A few more days passed. At school, Ran excitedly told me about Conan.
"You know, those friends of Conan we saw were treasure hunting and accidentally caught a robber, and guess what? A girl named Ayumi gave Conan a kiss on the cheek, saying it was thanks to him."
'Ah, the early treasure hunt episode.'
"It was so cute. I think I understand why you said he's my destined partner."
"Conan must have liked it, right?"
"His face turned red, and he was all shy, hehe."
'Hehe, that Conan kid.'
Then Sonoko approached and spoke up.
"Cassian! Ran! This weekend, at our villa, my sister's university movie club is having a reunion. Do you want to come hang out?"
'Is this the villa episode?'
Since Conan has so many episodes, I was a bit confused. Ran thought for a moment and said.
"Sure, I don't have anything to do on the weekend."
"What about you, Cassian?"
"Hold on, I have a bad feeling about this."
"Huh?"
"I feel like something bad might happen to Sonoko and Ran. I think I need to do a divination for this."
Sonoko said, flustered.
"What? Really?"
"Yes."
I took out some rice from my bag, pretending to do a divination like last time, sprinkled a bit on the desk, thought for a moment, and said.
"Hmm... It doesn't seem to be about Sonoko and Ran, but rather a problem with that club?"
"What!? Then my sister is in danger? This won't do. After school, let's go to my house right away!"
So after school, we headed to Sonoko's house. Ran came along too, probably worried by my words. Using [Observation Haki], I could see that at Sonoko's house, there were two people: her mother, Tomoko, and her sister, Ayako.
"Hello."
"Oh! Long time no see, Ran. And Sonoko brought a boy! Ah! It's the onmyoji, Cassian!"
"Yes, I'm the onmyoji Cassian. Nice to meet you."
Tomoko hurriedly went somewhere and came back with paper and a pen. Tomoko was a married woman but still maintained considerable beauty. Not that I'm into older women, though.
"Could I ask for an autograph?"
"Hahaha, of course."
As I was giving an autograph on the paper, perhaps because it was noisy downstairs, Ayako came out of her room and came down. Ayako, Sonoko's sister, was also a beauty. In the anime, the art quality seemed to fluctuate.
"Oh? It's Cassian! Why is a celebrity at our house?"
"It's because..."
Sonoko explained.
"But this club meeting is important. We've already made all the arrangements... And canceling just because of a bad feeling is a bit..."
"Cassian is different from other frauds!"
Ayako was the type who didn't believe in superstitions, like Conan. No matter how hard Sonoko explained, she wouldn't listen.
"Then, let's just do a divination first."
I held Ayako's hand and pretended to chant a short spell. Ayako blushed when I held her hand.
"Hmm... An axe and bandages..."
Sonoko asked.
"Huh? An axe and bandages? What does that mean?"
"I'm not sure, but it's something to be careful of and avoid in the future."
"Ah~ Like the black and drugs you mentioned to Shinichi last time?"
"Yes. It seems like I should go along this time. The appearance of a weapon means someone might die."
"What??? Then it's really dangerous!"
Then Ran said.
"I'll help too. I may look like this, but I'm a karate black belt."
So it was decided that I, Ran, and Sonoko would go together.
On the day, I took out a wooden sword from my inventory and was about to go with Ran, but Conan insisted on coming along, throwing a fit. This kid probably thought Ran and I were going on a trip together or something.
"No! Conan, Cassian and I have important business."
"Yeah, I decided to go on a trip with Ran to enjoy our honeymoon."
"What are you saying, Cassian!"
Thump!
I got a hit on the back for joking around.
"Ahem... Actually, the divination came out bad, so we're going to catch a ghost. So it's dangerous, Conan, you'd be scared, right?"
"Wow! I want to see a ghost too!"
This kid doesn't seem to plan on backing down. Anyway, as time ran out, we had no choice but to take Conan along. We took a bus for about two hours and walked through a forest path. During the journey, Conan looked at me and asked about onmyoji arts.
"Hey! Can I learn onmyoji arts too?"
"You can learn, but it's too late. Spiritual beings pay attention to those who recognize them. So, from birth, we open the spiritual eye (the eye that can see ghosts) and grow up under the protection of an onmyoji to prevent evil spirits from attaching, then release the protection when we can handle it to some extent. So if Conan wants to learn, you'd have to stick with me 24/7 for at least five years. Then you could learn."
