After the body was found, everyone quickly called the police, and there was no sudden blizzard blocking the mountain road, and the local police arrived at the scene of the crime half an hour later to investigate the situation at the scene.

Toru Mizutani was stabbed to death in his room, and although the door was locked inside, the window was wide open.

The police quickly ruled out the possibility that the crime scene was a secret room, and after analyzing the time of the deceased's death, they quickly locked the suspects among Keiko Harada, Honami Ueda, and Kashiwagi Takao, who were not in the hot spring hotel lobby at the time.

Although he was routinely questioned by the police as the first person to be found at the scene of the murder, he was quickly ruled out because Nato Ikekawa nestled up on the sofa in the lobby and ate the hotel's special snacks before going to bed last night.

It seems that there is a bonus to living in that kind of room, if it weren't for the huge floor-to-ceiling windows and the snow outside, I don't think I would have stayed in the living room at night to watch other people gossip.

Feeling guilty, Ikekawa Na touched the small memory card in her pocket, and prepared to go back to her room to check the contents on the computer first.

He walked through the corridor and passed by the Oiya who was watching him quietly, in line with the principle that the enemy does not move and I do not move, the man does not squint, but he did not expect to be pulled by the corner of his clothes as soon as he took a few steps.

"Brother Ikekawa-" The smart boy with glasses looked up, and the lenses of his glasses flashed a sharp light at a certain moment, "You were the first to find out that something happened to Uncle Mizutani, right?" ”

"Hmm." Ikekawa paused, nodded slightly, and responded to the sentence.

"It's amazing, I heard Sister Xiaolan say that my brother directly saw that Uncle Mizutani had been dead for ten hours, just like those police uncles said just now!" Edogawa Conan smiled at him and shook his hand at the corner of his clothes, "How can my brother see it, teach me-"

Are today's children so self-cooked?

Still thinking about the savings card, Ikekawa Na said casually, "Because the taste of blood is bitter......

The boy frowned, and was about to say something more, when Mao Lilan's anxious voice came from afar, "Conan—why did you run here, didn't you say you can't run around at this time!" ”

Oh no, I patronized and came to Ikekawa Nai and forgot what Xiaolan said to me before!

Edogawa Conan's teeth ached for a while, and after he was coquettish and slippery at the girl who came to make the other party angry, he turned his head again, and the black-haired man in the kimono had already walked away.

Is it just because of the smell of blood that you draw conclusions about time? No matter how sensitive he was to the bloody qi, he couldn't do it, unless his senses were indeed several times sharper than ordinary people's.

And the attitude just now...... From the moment they met, the other party seemed to be polite.,People can't find fault but alienated attitude.,But it doesn't seem to be able to deal with children.。 At least when talking to himself and Ayumi, he seems to be a little... Stiff?

It's not often that children are so hard to do this.

——

Ina, Ikekawa, who had been labeled as 'can't deal with children' by the little detective, was not stopped by anyone this time, and he quickly returned to his room and took out the savings card that he had just taken away from the scene.

The date below is sixteen years ago.

He inserted the memory card into his computer and quickly read out the video inside.

At the beginning of the video, a line of small words for reminders appears in the upper right corner, reminding the recorder that this video is automatically switched to 2 cards for storage after the storage of 1 card is full, and the spare card has a small space capacity and needs to be replaced as soon as possible.

Ikekawa frowned.

Recording something will drain the capacity of the previous card......

With the sound of electricity, some mushy videos loaded, and he had always struggled with electronic devices, not equipped with the skills to tune videos or pictures to HD, and could only barely get information at this quality.

There are very few things in the video, only the woods and the villa hidden in the middle, the man squinted his eyes and zoomed in on the picture for a while, only to suddenly realize that this is the place where he still lives for a long time.

He had never seen the familiar villa from this angle, and at first glance it only felt strange, and after looking at it for a long time, he figured out a little familiarity from it.

It's still winter in the video, and the snow is white, just see this

He felt a throbbing pain in his stomach at the sight of snow. Ikekawa leaned back in his chair to distance himself from the large expanse of snow on the screen and the villa upside down in the snow, and then he moved his fingers slightly to turn the video up as fast as he could.

Halfway through the progress bar, there was a sudden movement in front of the villa.

