The Victim Was Yamazaki Akiji

Yamazaki Akiji's friend, Iwata Daijiro, lived in a sprawling Western-style mansion.

The mansion had a sizable yard, with cobblestone paths, green lawns, flower beds, trees, a pond, statues, and more. All in all, it was an absolutely lavish estate by Japanese standards.

It was still only afternoon; the evening banquet hadn't begun yet.

Yamazaki Akiji took Shu Yunwen to Iwata Daijiro's bedroom to meet the owner of the mansion.

Iwata Daijiro was a man in his early sixties, rather thin, seated in a wheelchair with one leg in a cast.

According to Yamazaki, Iwata had injured his leg in an accident, and it hadn't healed very well, so he still used a wheelchair. Yamazaki also said that lately, strange "ding-dong" sounds could often be heard throughout Iwata's mansion. The servants had investigated, but found nothing, which had left Iwata rather frightened.

That was the main reason Yamazaki, being a good friend, had asked for a "talisman" for Iwata.

Unlike Yamazaki, Iwata didn't trust so-called "exorcists." After exchanging only a few pleasantries, he said he had other matters to attend to and told Yamazaki and Shu Yunwen to make themselves at home.

As soon as they left Iwata's bedroom, Yamazaki apologized to Shu Yunwen. "Shu-san, I'm terribly sorry. Iwata was rather rude. Please don't take offense."

Shu Yunwen shrugged. "Please don't worry about it, Mr. Yamazaki. Also, if you have time, would you mind walking around the mansion with me? We might find something."

"Of course," Yamazaki agreed.

"Thank you for the trouble," Shu Yunwen said, inwardly grumbling that the Japanese really were excessively formal.

As he muttered to himself, Shu Yunwen murmured a Sorcerous Curse. A few seconds later, he cast a spell, and a hazy veil seemed to settle over his eyes as he looked around.

Ghost Sorcery: Ghost Eye!

Like Bad Luck, this spell was an entry-level trick of the trade. Its main ability was to let the caster see ghosts, souls, and the like.

Among the Ghost Sorcery spells, Ghost Eye was one of the most useless to a sorcerer.

Once a Ghost Sorcerer had progressed beyond the novice stage and become an initiate, he naturally gained the ability to see yin and yang. It didn't consume Sorcerous Power, and he could switch it on and off at will, so there was no need to cast Ghost Eye specifically. Of course, for ordinary people, Ghost Eye was effectively a temporary version of the ability to see yin and yang, and it worked remarkably well.

Shu Yunwen hadn't been practicing Ghost Sorcery for long, and physically, he was no different from an ordinary person. He hadn't gained the ability to see yin and yang, so he could only cast Ghost Eye on himself to help him look around.

With Yamazaki leading the way, they walked around the mansion and found the soul of a stray cat that was close to disappearing. Other than that, they found nothing.

The stray cat's soul was nearly gone and posed no threat. A normal person could have blown it away with a puff of air, so it couldn't possibly have caused trouble in the mansion. After thinking it over, Shu Yunwen decided the strange occurrences were probably caused by a person, not a ghost. As for why no one had figured it out, that had nothing to do with him.

In the lounge, Yamazaki was more respectful than before. "Shu-san, did you find anything?"

A hazy veil still covered Shu Yunwen's eyes, making him seem much more mysterious to Yamazaki.

"No," Shu Yunwen replied. "The strange things happening in this mansion probably have nothing to do with anything supernatural. Someone might have made the noise by accident..."

"I see..." Yamazaki sounded disappointed.

Seeing his reaction, Shu Yunwen rolled his eyes. What's wrong with this guy? Isn't it better if there are no ghosts? If there's some powerful vengeful spirit or evil spirit in this mansion, I might not be able to deal with it yet...

After a brief conversation, Yamazaki took his leave. Shu Yunwen rested in his room until evening, when the banquet finally began.

After having a little to eat at the banquet, Shu Yunwen was approached by several people who wanted to chat.

"Hello, Master Keqin. I never expected you to be here tonight." The speaker was a beautiful middle-aged woman, and she was very respectful.

