Chapter 44: Adventure in the Haunted House

It was just a tragedy: a son had accidentally killed his father, and to protect him, the mother had locked him away in the mansion's basement, hoping to outlast the statute of limitations.

Because the Junior Detective League's adventure in the haunted house was rather terrifying—qualifying as a childhood trauma classic—Seimei Suzuki had a relatively deep impression of this plotline.

To be honest, Seimei had no interest in exploring haunted houses. However, even if he refused to go, given the suicidal tendencies of the "Death-Seeking League," they would undoubtedly sneak into the haunted house anyway.

To prevent the children from actually running into any accidents, Seimei had no choice but to helplessly agree to their request, deciding to follow them to the haunted house after school.

As night slowly descended, Tamaka Kurosaki, sitting inside the chauffeured van, looked at the five little ones gathering at the entrance of the old western-style mansion and couldn't help asking with some worry, "Mr. Ryuichi, are we just going to sit here and watch? Shouldn't we stop them?"

"Don't worry. I've already checked out the situation inside the house beforehand. There are no ghosts or monsters in there, just a pitiful pair of mother and son hiding away."

Ryuichi Inoue first comforted Tamaka Kurosaki, then smiled and said, "These kids are right at that mischievous age. The more you try to stop them from exploring a haunted house, the more they'll want to go. It's better to let them take a little hit—consider it a lesson learned."

Hearing this, the worried look on Tamaka's face mostly dissipated, though she still felt somewhat uneasy. "Um... will that mother and son hiding in the mansion hurt the young master and the others?"

"Tamaka, you shouldn't underestimate these kids. Those robbers at the Marudan Department Store last time were actually taken down by them."

Halfway through his sentence, Ryuichi abruptly changed his tune. "Besides, I've already sent that mother and son off to the police station to surrender themselves in advance. Right now, there really is nothing left inside except an empty house."

Although Ryuichi believed that with the capabilities of Seimei and the others, dealing with a mother and son hiding in a mansion would be a breeze, as Seimei's bodyguard, he still had to ensure Seimei's safety by eliminating any potential safety hazards beforehand.

Caw... caw... caw...

Cloaked in the veil of night, the abandoned old mansion appeared exceptionally gloomy and eerie, its atmosphere rendered even more terrifying by the occasional caw of a crow.

Gazing at the ominous-looking old mansion before her, Ayumi couldn't help feeling a hint of regret. If she had known, she wouldn't have brought up the haunted house to Genta and the others.

Passing by the old mansion during the day, it hadn't felt all that terrifying, but at night, it was truly terrifying to the core.

If Seimei and the others hadn't been there to accompany her, Ayumi would have really wanted to turn right around and leave. She simply had very little resistance against things like ghosts and monsters.

"Alright, let's move out!"

Wielding a metal baseball bat, Genta felt just like an adventurer party setting out to explore the Demon King's castle as he excitedly climbed over the mansion's gate.

Though Ayumi and Mitsuhiko felt a bit scared inside, their curiosity was clearly stronger, so they followed closely behind, climbing the gate and jumping into the courtyard.

╮(╯▽╰)╭

Seimei and Conan, seeing this, could only helplessly scale the gate and sneak into the abandoned old mansion right behind them.

"It's so dirty in here~ There's dust everywhere." Crawling into the interior of the mansion through a window, Ayumi patted her dust-covered hands, her pretty face full of disgust.

"And it's way too dark! We can't see a thing!"

"Don't panic, I brought a flashlight."

Hearing Genta's complaint, Mitsuhiko smiled and took out the flashlight he had prepared in advance.

The moment Mitsuhiko switched the flashlight on, a fierce and terrifying ghost face appeared right in front of Seimei and the others, startling them so badly that their hair stood on end.

"Aahhh..."

Ayumi, the one most terrified of ghosts and monsters, couldn't help screaming in fright and hastily scrambled behind Seimei.

Seimei had also been startled, but he recovered his composure instantly. Sweeping his flashlight up and down across the ghost face, he said with a speechlessly flat tone, "Alright, alright, don't be scared, everyone. It's just a demon statue."

Phew...

Hearing Seimei's words, the others gradually calmed down and let out long sighs of relief.

What on earth was the owner of this mansion thinking, placing such a terrifying demon statue in their home? Weren't they afraid of being scared half to death and peeing their pants if they had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night?

"So that's it~ Turns out it's just a demon statue. Now, let me use this specially crafted monster-busting bat to wipe out the monsters in here~" Genta raised the metal baseball bat in his hand, waved it at the demon statue, and walked toward the inner rooms.

(￣_，￣)

Conan curled his lip speechlessly, secretly grumbling in his heart: *You were acting like you were afraid of nothing just a moment ago; if you've got guts, why didn't you stop hiding behind me?*

Clack, clack...

After everyone left the dark foyer, the fierce and terrifying demon statue's stone-carved demon eyes suddenly twitched and shifted slightly.

"It's a washbasin! How lucky~"

Ayumi, who had been following right behind Seimei, suddenly had her gaze drawn to a washbasin not far away. She turned on the faucet and washed the dust off her hands.

Splash, splash...

Looking at the clean water flowing from the faucet, Conan's expression shifted slightly, turning thoughtful.

It was simply too strange!

If this old mansion had truly been abandoned for a full five years, the water and electricity here should have been cut off long ago.

Moreover, the mirror above the washbasin was far too clean—it could clearly reflect their figures.

By all rights, in a house abandoned for this long, the glass should have been covered in layers of dust.

It seemed this old mansion truly harbored a secret!

Seimei didn't find it strange at all, anyway; he had known all along that a pitiful mother and son were hiding in this house.

Even if they ran into something weird next, it was definitely just that pitiful mother playing ghost tricks.

"Speaking of which, the way we're moving together like this really feels like we're on a mission~"

After exploring the dark house for a while, Genta raised the metal baseball bat excitedly and said, "Then I'll be the Brave Hero!"

"If Genta is the Brave Hero, then I'm the cute female warrior," Ayumi chimed in, equally excited.

Mitsuhiko refused to be outdone. "I am the sharp-witted magician."

"In that case, I guess I'll be the cleric." Seeing the three little ones so excited, Seimei didn't want to dampen their spirits.

(￣ー￣)

Conan twitched the corner of his mouth, thought for a moment, and said, "Then... then I'll..."

"Conan, you're just a villager!" Before Conan could figure out what role suited him, Genta had already snatched the initiative and assigned his identity.