Daily Spy Life in the Detective Conan World

Chapter 209 Koizumi Akako's Divination

Snowflakes were falling heavily in the mountains and forests, and the howling wind sent chills down one's spine.

The guesthouse is decorated in a simple yet cozy style, with wooden floors, dark ceilings, and warm yellow lighting, creating a warm and comfortable atmosphere.

The room was furnished with a comfortable bed and warm bedding.

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, making a soft rustling sound, while steam from the hot spring filled the air, adding a touch of life to the quiet night.

Xia Chuan and the others leisurely soaked in the hot spring, enjoying the warmth and tranquility brought by the hot spring on a snowy night.

"Hot springs really do help with hangovers!"

Kogoro Mouri's face was flushed, and while laughing, he choked on two mouthfuls of hot spring water, causing him to cough incessantly.

"Dad, can you please be quiet?"

Xiao Lan, who lives next door, was a little dissatisfied. At times like this, one should be calm and focused, chatting and joking around.

A voice like "Dad" really ruins the mood.

"Okay, okay, this is annoying." Kogoro Mouri muttered to himself, then closed his eyes and began to soak in the bath.

Conan was taking a bath quietly to the side, his brows furrowed slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

Natsukawa asked curiously, "Conan, what are you thinking about?"

Could it be that Conan discovered the deception before the stand-in even started committing the crime?
That's a bit too much.

"Uncle Xia Chuan, when you went back to your room just now, that Miss Yangzi, who is also Miss Mingzi's stand-in."

Ms. Yoko said it was her first time visiting this hot spring inn, but she actually knew where the restroom was; I was a little surprised by that.

Conan swam over to Natsukawa in a dog paddle and continued, "And then there's what she said later, that she wanted to stay in the room with the persimmon tree."

why?

The persimmon tree was now nothing but withered branches and leaves, completely unappealing.

First-time visitors wouldn't know there's a persimmon tree outside that room.

"Kid, you have too many questions."

Many guesthouses have similar layouts, and the bathrooms are usually located at the end of the corridor, which is understandable.

As for the persimmon tree, it's possible that the other person saw it when they passed by the guesthouse before.

Kogoro Mouri, with his eyes closed, refuted Conan's reasoning one by one.

This kid asks too many questions; you only need to think about it for a little while to find the answer.

As expected, kids are still kids; they can't even understand this.

"That makes sense, but..."

Although Conan was reluctant to admit it, Uncle Mori's words did make sense.

Besides, no murders have happened here, so to be curious about these things just feels like I'm making trouble out of nothing.

"That makes sense, but Conan's observation skills are really strong. He should keep it up so he can help Uncle Mori."

"understood--"

Conan responded crisply, subtly rolling his eyes. Who's really helping whom here?

Xia Chuan smiled and was about to say something when he suddenly heard a scream coming from the women's bath next door.

It's Xiaolan!
"what happened?"

Kogoro Mouri and Conan both jolted awake, their expressions changing as they looked at the partition.

"Just now, I saw a figure in a white robe appear on the opposite mountainside through the gap in the partition of the hot spring bath. It was a Yuki-onna, it must be a Yuki-onna, the same white robe as the one in the Yuki-onna Love story that Dad Conan watched."

Upon hearing this, Conan and Kogoro Mouri immediately went to the partition facing outwards in the men's bath and each found a small gap to look out.

The partitions in the guesthouse are made of wood, which will expand or contract over time due to heat or cold, resulting in many gaps.

At this moment, the two men's actions looked extremely lewd. If they weren't inside the hot spring, it would look like they were peeping at others soaking in the hot spring.

"Can you still see them now?"

Kogoro Mori looked around for a long time, but apart from the vast white snow-capped mountains, he didn't see anything strange, let alone people.

"Okay, it seems to have disappeared."

Xiao Lan's tone was a little uncertain, but she really hadn't seen anyone. The white robe she had just seen had disappeared, and the snow-capped mountain was just a vast expanse of white snow.

"Sister Xiaolan, I didn't see it either. Could I have seen it wrong?" Anya peered through the crack for a long time but saw nothing.

"You might be mistaken. It's still snowing outside, and the wind and snow are affecting visibility, so it's normal to make a mistake."

Kogoro Mouri breathed a sigh of relief, comforted his daughter, and returned to the pool to continue enjoying himself.

