In the world of Detective Conan, however, he was bound to the Naruto System.

Chapter 222 Another Blizzard

Chapter 222 Another Blizzard

Although the castle was large, there were not many people inside. Apart from Tadokoro Toshiya, who was receiving them, and Torakura Etsuko, who was painting outside, they only saw two figures in the living room, one tall and thin and the other short and fat.

The older, middle-aged man who appears to be overweight is the editor-in-chief of the monthly horror magazine published by Daigokan Publishing, and his name is Fumiri Doi.

The other one looked to be in his early thirties and wore glasses without temples. His most striking feature was probably the single horn on his head that was exactly the same as Ran's, but much smaller.

This person's name is Hamura Shuichi, a rather unique name, a combination of Kaguya's second son's name and the name of a certain silver bullet. However, with so many people, this situation is more inevitable than a coincidence.

Seeing Akutagawa Hiko looking at him, the man from the Folklore Research Institute, who was in love with Torakura Etsuko and mainly researched vampires, turned his head away somewhat guiltily. After mentally preparing himself, he nodded and greeted the group in a friendly manner.

"My teacher is working on something in that study, but he doesn't like to be disturbed—ah, Mr. Akutagawa, he'll be fine, because he has something to ask you."

Watching Akutagawa Hiko walk towards the study, Hattori Heiji scoffed somewhat discontentedly, "There's a famous detective here, and he's just so blatantly ignoring me."

At this point, Conan naturally chose to unite against outsiders. Their Kanto commission didn't need the Kansai to interfere. Besides, it was indeed difficult for someone from out of town to surpass the local famous detective in terms of fame.

Let alone Ayan, if given a choice, he would even prefer to find Kogoro Mouri rather than Heiji Hattori.

Heiji Hattori wasn't unaware of this principle, but he still snorted. His childish behavior made Kazuha Toyama giggle, and the gloomy atmosphere of the castle was dispelled a lot by the laughter.

Akutagawa Hiko approached the oddly shaped study, which was located near the cliff and the sea and was very convenient for killing someone to cover up their crime. He knocked on the door, but no one answered.

When he pushed open the door and went inside, Akutagawa Hiko, who was already mentally prepared, was naturally not frightened.

Furthermore, let's not discuss how the vampires in the various vampire derivative works that followed are, since apart from a few basic settings, they no longer have much to do with vampires.

If we only consider the vampires in early literary works and folk legends who were derived from aristocratic figures, not to mention their obvious weaknesses, their fighting power is definitely not strong.

Even the high-end combat forces native to the world of Detective Conan could probably crush the so-called vampires.

Not to mention the existence of guns and cannons, which are beyond the norm.

How could someone who pretends to be a vampire and hides in a gloomy study trying to dig out inspiration from a brain that has long since run dry and is like a dried-up riverbed?

There are countless people who become famous, forget their original intentions, and eventually lose sight of their initial writing passion. However, Daisuke Torakura in front of me is particularly disgusting and repulsive.

"Didn't I already say that when I'm creating—"

Halfway through his sentence, Daisuke Torakura turned around and suddenly stopped. Even in the dim light, this famous detective, who was featured in newspapers and on television news, was still so conspicuous.

"Ah, it's Detective Akutagawa. I originally wanted to visit your office to ask you a favor, but the fans' urging has really troubled me, and I simply can't find the time. I'm sure you, as a famous detective, can understand."

To be honest, it's not very good.

But as the saying goes, one doesn't hit a smiling face. Since Daisuke Torakura acted so politely and like a respected senior, Hiko Akutagawa just went along with it and exchanged some perfunctory compliments.

"After all, he is the most popular author in the Japanese horror novel world, and recently he has created a completely different kind of heroic fantasy novel. Compared to other authors who are trapped in their comfort zone, Torakura-sensei is really amazing."

Akutagawa Hiko wasn't sure if Torakura Daisuke had noticed his perfunctory attitude, since it was just a verbatim repetition of what he'd read in the interview magazine.

But Daisuke Torakura clearly didn't care about any of that. All he wanted was praise from Hiko Akutagawa, who was also a celebrity, which would make him feel exceptionally good.

After some pleasantries, Daisuke Torakura finally got to the point: he wanted to ask Hiko Akutagawa to help investigate his wife Etsuko Torakura's infidelity and obtain concrete evidence.

"As for the reward, two million yen should be fine, of course, the operating expenses are another matter. You definitely won't suffer a loss."

,

Two million!

Akutagawa Hiko recalled that Torakura Daisuke's commission fee for asking Mouri Kogoro to investigate was one million yen, so it seems his appearance fee was much higher than Mouri Kogoro's from Takahara.

There's nothing to hesitate about, because neither the two million that Daisuke Torakura mentioned nor Akutagawa Hiko's promise to investigate are empty promises. After all, this real vampire in front of us might not survive tonight.

Most other people's infidelity is despicable. For example, in a case that Akutagawa Hiko handled before, although the woman's husband was not a good person and was eventually killed, her infidelity was indeed wrong.

That was also an older man and a younger woman.

As for Etsuko Torakura, it was because Daisuke Torakura secretly caused her family to go bankrupt that she was forced to marry Daisuke Torakura. Moreover, Etsuko Torakura's father was Daisuke Torakura's "good friend"!

Anyone with normal values ​​would be furious to hear something like this.

But as I said before, this person is about to die.

Akutagawa Hiko walked to the window, looking at the heavy snow that seemed poised to bury the castle, and said with a hint of helplessness, "It looks like even if the car is repaired, we won't be able to leave."

When driving in heavy snow, unless you encounter a truly life-threatening emergency, it is safest to wait for the snow to stop.

Torakura Daisuke naturally didn't mind Akutagawa Hiko and the others staying, since only by observing them up close could one see if anything was amiss: "If you don't mind that my humble abode is so poor, you can stay the night."

After nodding goodbye, Akutagawa Hiko left the unusual octagonal room filled with vampire-related items.

"The snow outside is falling so heavily—"

Conan stroked his chin, recalling Akutagawa Hiko's previous divination. Logically, since they had already rescued Kinoshita Akiko, the possibility reflected in the divination should have been eliminated.

However, his intuition told him that this was not the end, and that the divination might not only refer to Yoko Asanuma freezing Akiko to death in the snow.

When Conan told Heiji Hattori about this guess, he scratched his head in frustration: "I definitely don't know as much about this as you do, so maybe—"

Both of them turned their gazes toward Akutagawa Hiko, who was walking back.