Chapter 25: Everyone Except Chi Feichi Is Abnormal

Snakes are absolute experts at infiltration. The secret doors in the castle aren't perfectly sealed, and the hidden passages require ventilation shafts. Places that are inaccessible to humans are easily navigated by snakes. Feichi has explored almost every secret passage and mechanism; there are likely areas that even Masayo Mamiya hasn't fully mapped out.

After listening, Chi Feichi instructed Feichi, "Go to the dining room first. Return immediately once you see Masayo Mamiya enter. I’ll wait for you at the secret door in the second room on the second floor... By the way, stop provoking that little girl you keep calling 'dull and silly.' If she hits you with a chemical reagent, you’ll be lucky if there’s a skeleton left of you."

Feichi immediately straightened up, staring at Chi Feichi with a blank expression. *That terrifying? You’re lying... no, you’re trying to trick a snake, right?*

Chi Feichi didn't waste any more words and opened the bathroom door. "Move out."

...

In the first-floor dining room, the young and old were seated at the table.

"Wow! This looks so delicious!" Genta couldn't take his eyes off the food.

A maid entered the room, walked up to Mitsuru Mamiya, and whispered, "Master Mitsuru, we couldn't find Mr. Chi anywhere."

"Keep looking," Mitsuru Mamiya replied with a vacant nod before turning to Professor Agasa. "Let's start eating. As for Mr. Chi and the others, the maids can just look for them."

"Huh?" Professor Agasa hesitated. "But..."

"It’s fine. He probably went to look for that little boy who was hiding. Once he finds him, he’ll bring the child over to eat," Mitsuru Mamiya said, habitually fabricating a 'daily itinerary' for Chi Feichi.

Haibara Ai felt a jolt of alarm. She worried that Chi Feichi had been spotted while looking for Conan, so she quietly observed Mitsuru Mamiya’s expression: "..."

This man also has a blank, indifferent face...

Mitsuru Mamiya’s expression remained entirely flat.

Indeed, making up itineraries for Chi Feichi had become second nature to him. He was starting to feel numb; if this scientist couldn't find the treasure either, perhaps he should just leave... No, he couldn't give up! But persistence was so difficult...

Nearby, Masayo Mamiya, sitting in her wheelchair, felt something was off. Although she had knocked out the bespectacled kid who entered the secret passage and locked him away, Chi Feichi had been staying in the castle for a while now; there was no guarantee he hadn't discovered something.

No! She had to check!

"Help me take my food to my room. I’m going to dine there."

"Grandmother?" Nobuhito Mamiya asked, surprised.

"Hmph, some 'scientist friend.' I think he’s just looking for a smart person to solve the puzzle. He only stayed here for the castle’s treasure," Masayo Mamiya said as she turned her wheelchair to leave. "If my daughter returns, let me know. I need to have a serious talk with her—how could she be so easily deceived by a guy like this!"

Nobuhito Mamiya felt awkward, but seeing that Mitsuru Mamiya didn't seem angry, he didn't say anything more.

"Take the lady’s food to her room," Mitsuru Mamiya simply instructed the maid with a flat tone.

Haibara Ai had been quietly observing the family. The old woman would occasionally forget that her daughter was already dead, and the grandson only asked one question when his grandmother insulted his stepfather. Even stranger was Mitsuru Mamiya, whose face looked terrifyingly haggard, as if he cared about nothing other than the castle’s treasure. She leaned closer to Professor Agasa and whispered, "Professor..."

"Hmm?" Professor Agasa lowered his voice in cooperation. "What is it?"

"Find a chance to call the police quietly later. I’m afraid Edogawa is in trouble, and Chi Feichi went to find him," Haibara Ai said in a very low voice. "Be vigilant. Don't trust anyone in this family."

She even excluded Nobuhito Mamiya from her trust. It wasn't that she didn't believe in Chi Feichi, but she suddenly felt that Nobuhito Mamiya didn't seem quite right either...

"Huh?" Professor Agasa was surprised.

"Don't you think everyone in this family is abnormal?" Haibara Ai said. "By comparison, Chi Feichi seems like the only normal person here."

Professor Agasa recalled their experiences since entering the castle and looked at the two people at the table. He nodded. Whether it was psychological or not, he suddenly felt the atmosphere here was bizarre, and he could only silently sympathize with Chi Feichi. It wasn't easy; after finally getting out of a place like the Aoyama Fourth Hospital, the family he was staying with happened to be like this...

"Let’s eat," Mitsuru Mamiya said, greeting the group. If he knew what Haibara Ai and Professor Agasa were thinking, he might have jumped out of his chair in indignation. *I am the only normal person in this family, alright!*

However...

Amidst the children happily eating, Mitsuru Mamiya brought up the fire at the castle. His frequent lapses in focus, his inner conflict, his haggard, complex appearance, and the way Nobuhito Mamiya ate in silence all fell under Professor Agasa’s observation, confirming his suspicions even further.

Before Masayo Mamiya returned to her room, Chi Feichi and Feichi had already entered the secret passage.

Feichi tracked the scent of fresh blood left by Conan along the way, coiled around Chi Feichi’s neck, and pointed the direction.

