"What are you guys up to?" Dr. Agasa quickly changed the subject, eyeing the trio.
The chocolate? That was all Tsuneo's doing—nothing to do with me!
"We're gonna find treasure!"
"Yeah, there's gotta be another way in. Let's go look!"
The three kids—Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi—rushed toward the other side of the castle.
"Hey!" Dr. Agasa reached out, trying to stop them.
Did they have any idea how dangerous the people inside could be?!
"Kids go crazy over a castle like this," Ai said, standing calmly, defending the trio's antics.
"I'd say so," Tsuneo nodded.
Ayumi and Mitsuhiko might not get it, but Genta? He's definitely lost it.
Every time something like this comes up, he starts measuring treasure in terms of eel rice…
"Stop eating and go check on them!" Ai shot a glance at the two adults before heading after the kids.
"!!!" Dr. Agasa stared at Tsuneo.
"Heh heh heh…" Tsuneo slipped a chocolate bar into the pocket of the Doctor's white coat.
I didn't get my fill on the ship…
…
"No good—this side's locked too!"
The trio had circled most of the castle, but every side door and entrance was bolted shut. No way in.
"Ugh, if we don't hurry, we won't find any treasure!" Genta scratched his head frantically, probably dying to know how many bowls of eel rice the castle's loot could buy.
"You do know this castle has an owner, right…?" Tsuneo asked, exasperated, from the sidelines.
Even if they found something, it'd belong to Miss Kosaka Natsumi.
"Of course we know that!" Ayumi nodded.
But the thrill of treasure hunting is just too exciting!
"And if we help find treasure, they'll definitely treat us to eel rice!"
Ever since chatting with Tsuneo about Osaka's food, Genta was really craving eel rice today…
"Exactly! If this makes the news, the Detective Boys might get tons of treasure-hunting cases!" Mitsuhiko said, his ambitions soaring.
"Good luck with that…" Tsuneo offered his blessings.
Just then, Dr. Agasa shouted, "Ai, where are you going alone?!"
It's dangerous!
"I'm checking out that tower," Ai said, hands behind her back, descending the steps toward a lonely, ancient stone tower built on lower ground.
"Haibara, is there something there?"
The trio chased after her.
"It's gotta be treasure!"
"Awesome!"
Dr. Agasa watched as the kids opened the wooden door, then turned to Tsuneo. "Is this okay?"
"What's the problem?"
Tsuneo tested the wooden door, which creaked loudly.
"That Scorpio guy's probably in the castle too, right?" Dr. Agasa said, worried.
"Yeah, I saw her go in myself," Tsuneo said with a grin, nodding.
Dr. Agasa stepped to the tower's entrance, resting a hand on the stone wall.
As he opened his mouth to speak, a brick in the wall suddenly sank in.
"Ahh!"
The tower's floor split open, revealing a gaping hole.
Unfortunately, the four kids standing there slid right in.
Luckily, it wasn't a straight drop. From the sounds, they seemed okay.
Tsuneo: …
Doctor, you're something else. One move, and you wipe out the whole team…
"Oh no!" Dr. Agasa rushed to the edge of the hole, peering down anxiously.
"Genta probably fell first, right?" Tsuneo said, recalling the moment.
If he hit the bottom first, he'd make a decent cushion.
Anyone else, and it'd be bad…
"Tsuneo, what do we do?" Dr. Agasa turned to him.
"You head back to the car and wait. I'll go check on them," Tsuneo said, knowing the Doctor was worried but too old for this kind of thing. Logistics suited him better.
With that, the repairman jumped into the hole.
…
Meanwhile, inside the castle, the group had cracked the code to an inner passage after some twists and turns and began their exploration.
"Miss Natsumi, why was the password 'The Magician of the Century's End'?" someone asked.
Kosaka Natsumi thought for a moment. "It might've been my great-grandfather's title. He was sixteen when he attended the 1900 World's Fair before moving to Russia."
"I see. 1900 was the end of a century," Uncle Maori nodded.
At that moment, Conan, using his watch's flashlight function, paused and glanced at an unassuming side passage.
"What's wrong?" Ran asked, noticing he'd stopped.
The great detective had just shown off his sharp deduction skills in the castle.
He's definitely suspicious!
"I heard something!" Conan said, frowning.
Someone else in the castle?
That shouldn't be possible.
"Did you hear wrong?" Uncle Maori said, digging at his ear with his pinky.
I didn't hear anything.
"Hand in hand, we go…"
As they spoke, a faint song drifted from the passage.
Conan's composure cracked, his eyes going dead-fish.
That voice…
Just as he'd suspected, a few minutes later, one adult and four kids emerged from the passage.
"Conan!"
The trio shouted in delight.
"What are these kids doing…?" Uncle Maori, who hadn't brought a flashlight and was holding a lighter, stared at the singing children with exasperation.
"It's fine, Mr. Maori. The more, the merrier," Kosaka Natsumi said, unbothered.
"What's going on?" Conan asked, eyeing the repairman with his hands in his pockets.
What kind of magic trick are you pulling?
"Thanks to the Doctor hitting a switch, heh heh heh," Tsuneo said, barely able to keep up with the old man's knack.
Every time there's a mechanism, he's guaranteed to trigger it.
The group followed the wide underground passage to its end, where they faced a stone wall adorned with a double-headed eagle.
"The double-headed eagle, the imperial symbol," Ai said.
"Yeah, is that a sun behind the crown?" Conan nodded, his mind racing.
Sun, light…
Could it be?
"Officer Shiratori, could you adjust your flashlight and shine it on the eagle's crown?" the great detective directed the only officer present.
Shiratori twisted the flashlight, focusing the beam on the crown.
"It's glowing!" Uncle Maori exclaimed as the entire passage rumbled.
As if a switch had been flipped, a square section of the floor in front of the stone wall began to sink.
"I see! The crown's a light sensor," Shiratori said, realization dawning.
The group stared in awe at the stone steps slowly revealed before them.
(End of Chapter)
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