Slacker Assassin's Multiverse Daily

Although my reasoning ability can't compare to yours, and my IQ is probably lower too, trying to trick me—you're still too green.

Koharu Yoshino mustered her last bit of courage, driving Jiang Hang, Conan, and the others to the area around the haunted house, sneaking a peek at what the place actually looked like.

The streets nearby were all villa and mansion districts; anyone who could buy a villa here clearly wasn't poor.

As for that so-called haunted house, it sat near the center of the street, complete with a small garden, showing off the former glory of the family that lived there five years ago.

But five years had passed, and the villa had long lost its luster. Ivy was nearly climbing to the roof, and the rooftop, neglected for years, had sprouted plenty of weeds.

Even from outside the villa, you could feel the desolation and decline of this "haunted house."

Jiang Hang didn't find it scary at all. After seeing the villa's state, he just thought to himself that no matter how much money he had later, he wouldn't buy a villa—too much trouble to maintain, and every morning it'd take several minutes to run from the bedroom to the living room for breakfast. For a lazy guy like him, that was a nightmare.

His own office was much better—not too small, and more importantly, comfortable to live in.

But for Koharu Yoshino, this villa was pretty terrifying.

Plus, it was already dusk. Watching the red sun on the horizon slant its long shadow across the villa's side, she couldn't help but imagine a flock of crows circling overhead, cawing mournfully.

This was way scarier than the haunted house at the amusement park!

Goodbye. Farewell.

She barely dared to linger nearby, immediately reversing out of the street. Before leaving, she pretended to be calm and told Jiang Hang, "If anything happens, just call us directly."

Even if something did happen, calling you wouldn't get you to come, would it? I'd be better off contacting the police directly.

Jiang Hang grumbled inwardly, then walked up to the villa's front door.

Unsurprisingly, the front door was locked.

"The door's locked. Looks like I'll have to find another entrance."

Jiang Hang muttered this, while Conan muttered to himself.

"Aren't you good at lockpicking? A lock like this shouldn't be hard for you."

That was true. Five years could turn a tidy villa dilapidated, but it wouldn't rust the lock that much, and this lock wasn't particularly high-end. With Jiang Hang's basic Lockpicking skill, he could open it with a bit of time.

But they were on the street, and he had a few elementary school kids with him. He wasn't about to show off his lockpicking in front of them.

Better to keep things a bit more proper for now.

Eagle Eye—Reveal, activate.

Jiang Hang had used this function many times. The reason he'd been nailing those lost-item commissions lately was entirely thanks to this skill.

Though its effective range wasn't long, within this area, almost all information appeared in his eyes.

Fingerprints left by touched spots, footprints from where people had walked—even how many times an oil painting's creator had brushed over it during production, he could clearly judge through the Reveal ability.

Too bad Jiang Hang, a philistine with zero artistic sense, had no interest in antiques and no knowledge base. Otherwise, with this branch of Eagle Eye, he could easily moonlight in the treasure-appraisal scene.

Soon, he spotted the villa's secret. Within ten meters, he couldn't scan the whole villa, but he got a good look at the outer perimeter. Combined with Eagle Eye's extended vision range, the villa had few secrets left.

Honestly, an assassin's Eagle Eye wasn't much use for those far-fetched cases—it couldn't let Jiang Hang deduce the killer's method. Only detectives like Conan, who relied on hard skills, could grasp the culprit's psychology, reason out their technique, and find the murderer.

But for cases this simple, one Eagle Eye was enough to know everything.

This villa really did have something. The Detective Boys sure were impressive.

Though he wasn't sure what was inside, Jiang Hang already regretted agreeing to bring them along.

He glanced at Conan, who was still feeling annoyed about being dragged along to explore this "haunted house."

He figured he should mess with Conan's head a bit.

You want to trick me? Now I'll reverse-trick you and show you what real acting looks like.

"This villa really is suspicious." He deliberately muttered to himself in front of Conan.

Conan froze, then looked at Jiang Hang, who was stroking his chin as if deep in thought.

From the look of it, was he actually here to solve a case and find clues?

Conan immediately sharpened his focus, wanting to know what Jiang Hang had just discovered to say that.

But there wasn't much useful info at the door. Conan stared wide-eyed for a long time and couldn't spot anything wrong.

What the hell did this guy find?

Just then, Jiang Hang suddenly walked off in another direction.

That was an alley between two villas, now overgrown with weeds. Looked like the other villa's owner didn't bother clearing them either—five years had let the weeds reach knee height.