On the other side, Joel and Anya began to comfort the terrified Lan.

"Sister Joel, how about the three of us share a room tonight?"

Xiao Lan gripped Joel's hand tightly, her heart pounding.

She always felt that the snow woman was watching her from nearby.

The snow woman must have discovered that she was being spied on, which is why she suddenly disappeared.

"Uncle Xia Chuan, why do you look so listless?"

Conan realized it was a false alarm and went back into the hot spring, only to find that Natsukawa hadn't been frightened by Ran's scream, nor had she peeked out from behind the partition like the two of them. Shouldn't a normal person be curious and join in the fun when they hear something strange?

it's wired.

"Oh, I think I can guess that Xiaolan is seeing things."

After all, she was already afraid of ghosts and monsters, and Mrs. Kitamura added another layer of fear; it's normal for her to suddenly experience blurred vision at this point.

"Honestly, Eri and I are both indifferent to these legends of demons and monsters. I really don't know why Ran is afraid of them, or who she inherited it from."

Kogoro Mouri was having a bit of a headache. Ran was great in every way, but her weakness was just too obvious.

It's one thing to worry when they're young, since they're not mentally mature, but now that they're seventeen or eighteen, it's a bit worrying.

This was just a minor incident while soaking in the hot springs; after they finished bathing, they returned to their rooms.

Conan and Anya stayed in the living room to do their homework.

Because of Conan's presence, Anya wrote extremely quickly, finishing her newly bought homework in less than two hours.

"Great! I can go skiing tomorrow!"

Anya was overjoyed and kicked Conan away, then carefully put her homework into her small schoolbag.

"Really."

Conan was speechless. He glanced at the clock and realized it was almost midnight, so he hurriedly went back to sleep.

Because of Anya, tonight's plans were completely disrupted, and Conan could only hope to enjoy himself properly tomorrow.

The next day.

Akiko Kinoshita and Yoko Asanuma took sun protection measures early and left the guesthouse carrying their respective ski equipment.

During this time, Conan repeatedly glanced at Yoko Asanuma in a subtle way.

Although Uncle Mori's explanation yesterday lessened his suspicions about Yoko Asanuma, he still felt a little uneasy.

I have a feeling something bad is going to happen.

"Conan, do you like that older sister?" Anya asked with a grin.

"No way! Don't talk nonsense!" Conan's voice suddenly rose, then he blushed and glanced at Ran. He was relieved to find that Ran was chatting with Joel and hadn't noticed him.

Anya certainly knew, after all, she could hear what the other person was thinking.

But she just wanted to see Conan make a fool of himself. Look at his panicked eyes just now. That's what a normal kid should look like, right?

It was daytime for skiing, so the group went to the ski resort together.

By this time, the ski resort was already quite crowded.

The morning sun wasn't so intense, and it was the busiest time at the ski resort. You could see beginners falling down and experienced skiers showing off their amazing skills from time to time.

Some of them even performed 360-degree aerial spins.

"Siguni!" Anya tugged at Xia Chuan's sleeve. "Father, I want to learn that!"

Cold sweat beaded on Xia Chuan's forehead as he secured Anya's skis to her feet, saying, "Learn to crawl first, then learn to walk! You have to take it one step at a time, and eat it one bite at a time!"

As he spoke, Xia Chuan shifted his gaze and found that the person who did the 360-degree turn looked somewhat familiar.

"Hey, isn't that Kaito guy?"

As soon as Natsukawa noticed the other person, Kaito also sensed the gaze and turned to look in their direction.

Upon recognizing Natsukawa, Kaito's expression suddenly froze. He then said something to Nakamori Aoko, who was barely able to stand, before walking over.

"Xia Chuan-ge, are you coming to the ski resort too?"

Kaito greeted Natsukawa, then looked down at Anya and said with a smile, "Your daughter is so cute."

"Thank you, brother!" Anya nodded politely, her hand unconsciously reaching for her pocket.

I really want to take a picture with the Phantom Thief Kid. But I can't, he's not dressed as Phantom Thief Kid right now, so even if I took a picture, I wouldn't be able to show it off.

"Ania, is it? Let me show you a little magic trick, watch closely~"

Kaito snapped his fingers as usual, and a white dove appeared out of thin air in his hand.

The white dove landed on his hand, fluttered twice, and then stood still, quietly gazing at Anya.

