The Pirated Onmyoji of the Detective World

After all, she had successfully played two roles in front of the residents of Mermaid Island for the past three years, and having made full preparations, she was naturally not worried about revealing anything in front of these outsiders.

Even though she had already heard that among these people was the legendary detective.

……

"What an old house! You'd never guess they made so much money from the Dugong Arrows!"

In the living room of the Shimabukuro family, Kogoro Mouri, sitting cross-legged on the tatami mat, glanced around at the room's decorations and muttered something unconsciously.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Upon hearing Kogoro Mouri's words, Kazuha, who knew the situation, gave her a disapproving look. "Those number plates only cost five yen each!"

"Huh? Five dollars!" This time, not only Kogoro Mouri, but even Heiji Hattori showed an extremely surprised expression.

After all, in his mind, a visitor who is extremely enthusiastic about the Dugong Arrow, or the legend of eternal youth that the Dugong Arrow represents, would not hesitate to spend 500 yen for a number plate.

The fact that they were selling number plates for only five yuan a piece was something he found hard to understand.

“Yes.” Although she also couldn’t understand why the number plates were sold so cheaply, Kazuha explained with certainty, “Besides, the island’s residents told me that it has always been like this.”

“That’s right, that’s right!” Xiao Lan, who seemed to be doing nothing, chimed in. “It’s said that they put 180 numbered tickets in a big box, and the guests will draw them one by one after lining up. Then, at the final celebration, the Longevity Granny will select three numbers from them.”

Kogoro Mouri didn't care at all about the lucky person who won the Dugong Arrow through a lottery, since he didn't believe in mermaid legends at all.

After looking around for a while, Kogoro Mouri, who was getting a little impatient, couldn't help but complain, "Why is that old woman taking so long!"

Yes, almost a cup of tea's time had passed since Shimabukuro Kimie brought the group back to her home, settled them in, and then went to invite the old woman of longevity.

"There's nothing we can do about it!" Xiaolan understood perfectly. "After all, Miss Junhui just said she would try to call her great-grandmother, but I think she must be exhausted from today's celebration and probably won't be able to see us..."

However, before Xiaolan could finish speaking, a series of muffled footsteps came from the corridor outside the living room.

Just as everyone turned to look, they saw the door to the reception room slowly being opened.

The next second, the old woman's aged face suddenly appeared in front of them. She looked around at the people in the reception room, but her gaze lingered on Shinju Yu for a while longer. "So it's you guys who have something to ask me, right?"

The group was clearly startled by the sudden appearance of the Longevity Granny, but because they had already seen her at the celebration, they quickly recovered.

"Ha~" Finally, Conan, who was the first to come to his senses, chuckled awkwardly and asked the old woman, who was about the same height as him, "Grandma, how did you decide the lottery number for the Dugong's Arrow?"

Longevity Granny: Staring...

Seeing that the old woman didn't respond, Conan couldn't tell whether it was because she was too old to hear him clearly, or because she was unwilling to answer such a sensitive question.

"Excuse me..." Helpless, Conan had no choice but to move closer to the old woman and repeat what he had just said.

Just as Conan brought his face close to the old woman, she suddenly spoke up: "It depends on the situation."

"Huh?" Everyone was stunned by this answer.

But the old woman, without any hesitation, continued, "Sometimes I also use the numbers I draw when choosing horses, hahaha!"

Conan: "Uh..."

Hearing what the old woman said, the others present could only smile wryly, feeling even more that the legendary Dugong Arrow was unreliable.

Only Kogoro Mouri's eyes suddenly lit up, and after hearing the words "horse race," he looked at the old woman as if he were looking at the people in the passageway.

I wonder if the old woman who lives a long life is interested in activities like pachinko.

"Then you don't need to give away only three Dugong Arrows a year. You could sell more, wouldn't that be a win-win situation?" Hattori Heiji said with a wry smile after learning that the Dugong Arrows were drawn so casually.

"That's impossible!"

The old woman seemed a little embarrassed by this. She smoothed her hair and slowly explained, "After all, the amount of hair I can use to tie those arrows is already very limited!"

Everyone: "..."

After learning about the raw materials for the Dugong Arrow, Kazuha, who was initially overjoyed at having drawn it, suddenly felt an urge to throw it away.

The expressions on the faces of the others also became strange at this moment.