"Just as I thought. I'll go check inside. You guys stay out for now—there might be snakes in there."

With that, Jiang Hang stepped into the alley.

There were no snakes around, of course, but his basic Disguise skill made him feel he should put on a bit of a show.

Soon, he found a small wooden door, about a meter tall, hidden by the weeds. The Detective Boys kids gathered around too.

"I see. I understand now." Jiang Hang deliberately said this in front of Conan again.

Conan felt like Jiang Hang was going to trigger his OCD.

He carefully examined the dog-door-like wooden panel. That was indeed an important clue.

This door doesn't look very old—judging from the hinges, it was probably installed within the last few years, no more than five at most...

No, wait. Ayumi said that after the murder case five years ago, the original owner moved out of this villa. Right now, this villa should be unoccupied.

And normally, no one would deliberately put a wooden door on a dog hole like this. This was clearly made for people to use...

That means, over the past few years, someone has actually been living in this villa?

Could it be that a homeless person found this villa, knew it was a haunted house that no one would come near, and just moved in? To avoid being discovered, they installed this hidden wooden door for easy access?

But he still felt Jiang Hang was hinting at more than just that.

So what the hell did you figure out? Just say it already!

Chapter 36: This Is Basic Reasoning (Bullshitting), My Friend

Having successfully rattled Conan's mindset, Jiang Hang casually sent a message to Koharu Yoshino.

"The haunted house has no ghost, but it might have a case. Want to come broaden your horizons?"

After messing with Conan, he decided to mess with Koharu Yoshino's side too. Jiang Hang felt his mood lighten.

Through the wooden door, he entered the long-abandoned villa.

"Once we're inside, remember to stick close to me. Don't wander off. This house is huge, and no one's taken care of it for ages—there might be dangers in here."

He didn't want the Detective Boys to get hyped up the moment they entered and start running around, only to get picked off one by one by whoever was hiding in this place. He was all too familiar with this trope. Even if he had no memory of this specific case, he could feel that was how it would play out.

He entered the villa through the side door directly opposite the small wooden door.

Seeing only a single set of fingerprints highlighted on the doorknob, Jiang Hang said nothing.

He tried to find a light switch nearby, but the circuit breakers were probably all turned off—after all, the person living here didn't want to be discovered. However, faucets were hidden enough that no one would worry about them being noticed. Jiang Hang tested one, and sure enough, water came out.

He'd thought the person living here might have dug their own well, but it seemed they hadn't gone that far yet.

He glanced at Conan.

Good. This guy was probably starting to agonize over who was living here.

But he wasn't going to let Conan keep going. After all, he'd come here to solve a case. The moment he entered the villa, the system had already notified him that this was a crime scene.

If Conan solved the case first, he'd have come here for nothing. In his Eagle Vision, the entire house was littered with highlighted clues. With Conan's brain, just seeing a few of them would probably be enough to crack the case.

Jiang Hang led the kids deeper into the villa.

The kids, who loved courting danger, initially wanted to explore the villa on their own. But after Jiang Hang caught them red-handed a few times, they obediently listened and followed him.

He naturally didn't want to bring kids to such a dangerous place. If he could, he'd rather send them all home right now and investigate the villa alone.

But who knew what reckless moves these thrill-seeking brats might pull?

Even if the Detective Boys in the anime had never gotten hurt despite constantly courting death, now that he—this "butterfly"—had appeared, a single flap of his wings could put them in danger. That was the last thing Jiang Hang wanted.

So he had to keep a tight leash on them. At least by his side, they were safe. At the same time, he kept his Eagle Vision active to ensure they didn't run into the so-called "Villa Ghost."

As they ventured deeper into the villa, the sky gradually darkened. Combined with the fact that this area barely saw sunlight anyway, it easily gave off an eerie, chilling vibe.

Sure, Genta and the others had been bold as lions outside, but now that they were actually experiencing this hollow, unsettling atmosphere, they were still just six- or seven-year-old kids. Getting scared was only natural.

At some point, aside from Conan, the kids had all tightly grabbed onto his clothes and pant legs.

Along the way, Jiang Hang deliberately pointed out a few obvious clues. He felt the haunted house exploration game should end now, so he headed straight for the most hidden spot highlighted in his Eagle Vision.

After walking for a few more minutes, he suddenly stopped as if he'd noticed something.

He checked the area, stomped lightly on the ground a couple of times, and then confirmed his findings.

