The Pirated Onmyoji of the Detective World

With a sudden "sizzle" sound, the branch that Hattori Heiji was holding twisted even more violently.

Seeing that the branch wouldn't hold for much longer, Kazuha tightly closed her eyes, her face flushed, and shouted at Heiji above, "Heiji, you idiot! I, I like...!?"

Just as Kazuha was preparing to use the last moments of her life to speak her mind.

A strange voice came from above them.

"You two, instead of investigating properly... what are you doing? Are you rock climbing?"

Hattori Heiji: "!!!"

Kazuha Toyama: "!!!"

Upon hearing the somewhat familiar voice, the two instinctively looked up at the cliff.

Suddenly, Aragaki Yu appeared at the edge of the cliff, looking at the two of them with a puzzled expression.

"Aragaki!" Hattori Heiji looked at Aragaki Yu on the cliff, his voice filled with surprise.

Hattori Heiji was so agitated that he trembled all over. "Help! Help! Aragaki! The branch Heiji is holding onto is about to break!"

"it is good."

Amidst the expectant expressions of the two, Aragaki Yu calmly nodded.

Then, he slowly lay down on the edge of the cliff, and then leaned out as far as he could, tentatively reaching out his hand to Hattori Heiji.

Aragaki Yu: "..."

Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama: "..."

Although I was very touched by Aragaki Yu's risky act of reaching out, the tree was more than a meter away from the cliff edge. What made him think he could reach it with his arm?

This is ridiculous!

However, that's not all.

Perhaps because Aragaki Yu's body was pressed against the edge of the cliff, the already unstable clods of earth on the edge of the cliff began to fall down with a clatter, and pieces of them crashed down on Hattori Heiji.

Hattori Heiji:"……"

Hattori Heiji paused for a moment, glanced at the branch he was holding that was about to give way, and finally couldn't help but shout at Aragaki Yu, "Stop, stop! Aragaki! You'd better find another way to save us!"

"All right……"

Hattori Heiji noticed—

Aragaki Yu stood up and smacked his lips, seemingly finding it a bit troublesome.

Hattori Heiji, realizing this, felt inexplicably flustered.

Although the idea was absurd, he genuinely wondered if Aragaki Yuu might give up on rescuing him and Kazuha because he found it too troublesome.

Perhaps because they were in the woods, after looking around, Yuya Aragaki couldn't find anything long enough to support the weight of two adults.

Left with no other choice, Yuya Aragaki reluctantly took off his shirt, tore it in half, tied them together, twisted them into a rope, and threw it towards Heiji Hattori.

……

ten minutes later.

Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama have been safely pulled up the cliff.

"Huff~ Huff~" Hattori Heiji lay on the ground, breathing heavily to calm his nerves after surviving the ordeal.

Meanwhile, Kazuha Toyama, with a pained expression, took out a handkerchief from her pocket and bandaged the wound on Heiji Hattori's hand to stop the bleeding.

Because he didn't control his strength well, the wound on the back of Hattori Heiji's hand was not shallow, and it was still bleeding.

"Hey you two, what are you doing here?" Aragaki Yu looked at Hattori Heiji and Kazuha with suspicion. "Weren't you investigating clues by the river where the crime happened last night?"

"Heh... Hiss!"

Upon hearing what Aragaki Yu said, Hattori Heiji scratched his head sheepishly.

As a result, he completely forgot about his injured hand, which had just been bandaged by Kazuha, because it aggravated the wound on the back of his hand.

Hattori Heiji also grimaced in pain.

"We originally wanted to go to the crime scene last night! But because Kazuha smelled a fragrance, the two of us specifically followed the scent and came here."

Heiji Hattori then explained how he accidentally damaged the tombstone, chased after it into the bushes, and then lost his footing and fell off the cliff. Kazuha, trying to save him, also fell off the cliff.

However, he also concealed the fact that he and Kazuha had ended up in this place because they got lost.

After all, getting lost is too embarrassing for a detective these days!

(Kogoro Mouri: "Heh...")

"By the way, Aragaki, how did you end up here?"

Although deeply moved by Aragaki Yu's rescue of him and Kazuha, Hattori Heiji suddenly became suspicious of Aragaki Yu's presence in this place.

