Chapter 233 Conan disappears
Chapter 234 Conan disappears

“By the way, who are these people?” the old lady in the wheelchair asked us after we entered the castle.

"Oh, they are the master's friends." The gardener said as the master instructed. "This one is also a scientist." As he said this, the gardener extended his hand and solemnly introduced Dr. Agasa.

"Oh? Scientist." For a moment, I saw a hint of surprise on the old woman's face. "That's great. I need you to help us solve the mystery hidden in this castle."

"Mystery?" The doctor was puzzled.

"That was the master's order," the gardener continued. "It is said that the master once said before his death that he would give the most precious treasure to anyone who could solve the mystery of the castle."

"So that's how it is." Dr. Agasa understood.

"By the way, why hasn't my daughter come back yet?" the old woman continued.

"Ok?"

"Isn't she coming back today? She said she would celebrate my birthday." As she spoke, the old woman slid her wheelchair towards her room.

"Hey, Uncle Gardener. Is there a room here where I can clearly see the chess pieces in the yard?"

"Yes, it's on the left side of the second floor. I'll take you there." After that, the gardener took us upstairs to the second floor, came to the room, opened the window, and the children began to look at the entire chessboard, while Conan took out a small notebook and began to write on it.

"Wow, I can see it clearly." Ayumi looked over.

"This way is also fine." Mitsuhiko opened the window on the other side.

"Okay, I'll go over there and take a look." As he said that, Yuantai ran towards where Mitsuhiko was.

"Conan seems to be very interested in things like this." Shiho came to my side and looked at the scenery outside the window with me. "That's his favorite toy, right?"

"Haha, such a puzzle is not difficult for him. He can solve it in minutes. As long as his mind is active enough." I leaned against the windowsill and looked out, taking in the entire chessboard. On the chessboard, the white pieces were placed unevenly, while the black pieces formed an arrow. I don't know what's wrong with the current owner's brain. Can't he see such information at a glance?

"It looks like you have the answer." Shiho turned her head and looked at me.

"You can't have it?" I shrugged. "It's something that's obvious. Just follow the order of the white pieces..."

"Hey! What are you two doing?" Before I could finish my words, Ayumi next to me shouted loudly towards the window opposite. When I looked out, I saw Genta hanging outside the balcony.

"Shit! What did these two kids do to the windowsill?" Without hesitation, Conan, Ayumi and I ran to the opposite side at the same time. But when I ran to the door, Genta had already climbed up. I let out a long breath and turned back without scolding the kids. I just said half of what I was saying to Shiho, and I haven't finished it yet.

"Are you okay, Kojima-kun?" Shiho asked me, still leaning on the balcony.

"It's OK, I climbed out." I answered. "I just fell into the house."

"Haha~ That kid is still so reckless." Shiho chuckled.

"As for the kids, I'll just train them a little when I have time." I shrugged. "By the way, where was I just now?"

"Forget it, I'm not interested anymore." Shiho waved her hand at me. "I just looked at the chessboard again, and now I know the answer."

"Uh... That's why I said this thing is not difficult at all." I sighed. "Well... But I am interested in the treasure in this castle."

"Are you really that short of money?" Shiho frowned. "If that's the case, why did you buy so much for me last time..."

"There's no conflict." I chuckled to Shiho. "Like I told you, I'll spoil you as long as I can."

"Spoil me? Why?"

"Well, the only way is to spoil you so that other men can't stand you. After thinking about it, you have no choice but to follow me." I grinned at Shiho.

"Eh?" Shiho's cheeks blushed. "Who needs you to pamper me?"

"Hey, so don't worry, I'll keep the finances under control." I smiled at Shiho. "But a free treasure like this shouldn't be wasted."

"Look how happy you are." Shiho smiled gently.

"Hey, hey! Xiaoxun, Haibara-san. Something bad has happened!" As they were talking, Ayumi suddenly ran towards us.

"What's wrong?" I turned around and looked at Ayumi.