"Let go for a second. There's something here. Let me check it out."

As Jiang Hang said this, the kids quickly scrambled behind him.

He bent down and soon found an inconspicuous groove in the floor.

It was the handle of a secret door. And judging by the wear around the groove, it was frequently used.

"Sure enough, a secret passage. Do all rich people love digging secret tunnels?" Jiang Hang muttered as he put some strength into lifting the hidden door in the floor.

Below was a staircase that seemed to go on forever, though he already knew what was down there.

"I don't think you guys should go down there. Following the usual story tropes, there might be countless imprisoned bones buried down there, right?"

Seeing the kids getting curious about the stairs beneath the secret door, Jiang Hang didn't take them down. Instead, he closed the door again.

The kids, who had been curious about what was below, immediately started trembling again.

Always scaring kids. What a nasty guy. Conan thought helplessly as he watched Jiang Hang frighten the children.

But that wasn't what he cared about. What he wanted to know was how Jiang Hang had found this secret door, and what secrets lay beneath it. He'd followed Jiang Hang around the villa for a long time, but he'd only vaguely formed a theory—one that still lacked decisive evidence.

He was well aware that Jiang Hang had led them straight here at the end, barely pausing at any of the forks along the way. It was very likely that he'd already spotted this secret passage shortly after entering.

"How did you find such a hidden secret door, big brother?" To get an answer, Conan didn't hesitate to play cute again, hoping to pry the information out of Jiang Hang.

"This is basic reasoning, little Conan." Jiang Hang messed with Conan's head once more.

Since when was that basic?! You're clearly just using Sherlock Holmes' lines to show off!

Though he couldn't understand how Jiang Hang had found the secret door at all, Conan quickly recalled what Ran had mentioned to him—that Jiang Hang was very good at finding things.

Conan had to admit that in the few times they'd met, the ability Jiang Hang displayed—especially when it came to finding things—was far superior to his own.

And just then, as Conan watched in astonishment, Jiang Hang pulled out his phone.

He was about to call Inspector Megure, but after thinking it over, even though he was now basically certain who the murderer was in that five-year-old case, it had only been two or three days since his last call. Jiang Hang felt like he might be calling a bit too frequently.

So he decided to call Officer Takagi instead.

The truth was, he just found Officer Takagi easier to talk to as a tool, unlike Inspector Megure, who would grill him with questions over the phone.

"Hello, this is Jiang Hang. Officer Takagi, you're not busy right now, are you?"

"Huh... having dinner with your uncle? Sorry, sorry. If you're off today, I'll just call Inspector Megure instead."

"It's fine? Really? Then let me briefly explain the situation. You can bring some people over to search the place. It's been years since anyone's been here, so a search shouldn't be too much trouble."

Jiang Hang briefly explained the case from five years ago, said he'd found a lead, and asked Takagi to bring a team to search the area. Then he hung up.

Conan stared wide-eyed as Jiang Hang finished the call.

"Brother Jiang Hang, you figured out the real culprit in that five-year-old case that fast?"

"Pretty much. Someone who knows about this secret door and has lived here for five years—that can only be the original owner of this house, right? A homeless person wouldn't pay the water bill for a villa."

"Why would they do it? If you think about it that way, there aren't many answers left. I'll leave the rest to the police to investigate."

"But shouldn't a detective solve the problem? You're already at the last step of unraveling the mystery, just one step away from finding the killer. Giving up now—don't you think it's a waste?" Perhaps because he was used to personally solving every problem he encountered, Conan couldn't understand Jiang Hang's behavior of giving up at 90% completion.

He even forgot to keep up his childlike tone while speaking.

Seeing Conan so worked up, Jiang Hang smiled. Conan had no idea that Jiang Hang had already seen everything through Eagle Vision.

"Let me tell you a bit more. Outside the villa, I noticed a window was open. But if that window had been open the whole time, it would probably be broken by now. However, I saw the area around that window was quite clean. It rained in Tokyo a few days ago—how could it be that clean? That window must have been opened recently."

This was something only Eagle Vision could pick up. No matter how good a normal person's eyesight was, they couldn't see as clearly as he could.

"On the third floor of the villa, in one room, I noticed the place was covered in dust, so I didn't go in. But I could faintly make out footprints on the floor. And I saw a picture frame in that room. It had clearly been sitting there for years, yet it was still clean enough to reflect light. If someone else were living in this villa, they wouldn't have any reason to do that."