How to Survive With a Death-Flag Character Setting in Detective Conan - Chapter 7

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. My parents are both alive, and I don’t have a younger sister,” Asai Narumi said.

Seeing that he remained unmoved, Higashino Hiromu couldn’t help but sigh and said, “Senpai, I’ve already confirmed your family background with the professor. You were adopted by the Asai family.”

Asai Narumi lowered his gaze and remained silent. The hand holding the cup tightened slightly, his fingertips turning pale from the pressure.

Higashino Hiromu continued, “I’m not telling you this to reopen your wounds. I just want to advise you not to ruin your future because of a few scumbags.”

He took out a folder and placed it on the table, pushing it in front of Asai Narumi. “This is something your father left behind. The police uncle searched for a long time to find it. It’s labeled ‘For my son Seiji’. Inside are music scores. I think you should be able to read them.” He had spent most of his day on this.

Asai Narumi stared blankly at the familiar handwriting on the document envelope. After a long while, he finally opened it. He looked through the sheet music in silence, quickly skimming the first few pages. When he reached the final page, he could no longer hold back his tears. They began to fall uncontrollably.

Choking back his sobs, Asai Narumi said, “Actually, I had long suspected something about my father’s death.” His voice was slightly hoarse, and he even forgot to disguise it. “Two years ago, I returned here under the identity of a female doctor and started investigating the truth, but with little success. Until that day, when I revealed my identity to Kameyama Isamu, he suddenly acted as if he had been shocked, began muttering to himself, and confessed everything. Then, he died suddenly of a heart attack. From that moment on, I began planning my revenge.”

He let out a self-deprecating laugh. “My father was a drug dealer, and the son turned out to be a murderer. Truly, evil runs in the blood.”

Higashino Hiromu said sternly, “You’re not that person, at least not yet. Kameyama Isamu died from his own fear. He had guilt in his heart. It had nothing to do with you.”

But Asai Narumi replied, “But I don’t want to stop. As long as I see them still alive and respected by the villagers, my heart feels like it’s burning with pain.”

Higashino Hiromu raised an eyebrow and said, “Who told you to stop?”

Asai Narumi was stunned and looked up at him sharply.

Higashino Hiromu gave an innocent smile and said, “We can do it another way.”

* * *

Mouri Kogoro and Conan sat on the steps at the entrance of the community center, both propping up their chins, sighing in unison.

“In the end, we didn’t get any useful information,” Mouri Kogoro said gloomily as he took a drag from his cigarette.

Edogawa Conan said, “I don’t think so. The village secretary, Hirata Kazuaki, said the former village chief died in front of the piano, and the sound of ‘Moonlight Sonata’ was heard. This matter is very suspicious. Could there be a connection between the former village chief and Asou Keiji?”

Mouri Kogoro saw him resting his chin with a serious look and couldn’t help reaching out to knock him on the head. “Brat, who asked you to say it out loud? I thought of that too!”

“Ow!” Conan clutched his head pitifully. Liar. You obviously didn’t think of it!

“Dad!” Mouri Ran immediately squatted down and stroked Conan’s head. “Stop hitting Conan on the head. What if he gets dumb?”

Mouri Kogoro, scolded by his daughter, looked embarrassed and muttered, “This kid’s sharp. There is no way he’d become dumb that easily.” Glancing at his watch, he changed the subject and asked, “How much longer will this memorial service last?”

At that moment, the sound of a piano suddenly echoed from inside the community center.

Everyone inside and outside heard it clearly.

“That’s… ‘Moonlight Sonata’!” Edogawa Conan immediately stood up and ran toward the piano room.

“Conan!” Mouri Ran and Mouri Kogoro were startled by his sudden action and immediately ran in after him.

Upon entering, from one end of the corridor, they could see a strange red glow emanating from the piano room at the far end, yet there were no signs of fire. Through the glass on the door, they could vaguely see someone sitting in front of the piano, playing.

People from the memorial service also came out, but no one dared to approach.

Edogawa Conan quickly ran to the door and pushed it open forcefully. The piano music stopped abruptly, and the red glow vanished instantly.

Those nearby mustered up their courage and peered inside, only to find the room empty. They exclaimed in shock, “What’s going on here?”

Edogawa Conan frowned in deep thought as he looked at the empty piano room.

Mouri Kogoro followed him in to inspect, while the others stood hesitantly at the doorway, not daring to enter.

“Did you see it just now?” someone whispered.

“I saw it… Such a clear human figure…”

“It really was that person, right…”

The surrounding people murmured quietly. Hearing these discussions, Hirata Kazuaki and Nishimoto Ken grew even paler.

Edogawa Conan walked around the piano. Suddenly, he noticed a piece of paper on the music stand. He climbed onto a chair and pulled it out, discovering it was a half-burned piece of sheet music.

“You little brat, stop messing around!” Mouri Kogoro knocked him on the head and took the sheet music, muttering, “What’s with this tattered score? Why does it look so old?”

When Nishimoto Ken saw the sheet music, his pupils contracted sharply, and his whole body began to tremble. He let out a sharp scream, shoved the surrounding people aside, and ran off.

Edogawa Conan stared after his retreating figure, deep in thought.

* * *

After rushing out, Nishimoto Ken didn’t dare go anywhere else and ran straight toward his home.

He was overwhelmed with fear, and only home could offer him a sense of safety.

At last, he grabbed the door handle, but just as he was about to push the door open, he suddenly froze. He slowly turned his head to the left and saw, beneath a nearby tree, a human figure faintly glowing with a ghostly white light.

