Chapter 86: The Thorn Princess
10 PM
Moon Shadow Island had fallen completely silent. From above, only a few scattered lights emitted a faint, lonely glow across the darkened landscape.
"Anya, what are you looking at out there? It's time for bed."
Natsukawa called out to Anya, who was still standing in the courtyard. This little girl's resilience was remarkable—she'd recovered so quickly after witnessing such a horrifying crime scene earlier. How strange.
"Papa, I just saw Conan sneak out of the guesthouse! He was acting really suspicious. Should we follow him?"
"..."
"I thought you were looking at something interesting outside, but it turns out you were secretly spying on Conan. What did he do to offend you so badly?"
Anya placed her hands behind her back, rhythmically swinging her left leg forward in small circles. She turned her head to one side with an exaggerated pout, pretending she hadn't heard a single word.
"Forget about Conan and whatever he's doing. You'd better lie down and go to sleep right now, or I won't buy you any local specialties tomorrow."
Natsukawa couldn't leave the guesthouse until Anya was safely asleep.
Originally, he'd planned for Yor and Anya to share a room together, but Yor had claimed she thought she was coming down with a cold and didn't want to risk getting Anya sick. So she'd taken a separate room instead.
With that plan falling through, he could only try to get Anya to fall asleep first.
"Yes, Papa. I understand."
Anya thought carefully for a moment, realizing she shouldn't interfere with her father's nighttime plans—just like when Aunt Yor had politely refused to share a room, and Anya hadn't pushed the issue.
Papa and Aunt Yor both have secret missions tonight, which means I'll have to sleep alone.
I'm a little scared. It feels kind of lonely and unsafe.
No! The whole family should go on missions together!
Wait... what if there are no actual missions?
Well then, I'll just follow Conan instead! I can see what he's up to, then report everything to Uncle Mouri. Maybe I can finally get Conan's hairstyle changed to those symmetrical twin ponytails!
Just imagining it made her ridiculously happy.
While secretly plotting her mischievous revenge, she obediently climbed into bed and gradually drifted off to sleep.
Midnight
The moonlight was hazy and ethereal as the clock struck twelve.
Outside the window, water flowed gently through the small stream. Moonlight reflected off the koi pond, creating beautiful, hypnotic ripples across its surface.
Even the guesthouse's pet parrot had fallen asleep. The entire traditional inn was eerily, almost supernaturally quiet.
Suddenly, a dark figure flashed by—silently darting across the moonlit courtyard in just a few swift steps. The shadow stepped lightly onto a decorative stone lantern, using it as leverage to vault cleanly over the wall and escape the guesthouse grounds.
Smooth as silk.
It was Natsukawa.
Let's check the Kawashima family residence first.
Compared to Nishimoto Ken, whose mind already seemed somewhat unstable, he felt that Kawashima was far more likely to be hiding incriminating evidence.
After making his decision, Natsukawa quickly moved into action.
Not long after he disappeared into the night, another figure emerged from the guesthouse.
The shadow passed silently through the traditional sliding door, its long silhouette stretching ominously across the wooden frame.
"Has Aunt Yor left too?"
Inside her room, Anya threw back the covers from over her head and opened her eyes wide. She scanned the darkness with large, alert eyes—suddenly serious, as if she weren't playing games anymore. She displayed an oddly professional spy-like caution that seemed far beyond her years.
She began methodically searching through drawers and cabinets, quickly locating her small suitcase. After a few hasty movements that scattered her clothes everywhere, she finally pulled out a special outfit hidden at the very bottom.
"A spy has to look like a proper spy," Anya nodded to herself with absolute certainty, then carefully put on the miniature black suit.
She'd purchased it secretly with her own saved allowance money behind her father's back. The tiny suit fit her perfectly.
"And finally... sunglasses!"
Anya happily placed the oversized sunglasses on her small face, completing the ensemble.
She rushed to the mirror to examine herself carefully from multiple angles, striking several cool spy poses before nodding in complete satisfaction.
"Perfect! That's exactly the right feeling!"
"Anya's first official spy mission begins... now!"
One minute later, Anya stood helplessly in front of the locked door, lost in troubled thought.
Her mind had been completely filled with exciting fantasies of being a legendary spy and fearsome assassin—but when she actually reached the door, she discovered she couldn't even get out of her own room.
The door wasn't secured with a modern iron lock, but rather with an old-fashioned sliding bolt that could be opened with a simple push upward.
However...
Even with her short arms stretched out completely and standing on her absolute tiptoes, she was still at least thirty centimeters short of reaching the lock mechanism.
(⊙_⊙)?
My height is a critical disadvantage.
Feeling utterly helpless, Anya could only slink back to her room to retrieve a wooden stool.
Encountering setbacks is completely normal. Even the legendary Bondman had to overcome countless obstacles to complete his missions. I absolutely cannot give up now—that wouldn't fit the heroic image of a true spy at all!
The night sky was as black as spilled ink. The moon became completely obscured by thick dark clouds in the next moment, casting a deep shadow over everything below.
