Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 225 Magic?

"Acting?"

Ai was stunned for a moment.

"Is it important?"

"Yes, the kind you can't miss."

Gao Mo opened his mouth, wanting to mention what happened with Akai Shuichi earlier, but seeing that Ai didn't intend to talk about it, he didn't ask any further questions.

He didn't particularly like the character of Shuichi Akai, but he didn't mind that Ai had an extra bodyguard, who was better at protecting people than him and had more time.

On the contrary, he couldn't protect Ai every moment and often needed to go out.

Although people always say that the Black Organization is nothing to be afraid of, and that the real enemy is the Grim Reaper, and they like to make fun of the Black Organization, it is, after all, the main villainous force in "Detective Conan," a vicious and mysterious organization that has killed countless people.

As long as one lives here, it is impossible to ignore the threat posed by the organization.

At least not now.

Gao Mo watched as Xiao Ai entered the kitchen.

Whether for the sake of those around him or for his own sake, he has the idea of ​​eliminating this organization. However, if he cannot completely overthrow it from the root, that is, deal with the organization's boss, he will probably stay behind the scenes.

"Kirouto-nii!"

Xiao Lan rang the doorbell outside the yard and asked, looking at the "Closed Today" sign.

"Shinichi told me to leave the chocolate here, so..."

"come in."

Gao Mo stood up to greet Xiao Lan.

It seems Conan listened to his advice; otherwise, it would be quite strange to always have him play the role of "Shinichi Kudo".

"Are these all Valentine's Day gifts?" Ran exclaimed in surprise as she walked in, seeing the huge pile of chocolates and gifts that almost overflowed. "Kito-nii, you..."

“Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t for me,” Gao Mo said helplessly, pointing to the love letters. “Amuro Tooru is the one who’s popular.”

He wasn't envious.

Living a low-key life is his own choice. If he were to make a comeback, his fan base would definitely far exceed that of Rei Furuya.

Even without the malice brought by the Grim Reaper's mark, he was a quiet person and preferred to make a fortune in silence.

"Isn't Mr. Amuro here?"

Xiao Lan peeked out and saw Xiao Ai going in and out of the kitchen. She quickly stuffed the pink gift box into Gao Mo's arms.

"Let me help. How can you let a little kid cook alone?"

As she spoke, Xiaolan glanced at Gao Mo suspiciously.

"Uh……"

Gao Mo didn't know what to say for a moment.

Ai usually takes charge of the meals because he likes to keep things simple. He was in charge of the kitchen for a few days, but Ai quickly took it back.

As for hiring someone... Ai Haibara immediately rejected the idea.

It seems, now it appears, that he is the one bullying children?
"Amo," Professor Agasa, who often came over for a free meal, arrived with a bulging belly. He could smell the aroma of food at the door and asked with a smile and anticipation, "What delicious food is Ai making today?"

Gao Mo pointed to the kitchen, and immediately saw Xiao Lan frown.

"Kido-kun, I'll cook here from now on."

"Isn't that a bad idea? What about your dad and Conan?"

"Can Dad and the others come together?" Xiaolan hesitated for a moment.

Xiao Ai walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron, and exchanged a helpless glance with Gao Mo.

Professor Agasa, standing nearby, gave an awkward laugh.

He seems to have come at the wrong time.

“Actually,” Gao Mo explained, forcing a smile, “Ai is learning to cook from me.”

He knew why Ai didn't want to hire anyone; the agency was indeed not suitable for having outsiders cook.

Perhaps it's necessary to help Professor Agasa get married soon, then he and Ai will be the ones freeloading off him.

Meanwhile, at the Mori Detective Agency.

The man with the mustache downed a can of beer with gusto, then glanced at the time and muttered to himself in surprise, "Why hasn't Xiaolan come back yet? She'd usually be cooking by this time."

……

Koizumi's basement.

Dressed as a witch, Koizumi Akako concocted a red magic ritual. Surrounded by will-o'-the-wisps of candlelight, a brand-new crystal ball was completed.

This time, she used up 40 evil spirits she had saved up, almost all of her savings since becoming a witch.

Even witches don't find evil spirits easily. On one hand, they are not easy to encounter, and even if they do, they may not be able to see them. On the other hand, capturing them is quite complicated.

The last time her crystal ball broke, she was secretly heartbroken for several days.

“Miss Hongzi,” the short butler bowed and entered the basement, seemingly unfazed by the skulls placed around the ceremonial altar, “the invitation from the Fire Sacrifice family has arrived.”

"Is it that kind of dark magic ritual?"

Koizumi Akako looked at the goblin-like butler with disgust.

No matter when, this butler is always so ugly.

"I don't believe in any dark magic. There shouldn't be any other magicians in this world besides me, right?"

