Conan: I've been linked to the tech tree system.

"But only if her alcoholic father welcomes you."

He left with Sumi.

"Isn't anyone worried about Saori Kadokawa's safety?"

Hattori Heiji watched the two leave the shrine, speechless.

"That's because Saori used to argue with her father a lot and run away from home." Shimabukuro Kimie had a "there's nothing we can do about it" look on her face.

After all, being born in the shadow of an alcoholic father, it's understandable that he often runs away from home impulsively.

"Could you please take us to Saori's house?" Kogoro Mori asked, looking at the shrine maiden, Kimie Shimabukuro, who was holding a gohei (a type of shrine maiden's hat) with the same hand gesture as a Taoist priest holding a whisk.

"Of course you can." Shimabukuro Kimie smiled, her face showing no trace of gloom, displaying a very cheerful personality.

"I'll be free after the celebration, let's go together then?"

Upon hearing that they would attend the celebration first, Xiao Lan immediately became interested, since her whole family, including He Ye, had come along and also had the idea of ​​taking a trip here.

"Huh? What do you do at the festival?" she asked the shrine maiden, Shimabukuro Kimie, with great interest.

Chapter 159 Dugong Celebration

“We will sell the number plates to the guests in advance. As long as the number matches the one my great-grandmother showed, they can get the Dugong Arrow.”

Kimie Shimabukuro explained to Ran with a smile.

"Well, it's kind of like a lottery tournament... By the way, do you guys want to try your luck too?"

Shimabukuro Kimie took out two wooden plaques with numbers engraved on them from the sleeve of her shrine maiden outfit, and showed them to Ran and the other girl with the numbers facing her palm.

"Two elderly couples just returned their number plates this morning, and I have two left here."

A lottery?

Xiao Lan immediately woke up when she heard that.

When it comes to raffles, her little red hand is itching to try her luck.

Kazuha and Kazuha, who were equally interested, exchanged glances, then stepped forward and took the number plates.

"Actually, whether you win or not depends on luck." Shimabukuro Kimie smiled and took a step back as she watched them take the number plates. "Maybe this time you two can live forever and stay young forever, just like everyone says."

Forever young?

Upon hearing this, Toru Tono and Shiho Miyano simultaneously conjured up the image of the old woman from Shimabukuro in their minds.

Although it was Shimabukuro Kimie in disguise, she certainly didn't look like someone who had stayed young forever.

What's the point of immortality if you can't stay young forever?

......

As dusk settles, the stone lanterns in front of the shrine light up one by one.

More than a hundred guests entered the venue one after another, stopping behind the ropes that had been set up to separate the performance area, ready to watch the celebration.

Unlike the somewhat tranquil shrine during the day, the festival is bustling with the sounds of drums and guests chatting.

"I feel so excited!"

"That's it."

Xiaolan and Heye stood at the front row, clutching their raffle tickets, their excitement palpable as if the draw was about to take place.

"Haibara, aren't you interested in this?"

Ran looked at Shiho Miyano, who stood to the side with no expression, with some curiosity.

"...No." Shiho Miyano replied coldly.

If she didn't know the truth, she might actually be a little interested...

The problem is that since she's already participated in the survey once and even done a special investigation, it would be too much to ask her to pretend to be interested again.

"Hey, is she usually this cold?"

Heiji Hattori nudged Toru Tono's side and muttered a complaint.

"After all, in her eyes you're probably no different from lab rats." Tohno Toru was quite curious about how a pretty young lady like Shimabukuro Kimie dressed as a shrine maiden could play a 130-year-old woman, so he was quite interested and kept looking inside the shrine even before the gate was open.

"That's going too far," Hattori Heiji said helplessly.

He had heard Ran mention that Toru Tono's assistant seemed to be a very talented scientific researcher, and it was normal for such a person to have some quirks.

However, he rarely sees truly aloof people in real life, which left him feeling somewhat bewildered.

......

The celebration began amidst great anticipation.

The maids who had been standing in front of the door stood on the left and right sides. After waiting for a moment, they suddenly lit a torch that was standing in front of the door.

