In Fujino's memory, the Twilight Mansion (*Tasogare no Yakata*) was a massive estate built deep in the mountains. Within the estate was a large, castle-like building. That building looked like just a villa, but in reality, beneath the exterior brick and stone structure, a vast amount of gold was hidden... That's right, a vast amount of gold. How much exactly... Fujino didn't know either. All he could say was that after the exterior walls peeled away, the inside was all gold. It wasn't impossible that the main structure was built entirely of gold. However, in his memory, the Twilight Mansion case didn't explicitly state if it was made entirely of gold...
"If it really was all gold, that would be terrifying. A building of that massive size, if truly solid gold, would be worth at least hundreds of billions [of yen]..." Fujino thought for a moment, rubbing his chin. "Maybe I can go investigate it someday."
...
Meanwhile, in Kyoto, within a vast compound. The main traditional Japanese-style building in the center of the compound had a retro layout. On the wall directly opposite the entrance, a pattern was carved: a lotus flower design in the center surrounded by decorations shaped like wheat leaves.
A white-haired elder wearing a black kimono sat quietly behind a wooden low table in front of the patterned wall. Through his reading glasses, his gaze was fixed on the green light on the screen, his brows slightly furrowed.
"Patriarch!" At this moment, a young man in a black suit entered. "I just heard from the Police Headquarters that the Young Patriarch has solved another case."
The elder looked surprised for a moment, his brows gradually relaxing. He shifted his gaze away from the computer screen, took off his reading glasses, and rubbed his eyes. "He solved another case?"
"I believe it hasn't even been two days since that matter was wrapped up?" The young man glanced at his watch. "It hasn't been three days since he became a consultant."
"It seems my eldest grandson doesn't get any rest..." The elder stroked his chin. "I didn't expect our Fujiwara family to produce such a talent."
"The Young Patriarch has indeed always been very busy," the young man echoed. "But precisely because of this, it further highlights his personal capabilities."
"Ahem!" The elder coughed lightly. "That boy doesn't use the Fujiwara surname now. Your way of addressing him is incorrect."
"My apologies... I was careless." The young man lowered his head and immediately changed his address. "It should be Young Master Fujino."
"..." The elder was speechless for a moment. "We're all family, calling him 'Young Master' feels a bit too awkward, doesn't it?"
The young man said seriously, "As a member of the side branch, especially since Young Master Fujino is a generation above me, according to the Kujo family rules, this is how it should be."
"Actually, you shouldn't always focus your attention on that boy. Look at yourself more," the elder said meaningfully, looking at the young man. "Regardless of what others say, at least I see you as qualified."
"Patriarch!" The young man quickly said, "There are the Main Family and the legitimate eldest grandson, and even if not them, there are the uncles. How could someone from our branch family be qualified..."
"Ah..." The elder sighed leisurely. "It's because your generation has spent too long resting under the shade of the big tree, growing crooked... Among your peers, you're still relatively efficient in handling matters, but you're still a stickler for rules."
The young man coughed awkwardly upon hearing this. "Family Head, you don't need to worry. From my perspective, Young Master is fully capable of bearing heavy responsibilities. Among our generation's peers, there's no one more capable than Young Master... Moreover, Young Master has a very close relationship with the Ohoka family's legitimate granddaughter..."
"Ah, that child, Kouyou-chan..." The elder thought for a moment upon hearing this. "Let me think... Was it when Hanako visited the Ohoka family during her trip back to Kyoto?"
"Compared to other families, our Fujiwara family has always been relatively weak in the political sphere. If Young Master can ally with the Ohoka family," the young man paused and continued, "we will gain considerable influence in politics. With that, under Young Master's leadership, our Fujiwara family might be able to return to its past glory in the future."
"Talk of old days over tea is a thing of the past," the elder waved his hand helplessly. "Don't think too much about it. Just go with the flow. The new era belongs to you young people. Nostalgia is not advisable."