Only Aragaki Yu, without changing his expression, glanced at the old woman and suggested quietly, "Actually, you can collect the hair that falls out every day. That way, you can save up a lot of hair over a year to make dugong arrows."

Longevity Granny: "..."

Everyone: "?"

After Aragaki Yu finished speaking, the reception room fell silent, and the atmosphere among everyone suddenly became somewhat strange.

Even the long-lived old woman only slightly opened her mouth before forgetting what she was going to say.

"great grandmother!"

Fortunately, at that moment, Kimie Shimabukuro's voice came from outside the door, "I've already prepared your bath water!"

Upon hearing this, Granny Changshou took one last look at the people in the reception room, then slowly turned to leave. "Excuse me, if you don't have anything important to say, I'm going to take a bath and go to bed!"

"But... but I haven't finished asking yet!" Conan said anxiously.

However, the old woman completely ignored Conan's intentions. Before leaving, she suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back to look at the living room, "And that little girl over there?"

"Ok?"

Upon hearing what the old woman said, Xiaolan and Heye were both taken aback and looked at her in surprise.

“I’m talking about the one with her hair tied up.” The old woman’s gaze fell on Kazuha.

"You called me?" Kazuha pointed to herself, somewhat bewildered.

"The Dugong Arrow was originally a precious arrow used to exorcise demons and ward off evil spirits. Once released, demons will build their nests on your body. If you are a man, you will become a heartless evil spirit; if you are a woman, you will enter her hand and become a mermaid who cannot speak. Therefore, I advise you to carry it with you at all times!"

After saying these words, which sounded like a warning, the old woman left without looking back.

Kazuha sat there in the living room, her eyes wide with fear.

"..."

At this moment, Kogoro Mouri and the others subconsciously leaned out of the reception room and looked at Granny Choju, who was walking away with a cane in the corridor. They felt a little strange.

Heiji Hattori couldn't help but mutter, "Her voice is hoarse, and her complexion is terrible. I don't think this old woman will live much longer!"

……

After returning, Ms. Shimabukuro Kimie entertained everyone for a while before Kogoro Mouri and his companions took their leave, as they had already been there for quite some time.

Furthermore, since the old woman had already gone back to her room to rest, there was no point in them staying any longer.

Because it was already very late, the group returned to the hotel.

It's too late today. Even if we wanted to find out what happened from the other residents on the island, they might not be able to provide any useful clues since their rest has been disturbed.

So whatever it is, you can only get a good night's rest and deal with it tomorrow morning.

……

the other side.

Back home, Naoko carefully hid the dugong arrow she had drawn.

Three years ago, she witnessed the "Longevity Granny" who survived the fire unscathed, as well as the skeleton of a "mermaid." As someone who participated in the arson, she completely believed in the mermaid legend on the island.

Of course, this also includes the blessings and curses of the dugong's arrow.

However, the very next morning...

When she opened the cabinet where she kept the dugong arrows, the sight of its empty interior almost made her heart stop.

The dugong arrow I hid in the cabinet has disappeared!

Naoko hurriedly checked the doors and windows, making sure she had locked them properly the night before.

The only open door had a ventilation fan that was so narrow that only birds could fly in.

Therefore, it was impossible for anyone to sneak into her room and steal the Dugong Arrow.

Not to mention that if someone were to rummage through her room looking for arrows, the noise would definitely wake her up.

However, after searching her entire room, she was even more confused.

Because there was no trace of the Dugong Arrow in the entire room.

The Dugong Arrow actually disappeared from her room.

Realizing this, Naoko slumped onto her bed.

Because she knew very well what kind of curse she would suffer if she lost the Dugong Arrow.

What terrified her even more was how the dugong arrow had disappeared from her room.

This is a bizarre thing.

Is it possible...

A mermaid!?

Just as Naoko frantically took out her phone, trying to call Shimabukuro Kimie to ask for another Dugong Arrow.

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

It seems like a text message has arrived.

Naoko glanced at her phone screen instinctively, but the content of the text message instantly made her jump out of bed—

[Naoko, I've found the mermaid's grave! —Saori]

"Now that I've lost the dugong's chamber, only the mermaid's corpse can save me!"

Perhaps it was the fear of losing the Dugong Arrow, or perhaps it was simply greed for the elixir of youth that could grant eternal youth to the mermaid's corpse.