"Wow, that's amazing! Can I have this pigeon?" Anya asked, her face full of anticipation.

"Ania, this is Kaito's magical item, you can't mess with it."

"It's alright," Kaito waved his hand, then his face fell: "Besides, this isn't some kind of magical item, it's magic!"

I don't know whether it's magic or a trick. How could I not understand a trick at such close range?

Xia Chuan thought to himself, having no intention of continuing to argue with Kaito.

"By the way, what are you doing here?"

Natsukawa glanced at Nakamori Aoko, who was doing the splits and bringing her legs together in the distance, and asked in a low voice, "Are you traveling with your childhood friend? Tell me, did you find a guesthouse that allows mixed-gender bathing?"

"N-no, no!" Kaito quickly waved his hand, feeling that his thoughts had been exposed. He quickly pointed to a few other people in the distance and said, "We came out to play as a large group of people. Since Aoko can't ski, we thought we'd come over to improve her skiing skills."

After the last class ski competition, Nakamori Aoko had been feeling self-conscious about her skiing skills, so she specifically asked Kaito to come out and train with her this time.

To avoid making Kaito feel like it was a date, she invited a few classmates along.

"Oh, there's also Sister Hongzi!"

Anya saw Akako in the distance, noticed that she was also looking at her, and reached out to greet her.

Putting aside the red magic books that she buys by weight every month, she still really likes Koizumi Akako's red magic.

Koizumi Akako narrowed her eyes, glanced at the group of six, and sighed inwardly.

It's those guys again—my magic nemesis.

She could manipulate Lucifer at will, yet it had no effect on these individuals, which defied all logic. To this day, she still couldn't figure it out and could only conclude that Xia Chuan was a powerful magician who used some kind of barrier magic to isolate himself from her influence.

"Hongzi, I didn't expect to see you here."

Joel, who was chatting with Xiaolan, stepped forward and greeted her.

She didn't know Kaito, but she did know Koizumi Akako. Last time at Yamanotei Temple, it was Koizumi Akako who crashed her car into Kogoro Mouri's Mercedes.

"It's you!"

When Kogoro Mori saw Akako Koizumi approaching, he suddenly felt a surge of anger, but then he thought that she had already paid him a lot of money, so there was no need for him to be angry.

"Oh, it's Ms. Koizumi Akako." Kogoro Mouri smiled and suddenly said, "My car is parked at the guesthouse over there."

"."

Koizumi Akako's smile froze instantly.

It's already hard enough that someone crashed into another car while driving without a license on their first attempt, but this guy... isn't he just rubbing salt into his wounds?
Are they treating themselves like ATMs?

"Hehe, Mr. Mori, I'm really sorry about last time."

"What's wrong? What did Hongzi do?"

Kaito, with a mocking look on his face, leaned closer, ready to listen to some gossip.

He was still quite interested in Koizumi Akako's scandals.

After all, the other person always acted superior in school, so knowing some of their embarrassing moments could definitely make me happy all day.

"It's alright, get out of my way!" Koizumi Akako naturally didn't want Kuroba Kaito to know about her embarrassing incident, so she wrapped her feet in the power of red magic and kicked him into the snow, sending him tumbling head over heels.

"Oh, Xiaolan, you're here too."

Koizumi Akako glanced at Ran, then at Nakamori Aoko who was still doing the splits in the distance, and felt a little suspicious.

Could Ran Mouri and Aoko Nakamori be related? They look so alike.

Xia Chuan pulled Kaito out of the snow by uprooting a willow tree and laughed as he patted the snow off his face.

"Xia Chuan-ge, you're fine with slapping the snow, but why do I feel like you're using a bit too much force?"

Kaito touched his cheek, which had been slapped red. (＃￣～￣＃)
"I saw a few mosquitoes, I'll swat them for you while I'm at it."

"hateful!"

There are no mosquitoes; they've all frozen to death in the dead of winter.

Xia Chuan didn't care about any of that. Yesterday morning it was spring, but today it's winter. It's normal that some mosquitoes haven't all died, okay?
The conversation between the two caught Conan's attention. Looking at the face opposite him that was almost identical to his own, Conan's forehead was filled with questions.

"This guy seems more like me than last time."

I've met Kaito Kuroba before, I remember it was when he was with Natsukawa and the Detective Boys.

