i am just a student? in Conan world

"Arere!" 

Conan examined the burn mark on the wound, then stood up, adopting his classic childish tone. "That's weird! This onee-san has such strange marks on her neck."

"Aren't those just burn marks?" 

Hattori Heiji glanced at Conan and leaned in for a closer look.

"Maybe from a stun gun or something?" 

Fujino took a quick look and answered without hesitation. "Probably used a stun gun to knock her out first, then broke her legs."

"Looks like that's the case…" 

Hattori Heiji's expression darkened as he nodded. 

For a living person to have both legs broken in broad daylight—right in front of him, no less—it felt like a direct challenge to the high school detective. 

Conan's face wasn't much better. 

Even though no murder had occurred this time, the culprit's methods were just too cruel. It was hard for him to stomach.

"By the way, Kuroe-san," Fujino said, noticing the grim looks on their faces and turning to Kuroe Naoko to change the subject. "Why did you say this was the work of a mermaid?"

"The mermaid's graveyard is in this forest!" 

Kuroe Naoko's face was pale, her voice trembling. "It must be the mermaid's ghost coming back to haunt us!"

"Mermaid's ghost?" 

Mouri Kogoro's eyes widened in disbelief. "No way! There's no such thing as ghosts in this world. And mermaids? They don't even exist! When she was hanging from the waterfall earlier, someone jumped down from above. I'm telling you, that's the guy who did it."

"No, it's definitely the mermaid!" 

Kuroe Naoko insisted. "Three years ago, a mermaid was burned to death in the shrine's storehouse, and it looked exactly like her now!"

"She came here looking for the mermaid's graveyard… but the mermaid's ghost found her and took revenge!" 

Her voice grew shakier. "Am I right, Kimie?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I think I remember something," Shimabukuro Kimie said, pausing as if recalling a flaw in her plan. 

It was about luring Saori to the forest. If Saori had died, it wouldn't have been an issue—dead people don't talk. But she was still alive. If she woke up, Kimie could be in serious trouble. 

So, she played along. "Saori always wanted to find that graveyard. She asked me about it several times. Before the festival, she asked again, and I told her I'd let her know if I drew the Dugong Arrow. Honestly, I don't even know where it is. Only my great-grandmother does… I waited in the forest for a while, but she never showed up."

"Mermaid, mermaid…" 

Hattori Heiji frowned. "You keep talking about a mermaid. Was that mermaid corpse even real?"

"I'm not sure," Shimabukuro Kimie said innocently, shaking her head. "The islanders all say it was, but the police who investigated said it was just the body of a middle-aged woman."

"A middle-aged woman?" 

Kuroe Naoko couldn't sit still. "That's only because the bones below the waist were still intact, right?"

"No bones below the waist?!" 

Mouri Kogoro froze in shock.

"The storehouse had two or three burned pillars that collapsed around the body," Fukuyama Rokuro explained. "So the corpse was crushed."

"Oh, is that all?" 

Hattori Heiji rolled his eyes. "What's so surprising about that? It's pretty normal. How does that have anything to do with a mermaid?"

"The key is what happened after the island's firefighters moved the pillars," Fukuyama Rokuro said, his voice tinged with unease. "Normally, even if the body was crushed, you'd expect some foot bones to remain. But the thing is, there were *no* foot bones at all."

"Nani?" 

Hattori Heiji and Conan both froze. 

Typically, even if the lower body was crushed, the distribution of remaining bones should follow a normal pattern. If what they were saying was true… 

The only explanation for the missing lower limbs would be that the body didn't have legs to begin with. 

Fujino, however, understood the truth behind this mystery. 

The reason the corpse was missing its lower half was because Shimabukuro Kimie's mother, who died in the fire, had been maintaining the guise of the *Inochi-sama*—binding her legs and moving in a kneeling posture. When the pillars crushed her, it created the illusion of a body without a lower half. 

This was also why Kimie's earlier impersonation of the *Inochi-sama* had seemed physically awkward. 

"Because of this, even the TV stations got involved," Fukuyama Rokuro said with a cold snort, as if mocking something. "They came to investigate, claimed it was a mermaid's corpse, and started hyping it up. We ended up becoming famous, just like the *Inochi-sama*."

Conan couldn't help but ask, "But didn't the police say it was just a middle-aged woman's body?"

"That's what they said. They claimed a tourist who didn't draw a Dugong Arrow thought there were spares in the storehouse and accidentally set it on fire with a candle while rummaging around," Shimabukuro Kimie recalled. "But even after a year, the police couldn't identify the body, so we buried the bones. Then… problems started."

She trailed off, as if hesitant to continue. 

Fukuyama Rokuro picked up the thread. "Some annoying tourists believed the mermaid story and dug up the buried bones, planning to steal them."

"I've heard about eating mermaid flesh to gain immortality," Hattori Heiji said, pausing in disbelief. "But why would anyone want to steal mermaid bones?"

"There's a legend from the Edo period," Kuroe Naoko explained. "It says mermaid bones can be used to make an elixir of immortality. Those people heard the rumor and wanted to steal the bones for that."

"That's ridiculous!" 

Hattori Heiji and Conan both frowned. "Digging up someone's bones? That's way too far."