"I humbly accept the Patriarch's teachings." The young man bowed slightly, then raised his head and continued, "Regarding that matter, based on my investigation, there are still no results... It's exactly like Miss Hanako's incident back then. This time we found a breakthrough, but when we investigated further, the trail ended at the driver... From the method used, I'm afraid someone is exploiting our Fujiwara family's affairs..."
"I already knew," the elder closed his eyes slightly. "The other party seems very cautious. Mangy dogs hiding in the shadows always like to stay in dark places, playing petty tricks with so-called curses. If they don't show themselves, you won't easily find them."
The young man hesitated. "Then when will Young Master..."
"Let him gain experience slowly outside." Saying this, the elder chose a comfortable position and lay down on his side on the tatami mat. "Saplings that receive the shade of a tree can never grow stronger. Only by enduring the scorching sun alone, constantly climbing, can they finally grow into a new towering tree..."
...
Sunny and cloudless. Time flew by, and it was again a hot summer day. In reality, it was just the day after the arsonist was arrested and Shikano, who robbed the bank eighteen years ago, was properly "educated."
During lunchtime, in classroom 2-B. Fujino sat by the window, his gaze fixed on the lush green treetops. At this moment, he was contemplating the Twilight Mansion. He said he wanted to investigate the Twilight Mansion, but he actually didn't know where it was. He only knew it was a large estate located in Tottori Prefecture, had some ghost stories, several people had indeed died there, and that the overall structure might be made of gold – other than that, he knew nothing else.
The internet wasn't very developed yet. If he were looking up famous people, it might be easier. But trying to use clever searching, relying on rumors and word of mouth to find such a remote and not very famous villa was indeed quite difficult.
"Hey, hey, Ran-chan, did you hear?" At this moment, Sonoko's chirpy voice suddenly caught Fujino's attention.
Fujino: "..." Isn't this a walking encyclopedia of rumors right here?!
Sonoko was excitedly telling Ran-chan ghost stories. "Speaking of, at a high school near us, there seems to be some incredible rumors going around!"
"Incredible rumors?" Ran-chan looked at Sonoko confusedly, her eyes a bit bewildered. Even though she was already well aware of her best friend's exceptionally well-informed nature, just mentioning rumors at a nearby high school still left her feeling a bit lost.
"It's said that there's a strange rumor about the stairs in the old school building at that school," Sonoko said mysteriously. "Even though that staircase only has twelve steps, once a student counts them, they'll astonishingly count thirteen steps."
Ran-chan looked puzzled. "Thirteen steps?"
"That's right!" Sonoko nodded, wiggling her finger. "Do you want to know what that thirteenth step is?"
Ran-chan was a bit impatient. "What is it?"
"Actually, it's the corpse of the student who died from falling..." Sonoko continued. "Ever since that student fell and died, their soul has stayed there. Every time someone passes by, that student's soul appears and turns the staircase into thirteen steps."
"..." Ran-chan narrowed her eyes slightly, looking somewhat bored. "How boring."
"That's not the point, of course." Sonoko glanced at Ran-chan, feeling like it was within her expectations, then continued. "Actually, aside from this rumor, there aren't just one, but seven of them. It's said there are actually seven other rumors at that school. If you collect all seven rumors, then that student or anyone involved will inexplicably disappear."
"Ineplicably disappear?" Ran-chan was curious upon hearing this, mixed with a hint of trepidation. "Could those people have been killed by ghosts or something?"
"Hmm... I feel like it too." Sonoko nodded in agreement. "I also heard this rumor from my friend. Her friend mysteriously disappeared after hearing those rumors and hasn't been found since."
"Simply getting killed just by collecting rumors seems too unreasonable..." Fujino listened for a while, then slowly walked over. "Unless there's some secret hidden behind those rumors, and the students who stumbled upon the secret were silenced."
He didn't believe in ghosts or deities... Even if there were ghosts, they wouldn't just make living people disappear. Most of the time, supposed supernatural occurrences were done by humans. Sometimes, people were even scarier than ghosts.
"I'm not entirely sure what's going on, I just heard about it," Sonoko scratched her head. "But those people did disappear... Oh well, it's just a rumor anyway."
