Phantom Thief of Heart!but conan

Chapter 1283 The Clumsy Imitator

"You two, you discovered this guy's identity before you came back, but instead of telling us, you quietly made a bet here, right?"

Having figured out the whole story, Kogoro Mouri's forehead veins throbbed, and he nearly got hit on the head.

Before returning to the inn, I had already ventured into the forest to search for the clues I needed, but I didn't share them with them. Why am I still here playing this game?

If I weren't so close to Akechi Goro that we could joke around and play around, I would really have to give them a good talking-to.

“Even if he doesn’t seem that dangerous, this guy is still a dangerous individual.” Tang Ze showed him more photos of the cabin. “Wouldn’t it be better not to alert him?”

Besides the room full of clippings of Shinichi Kudo and slashed photos, there are two lines of words carved with a knife on the table in this wooden house: "If you don't succeed, you die trying."

In addition, shards of mirror and, most notably, an empty bullet box were found inside the house.

"Seeing these things is enough to prove my previous thoughts. Whoever this guy is, it couldn't possibly be Kudo himself, right?"

“You’re right.” Hattori Heiji’s eyebrows were already furrowed. “The broken mirror, and this obvious malice directed at Kudo, the situation is quite clear, isn’t it?”

“Yes, just seeing this scene makes everything clear.” Koshimizu Nanatsuki nodded in agreement. “Judging from the marks, this place has indeed been inhabited for a long time. No one would create so many dangerous things in their residence unless they were emotionally agitated. What could possibly happen that someone who hates Kudo Shinichi so much would smash a mirror like this?”

Having finally figured out what was wrong with the situation, Koshimizu Nanatsuki felt relieved and squatted down to approach Yata Makoto, who was curled up in a ball.

"I had speculated about many things before, but I never expected that this gentleman who had been missing for so long would go to such lengths to harm Kudo. It must have been very painful for him to completely transform himself into someone else, Mr. Yata?"

Given how things had developed, how could she not understand?

The reason for breaking the mirror was, of course, because I didn't want to see my own face, but I also had to check on it every day during the recovery period after plastic surgery to facilitate wound healing.

He kept buying mirrors, and then, after seeing a face he hated, he broke down and smashed the mirror. It's perfectly normal to find mirror shards left in the cabin.

As for that aggressive "do or die" attitude, just look at him now.

They went to great lengths, expended so much time and money, and even used these other detectives as stepping stones to lure Shinichi Kudo himself here, all so that he could use that face to harm or even kill others...

Will this clumsy and inefficient approach really get revenge on Kudo himself?

"...I don't understand what you're talking about." Having his identity exposed, Makoto Yata turned his head away, refusing to cooperate. "I don't remember anything."

Seeing these photos, Makoto Uta is somewhat resigned to his fate.

The fact that they were able to find this hut means that either the two people have found Shinichi Kudo himself, or Shinichi Kudo has escaped from the hut.

In the best-case scenario, Shinichi Kudo might simply get lost and disappear. However, considering how easily he found this house hidden in the dense forest, Makoto Yata doesn't think the forest could really trap him for very long.

It was only a matter of time before he was completely exposed. His only regret was that he chose the wrong target.

It doesn't matter who I kill, so I might as well find an easier target, like that annoying reporter lady. I shouldn't have chosen someone as troublesome as Goro Akechi...

"Pretending to be stupid won't work." Koshimizu Nanatsuki put her hands on her hips and bluntly pointed out, "Even now, you would rather commit crimes with this face than hurt Kudo himself. You know deep down that Kudo's reasoning was actually quite reasonable. What's unreasonable is the torment and entanglement you can't resolve."

Makoto Yata dared to brazenly infiltrate their ranks despite being Shinichi Kudo, mainly because he had knocked out the real Shinichi Kudo and locked him in the cabin.

Now that things have come to this point, there are quicker and more direct ways for him to permanently take over Shinichi Kudo's identity.

That is to kill Kudo who came looking for him, so that he cannot come out and expose his lies.

