"Fujino, did something happen?"
Conan, sitting on the right side of the back seat, noticed Fujino's movements and asked curiously.
Fujino didn't respond right away. He glanced at the arrow he'd just crushed in his hand.
It was a long black arrow, likely meant for a bow. The arrowhead was iron, and the shaft was made of a pure carbon blend. Even though he'd crushed it, it had only split down the middle.
He moved his hand back inside the car and explained, "An arrow just flew into the car a moment ago."
"Huh?!"
The two in the back seat gasped in surprise when they saw the broken arrow in Fujino's hand.
"What the heck is that…?"
Mouri Kogoro, sitting beside them, turned his head to take a curious peek. When he realized it was an arrow, a cold sweat ran down his back, and he slammed on the brakes in a panic.
Once everyone steadied themselves, Conan offered a guess: "It probably flew over from an archery range nearby by accident, right?"
But as he looked at the arrow Fujino had crushed, he couldn't help but feel a bit speechless.
Just how insane were this guy's reflexes? He'd caught a flying arrow barehanded *and* crushed it. Was that even something a human could do?
It was downright inhuman!
Then again, come to think of it, Ran might be able to pull it off too.
Okay, *even more* inhuman.
"I'm so sorry!"
A hurried voice called out from not too far away.
Fujino turned to see a woman jogging toward them. She wore a blue jacket, red pants, and had long brown hair. A quiver for arrows hung at her waist. She looked about twenty-seven. Her face was hard to make out because of her sunglasses, but she seemed decent-looking—mature, like an older sister type.
She reached the car window and apologized profusely to Fujino. "I accidentally missed my target while shooting earlier. No one got hurt, right?"
Fujino glanced at the arrow in his hand. "…"
You call that a miss? It was way too accurate for a stray shot.
He thought for a moment, then glanced at the harmless-looking elementary school kid in the back seat.
Why did it feel like this was somehow *his* fault?
"What are you even doing?!"
Mouri's face darkened as he scolded the woman. "That arrow nearly hit my buddy Fujino!"
"Alright, calm down, Mouri," Fujino said, playing peacemaker. He handed the broken arrow to the woman outside the window. "It did almost hit me in the head, but I reacted in time and grabbed it. No harm done."
"I'm really, *really* sorry! I'll be more careful next time!"
The woman took the broken arrow, froze for a second, then bowed repeatedly in apology, looking relieved.
She'd shot the arrow, and even though it happened at an archery range, she'd still be somewhat liable if someone got hurt.
Snapping out of it, she took off her sunglasses, revealing her pretty, big-sister-like features. She quickly changed the subject. "Wait a sec, aren't you guys the famous Detective Fujino and Mouri Kogoro?!"
"Uh… yeah, that's us," Mouri said. Seeing her face, his sour mood flipped to a wide grin. "Haha, didn't expect to run into a fan of ours out here!"
"…"
The others shot sidelong glances at Mouri.
Man, he sure changed his tune fast when a pretty woman was involved—faster than Fujino raising his rates for clients.
"So, are you all heading to that villa nearby?" the woman asked.
"We were planning to go there to fish," Mouri replied, then asked curiously, "Wait, 'too'? Does that mean you're staying at the villa as well?"
"Yup," she nodded, a sly smile creeping onto her face. "What a coincidence, huh? Looks like some famous detectives are about to cross paths."
Fujino glanced at the woman chatting with Mouri, his eyes narrowing slightly.
*She's pretty good at steering the conversation,* he thought. Then, puzzled, he asked, "Detectives meeting up… Are you saying there's another detective at that villa?"
"That's… a secret," she teased with a wink. "You'll find out when you get there."
Fujino sighed inwardly. *Great, another riddle enthusiast.*
Still, he couldn't help but wonder about this "famous detective" she mentioned. Since arriving in this world, he hadn't really met any other renowned detectives—just some regular colleagues here and there.
---
The group arrived at the villa they'd be staying at.