Of course, it wasn't that he felt Aragaki Yu was related to or suspected of being involved in the case here; he simply felt that Aragaki Yu couldn't possibly be here.

After all, if I remember correctly, Aragaki Yuu should have gone to the homes of the island's residents to gather information, just like Kudo and Uncle Mori.

Chapter 470 You can't visit empty-handed, can you?

"Accident."

As Yuu Aragaki explained casually, he frowned as he looked at the clothes in his hands, which had been twisted into ropes.

To be honest, this top is quite expensive.

Although it's not a well-known domestic brand, it's at least a best-selling product that has crossed the ocean from a certain major country.

【abibas】

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll replace your shirt later!"

When Hattori Heiji noticed Aragaki Yu's furrowed brows, he assumed that Aragaki Yu was making that expression because he felt cold.

After all, Aragaki Yu was different from herself; she wasn't wearing a coat and was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

He even took it off to save himself.

So right now, I'm really just standing there with my upper body exposed. In a place like this, by the cliff in the woods, it's definitely chilly when the wind blows up.

Upon realizing this, Hattori Heiji immediately took off his coat and handed it to Aragaki Yuu in front of him.

You know what, I didn't expect that Yu Aragaki, who usually looks so thin, would have such well-defined eight-pack abs when he takes off his shirt that Heiji Hattori was quite envious and couldn't help but want to reach out and touch them.

Just as Hattori Heiji was lost in thought, he suddenly heard a "whoosh" sound from behind him.

He turned around with some confusion, only to be shocked to find that Kazuha, who was hiding behind him, was staring at Aragaki Yuu's upper body with shining eyes while wiping away drool.

"hateful!!!"

……

Hattori Heiji, his mind reeling, subtly shifted his body to block Kazuha's infatuated gaze.

At the same time, he urged Aragaki Yu to put on his coat, citing the reason that he should be careful not to catch a cold.

Although he didn't think Kazuha would have any feelings for Aragaki Yu, the way she looked at him still made Hattori Heiji feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

……

"So you mean you ruined the mermaid's grave?"

On the way down the mountain, Aragaki Yu also gave Hattori Heiji a disdainful look.

"..."

Hattori Heiji gave an awkward laugh, unsure how to explain.

After all, if he hadn't tried to take a piece of the gravestone, this situation wouldn't have happened, and he and Kazuha wouldn't have been in such a dangerous situation.

Kazuha, who was following behind the two, complained angrily, "Yeah, Heiji is really too reckless! And Heiji, you must apologize to Grandma and the others properly after you go down the mountain!"

"I know, I know, stop nagging! How many times have you said it, Kazuha?" Hattori Heiji turned around and glared at Toyama Kazuha with dissatisfaction.

This woman doesn't even know how to save face for herself in front of others.

"But speaking of which, Aragaki, have you seen anyone else around here?" Hattori Heiji suddenly asked Aragaki Yu.

"Anyone else?" Aragaki Yu looked at Hattori Heiji with surprise. "No, I think we were the only ones around there at the time."

“That’s strange…” Upon hearing this, Hattori Heiji rested his chin on his hand and lowered his head in deep thought. “I clearly remember that when we saw that grave, there were still unburnt incense sticks in front of it! Right, Kazuha?”

"Huh!?" Kazuha, who was suddenly called out, was also stunned for a moment, but quickly came back to her senses and thought, "No, that's right! For that kind of incense, it usually takes about twenty minutes to burn completely."

"That means at least one person should have been burning incense at the mermaid's grave a dozen minutes ago!" Hattori Heiji analyzed thoughtfully. "And that person, if not the long-lived old woman who knows the location of the mermaid's grave, might be the suspect related to Miss Kotobuki's death!"

Heiji Hattori made some useless guesses, but many mysteries remain unsolved.

Aragaki Yu: "..."

Upon hearing Hattori Heiji's analysis, Aragaki Yu's expression turned strange.

"Aragaki, what's wrong? Did you think of something?" While pondering, Hattori Heiji also carefully observed his surroundings.

Now that he knows there are other people nearby, he can't afford to be careless.

If the three of them were to encounter an attack in this godforsaken place, it would be a very bad thing.