A dark silhouette crouched motionless on a tree branch directly outside the Kawashima family residence.
The light blazing from the second floor of the Kawashima house stood out like a beacon in the surrounding darkness.
"Still awake?"
Natsukawa frowned from his concealed position in the tree.
Could this guy be so terrified by Kuroiwa Tatsuji's brutal murder that he's still too scared to fall asleep?
I'll wait a little longer.
Natsukawa's sole purpose tonight was to destroy any incriminating evidence. The actual killing should be left entirely to Asai Narumi's revenge plot. Taking personal vengeance yourself was definitely more emotionally satisfying than having someone else do it for you—though the price was considerably higher. You'd end up in prison.
Prison...
Asai Narumi's situation in a men's prison probably wouldn't be pleasant at all. Those rough, sweaty inmates would absolutely love someone like her.
I wonder if Japanese law even provides small, private cells for cross-dressers. Otherwise, that delicate flower is definitely in serious danger.
Just then, Natsukawa's expression suddenly changed dramatically. His eyes locked onto the front entrance of the Kawashima family residence with laser focus.
"What the—"
The distance was too great for Natsukawa to clearly see the person's facial features, but judging purely from body shape and distinctive clothing, it was undoubtedly a woman.
Asai Narumi?
No, Asai Narumi would be noticeably shorter than that.
Moreover, with such practiced, fluid movements and superhuman speed, Natsukawa hadn't even detected when or where this person had first appeared.
Damn it. I underestimated the situation entirely.
His attention had been focused entirely on the illuminated second floor, and coupled with his relative lack of vigilance on what should have been a simple evidence-destruction mission, he hadn't immediately noticed the appearance of such a skilled operative.
Fortunately, the mysterious figure hadn't noticed him either. After all, they were dozens of meters apart, and he remained perfectly concealed in the tree without making the slightest sound. It was perfectly natural that he hadn't been discovered yet.
Thank god I wasn't careless enough to just stand out in the open by the roadside.
After confirming the stranger hadn't detected his presence, Natsukawa carefully observed her distinctive attire with growing fascination.
The elegant black dress clung perfectly to her athletic body—form-fitting and sophisticated. Even from this distance, her figure was absolutely captivating, outlining curves that made one's heart race involuntarily.
Her shoulders and upper back were completely bare. Several silk ribbons wrapped artfully around her slender neck, the dark fabric creating a striking contrast against her pale, luminous skin.
Her shapely legs were partially concealed by the flowing hem of her dress, while her distinctive high-heeled boots reached an astonishing height—extending all the way to mid-thigh and revealing just a tantalizing sliver of snow-white skin that stirred the imagination.
Absolutely beautiful legs.
Her face appeared captivating and exquisite even at this distance, its beauty shrouded in mysterious shadows that only enhanced her dangerous allure. Every subtle gesture radiated an irresistible magnetism.
Natsukawa found himself nodding unconsciously in appreciation, swallowing hard.
At that precise moment, she moved with incredible speed—flashing across the Kawashima estate's exterior wall and vaulting over it in just two graceful bounds.
Her movements were impossibly light and fluid, like a hunting cat moving in complete silence. Her long, flowing hair danced freely behind her. The distinctive dark gold rose ornament in her hair reflected a soft, hazy golden light in the moonlight, perfectly complemented by the gleaming golden stiletto weapons gripped expertly in her hands. The entire presentation created an aura of noble yet coldly aloof lethality.
Only after she disappeared completely around the corner did Natsukawa finally regain his composure and rational thought.
That woman!
I know exactly who she is.
If he wasn't completely mistaken—that was the legendary Thorn Princess.
He'd seen her classified profile in Frank's extensive intelligence reports. A formidable and absolutely unique professional assassin.
Having operated in the underground world for over ten years, she'd personally eliminated at least eight hundred targets, possibly over a thousand by now.
However, that kill count wasn't particularly noteworthy by itself. Such résumés were relatively common among elite assassins listed on the dark web, and the documented body counts of bomb-wielding maniacs were even more terrifying by comparison.
What made the Thorn Princess truly special was her peculiar selection criteria: every single mission she accepted required irrefutable evidence that the target had committed unforgivable crimes against innocent people.
It sounded almost laughable—yet it absolutely wasn't.
Contradictory, yet undeniably real.
She was a professional assassin, yet she remained remarkably selective about her targets. Extremely picky about which contracts she'd accept, always demanding concrete proof of criminal activity before taking action.
She sounds like some kind of ancient vigilante warrior from historical legends.
Calling her an "assassin" felt less accurate than describing her as a crime-fighting force operating outside the law. Such a person was more appropriately characterized as a righteous—if extremely lethal—bounty hunter dispensing justice.
The primary reason she was still classified as an "assassin" rather than a vigilante was mainly because she showed absolutely no discrimination based on social status or political position. She demonstrated zero mercy even toward high-ranking government officials and corporate executives, causing governments and law enforcement agencies worldwide to lose face repeatedly.
(End of Chapter 86)
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