Detective Conan: Shadow Legion Office

14: Chapter 14 A Request from Moonshadow IslandThe morning meeting at Lins Information Consulting Office had just concluded when Miwako Sato walked into Lin Long’s office, carrying a stack of letters with a look of confusion on her face:

”Mr. Lin Long, there is a letter here for you that is a bit strange.”

”What letter? Bring it over and let me see.”

Lin Long looked up from his documents and gestured for her to place it on the desk.

The envelope was made of the most ordinary kraft paper, with no return address, and only ”To Mr. Lin Long, Personally” written in crooked handwriting on the recipient line.

Most noticeably, the envelope was exceptionally thick and felt heavy in the hand.

”Where is it strange?”

Lin Long picked up the envelope, his fingertips touching the rough edges of the paper, which did not seem to be machine-cut.

”Look at the seal.”

Miwako Sato pointed to the seal of the envelope, ”There is no stamp, no postmark; it’s as if someone delivered it directly to the office door. And...”

Miwako Sato lowered her voice, ”I touched it, and it feels like there are hard objects inside, and more than one.”

Lin Long raised an eyebrow and gently sliced open the envelope with a letter opener.

A stack of banknotes bundled with a rubber band fell out—exactly fifty 10,000-yen bills, totaling five million yen.

Underneath the banknotes was a piece of paper with uneven edges, with the words on it all cut out from newspaper type and pasted together, exuding an eerie atmosphere:

”Mr. Lin Long, please go to Tsukikage Island to investigate the truth about the death of pianist Asou Keiji. The reward has been paid; you must attend.”

There was no signature, no date, only this cold line of pasted text.

Tsukikage Island? Asou Keiji?

Lin Long’s memory was immediately awakened.

This was quite a classic case in the Conan storyline—the ”moonlight sonata Murder Case.”

The pianist Asou Keiji had died by self-immolation on Tsukikage Island years ago, leaving behind an eerie ”moonlight sonata” as a curse.

And the one who sent this request letter was none other than Asou Keiji’s son, Asai Narumi.

This femboy had already disguised himself and returned to Tsukikage Island.

He had not only sent a letter to him but presumably to the Mouri Detective Agency as well.

On one hand, he wanted them to investigate the truth of his father’s death; on the other, he hoped they could stop his murderous criminal behavior.

”Asai Narumi...”

”How cowardly!”

Lin Long whispered the name, a sneer curling the corner of his mouth.

Lin Long looked down on this ”having his cake and eating it too” behavior; on one hand, he wanted to avenge his father, and on the other, he didn’t want to commit a crime.

For Lin Long, there was no need to overthink it; just do it.

After all, in Lin Long’s worldview, the principle was that the vengeance for a father’s murder is irreconcilable.

The character Asai Narumi left a deep impression on him.

Disguising himself as a woman without a single flaw showed how strong his camouflage ability was; as a doctor, his medical skills were superb, and he was well-respected on the island, which showed his professional competence.

More importantly, he was meticulous, and the revenge plan he plotted was interlinked; if not for Conan Edogawa’s intervention, it would have been difficult to uncover.

Camouflage, medicine, planning... whichever one of these skills it was, they were of great value to Lin Long.

If he could recruit him, it would undoubtedly be a great asset.

Even if he couldn’t, taking a trip to Tsukikage Island to watch this big revenge play, and incidentally collecting some malice black qi, wouldn’t be a loss.

”Interesting.”

Lin Long put the letter and banknotes back into the envelope and called out to the door, ”Miyano.”

Miyano Akemi quickly walked in, wearing a decent professional suit.

The secretarial work over this period had helped her shed much of her fear and gain a bit of competence:

”Mr. Lin Long, are you looking for me?”

”Pack your things; we’re going on a long trip with me.” Lin Long stood up, ”To Tsukikage Island.”

”Tsukikage Island?” Miyano Akemi was stunned for a moment, then nodded, ”Okay, what do I need to prepare?”

”Just simple changes of clothes will do; don’t worry about anything else.”

Lin Long looked at Miwako Sato, ”Where is Butler Ochiai? Tell him to book two tickets to Tsukikage Island as soon as possible.”

”Butler Ochiai went out early this morning; I’ll call him right away.” Miwako Sato immediately picked up the phone.