“Of course,” the butler bowed respectfully. “As the rightful heir to the Red Magic, Miss Hongzi is unique in this world.”

"Oh hahaha!"

Koizumi Akako's youthful high school face was slightly tilted up in the candlelight, emitting a triumphant, devilish laugh.

She may be a little ugly, but her way of speaking always makes her feel comfortable.

"Alright, forget about the Fire Sacrifice family. I have more important things to do now. I must find out the truth about the fake Kid!"

“But Miss Hongzi… the Qinglong Society President of the Huoji family was indeed cursed to death. I wonder if there might be some magical artifacts involved.” The butler revealed a mouthful of sharp teeth.

"Oh?"

Koizumi Akako's eyes flickered slightly as she removed her hood and looked intently at the butler.

"Since the time chaos began, the probability of cursed items appearing has indeed increased, so I'll make the trip myself."

"It's their honor," the butler chuckled.

Foolish people only know black magic but not red magic.

Unfortunately, ancestral teachings forbid the display of power in front of ordinary people.

"Until then, let me continue with the previous divination."

Koizumi Akako handed the wand to the butler and stepped forward to pick up the glowing crystal ball.

"Quack!"

Several red-eyed crows flapped their wings in the secret room, as if drawn by an invisible force around the ritual magic circle.

"O ominous spirits wandering the demonic path of the underworld, obey the blood-red covenant..."

"call--!"

Koizumi Akako and the crystal ball shone brightly, with air currents swirling around them, prompting the butler behind them to exclaim in amazement.

It seems the young lady is serious.

This time it definitely won't happen...

"Kaka!"

Koizumi Akako suddenly exclaimed in surprise. Her floating, glowing red hair fell back down as if it had lost its support. Before she could do anything, the remade crystal ball shattered into countless points of light once again.

"how come……"

Koizumi Akako blinked blankly, watching helplessly as the divination ritual began to crumble.

It broke again; even 40 evil spirits didn't work.

Why is my magic ineffective?

Koizumi Akako turned back angrily.

"Bring me all the evil spirits you've stored away! I don't believe it..."

“But Miss… the stored evil spirits have long been used up.” The butler wiped his sweat repeatedly.

"All used up?" Koizumi Akako's anger was all stuck in her throat. After a moment of frustration, she choked back tears, "Damn it, why?! Forty evil spirits... no, sixty of them, just wasted like that?!"

"Miss Hongzi!" The butler panicked completely. "Please don't..."

“I know,” Koizumi Akako took a deep breath, “If a witch cries, she loses her magic. That's nothing to me… Get ready, we're going to the Fire Ritsu family!”

"Ok?"

Karuizawa.

Gao Mo put on a mask, disguised himself as a long-haired man, and walked out of the station. Before he even met the real person, he saw that the storage pool had been updated with 40 stars.

I could vaguely see a glowing altar.

magic?

It seems someone is using the dead to cast spells.

Last time it was 20, this time it's 40...

But aside from the fact that he is inherently immune to magic, the so-called undead are just snacks in the notebook.

Who is it?

A picture of a girl in a red hooded dress flashed through Gao Mo's mind.

Koizumi Akako?

It's likely that only this witch can use magic, but this world is too chaotic to draw any conclusions directly.

Gao Mo paused slightly.

Judging from what just happened, it seems that supernatural powers need to be used with the help of the dead?

Similar to his upgrades and advancements, except that the notes are quantified into star levels, and the sources are very diverse.

This world is really interesting, but it's also much more dangerous than he imagined.

Keeping a low profile is the right thing to do.

"You've finally arrived."

Outside the station, Gao Yuanyao was performing magic for a group of children, dressed as a clown. He seemed to have been waiting for a long time. When he caught sight of Gao Mo, who was disguised as a masked man, he immediately straightened up and went to a nearby coffee shop to talk to him alone.

"This is a deposit of 500 million. We'll discuss the remaining 500 million after you complete the task."

Gao Yuanyao chuckled and pushed a document along with a check to Gao Mo.

"I'll be watching your performance from behind. In the end, you have to perform exactly as the script says, and you can't say a single wrong word."

Gao Mo took the documents and examined them.

Aside from the simple task description, the rest was really a script, including speech and actions, with strict and detailed requirements, treating him completely like a puppet.

"It doesn't look easy."

"Of course it's not easy, otherwise I wouldn't have come to you," Gao Yuanyao said with an unchanged smile. "Is everything alright?"

"Small idea."

Gao Mo calmly glanced at Gao Yuanyao.

He sensed malice.

Although it wasn't written in the script, it seems that this puppet stand-in doesn't have a good ending.

But it doesn’t matter.

Gao Yuanyao treats everyone else as puppets, but isn't he himself a puppet too?

His involvement this time was not only to complete the actor upgrade mission, but also to test Takato Yoichi and the Grim Reaper.

