Curse Shirou

"what's up?"

"I don't know, it seems that the person was following the daughter of the Inoue family, and was discovered by the guard."

"It's really not peaceful recently. Girls from four families have disappeared. Could this man be a prisoner?"

"The guy inside is from the village next door. He often comes to our town to wander around, and his hands and feet are not very clean. My elder brother in the town police department even mentioned this kid to me..."

Kotomine Shirou pushed aside the crowd and saw that the ordinary man suspected of being a thief was still being beaten, so he stepped forward:

"Excuse me, are you arresting the criminals who kidnapped and trafficked young girls?"

The leading man in the samurai uniform turned his head, looked him up and down, and said suspiciously:

"Where are the foreigners? I warn you not to ask for trouble, the affairs of our town have nothing to do with you!"

Seeing this, Kotomine Shiro quickly took out a business card from his pocket, and politely introduced himself:

"I'm a detective who passed by your place from Tokyo. This is my business card. May I ask if we need the help of our agency to arrest the criminal? I don't think the man on the ground is capable of kidnapping several girls."

"Tokyo Church...Detective Agency...? Such a strange name, can you really find the criminal?"

The samurai also felt that the kid who was being beaten would not be a prisoner. They were all born and bred locals, and they knew the situation of outsiders very well.

To be able to quietly abduct several girls in a short period of time must be ronin with martial arts skills, or a gang of criminals.

The one on the ground can only have the courage to be a pickpocket at most. Under the existing law, the felony of abduction and trafficking cannot be committed unless it is extremely vicious to a certain extent.

"Looking at you, are you still a student? I read it in the newspaper. The new school uniform is the one you wear, right?"

The black cassock obviously misunderstood him, but Kotomine Shirou's clothes were indeed very similar to the boys' school uniforms of this era.

In addition to the pure black, the Taisho school uniform also has a hat with a brim, which looks a bit like a modern police hat.

"No, it's just popular among young people now. In fact, it's already 20 years old."

Talking nonsense with his eyes open, Kotomine Shirou didn't even blush, and quickly gained the trust of this samurai named Ueda by virtue of "the conversation and knowledge that can only be found in a big city".

"It turns out that you have solved so many difficult commissions? I am really ignorant. It is not too late. Let me take you to see Mr. Inoue. Recently, the eldest son of Mr. Inoue is going to have a wedding, and the house is very busy. But at this time, the young lady said that Mr. It feels like someone is peeping... In short, it makes people panic, alas."

The samurai Ueda took them to a gorgeous and solemn house. It turned out that the Inoue-sama he was talking about was a local ore merchant. Although his power was not as powerful as the mining giants in Tokyo, he was also very famous in the surrounding areas.

Ueda took them to meet the housekeeper, but the other party said that the master had gone out in the morning and would come back in the evening, so Kotomine Shiro asked him if he could meet Ms. Inoue who found something unusual.

The old butler was a little hesitant at first, and after sending someone to ask the lady what she wanted, a maid came to the front yard and said that she was asking Mr. Detective to meet the lady in the living room.

The lady of the Inoue family just turned 11 this year. Hearing Ueda say that the two gentlemen are "big detectives from Tokyo", she shed tears and told what happened recently.

"Something is staring at us in a dark place... When I was not alone, I was with Sister Lily a few times..."

Ms. Inoue expressed her worries. The sister Lily she was talking about was her brother's fiancee, Miss Dongsheng Baihe from the Dongsheng family.

In the Taisho era, the legal marriage age for Japanese women was 15 years old. This future sister-in-law and Ms. Inoue are similar in age and have a very good relationship.

It turned out that a few days ago, when I invited Ms. Inoue to my mansion as a guest, Dongsheng Baihe, accompanied by a servant, personally sent her home because she came back late.

But just as she was returning to the town, Miss Inoue suddenly felt an unspeakable fear.

She felt that someone was staring at them in the shadows, or rather, it should be Dongsheng Yuhe, but every time she turned her head to look, there was nothing in those corners.

Her father warned her not to speak out, because then the outside world may hear that she is mentally abnormal, or some other rumors that are not good for women.

Dongsheng Baihe also wrote a letter to comfort her, telling her not to think too much, saying that maybe the recent abduction case in the town made people uneasy, so maybe she was overly sensitive.

"It's not like this... Maybe you don't believe it, but I can feel other people's gaze by nature. Even if someone is looking at me from behind, I will find it all at once. Those two times I really felt that there was someone in the corner... ..."

"But you noticed the place, whether it's the shrubs in the blind corner of the courtyard, or the shadow of the lantern under the eaves, they are all empty environments that others can spot at a glance, so no one believes you, right?"

"Hmm...but..."

"I would like to ask Ms. Inoue a few important questions."

"Please, ask."

Kotomine Shirou looked into the girl's eyes, and his voice was soothing and gentle, as if guiding her to recall the scene at that time.

"Do you remember those times when you came back, did the sun go down at all?"

"Y-should be, right? Although it wasn't very late when I came out of Dongsheng's house, it was already completely dark when the bus reached the town."

"Then, did the line of sight you feel disappear suddenly, or did it disappear slowly?"

"This... I'm not sure, it doesn't seem like it disappeared suddenly. Although every time I look in the direction of the open space, I always have the feeling that I am looking at something. God, God, this is terrible. Am I really out of my mind?"

Ms. Inoue covered her face and sobbed again. The incident of being voyeurized and the inexplicable anxiety had already made this lady overwhelmed.

"No, quite the opposite."

Kotomine Shirou was sitting solemnly, and spoke his conclusion.

"I think you are the one who has the real clue to the prisoner."

"Yes... yes, really? Are you willing to believe me?"

Of course Kotomine Shiro believes it, because according to her testimony, it has been confirmed that the one who followed and peeped at Tokatsu Yuri was the ghost hidden in this town that Lei had noticed.

"But if you want to catch the prisoner, you need an important person to participate. Miss Dongsheng is your brother's fiancee. Master Inoue must also attach great importance to her safety, right?"

"Of course, the Dongsheng family is an important ally of our Inoue family. My elder brother and sister Lily also grew up as childhood sweethearts. My elder brother said that he must catch the criminal, otherwise all the girls in the town, including me and Lily Sister, you are all in danger."

"Then, please help us introduce your elder brother, and we will be responsible for leading out the criminal."