Yui Uehara couldn't help but steal a glance at Yuu Hoshimiya.
If he was willing to tell her the connection between her late senior and these two cases, she would have rushed off to investigate already!
Honestly, did she really have to change into black lace and show him before he would talk?
At the thought of this, Yui felt a surge of conflict, and her delicate face flushed a shade redder.
Just then, the sliding door of the tea room was pushed open.
Two middle-aged to elderly people dressed in kimonos entered; one was a bald, obese man, the head of the Takeda family, Nobushige Takeda.
The other was a withered old woman in a green kimono, the patriarch's wife, Kano Takeda.
Following behind them was a young man with a white headband and a shifty, greasy aura—the sole heir to the family, Shigeji Takeda.
The bald patriarch was the first to speak.
"Yui, do we have guests? Why are you hosting them yourself without informing us?"
Yui Uehara replied, "These are detectives from Tokyo and Osaka, here specifically for the current case."
Nobushige Takeda's brow furrowed into a deep scowl.
"What case? Yoshiro being swept away by a tornado was an accident; many villagers saw it. There's no need to waste time with detectives."
"If you want to investigate, go to the Tatsuo family. Their eldest son's death is the one that's actually suspicious."
Heiji Hattori couldn't help but interject, "Sir, we just came from the Tatsuo household. The old lady there keeps saying your people killed Koji out of spite, which is why we're here."
Conan added, "If you're afraid to let us investigate, maybe you're hiding some unspeakable secret?"
The bald, fat patriarch snorted in derision. "You two wet-behind-the-ears brats... playing detective? I'm not in the mood for your games."
Hearing this, both Conan and Heiji rolled their "dead-fish" eyes in unison.
Being ignored was bad, but being dismissed as children was even more irritating!
At that moment, the seated Yuu Hoshimiya spoke up calmly, "Then I presume I am qualified enough to investigate?"
Nobushige Takeda recognized Yuu at a single glance and immediately hurried forward with excitement.
"Consultant Hoshimiya! I recognize you! You are the famous 'Star of the Metropolitan Police Department'! Of course you are qualified, more than qualified!"
"To think that a celebrity like yourself would visit our remote village... it truly is an honor of three lifetimes!"
As he spoke, the Takeda patriarch knelt by the door and reached out, desperate to shake Yuu's hand.
His behavior was one of extreme, almost groveling respect.
The adult world is simple: whoever has money and power receives respect.
Despite his distaste for the man, Yuu spared a hand to shake his for the sake of the beautiful Yui Uehara.
Seeing the rising star of the Tokyo police consultant world before him, Nobushige Takeda immediately changed his tune.
"Yuu-san, please, investigate as you wish. If you need anything at all, just say the word."
"We've been hounded at our gates by that old Tatsuo hag several times lately. You must prove our innocence!"
"We'll see, we'll see," Yuu replied noncommittally.
Behind him, Heiji and Conan looked at Yuu with gazes full of pure envy.
Envy aside, the two deduction-maniacs quickly refocused their attention on the incident.
Little Conan, in particular, kept his eyes lingering on the three members of the Takeda family.
The Takeda trio exchanged a few more pleasantries with Yuu before dispersing, providing no useful clues whatsoever.
It was clear they didn't trust Yui Uehara, despite her having been married into the family for six years; otherwise, they wouldn't have appeared the moment she began hosting guests to spout such oddities.
Heiji Hattori looked thoughtful before speaking up, "It seems the victim from the Tatsuo family is more critical. Sister Yui, do you know where the first witness of Koji Tatsuo's crime scene is?"
Yui Uehara answered, "You mean Akira? He should be preparing for the festival; he's been the Yabusame archer for six years running."
"I heard the neighboring village is bringing a tough challenge this time, so he should be in the woods practicing his horseback archery. If you want to find him, just follow the back gate out of the village."
"I see!"
Heiji turned to Yuu and said, "Teacher, both sides need investigating. Let's split up. We'll look into the Tatsuo case, while you handle the Takeda side. We'll call if we find anything."
Yuu nodded; he had a general memory of the events anyway. Even if the timeline shifted slightly, he had Noah monitoring the two brats and could keep up in real-time.
"Alright, you two be careful then."
You two?
Conan was looking confused when a large, dark hand suddenly snatched him around the waist and hoisted him into the air.
The brat was carried out by the "Charcoal-head" Heiji toward the woods outside the village.
Watching the two deduction-maniacs leave in their "loving" embrace, Yuu felt a wave of relief; things are always more comfortable without third wheels.
Beside him, Yui Uehara stared at Yuu, looking like she wanted to say something but was holding back.
She swallowed her words and said instead, "Yuu-san, the investigation won't end quickly. I've prepared a guest room for you all; you can rest if you're tired."
