Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

A terrified scream rang out.

This is!?

Conan's expression changed: "It's that guy's voice!"

Sano recognized the voice; it was that of the dark-skinned college student.

There was no time to think.

The group quickly ran in the direction of the sound.

Then, at the bottom of a cliff, they saw the dark-skinned college student.

To be precise, he was a dark-skinned college student with his head covered in blood, who died with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

...And he actually became the first victim?

Sano was somewhat speechless.

No, this should be said to be based on experience.

It's definitely not me jinxing things, yes, that's it.

Sano didn't go down; instead, he watched the others climb down to check the situation.

Finally, the results were obtained.

Aside from the obvious head injury, the only visible external injury on the dark-skinned college student's body was a small cut on his cheek. Not far from the body, there was also a throwing knife, indicating that he must have been so terrified while dodging someone's thrown knife that he slipped and fell off the cliff.

"It's Silver Fox, isn't it? That guy seems to really like using throwing knives."

Sano looked at the throwing knife in Kogoro Mouri's hand without offering any comment.

It's also possible that someone deliberately left this behind to make the Silver Fox's existence seem more real, with the aim of misleading the public.

To put it bluntly, it's a clue about a troublemaker.

"boom--"

As if to match the atmosphere, the sky grew increasingly dark.

Dark clouds gathered, and the wind suddenly picked up.

A bolt of lightning flashed.

The group then forgot all about the dead dark-skinned college student.

"Quickly, get to the rest area!"

After all, they were on a mountain road, facing strong winds and heavy rain. The group was quite serious and ran up the mountain quickly. Sano stayed behind to make sure no one ran away before he went inside with peace of mind.

But the others who entered the house after knocking on the door exclaimed in surprise.

Sano glanced at it and saw an old man standing in the dimly lit room.

It doesn't look very human.

Only when the lights came on did the group's expressions relax.

After talking to him, it turned out that the old man was the manager of the rest area.

His head was covered in unusually long gray hair, including his eyebrows and beard.

He looked like a wild man; no wonder he didn't look human when the lights weren't on.

Because there was no cell phone signal, Kogoro Mouri tried to call the police using the rest stop's phone to explain the situation and hopefully get them back down.

However, the administrator said that it might be due to the thunderstorm.

Even the phone lines here are no longer working.

Kogoro Mouri tried it, but it didn't work, so he had no choice but to give up.

Sano, standing to the side, watched the old man's performance expressionlessly, his mind filled with the word "idiot"—were they all blind? How could not a single person see such a large gap in the telephone wire underneath?

Are we all collectively blind?

Without a doubt.

There's something wrong with this old man.

And the problems are quite significant.

Watching the old man prepare dinner for everyone—vegetable buns simply scalded with boiling water.

The hand that held the object was the left hand.

silver fox?

Isn't this just a cover-up?

Sano subconsciously wanted to rub his fingers together, but stopped and quietly found a place to sit down, until the old man handed him his food.

The hammer of justice struck quietly.

The old man's hand suddenly trembled, and his dinner spilled all over the floor.

The others in the room were drawn to the commotion, but they simply assumed that the old man was old and his hands were shaking, which was why he had spilled the things.

"...I'm sorry, since dinner was prepared in advance, there are no extra portions. Otherwise, you can have mine."

Silver Fox snapped out of his daze and apologized to Sano, but inwardly he was already on high alert.

Others may not know, but how could Silver Fox not know?

As a professional assassin, even though he had been retired for some time.

But it shouldn't be to the point where your hands shake when you hold such a small thing.

Just now, I felt a sharp pain in my own wrist.

That's why things get spilled.

The unusual point was that the person touched his wrist.

Regardless of the underlying principle behind this technique that could cause such intense pain from a mere touch, Silver Fox was certain that something was amiss with the person before him.

Is he testing himself?

Has my identity already been exposed?

Sano shook his head, indicating that it was unnecessary.

He was already certain in his heart that this old man was Silver Fox.

The only question is whether this guy started posing as an administrator recently, or even today, or after disappearing for half a year.

So they've been hiding here?

...Based on the information gathered by Sano.

The last time Silver Fox appeared, or rather, when he was seen with any trace, was six months ago during a mission. After killing the mission target and accidentally causing the death of a kindergarten child, there has been no news of him since.

The specific reasons are hard to say.

If this guy only recently took over as administrator, then perhaps what the bearded man said is true, and his goal is to kill that guy. But what if Silver Fox wasn't just taking over as administrator, but was the administrator all along?

If you're planning to retire here.

Then things become a little different.

First, there's the dark-skinned college student who died; he was probably killed by someone else and framed by Silver Fox. Also, and most importantly, there's the guy's age.

Is he really as old as he looks?

If he were truly an old man, no matter what, he wouldn't qualify as one.

Is this the level of a top-tier assassin in Japan?

So wasn't that a wasted trip?

Before Sano could think it through, a new situation arose.

Because of the death, everyone present looked somewhat tense.

So it was only natural that they began to suspect each other.

During the argument, as the man stood up in agitation, he dropped a knife.

It inevitably brings to mind the throwing knife next to the dark-skinned college student's body.

The man quickly explained that it was just a hiking knife he used for self-defense.

As for how many people are willing to believe it.

That's hard to say.

Then, the long-haired man suddenly recognized Kogoro Mouri and greeted him with a look of surprise, which caused the young couple to panic.

...In order not to alert the enemy, Kogoro Mouri did not use his real name.

Even at this point, Kogoro Mouri still wanted to keep it a secret, so he turned on the radio next to him in an attempt to distract himself.

Unexpectedly, a news report came on the radio.

It's said that a person was murdered in a village at the foot of the mountain this morning, and the murderer fled into the mountains. The police have already gone into the mountains to search for him... but judging from the weather, it's probably impossible to count on the police who have gone into the mountains.

They might have even temporarily withdrawn.

In the complicated atmosphere, the group quickly pulled up their blankets and drifted off to sleep.

"Keep an eye on things, call me if anything happens."

Sano was almost asleep, and if something happened later, it would probably be difficult to pull him out of his dream, so he secretly gave an order to Erhei.

"Yes, Master."

Erhei obediently responded, peeking out half of his head from Sano's collar, his eyes wide open as he observed the situation inside the room.

Next.

Sano suddenly opened his eyes in the middle of the night.

...Is this guy's wake-up service that special??

Chapter 458, 461, Sano: This is the worst assassin I've ever seen.