The establishment of the Time Travelers Alliance began in the first year of Conan

Chapter 263 The Delayed Adagio (Part Two)
Every great turning point originates from a humble beginning.

For example, choosing to go left or right.

……

Three hours after Conan set foot on Moonshadow Island.

The car stopped at that fork in the road.

Masato Shimizu stepped on the brakes, and the leaves stuck to the axle finally had a chance to fall to the ground due to the vibration of the car braking.

He rested one hand on the steering wheel, tilting his entire body to the side and backward.

"Alright, we've arrived. Please get off the bus!"

He asked the three people sitting in the back row in a teasing tone—

Ran Mouri, Conan Edogawa, and Narumi Asai.

Ran Mouri and Conan leaned out into the gap between the seats.

This is a very old-fashioned, dilapidated road sign.

It is entirely made of wood, with a carbonized, jet-black surface forming the main part of the pillar.

But perhaps because the rainwater had been soaking and swelling it for so long, the vines wrapped tightly around the pillar, and some roots even penetrated into the interior of the pillar.

Fortunately, the same rusted nails still held part of the sign to the post—about a third of its length remained.

Some wood fibers, rough and exposed at the broken ends of the sign, along with insect holes, bird peck marks, perhaps for nesting purposes, and fungal infestations that allowed the sign to return to nature...

Conan can see many traces on it.

This attention to detail even surprised him slightly.

He stared at the bottom sign, a very faint mark left among the vines.

"Aso..."

The words after that are illegible.

Conan knew that it must be "Aso Otaku".

Even the broken sign itself "tells" that the breakage occurred ten years ago.

Perhaps it was three people, no, it should be four. They all brought down their axes at once, the moonlight reflecting the sharp, cold glint of the axes, and then—the sign broke, crashing onto the grass, and all fell silent.

"Can't we drive down?"

Kogoro Mouri's voice interrupted Conan's continued contemplation.

"It's difficult to reverse down here."

Masato Shimizu's answer was surprisingly reasonable.

He pushed open the car door and swept away a few weeds that had accidentally grown near the door.

"Moreover, this road has not been repaired since then, and if you drive on it, you might see trees growing in the middle of the road."

With a loud "bang," Masato Shimizu's voice came from outside the car.

“I didn’t really intend to take you down there. Today, Dr. Narumi and I have to attend the memorial service for Mr. Kameyama.”

Masato Shimizu tugged at his tie, indicating that his clothes made it difficult for him to move around.

Then, his gaze met Conan's through the glass.

"Besides, you have children with you. What if something happens..."

Now that things have come to this point, there's clearly no room for argument.

Kogoro Mouri also opened the car door.

"Conan, you and Ran should stay in the car and not wander off. Mr. Shimizu and I—"

He stepped one foot onto the somewhat soft ground and glanced back at the back seat.

"Conan—?!"

The back seat was empty.

The next second, that familiar, almost tooth-aching, annoying brat's voice came from beside him:
"Uncle Maori, the scenery here is so beautiful!"

"Smack!" Kogoro Mouri slapped his forehead and reached out to pull the mischievous boy back into the car.

"Dr. Narumi, could you please take care of her?"

But before he could finish speaking, he saw Asai Narumi, who had been sitting quietly in his seat, also open the car door.

"It's alright." A gentle concern appeared on her face. "Ran and I will keep an eye on him and make sure Conan doesn't run around."

Ran Mouri was taken aback when her name was called directly.

Then, she swiftly grabbed Conan while giving him a slightly apologetic smile.

"Then I'll have to trouble Dr. Chengshi."

"No, it should be me troubling you." This is undoubtedly a polite remark, though it's also possible that it isn't.

So, led by Masato Shimizu, the group crossed the road sign and slowly stepped onto the forest path.

The first one I walked to was the middle.

They walked along the mountain path for about ten minutes, enveloped in air thick with damp soil and moss.

"This is it!" Shimizu Masato suddenly stopped, his voice tinged with a hint of nostalgia.

"I found it by accident when I was playing hide-and-seek in the forest when I was a child."

As he spoke, he casually picked up a branch from the ground and parted a clump of grass in front of him.

A rock juts out abruptly from the edge of the cliff and stands there.

It is a solitary watchtower, the entire rock resembling a node of the letter "Y", standing at the junction of the forest and the sea cliff, dividing the forest path behind it, the mountain range to the side, and the coastline below, precisely along the winding path that resembles a thin line.

It's another fork in the road, with options to go up or down, left or right.

This is the edge of a cliff, where the sunlight and sea breeze make the edges, eroded by the sea, appear somewhat pale, like the moon.

"This road was probably discovered by people who wanted to take a shortcut."

Masato Shimizu explained to Conan, "Because the structure of this sea cliff is actually quite special."