"Oh, speaking of rumors, I actually have a rumor I wanted to ask about..." Fujino brought up the main topic. "By the way, Sonoko, have you heard a rumor about Tottori Prefecture?"
Sonoko blinked, looking curious. "A rumor about Tottori Prefecture?"
"Yes," Fujino nodded. "I heard a rumor from a client about a villa in Tottori Prefecture called the Twilight Mansion, but they didn't elaborate, which made me curious. I was thinking of asking if you knew anything about it."
"Tottori Prefecture, Twilight Mansion..." Sonoko nodded upon hearing this, empathizing with Fujino-san's situation. She had encountered such things before; it almost drove her crazy... Just mentioning the rumor without giving details was truly despicable!
Thinking this, Sonoko started brainstorming, furrowing her brow and trying hard to recall. "Twilight Mansion in Tottori Prefecture... I think I saw something about this in a newspaper or magazine periodical before. It seems there was some tragic rumor associated with it, but that must have been a long time ago."
Fujino earnestly asked, "Can you still find it?"
"Hmm... I'll go look for it when I get home. If I find it, I'll text it to you." Sonoko looked at Fujino-san's serious and curious expression, thought for a moment, and gave her answer. Then she continued, "Oh, right, are you free tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow..." Fujino-san thought for a moment upon hearing this. "I don't have any work planned, so yes, I'm free."
"That's great..." Sonoko smiled, then invited him. "Actually, I wanted to go swimming with Ran-chan tomorrow, but it feels a bit unsafe for just us two girls. Fujino-senpai, could you come with us?"
Fujino: "Uh..." Unsafe? With a humanoid Tyrannosaurus Rex like her around, how could it be unsafe? But on second thought, the humanoid Tyrannosaurus Rex does have moments of weakness and is also susceptible to being groped...
"Okay, I'm free tomorrow. It is getting a bit hot, so swimming to cool off sounds good." After thinking for a moment, Fujino agreed to the plan. Since Ran-chan and Sonoko were going to the pool and invited him, that kid Conan should logically follow along as well... The Death God Elementary Schooler is coming, so can a murder case be far behind? This is a perfect opportunity for him to directly break through his detective profession level.
...
The afternoon at school was uneventful. After school, Fujino drove home. However, before going home, he stopped by the city center to buy some things.
Akemi Miyano was wearing a white sweater over blue jeans, with an apron tied in front. She had just finished work at Snow King Ice City and hung the apron on a hook by the door. Entering the living room, his eyes were immediately drawn to the sushi on the dining table. "Is this... high-end sushi?"
Akemi Miyano looked at the exquisite sushi on the table and asked Ai-chan, "Ai-chan, is today a special day?"
Ai Haibara, dressed in pajamas, sat on the sofa and shook her head. "I don't know either. He also just gave me a new Fusa-e handbag, saying it was from a client..."
"A client who owed me money paid a large remaining balance," Fujino-san came out of the kitchen, holding a plate of large lobsters. "So I bought lots of delicious food to celebrate!"
"A client paid the remaining balance?" Akemi Miyano looked confused, glancing at the high-end sushi, then at the large lobsters Fujino-san was carrying. "But even so, you don't have to be this extravagant..."
Ai Haibara couldn't help but ask, "Just how much was that remaining balance?"
"Well... it was a pretty difficult case... and the client asked for confidentiality," Fujino-san smiled. "Anyway, the amount of this remaining balance is a lot."
Yeah, it was a full two hundred million-plus yen. After all, he had over two hundred million on hand... What's wrong with being a little extravagant?
Fujino-san placed the lobster on the dining table, suddenly remembered something, and asked Akemi-neechan, "Speaking of, how about buying a car?"
"Huh?" Akemi Miyano was surprised. "Buy a car? Don't you already have one?"
"I meant buying one for *you*," Fujino-san waved his hand generously. "After all, you need to buy ingredients and go shopping with Ai-chan. Buying a family car would definitely be much more convenient."
"..." Ai Haibara silently stood up, walked over to Fujino-san, tiptoed, and touched his forehead.
(End of Chapter)
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