Hara Kenji, having caught Kisaragi Chiyo's gaze, revealed a smile no different from his usual one, his eyes curving at just the right angle, as if nothing had ever happened.
Kisaragi Chiyo gazed into those dark purple eyes that allowed no light to pass through, discovering without any surprise that she couldn't understand this creature at all, as it was quite different from the evil spirits in her impressions and memories.
I wanted to ask, Kisaragi-kun, have you found a suitable place to live yet?
"If you haven't found one yet, I have a few suitable apartments I can recommend." Amuro Tooru gazed intently at the exact spot where Kisaragi Chiyo's gaze had lingered for several seconds. While speaking to her with a smile, he mentally replayed the subtle expressions on her face, frame by frame.
That gaze was as if something special, something invisible to ordinary people, existed there.
Thinking of this, the smile on Amuro Tooru's face grew even wider, causing Conan, who was beside him, to couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Mr. Amuro smiles like a real estate salesman."
Don't trouble yourself." Kisaragi Chiyo rejected the other's kindness with a cold attitude. "I had already found a residence I liked before I came here.
Speaking of the topic of housing, Kisaragi Chiyo was very satisfied with the fact that she had managed to rent a sea-view villa for an extremely low price.
It was as if heaven had blessed her; just as Kisaragi Chiyo was browsing rental listings, it appeared on her computer screen at that exact moment, as if the house itself had sought her out.
"I see." Amuro Tooru nodded with a smile, naturally shifting the topic to Kisaragi Chiyo's current residential address.
"So, where are you living now, Kisaragi-kun?" Amuro Tooru's question wasn't particularly abrupt or rude, because even if Amuro Tooru hadn't spoken up, Date Wataru had already planned to ask Kisaragi Chiyo after dropping Conan back at the Mori Detective Agency.
After all, if one is giving someone a ride home, one always needs to know the address.
Kisaragi Chiyo didn't think it was much of a problem, he answered Amuro Tooru's inquiry truthfully.
Before Amuro Tooru, whose smile had frozen upon hearing that answer, could even react, Takagi Wataru, who was driving ahead, let out a startled cry first.
This address—isn't this that rumored haunted villa that eats people!
Author's Note:
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Thanks to all the little angels for adding this to your collection, muah 03330
Chapter 25
"Haunted? Man-eating?" Kisaragi Chiyo let out an "oh" upon hearing that, his eyebrows twitching upward slightly as he wore an expression of great interest.
Didn't you say it was a mass murder case?
So you knew a murder had occurred in that house too," Date Wataru couldn't help but remark. "I thought you had been swindled by some unscrupulous real estate agent.
Kisaragi Chiyo, who still chose to live there even after knowing such a thing had happened, was truly carefree.
"After all, a house like that.." Date Wataru didn't finish his sentence. However, he thought that Kisaragi Chiyo, who had already moved in, probably had a firsthand understanding of how gruesome the house's original state had been.
"Officer Date, are you trying to say the crime scene was too bloody?" Kisaragi Chiyo smiled, finishing the sentence for him.
It was indeed quite terrible when I first arrived there; the traces from that time had been preserved perfectly.
Kisaragi Chiyo described the scene she had witnessed back then in a calm tone, brushing it off lightly: "It was hardly any different from a haunted house.. if anything, it was a haunted house. Even the blood on the steps had already coagulated and turned black. The front door, the doorknob.. the living room, the stairs.. It's hard to imagine that a human body could produce that much blood."
A normal person seeing such a situation would have chosen to move out overnight long ago." After hearing Kisaragi Chiyo's words, Amuro Tooru glanced sideways. "Someone like Kisaragi-kun, who would actually choose to continue staying here, is the one who is truly hard to imagine.
"That is probably because I am a bit short on cash personally." Kisaragi Chiyo lowered her eyes, resting her chin on one hand in a pensive expression. Just as Conan thought Kisaragi Chiyo was going to give some special reason, he heard her say this.
"I believe there is no longer any place in Tokyo where one can enjoy the luxury of a sea-view villa at such a low price." Kisaragi Chiyo's tone was perfectly normal, but Conan Edogawa could clearly sense a firm determination to get a taste of this unexpected windfall, no matter what.
Conan: ".."
Did Kisaragi Chiyo understand that the reason this unexpected windfall appeared there was because six people had died in that house all at once?
Although Conan couldn't understand why the other man could maintain such a calm attitude, he could clearly see from Kisaragi Chiyo's expression that he was satisfied with how quickly he had snatched up the opportunity.
"Kisaragi-kun, you're a novelist, aren't you?" Conan asked, swinging his short little legs, recalling how Kisaragi Chiyo had introduced himself as a supernatural novelist during their encounter at the cafe.