Enveloped in crimson darkness, the shrine's gate was slowly pulled open, revealing an empty hall inside.

Deep within the hall, there stood the petite figure of Mikoto Shimabukuro, dressed in a shrine maiden's outfit.

This old man, who is said to have lived to be 130 years old, is short in stature and looks to be no more than 150 centimeters tall.

Under everyone's gaze, she slowly took down the special long stick placed on the shelf in front of her, and then slowly turned to face the guests.

"This is the Longevity Granny."

Conan was somewhat surprised. He had thought that the old woman would be a more mysterious woman, but she turned out to be just an ordinary old woman from an island nation.

"So small."

Kogoro Mouri, who is over 1.8 meters tall, was amazed.

Heiji Hattori rolled up his dead fish eyes, just like Conan.

'She's just an old woman with heavy makeup.'

To avoid being reprimanded by other guests, he didn't dare say it aloud.

Under the tense gazes of the crowd holding number plates, the Longevity Granny lit the tip of her specially made wooden stick in the burning torch in front of the door, then raised the long handle and placed the burning tip on the paper door.

The flames spread rapidly, burning out a single character.

"three".

"Wow!" Kogoro Mouri exclaimed in amazement at the magic show-like performance.

Ran and Kazuha didn't have time to pay attention to this; they were clutching their number plates tightly, looking extremely nervous.

It's a bit like betting on lottery results before the draw.

The old woman followed the same method and lit the other wooden door.

"One hundred and seven"

"eighteen"

“…I see.” Hattori Heiji was sweating. “So the numbers burned on the door were the winning numbers.”

He thought it was some amazing performance, what a mess.

"Huh?! Really? That's great, I won!!"

Someone shouted as if they had just passed the imperial examination.

Ran looked over and saw it was Toshimi Ebihara, a childhood friend of Saori Kadokawa whom she had met before.

She glanced at her number; she hadn't won.

It seems that even the luckiest person can't always win a prize.

As I was thinking this, I suddenly heard a gasp from beside me.

"Ran, look at me!" Kazuha said in a strange voice, "My, my number won!"

She showed off her number plate, which read "18," her voice filled with disbelief.

"Huh?!" Xiaolan exclaimed in shock.

So, the good luck was contagious and spread to his companions?

......

The maids were responsible for putting out the flames burning on the door, which made the performance seem very low-class.

However, the guests watched with great interest, since they were basically there to try and get the legendary "Dugong's Arrow" to participate in the lucky draw; the performances were just a side thing.

Then the screen was drawn inside the room, and after a short while, Kimie Shimabukuro, dressed as a shrine maiden, came out from behind the screen again.

For people like Shiho Miyano and Toru Tono who know the inside story, watching Kimie Shimabukuro play two roles is very interesting and easy to tell.

After all, who would put up a screen for no reason? Besides, Shimabukuro Kimie and that old woman from Shimabukuro have never actually appeared together.

However, people who don't know the specifics will think it's part of the performance, even if they find the actions mysterious.

Just like Conan, he was also watching this side with interest, but he didn't notice anything amiss at all.

"Listen carefully, everyone. We will be officially awarding the Dugong Arrows in one hour," said Kimie Shimabukuro. "Please assemble at Mermaid Falls immediately!"

She announced loudly, displaying a more celebratory and authoritative air than her earlier cute and adorable demeanor.

As expected of someone who has organized many festivals almost single-handedly, he's very capable.

"Huh? Kazuha, did you win the lottery?"

When Hattori Heiji saw Toyama Kazuha and Ran standing together, looking excited, he went over and asked curiously.

"Yes." He happily showed him the winning lottery number.

No matter what, winning the lottery is always a happy thing.

Chapter 160: Is this how mermaids came to be?

An hour was plenty of time to prepare, so the guests took care of their own business before bustling around to what Kimie Shimabukuro had described as the "Mermaid Waterfall."

The waterfall is just an ordinary waterfall. Although it is a tourist attraction, it has nothing to do with "mermaids" at all.

It's probably just one of the attractions in the "mermaid circle" that the island's residents built to make money.