With that, she led the group toward a nearby Japanese-style room.
The Takeda and Tatsuo families were the elite of the village; their estates were massive, with several fine horses in the stables and plenty of guest rooms.
Once Yui led them to the room and excused herself, she turned and left.
The moment the "virgin widow" was gone, Ran grabbed Yuu by the collar and sat right on his lap, pinning him down with her weight.
"Brother Yuu, shouldn't you explain your relationship with that lady?"
"Uh, Ran, you've really got it wrong. I just met her today."
"She accidentally pulled into a full split in the stables and strained her groin. That has nothing to do with me. Don't let your mind wander!"
Looking at Yuu's seemingly sincere expression, Ran raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Of course it's true. Why would I lie to you?"
Ran, whose anger hadn't been that strong to begin with, thought about it and decided he was probably right. With so many sisters already, she supposed she didn't mind one more glamorous widow like Yui Uehara.
She stood up and released him, then asked with great interest about the details of the case.
After a brief explanation, Yuu pulled out a treasure map he had located using magic.
"Look, Ran. I found this in that greasy guy's shack earlier."
"A map to the treasure of the legendary general Takeda Shingen. The legend of the '100,000 Gold Coins of Koshu' has persisted for centuries, and it's the root cause of all these incidents."
Ran furrowed her brow.
"The greasy guy? You mean Shigeji Takeda? When did you get your hands on that, Brother Yuu?"
"With my miraculous magic, of course."
Ran nodded without digging deeper, maintaining her composure as she spoke, "The 100,000 gold is just a rumor. Legend says Shingen mined the gold to fund his armies; if there was real gold, he likely spent it on the wars."
"By the end, Shingen didn't even have rations for his troops. Do you really think he buried a massive treasure, Brother Yuu?"
"Besides, ancient refining technology was poor. In the middle ages, refining efficiency was only around sixty to seventy percent."
"Even if a treasure exists, its value would be greatly diminished. Converted to modern yen, it would be around ten billion at most."
Ran clearly didn't have much faith in the map.
Yuu didn't entirely believe it either, and he didn't care much for ten billion yen anyway.
But since they had time to kill, he figured they might as well look for it—consider it solving a historical riddle.
As for the investigation...
The two high school detectives, one big and one small, were already working hard on that!
The case-driven Heiji and Conan soon reached the archery range outside the village.
The sound of galloping hooves rang out as they saw a bearded man dressed like an ancient samurai fly past on horseback, bow in hand.
Arrows hissed through the air, splitting the wooden targets into halves one after another.
Every shot was perfectly precise—a hundred percent hit rate.
A woman with thick eyebrows and a purple skirt nearby clapped enthusiastically.
"As expected of Akira! You hit them all. It looks like the role of the Yabusame archer for this festival belongs to you for sure."
Akira Tatsuo dismounted. "I still can't be careless. Compared to Senior Kai Nagato, I still have a long way to go!"
Heiji couldn't help but ask, "Are you the Tatsuo couple? We are detectives hired by the Tatsuo patriarch. We have some questions regarding Koji Tatsuo."
"Mmm. My father mentioned this. But you two look quite young!"
Ignoring his doubt, Conan asked directly, "When your brother died, did anything strange happen?"
Akira Tatsuo shook his head. "Koji wasn't my biological brother; he was my brother-in-law. He married into the Tatsuo family and took our name. My sister died ten years ago, but I still respected him as an older brother."
"But as for anything strange... let me think."
"Right. Before Yoshiro Takeda died, Koji met with him privately several times. He even mentioned going to see someone."
As Akira spoke, the expression of his wife, Ayaka, began to shift.
Conan keenly noticed the change in the young woman's face, his eyes behind his glasses fixing on her.
Heiji pressed urgently, "Mr. Akira, please try to remember. Who were those two planning to see before they died?"
Akira stroked his beard, thinking hard.
"I remember now! It was Detective Yamato. They said they were going to see Detective Yamato. But Koji never mentioned it again after the tornado incident."
Detective Yamato?
The image of that one-eyed detective on a cane flashed through the minds of the two boys.
They had met him while questioning Shigeji Takeda, so they knew exactly who he was.
Akira Tatsuo rested his chin in his hand and continued, "I also remember Koji hiding in his room after Yoshiro's accident, muttering things like 'I'm next' over and over."
Hearing this, his wife's face turned deathly pale, her pupils dilating.
She asked hurriedly, "Akira! What are you saying? Did Brother Koji really say that? Why didn't I know?"
Akira looked surprised. "Weren't you visiting your parents at the time? It's natural you didn't know. Koji was murdered in the rock pile shortly after, and you only got back in time for the funeral."
"What's wrong, Ayaka? You look terrible."
The young woman was pale as a ghost, her body actually beginning to shiver.