That person hung their head, and all the exposed skin was scorched black, looking like burn injuries.

Nishimoto Ken couldn’t see the person’s face clearly, but he knew—it was Asou Keiji! He had come back for revenge!

His whole body trembled uncontrollably. He staggered backward a few steps and fell to the ground, muttering hysterically, “Don’t… Don’t come over, don’t come over! It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me! It was Tatsuji’s idea, it was him, it was him! Go find him, go find him!”

After rambling like a madman for a while, Nishimoto Ken noticed the ghostly figure hadn’t moved, and thought it might just be a hallucination. But in the next second, he heard the ghost speak, “You~ think~ I~ would~ believe~ that~”

It was Asou Keiji’s voice!

“None~ of~ you~ can~ escape~”

Nishimoto Ken completely broke down. He shouted, “It had nothing to do with me, nothing to do with me! It was Tatsuji, Isamu, and Hideo! They said you would expose our drug smuggling! They were the ones who suggested killing you! They were the ones who killed your wife and child! They were the ones who set the fire! It had nothing to do with me! Nothing to do with me!!”

Disguised as Asou Keiji’s ghost, Higashino Hiromu was speechless. So everything was done by someone else, and you’re the innocent one? You must be the white lotus that blooms unstained from the muddy water, right?

Nishimoto Ken’s loud shouting drew the attention of nearby neighbors.

Seizing the moment, Higashino Hiromu quickly removed his 【 Celestial Grace 】, slipped into the darkness, and made his escape.

When the neighbors came out, they were hit with a shocking revelation.

They heard Nishimoto Ken saying Asou Keiji had returned, and couldn’t help exchanging astonished looks.

“Did you… see anything?”

“No! Nothing at all!”

“Could it be that only he saw it?”

“That’s possible. After all, every injustice has a responsible party, and every debt has its debtor. We have never done anything wrong to anyone.”

Hearing this, Nishimoto Ken’s eyes went blank. His deranged state was truly frightening, and the neighbors didn’t dare approach him. They could only call the police immediately.

Meanwhile, Higashino Hiromu, who had slipped away, did not return to Asai Narumi’s house but headed to his next destination.

* * *

Hirata Kazuaki took advantage of the fact that everyone had left the community center and quietly returned. He needed to retrieve the drugs hidden under the piano.

Only he knew how fast his heart had been pounding earlier when that kid was circling the piano.

He didn’t dare turn on the light and could only fumble around in the dark using the moonlight. After searching for a long while, he finally found the drugs in the hidden compartment under the piano.

As he crawled out from under the piano, he unintentionally glanced toward the window and suddenly froze.

That… That is…

Under the tree outside stood a white figure.

Just like last night!

He had wanted to come retrieve the drugs last night but was startled by a figure outside the window and ran out in a panic, only to find no one there.

And now it had appeared again!

Hirata Kazuaki swallowed nervously, thinking, I was the one who spread those rumors about the piano. They are all false! Besides, I didn’t kill Asou Keiji, so why should I feel guilty?

As he thought more about it, he became emboldened. He looked toward the window again. The figure that had just been standing under the tree was now, in the blink of an eye, pressed up against the window, revealing a scorched, burned face.

“Ahhhhhhh!” Hirata Kazuaki flailed in terror, dropping everything in his hands. He turned to run but forgot the piano was right behind him and slammed his lower back against it.

Clutching his injury, he looked again out the window.

There was nothing there!

Hirata Kazuaki stood frozen in doubt, nearly convinced that what he had just seen was a hallucination.

The next second, the doorknob of the back door of the piano room slowly began to turn.

The creaking sound twisted his nerves.

He stared at the door, not even daring to breathe.

The door finally opened, and still, no one was there outside.

Hirata Kazuaki finally broke down. He turned and ran at once, completely forgetting the drugs he had dropped earlier

Hiding behind the wall, Higashino Hiromu was struggling to hold in his laughter.

Once he was sure no one was in the room, he sneaked in and reached into the piano’s hidden compartment, retrieving a small component.

It was a mini projector. The image quality wasn’t great, but it was enough to project a simulated image of Asou Keiji’s burnt corpse.

He had Asai Narumi hide the projector inside ahead of time. Then, using a computer, he remotely played the “Moonlight Sonata” and the image. Once the door opened, he immediately shut it off, delivering the first psychological blow to Nishimoto Ken and Hirata Kazuaki.

Then, he circled around to Nishimoto Ken’s house and used a pre-recorded voice by Asai Narumi, mimicking his father’s tone, to deliver a second blow.

He hadn’t expected Nishimoto Ken to break down so easily, confessing everything after just a little scare.

As for Hirata Kazuaki, while he seemed afraid of ghosts, he had not been involved in the killing of Asou Keiji, so his guilt was limited. Higashino Hiromu targeted him to coax out information about the drug trafficking by Kuroiwa Tatsuji and Kawashima Hideo, since those two had strong mental fortitude and wouldn’t crack from guilt.

The results were very satisfying. Hirata Kazuaki had spilled the drugs all over the floor, visible the moment anyone entered. Their drug trafficking operation could no longer be hidden!

Higashino Hiromu closed the piano room’s back door. Not long after, he heard a series of hurried footsteps.

Seeing the system notification 【 Successfully Escaped Death Threat 】, the heavy weight on his heart finally lifted.

Now it’s up to you, famous detective!