The Pirated Onmyoji of the Detective World

I'm so sorry!

The young man stood in front of the middle-aged man, bowing timidly and explaining, "Boss, but you only said a week ago that you wanted to take the Beidou Star train, which is very popular. We are already very lucky to have been able to book a compartment that fits our needs."

"Are you kidding me!" The middle-aged man was clearly very dissatisfied with the young man's explanation. "I'm a big boss, and I'm staying in the same level of private room as you! My wife is so afraid of being seen staying in such a small private room while traveling that she'd rather hide inside!"

The young man muttered under his breath, "That's why I suggested you take the plane..."

However, the middle-aged man completely ignored his explanation: "Stop arguing! Ga Yue Li Ze, I just want to take this train to tomorrow's auction, is that not allowed!"

"Excuse me..." Kogoro Mouri suddenly interrupted their conversation.

"Ok?"

Clearly, neither the middle-aged man nor the young man had expected anyone to interrupt, so they both turned to look at Kogoro Mouri with some surprise.

"Excuse me, have we met somewhere before?" Kogoro Mouri asked somewhat embarrassedly, facing the two men's slightly scrutinizing gazes.

He had felt from the beginning that the middle-aged man sitting behind him looked very familiar.

The middle-aged man looked somewhat displeased at the stranger's sudden attempt to strike up a conversation.

The young man standing to the side, named Kawai Rize, quickly explained with a smile, "I think it must be because you've seen it on TV or in the newspapers. Our jewelry store was robbed not long ago, so our boss was interviewed by a TV station."

"Oh, I see!" Kogoro Mouri finally remembered the news he had seen on TV and looked at the middle-aged man with a look of sudden realization. "So you're the Izumo owner of the jewelry store who chased away the robbers!"

"Huh? Ran-neechan, what kind of robbery is this?" Conan looked at Ran beside him with some confusion. He didn't remember any jewelry robbery that had happened recently.

"Yes," Ran explained to Conan with a smile, "It happened on the evening of the day you went camping with Professor Agasa and the others."

"Oh." Conan nodded, looking somewhat blankly at the middle-aged man behind Kogoro Mouri, who was called Boss Soumo.

“That’s right, I am Keitaro Izumo, the owner of that jewelry store.” Keitaro Izumo said casually, “Actually, it’s nothing serious. At my command, my staff pressed the alarm, and the robbers ran away with their tails between their legs.”

Kawai Ri quickly flattered, "But the whole town admires the boss's courage!"

"Hmph, what's a little thing like this!" Izumo Keitaro's face remained indifferent.

"But it still achieved the publicity effect!" Just then, a sarcastic voice came from not far away.

Just as the group was wondering what was going on, they saw a middle-aged man with an imposing presence slowly walking towards them.

This time, Kogoro Mouri recognized the person at a glance.

This middle-aged man is none other than the current mayor, Akira Ishimaki.

……

Meanwhile, in a private compartment of a train carriage, Yu Aragaki took out several documents from his bag and handed them to Akemi Miyano, who was sitting opposite him.

"This is the target we need to contact in this operation."

Two of the documents happened to include photos of Keitaro Izumo and Akishige Ishitsubi.

……

Ishizumi Akashi walked over to the seat next to Izumo Keitaro and sat down. Looking at Izumo Keitaro, he sneered and said, "This is perfect publicity for your mayoral election. You've really got some skills!"

"Mayor Ishihami, what are you doing here?" Izumo Keitaro finally showed a look of surprise when he saw Ishihami Koujiro suddenly appear.

"I just took a vacation and I'm thinking of going to Hokkaido for a trip," Akira Ishitsumi said casually, glancing at Keitaro Izumo.

"What do you mean by having some skills?" Kogoro Mouri didn't quite understand the meaning behind Ishitsumi Akira's words.

Before Shi Chui could say anything, Kawai Rize hurriedly explained, "That's just a rumor. Some people think that the robbery incident was a farce deliberately staged by our boss to boost his popularity in the mayoral election. But that's utter nonsense!"

"But there's no smoke without fire, and this isn't without basis." Shichui Kouzhong squinted his eyes, his tone sounding quite disdainful.

"What are you saying!" Izumo Keitaro was very displeased after hearing Ishitsumi Kouji's words.

“But as far as I know, the burglar camera footage from that time did indeed show a professional robber with a criminal record,” Kogoro Mouri chimed in at this opportune moment, offering his opinion. “It couldn’t have been premeditated, could it?”

"That's exactly what makes it strange!" Akio Ishitsubi stared at Kogoro Mouri and explained, "It's really strange that a professional robber like this wouldn't do any prior investigation, just watch someone press the alarm, and then run away without stealing anything."

“But we can’t doubt our boss just because of this!” Kagawa Ryori argued just as strongly.

"Hmph, it's not just that." After snorting, Ishitsumi Akashi looked at Izumo Keitaro in his seat with a meaningful gaze. "When that robber left, he said something very strange, and your staff clearly heard it."

"..."

At this moment, Keitaro Izumo's face suddenly darkened, and his gaze toward Kojiro Ishitsubi became complicated.

