Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Xiao Hei immediately rushed to Sano and started circling around him.

This also proves that Sano's earlier statement that he "got to get to know this dog" was not a lie.

At least we didn't lose face completely.

After letting out a sigh of relief, Xiao Hei grabbed Sano's trouser leg and pulled it back in the direction it had come from, making "woof woof woof" noises all the while.

"Meat, meat, meat..."

Actually, the first sound that Kuro made meant "meat meat meat" to Sano.

Sano had initially thought the guy was hungry and asking him for meat, but judging from the current situation, it seemed that wasn't the case.

Sano hesitated for a second, then chose to follow Xiao Hei's lead and went to the spot where it had been digging.

"Meat, meat, meat!"

Xiao Hei repeated the word "meat" to Sano.

...Does this mean you want to help dig a hole yourself?

Sano frowned as he looked at the shallow hole that Kuro had dug in the grass, but what did the guy mean by constantly shouting "meat"?

Is there meat underneath?

But how could there be meat under the grass... Could it be...?

If Sano were just an ordinary person, and the people around him were also ordinary people, and he lived in an ordinary environment, he certainly wouldn't think too much about it.

The problem is that none of this is quite normal.

So, if things develop normally, there really is meat underneath...

A bad feeling is coming.

Sano narrowed his eyes. As a stray animal, Kuro's food was unlikely to be anything fresh. Therefore, the meat in its mouth was most likely meat that had been thrown away for a long time and was rotting.

...Since there's no mission, it's probably best not to create trouble for yourself.

"Alright, stop digging. I'll take you to eat something delicious."

Sano tried to pull the little black dog, who had started digging in the dirt again, away, but unfortunately... he couldn't pull it away.

"...Fine, then you can dig it up yourself."

Sano was too lazy to care anymore and planned to leave Kuro behind, but he didn't expect that the other party would bite his trouser leg again in the next second.

Good heavens, not only do they have to dig to the bottom, but they also have to make me dig along with them?

Can't you be reasonable?!

Sano refused to back down and immediately started tugging at Xiao Hei again. Naturally, he couldn't win, especially since Xiao Hei bit his trouser leg. If he really used force, his trousers would be ruined.

Unfortunately, with Ran Mouri, Conan, and others nearby, Sano couldn't simply put Kuro into his backpack to solve the problem.

Reluctantly, Sano had no choice but to stay. After waiting for half a minute, he felt that waiting was a waste of time, so he decided to help the silly dog ​​dig.

But how do you dig it? You can't just use your hands, can you?

Sano's delicate hands are nothing like Xiao Hei's two dog paws; scratching them raw hurts a lot.

After pondering for a few seconds, Sano drew the Hammer of Justice and stared at its ram's horns for a few seconds.

Hammer of Justice: "..."

"Just use this."

Sano started digging in the dirt with the ram's horn on his hammer, but after a few seconds he became impatient again.

Sano silently turned his gaze to the members of the small team who had been watching the whole thing.

"...Roasted sweet potatoes, we can't just eat them for free, can we?"

The five little ones: "..."

I wish I hadn't eaten that lousy sweet potato.

Then the five children, a mix of real and fake, took turns digging in the dirt with Sano's hammer.

No, to be precise, there should be four. Ai Haibara did not participate in this task because of her shoulder injury... although even if she hadn't been injured, she probably still wouldn't have participated.

With someone else taking over the digging work, Sano sat there gazing at the river in a daze.

...On another note, if the case in Itaguchi doesn't make any progress, then Sano could try communicating directly with John through Kuro to find out the true nature of the signal.

Although this method is a bit troublesome and too unstable, it is the only option when there is absolutely no other way.

As Sano drifted into his own thoughts, about ten minutes passed.

Sano suddenly snapped out of his reverie and sniffed his nose.

This taste is definitely right.

Sano frowned, got up, pulled Genta, who was digging in the soil, aside, and took the hammer from his hand.

"Call the police."

Conan was stunned for a few seconds after hearing Sano's instructions. He was about to ask why in confusion when he saw Sano digging in the soil. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and took out his phone.

Half a minute later, Sano, who had seen half a rotten finger, stopped what he was doing and turned to look at the real children and Ran Mouri who were peeking out curiously. He still reminded them, "I advise you to stop looking."

Upon hearing this, both Conan, who had already sensed something was wrong and was frowning, and Ai Haibara, who was standing next to him with her arms crossed and vaguely aware of something was amiss, had a change of heart.