Heiji immediately probed, "Madam, do you know some inside information?"
"No! How could I?"
Ayaka cried out, but her reaction only made her look even more suspicious.
Before Heiji could press further, she turned to her husband. "Akira, I'm tired. Let's stop practicing and go home."
Worried for his wife, Akira Tatsuo nodded immediately. He took the horse's reins and put an arm around Ayaka as they headed home, with the two brats following closely behind.
Heiji even offered an explanation, "We happen to have a few more things to ask your father, so we'll walk back with you."
Akira had no objections, but Ayaka's sidelong glances toward the two boys were full of coldness.
Falling behind the young couple, the two boys whispered to each other.
"Heiji, did you notice? The people who died in the Tatsuo and Takeda families—the 'first heirs'—weren't actually blood relatives of the families."
Heiji nodded. "Yeah, I noticed. Yoshiro Takeda was the son of the Takeda patriarch's sister, taken in as an adopted son."
"And Koji Tatsuo was a son-in-law who married into the family. Neither had a drop of blood connection."
A glint of light reflected off Conan's glasses. "Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. Since they weren't biological sons, it means the patriarchs or the elders could also be suspects."
Heiji rested his hands behind his head. "It's a tangled web of relationships. But that Ayaka is very suspicious; she just happened to be away visiting her parents when Koji died."
"She definitely knows something. We'll find a lead if we keep digging."
But to the boys' disappointment, the moment Ayaka Tatsuo returned home, she refused to be questioned by Conan. Instead, she locked herself in the restroom alone and ignored everyone.
Her behavior left them with no way to proceed.
After waiting for a long time, Heiji finally remembered to call Yuu and update him.
"Teacher, these are the leads we've found. How is your progress?"
Yuu Hoshimiya was currently out riding.
Real horseback riding. Anyone with a dirty mind can go sit in a corner.
Searching for treasure in the mountains on foot was time-consuming and exhausting.
Fortunately, the Takeda family had fine horses, so Yuu found Yui Uehara, borrowed a few, and followed the map to this plain.
As for never having ridden a horse before—it was a non-issue.
With his magic and inhuman physical stats, it took Yuu exactly five minutes to go from a novice to a legendary rider who could move as one with his steed.
As for Ran, who also couldn't ride, she was sharing a horse with him.
On the treasure map, several spots were circled. Some had already been excavated by the Takeda/Tatsuo treasure hunting team, while others remained untouched.
Yuu used his magic to probe deep into the earth.
This "cheating" method of treasure hunting was essentially infallible.
As for Ran, she had her arms around Yuu's waist, a look of novelty on her face, treating the whole thing like a horseback tour and a scenic outing.
Of course, he couldn't tell any of this to the two detective brats.
So, facing their question, Yuu replied quickly.
"Things are going smoothly. But if you say Ayaka Tatsuo has been in the restroom for half an hour, that sounds wrong. There might be a secret escape tunnel. I suggest you get someone to check on her."
Hearing this, Heiji nodded frantically. "Right! I'll go check now..."
Before he could finish, the call was disconnected. Heiji's mouth twitched.
High up on his horse, Yuu gripped the reins and said, "Ran, hold on tight. We're going to catch up to Ms. Uehara now."
Ran nodded softly, her small hands tightening their grip on Yuu's waist.
The next instant, Yuu exerted force with his core and squeezed his legs, simultaneously using magic to communicate with the white stallion beneath him. They accelerated instantly.
The scenery blurred past as the wind whipped around them, the air filled with the primal scent of earth and grass.
The quiet beauty seemed to experience the thrill of a wild gallop for the first time, unable to stop herself from let out a jubilant shout.
Her voice was crisp and lovely, making Yuu even more cheerful.
Leave the cases to those two hyperactive brats. Galloping across the fields is what I should be doing.
Soon, the fast-moving white horse caught up with the "matron" on her red steed.
After being overtaken, Yui Uehara's competitive spirit was ignited.
This time, she became the pursuer.
The "widow" behind them held her reins firmly, her legs gripping the horse's flanks as she sat poised in the saddle—she looked incredibly heroic and spirited!
It was a textbook rider's posture; she truly was a former policewoman with maxed-out athletic talent.
Unfortunately, under Yuu's rule-breaking magic, her red horse "betrayed" her, quietly slowing down and widening the gap between her and the pair in front.
The two riders raced from one end of the village to the other, finally coming to a stop beneath a canopy of trees.
Yuu reached the finish line first. He dismounted and began a leisurely stroll with Ran and the white horse, enjoying the breeze and his pleasant mood.
When Yui Uehara finally caught up, she couldn't help but complain, "Yuu-san, are you here to solve a case or to go on a vacation? It feels like you don't care about the case at all."
