Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

...Because in the eyes of those colleagues, Asai Narumi was that kind of person.

When Sano saw Sonoko Suzuki look at him with a bright look in her eyes, he immediately knew what the gossip was thinking. But before that, Asai Narumi spoke up first: "And to be honest, I don't have that intention... It's better for someone like me not to harm others."

The air froze instantly upon hearing this.

Others might not understand the meaning behind Asai Narumi's words, and just felt that... it was a bit difficult to say, but Sano could roughly understand it.

It's really just two aspects.

Firstly, Asai Narumi felt that he was deeply sinful and that he would continue to live only to atone for his sins, to heal the wounded and punish the wicked, and not to talk about love.

Putting aside whether they have the skill or not, even if they do, do they have the qualifications?

Secondly, there's the issue of gender...

That's hard to say. Well, Sano will refrain from commenting for now.

"...And what about Sera?"

Although she didn't know why, Sonoko Suzuki quickly moved on from the topic.

Sera Masumi, however, glanced at Conan.

"...I don't have anyone I like."

"Hey~"

Just as Sonoko Suzuki was about to object and press for details, Sano finally spoke up: "Alright, stop asking. Learn to read the room. Can't you see that this guy clearly doesn't want to talk? He probably has someone he likes, but for various reasons, he can only love her but not be with her."

"Hey?"

The air fell silent again, and everyone stared blankly at Sano.

"Love is beautiful, it doesn't just exist in fantasy, but at least not everyone can find love, that's reality... People like you two, who meet someone they like and who is also a really good person, are a very small percentage. Unrequited love is the norm."

Sano picked up the tea that Sera Masumi had brewed from the coffee table and took a sip.

He completely ignored the increasingly strange looks in the eyes of those people.

"...Senior, you seem to know a lot about this?"

Faced with Ran Mouri's tentative question, Sano grinned and said with feigned sigh, "Of course I understand. After all, isn't my relationship with Attorney Kisaki exactly that kind of unrequited love, unforgettable and deeply etched in my heart?"

Ran Mouri: "..."

Tsk, I shouldn't have asked that question!

"Alright, stop talking about such boring things, let's play a game."

Sano clapped his hands, successfully piquing Sonoko Suzuki's interest.

"Okay, okay, what game?"

"Well, this game is about who is... the victim."

Sano's answer left the others puzzled: "Who is the victim? Judging from the name, is this some kind of mystery-solving detective game?"

"That's it."

Chapter 613, 616: Two Victims, Two Murderers

Sano pointed to the door: "I bet there's a case going on outside. It's about that novelist we just ran into, and it's related to his three editors. Let's not worry about the murderer for now. Who do you think the victim is?"

"...Will a case happen?"

Conan tensed up immediately: "And it's those four people we just encountered. What's going on? Did you find any clues?"

"No."

Sano looked at Conan: "It's just experience, after all, you're here."

Conan: "..."

"...Hahaha, senior, you really love to joke. What a coincidence!"

As Sonoko Suzuki spoke, she hesitated and stared warily at Conan.

...Don't stare at me like that!

Conan's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, while Sano continued, "Of course, you can also choose not to believe that a case will happen. In that case, you can bet that no case will happen. Those who believe that a case will happen can bet on the victim they believe in... or bet on the murderer."

"Finally, the person who bet wrong will pool their money to treat the person who bet right to a free dinner. How about that? Pretty good, right?"

Conan frowned: "Are you sure you only suggested this game because of my experience, and not because you actually discovered some clues?"

Sano crossed his legs and waved his hand, saying, "Yeah, what clues could we possibly find? We just bumped into each other once. Who do you take me for, a god?"

...That makes sense.

The group, persuaded by Sano, pondered for a while.

"Then I'll bet that no case will happen."

Conan chooses to defend his dignity, and Ran Mouri makes the same choice.

The other three chose the option where a case would occur.

Of course, the three of them had no idea whether the case would actually happen.

It was purely for entertainment.

Or perhaps they feel that if Sano proposes such a game, it will be one-sided.

It might be a bit awkward?

The three of them gave their answers.

Both Sonoko Suzuki and Narumi Asai bet on that bald novelist.

...There's nothing we can do. They said there were four options, but we only met by chance. Apart from the bald guy, the other two novel editors didn't even remember what the other three looked like. Only Sera Masumi remembered him relatively clearly because she had seen him more than once.

"Then I'll choose that bald guy too. Place your bet and wait for the result."

Sano was talking, but his attention was completely focused on his... ear.

It should be said to be near the ear.

According to Erhei's explanation, the case is about to happen.

The bald guy, for some reason, forcibly dragged the three novel editors into his room and treated them to a lavish meal—a really huge meal—regardless of whether they could finish it.

...Well, actually, Sano was in the mood because of the feast that Erhei described.

That's when my craving got the better of me, and I decided to sneak over some dinner... cough.

However, this development was somewhat beyond Sano's expectations, because something was very wrong.

"There are just too many manuscripts to handle. We'll process the manuscripts from whichever publisher's editors are eating the most first," these are the bald guy's exact words.

Aside from proving that the disparity in status between other novelists and publishers wasn't as vast as Sano had originally imagined, it also felt too much like that bald guy deliberately left those three people in the house—to create an alibi.

If that's really the case, then Sano made the wrong bet.

Was the bald man the murderer, and was the victim one of the three editors?

From this perspective, could it be that they were planning to poison him?

However, before Sano could come up with a solution, an outsider intervened.

Because it was a competition, when the three of them had almost finished eating, the bald guy would order another batch of takeout, and he would keep opening and closing the door during that time.

On one occasion, however, a female staff member dressed in a hotel uniform stayed behind and quietly slipped into the restroom next to the main entrance.

Sano thought the real culprit had finally appeared.

But Erhei then said that the bald guy seemed to know the waitress.

To be precise, it was the bald guy who helped the waitress sneak into the restroom.

...What kind of situation is this?

Could it be that this time, the perpetrators are two people, committing the crime together, which is quite unusual?

The only problem is that we don't know which one of the deceased was.

It's impossible for all three of them to die, right?

For what?

The two people, a man and a woman, might be in a romantic relationship. It's because these three editors were getting too worked up and disturbing their relationship that they became impatient.

...Hmm, that seems pretty reasonable.

"Master, that bald guy has made his move!"

Suddenly, Erhei's reminder brought Sano back to his senses.

"That guy's target was the woman who had secretly stayed behind disguised as a waitress. He planned to strangle her to death. He turned on the shower under the pretense of taking a shower, so the sound of the water masked her struggles."

...Is that really how it is??

"Go ahead, but be careful with the amount, just control it, don't kill him!"

After Sano gave the order, Erhei, who was lying on the bathroom ceiling of the bald man's room, immediately opened his mouth and squeezed out a drop of spider venom.

It hit the bald man squarely on the forehead.

"...It seems to have already started, let's go."

After Sano proposed the game and placed all the bets, the others waited a while but didn't see the next stage, so they naturally turned their attention to other topics. Now that they were suddenly pulled into this, they were immediately stunned.

"What, it's started?"

Sano got up and walked out: "Of course, it's the result of the bet."

Conan and the others immediately realized what was happening and followed Sano with slight hesitation.

But as soon as they stepped outside, Conan and the others heard a noisy commotion.

...No way, no way, could it be that Sano actually guessed right?

After quickening their pace and turning the corner, what Conan and the others saw was a pale-faced, terrified woman standing at the door of the novelist's room.

He was slumped on the ground.

Beside them stood three bewildered publishing editors, seemingly confused about the situation—"He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me!"