"Ugh... I'll just give up..."
"Why? Don't you like this big brother? Hmm~?"
When I looked at Conan suggestively and spoke, Conan made a face and said.
"Ugh! I feel like throwing up!"
"Hahaha, just kidding, kid."
Actually, it was all made up. How could I teach something I don't know myself? But it seemed Conan was starting to believe what I said.
"Then, can you curse someone like in TV or movies?"
"It's possible, but if the curse fails or is broken midway, it returns to the caster, which is dangerous."
Conan kept asking about onmyoji arts during the journey, annoying me. As a detective, he seemed curious about everything in this new world.
"Are there ghosts here now?"
"Hmm..."
I looked around. I didn't see any. But I felt like playing a prank.
"There are."
"Where?"
"Sitting on Ran's shoulder."
"What! Eek!"
Startled by that, Ran quickly tried to brush off her shoulder with her hand.
Pat pat!
It was cute how Ran treated ghosts like bugs.
"Hahaha, just kidding, kidding. There are no ghosts around here. And ghosts don't fall off if you brush them with your hand. Hahaha."
"Ahh! Really!"
But it was true that this world had less spiritual influence. Seeing no ghosts even in the mountains made me wonder. Is it because there's a god of death nearby?
"Cassian, I think we're lost..."
"Really? Hold on."
I already knew the villa's location using [Observation Haki]. But like an onmyoji, I struck a pose as if doing a divination and started moving.
"This way!"
"Eh~? Is that possible?"
"Of course~ Just trust me!"
As I led the way, the villa soon came into view.
"Wow~ Onmyoji are all-purpose."
"Right?"
As we moved a bit further, a deep cliff appeared ahead, and a large bridge made of wood and ropes connecting to the villa was visible.
"Building a villa there, Sonoko's family has quite unique tastes."
"Tell me about it."
Hearing my words, Conan agreed and said.
"Looks perfect for a murder case."
Hearing that, Ran made a face and said.
"Don't say things like that."
"Ahaha..."
As we approached the bridge to cross it, someone was already crossing ahead. Looking closely, it seemed like an adult man wearing a wide-brimmed hat low and wrapped in a black coat.
As he started crossing the bridge, it swayed, and the man turned back—his face was tightly wrapped in bandages. Seeing that, Ran said.
"Oh, bandages! Hey!"
When Ran called out to the person ahead, the mysterious bandaged person hurriedly started running away.
"Cassian, isn't that the person? The one with bandages on his face?"
"I can't tell from this distance."
I planned to wait until the first murder happened. Because in this episode, the victim deserved it, and I had no intention of interfering with a long-prepared revenge.
We crossed the bridge and arrived at the villa. Then Sonoko came out to greet us.
"Why are you so late? I was so anxious waiting."
"Hahaha, Ran has no sense of direction..."
Thump!
"Oof!"
Ran poked me in the side.
"Who's the kid with you?"
"This is Conan, the kid Professor Agasa entrusted to me, as I mentioned before."
"Ran! Cassian said it might be dangerous, so how can you bring a kid!"
"Ahaha, well, there was no place to leave him... Sorry..."
Sonoko looked at the wooden sword I was carrying and said.
"Cassian, did you learn 'kendo'?"
"No, not kendo, but a swordsmanship passed down in my family. If I wield a sword, there's probably no one in this world who can beat me."
"Eh~ That's unbelievable. You look like a delicate nobleman type."
"Seriously, I can't believe it..."
They don't know. If I put my mind to it, I could wipe out all of humanity in the Conan world in just a few days.
"Let's go inside first."
"Okay."
We followed Sonoko's lead and entered the villa.
"I prepared a room on the second floor, so unpack your things and come down."
"Got it."
I went up to the second floor first and knocked. In this episode, Ran opens doors recklessly and learns the culprit's secret, making her a target, so I did this to prevent that.
Knock knock!
"Yes!"
When I knocked, a man inside came out and opened the door.
"Excuse me. I heard there's an empty room on the second floor, but I don't know where it is."
"Oh! You're the onmyoji Cassian. Nice to meet you. I heard you were coming. The empty room is at the end of this hallway."
"I see. Thank you."
I took Ran and Conan to the end room. Just in case, I knocked again.
Knock knock!
When there was no response, I said.
"This seems to be the empty room?"