"It's a pleasure to cooperate." Gao Yuanyao stood up, shook hands, and then quickly disappeared outside the coffee shop.

It seems like they went to the destination in advance to make arrangements.

There was clearly more than one puppet; this one was merely a stand-in.

Gao Mo turned his gaze back to the documents.

He needs to travel to a luxurious villa called "Grape Mansion" deep in the mountains of Karuizawa. His identity is the black magician Kuroku Onimon, who is responsible for presiding over black magic rituals for the Fire Sacrifice family.

Aside from completing the tasks in the script, he could only stay in his room at other times.

So-called black magic is not real magic; it is just performing rituals to worship demons, like the priesthood of a cult.

"Why did you come along too?" A familiar arguing voice suddenly came from outside. "I came here for work..."

"But that's scary. What if you get cursed too, Heiji?"

"What curse? That club president was murdered!"

"..."

Gao Mo's eyelids twitched slightly, and when he turned his head, he saw the young couple who had come from Osaka. The dark-skinned Hattori Heiji stood out in the crowd.

Why is this guy here?
Takato Yoichi wouldn't be so bored as to invite a detective for some excitement, would he? Besides, he wouldn't need to invite Hattori Heiji.

"Huh?" Hattori Heiji turned around sharply, frowned and muttered when he saw Gao Mo in disguise, "What a strange guy."

"Give way."

Koizumi Akako walked past the young couple with an arrogant expression. Unlike her witch outfit, she looked quite playful and cute. Hattori Heiji couldn't help but take another look, which immediately angered Kazuha next to him.

"Humph."

Koizumi Akako, accustomed to this, proudly enjoyed the attention she received.

A group of ordinary people.

"Have you seen enough, Heiji?" Kazuha asked, annoyed but also confused. "Who is that girl?"

“I don’t know, but,” Hattori Heiji pondered, “it’s strange that she’s the only one without any luggage.”

A luxury car stopped in front of Koizumi Akako, and a tall, square-faced man in a suit stepped out.

The man also called out to Hattori Heiji and his companion, "Gentlemen, I am the secretary of President Hijiri. I'm here to take you to the Hijiri family villa. Please get in the car."

Hattori Heiji, oblivious to Kazuha's puffed-up cheeks, glanced at Koizumi Akako with surprise again: "So she's going to that villa too. Is she from the Kaji family?"

“Miss Koizumi is a magician who has collaborated with the Fire Sacrifice family,” the man in the suit opened the car door for Koizumi Akako. “As for these two, Mr. Hattori is a detective I specially hired…”

Regardless, I simply cannot accept that the president's death was an accident, and I hope the truth behind it can be found out.

"A detective?" Koizumi Akako, who hadn't paid much attention at first, twitched her eyes slightly and a playful smile appeared on her lips.

It would be very interesting if these detectives knew that magic really exists.

……

"call!"

Karuizawa seemed to be showing signs of a change in weather. Gao Mo had just left the coffee shop when he saw the wind whipping up the leaves and could faintly hear the distant rumble of thunder in the dark clouds.

Takato Yoichi is nothing special; he completely counters both criminal and magical abilities. But then there's the Grim Reaper, the embodiment of rules...

Gao Mo looked towards the luxury car that had picked up Hattori and his party in the distance.

The reason Death began searching for an agent was because of him.

The struggle has entered a new stage.

This time I must get the perfect performance and upgrade to level 3 as soon as possible.

……

"dark magic?"

Inside the luxury car, Hattori Heiji's brows twitched as he learned the details.

Although he didn't believe in curses, he wondered if these people were being too reckless by using black magic after the dead.

“Don’t misunderstand, black magic isn’t anything evil,” the secretary in the suit explained. “It’s not something I can say openly, but the Fire Sacrifice Company’s growth into such a large enterprise is closely related to black magic…”

At least that's what both the former and current presidents believe. Every month on the full moon, the Hōshō family holds a ceremony in Karuizawa. Besides Ms. Koizumi as a guest, a magician who presides over the ceremony will also be present. It's said that this time it's to exorcise a curse.

"There are magicians too?" Hattori Heiji frowned and crossed his arms.

He wanted to see what tricks these people were playing.

The real culprit might be at the scene.

"hehe."

Koizumi Akako, sitting in front, smiled even more brightly.

The night of the full moon is when her magic is at its peak. Hopefully, this trip will be fruitful and not a wasted one.

Even if the curse is fake, it should still be able to collect some souls, right?

She had already sensed something unusual.

That's right, the more tragic the death, the higher the probability of an evil spirit being born. I heard that the president of the Fire Sacrifice Company was lying on the railway tracks and was crushed in two, definitely a high-quality ghost.

She'll accept it when the time comes.

(End of this chapter)