Conan: Start from Lucky Three

Chapter 106 Sanyue Mountain Night Festival

"Tenka One-Night Festival? What is that for?" After an intense sparring session, Tachibana Seiji lay on the floor of the dojo, panting heavily and raised his head with difficulty to ask Sonoko who was not far away.

Just after their sparring session, Sonoko and Takei Naoko came over and invited them, saying that this weekend was the "Tenka Ichi Matsuri" festival at Mt. Mitake in Saitama Prefecture. They had been through a lot recently, so they decided to take this opportunity to go to Saitama together.

In Tokyo, they inevitably encounter all sorts of bizarre incidents and murders. Now, a new member has joined the team: Takei Naoko, who is also a natural-born hostage.

Tachibana Shizuka had no objection to Naoko Takei joining them. Both Tachibana Shizuka and Sonoko saw the difference clearly. Naoko Takei kept hanging around them because the atmosphere at home wasn't very good.

In the past, at least there was Secretary Hanai at home to help with the matter. But now Secretary Hanai is trapped in the Metropolitan Police Department and can't come back for a while.

Another factor that made Takei Naoko feel safe was Tachibana Shizuka's decisiveness at the hostage handover. While the scene of shooting the kidnapper was bloody, for a girl trapped in prison, the kidnapper's death undoubtedly brought her a greater sense of security.

Sonoko is a kind-hearted person after all. After vaguely noticing Takei Naoko's "initiative", she readily accepted this introverted classmate with a tragic fate, and planned this relaxing trip with a wave of her hand.

But even though I was relaxing, I really didn't have much of an impression of this "Tenka One Night Festival" (天下一夜祭) by Tachibana Seiji. Why did the name of this celebration sound so strange?

The Tenka Ichiya Festival on Mt. Mitake in Saitama Prefecture is very famous. It's said that every spring, the people there light three large characters for "天," "下," and "一" on Mt. Mitake to pray for the best harvests in the world.

Every year, more and more tourists come to Sanyue Mountain, and I heard that today's celebration is the largest one in recent years.

If you miss this opportunity, you may not know how big it will be next time!"

"Sounds like a good idea, let's go then? By the way, do you want to call Hattori and Toyama?"

"Well, let's not do it this time, shall we?" Tachibana Shizuka's response left Sonoko feeling a bit conflicted. It wasn't that she didn't want to bring Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha along, but Hattori Heiji's reputation as a high school detective wasn't exactly good.

Kudo Shinichi has ruined the reputation of the high school detective profession. When people think of high school detectives nowadays, the first thing that comes to mind is not the savior of the Japanese police or the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era.

When people mention high school detectives at this time, their first reaction is: Where did this high school plague god come from?

Sonoko, who also knew two famous high school detectives, Kudo Shinichi and Hattori Heiji, agreed with this.

She believes that the so-called plague god is not a stereotype of the high school detective profession, but a fact.

Let's not talk about Kudo Shinichi, who's far away, but let's talk about Hattori Heiji, who's close. Haven't you ever encountered any events in the few times you've "teamed up" with Hattori Heiji? A 100% event triggering rate. Can you handle that?
Sonoko grew up with Kudo Shinichi, so she is not afraid of murders, but she can't stand the fact that Takei Naoko is also going out to play with them this time.

The little girl had finally been rescued from the kidnappers by Tachibana Shizuka, and the past two days had been filled with fear. If a few more fresh murders happened, it would be a real spectacle.
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Weekend. Foot of Sanyue Mountain. Tongshan Hotel
According to Sonoko's plan, they should have arrived at Mt. Mitake early. However, the police needed to cooperate with the victim, Naoko Takei, for follow-up investigations. So Tachibana Shizuka, Ran, and Sonoko had to wait in the Metropolitan Police Department building until the afternoon, when Naoko Takei was completely finished. Only then did they hurriedly depart.

"I'm sorry for making everyone wait so long in the Metropolitan Police Department building." The closer to Mt. Mitake, the more tourists came and went, and Takei Naoko felt very sorry when she saw this.

"It doesn't matter. We're out here to relax anyway. What difference does it make if we arrive early or late?" Yuanzi answered nonchalantly, not taking the little matter of being late to heart.

"My last name is Suzuki, and I've booked two rooms." Sonoko said to the front desk of the Osaka Hotel. "By the way, when is your Tenka Ichiya Festival now?"

The staff at Tongshan Hotel quickly checked the record of Yuanzi's room reservation, and then took out two room cards and handed them to Yuanzi.

Sonoko booked two rooms, one for Tachibana Shizuka and one for the other three girls. This is where the convenience of the tatami mats in the room comes into play—there's no need for enough bedding; as long as there's enough space, not just three girls, but thirty could easily fit.

"Are you here for the celebration? You better hurry up," the staff member reminded upon hearing Yuanzi's question, "The celebration has already begun, and it's time to light the character '天'."

At this point, the staff member specifically glanced at the time, and then said to Yuanzi affirmatively, and by the way, pointed to the live broadcast of Sanyue Mountain being played in the hotel lobby not far away. The word "Tian" in the three big characters "Tianxia Yi" on the screen had indeed been lit.

"The celebration has begun, we need to hurry!" Sonoko carried her luggage in one hand and pulled Takei Naoko with the other: "Meet here in ten minutes, is that okay, Shizuka?"

"No problem, see you in ten minutes." Tachibana Shizuka nodded. Sonoko obviously had no idea about the boy's speed.

Not to mention ten minutes, including the time it takes to go to the elevator back and forth, three to five minutes would be enough for Tachibana Seiji to deliver the luggage to the room and then return to the hotel lobby.

Because it happened to be the Sanyue Mountain Festival, the rooms at the Osaka Hotel were quite tight. Xiaolan and her friends' room was not on the same floor as Tachibana Shizuka's room.

Tachibana Shizuka went to the fifth floor, while Xiaolan and the other two girls went to the second floor. Shortly after Xiaolan and the other two walked out of the elevator and turned a corner in the corridor, a sudden gunshot startled Takei Naoko.

"What's going on? Where did the gunshot come from?!" This question is not difficult at all, because the person who fired the gun was not carrying anyone on his back.

Xiaolan and Sonoko immediately looked towards a half-open door not far away. The gunshot just now came from this room.

A moment later, a man who wrapped himself tightly walked out of the room. Facing the nervous, suspicious, indifferent, and fearful eyes of the people around him, he pulled the scarf on his face - from now on, as long as he could escape from here successfully and destroy the relevant evidence, he would be considered successful!

(End of this chapter)