Ikekawa Na leaned in to take a look, and only then did she recognize that it was actually a person from the picture that was almost confused. Because he had been motionless before, he had no idea that there was anyone on the swing.

Blurred face, but at this time there would be no one else but himself who sat on the swing for an afternoon.

In the picture, the boy who was originally sitting is lying on his side on the chair, and the swing, which was still shaking slightly, completely stops as he falls asleep.

Losing the interest of continuing to watch, he dragged the progress bar back, and the originally static picture finally had other movements at the end of more than ten minutes.

The back door of the villa opened, and a tall figure walked by, wrapping the man on the swing in a blanket like a human trafficker, and then picking up the boy wrapped in a ball with unskillful packing movements.

It seems to be a little more accurate to carry it.

The boy who had been asleep struggled in the blanket that was no different from the sack used by the other man, and only when he reached the door did he poke his hair out of the blanket, and then he reached out with difficulty, and grabbed the other man's long silver hair in a rage.

Long silver hair......

Off-screen, Ikekawa was stunned and almost knocked over the things at hand.

He repeatedly pulled the progress bar back, and watched the man's eyes widen as he repeated the sack-like movements.

Silver hair of almost the same length as it is now, even if it is missing the semi-permanent black trench coat and top hat...... You can recognize who it is!

When he came back from his thoughts, the progress bar that was pulled back again was almost at the end, and the sound of speech came faintly from below.

"Wait for me, I'll go get the camera-"

"It's fun, there are a lot of squirrels in the mountains. Unfortunately, it won't be able to come in a few days, and my mother said that the fence outside will be installed soon......"

"Why pull the grid?"

"Mom said there were monsters in there! And... I heard from Aze next door that they met a monster in the mountains and drove them back with stones. ”

"You listen to him brag, that guy hasn't been out for a long time, I think he's afraid to hide, I'm not a coward like him......"

Suddenly pricked by a certain word, Ikekawa Na's eyes widened, and a sharp pain suddenly flashed through her temples.

The shattered image flashed, and he quickly opened the neck ring and choked his neck, turning the clips into successive images.

A scream came along with the feeling of suffocation, accompanied by other sounds that seemed to be something shattering, and the child's sharp and somewhat distorted figure exploded in his ears.

'Monster——! Get him back to the house! ’

No, wait!

He subconsciously reached out to block his eyes like the boy in his memory, because his neck was released because of this action, and the fading suffocation soon made him stop forcefully and choke his neck again.

The screen is reversed.

The butler, who had not yet wrinkled his face, came over with the hot milk and placed the tray on the table next to him, his voice low and low.

"Young master, don't make a fuss. The boss won't let you go out for safety reasons, your eyes are ......"

The eardrums that he had heard since he was a child were calloused, and the boy frowned and covered his head with a blanket, unwilling to deal with the other party.

The corners of his eyes still hurt, and the pain in the wound at the corners of his eyes was sharp in a place where even the corners of the table would be wrapped to prevent him from hitting them.

From this sharp pain, he felt a little aggrieved, and curled up in the blanket to block out the voice of the preaching.

"The boss has a gift for you, do you want to come out and take a look?"

Gifts, what gifts. It's not books, all kinds of clothes, expensive toys, snacks, and so on, and it's like decorating a cage.

The boy poked his head out, and sure enough, he saw the butler holding a black gift box in his hand.

When I opened it, it was really a royal blue diamond, such a large diamond probably would not be set on the hairband, and the final destination should be Mao

Exaggerated tie of a velvet bear doll.

He waved his hand and sat up, not even looking at the box.

The butler looked at him.

According to the boss's request, when the other party puts forward this idea, he should be more severe, and he can even temporarily put aside the identity of the butler to refuse and threaten.

But......

Looking at the pair of heterochromatic eyes that had not yet grown and looked extraordinarily round, the butler still sighed and wiped the corners of his wet eyes with the handkerchief he carried.

"Young master, Sir doesn't like to see you...... Cry. "Crying means weakness, and weakness means no value. According to that gentleman's values, the better he behaved, the more preferential treatment he would get.

“...... Is it wrong to cry? The boy said in a slightly nasal voice, trying to hold back the tears. But he was really a little sad because of this inexplicable name and attack of the monster.

