Conan: I've been linked to the tech tree system.

Conan was sweating profusely, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and speak.

The old lady didn't respond for a long time, remaining motionless as if she had gone offline.

Conan curiously leaned closer:

"Excuse me......"

"That depends on the situation," she suddenly said.

"Sometimes I also use the numbers I draw when choosing horses, hehehe."

The old woman from Shimabukuro grinned, revealing her few remaining teeth, her laughter sharp and shrill, like that of a legendary witch.

Tohru Tono stared at her for a long time, trying to figure out how the sweet-voiced Kimie Shimabukuro could make such a sound.

Are voice actors all monsters?

Everyone was speechless, and Hattori Heiji could only awkwardly laugh and continue asking:

"In that case, you don't need to only send out three dugong arrows a year, do you? Wouldn't it be better to sell more dugong arrows?"

Hattori Heiji clearly didn't understand the capitalists' hype tactics, and his question was somewhat presumptuous.

However, the old lady from Shimabukuro didn't seem to care. She solemnly picked up a strand of gray hair from beside her ear and said, "That's impossible. The amount of hair I can use to tie those arrows is already very limited."

It's a very sad fact.

"Great-grandmother, I've already prepared your bath water, haven't I?"

At that moment, Kimie Shimabukuro's shouts came from afar.

Upon hearing this, the old lady from Shimabukuro turned her head and walked back, leaning on her cane that reached all the way to her chest: "Excuse me, if you don't have anything important to do, I'm going to take a bath and go to bed."

"But we haven't finished talking yet!" Conan was surprised. Why wouldn't he accept a detective interview?

The old lady on the island ignored the child and continued, "And that little girl over there."

"Hmm?" Ran and Kazuha looked at her at the same time.

Shiho Miyano didn't even look up.

"I'm talking about the one who ties her hair up."

"Did you call me?" Kazuha looked around and realized that she was the only one wearing a hair tie.

"The Dugong Arrow was originally a precious arrow for exorcising demons and warding off evil spirits. Once you let go of it, demons will build their nests on you. If you are a man, you will be buried in the ground and become a hungry ghost without a new one."

"A woman's words will enter the water and she will become a mermaid who cannot speak."

"So I advise you to carry it with you at all times."

After saying those scary things to the child, she slowly left.

The others didn't seem to feel anything, but Kazuha was terrified.

After the old woman left, Hattori Heiji peeked out and watched her departing figure.

"I noticed her voice was hoarse and her complexion was terrible. I don't think this old woman will live much longer."

Hattori Heiji said this, perhaps in retaliation for her scaring Kazuha.

Chapter 163 You actually ran away?

After the old woman left, the group prepared to get up and say goodbye, returning to their inn.

Since the police can't get to the island, there's nothing they can do about being anxious. They might as well rest up and see what happens tomorrow.

As they walked along the road, Toyama Kazuha kept her head down, looking very worried.

"Hey, Kazuha, are you still thinking about what that old woman who lives so long?" Hattori Heiji put his hands behind his head, looking like a typical straight man. "Thinking about it, it's impossible for such a thing to be true. You actually believed it. How childish."

"What? But you can't explain it either, can you?"

He Ye retorted briefly, but she wasn't in the mood to argue with him.

Tohno Toru, who was watching from the side, was speechless. He simply spoke up for Hattori Heiji: "Actually, there are many logical loopholes in the legend told by the old woman, aren't there?"

"Huh?" Toyama Kazuha looked up at him.

"Putting aside the question of whether mermaids actually exist, she said that the Dugong Arrow was originally a precious arrow for exorcising demons and warding off evil spirits, but then she also said that once you let go of it, demons will build nests on your body... At first glance, it seems like there's nothing wrong with it, but if it's a precious arrow for exorcising demons, why would it summon demons after you let go of it?"

Tohno laughed and said, "If that's the case, then that precious arrow is practically a cursed object. According to her logic, those of us who didn't get the Dugong Arrow should be the ones being targeted by monsters."

"Hmm...that seems to be the case."

Kazuha Toyama thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up.

"So this legend is false?"

"I mean, do I really need to explain it in such detail for you to believe me?" Hattori Heiji said speechlessly. "You can tell from the sound that it's just something made up to make money and satisfy some people's curiosity."

"Tch, I think you can't even pinpoint what's wrong with it, yet you're still making sarcastic remarks." Toyama Kazuha made a face at him. "Heiji is really terrible."

"Hey hey..."