Even at the very end, Makoto Yata did not choose this shortcut. Instead, he used such a convoluted and bizarre method to commit crimes with this face, which is enough to show that he did not completely deny Kudo's statement.

“Because he actually admires Kudo quite a bit,” Tang Ze shook his head and reiterated this point. “If he wanted to smear Kudo, he wouldn’t have needed to go through such trouble. Kudo has been missing for several months. He could have just gone to Tokyo, done something irrational with that face, and achieved the desired effect. The fact that he’s stayed in Higashi-Oku Village shows that he also knows that the case isn’t as strange as the villagers say. He wants to take revenge on this place.”

A child who lost his family at a very young age, and then lost his hard-won second family, has nowhere to express his pain. He only hopes to have a concrete target to attack so that he can vent his anger.

However, the police accepted Shinichi Kudo's reasoning and concluded that the victim committed suicide after killing someone, thus averting his anger.

Blaming his deceased adoptive father was useless and meaningless, and blaming the detective's claims was not supported by any evidence. So his emotions fermented repeatedly under suppression until he gradually lost his rationality.

At this point, the doctor's explanation that the village chief's illness was not serious and that he could not have committed suicide because of it, no matter how flawed it was, was something he was more willing to accept, because finding an outlet to release pressure would make him feel much better.

“Indeed. This village isn’t exactly a pleasant place. If Mr. Yuda had actually chosen to leave back then, things might have been different.” Hoshikawa Teru agreed with Tang Ze’s statement.

The rumors and public opinion surrounding the small town of Higashi-Oku were the foundation for this absurd revenge. Without being influenced by these rumors and not being swayed by hatred, Makoto Uta would not have gone this far.

He was a naturalized adopted son who inherited a large portion of Hihara Takitoku's wealth. If he hadn't fought with Kudo Shinichi to the death, he could have lived a very comfortable life with that wealth.

As for the villagers, whether they truly admired Hihara Takitoku and couldn't accept Kudo Shinichi's explanation, or whether they harbored a subtle jealousy towards Hihara Taiki and Yata Makoto, who had inherited a large fortune at such a young age and didn't want them to live too comfortably, who can really tell?

In the end, the two children, who could have lived a good life, were trapped in the past. The villagers definitely played a significant role; they were the ones who dragged the two of them into an even deeper abyss. This is an indisputable fact.

Rather than saying the Forest of Death God is a domain controlled by Death God, it's more accurate to say that Death God is the earthbound spirit of this swamp, trapping a child here with no connection to the grudges of the previous generation, unable to escape. "Wait, you lot, after all that talk, how can you tell he's not that Kudo kid?" Kogoro Mouri snorted. "Couldn't it just be that the detective kid lost his memory and went crazy?"

Just thinking about Ran Mouri's seemingly intuitive expression that said, "I don't think he's Shinichi," makes him furious.

What kind of relationship is it? It's all based on intuition and feeling...

Thinking of this, he wasn't sure if he was taking the opportunity to retaliate, so he kicked the unresponsive Makoto Yata in frustration.

"Say something! Do you admit to their accusations, or do you have something else to say? Why are you attacking Tang Ze and Ming Zhi?"

After being kicked, Makoto Yata seemed to finally come to his senses and looked up at the detectives around him.

Their expressions varied, but the message they conveyed was exactly the same.

This group never believed he was Shinichi Kudo from the beginning, so his attempt to frame him failed from the very first step.

His reason for insisting on joining their group was that as long as Shinichi Kudo had a good enough relationship with them, when a case occurred, the detectives would cover up many details of the case out of trust in Shinichi Kudo and their instinct to protect his friend.

In that case, the most fundamental difference between him and Shinichi Kudo—their fingerprints and DNA information—could be destroyed.

Who can imagine...

"...I just felt really annoyed with those two." Makoto Yata retorted to Kogoro Mouri's statement. "One of them kept questioning me, and the other just looked really annoying. I just lost control of my emotions, so..."