Mouri parked the car, and Fujino stepped out. What greeted him was a three-story wooden villa nestled in the forest. Calling it a villa didn't feel quite right—it looked more like a mountain lodge.
They entered the place, but after waiting for a while, no one came to greet them.
"What's the deal here…?" Mouri grumbled, ringing the bell. "A big lodge like this, and not a single person to welcome guests?"
*Bang! Bang!*
Suddenly, a few gunshots rang out from outside.
Ran, unused to hearing gunfire, glanced back and asked, "What was that noise?"
"Gunshots," Fujino answered.
"He's right. Those were hunting rifle shots," said an older man with a bald spot and an orange sweater, appearing at the front desk. "This forest nearby was recently zoned as a hunting ground. You must be the Mouri group, right? It's just me here today—sorry for the wait."
"See, Dad…" Ran shot Mouri a resentful look. "We came through that forest road. Weren't we just in danger?"
"You came through the forest?" the old man asked, surprised. "That's pretty risky. We've put up wire fences and warning signs where we can, but tourists still wander into the hunting zone and get hit by stray bullets sometimes."
"Haha… stray bullets, huh? We already got a taste of that when we came out of the forest earlier," Mouri said with an awkward laugh, a shiver of fear running through him.
*So Mouri somehow managed to dodge every warning sign and barrel straight into the hunting zone…* Fujino thought, dumbfounded. *Good thing it was an arrow that came at us and not a 7.62mm round, or I'd have a hole in my head right now.*
*DING-A-LING!*
The lodge's front door swung open.
They turned to see a man in black step inside, his face grim. Without a word, he grabbed a key from the front desk and headed upstairs.
Fujino watched him go.
That vibe, that outfit… it had a whiff of the *Organization* about it.
---
At the open-air terrace behind the lodge:
Ran pushed open the back door, gazing out at the forest scenery. "Wow, this place is really beautiful."
"The air's so fresh too," Fujino added, taking a deep breath of unpolluted air.
The lodge was surrounded by forest, with a canyon just below the railing. The sound of a clear stream echoed from the bottom. The view was decent, and the air quality was great—a nice spot to unwind for someone with a sharp sense of smell like Fujino.
"See? I told you fishing here was a great idea," Mouri bragged with a smug grin.
But as if his words had jinxed it, the sky darkened, and raindrops the size of peas began to fall, growing heavier by the second.
With no other choice, they scrambled back inside, their fishing plans ruined for now.
---
In the lodge's living room:
Rain pattered against the windows as Fujino lounged on the sofa, bored, watching a detective show called *City Hunter*. Despite sharing a name with another work, this one was about a detective—not some mercenary assassin. The plot was fine, but the actor playing the detective, Saba Ban'nai, was so over-the-top it made Fujino a little queasy.
Ran, on the other hand, was hooked.
Guess drama tastes really do match the era's teenage girls.
Mouri was the first to lose patience. He stood up, turned off the TV, and griped at Ran, "Seriously, how can you enjoy this childish stuff?"
He plopped back onto the sofa, still complaining. "Real detectives don't stumble into murder cases every week and solve them like that. It's ridiculous!"
Fujino: "…"
He thought back to the airplane murder case from a few days ago, and the ice rink one before that…
Well, to be fair, those "few days" had stretched across months of back-and-forth. It *had* been a while. So… no issue there.
"Sorry, guess I'm just that lucky."
A flamboyant man strutted into the room, striking a dramatic pose with an imaginary gun. "I'm Saba Ban'nai, the City Hunter!"
"No way! It's really him!" Ran jumped up, recognizing him. "Kazuyoshi Sunaoka, the actor who plays the City Hunter detective!"
Fujino glanced over and immediately pegged him as the guy from the show. Standing next to him was the woman they'd met earlier that afternoon.
"Oh, so it's just an actor…" Fujino muttered, a bit disappointed.
So much for meeting a "famous detective." He'd been hoping for a real colleague, not a fake.
