Conan: No, why aren't you following the script?

Just as Conan Edogawa was greatly puzzled by this.

On the other side, in a small grove of trees not far away.

Ai Haibara, wearing a coat, carefully made her way through the woods, bending low.

Beside her, Kitagawa Isao yawned and held Haibara Ai's small hand with a hint of helplessness.

Just over ten minutes ago, the two of them had gone to the stream to brush their teeth and wash up, preparing to go straight back to their tent to sleep.

However, just as Ai Haibara finished washing her face and was about to get up and leave, a snow-white little rabbit suddenly jumped in front of her.

Watching that bouncy little figure, a flutter of emotion flashed through Ai Haibara's heart.

She looked up at Kitagawa Isao, and then the two agreed to follow the rabbit into the woods.

However, after walking for a while, they still couldn't find the little rabbit, which made Ai Haibara feel a little down.

However, seeing that the surroundings had already turned completely dark, she had no choice but to sigh and return to the campsite with Kitagawa Isao along the same route.

When they arrived, they were both quite excited because they were thinking about the rabbit. But when it was time to go back, Ai Haibara realized that she had unknowingly walked such a long way because she had lost her goal.

Fortunately, Kitagawa-ge stayed with her the whole time. If it were someone else, she might not have been able to turn back the way she came.

Thinking of this, Ai Haibara couldn't help but slightly raise the corners of her mouth.

Although her friend Kitagawa seems a bit unreliable when it comes to reasoning, it's easy to see that he's a very meticulous person once you get to know him.

Even though it was only a short distance, Kitagawa Isao still made marks along the way, not worried at all that the two of them would get lost.

This thoughtfulness greatly reassured Ai Haibara, and at the same time, it made her think a little bit more highly of Kitagawa Isao.

However, looking at the seemingly dark surroundings and not knowing how long it would take to get back to the tent, Ai Haibara couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

If she had known it would turn out like this, she wouldn't have chased it so far!

This is truly a case of losing the rabbit and suffering the consequences.

Haibara sighed, about to say something, when she heard Kitagawa Isao suddenly click his tongue in confusion.

What happened?

Instinctively becoming more alert, Ai Haibara quickly held her breath, trying to discern any strange sounds around her.

However, after listening for a long time, he still got nothing. When he looked up again, he saw that Kitagawa Isao's face had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

There's definitely something fishy going on here...

With a narrowing of her small eyes, Ai Haibara immediately came to a guess in her mind.

But what exactly is this trick?

She was a little curious for a moment, but after all, she wasn't Conan Edogawa. No matter how curious she was, she wasn't the type to act impulsively.

So Ai Haibara decided to go back to the camp and subtly ask Kitagawa Isao about it.

Even if she couldn't get an answer, as long as nothing serious happened, she wouldn't keep it on her mind.

However, Ai Haibara was unaware of this.

Beneath Kitagawa Isao's seemingly calm face, his emotions were already running wild.

He had just seen a dark figure appear deep in the woods, then quickly disappear.

Of course, if that's all there is to it, it's not anything strange. At most, it's just some wild animal or tourist passing by. Although this campsite is in a remote location, it is still considered a relatively well-known camping spot near Tokyo.

Therefore, it is only natural that other tourists would appear.

What truly puzzled Kitagawa Isao was that the dark figure seemed to have vanished from his sight all of a sudden.

Just a second ago, it was standing right in front of me, but the next second it suddenly disappeared from the ground.

It's like magic...

What's going on here?

Kitagawa Isao couldn't help but ponder in his heart, and combining this with the Blue Castle incident that should have happened, he quickly came to a conclusion that shocked him.

He suspected that the dark figure he had just seen had disappeared so suddenly because it had jumped into some secret passage.

And if nothing unexpected happens, that secret passage should be the one connecting the Blue Castle to the forest, and it should also be the exit of the secret passage where Conan Edogawa and Professor Agasa, who were supposed to be knocked unconscious by the villains, were imprisoned...

As this guess vaguely surfaced in his mind, Kitagawa Isao was greatly shocked.

Before this, he thought that the Blue Castle and their campsite were quite far apart, and that he might not be able to find another opportunity to return to the castle to earn the reward points he was entitled to until they went back to Tokyo.

but now……

He realized that the distance might not be as far as he had imagined.

Perhaps the Blue Castle and the campsite are only separated by a mountain, facing each other across the mountain. The total straight-line distance between the two places is probably only a few thousand meters.

Just like a scene from a mystery comic he had read before, where two places that seemed to be separated by thousands of miles were actually only separated by high walls and winding passages, which gave people a misleading impression.

In fact, the two locations are adjacent to each other...

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Isao quickly recalled the location of the sunset scene that had appeared in the blue castle in his memory, as well as the sunset he had seen this afternoon when he was slacking off with the three little ones...

He quickly realized a fact.

That secret passage could very well be the one that leads directly to the Blue Castle.

It seems that Professor Agasa got lost and led the Detective Boys through countless twists and turns in the mountains before finally arriving at the Blue Castle. Having lost their bearings, they had no idea where they were.

If Professor Agasa had had a map at the time, he might have discovered...

I spent several hours traveling around, but it was really just going in circles in the mountains.

In fact, he only walked a distance of four or five kilometers as the crow flies.

Because they were blocked by the mountains, they did not discover the nearby blue castle in the afternoon.

As a result, he unexpectedly gained such a great advantage because of a little rabbit.

This is truly... like finding something you've been searching high and low for, only to have it come to you effortlessly...

Quietly taking a deep breath, Kitagawa Isao quickly suppressed his excitement, pretending nothing had happened, and accompanied the little girl back to the campsite...

……

Second update. I'm going to eat something; I'm a little hungry, and my head is still a bit dizzy...