Oritis in the world of Detective Conan

Soon it was time for the celebration, and the longevity lady raised the torch and burned three winning numbers on the paper door.

The three winners were Kazuha, Sumi, and Naoko.

When it was time to receive the award, Sumi was nowhere to be found, and was replaced by Saori's alcoholic father.

However, just as the awards were presented and fireworks were set off in the venue, everyone saw a horrifying scene in the light of the fireworks: Sumi's body was hanging on the waterfall. What was even more horrifying was that the exposed parts of her body seemed to have been bitten and eaten by some creature.

Several people hurriedly put down Sumi's body, and Conan and Hattori Heiji immediately went forward to check.

The corpse gave an unusually strange impression. Judging by the time of death, Sumi should have died not long ago, yet the body exuded a stale air, as if it had been submerged in deep water for a long time, yet there was no sign of gigantism.

After carefully observing the bite marks on the corpse, Hattori Heiji felt that it must have been done by a creature with sharp teeth, most likely a small fish.

Strangely, the villagers said they had never seen any kind of fish on the island that could cause such bite marks.

At Conan's suggestion, the group returned to the shrine and met the longevity woman who was actually disguised as Shimabukuro Kimie.

Shimabukuro Kimie warned Kazuha with a serious face that if she lost the dugong arrow, she would drown and become a speechless mermaid.

This caught the attention of Conan and Hattori, who asked if this was related to the legend of mermaids. The priest stood up and interrupted them:

"In many myths and legends, mermaids are hailed as the embodiment of holiness and the queen of the sea."

"But in some places, they are also symbols of pain and disaster."

"However, any evaluation is subjective."

"What brings good fortune is a blessing, what brings disaster is a curse."

"But mermaids never speak."

After listening to the priest's description, Conan couldn't help but ponder: Mermaid Island prospered because of the legend of mermaids, and now a murder has occurred because of mermaids. Everything seems to be inseparable from mermaids.

The next morning, a memorial service for Sumi was held on the island.

When everyone gathered at the mourning hall, Naoko was still nowhere to be found.

No one could have imagined that the murder would happen again. Naoko's body, tied to a fishing net, looked identical to Sumi's, with the same rotting smell and the same bite marks. Strangely, there were no footprints on the beach, and a faint path, paved with shimmering shells and fish scales, led to the shore.

The residents of the island had no idea what was going on, and some even horrifiedly thought it was a mermaid's curse.

The detective team who believed in science obviously thought that this was just a trick played by the murderer.

The situation was quite delicate. Of the three people who had been struck by the dugong's arrow, two had already died. The only one left was He Ye. Thinking of the warning given by the longevity lady, He Ye could not help but feel scared.

Hattori Heiji at this moment showed a high emotional intelligence far beyond Conan: "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

Conan realized that among the three people who had been in trouble, all of them had drawn the dugong arrow and then disappeared mysteriously, and the person related to the dugong arrow was undoubtedly the longevity lady.

Several people returned to the shrine to look for the number plate purchase list, but found that the list was missing.

Hattori Heiji casually asked, "Could it be that the longevity woman took it away?"

Shimabukuro June replied subconsciously: "That's impossible."

So the two of them went looking through the rosters of previous years for clues.

Suddenly, the screams of Kazuha and Xiaolan broke the quiet night sky, and a raging fire broke out in the warehouse behind the shrine.

A charred body was found in the warehouse. Its appearance was unrecognizable, but from details such as clothing, it could be seen that the deceased was most likely Shimabukuro Kimie.

Now Kazuha and Xiaolan were both terrified. It was really hard for them to accept that the shrine maiden, who had been chatting happily with them before, suddenly died.

The priest and the prophet prayed on their own:

"May the mermaid's halberd guide you to see the way forward..."

Conan noticed their behavior and came over to ask, "What are you talking about, brother and sister?"

"This is a prayer we adapted based on the customs of Mermaid Island."

"I never expected that several islanders would pass away unexpectedly in just two days."

"I think we could modify this..."

Seeing that he could not get any information, Conan returned to Hattori Heiji.

The next day, the islanders reported that Saori's father had sold dugong arrows to others and earned a million dollars, which made him very suspicious. However, after finding a series of clues, the detective duo came to an extremely absurd conclusion.

The two gathered everyone in the mourning hall, and Hattori Heiji began his own reasoning:

"The murderer couldn't be Saori's father. Given the two deceased's vigilance against him, he had almost no chance of succeeding."

"The murderer is the only one who can know the list of winners in advance. Yes, it's the Longevity Lady."

"Or rather, Miss Shimabukuro Kimie, who was pretending to be a longevity woman."

Seeing that she had been exposed, Shimabukuro Kimie stood up silently and tore off her disguise.

"As the Mermaid said, lies will eventually be exposed."

After hearing what Shimabukuro Kimie said, the villagers began to whisper.

"What mermaid?"

“Are there really mermaids?”

"Can eating mermaid flesh really make you immortal?"

"Junhui, why didn't you tell us about the existence of mermaids?"

"Yes, this is a great opportunity to promote Mermaid Island."

Hearing the words filled with greed, Junhui, who still had a glimmer of hope for the villagers, could no longer bear it.

"Are the mermaids the only ones you see?"

“How much have my great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother contributed to this island and this village?”

"Before she was burned to death, my mother hoped that I could take over the position of the longevity lady and contribute to the village."

"But what did she get?"

"She was burned alive, leaving only half her body, and then her grave was dug up and robbed by people who coveted the mermaid!"

"Saori, Sumi, and Naoko, we used to be such good friends."

"But they, out of a drunken prank, wanted to see if the longevity lady was truly immortal, and they set fire to my mother!"

"And you, all of you, all your kindness towards me is fake. Everything you do is just to tie me to this position of a longevity mistress for the rest of my life!"

"I hate all of you!"

Noticing that Shimabukuro Kimie was in an abnormal mood, Conan and Hattori Heiji hurriedly tried to stop her.

Shimabukuro Kimie took out a rotten boat rudder covered with seaweed from her arms, her face full of admiration.

"The mermaid I serve will bless me!"

Suddenly, an extremely thick mist filled the entire mourning hall, obscuring everyone's vision. When the mist dissipated, Shimabukuro Kimie had disappeared without a trace.

Thinking that Shimabukuro Kimie had escaped, everyone immediately rushed out of the mourning hall and prepared to chase her.

But when they looked up at the sky, they found that there were dark clouds, lightning and thunder outside, and a storm was obviously coming.

Thick clouds and mist wrapped around the entire island covered the entire island. Strong winds blew over the sea, and thick fog filled the air, cutting off any possibility of escape.