"I already heard from Tanigawa," Sunaoka said. "You two are the real deal—Detective Fujino, who saved a plane not long ago, and the Sleeping Mouri Kogoro, right?"
He gave a polite nod. "I just play a detective, but I'm really into the real thing. Meeting you today feels like an honor!"
"Same here, Mr. Sunaoka," Fujino replied courteously.
"Oh, no, no!" Mouri chimed in, standing up with a sheepish grin. "Honestly, I'm a fan of yours too… Any chance I could get an autograph later?"
---
Two hours later:
Night had fallen, and the heavy rain eased up.
Everyone gathered at the open-air restaurant behind the lodge.
Say what you will, but Mouri's knack for socializing was impressive. After a few rounds of drinks, Fujino, Mouri, and Sunaoka were chatting like old friends, even swapping business cards.
Fujino couldn't drink, of course—he stuck to lemon juice the whole time. Mouri had some, but with Ran keeping an eye on him, he didn't overdo it. Sunaoka didn't drink much either, but his tolerance was awful—his face was already as red as a monkey's butt.
Fujino sipped his lemon juice and scanned the group.
Besides Sunaoka, there was a chubby producer from the same crew, Katsumei Nagatsuka, and the grim-faced guy from earlier, screenwriter Toshimasa Tahara. The woman was Sunaoka's manager and the agency's president, Noe Tanigawa.
They were all here for a team-building trip.
From their chatter, Fujino learned that the producer and Sunaoka had spent the day hunting birds in the forest, while the screenwriter holed up in his room working on plots. The manager, not wanting to harm any birds, had gone to the archery range instead.
*Yeah, real noble of you,* Fujino thought. *You didn't hurt any birds, but you nearly put a hole in a living person.*
"So, since you've been cooped up in your room all day, you must've come up with something good, right, oh great screenwriter?"
Sunaoka, now plastered, stood up and sneered at Tahara across the table. "Lately, your scripts have been garbage. The audience figures them out before I do—how am I supposed to act with that?"
"When I write, I have to deal with your lousy personality too, Sunaoka. Spare a thought for me," Tahara replied, his tone calm but icy.
"Hey, let's not ruin the mood over this," the producer jumped in, trying to smooth things over. "We're here to make the show more exciting—that's why we're doing this team-building thing, right?"
"Hmph, nice words," Sunaoka shot back, turning his drunken ire on Nagatsuka. "I heard you've been pocketing some of the production funds, you money-grubbing hack."
Nagatsuka froze, speechless, and sat back down without a word.
"Alright, Sunaoka, time to head back to your room," Tanigawa said firmly. "You've had way too much."
"No way! I still wanna talk detective stuff with Fujino and Mouri…"
He slung an arm around Mouri's shoulder, then turned to Tanigawa. "You nagging hag, always bossing me around. But soon I'll be free of you—a big company's offering me a fat contract to jump ship!"
"What…? We already talked about this!"
Tanigawa blinked, then stood up and helped Mouri hoist Sunaoka to his feet. "Anyway, you're plastered. Let's get you to your room."
"Hmph… If I leave this agency, you're all screwed…" Sunaoka mumbled as they dragged him off.
"Wait! If you go, how's the company supposed to make money?!" Nagatsuka yelped, jumping up to help Tanigawa haul Sunaoka back inside.
"What a jerk…" Ran muttered, watching him go, disappointed. "He's so different from his character."
"Roles and actors are two different things," Fujino said with a light chuckle. "Most actors aren't anything like the parts they play. Some nail good-guy roles but are rotten in real life. Others seem awful on-screen but are great people off it. Happens all the time."
"Yeah," Conan added sourly, glancing at Sunaoka's retreating figure.
---
"Sorry about that, folks. He's not so bad when you get to know him," Nagatsuka said a little while later, returning to the table with an awkward smile. "His tolerance is just terrible—once he's drunk, he starts spouting nonsense."
"Where's Ms. Tanigawa?" Fujino asked, peering behind him.
