Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Despite being in a coma for ten years.

Logically speaking, Kuroda Hyoue should be completely ignorant about gossip. Even if his first priority after waking up was to understand the situation, besides rehabilitation, this should definitely not have been among the things he needed to understand.

But someone had specifically mentioned it to Kuroda Heiwa.

Even though that person had specifically mentioned it, Kuroda Hyōe still kept it to himself.

own opinion.

"What do you mean by 'a few die'? What do you know? Who told you that?"

Kuroda Hyoue stared intently at Sano.

His words were full of the oppressive feeling that came from those in power.

...Faced with Kurosawa, Kuroda dared not make any rash moves, but faced with Sano...

That would be completely different.

This is not simply because Sano is more likely to be a "good person".

More importantly, it's because Kuroda Hyōe knows this person in front of him very well.

The unknown is what is most frightening, while the known is what provides the greatest sense of security.

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong?

nonsense.

Why would we ignore the soft option and go after the hard one?

This is "war," why would someone be a policeman if they were just trying to reason with others?

Kuroda Hyōe doesn't care whether this high school detective is as simple as he seems on the surface, as long as there is an opportunity to find a flaw.

Then let's do it.

"What's it to you? You dare ask me questions?"

However, Sano retorted without hesitation when Kuroda Hyoue asked him a question.

"If you want to get involved in a case I'm handling, you'll have to listen to me."

Kuroda Hyōe was naturally surprised by Sano's tough attitude, but that did not stop him from continuing his actions and trying to intimidate Sano.

However, Sano still didn't pay much attention to him.

"What do you mean I'm involved in your case? I didn't ask you for the case file, I didn't borrow your power, and I didn't break the law. If you're unhappy, arrest me!"

"..."

Kuroda Hyoue was immediately silenced, his face darkening as he remained silent. The three members of the plague family and the three policemen beside them watched Sano and his companion without daring to breathe... Did these two have a grudge against each other? The tension was palpable.

"...Ahem, senior, why did you come here?"

In the end, Ran Mouri reluctantly stepped forward and repeated her question. Besides being curious herself, she also wanted to fulfill Kuroda Hyoue's wish and prevent the two from fighting again.

"Of course there was a commission."

Sano casually asked, "Do you know anything about the Woodpecker Society that I asked you to investigate?"

"woodpecker……"

Ran Mouri blinked: "Senior, you came here because you already know what happened, and that's why you want to start from here to complete the request?"

"Ok?"

Sano feigned confusion before asking in surprise, "What, has this gotten into the Woodpecker Society?"

"Um……"

Ran Mouri glanced at Heiji Kuroda again, coughed, and said everything.

Sano patiently listened, letting the words go in one ear and out the other.

He cast a strange look at Conan.

Conan's lips twitched... Why was he looking at him? He thought it was expected that someone would die, but that it happened to involve a woodpecker was unexpected?

"...Just as Sano-nii received the commission to investigate the Woodpecker Guild, members of the Woodpecker Guild started to suffer one after another. What a coincidence."

Conan made an "innocent" remark, cleverly turning the tables on Conan.

Sano was also somewhat surprised.

Unexpectedly, Conan retaliated this time, and his retaliation was so precise.

Sano's eyes focused instantly.

The overwhelming eagerness made Conan's heart skip a beat, and he immediately sensed something was wrong.

...Oh no, I've been too arrogant and they've got their eyes on me.

Fortunately, before Sano could speak, Ran Mouri asked again, "Hey, so where did you get this request to investigate the Woodpecker Guild from, senpai?"

"...Client privacy is at our discretion, and we cannot disclose that information."

Sano gave a perfunctory reply before turning his attention to the important matter: "Alright, the key right now is to find the culprit and the remaining Woodpecker Guild members he's been targeting. As you just said, those two Takeda-gumi members have already left on their own. Although I don't quite understand what those two idiots are thinking, they've probably met with some kind of accident. We need to find them as soon as possible. Do you have their phone numbers?"

"Yes, there are, but unfortunately, none of them can be reached."

