Chapter 27: Strange Tales of the Medieval Museum

"I've heard of that urban legend before."

Xiaolan thought for a moment, then spoke with interest, "They say that a suit of medieval armor will come to life in the middle of the night and wander around that museum!"

"Medieval armor wandering around a museum?"

Upon hearing that, Fujino frowned slightly... This urban legend felt oddly familiar.

Night at the Museum... No, wait!

It should be the Art Museum Murder Case from Detective Conan.

If he remembered correctly, this case took place at the Medieval Art Museum.

And the so-called wandering suit of armor in that legend—if he wasn't mistaken—was played by the curator, Ochiai.

The old curator was a veteran deeply in love with art, dedicating most of his life to the Medieval Art Museum where he served as curator.

However, due to Japan's struggling economy at the time, the company that had been investing in and operating the museum went bankrupt, and now the museum was about to be acquired by another company.

Normally, that wouldn't have been a big deal—but the new boss, Manaka, went back on his word and planned to demolish the museum and turn the site into a hotel.

Driven by anger, Ochiai developed the intent to kill.

The reason he disguised himself as the "urban legend" was to practice beforehand how to kill Manaka cleanly and efficiently—to prevent the museum from being torn down.

"Eh?"

Sonoko glanced at Fujino with surprise, as if she had discovered something new: "Could it be that Fujino-senpai is actually into this kind of ghost story stuff too?!"

"I'm not exactly interested, just a bit curious."

Fujino nodded. "After all, if an urban legend exists, there must be a reason behind it."

"Wow, what a surprise. Compared to that arrogant deduction maniac, you're way better, Fujino-senpai!"

"If that deduction freak were here, he'd say something like—'Urban legends? Those are just childish superstitions…' or whatever."

Sonoko even imitated Kudo Shinichi's tone of voice while speaking, then glanced at Fujino and muttered, "Same detective title, yet why is the difference so huge?"

Then as if suddenly remembering something, she turned to Ran and asked, "By the way, Ran, it feels like I haven't seen that guy at school in forever."

"Shinichi…"

Ran's expression sank slightly as she sighed softly, her voice quiet: "He's gone to deal with a very complicated case… He probably won't be back for a while…"

"See, this is exactly why I say that arrogant detective is unreliable!"

Sonoko huffed indignantly, "I bet that guy ditched you, Ran, and ran off to meet some prettier girl somewhere!"

"Sonoko!"

Ran scolded softly, a trace of girlish shyness appearing on her face.

"Hahaha…"

Seeing Ran's embarrassed reaction, Sonoko gave her a knowing smile.

Then she turned to invite the two of them: "Fujino-senpai, Ran, tomorrow's the weekend—how about we go check out that medieval armor at the museum together?"

"The weekend?"

Fujino frowned slightly.

He clearly remembered today being Monday, yet tomorrow was already the weekend… He really couldn't wrap his head around the passage of time in the Conan universe.

Ding! Detective profession upgrades mission detected.

At that moment, the system's notification echoed in Fujino's ears.

He froze for a second, then opened the system interface, and sure enough—the mission display appeared before his eyes:

[Detective Profession Upgrade Mission: Art Museum Ghost Legend Murder Case]

Mission Objective: Solve the Art Museum Ghost Legend Murder Case.

Mission Option 1: Ensure that no one dies.

Reward: 50 Detective Reputation Points, 500,000 yen bounty, Random Profession Upgrade Ticket (Purple)

Mission Option 2: Solve the Art Museum Ghost Legend Case.

Reward: 50 Detective Reputation Points, 500,000 yen bounty, False Mask (Purple)

Mission Time Limit: 2 Days

"Two mission choices?"

—

Fujino stared at the system task in front of him, slightly dazed.

Unlike the usual single-choice tasks, this time there were two options.

And the rewards for completing each were also different…

"Hey! Fujino-senpai, do you have time to go to the Medieval Museum tomorrow?"

Hearing the voice, Fujino closed the system interface and saw Sonoko looking at him expectantly.

Ahem.

He gave a light cough, thought for a moment, and then replied, "If I'm off tomorrow, I should have time. I haven't had a proper break lately anyway. A trip to the museum to cultivate my artistic temperament doesn't sound bad…"

"Then it's settled!"

Sonoko smiled knowingly.

The look she gave Fujino was meaningful.

———

Sunset.

After returning home, Fujino took off his school uniform, hung it in the closet, changed into his usual suit, ate a cream pudding rewarded by the system, and then opened the system interface, contemplating the options before him.

The system presented two entirely different approaches.

Option One required ensuring that no one would die, which meant preventing Director Ochiai from murdering to solve the case.

The reward was a purple Random Level-Up Ticket, which could randomly raise the level of one of his professions.

But Option Two… was very different from his usual missions.

This time, however, he already knew about the murder that was about to take place.

If he wanted to solve the case, he would need to wait until Director Ochiai committed murder and then go to the crime scene to solve it afterward.

Both were ways to solve the case, but one was about preventing the crime before it happened, while the other meant standing by and letting the killer strike.

Fujino thought for a while… and made his decision.

———

Late at night, Medieval Art Museum.

With a wooden sword strapped to his back, and two Enhancement Cards tucked at his waist, Fujino secretly snuck into the museum.

His infiltration went surprisingly smoothly—not because of any stealth skills, but entirely because the museum's current security was nonexistent.

Thanks to the recent urban legend rumors, and the fact that the museum would be closing in ten days, the guards hadn't been paid in over a month.

No pay, no work.

Now, the entire massive museum only had one old man left on patrol.

That old man was already in his sixties and was only showing up to stand guard out of respect for the museum director.

The Medieval Art Museum had four main galleries: the Sky Pavilion, the Earth Pavilion, the Ocean Pavilion… and the Hell Pavilion.

Each gallery's name corresponded to its collection's theme, each exhibiting different types of artifacts.

After sneaking into the museum, Fujino headed straight for the Hell Pavilion.

If his memory was correct, that murder case was going to happen in the Hell Pavilion.

"Wonder if the old director is here practicing tonight…"

Fujino muttered to himself as he looked down the dim hallway of the exhibit, "If not, then…"

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Before he could finish his sentence, a sharp metallic clanking echoed from inside the Hell Pavilion.

Hearing it, Fujino's heart tensed. He raised the wooden sword in his hand and cautiously moved toward the source of the sound.

Sticking close to the wall, he peeked into the Hell Pavilion—

What entered his sight was a suit of medieval armor, swinging a sword scabbard…

(End of this chapter