Since Sano said that, then it is indeed true that something has been discovered.

And what would be hidden underground... most likely can only be corpses.

"...Sano, shouldn't you check on your dog? It seems to be getting more and more excited. If you let it dig any further, the body might be destroyed."

Conan suddenly spoke up with a strange expression, offering a reminder.

Sano paused for a moment, then turned back to see that Kuroko was indeed digging faster and faster, her breathing becoming rapid, as if victory was just around the corner.

"..."

Thanks to the combined efforts of Sano and Ran Mouri, Kuro was successfully stopped. Inspector Megure, who had just returned to the police station with Itaguchi, had to lead his team there again.

Several police officers carefully dug into the ground, but to their surprise, they didn't find a disgusting corpse, just a hand.

...Sano originally thought this would be a... well, a body dumping case or a body hiding case, but he didn't expect that he would have to add the prefix "dismemberment" to it.

However, since there was only one hand and no other clues, the accident was left unresolved, fortunately without causing any further trouble.

It seems this time it wasn't due to Conan's curse.

Besides, the little black dog that witnessed the food it had dug out being taken away by the police howled so loudly that it shook heaven and earth. Even Conan and the others, who couldn't understand what it was saying, could feel the sorrow behind its howl.

In the end, Inspector Megure had to pay for it himself to buy a large beef rib, which finally calmed Kuro down, and he left satisfied.

……

The next day, after getting up, Sano was surprised to find that Gin had called him the night before, but he hadn't answered because he was probably asleep at the time.

After making two phone calls in a row, Gin lost his patience and left a text message.

"how's it going."

The question, seemingly without any context, appears to be merely a display of concern between friends.

But Sano knew that this wasn't concern, but rather an inquiry about the progress of the mission.

...It hasn't even been two days yet, and they're already urging me on. Are they trying to kill me?

These bosses and superiors are all cut from the same cloth.

Scratching his messy hair with some impatience, Sano quickly typed a text message and sent it out.

"We're working on it."

Then Sano casually tossed his phone aside, intending to ignore any further calls or messages from Gin, since he was "working hard" after all.

A hardworking person doesn't have that much free time to chat idly and slack off.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the cocktail bar, Gin noticed his phone vibrating, took it out to look at it, and immediately replied to a text message.

Gin didn't turn off his phone after that. Instead, he waited patiently for ten minutes without receiving a reply before turning his attention to the newspaper he had received the night before on the table.

High school detective Shinichiro Sano solves another case...

Gin glanced at the headline of a newspaper article, then at the simple words "Trying Hard" on his phone screen, and slowly typed out a row of dots.

...Is this guy trying to fool himself?

Chapter 287, Chapter 286: The fate of the world rests on your shoulders!

Sano was unaware that Gin's sudden inquiry about his mission progress wasn't actually a subtle way of urging him on, but rather because he had seen the case Sano had solved the previous day.

Even if he knew, Sano wouldn't care, because he was busy eating lunch.

Today, Sano, unusually, didn't go out and even got to eat food other than instant noodles and bento boxes.

...This is not just because Gin can reimburse his food and drink expenses for quite some time now, so he doesn't have to worry about the price. The main reason is that Sano is already tired of those things.

No matter how diverse the flavors are, they are essentially the same. If you eat too much of it, you will naturally feel tired of it and won't be able to eat anymore.

This reminded Sano of his own Nadotong (a local instant messaging service), and he immediately made a call to order a delivery service.

...Actually, delivery prices in Japan are still quite expensive. Even though Natotong (a major food delivery platform) has touted low prices, it still charges a delivery service fee equivalent to a cup of instant noodles.

But it's okay, it's reimbursable anyway, so it's not a big problem!

It took less than twenty minutes for the members of the Black Reaper organization, dressed in their Nadotong uniforms—pure black overalls and baseball caps—to deliver the hamburger meal that Sano had mentioned on the phone to their door.

Yes, not bad, very efficient.

Sano secretly evaluated the errand service and then paid for the package and the errand fee together.

After finishing lunch, Sano went out to the Metropolitan Police Department.

...When Inspector Megure led his team to handle the second round of "cases" yesterday, he mentioned another matter—that Sano and his group should give statements tomorrow, which is today.

Sano, in particular, has been accumulating more and more cases.

Sano originally intended to delay further, accumulating more issues before resolving them all at once, but Inspector Megure threatened him with an outrageous and absurd reason: "If we delay too long, the reward might expire."

In the end, Sano agreed.