She felt a bit like she'd been tricked. Yuu said he'd help find the truth about Senior Kai's death, but she hadn't seen him take any real action.
He even said he knew the link between Senior Kai and the recent cases... he was probably just bluffing!
At that moment, Yuu chuckled and pointed toward an isolated estate at the end of the village.
"That should be Kai Nagato's home, shouldn't it?"
Turning her head, Yui was stunned. It truly was Kai Nagato's estate.
She hadn't realized that their wild gallop across the fields would lead them right to the Kai house.
Yui immediately assumed she had misunderstood Yuu and felt a pang of guilt.
"Let's go. Since we're here, let's take a look together!"
The three tied their horses under the trees and walked together toward the standalone mansion.
The architecture was ancient and traditional, looking like a grand old family estate, though it was clearly neglected and appearing somewhat derelict.
Seeing the familiar house, Yui's eyes filled with reminiscence.
As a child, she and Kansuke Yamato had played here constantly, but she had rarely visited since Kai Nagato's death.
"I remember the Senior passed away before he could marry or have children. The only one left in the Kai family is an eccentric old grandfather. I wonder how he's doing lately."
The group reached the main gate to find it open, with a police car parked outside.
Looking inside, a man in a business suit with a handlebar mustache was talking to an old man with a cane.
The man pulled out his badge, his narrow eyes slanting slightly as he explained patiently to the elder, "I am Takaaki Morofushi, an officer with the Nagano Police. I am here regarding the case of Kai Nagato from six years ago. I hope you can provide some assistance."
Ran couldn't help but blurt out, "Zhuge Kongming?"
(Note: In Japanese, "Takaaki Morofushi" and "Zhuge Kongming" are homophones.)
The man with the handlebar mustache turned around. "Not Zhuge Kongming, though I do indeed have the nickname 'Komei'."
His gaze then fell upon Yuu Hoshimiya, and he couldn't help but offer a smile. "Yuu-san, I have long awaited this meeting!"
"You must be the 'Komei' of the Nagano Police, Takaaki Morofushi. I've heard of you!"
Yui Uehara recognized him and asked, "Takaaki? Weren't you at the Shinano station? When were you transferred back to headquarters?"
"Ah, Yui. After we solved that serial murder case in Shinano, I was transferred back."
"By the way, have you still not returned to the force? The Captain really misses the coffee you used to brew!"
Ran asked in surprise, "Madam, were you a police officer?"
Yui Uehara waved her hand dismissively.
"I was. I resigned six years ago. I'm not a cop anymore."
Takaaki Morofushi shook his head. "With your skills, Yui, the Superintendent would agree to your return in a heartbeat."
At that moment, the old man beside them thumped his cane heavily. "Investigate if you must! Just don't make a racket. I need my afternoon nap!"
With that, the elder turned and headed toward a side building.
"Angel Ran" activated, her sympathy overflowing. "How pitiful... all alone like that."
Yui shook her head. "There's nothing to be done. After the Senior died, there was no one left to look after him. Let's focus on the case; finding the truth will bring peace to the Senior's father as well."
As the old man walked away, Yuu Hoshimiya was the first to step into the wooden house, the scent of antiquity washing over him.
He scanned the architecture left and right, his eyebrows twitching slightly as he began to calculate.
Takaaki Morofushi spoke up from beside him, "This building is built entirely in the Edo period style. I heard from Kansuke that the Kai family was quite prominent in ancient times. They say Officer Kai was a descendant of a high-ranking officer in the Koshu Army. Looking at this place now, there seems to be some truth to it."
(Note: The Koshu Army was the force Takeda Shingen built using gold from his mines.)
Takaaki and Kansuke had been classmates and grew up together, remaining rivals to this day.
However, he wasn't particularly close to Yui or Kai Nagato and didn't feel the same emotional weight regarding Kai's death. He wasn't the type to investigate as recklessly as Kansuke or Yui.
His presence here was purely due to a phone call from Kansuke, who had lured him with the mention of Yuu Hoshimiya.
He wanted to measure himself against the legendary Tokyo consultant.
His first stop hadn't been the Takeda or Tatsuo households, but rather the Kai estate, where he'd now crossed paths with Yuu's group.
Seeing the ancient armor displayed in the room, Yuu believed most of the claim. A mysterious sense of anticipation rose in his heart.
At that moment, Yui Uehara couldn't help but ask, "Yuu-san, what exactly are you trying to find at the Senior's house? It's been six years, and people still live here. Any traces would have vanished by now."
"If you truly want to investigate, I can take you to the bottom of the cliff where the body was found. That's the primary scene; there might still be traces there."
Yuu ignored Yui's question, turning and walking out of the room toward what was clearly the ancestral shrine.
Takaaki Morofushi rested his chin in his hand and fell into thought, beginning his own silent investigation.