"Oh, the president? She said she was tired and went back to her room to rest," Nagatsuka replied, picking up a beer bottle. He shook it—empty.
"I'll grab some," Tahara offered, standing up and heading inside. He returned about ten minutes later.
With Sunaoka gone, the vibe lightened up. Mouri and Nagatsuka kicked off round two of drinks. Tahara didn't touch a drop, though—just the producer and Mouri kept at it.
"Hey, Tahara, you not drinking?" Nagatsuka asked, noticing the screenwriter quietly pouring for him.
"Nah," Tahara waved him off. "I've gotta figure out the next plot… Oh, wait, I should write that down."
He got up, moved to a nearby seat, and started scribbling furiously in a notebook.
Just then, the lodge's balding staff member pushed open the back door. "Mr. Nagatsuka, you've got a call in the living room. They say they're from Tokyo."
"It's eight already—who's calling me now?" Nagatsuka checked his watch, then stood. "Well, excuse me for a sec."
"Man, we were just getting into it," Mouri grumbled, then turned to Fujino. "Hey, Fujino, how about you keep me company with your juice? Too bad you're not old enough yet—imagine how much fun we'd have drinking together!"
"Dad! The doctor told you to cut back!" Ran pouted, glaring at him.
"Haha…" Fujino just smiled, saying nothing.
Him, twenty? Yeah, give it a decade or so.
As he mentally snarked, a thought nagged at him. This setup felt familiar—an actor at odds with his crew. Was this about to turn into another *Mihama* case? If so, it'd be the classic "pick one of three" scenario.
*"Don't hide your heart, love is something to bare like a nudist…"*
Yoko Okino's latest hit ringtone blared. Fujino pulled out his phone: Unknown Caller.
The second he picked up, Sunaoka's slurred, suggestive voice came through. "Hey, how about you come to my room? We can talk detective stuff… Wait, what's that—?"
The call cut off.
Fujino: "…"
Was this guy so drunk he'd turned into a creep? Gross.
"What's up, Fujino?" Mouri asked, noticing his odd expression.
Fujino took a deep breath. "Sunaoka just asked me to come to his room to 'talk about detective stuff.'"
"Huh?!" Ran's eyes widened. "He's not… Is he?!"
Sure, the guy wasn't what he seemed on TV, but at least he'd seemed normal. Now this?
Her disappointment deepened.
Conan smirked, instinctively reaching for sunflower seeds in his pocket—only to find it empty. He hadn't brought any on this trip.
*BANG!*
A loud noise exploded nearby.
"Gunshot!"
They whipped around. Tahara jumped up, scanned the area, and shouted, "It came from across the valley!"
Everyone rushed to the terrace railing, peering out.
Fujino quietly activated his Eagle Eye and enhanced-vision glasses, focusing ahead. No human life signs. The shot had come from at least a hundred meters across the valley.
But man, it was *loud*…
"Who's shooting this late? Hunting bird eggs or something?" Mouri griped, then waved them back. "Let's head inside—it's too dangerous out here."
"What happened?"
Tanigawa stepped onto the balcony from upstairs, wearing a loose, suggestive purple bathrobe that showed off her upper chest—fresh from a bath. She looked down at them, puzzled.
"Ms. Tanigawa, did you hear that gunshot?" Mouri called up, staring shamelessly.
"So you heard it too? Good, I wasn't imagining it," she replied, then glanced next door. "Sunaoka should be asleep by now… Wait! His window—it's got a crack! It looks like a bullet hole!"
Everyone froze, then bolted upstairs.
"New detective mission detected. Please check it!"
As Fujino started to follow, a system alert pinged in his ear.
He paused, took a breath, and pulled up the interface:
**[Detective Mission: The Murdered 'Famous Detective'**
**Objective:** Solve the case and identify the killer
**Rewards:** 1,000,000 yen, 100 Detective Reputation Points
**Time Limit:** None]
Fujino dismissed the screen with a sigh.
Yup, someone's definitely a goner.
*(Chapter End)*