Kisaragi Chiyo knew what he wanted to say, but unfortunately, his popularity with readers had not yet reached that level.
Although his first submission was fortunately picked up by a publisher, his performance as a newcomer wasn't particularly impressive; it was merely within a mediocre range, after all, the top-selling genre was still mystery novels.
"Little one." Kisaragi Chiyo lowered her eyes slightly, slowly letting her gaze fall upon the face of the elementary schooler, who looked innocent and naive, having yet to witness the cruelty of society.
You have to understand that not every novelist can use their writing to join the ranks of the wealthy; being published is one thing, but becoming a bestselling author is quite another.
Let me give you a simple example." Kisaragi Chiyo's lips curled into a meaningful arc. "Just like Kudo Yusaku and Murata Tatsuo.
Upon hearing these two names, Conan blinked in confusion. He naturally knew the former; after all, he was his biological father, he knew the great name of Kudo Yusaku better than anyone.
As for the latter, Conan thought about it deeply for a long while, confirming once again that he had never heard this name before.
"Is this Murata Tatsuo also a novelist?" Conan asked, tilting his head up to seek an answer from Kisaragi Chiyo.
“Does it feel like you've never heard this name before, it sounds very unfamiliar?” Kisaragi Chiyo looked at Conan with a smile. As expected, Amuro Tooru and Date Wataru, who were standing nearby, both had expressions of blank confusion, showing they had no impression of the name at all.
"It's right that you haven't heard it." After piquing everyone's curiosity, Kisaragi Chiyo had no intention of keeping the answer a secret; he straightforwardly revealed the answer to everyone.
The former is Kudo Yusaku, a famous mystery novelist; as for the latter, Murata Tatsuo.
It's a name I just made up on the spot.
“..”
“..”
After seeing the uniform blank expressions on everyone's faces, Kisaragi Chiyo satisfiedly withdrew his gaze. He softened his expression, his misty gray eyes staring at Hara Kenji, who had somehow drifted back to the front of the car and was laughing uncontrollably.
"Should we perhaps go back to discussing that house?" Even under Conan's slightly reproachful gaze, Kisaragi Chiyo felt no embarrassment at all, he steered the topic back to the very beginning.
“Officer Takagi.” Kisaragi Chiyo's ash-gray eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke softly, "Why do you say that villa eats people?"
He already knew that ghosts were real, but the idea of them being man-eaters was something Kisaragi Chiyo found to be quite an amusing concept.
Houses are inanimate objects, so how could an inanimate object eat people? It should be something living that eats people; but if the house were a living monster, then Hara Kenji, as an evil spirit, should have had some kind of reaction, or perhaps the living house is at a higher level than Hara Kenji, or maybe, after its last meal, the temporarily satiated house has entered a state of slumber. "I heard this rumor from Sato Miwako-senpai as well." The rearview mirror reflected Takagi Wataru's slightly uneasy expression. Although it wasn't quite appropriate for a police officer to discuss such supernatural matters, under Kisaragi Chiyo's questioning, he still spoke out everything he knew.
The moment Sato Miwako was mentioned, Date Wataru knew exactly who had been feeding Takagi Wataru the information.
The Sato mentioned here could naturally not be the flower of Investigation Division One, Sato Miwako, but rather another male detective with the same surname.
Date Wataru had partnered with the other man a few times, he could only say that he was a middle-aged man with a casual personality, though he was quite experienced. While his professional abilities couldn't be considered outstanding, he wouldn't make any major mistakes either.
He had no ambition, but he wasn't exactly a dead weight either. About seventy percent of the information coming from his mouth was likely true, with the remaining thirty percent being a bit of linguistic embellishment.
"Sato Miwako said that the villa wasn't the first place where people had died." As Takagi Wataru spoke on this topic, his throat instinctively bobbed, his grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly.
Before the massacre occurred, a wealthy man used to live there. Later, I don't know what happened, but including that man, the butler, the maid, all three were killed that day. The crime scene back then was just like this one.." Takagi Wataru paused, searching for a more euphemistic adjective: "Absurd.
There was a reason why Takagi Wataru used that adjective.
Although the scene of the massacre, which claimed six lives, was kept strictly confidential under pressure from superiors and was not released to the public, they, as police officers, had heard some rumors.
That is to say, the reason this shocking massacre was so quickly sealed and closed was because, following the examination of the crime scene traces and the bodies by the forensics and medical examiner departments, the conclusion reached was: this was a case of six people killing each other.
In other words, there was more than one killer, or rather, the six victims were also six killers at the same time.
What an absurd explanation.
After the descendant of that wealthy man suppressed that case, he renovated the house and sold it to someone who was unaware of the truth.