Seeing the two bickering, Tohru Tono silently slowed down and walked back to Shiho Miyano's side.

It can be considered a way of keeping one's achievements hidden.

"You really know how to charm young girls." Shiho Miyano looked at him with a half-smile.

"Well, it's a talent skill after all, and you won't lose it even if you change jobs." Tohru Tohru shrugged indifferently. "Don't you think those two childhood friends are really an eyesore? They're clearly showing off their love all the time, and they don't even realize it."

He was referring, of course, to Hattori Kazuha, Conan, and Ran.

“You’re right.” Shiho Miyano nodded in agreement. Childhood friends are indeed something that gets tiresome to watch. “So you’re planning to break them up?”

"Hey, you have such a dark side."

"Isn't that right? I think you've already made your move on Ran." Shiho Miyano nodded thoughtfully. "Because from her perspective, Shinichi Kudo isn't around, so she has a better chance... And just now, were you planning to make your move on Kazuha Toyama?"

"...You think too darkly of me."

"That's the kind of person you seem to be."

-----------------

The next day.

The Ebihara family.

Ebihara's father, whose profession was unknown, seemed to be making a fortune. His house was also different from that of Shimabukuro Kimie and Kadokawa Saori; it was almost the size of Tono Toru's detached villa in Tokyo.

While it might sound a bit like Versailles, they are indeed roughly the same size.

The funeral of Tomi Ebihara is being held here. All the guests are dressed in black suits. Even Ran is wearing a dark black dress, which is quite different from her usual style. She looks very mature and has a bit of her mother Eri Kisaki's feel to it.

Kogoro was still wearing the same suit, Conan had changed into a black outfit but was still wearing the gray pants, and Heiji Hattori simply changed into their Osaka Kaifu Academy's autumn uniform, but since it was all black, it didn't look out of place.

He became completely dark, and if you stood outside a door on a cloudy day, you couldn't distinguish the boundary between the background color and him.

Compared to him, Kazuha Toyama looked rather awkward; her school uniform was navy blue and had a red tie.

It's cute, and Japanese school uniforms can indeed be worn as formal attire, but wearing this kind of patterned clothing to a funeral just doesn't feel quite right.

She looked down, a little embarrassed, but Heiji Hattori said to her smugly, "So, I told you to bring your school uniform, did you use it?"

Kazuha Toyama looked up, covered her mouth, and whispered, "I don't think this is a good idea. We might be bothering them."

"You're overthinking it." Hattori Heiji, being the son of the Osaka Police Department, was always too lazy to care about such things, and said casually, "This is a good opportunity to learn more about what's going on on the island."

He was still thinking about solving the case.

"You two, stop muttering to yourselves."

Kogoro Mouri, who was registering at the front desk, couldn't stand the constant chattering behind him.

"We are keeping vigil for Miss Sumi right now."

Kids these days have no manners at all.

"I understand," Hattori Heiji replied, feeling a little embarrassed.

Toru Tono and Shiho Miyano also came in at this time. Because of their schedules, the two of them were a little late.

But there's nothing we can do about it; that's just how researchers are.

Even Professor Agasa often stays up all night and relies on coffee to keep going, let alone young people like them.

Today, Tohru Tono specially changed into a formal suit, somewhat like the one Shinji Tachibana usually wears, and looked incredibly dashing.

Shiho Miyano was just wearing a regular women's suit, not her usual "fashionable outfit," but because the character she created was very pretty, she still looked quite stylish.

The two men walked over and greeted the Mori group, who had arrived earlier.

"What did you all do last night? Why are you so late?"

Hattori Heiji retorted, "Could it be...?"

Hattori Heiji seemed to have thought of something, and his pupils dilated.

Tohno could roughly guess what he wanted to say, and an explanation welled up on his lips, ready to spill out.

Heiji then blurted out, "Did you guys sneak out at night to look for clues?!"

"actually......?"

Tohno Toru had already uttered a syllable when he suddenly realized what Hattori Heiji was saying and abruptly stopped talking.

As a result, I got stuck and didn't know how to organize my thoughts for a while.

So he suspected that he went out at night to look for clues?

What kind of neurological disorder is this?

Is this what a detective is like?

Tohru Tono was speechless.

"Pfft."

Perhaps because he hadn't been humiliated by others so often, Shiho Miyano couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Ah, he is indeed the kind of person who secretly looks for clues, but I'm not interested in that. I just work at night."

She chose to leave first.