Morofushi Takaaki spoke up at the opportune moment, and Kuroda Hyōe subsequently received a text message.

"...The results of the forensic examination of that big toe are in; it has been confirmed that it belongs to Officer Takeda."

"Yeah."

None of the people present paid much attention to this.

Only Sano seemed to be deep in thought... Now the possibility that the murderer deliberately left that big toe seems to have increased a lot, but if that's really the case...

Whose headless corpse is this?

Why bother with a special swap?

Just as Sano was feeling somewhat puzzled, the only remaining Takeda-gumi police officer present suddenly took out his phone and glanced at it.

"...Something's not right, Akiyama doesn't seem to have come home!"

"what?"

"Someone saw him driving towards Qinu Mountain!"

Kuroda Hyōe's eyes turned cold, and he waved his hand dismissively: "Let's go!"

So, a few policemen, Sano, and Conan, who secretly followed in the car, sped off in two vehicles to Mount Wife and Daughter.

...Logically speaking, Sano is investigating the case.

Although it's unreasonable to be serious, as long as it doesn't interfere with the police, Kuroda Hyōe can't really do anything, just like that saying.

If you're unhappy, just grab them.

Even though Sano has now directly joined the team, which can already be considered an obstacle.

Let alone finding an excuse to deduct a day.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to treat it as obstruction of official business.

However, Kuroda Hyōe did not actually do that, which can be considered as giving him a way out.

...At least it's not completely mindless.

Sano sat in the passenger seat of Morofushi Takaaki's car, looking at Kuroda Heiwa in the back seat of another car—in truth, he had given the other man a way out.

On the surface.

Once Sano arrived at his destination, he and Kuroda Hyoue were locked in a fierce confrontation.

But what are the prerequisites for this situation?

It was Sano who appeared in his true form, and it was Kuroda Heiwa who dared to confront him head-on.

What if Sano changed his identity and appeared under a different alias?

Kurosawa, Kuroko, or even Kuroshi—any one of them would probably make Kuroda Heibei wary and he wouldn't dare to act rashly. Why would he choose not to take such a path?

It was as if Kuroda Hyoue was deliberately given an opportunity to be suspected and bullied.

why?

Because this was actually a way out given by Sano.

Kuroda Hyōe had a list of five suspects among the members of the Black Organization.

This corresponds perfectly to Sano's five aliases.

Among those directly associated with the confirmed character Kuroko are Rye and Kurosawa.

Leaving aside Kurosawa, who is at a lower level, even if Kuroshi or Kuroko appeared here, Kuroda Hyoue couldn't do nothing, otherwise it wouldn't make sense procedurally. However, if he appeared as Sano's true form, he might still have some doubts, but at least he could choose not to do anything.

In addition, there was the previous case of the real and fake Shinichi Kudo. Sano originally intended to boost his own identity and make his presence felt, but due to the nature of the case, he couldn't really do it. So he thought he would try to do it this time.

Sano hadn't expected that his consideration for Kuroda Hyoue would be met with such disrespect, with Kuroda immediately launching into an arrogant and overbearing manner. Sano even wondered if he had been too kind... perhaps because he had ripped this guy off in the office earlier?

Distracted.

Conan and Yui Uehara, who were sitting in the back row, had already started talking.

...It was naturally unreasonable for Conan to get on the bus, and Uehara Yui had tried to stop him.

But Conan held onto Sano tightly.

Given the urgency of the situation, Uehara Yui couldn't do much and could only let it go.

The two were naturally talking about members of the Woodpecker Guild, the murderer's target.

"...If the killer's target this time was indeed Inspector Akiyama, then I might already know who his next two targets are."

"what?"

Conan wasn't going to keep Yui in suspense; he immediately launched into a series of deductions.

The gist is that the surnames of the Takeda-gumi members seem to match those of some famous generals in a certain battle, although it's a bit of a stretch.

Based on all the information available at present, the three remaining woodpeckers mentioned by the murderer in the text message correspond to the two remaining police officers of the Takeda Group, as well as Yamato Kansuke, who was once a member of the Takeda Group.

"The Twenty-Four Generals..."