At the same time.
In a corner Toyama Kazuha couldn't see, among the seats in front of the stage.
Hattori Heiji's gaze turned razor-sharp.
"..." One person making a mistake and crying out could be overlooked, but now both the "Prince" and the "Minister" had screamed at the same time before their "deaths." It was far too much of a coincidence.
And... it hadn't been an illusion! Hattori Heiji thought. When the Minister had fallen from the balcony just now, he had definitely seen something strike him.
It had been some kind of black sphere. It was difficult to make out against the black backdrop, but Hattori Heiji trusted his eyesight. Ever since childhood, he had been able to pinpoint his father's location in total darkness—Hattori Heizo had dark skin and loved wearing all-black suits, often blending into the night. Hattori Heiji had long trained his eyes to spot moving black objects against a dark background.
Hattori Heiji: "..." There was something wrong here. Something very wrong!
He stopped paying attention to the manager on the Walkie-talkie and hurried toward the stage.
—A Detective's sharp intuition told him that this wasn't over yet.
Hattori Heiji had promised the manager that he would stop the possible "Curse."
Though he believed this "Curse" was nothing but groundless paranoia, he had come all this way. So he had stayed until the official start of the performance, quietly observing the audience seats.
When the "Minister" had been knocked from the balcony, Hattori Heiji had been at the very last row of seats when he noticed something was off.
He could only hurry through the narrow corridor and circle around toward the backstage area.
On the stage, after the "Minister" and the "Prince" died one after another.
The King emerged from behind the