However, the other party and Xia Chuan clearly didn't know each other last time, so why do they seem to be very familiar with each other today?

"Uncle Xia Chuan, this guy..." Conan forced himself to join in the fun.

"You met him last time, didn't you? He's a magician trainee for two and a half years. His father is the famous Kuroba Toichi."

“I know him, but you didn’t know him last time.”

Conan, with his strong curiosity, is interested in everything, especially since this guy has the same handsome face as him.

Why do children ask so many questions?

Xia Chuan didn't answer, but changed the subject, saying, "Look, doesn't that student doing the splits over there look a lot like Xiao Lan? Why don't you take your sister Xiao Lan to meet him?"

Conan turned his head and noticed Nakamori Aoko, then suddenly paused.

Although he was curious about how Natsukawa and Kuroba Kaito knew each other, neither of them seemed like they would answer him.

Realizing he wouldn't get any information out of her, Conan immediately decided to take Ran to find the girl and try to get more information out of her.

Nakamori Aoko looks a bit dull and isn't even good at skiing, so she'll be easy to get information out of her.

After seeing Conan off, Natsukawa looked at Kaito with a teasing expression and said, "Green and red peppers, it seems you like them both. As expected of you, you actually invited two at once."

"Please, this is just a normal class reunion. Hongzi, Qingzi, and I are all innocent."

"By the way, what brings Mr. Natsukawa here?" Kaito suddenly leaned closer and said cautiously, "When I came, I heard from Akako that something terrible was about to happen here."

Kaito initially didn't believe it, but considering the previous incident with the Demon of Light...
It is better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn't.

Xia Chuan gave the other person a strange look, did some quick calculations, and made a deduction.

The terrifying thing that Koizumi Akako mentioned was likely the two women in the guesthouse she was staying at.

Murder cases are considered quite terrifying, especially for high school students.

"What terrifying thing? You're a magician, how can you believe in so-called magic?"

Kaito's lips twitched, and then he said, "You should know that Akako knows magic, after all, she can really fly around on a broomstick."

While talking to Yoel, Koizumi Akako sensed Kaito's gaze and suddenly turned to look in their direction.

Kaito, however, was quite frank. He smiled and nodded, then continued, "Does Natsukawa-nii already know something? Do you know what terrifying thing is about to happen?"

After learning that Natsukawa knew Koizumi Akako, Kaito talked to Koizumi Akako about Natsukawa. In Koizumi Akako's eyes, Natsukawa seemed to be a powerful magician, and perhaps his divination was even more amazing. He was the kind of legendary magician who could completely predict what was about to happen.

The nine people were divided into four chat groups.

The last group chat only had Kogoro Mouri by himself.

Kogoro Mouri found it boring, so he practiced skiing in a group chat by himself. As he skied, he somehow turned into a snowball and rolled to the trap net at the bottom of the slope.

"Brother Xia Chuan, have you forgotten? Last time I gave you the jewels and Lupin unconditionally. Now..."

Kaito looked indignant, putting on a convincing act, and his aggrieved gaze sent chills down Natsukawa's spine.

The elegant white-clad sinner actually has this kind of face in private.

"I heard from the guesthouse owner that there is a legend about the Yuki-onna (snow woman) here. The so-called terrifying events are probably related to the Yuki-onna."

Natsukawa definitely couldn't tell Kaito about the impending murder.

Otherwise, how would you explain how you found out? You can't exactly say you're a fortune teller.

"The Snow Woman?"

Kaito glanced at the snow-covered mountains and forests, and a cold wind suddenly rushed into his sleeves.

If the magician is real, then the legend of the Snow Woman might also be true.

I don't know if tear gas will work on the Snow Woman. There are a lot of guesthouses near this ski resort, with at least three or four hundred tourists. If the Snow Woman appears, a righteous gentleman like him will definitely take action.

I'll have Grandpa Terai add some garlic water to the tear gas later, so we can deal with it if we encounter it again.

"If I'm not mistaken, something terrible is going to happen tonight, probably on that mountain over there."

"I've never seen a Yuki-onna before, Natsukawa-nii, shall we go check her out tonight?"

Kaito put his arm around Natsukawa's shoulder, looking like they were brothers and would stand together through thick and thin.

Even though she was clearly scared, she still pretended to be. Xia Chuan gave her a teasing look but didn't point it out.

(Ask for monthly ticket)

(End of this chapter)