The long, dark passage led underground, and secrets from a century ago rushed forth through the damp air.
Everyone gathered around the opening, looking down at the passage swallowed by darkness, each of them sighing in amazement.
"They dug such a deep passage into the mountain and even built mechanisms, yet no one knew about it... Your great-grandfather was quite the visionary." After shining his flashlight down there for a long while, Inui Shoichi offered dry praise, unable to hide the regret in his voice.
Everyone who had been curiously studying the passage below turned to look at him in unison.
There were no fools here. Everyone could hear what he really meant.
To build a castle of this scale in that era, then have the time and money to create such a vast underground space beneath it, squander wealth so freely, and still leave behind enough assets for his descendants to live comfortably without worrying about food or clothing—it was obvious just how immense the man's fortune and resources had been.
If the police had not confiscated his tools, or if they had not followed them to the castle, he might have been able to sneak around and explore. Perhaps he would have found plenty of "good things"...
"So he was rich." Mori Kogoro reached out and touched the stone wall, which was not particularly dusty, speaking bluntly. "There isn't much dust buildup, which means the air in this underground space may have always circulated. There must be more than one exit. Ordinary wealth couldn't accomplish something like this."
Natsumi Kousaka tightened her grip on the box at her side. Wisely declining to respond to that, she merely said, "The castle has always been maintained, and it is often open as a tourist attraction. It would not be too