"Conan is missing!"

"Aha?"

"Well, Conan suddenly disappeared from the room just now." Ayumi said, pulling me to the next room. When we got to the door, we saw a chair collapsed next to the wall, along with a few books. Looking up, we saw that the lid of the clock hanging on the wall was opened, and the clock was broken.

"Oh? It seems Conan has found something interesting." I raised my eyebrows and walked towards the room. I picked up the chair and placed it right under the wall clock.

"What are you guys doing here?" Before I could even step on it, the young master of the castle came over. "No pranks, guys."

"Huh? What happened to these kids?" The doctor rushed over when he heard the noise.

"Nothing, just a prank." The noble young master picked up the book on the ground and put it back into the bookcase.

"It's not a prank, it's Conan, Conan is missing." Ayumi said to the doctor as if she had lost her backbone.

"Maybe he went to the toilet." The gardener who followed the doctor guessed. "The toilet is one floor downstairs, let's go look for it." So, following the gardener, we walked out of the room with the children.

"Kaoru, Kudo wouldn't..." Shiho also understood the problem with this castle, so she asked me in a low voice at the end of the team.

"Oh, this kid." I shook my head helplessly. "Don't worry about him, just let him play."

"Aren't you worried about him?" Shiho was surprised.

"What's the point of worrying?" I shrugged. "There must be a secret passage in this castle. The two rooms are clearly walls, but there is at least 1.5 meters of empty wall at the back. You can tell without even thinking about it. As for Conan, that idiot must have fiddled with the clock, and the secret passage was opened, and he fell in. But he didn't come out right away. So I think there are two possibilities. First, he wanted to show off and walked in alone. Second, there was a mechanism in the secret passage, and he had already fallen into it and died."

"How can you remain so calm?" Shiho frowned at my inappropriate attitude.

"First, he didn't call for help right away. Second, a dead person can't be saved. If he was in danger, as long as he was still alive, he would have shouted, and I would have heard him. But he didn't, so either he died a hard death or he died on his own. So we don't have to worry about him."

"Aren't you afraid that he's in danger?" "Don't talk about him. We're all in danger now." I whispered to Shiho. "Now, everyone in this castle knows that it has a secret. I don't trust anyone here except our own people."

"Your cautious and calm personality hasn't changed at all." Shiho sighed. "So, are we just going to leave Kudo alone?"

"Worst case scenario... everyone here has problems. I need to verify them. At least, I now know that the old woman in the wheelchair has the most problems."

"She? What happened to her?"

"Have you ever seen an old lady in her eighties whose heartbeat is as strong as that of a man in his thirties or forties, and whose voice is also very powerful?" I smiled gently at Shiho. "If you have anything to say, let's wait until the children fall asleep. At night, we will know whether there are people or vampires living in this William Castle."

————The scent of orchids, the scent of lavender, the scent of home & the wings of angels, the wings of demons, the wings of guardians————

"I'm gonna start now!"

"I'm gonna start now!"

"I'm gonna start now!"

At dinner time, the children looked at the dazzling array of food on the table and couldn't help but be salivating. Just when we went to the first floor to look for Conan but failed, the active master of the castle called us to the restaurant to finish our meal. As expected of a family that could afford a castle, dinner was also served on a long Western-style table. Western-style food was readily available, and Yuan Tai was very happy to see it. As soon as they sat at the table, the three children had already forgotten that Conan was lost.

"Hahaha, it's been so lively in a long time." Aman, the master of the castle, said happily.

"Yeah, ever since mom died in the fire, we've had almost no customers here."

"However, I heard from the servants that you two have been staying in this castle since the fire. Why is that?" Dr. Agasa spoke frankly.

"In fact, I had been planning to return to live in this castle after graduating from college." said the noble young master.

"I live here because I am worried about my mother-in-law who lost her only daughter. But the more I live here, the more I like this castle where my wife was born and grew up." Master Aman said with a longing look on his face.