"That's just feudal superstition," Fujino said, unfazed. "Every culture has these kinds of legends, but grave-robbing like this? That's rare, even for Nihon. It's just plain wrong."

"Exactly. It's despicable," Shimabukuro Kimie agreed, nodding at Fujino. "To stop those jerks from stealing the mermaid bones, my great-grandmother secretly moved the so-called mermaid's grave to this forest last year."

"Let's get Ebihara Saori-san down the mountain first," Fujino said, glancing at the injured woman and changing the subject again. "She's not in life-threatening danger, but we need to treat her leg injuries quickly to avoid complications. Though, from what I can see, amputation probably won't be necessary."

"Oh, right!" 

Hattori Heiji snapped back to reality, remembering the poor woman with broken legs. 

Kuroe Naoko shot a glare at Fukuyama Rokuro. "Your fiancée is in this state, and you're just standing around chatting?"

"It was just something my parents decided," Fukuyama Rokuro said, glancing at her helplessly before picking up Ebihara Saori. "Besides, my parents are gone now…"

"He's engaged to this onee-san?" 

Conan looked between them, surprised. 

He hadn't picked up on any vibes that suggested they were an engaged couple. 

"Yeah," Kuroe Naoko said, looking at the two. "Their parents arranged it when they were kids. But this guy doesn't seem too thrilled about it. No idea what he's thinking."

"…"

Shimabukuro Kimie frowned silently, watching them leave with a strange glint in her eyes. 

Fujino glanced at her and shook his head helplessly. 

---

On the way down from the waterfall: 

"Have you figured anything out?" Conan asked, noticing Hattori Heiji's thoughtful expression. 

"Yeah, I've got a suspect in mind," Hattori Heiji said, nodding as he recalled something. "I remember Saori's wooden plaque clearly had the Dugong Arrow, but somehow it ended up with that drunk old man, Monkyou Benzou."

"That guy's definitely suspicious," Conan agreed, but then shared his own thoughts. "Before, Monkyou Saori also had a Dugong Arrow and then went missing. Now, Ebihara Saori drew a Dugong Arrow and got knocked out with her legs broken. I think this case is tied to the Dugong Arrow."

Though some had mentioned a mermaid's ghost, neither of them entertained the idea. 

A mermaid's ghost causing trouble? That was just too far-fetched. 

Conan had dealt with plenty of strange tales—like mountain gods or mushroom spirits—but he firmly believed there was always a human behind it. 

Fujino trailed behind, quietly eavesdropping. 

He wasn't worried about them suspecting him. His alibi was airtight. 

He was actually curious to see how these two would react when they realized the culprit was right in front of them but untouchable. 

---

An hour later, at the Mermaid Waterfall: 

"Kazuhaha, any luck? Did they find the person who jumped from the top of the waterfall?" 

After descending the mountain, Hattori Heiji immediately asked Toyama Kazuha. 

Ebihara Saori had been taken to the island's hospital by Fukuyama Rokuro. 

"Nope. The villagers searched the lake, but there was no sign of anyone," Kazuha said, shaking her head. "And no one's been seen coming out of the lake either. It's like they vanished into thin air."

"Nani?" 

Mouri Kogoro's brows furrowed as he looked at the calm lake. "If that's the case, doesn't that mean the person drowned?"

"I don't think so," Conan piped up. "I bet they used some kind of magic trick to fake it, like something Kaitou Kid would do. Right, Fujino-nii?" 

He turned to Fujino. 

In Conan's mind, Fujino was a magic expert. He often performed tricks even Conan couldn't figure out, and being Kaitou Kid's rival meant he probably noticed something Conan had missed. 

"Well…" 

Fujino gave Conan a wry glance. 

Calling it magic? He didn't even know how his shadow worked. 

He'd just jumped from the waterfall and retracted his shadow—no fancy tricks involved. 

But if he had to make something up… "Maybe they didn't jump at all. They could've used a decoy, like dropping a heavy object with a black cloak draped over it to create the illusion."

"That actually makes sense," Hattori Heiji and Conan said, both seriously considering Fujino's theory. 

If it were anyone else, they might've brushed it off. But Fujino? He was someone they both respected. 

"Dad!" 

Mouri Ran came running back, panting. "The police just said the waves around the island are too rough right now. They can't get here."

"What?!" 

Mouri Kogoro groaned. "Why does it have to be now?"

"But that means the culprit's still on the island," Hattori Heiji said, adjusting his cap with a serious look, his usual sleepy demeanor gone. "It takes about an hour to get from here to the top of the waterfall. That means everyone here is a suspect. The culprit's definitely still on this island."

"So the culprit's watching us from somewhere?" 

Ran caught her breath, looking around nervously. 

"Don't worry! We'll catch them in no time!" Kazuha said, patting Ran's shoulder confidently. "When Heiji puts his cap on straight, he's in full-on serious mode. One hundred percent focused!"

"Really?" 

Ran glanced at Hattori Heiji curiously. 

Suddenly, she thought he reminded her of Kudou Shinichi—especially when he got serious. 

Were all high school detectives like this when they focused? 

She turned to Fujino, recalling that when he got serious, he didn't have the same fiery energy. His was a deeper, almost intimidating calm. 

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