Chapter 129: Sherry's Request
The young monks returned to their rooms one by one.
Not long after, Shunian—who'd only been a monk for less than a year—tiptoed out of his room and sneaked toward Abbot Tennei's quarters.
Koizumi Akako's room was directly across from Natsukawa's group.
However, she wasn't in her own room. Instead, she was chatting with the group of six in Ran's room.
Ran was quite the socialite. In just half an hour, she'd already become close friends with Koizumi Akako. They weren't using formal terms like "Koizumi-san" anymore—now it was "Akako-sama."
Natsukawa suspected that Ran's earnest befriending of Akako was primarily to obtain some kind of protective charm from her.
"Akako-sama, does your red magic have any talismans or protective charms to ward off evil spirits?"
Ran glanced around, slightly embarrassed that her fear of the supernatural was so obvious, and leaned close to Koizumi Akako's ear. "Is the Tengu legend real? Do monsters and ghosts actually exist in this world? Can I buy a red magic charm from you? I can pay!"
The barrage of questions left Conan extremely exasperated. After all these years, Ran-neechan's phobia still hasn't been cured!
"If you believe, it exists. If you don't, it doesn't. But don't worry—I checked before coming here, and there's no sign of any yokai at Mountain Mist Temple in the near future."
Koizumi Akako spoke in the tone of a fortune teller. "Although I've never seen a Mist Tengu personally, the mask left by my ancestors is proof enough of its existence. The mask still retains a demon's aura—there's no mistaking that.
However, some people refuse to believe in such things. Some only trust what they can see with their own eyes and scoff at legends. Those people will pay the price sooner or later."
Koizumi Akako turned toward Conan, pointing at his deadpan expression. "Take little Conan here, for example. Look at his face. He not only doesn't believe in the Mist Tengu, but there's also a hint of mockery in his eyes, like he's thinking, 'Ran-neechan, you're such a scaredy-cat.'"
"I wasn't!" Conan waved his hands frantically.
The sudden murderous aura emanating from Ran made his hair stand on end. Come on! I was just watching! Why does this Koizumi Akako woman have to drag me into this?
Koizumi Akako chuckled, then stroked her long hair. "But it doesn't matter. We witches have always been low-key. We never care whether others believe us or not. You'll understand when you see it for yourselves."
Koizumi Akako found this boy named Edogawa Conan particularly strange.
Although her red magic had no effect on him, she could sense a thick aura of death emanating from him.
This aura seemed to originate from the depths of hell itself—a powerful yet decaying presence that sent shivers down her spine.
This kid is like a grim reaper walking among humans.
She had reason to suspect that the reason Abbot Tennei's fate looked so grim was because Conan had somehow infected him with that death aura.
"Ran-neechan, the Tengu legend is just something people made up.
Actually, it's a folk tale left behind from when Master Ganjin crossed the sea hundreds of years ago.
The Tengu's true form was actually a meteorite! Hundreds of years ago, before science had even begun to develop, meteorites were considered omens of disaster. That's where the legend of the Tengu being unlucky came from.
As for the later stories about the Tengu killing people—that was definitely a legend fabricated by the temple staff to attract tourists.
In conclusion, the Tengu doesn't actually exist at all~"
"Little boy, you certainly know a lot." Koizumi Akako patted Conan's head and gazed out at the waterfall. "But the Mist Tengu does exist. I'd advise you to take a 'better safe than sorry' approach to these matters."
Conan rolled his eyes, stood up, and walked toward the door. He didn't want to continue this conversation.
As a successor of materialism, Conan's scientific worldview was the only ideology guiding his life.
"Conan, where are you going?"
Anya immediately jumped up to follow him.
She suspected Conan was secretly investigating the truth behind the death of the monk named Tunnian two years ago.
That sneaky Conan, acting on his own again! He has no respect for me, the leader of the Detective Boys!
"I'm just going to check something out. I'll be right back. You can come with me if you want."
Conan left without looking back. With Anya accompanying him, there shouldn't be any problems.
Besides, with two children investigating, many adults would subconsciously lower their guard, potentially revealing clues inadvertently.
While Conan and Anya went off to investigate, Natsukawa went alone to the second-floor corridor of the meditation room where someone had died.
It was very close to the waterfall, with splashing water cascading down onto the wooden corridor floor.
Natsukawa wasn't there to examine the scene or admire the waterfall—he'd come to answer a phone call.
Although it was noisy here, the sound of the waterfall was just enough to drown out his voice during the call.
The caller was Sherry. It was late at night, and he had no idea why she was calling at this hour.
After confirming no one was around, Natsukawa answered the phone.
"Tequila, it's me."
Sherry's voice was still cold, though better than last time. There was no helping it—Miyano Akemi was now under Tequila's supervision, and if her tone was too harsh, Sherry worried that Tequila might assign her sister some deadly mission.
After all, this was the Organization. She always assumed the worst about these people.
"Sherry, what's up?"
Natsukawa casually lit a cigarette, glancing at Conan and Anya as they sneaked into the meditation room below.
"You're not thinking of calling your sister again, are you? It hasn't been that long. Shouldn't you be focusing on getting results from your research? Otherwise, I'll have trouble explaining things to Gin."
"No."
"Then what is it? You're such a busy person—how come you have time to chat with me?"
"It's about the drug research. I need to go out for a while."
On his end of the line, Natsukawa took a deep drag of his cigarette, squinting as he asked, "What for?"
Although he didn't have the authority to remove Sherry from her position at the pharmaceutical company, that didn't stop him from finding out the reason. Information was important.
For a spy, every piece of intelligence had its corresponding value. Even if he couldn't use it himself, knowing a little extra was never a bad thing.
And Sherry's choice of timing made Natsukawa suspect she might be planning to escape.
Strange. Is this part of the plot?
Natsukawa was puzzled, so he stopped overthinking and just asked directly.
Sherry seemed to be considering her response, remaining silent for a long time.
Natsukawa wasn't in a hurry. He finished one cigarette and lit another. It wasn't until halfway through the second cigarette that Sherry finally spoke.
"I need to personally visit the homes of some people who took APTX-4869 to check on their conditions. This is very important for the research."
Natsukawa took a deep drag on his cigarette, suddenly remembering something.
Right, there was this plot point. It was around this time that Sherry discovered Shinichi Kudo hadn't actually died.
End of Chapter 129
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