"Then how are you going to explain how you opened our door? You forgot who you are, but you haven't forgotten how to pick the lock, right?" Tang Ze clicked his tongue twice. "If this were a board game like Werewolf, I would praise you for being dedicated."

Having been caught red-handed to this extent, it really takes courage to keep being stubborn.

"However, it's okay if you don't admit it." Tang Ze said, turning his head to look towards the doorway. "If you don't admit it, someone else will. What do you think of the fans' comments?"

He was looking towards the stairs leading from the first floor to the second floor, where a person was slowly climbing up.

Clad in raven feathers, with white hair on his head, he was still dressed as the God of Death.

"Death, Death God?!" Kazuha Toyama, who was listening intently to the conversation in the room, turned his head and saw this, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Who is it..." Feeling a chilling sense of oppression, Kogoro Mouri pulled his daughter back and questioned her.

The person completely shrouded in a robe did not respond to their reactions, but simply reached out from under the bird feather cloak to show what was in their hand.

"You refuse to admit it because you still cling to this meager hope of turning things around?" His voice, like Makoto Yata's, was hoarse and strained. "I'm sorry, you won't have that chance."

What he was holding was a revolver.

Tang Ze glanced at the pistol, which looked exactly like the standard-issue gun of the Japanese police, and secretly rolled his eyes.

How did so many guns suddenly appear in Japan, a country with strict gun control, to the point where every murderer had one? It's like how Goro Akechi was able to inexplicably obtain a gun license – it's truly a Schrödinger's cat-like phenomenon.

"Looks like the masquerade ball is over." Hattori Heiji chuckled twice, finally letting go of the unease that had been weighing on his mind. "You rascal, since you were free to move around, why didn't you come looking for us sooner?"

“Sorry, I have to make sure my presence won’t provoke him into a more extreme reaction, and I also have to avoid other dangerous options.” As he spoke, he removed the white wig that was covering his face, revealing his own face. “If you get plastic surgery to look like this, you probably won’t become a famous detective. You’ll only become an equally self-righteous, stupid high school student, Mr. Makoto.”

"Shinichi... Thank goodness, you're alright..." Seeing him in person, Ran Mouri finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since she lost contact with Conan, she had been restless, feeling that Shinichi might be in some kind of danger. Now that she saw him standing in front of her unharmed, she could finally relax a little.

Shinichi Kudo glanced at Tang Ze with a meaningful look before comforting Ran Mouri: "What's with that expression, you idiot? What could possibly be wrong with me? I'm quite familiar with Higashi-Oku Village."

Indeed, danger has been encountered. Fortunately, after being a famous detective for so long, Shinichi Kudo can now be said to have friends in every underworld, so nothing serious is likely to happen.

Makoto Yata raised his head and stared at Shinichi Kudo's calm face, his eyes twitching uncontrollably.

That's the expression, that relaxed yet confident attitude...

He hadn't originally planned to fake amnesia. He believed he knew Shinichi Kudo very well and had enough material to imitate. With enough time to learn and practice, he could replace Shinichi Kudo without anyone noticing. However, after practicing in front of the mirror for a while, he had to give up on that idea.

No matter how hard you try to make yourself look more like it, no matter how hard you try to imitate that smile in front of the mirror, you will always end up looking like a dog instead of a tiger. You will only find more and more flaws. The more you imitate, the more you can see the difference.

Perhaps he simply couldn't compare to the original; an imposter is an imposter, no matter how much he imitates or studies, he can never capture the essence of the real thing...

Sensing something, Hoshikawa Teru turned his gaze and narrowed his eyes at the complex sense of awe that Yuda Makoto unconsciously revealed on his face, a feeling that even hatred couldn't conceal.

"What are you thinking, Mr. Yata? Do you think it's Kudo Shinichi's fault that you can't play the role?" He spoke up, drawing everyone's attention back to Yata Makoto, and said rather bluntly, "You think you can fool others who know Kudo with such a clumsy imitation? You really don't take the person you once admired seriously."

(End of this chapter)