As for that so-called uninformed person, they were one of the six victims in this case.
"To think there was such a past." Kisaragi Chiyo frowned upon hearing this, offering no comment on the news. But from this, it seemed that even if the news wasn't entirely true, the problems behind this villa were even more serious than he had previously imagined.
*
So, Kisaragi-kun, if it's convenient for you, you should move out of that villa as soon as possible.
Since we are talking about this, Takagi Wataru did not forget to remind Kisaragi Chiyo once again. Although he was a materialist in his capacity as a police officer, even within the Metropolitan Police Department, there were more or less many cases that were difficult to explain through scientific means.
Therefore, regarding such matters, Takagi Wataru had always maintained an attitude of keeping a respectful distance.
Thank you for the reminder," Kisaragi Chiyo replied ambiguously, without giving a specific answer. "I will consider the proposal.
Whether the others in the car noticed or not, Hara Kenji, who was sitting cross-legged at the front of the car facing the cold wind, could tell at a glance that Kisaragi Chiyo had no intention of leaving that villa.
Perhaps noticing that the atmosphere in the car was starting to get a bit strange, Date Wataru took the initiative to bring up another interesting story related to "supernatural" events.
By the way, have you ever heard of the Criminal Hunter [Ghost]?
"Ghost?" Kisaragi Chiyo, a newcomer to Tokyo, wore a look of bewildered ignorance, like someone from the countryside.
"Yes, Criminal Hunter [Ghost]." Date Wataru said this with a relaxed expression, his tone carrying a hint of sharing.
The Criminal Hunter [Ghost], who appears only at night to punish evil and promote good, doing good deeds without seeking credit, an expert at delivering results, appearing and disappearing without a trace.
“..” Kisaragi Chiyo fell silent for a moment, then spoke tentatively, “Perhaps what you mean is the Gotham Vigilante?”
That's not wrong." Date Wataru let out a short laugh upon hearing Kisaragi Chiyo's words, but after thinking carefully for a few seconds, he nodded in considerable agreement. "If this Ghost Vigilante were willing to come and take an exam to become a patrol officer or something, it would be even more legitimate.
"Is Officer Date bringing this up because [Ghost] has appeared again?" Conan let out an exclamation, his expression looking somewhat excited.
"I've also heard of the deeds of this Criminal Hunter [Ghost]." Amuro Tooru explained [Ghost]'s exploits with a smile to the outsider, Kisaragi Chiyo.
[Ghost] supposedly made his first appearance about seven years ago.
“One night seven years ago, the Metropolitan Police Department received a distress call. The person on the other end of the line was screaming at the top of his lungs that he had encountered a ghost, that the ghost had given him a severe beating.”
I originally thought it was just another case of someone experiencing hallucinations after drinking too much. But when the police arrived at the scene based on the telephone booth's location, they found a man beaten black and blue, tied up tightly, with the words 'Wanted Criminal' written across his face in indelible black ink.
And after that, the Metropolitan Police Department started receiving calls from time to time from people claiming they had encountered a ghost and been beaten up mercilessly," Amuro Tooru let out a light chuckle. "And just like that, the title of Criminal Hunter [Ghost] appeared.
No matter how much they investigate, not a single trace can be found; even his gender remains unknown to this day. Furthermore, his only apparent goal seems to be doing good deeds and beating up criminals along the way.
Just like the legendary Criminal Hunter [Ghost], he is so mysterious that not a single piece of information about him can be found in this world.
That's right." Date Wataru nodded, confirming Amuro Tooru's statement. "The existence of Criminal Hunter [Ghost] is almost becoming a characteristic urban legend of Tokyo.
The Criminal Hunter [Ghost] acted again the night before last, but this time was different; for the first time, the perpetrator sent a message and an address to Inspector Megure's phone from an unknown number.
The second time was just like before, reporting the crime via a telephone booth.
Although [Ghost]'s actions this time were slightly different from his usual habits, he was consistent in beating up criminals and causing everyone to exclaim 'What the hell!' in unison.
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
Kisaragi Chiyo fell silent. Date Wataru had spoken so clearly that no matter how slow-witted Kisaragi Chiyo might be, she should have been able to put the pieces together by now.
The Criminal Hunter [Ghost] mentioned by the other party, who did good deeds without leaving a name and moved through the night, was none other than Hara Kenji.
And those criminals who had been beaten up certainly weren't lying; they really had encountered a ghost.
Facing Kisaragi Chiyo's slightly surprised and astonished gaze, the [Ghost], who was the culprit in question, merely revealed an extremely humble and innocent smile.
He has no idea about beating people up; he was simply using physical persuasion to make those guys realize their mistakes.