It looks like a crescent moon when viewed from above, and the castle is located at the highest point of the sea cliff, which is the upper hook of the crescent moon.

Then, along the curved mountain itself, the terrain gradually begins to descend, forming a perfect arc, ending at a golden sandy beach where it meets the coast.

That is the lower hook of this crescent moon.

"It's also where the Aso family lives."

Masato Shimizu paused, then added:
“We are now in the middle of this moon. If you look down along this rock, you can see the abandoned port.”

"No wonder……"

Kogoro Mori glanced down in the direction Masato Shimizu was pointing and immediately understood why no one had discovered that place.

A grayish-white outline loomed in and out of sight—the remains of the port ruins.

Apart from the square foundations that are faintly visible when the tide is surging, and the few broken ship frames lying among the rocks, all traces have been smoothed over by nature.

"This dock is hidden so well."

Kogoro Mouri exclaimed, "It's like landing right in the very center of the back side of the island."

"Yeah, so hardly anyone comes here."

Masato Shimizu smiled and said, "Because the fishing grounds are on the other side, if you want to sail over here, you have to go around most of the island, and everyone says that you can't catch a single fish here."

Conan suddenly interjected, questioning some of the logic in Shimizu Masato's words.

"Huh, that's really strange—"

He looked up at Masato Shimizu and blinked.

"Since you said no one has come here much, why did you play hide-and-seek here when you were little?"

"and--"

Conan deliberately dragged out the tone.

"If you found out while playing hide-and-seek with someone, surely someone would have told the adults, right? Then everyone would know, wouldn't they?"

He paused, raised his head, and looked at Sister Xiaolan who was protecting him behind him, his eyes filled with a touch of "naive" confusion.

"And another thing, how can we let children get close to this place if it's so dangerous..."

Conan also subconsciously stopped talking—

Because Shimizu Masato was staring intently at him, with a gaze almost like that of someone staring intently at prey, and his eyes were flashing with complex emotions.

Then, he met Kogoro Mouri's sharp gaze and Ran Mouri's wary look.

"Alright." In the end, Shimizu Masato forced a smile. "I actually searched for this place for a long time."

He cast his gaze toward the abyss beneath the rock, his eyes vaguely conjuring up some distant and heavy images.

"In fact, if I hadn't seen that document back then, I would have found it hard to believe that there was actually a second port on the island."

He is the son of a fisherman who was born and raised on Moonshadow Island.

If there's anything that sets Shimizu Masato apart from others, it's that he enjoys thinking.

He lowered his eyelids, as if recalling something.

"In fact, if I hadn't seized on Black Rock's weakness regarding the pollution of the fishing grounds, I wouldn't have been able to become the fishermen's representative of Moonshadow Island so easily."

A bitter expression appeared on his face.

"However, although I did this, it doesn't change anything."

“Whether it’s the former village chief Kameyama Isamu, the current chief Kuroiwa Tatsuji, or the current chief candidate Kawashima Hideo… they are all much richer than me.”

"In other words, they can simply spend money to buy those votes."

"On this island, whoever can offer the best deal is the one whose word is law."

He paused, as if suppressing some emotions.

"About two months ago, that guy Kuroiwa called me to the village mansion. Kawashima was there too. They offered me a large sum of money if I was willing to withdraw from the election."

“So you rejected him,” Kogoro Mouri continued for him, “and then you discovered all this stuff you’re talking about now.”

"Perhaps you remember what I mentioned before, the village that actually existed on the island."

"You mean Red Demon Village?"

Masato Shimizu nodded. "After I refused, Kuroiwa told me some things."

Masato Shimizu still remembers that night.

At the time, filled with doubt, he drove to the village mansion—because Kuroiwa Tatsuji had called to say that this matter concerned the future of the entire Tsukikage Island.

It was around that time that he learned about the Red Demon Village.

"Black Rock said he deliberately allowed the fish farm to be polluted!"

Masato Shimizu's voice became indignant, but then filled with frustration and helplessness.

"It's to prevent this from getting out. He said that everyone on the island is now fishing on the edge of the island, and they might discover the remains of that dock."

"He told me that the current residents of Moonshadow Island are actually the children of soldiers who stayed on the island a long time ago, and the reason those soldiers came to the island was for the Crimson Fire Festival."

"For the Crimson Fire Festival?!"

Kogoro Mouri was a little confused. "What exactly is this Red Fire Festival?"

"I don't know either." Shimizu Masato shook his head, looking somewhat bewildered.

"But that's not the key point."

His gaze fell upon the darkening clouds in the distance; the sun was about to set and the moon was about to rise.

"It is said that during the Crimson Fire Festival, they would worship a flame that could bring peace and wealth, throw their most precious things into the fire, and then offer up the things that could still shine after the flame went out."

