of recruiting underlings for no reason.

His gaze shifted to Conan, whose eyes were darting away, and he said with a faint smile, "But it seems your newly recruited underling is a little reluctant to acknowledge that identity."

"How could that be?" Paimon looked utterly confident as she turned to Conan. "Come on, Conan. Call me Boss Paimon."

It had not felt like much when they were just trying to get friendly earlier, but under Yin Kong and everyone else's gaze, Conan suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment.

But embarrassment was useless. To avoid arousing suspicion, he could only force himself to say, "Boss Paimon."

Paimon crossed her arms and turned away smugly. "Can't hear you. Louder—I can't hear you."

Conan had no choice but to shut his eyes, grit his teeth, and shout, "Boss Paimon!"

"Not bad. Nice and spirited."

Only then did Paimon nod in satisfaction. She turned around and picked out six skewers of takoyaki from the dazzling assortment of snacks Shinobu was carrying.

The little fellow hesitated for several seconds, then put three of the skewers back into the cup before handing the remaining three to Conan. "Here, little brother Conan. This is Boss Paimon's reward for you."

Conan looked helpless. How could he fail to see that Paimon was using the classic tactic of giving a slap and then a sweet?

If he were an actual child, perhaps Paimon might have bought him over. But he was the great High School Detective Kudo Shinichi—would he really be bought off by a few skewers of takoyaki?

Though he had only recently lost that title, it did not matter. He would win it back soon enough!

Conan bit into a takoyaki ball with a "fierce" expression, secretly swearing to himself.

Huh. Come to think of it, this vendor was really good. The takoyaki was actually quite delicious.

Over here, Paimon also puffed out her chest proudly.

"Hehe, Yin Kong, did you hear that?"

"Not bad, not bad." Yin Kong obligingly gave a light round of applause. After thoroughly satisfying Paimon's vanity, he continued, "All right, though. It's time for us to get down to business."

Catching the key word, Conan immediately perked up and looked up curiously.

"Brother Yin Kong, have you already confirmed the clue?"

Yin Kong lowered his head without answering, silently staring at Conan.

Seeing Yin Kong suddenly fall silent and fix his gaze on him, Conan immediately felt an invisible pressure bearing down on him. He forced out a smile and stammered, "W-What... is it?"

Just as Conan was starting to feel his scalp prickle under that stare, Yin Kong suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Kid, detective games are over."

Conan jolted, his body instinctively trembling.

Because if he remembered correctly, after hearing those words back then, Gin had knocked him unconscious with a blow to the head.

Was Yin Kong really a member of the Black Organization!?

Just as Conan's mind went blank, with almost nothing left in it but that single thought, Yin Kong released the great detective, who had already been scared witless, and looked at Professor Agasa.

"Professor Agasa, are you Conan's guardian?"

Professor Agasa froze for a moment before nodding.

"That's right. I'm one of Conan's guardians."

"Good."