It can't be said that it is wrong. The butler had a stomach full of correct educational concepts to say, but before he could speak, his mind flashed the way the gentleman ordered him, and finally just nodded, "...... Be. ”

The boy in the sofa chair apologized sullenly, tried to hold back the tears, lifted the hem of his shirt, and let the other man apply the medicine to the wounds on his knees and calves, which had not yet been scarred.

When the plaster was pressed against the wound, his discolored eyes moistened again, but he pinched the corners of his clothes and endured it back.

"Sir will reinforce the railing outside in a few days to keep anything else from entering. By the way, in addition to this gift, the boss has arranged a bodyguard for you. 'I think you'll be interested, young master. ”

Bodyguard... It's someone I've never seen before!

The boy's eyes lit up, and most of his originally gloomy expression disappeared.

Sitting up from the couch, he was just about to jump off the couch when he heard the adult next to him cough twice.

So he stopped his movements, reached out and straightened out the clothes on his body, and his originally excited steps became reserved.

He was led out by the butler, and as soon as he reached the spacious living room of the villa, he saw a man kneeling on one knee in front of the entrance.

If it weren't for the housekeeper's reminder, the boy probably wouldn't have noticed the other party.

The man was a little too quiet, looking like he was seventeen or eighteen years old, his long silver hair fell down with the movement of his head down, the color was not so much like the snow he hated the most, a bit like moonlight.

"This is a gift from the gentleman." The boy, who felt that he rarely saw other people, subconsciously hid behind him, and patted his hand at the corner of his clothes like a housekeeper, "It's okay, he won't hurt you, go and see." ”

"To... It's mine? Muttering this sentence in his mouth, the little young master turned his head to look at him.

"Yes, yours."

He was a little scared. Even if the other party is half-kneeling, he is like a leopard, and standing up is estimated to be able to cage his whole person underneath.

He cautiously walked over and confirmed that the other party really wouldn't act without permission, before reaching out and hooking the man's clothes with his index finger and said, "... Do you have a name? ”

“A17390。” A hoarse voice that doesn't match his age, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.

The boy was a little confused by a string of numbers that didn't sound like names, and he frowned and turned his head to look at the more familiar adults behind him.

"The killings cultivated by the sir's subordinates... Bodyguards, none of whom have names, only numbers. Temporarily replacing the word 'killer' with a relatively harmless bodyguard, the butler crouched down and reached out to touch the wound at the end of his eye.

"He's in charge of protecting you from anything that doesn't have a long eye. If you like him, you can give him a name. ”

"I will." The boy bent his eyes. He reached out and touched the other's hair very lightly, "...... It's mine, meaning I can let him do anything? ”

"Of course." Then, the butler's eyes narrowed, "But don't want him to eat all the vegetables for you." ”

was pierced with the plan in his mind, the little young master puffed out his cheeks, "I didn't think about this ......"

"Alright, young master. It's time for you to go for dinner. It's not too late to come back to see him after dinner...... I'll give you another pill on the corners of your eyes and legs in a while. ”

After coaxing away the young master he was responsible for taking care of, the housekeeper remembered the freshly baked wound on his body, and his face was originally gentle

's smile faded away, and he looked a little cold, "Have you already disposed of the people that the boss asked you to dispose of?" ”

"Hmm." The seventeen-year-old killer hung his head and whispered.

"Don't let anyone get near the villa in the future......" After saying this, as if it didn't feel enough, the butler added, "neither can the animals." ”

The silver-haired man raised his head at these words, his dark green eyes narrowed slightly, and his gaze fell on the delicate face of the boy at the dining table and the wound at the end of his eyes that had been broken by sharp stones, and his gaze was dark, "Yes." ”

*————*

Pulled out of her memories by a knock on the door, Ikekawa Na took a sharp breath, still putting down what she was holding, and reached out to block the strangulation marks on her neck with a neck ring.

He stood up and walked outside, and as soon as he took a step, his mind suddenly remembered a conversation from a short time ago.

‘...... Since you forgot about it, it's not a big deal. My time is precious, so there's no need to waste it on this kind of thing. ’

Recalling that memory, [guilty!] Prison sentence! The label suddenly shattered into two pieces and landed on top of his own head.

Na Ikekawa: ......

He stopped for a long time, but before opening the door and going out, he sent a text message, asking Katori's assistant to approve the reimbursement slip for the gin that had been pressed for the past few days that was even more outrageous than last month.

Suddenly very guilty!