“That’s gold,” Kogoro Mouri coldly interrupted him.

The air seemed to sink instantly.

This was undoubtedly a huge scandal, one that could ruin the entire island's fishing industry. Conan, however, felt that something was off about Shimizu Masato's description.

"The timing is wrong..."

Conan realized the biggest problem with this statement.

No, there are still some things that don't make sense. Masato Shimizu's description does sound like a terrible history, an ancient and unsettling custom.

But it happened too soon.

Keiji Aso died ten years ago.

Conan found it hard to believe that this could be connected to something that almost no one on the entire island remembered.

Furthermore, why is Keiji Aso's death connected to the Akahaki Festival?
This makes absolutely no sense.

To his own group, or to others on the island, Keiji Aso's death was simply that of a pianist who had suddenly gone mad and set himself on fire.

Even when Taguchi Aoto mentioned Keiji Aso's death, he referred to it as "the cursed piano."

Why would Masato Shimizu directly link this incident to the "Red Fire Festival"?
For Conan, this feeling was truly bizarre.

It's just like--

Someone is trying to force two unrelated things together, two things that shouldn't appear in the same scene.

It's like a balance scale with vastly different weights being forcibly balanced by some force, and they shouldn't have developed that way in the first place.

Conan tried to piece together the clues and every frame of his memory in his mind.

The sentence that truly elicited a different reaction from Masato Shimizu was—

Conan discovered a clue that people from the past, or rather, people from two years ago, had "deliberately" left for him.

The number "three" is stable.

Conan realized he had discovered a core that could connect everything.

His voice was somewhat urgent: "What about the shadow of Moonshadow Island? What does it refer to?"

"The shadow of Moonshadow Island?" Shimizu Masato replied, "That's actually another name for a treasure, said to be the largest treasure that the Crimson Fire Festival could leave behind."

Conan immediately remembered what Masato Shimizu had said earlier.

He clearly remembered how Shimizu Masato described the "Red Fire Festival":

"The shadow of the flames during the fire festival, cast on the sea cliff, looks exactly like a full moon."

In other words, the treasure mentioned by the Crimson Fire Festival is very likely the pointer called "Shadow of the Full Moon"!

His heart immediately started pounding.

"Perhaps Keiji Aso's death is related to the whereabouts of the pointer!"

At this moment, Shimizu Masato's tone also became serious:
"I only realized something was wrong afterward, which is why I was determined to try to run for office."

“Dr. Narumi should remember, right?” He looked at Asai Narumi beside him, “the archaeologist who also came from Tokyo not long after you stayed.”

Asai Narumi turned her gaze away from the familiar mansion below the sea cliff and nodded, indicating that there was indeed such a thing.

"You mean Akimoto? The one who calls himself a 'historical geographer'?"

"Yes, that's the person Mr. Kameyama invited."

Masato Shimizu added, "At the time, he told everyone that he wanted to see if he could assess the value of the castle and see if there was a chance to turn it into a tourist attraction."

Asai Narumi recalled for a moment, "I remember... after Mr. Kameyama died, he seemed to have stayed on the island, right?"

"Yes, so don't you find that strange?"

Masato Shimizu voiced his doubts: "His reason was that the scenery on the island made him want to stay."

Ran Mouri tilted her head and looked at Dr. Narumi—

This reason seems to be the same reason Dr. Narumi gave for choosing to stay!

"But actually, I've seen him sneaking off to Aso's house more than once."

Ran Mouri tilted her head again.

—It seems that Dr. Narumi has been looking at that house for a long time!
Masato Shimizu pointed to the shadow on the shore.

Or rather, like a dark shadow, the building reflected on the golden beach.

"Moreover, just a few days ago, he suddenly left alone in a very flustered manner."

Masato Shimizu tries to connect everything to his competitors.

"Kawashima bought the ticket for him."

He paused, then said with certainty, "This is no coincidence. It's all very suspicious, isn't it?"

Kogoro Mouri did not answer.

From the moment Masato Shimizu began describing the beginning and end of the case, his furrowed brow never relaxed.

Masato Shimizu sighed as if he had just made some kind of confession, and looked at Kogoro Mouri.

"In short, Mr. Mori, I have told you everything I know."

Meanwhile, Conan was still pondering the archaeologist and the issue of time—

To be honest, he temporarily ruled out the possibility that the "Akimoto" mentioned by Shimizu Masato was actually "Akimoto Kazuta".

Hattori Heiji told him.

According to GSSRA's database, Akimoto Kazuta stayed on the island with Ooi Kento three months ago.

Dr. Narumi arrived on the island two years ago. If Akimoto Kazuta had arrived back then...

The timing still doesn't match.