Chi Feichi didn't use a flashlight or any light source. Guided only by Feichi, he strolled through the passage, his footsteps so light they were barely audible.

Meanwhile, Masayo Mamiya returned to her room, feeling uneasy. She opened a secret door and entered the passage, checking several of the entrances. Unfortunately, Chi Feichi had a habit of minimizing and cleaning up his tracks whenever he acted; the signs of his movement were not something she could find.

After searching, Masayo Mamiya found nothing unusual and went to the secret room where Conan was held.

In the dim, stifling space, Conan had already woken up, but he was tightly bound with rope. Hearing the sound of the mechanism opening, he could only roll onto his side and look toward the source of the noise.

The door opened, and a glaring beam of light from a flashlight shone directly in, stinging his eyes so he couldn't keep them open.

Masayo Mamiya scanned the secret room with her flashlight for a moment, then retreated.

"Hey...!" Conan shouted, but the only response was the sound of the mechanism closing the door in the darkness. He frowned in thought.

He had thought just now that the person was afraid of an accident and couldn't wait to come and silence him, but it seemed the person still preferred him to 'die naturally.' The person’s actions just now were like checking to see if he was still there, or perhaps looking for someone else...

Someone had come looking for him! And they might have already made it inside!

Professor Agasa? Haibara? Or those three kids... No, the most likely person is...

Behind him, another faint sound of a mechanism echoed.

*Why from behind? Is there another mechanism behind me?*

Conan was puzzled. He silently wiggled, wiggled, and wiggled, changing his orientation.

In the pitch-black darkness, Conan was as conspicuous as a glowing bulb to Feichi’s thermal vision, and even his movements were clearly visible. "Two steps left, six steps forward. Squat down and you can touch that kid’s head. He’s lying on the ground, having shifted to face our side."

Conan’s eyes were not infrared sensors. He only heard the mechanism door ring once in the darkness, and then it became quiet... No, if he listened carefully, there was a faint, subtle sound. But it was so faint that he couldn't make out what was happening.

About five or six seconds later, a hand pressed onto his head, and Chi Feichi’s characteristically calm voice sounded from above.

"Conan, are you awake?"

"Yeah..." Conan let out a sigh of relief and whispered, "That person was here just now but has already left. This is a sealed secret room."

Chi Feichi listened, not understanding. "So...?"

Conan was stunned for a moment. With Chi Feichi’s intelligence, he should have understood what he meant. He took the initiative to explain, "It’s okay to turn on a flashlight now. As long as she doesn't come in, she shouldn't notice. I’m tied up..."

To untie him, they needed to be able to see, right?

Chi Feichi: "Flashlight? I didn't bring one."

Conan choked. Coming into a tunnel without a light source...

Wait! That means Chi Feichi had been feeling his way through the dark the whole time?

"My watch has—"

Before he could finish saying, 'a small flashlight that can provide illumination, just untie the rope for me,' Conan felt Chi Feichi’s hand accurately touch the rope around his wrists. "..."

"What’s wrong with your watch?" Chi Feichi asked.

"N-nothing..." Conan looked at the pitch-black void in front of him, wondering if the intense light from Masayo Mamiya’s flashlight earlier had caused some damage to his eyes.

Unheard by Conan, Feichi continued to report the situation to Chi Feichi. "It’s a dead knot, pulled quite tight. Probably can't be untied, use a knife..."

"Don't move," Chi Feichi warned, pulling a spring-loaded knife from his pocket and opening it.

Conan was confused, then felt a chill between his bound wrists, and immediately the sensation of restriction vanished. Realizing Chi Feichi was cutting the rope with a knife, his scalp tingled, and he didn't dare move.

Feichi: "There’s another one about twenty centimeters to the left of the master’s left hand... Stop, the rope is already cut. Any further and you’ll stab this kid in the back. Okay, the last one is behind the kid’s ankle..."

Conan felt another rope snap. "I can handle the rest..."

Chi Feichi had already followed Feichi’s instructions and sliced through the last rope, which had been tied in four knots. "What?"

"Nothing..." Conan sat up, struggling as he pulled off the layers of rope coiled around him. He couldn't help but ask, "Um... Brother Chi, am I blind?"

Chi Feichi was silent for a moment. "What do you think?"

Conan’s heart skipped a beat, but then he suddenly realized he was being foolish. Once the ropes were off, couldn't he just check for himself?

He turned on the flashlight on his watch and discovered he could see. He was silent for two seconds, then turned to look at Chi Feichi.

"How did you feel your way here?"

"That’s just how I felt my way here..." Chi Feichi paused, picked up Conan, quickly entered the secret door he had come through, and closed the mechanism.

The light from Conan’s watch illuminated the gap of the closed door, and he suddenly noticed that a sliver of light was gradually expanding on the opposite side of the secret room. He couldn't help but turn to look at Chi Feichi again.

Although he didn't see who was opening the door on the other side, the only person who would come running was likely the one who had taken Masayo Mamiya’s place living here...

If Chi Feichi hadn't reacted quickly, they probably would have been trapped inside.

But wasn't this reaction a bit *too* fast?

Counting the time it took to pick him up, reach the secret door, and the time it took for the door to close—did Chi Feichi notice the person coming just as they reached the door?