Chapter 124: Will There Be Monsters in the Temple at Night?
In this season of singing birds and fragrant flowers, with lush grass and soaring eagles, people and nature blended into one, and the whole world was filled with an atmosphere of harmony and tranquility.
The group of six were enjoying this beauty—except for Kogoro Mori, who was busy setting something up.
He'd brought quite a lot of supplies for their cherry blossom viewing at Mount Yamazumi.
A picnic blanket was spread out, and Kogoro Mori carefully arranged everything on top.
Soon, various delicacies and bottles of beer were neatly displayed—everything was ready!
A headband had appeared on Kogoro Mori's forehead at some point, with two bold characters written on it: Enjoy!
Once everything was prepared, he quickly sat down, ready to savor the delightful combination of cherry blossoms and beer!
Ran appeared to be admiring the beautiful scenery, but in reality, she kept glancing worriedly at her father.
"Dad, you have to drive tonight. If you drink, you'll get arrested for a DUI."
Kogoro Mori waved dismissively. "Don't worry, I know my limits. I won't drink too much!"
With that, he chugged down an entire can of beer, tossing it aside.
The slightly flushed detective continued, "Besides, even if I can't drive, there's always Miss Yor, isn't there?"
To be honest, this was the real reason he'd invited Natsukawa and the others to Mount Yamazumi for cherry blossom viewing.
With two drivers available, even if he got drunk on the way back, they wouldn't be stranded without a designated driver.
Ran was speechless, then sighed and apologized to Natsukawa. "I'm sorry, Natsukawa-san. Dad's always like this."
"It's alright. Driving is no problem for Yor." Natsukawa turned to his companion. "Right, Yor?"
"Yes, Mr. Mori, if you want to drink, go ahead. I can drive us back."
Although there was no car at home, the City Hall provided driving training, and given that her identity as Thorn Princess sometimes required driving, her skills were quite good.
As long as the road was straight enough, she wasn't afraid to floor the accelerator.
"Papa, Aunt Yor! Come look! There's actually a temple here—it's amazing!"
Anya stood by the railing, imitating Conan by leaning out to peek, unaware that her hair was getting wet from the mist.
Natsukawa walked over and peered down—sure enough, there was a temple built against the mountainside.
It was nestled in a recess of the cliff, and the extended eaves gave it the distinctive appearance of a traditional Japanese temple.
Some of the stream water was blown by the wind and splashed onto the roof, creating thick mist that looked absolutely spectacular.
As the group watched, a melodious bell suddenly rang out from the temple below the cliff.
The sound of the bell, combined with the waterfall, created a unique atmosphere reminiscent of ancient mountain shrines hidden deep in sacred forests.
"What a beautiful temple! Judging by its style, it must be at least a hundred years old," Yor remarked with some emotion.
This style of architecture was rare in Tokyo, especially considering it was built on a cliff face.
The mist added a touch of mystery, making the temple appear to float in the air when viewed from a distance.
Natsukawa suddenly frowned in thought.
Mountain, cherry blossoms, Conan's travels, temple...
Uh...
What he'd been trying to avoid was unavoidable after all. It seemed Anya's expectations for the hot spring trip were about to be dashed.
After a long silence, Natsukawa decided not to tell Anya. He wanted to leave the child some room for hope, and at the very least, he couldn't say something that would ruin the atmosphere.
Anya, the mind reader: !!!∑(°Д°ノ)ノ
Tomorrow's hot spring trip is ruined?
No way!
A moment later, Anya's face turned stormy. She whirled around and glared at Conan with deadpan eyes. "It's all your fault!"
Conan: "?!"
"What did I do now? Why is it always me? This isn't the first time! What are you trying to say?!"
Conan was completely baffled. This wasn't the first time Anya had blamed him out of nowhere, yet he never understood why.
Anya clearly had no intention of explaining. She forcefully turned her head, flicking the end of her hair at Conan's face in the process.
"..."
This girl is doing it on purpose, isn't she? Just trying to mess with me.
Oh well, I won't argue with a kid. I'm a seventeen-year-old high school detective now, and Anya is pretty nice most of the time.
For example, he could borrow Bond as transportation, avoiding the embarrassing situation of being mobbed by female Kaito Kid fans after school.
Thinking about it that way, he felt much better. Fine, he'd forgive her little mischief.
"I wonder if this temple offers overnight stays. I really want to spend a night in such a fairyland-like place," Yor said, looking at Natsukawa with clear meaning in her eyes.
"Uh..."
There's no avoiding it.
Experiencing a murder would definitely ruin the travel mood, you know...
Natsukawa hesitated, unable to refuse Yor's hopeful gaze.
He couldn't just reject his girlfriend's request.
Otherwise, would she stop loving him?
Had they already entered a cold phase right after getting together?
Had their love faded so quickly?
Honestly, maybe they weren't compatible after all.
The above was purely Natsukawa's wild imagination. He knew the gentle and kind Yor wouldn't actually say such things.
But just to be safe, he decided to go along with it. He'd just be extra careful, make sure nothing went wrong, and ensure Conan could solve any case as quickly as possible.
Conan, blissfully unaware of his impending predicament, had already recovered from Anya's little incident and was trying to relax.
Constantly sneaking around behind Uncle Mori to solve cases was mentally taxing and exhausting.
Even a famous detective like him got tired—it was time to rest and relieve the pressure on his overworked brain.
They ate lunch on the spot at Mount Yamazumi. Since they were on a mountain without any restaurants, they simply enjoyed the food Uncle Mori had brought.
In the afternoon, they spent several hours sightseeing before packing up to leave around four o'clock.
"Uncle Mori, we just discovered that beautiful temple below the cliff. Want to go check it out and experience being surrounded by a waterfall?"
Natsukawa glanced at Uncle Mori, sighed helplessly, then turned his gaze to Ran.
Uncle Mori was 'out of commission,' and Ran was now in charge of the Mori family decisions.
"Of course, no problem. I saw it too. It is indeed a very ancient and charming mountain temple, but..."
Ran suddenly hesitated, her expression changing as if she'd thought of something terrifying.
"Natsukawa-san, Yor-san, won't there be... monsters in the temple at night?"
There were often such scenes on TV and in movies—like those old stories about haunted mountain villages—which made Ran very hesitant.
"How could that be!" Yor replied earnestly. "Legends of demons and monsters are all made up by people from the past. How could such things exist in the real world? Besides, it's a temple. Even if there were ghosts, they wouldn't dare approach a sacred place, right?"
Ran nodded, feeling that what Miss Yor said made a lot of sense.
Natsukawa stood aside with an indescribably strange expression.
Ran's fear of ghosts was a weakness that seemed contradictory to her character.
Such a top-tier fighter, and she had this kind of weakness?
Wait... actually, now that he thought about it, all the high-level fighters in Detective Conan seemed to have strange weaknesses.
For example, Ran was terrified of ghosts despite her incredible strength, Kyogoku Makoto's weakness was Sonoko, Kaito Kid was afraid of fish, Conan's excessive need to show off nearly exposed him multiple times...
"It's alright, Ran. Yor and Anya will be with you. Even if there are ghosts, they'll retreat when they see we're in a group!" Natsukawa said confidently.
Regardless of whether there were ghosts or not, even if there were, Yor's combat abilities should handle it, right?
Speaking of which, the temple below didn't actually have any ghosts—there was only a legend about a Tengu, and even that was a fabricated story.
Hearing that Yor and Anya would be sleeping with her, Ran finally felt relieved.
[End of Chapter 124]
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