On a old bus on a rural road in Shikoku Island, there was only one passenger besides the driver.
Perhaps it was due to it being a weekday, this bus usually rarely encountered passengers on this road section at this time of day. The driver couldn't help but pay more attention to the passenger he met in the wilderness, after all, that place was in the middle of nowhere.
However, listening to his accent, he wasn't a local. He might be a lost foreign backpacker in the vicinity. After all, it's not surprising for young people in this era to act impulsively—so, who cares? The other party didn't deliberately hide his appearance, so it didn't seem like he was some kind of heinous criminal.
And this passenger was, naturally, Takato, who had left the village.
Last night, Takato, following the hidden clues, dug up a corpse under the lawn in the open space behind the house. Without a doubt, judging by the not-so-decomposed face, it was Mitarai Taro. At the same time, he found a buried Hospital death notice and an autopsy report determining natural death. The time of death was no more than a month ago—but, natural death? Or was it actually like the original body?
It seemed that the original body, for some reason, did not choose to directly dispose of Mitarai Taro's corpse. Considering that the original body might be related to the Black Organization, such a situation is not incomprehensible, but without a doubt, this point is very suspicious. The procedures required for cremation were all completed, so why was it not cremated?
It's just that I no longer have the interest to continue investigating this aspect.
If I were to confront the Black Organization, there's no doubt that investigating alone would be extremely dangerous. The best option is to enter the social circle of the Famous Detective Shinichi Kudo as soon as possible. At that time, all forces against the Black Organization will gradually gather around that young man! What I need to do now is to get rid of the original identity and live in this world with a new identity.
Originally, I was struggling with how to get rid of the original identity, but with the discovery of Mitarai Taro's hidden corpse, Takato had a plan!
A big fire consumed everything in Mitarai Family, and Mitarai Taro's body was disguised as Mitarai Kyosuke and then burned to charcoal—that was the original plan.
However, when Takato moved the corpse back into the house and was about to change the clothes on the corpse, he unexpectedly found that there seemed to be something hidden in the corpse's clothes—the pocket of the jacket. When taking it off and tidying it, he felt an unusual sensation—the right side was significantly harder than the left. After Takato's brief inspection, he found a sewn-in hidden compartment inside the right pocket.
Opening the hidden compartment, there were two pieces of paper.
One was Mitarai Taro's cremation certificate, and the other was a certificate from a temple confirming the reception of Mitarai Taro's ashes!
Looking at these two pieces of paper, new doubts arose!
Mitarai Taro's body was clearly still here, so why would there be a cremation certificate and an ash reception certificate? Could they be faked? If so, then would the autopsy report found earlier also be faked?
No, if they were fake, why hide them so well? But if they were real, how could this corpse be explained? Whose ashes did the temple receive?
Takato pondered, then carefully re-examined the clothes on the corpse, discovering a new suspicious point—the corpse had undergone an autopsy at the Hospital. It was unlikely that these clothes had been on the corpse since the Hospital. Evidently, the original body changed them after it was brought home. So, could it be thought that the original body deliberately hid them?
Carrying these doubts, Takato pondered until dawn, ultimately deciding to implement his plan.
In the night, Takato watched the Mitarai Family gradually burn to ashes. He knew his plan was likely successful. The person Mitarai Kyosuke, from this night onward, was completely gone from this world.
However, only Takato himself knew that he would return here, sooner or later!
Noting down the name of the temple that received Mitarai Taro's ashes, Takato only took the cash from Mitarai Family and the photo on the desk.
Takato cut off the part of Mitarai Kyosuke from the photo, only taking the half with Miyano Shiho.
At the same time, he slightly trimmed the original body's distinctive stylish hairstyle. Under the cover of night, he walked away from the village overnight. It wasn't until daytime today, after walking an unknown distance, that he encountered this bus on this rural road!
It was also by asking the driver that Takato finally confirmed his location—Shikoku Island!
Even in Conan's long storyline, the only case he could remember happening in Shikoku was "The Phantom of Konpira Theater" an extremely remote location where not even a local police officer with a name could be found!
As expected, I still need to find a way to get to Tokyo first!
By the time he arrived at the nearest relatively developed town by bus, it was already past noon. Takato was already famished and planned to rest well before heading to Tokyo.
He casually found a udon noodle shop and ate a hearty meal, then completely changed his hairstyle at a barbershop.
His original slightly upturned, somewhat curly, brownish hair was transformed into ordinary black straight hair after dyeing and perming. His hairstyle was also adjusted to a common one. Now, at first glance, he no longer had the previous feeling, leaning more towards his ordinary demeanor from before his transmigration.
However, a hairstyle could only do so much. To completely change one's appearance, besides plastic surgery, the only option left was to learn Art of Disguise from those few individuals with superb Art of Disguise.
Kudo Yukiko is in America, Vermouth is too dangerous, the only option left is Kaito Kuroba of Ekoda High School. All things considered, I still need to go to Tokyo.
Leaving the barbershop, it was already approaching evening. Takato knew he couldn't leave today, so he decided to find a Hotel to stay.
As he was about to enter the Hotel to check in, Takato suddenly remembered that he didn't have anything to prove his identity.
Mitarai Kyosuke's identity was personally buried by him, and Takato himself was even more of a "non-existent person" in this world. Although in Japan, Japanese people and foreigners with long-term visas do not need to show any identification when staying in a Hotel, that is only if their Japanese is good enough. However, when he asked the bus driver, he realized that he seemed to have not inherited the original body's Japanese accent; what he spoke was the Japanese accent he had taught himself before. Such a clumsy accent would surely not make people think he was Japanese.
Left with no choice, Takato still had to find another way.
Coming to a 24-hour convenience store, Takato planned to buy a Japanese rail transit guide, intending to study routes to get to Tokyo as soon as possible. While reaching for the transit guide, he noticed on the newspaper rack beside it, the cover of a newspaper caught his attention—"New Progress in the Lavender Villa Locked Room Murder Case! High School Detective Discovers Hidden Clues!".