Chapter 127: Koizumi Akako - Did I Just Walk Into a Den of Monsters?
Natsukawa crossed his arms and remained silent.
Conan was already suspicious, so there was no need for him to interfere. The kid's initiative deserved praise.
Speaking of which, a young monk had died in this room before, and the murderer was none other than Monk Tennei—the same one who'd just swindled them.
However, Tennei's murder method was so unconventional that the case remained unsolved.
Actually, this case was absolutely ridiculous. The moment Natsukawa heard the combination of cherry blossoms, temples, and waterfalls, this was the case that came to mind.
The specific method involved Tennei knocking the young monk unconscious, placing him in a kayak, then diverting the waterfall from the second-floor corridor through a skylight into the room. The buoyancy of the water would float the kayak up to the ceiling beam.
Since the water flow wasn't large, the process of the waterfall filling the room supposedly took six or seven hours.
Once the water reached a certain height, the young monk would be hanging from the beam by a rope. Then Tennei would run down to the first floor and break through the wooden wall near the railing to release the water.
This completed the "Mist Tengu" murder method of suspending someone from the second-floor beam.
Years ago, the police couldn't determine the cause of death because the dust on the beam showed no signs of disturbance, leading them to classify it as suicide.
They concluded the young monk had climbed onto the beam with a rope and hanged himself.
The police even found a melodramatic motive for the suicide—something about his childhood sweetheart being betrothed to the heir of a larger temple.
However, this method was utterly absurd.
Mountain Mist Temple was mostly wooden construction. Even with some brick walls, to get someone onto that beam, the room would need to hold at least 72 tons of water.
That meant the room withstood 72 tons of water pressure without exploding.
This was a century-old temple. Even with later renovations, this defied all logic.
Okay, even if it could withstand that much water, when Conan later broke open that wooden door to release it, the pressure should have completely destroyed the room.
Yet only a small opening appeared. Completely illogical!
There wasn't much point in overthinking it—it was too much of a headache. Natsukawa could only chalk it up to Detective Conan physics.
While he was pondering the case, Kannian had already led the group to the Buddha hall.
The hall was entirely wooden, appearing somewhat weathered due to age, but its layout was striking: ancient oil lamps and Buddha statues, wisps of incense smoke rising, and most notably, a red Tengu mask placed beneath Master Ganjin's statue.
"What's with that mask?" Natsukawa asked with confusion.
He remembered there was a Mist Tengu mask at Mountain Mist Temple, but shouldn't it be stored somewhere else?
Kannian smiled. "The villagers nearby have a custom of worshipping the Mist Tengu, so we enshrine a mask in our Buddha hall. Don't let its ordinary appearance fool you—this is an ancient artifact passed down from when the temple was founded a hundred years ago.
There used to be many incidents of the Mist Tengu attacking people on this mountain. Later, villagers found this mask and enshrined it here, and after that, there were no more attacks.
There's also a legend that a powerful onmyoji passed through and slew the Mist Tengu, sealing its spirit within this mask.
People were grateful for this master's merit, so they enshrined the mask here.
The truth is impossible to verify now, but the Mist Tengu mask has remained at Mountain Mist Temple for over a hundred years."
Ran hugged herself tightly, asking somewhat timidly, "Is it really okay to enshrine the Tengu mask here? Will something happen at night?"
"I-It should be fine." Kannian himself sounded uncertain. After all, something strange had happened two years ago—it was hard to say whether the Tengu mask was involved.
At that moment, sounds came from outside.
Crisp footsteps approached from the distance, each step carrying an air of superiority.
Everyone looked toward the entrance. These footsteps didn't belong to any monk in the temple—monks wore cloth shoes and wouldn't make such loud sounds.
Soon, a long-legged girl dressed somewhat like Cleopatra came into view.
In this chilly weather, wasn't she cold?
Natsukawa sized her up, quickly recognizing her.
"Hey, what kind of hospitality does Mountain Mist Temple have? I've been calling out forever, and nobody's come!"
The girl tossed her long red hair, her heels clicking sharply as she strode into the Buddha hall.
Completely unbothered by the crowd, she sat down on a wooden chair, crossed her legs, and looked at Kannian with folded arms. "The service at this temple is truly terrible."
As she spoke, the cobra ornament on her head revealed lifeless, almost sentient eyes that seemed to mirror the girl's expression.
"Miss, who are you...?"
Kannian was completely baffled. Where did this woman come from?
She was acting like she owned the place. Had she even paid? "Five thousand yen for a meal, ten thousand for a room. Which would you like, miss?"
"..."
"I am the heir to the Koizumi family's red magic. I've come to retrieve the Mist Tengu mask that the Koizumi family left here."
Koizumi Akako stood and walked to the altar, pointing at the red Tengu mask. "This was agreed upon with the first abbot of Mountain Mist Temple. After two cycles of sixty years, the mask would be returned to its rightful owner."
Kannian's expression changed. He glanced toward the door, noticing the abbot still hadn't arrived.
"I apologize, but I can't make that decision. I don't know the history of the Tengu mask. This matter must be decided by Master Tennei."
Kannian bowed apologetically to Natsukawa, then hurried off to find his master.
How embarrassing! He'd just finished explaining the legend of the mask, and now someone claiming to be its owner had shown up.
So the creditor is actually Koizumi Akako? If that's the case... could things have changed?
Natsukawa frowned in thought, his gaze fixed on Koizumi Akako without any intention of looking away—at least not until Yor stepped on his foot, snapping him out of his reverie.
"Sorry." Yor nodded apologetically to Koizumi Akako, then shot Natsukawa a glare.
Polite or not, staring at another girl right in front of his girlfriend was infuriating.
Was he trying to have his cake and eat it too? Was Natsukawa a player?
Koizumi Akako shook her head, studying Natsukawa curiously for a couple of seconds. "It's fine."
She then examined the others present.
Of the group of six, everyone except Kogoro Mouri—who'd been left in his room to sleep it off—was here.
Koizumi Akako scrutinized the other five for a long moment.
Then, the girl who'd been treating this place like her own home suddenly frowned, her arrogant aura subsiding somewhat.
These people... every single one of them is anything but ordinary!
She couldn't see through the couple at all. She'd tried using her red magic to enhance her sight and peer into their true nature, but the man's spiritual power was too strong.
Even with red magic's enhancement, she couldn't penetrate his heart or discern his essence.
The woman was even more terrifying. She was shrouded in incredibly intense killing intent, and a phantom in a black dress rose behind her, suddenly glancing at Akako with a look that made even this sole inheritor of red magic feel a chill down her spine.
Next were the two children.
She'd thought children would be easier to read, but with red magic's enhancement, the little boy completely vanished before her eyes! It was outrageous!
The magic had absolutely no effect on him whatsoever!
And that little girl was strange too. After just two seconds of observation, not only could Akako not discern anything about her, she felt like her own inner thoughts were being read.
What kind of monsters are these?!
The only one who seemed remotely normal was the girl with the pointed bangs, but her mind was currently filled with images of the Tengu, so even she was pretty abnormal.
Did I accidentally walk into a den of monsters?
Even Lucifer wasn't this terrifying.
Koizumi Akako regretted not casting a divination spell before leaving home today. It seemed like something bad was about to happen.
End of Chapter 127
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