Inside, there was nothing but furniture, so I told Ran to use this room, and Conan and I decided to use the room right in front. Then Conan's expression turned sour.
"What? Sad that you can't stay with your sister?"
"No, it's fine..."
This kid still can't hide his expressions. We unpacked and went downstairs. By then, the club members had finished preparing and were all gathered downstairs.
"Wow~ It's the onmyoji Cassian. Can I get an autograph?"
"Yes, of course."
I gave autographs to those who asked. Then Sonoko introduced them one by one.
"This is Ota Masaru, who usually played the lead roles in my sister's movie club."
"Nice to meet you."
Masaru was a man with long hair and handsome looks.
"Here is Sumiya Hiroki, who was in charge of filming."
"Pleased to meet you."
Hiroki was the kind of person you'd see anywhere, ordinary. Probably because he handled the camera in the club, he was still holding a small camera and filming something.
"This is Takahashi Ryoichi, who handled stage settings."
"Nice to meet you."
Ryoichi was quite overweight and wore glasses.
"And this is my sister, who handled makeup and costumes. She's currently looking for a boyfriend."
"Oh, this kid..."
It's Sonoko's sister, Ayako. In the original, she soon gets a boyfriend and even marries.
"Lastly, this is Ikeda Chikako, who was the director and screenwriter, and the club president."
"Nice to meet you."
Chikako was a cool-looking beauty with short pixie-cut hair. Plus, she was the writer of a famous work called 'Blue Kingdom'.
Chikako looked at me and said.
"I didn't expect to see a celebrity in a place like this. I heard the story, that there's a bad aura around our club members?"
"Yes, now that I'm here, I can tell for sure. There's a female ghost with short hair, glasses, and freckles hovering around."
"Gasp!!!"
At my words, everyone was shocked, sweating cold sweat, and sat frozen in their seats.
"She seems to be saying something, hold on."
I got up from my seat, sat in the center of the living room, and pretended to cast a spell.
"Hmm... She says she can't forgive... I'm not sure what this means."
Then Chikako stood up and glared at Ayako, speaking loudly.
"What is this? A hidden camera!? Can't you stop it now!? Ayako! Did you tell him?"
Ayako said, flustered.
"No, I didn't. Cassian suddenly came to our house and said there's a bad aura around this meeting, that it might be dangerous, so he came along."
Then I spoke up.
"Sister Ayako is right. I only say what I see through onmyoji arts. Do any of you know about this ghost hovering around? She seems to hold quite a deep grudge."
Everyone hesitated to speak. The ghost I mentioned was Atsuko, a fellow club member who dreamed of becoming a novelist. But Atsuko's novel, which she worked hard on, 'Sky-Blue Kingdom', was seen by Chikako, who copied it, modified it into a movie script as 'Blue Kingdom', and released it under her own name. Because of that, Chikako won a new writer award, and Atsuko, in despair, committed suicide in the club room. This is the catalyst for this incident.
"Hmm... Since you seem reluctant to talk, I won't ask further."
After that, everyone was silent, just sipping tea. Then Ryoichi, who handled stage settings, stood up and said.
"I'll go fix the roof. The weather forecast said it'll rain in the evening."
"Thanks, Ryoichi. Be careful."
"Yeah."
Chikako also got up and was about to go somewhere. Seeing that, Hiroki, the filming guy, asked. These two were dating.
"Chikako, where are you going?"
"For a walk."
"Wait, they said it's going to rain!"
"So what?"
Chikako seemed upset by my words and was about to leave stubbornly, and Hiroki followed to stop her. Then Masaru, who played the lead, approached Ran and tried to hit on her.
"Would you like to go for a walk with me?"
"But it's going to rain..."
"Walking in the rain is very romantic."
Ran looked troubled, and Conan and Sonoko's expressions didn't look good. So I pulled Ran into my arms and said.
"What business do you have with my girlfriend?"
"She's your girlfriend? Oh, sorry."
Ran understood the intention and didn't say anything else. Masaru just gave up and went elsewhere. I winked at Sonoko and Conan and gave a thumbs up.
"Thanks, Cassian. I was in a bind."
"No problem, it's nothing."
We sat at the table, playing card games to pass the time, when the people who went out came back one by one and said.
"Did you see that person? The one with bandages..."
"I saw him too. He was wandering around with an axe, so I hurried back to the villa, scared."
It seems things are finally starting to unfold.