Kogoro Mouri and Conan were clearly intrigued, so they quickly asked, "What kind of strange statement was that?"

"It's said that the robber, as he fled, angrily said this—'Hmph, this is completely different from what we agreed on!'"

Chapter 261 Nothing is a coincidence

"What? Is this true?" Kogoro Mouri's face showed a surprised expression.

Conan, upon hearing Ishimaki Koujiro's words, gaped in astonishment and fell into a daze.

“Yes, so the robber did say that, I heard that too.” Kagoshi Toshiro, standing to the side, looked at Kogoro Mouri and did not deny it.

"That does seem rather suspicious," Kogoro Mouri muttered, arms crossed.

Conan snapped out of his reverie. For some reason, he felt a strange sense of familiarity with the words, as if he had seen them somewhere before.

Filled with doubt, Conan hurriedly asked Ran beside him, "Ran-neechan, haven't there been similar cases before?"

"Huh?" Ran blinked her eyes blankly when she heard Conan's question, looking somewhat confused.

"Who exactly are you?!" When the mustachioed man who had suddenly struck up a conversation with him started questioning him, Izumo Keitaro's attitude immediately turned sour.

"What? You don't recognize me?!" Kogoro Mouri exclaimed, quite surprised, as he looked at Keitaro Izumo glaring at him fiercely. "I'm telling you, I don't care how you try to hide it..."

Just as Kogoro Mouri proudly raised his head, preparing to reveal his identity, a passerby beat him to it and revealed his identity.

"You're Mr. Kogoro Mouri, right?"

"Yes...yes!" Kogoro Mouri, who was about to put on an air of importance, was ruthlessly interrupted by a passerby.

He glanced to the side, somewhat annoyed, only to find a passing passenger staring at him with an excited expression.

"Ah, I'm so touched! I never expected to meet the famous detective Kogoro Mouri here! Can we take a picture together later?"

"Okay...okay, of course." Seeing the passerby's admiring gaze, Kogoro Mouri's displeasure vanished in an instant.

"Great! It's my honor!" A passing passenger excitedly pulled out his phone from his pocket.

Meanwhile, Keitaro Izumo, Toshinori Kagoshi, and Akashi Shigeshige, standing to the side, unconsciously revealed complicated expressions on their faces when they heard Kogoro Mouri's name.

"Yes, what a coincidence!"

Just as the people in the dining car were lost in their own thoughts, a woman's voice suddenly came from the doorway of the car.

"Huh?" The group was clearly startled by the sudden sound and turned to look at the carriage door.

Suddenly, a woman with short brown hair, wearing a green dress and a small white hat, appeared in the food cart, looking at the group of people with great interest.

However, because she was wearing dark sunglasses, no one could see the expression on her face.

"Ah, you must be Ms. Fumiyo Akechi, who reserved a table with us. This way, please, let me show you to your seat."

Fortunately, a food truck server who suddenly appeared at that moment immediately recognized the person's identity.

However, the woman, named Fumiyo Akechi, glanced around at the few people in the dining car and then waved to the waiter, saying, "Excuse me, I need to cancel my reservation now."

"But, Miss Akechi...!?" The food cart server was about to say something.

Akechi Fumiyo, who had already turned to walk back, stopped and turned back to the others amidst their puzzled gazes. She chuckled and said something that left everyone bewildered: "It seems this journey is going to be quite exciting."

As soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared from everyone's sight without looking back.

……

"Uncle, this has happened before, hasn't it? There have been times when robbers ran away without stealing anything!"

On the way back to their private room, Kogoro Mouri and his two companions, Conan, still not giving up after not getting an answer from Ran, kept pestering Kogoro Mouri to ask him more questions.

Kogoro Mouri had little patience for Conan's question and replied dismissively, "How would I know about such things? I bet you've been reading some mystery drama or novel lately, kid!"

As he spoke, Kogoro Mouri stopped at the door of his and his companions' carriage, took out his room key, and opened the door.

Conan was somewhat dissatisfied with Kogoro Mouri's answer, and a serious expression hung on his lowered head.

Conan followed Kogoro Mouri and Ran into the private room, his mind still trying to recall the incident: "No, this definitely wasn't something I saw recently, it was a long time ago, probably when I was still very young..."

……

Under the dark night sky, the Beidou Star train sped along the tracks.

Ran and Conan leaned against the train window, admiring the scenery outside.

Just as the train entered a tunnel, Ran excitedly introduced it to Conan: "Conan, look, we're entering the Seikan Tunnel now!"

Conan, still preoccupied with what had just happened, merely nodded absentmindedly in agreement with Ran.

Only Kogoro Mouri, who was already asleep on the side, got up from the bed impatiently and complained to the two of them, "Hey, what are you two doing? Why aren't you asleep yet!"

He glanced at his watch and reminded the two of them, "Come on, it's already four o'clock! You two kids should go to sleep!"

When Ran heard Kogoro Mouri's words, she stuck out her tongue at her father apologetically.

Conan, however, remained staring at his reflection in the car window, his brow furrowed. "Damn it, why can't I remember?! I must have encountered the same thing somewhere before!"

This intense sense of familiarity and eeriness made it impossible for Conan to fall asleep.