But what if he went to Moonshadow Island again to change his registered address three months ago?

An archaeologist disguised as a fisherman...

If it's deliberately concealed, people on Moonshadow Island definitely won't be able to tell the difference.

Conan then remembered Ms. Wakako's husband, Kento Oi.

He gritted his teeth in regret, realizing he hadn't asked clearly when Miss Wakako had met the other person.

This could have been a crucial clue in determining who was lying!

He turned his head and glanced at Shimizu Masato, who was trying to persuade Kogoro Mouri to follow this path down the mountain to investigate whether they could find any evidence at the abandoned port.

Conan gritted his teeth.

There are too many details that don't match the timeline.

This person is either part of the same group that has been fooled, or they are not telling the truth!
If Keiji Aso's death is indeed related to that so-called treasure, or the "pointer"...

So, starting ten years ago, some people deliberately linked this death with the legend of the Crimson Fire Sacrifice.

Moreover, his goal was to create a "reason" that everyone would accept.

This allowed everyone on the island, including those who came after, to unknowingly conceal the true crime committed by the murderer.

Just like Uncle Mori promised, we won't tell anyone else.

Two years ago, Kameyama Isamu invited archaeologists to the island.

Now it seems obvious that he was looking for pointers.

But he also died on the night of the full moon two years ago!

But the problem is that "letter of authorization"!
—"On the next full moon night, the shadows on Moonshadow Island will begin to disappear again."

Why again?

Why again!

If the deaths of Keiji Aso ten years ago and Isamu Kameyama two years ago were both related to the pointer...

Then the "pointer" is probably no longer deep inside the castle.

The pointer is very likely already in someone's hands!
But—who exactly is it?
"Damn it!" Conan cursed inwardly. "This is a trap set for people who know about the 'Crimson Fire Ritual'!"

A chill suddenly spread throughout his body.

That person wants to kill everyone involved with the "pointer"!
Conan even wondered why he hadn't heard any news about Gin and the Black Organization.

The island is mostly inhabited by locals, so it's easy to remember outsiders like them.

But now there's no trace of the Black Organization's activities. With a target as big as a castle, they couldn't possibly not take action!

Conan's expression grew increasingly serious, and his pupils began to dilate.

"If... if even members of that organization were to die because of this..."

The twilight glow that fell on Masato Shimizu's smiling face now appeared—exceptionally dangerous to Conan.

A deserted port ruin, deep in the jungle, on the edge of towering sea cliffs...

Killing someone using traps or terrain doesn't require a high level of combat skill.

Conan even gave Asai Narumi, who was looking gently towards the beach, a look that was tinged with gratitude.

"If it weren't for this person, and the fact that he needed Dr. Chengshi's help in the election, he might have chosen to keep this information a secret."

So, just as Kogoro Mouri was about to agree and split up his forces to conduct reconnaissance,

"Well, Mr. Shimizu, you can go to the village mansion to look up some information. We'll go to Keiji Aso's residence..."

"Whoa-!"

Conan's sudden, frightened scream rang out, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

"What's wrong, Conan?"

"It's so dark! That dark figure just moved! Sister Xiaolan, are there ghosts in the forest?!"

The forest shook three times in response.

The wind from the forest and the sea collided, creating a shrill, weeping sound that traveled through the corroded holes in the cliff face.

"How...how could this be..."

Ran Mouri's face paled, and she forced a smile as she tried to comfort Conan, "Conan... don't... don't talk nonsense! There are no ghosts in this world..."

Asai Narumi glanced at Conan, then recalled something.

"Hmm... I remember there really was a cemetery in the forest?"

"Cough cough."

Kogoro Mouri suddenly coughed loudly.

"Um... Mr. Shimizu, I'd like to ask if there are any wild animals on the island? Like... wild boars or something?"

Conan immediately interjected, "And what about spiders or snakes..."

He made himself look scared, as if he was trembling.

This time, Kogoro Mouri didn't shut Conan up; instead, he gave Conan a grateful look in return.

He quickly put on a serious expression, as if he were concerned about the child's safety.

"I think it's getting late, and since Mr. Shimizu said it's inconvenient for the car to go down and pick us up..."

"That makes sense."

Shimizu Masato frowned slightly. He also remembered that the Buddhist ceremony was to be held in the evening—he didn't want to go pick up this detective in the middle of the night.

Finally, the headlights of the SUV illuminated the dimly lit driveway through the woods.

This time, the vehicle drove from the left towards the top of the cliff.

Conan eventually arrived at the village mansion on Moonshadow Island.

To be honest, both the castle and the village mansion were a bit unexpected for Conan.

The building that appeared before us looked like it was pieced together from two buildings with different structures, materials, and styles.

(End of this chapter)