At her words, Shu Yunwen realized she had mistaken him for his cheap old man, Shu Keqin.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. My name is Shu Yunwen, and my father was Shu Keqin, but he's passed away."

"Is that so?" The middle-aged woman looked both disappointed and surprised. "But your face..."

Shu Yunwen could only explain, "I look a little older because I'm practicing an exorcism technique. I'll look like myself again eventually."

After seeing one person off, someone else came over, just as respectful. "Hello, Master Keqin. I never thought I'd run into you here. Some people say you've already passed away..."

"My father has indeed passed away. My name is Shu Yunwen. It's a pleasure to meet you," Shu Yunwen explained again. "My face looks so old because I'm practicing my family's exorcism technique. I'll look like myself again eventually."

"Is that so? Then I'm terribly sorry for the mistake."

Before long, Shu Yunwen had seen off six people. Each had left him a business card before departing. They were probably all part of the network Shu Keqin had left behind.

"Shu-san, were those people just now friends of your father?" Yamazaki appeared from some obscure corner.

Shu Yunwen nodded. "Oh, Mr. Yamazaki. They all mistook me for my father."

"That's understandable," Yamazaki said with a smile. "You really do look a lot like Master Keqin."

After chatting with Shu Yunwen for a few minutes, Yamazaki suddenly raised his wrist to check his watch. "I'm sorry, Shu-san, but I have something else to take care of. Please excuse me."

"You're too polite, Mr. Yamazaki. Go ahead."

After Yamazaki left, Shu Yunwen stayed in the banquet hall for a little longer, then went out and asked a servant to prepare a room for him. He told them not to disturb him and to let him know when Yamazaki left. After all, he still had some homework from his teacher to finish.

The miserable life of a student.

Just as he finished his homework, Shu Yunwen heard police sirens outside the room.

He looked out the window and saw several people get out of the police cars outside the mansion and hurry inside.

Shu Yunwen was taken aback. He opened the door and waved to a servant in the hallway. "Hello, did something happen? I saw police cars from the window..."

"Ah, hello, sir." The servant hurriedly bowed. "Y-yes, something happened. It seems one of the guests has been murdered."

"Someone died?" Shu Yunwen's eyes lit up. "Quick, take me to see!"

For him, a dead person was practically a free gift! And it sounded like the victim had been murdered, too.

The servant shook his head. "N-no, you can't. The police said no one is allowed near the scene until they arrive."

Well, that was one of the most common things the cops said.

It was to protect the crime scene and preserve the evidence, after all!

"Heh..." Shu Yunwen shook his head helplessly, murmured another Sorcerous Curse, and cast Ghost Eye. Then he started searching the mansion on his own.

About two minutes later, Shu Yunwen found the room where the victim lay. The police had already cordoned off the area.

Nearby, Iwata Daijiro sat in his wheelchair, looking utterly grief-stricken and furious. "Inspector Megure, you must catch the killer and avenge my good friend Yamazaki!"

Yamazaki?

Shu Yunwen paused and asked a bystander beside him, "Hello. Do you know who was killed?"

"Ah! I heard it was Mr. Yamazaki Akiji, the general manager of Hachiryu Bank..."

So Yamazaki Akiji really had been murdered?

"Out of the way! Let me through! Let me through!" someone shouted from outside. A few seconds later, a young man in blue squeezed his way over. When he turned and saw Shu Yunwen, he looked surprised. "Shu-san? W-what are you doing here?"

"Why shouldn't I be here, Student Kudo? Uh..."

Shu Yunwen smiled as he spoke, then suddenly froze as something occurred to him—

Wait! This didn't look right!

The Grim Reaper, Kudo Shinichi; the ever-present supporting character, Inspector Megure; the one-legged Lord Iwata, sitting in a wheelchair; and Yamazaki Akiji, the murder victim, who was the general manager of Hachiryu Bank...

Damn! Why did this feel like the case at the very beginning of Detective Conan?

The killer was, as I recall...

Shu Yunwen turned his gaze to Iwata Daijiro, still sitting in his wheelchair with a grief-stricken expression.

Hmm...

This guy was a pretty good actor!

P.S. Yamazaki's identity has been revealed.

That's right, he was the man murdered at the beginning—the one who didn't even get a postmortem photo...