"Hmph, I think what you like is not this castle, but the treasure hidden in this castle!" On one side of the dining table, the eldest wife slid her wheelchair to the young master and said to Master Aman in a cold tone.

"Well, that's true. It's impossible for me to say that I don't care about what my father-in-law said." Master Aman was straightforward.

"Humph, I knew my daughter was deceived by a greedy man like you." The disguised wife said pretentiously. "I will have dinner in the room. Bring my daughter over as soon as she arrives. I must have a good talk with her."

"Haha, you're pretending to be serious." I laughed coldly at one side of the table, but threw a piece of cut steak into my mouth without caring at all.

"Excuse me, is this bag okay?" A maid opposite me handed Ayumi a bag.

"Okay, that's fine, thank you." Ayumi opened the bag and put the bread in front of her into it.

"Ayumi, what are you doing?" Mitsuhiko was puzzled.

"Because I want to leave one of my bread for Conan. I think he must be very hungry now."

"By the way, where did the kid with glasses go? Hasn't he come out again yet?" Master Aman then remembered that Conan was lost.

"Ah, we couldn't find him from the beginning. We planned to look for him carefully after dinner." Dr. Agasa explained.

"This castle has quite a lot of mechanisms. I hope he doesn't get lost." said the noble young master.

"Oh? It seems they know there is a secret passage in this castle." I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, as long as he doesn't go into the tower over there," said Master Aman.

"What tower?"

"It's the burnt tower on the left side of the castle." Master Aman continued. "I remember that two years ago, a newly hired servant suddenly disappeared one night. After we inquired, we learned from a servant who had a good relationship with him that he had walked into the tower. So we immediately went in to look for him. Although there were traces of someone going inside, we couldn't find him. Then we called the police. We searched the nearby woods carefully, and then nine days later, we found the servant who had already starved to death in the woods."

"Shh!!!!" The children's hair stood on end instantly. "Then, if we don't find Conan quickly, will he also..."

"Hey... Hey! Leave my bread for him too." Yuantai hurriedly stuffed his bread into the bag.

"Me, mine too." Mitsuhiko didn't hesitate at all.

"Haha, friendship..." I couldn't help but smile as I watched the children's performance.

"In that case, let's look for him quickly. Before it gets dark." So everyone gave up their meals and walked out of the castle to look for Conan's whereabouts. At this time, it started to drizzle.

Tens of minutes later, everyone searched the Diplomatic Collection in the castle in the drizzle, but unfortunately, they couldn't find it.

"He wouldn't really have gone into that tower, would he?" the doctor frowned.

"No, I just went to the entrance of the tower and checked. The lock on the door is intact." said Master Aman.

"So, is there really only the forest left?" the gardener thought.

"But the rain is getting heavier. It's too dangerous to be in the woods at night. We can only call the police and ask them to come tomorrow. Children, you should come in too. You will catch a cold if you keep going like this."

"..." Ayumi looked unwilling. She turned around and ran out. She shouted loudly to the forest. "Conan! If you hear me, please answer me."

"Don't worry." Shiho frowned and followed Ayumi and said, "That detective is definitely not the kind of boy who is useless and needs you to worry about him. If something really goes wrong, he will find a way out for himself. Instead of crying here, you should hold the bread in your hand tightly and don't let it get wet."

"This... um." Ayumi nodded slightly. After getting Ayumi's confirmation, Shiho smiled with satisfaction, turned around and walked towards the castle.

"Hey... Haibara-san, why do you know so much about Conan?" Ayumi followed behind Shiho and asked inquiringly.

"Why...?" Shiho had no intention of answering.

"Could it be that you like Conan?" Ayumi clenched her fists and asked with determination. This question also stunned Shiho.

"Oh? That's an interesting question." Standing under the eaves, I leaned against the pillar supporting the roof and watched the two of them, waiting for Shiho to answer this question. However, Shiho's answer was indeed as interesting as I thought.

"If I say yes... then what?"

(End of this chapter)