Most people know whether wishing wells are effective or not. If they were really that effective, why would anyone bother trying? The purpose of these things is simply to give people something to look forward to.

Guangyou and Xiao Ai naturally knew this, but people need to have a goal to do things and strive for that goal. If you don't have a goal, what's the difference between you and a salted fish?

After making their wishes, the two walked towards the sea. Tokyo has beaches, but they're not very good, and there are a lot of people. You might even step on someone taking a sand bath while walking on the sand.

Kōyū also wanted to go to Izu, but the problem was that it would take almost three hours one way and six hours round trip. It was really not worth it to spend money on accommodation just to go to the beach.

It just so happens that he came to this small island, but Guangyou didn't bring a swimsuit this time, so he could only stroll around on the beach. If he were alone, he really wouldn't be interested in it.

The two arrived at the beach, and sure enough, apart from a few scattered tourists, the beach was practically empty, which suited them perfectly. They walked on the soft sand, occasionally stepping on seashells or conches.

In fact, what Guangyou wants is very simple: just like now, to have someone he likes by his side, not to be bothered by trivial matters, not to think about anything else, and just to enjoy the tranquility of the moment.

To be honest, the weather wasn't good today; it was gloomy. That's usually the case at sea, and this is considered relatively good. In many cases, it doesn't give you any warning that it might rain. It's like a child's face—it can start raining any minute now.

The two strolled leisurely along the beach, and before they knew it, they had reached the end. Suddenly, Guangyou's eyes lit up, and he ran to the rocks by the sea, taking out a conch shell that was a little bigger than his fist.

The conch shell that Guangyou picked up was spiral-shaped, mostly white, with faint brown patterns on it, which was quite beautiful. However, the conch shell was now empty, indicating that it had been dead for a long time.

Suddenly, Kousuke placed the opening of the conch shell near Ai's ear so that they could hear the sound of the sea. The two knew that it was not the sound of the sea but was produced through resonance, but they were still enjoying it.

In fact, knowing too much is not a good thing. Only purity can bring satisfaction. Some things in the world are really just that simple once you understand them. The two of them knew that this behavior was a bit childish, but this childish behavior was accompanied by another person.

...

As night fell, the weather cooperated, and it didn't rain so far. After strolling around for a while, the two arrived at the shrine where the festival was being held.

The two arrived just in time, met up with Conan and the others as soon as they arrived, and then the festival began.

As the drumbeats faded, two people dressed in celebratory attire opened the door, revealing a small figure in the deepest part of the room.

The figure picked up the drumstick-like object in front of her, slowly turned her head, and when they saw her face, a group of elderly couples exclaimed, "The longevity grandmother has finally appeared!"

It was because of their words that the people at the front of the crowd realized that the short figure in front of them was the long-lived old woman, Shimabukuro Mikoto, who was the subject of much gossip.

The makeup on the old woman's face was quite frightening in Guangyou's eyes. Her face was covered with a thick layer of powder, her eyebrows were covered up, and she wore bright red lipstick.

The celebration continued. The old woman picked up a huge torch in front of her, slowly walked out of the door, put the torch into the brazier, took it out, and then lit the paper door to Conan and his group's astonishment.

Surprisingly, the paper doors were not all set on fire. Instead, the strokes formed a character composed of flames. Ignoring the expressions on everyone's faces, she continued to light the other two paper doors.

The characters above are 叁, 百七, and 拾八.

After their initial surprise, the group realized that this was probably the so-called lottery process, and the numbers burned out on it were the winning numbers.

Everyone attending the celebration checked to see if the numbers in their hands were the winning numbers. Following the exclamation of Ebihara Tomi, whom they had met earlier that day, the winners also appeared one after another.

Kazuha seemed unable to believe her eyes. She stammered as she said to Ran, "Ran, I... I won!"

The words on the door were indeed very cool, but in the end, they could not escape the fate of being destroyed by the fire extinguisher. As the flames died down, Junhui walked out from behind the paper door and stood in front of everyone.

At this moment, her expression was serious: "Everyone, please listen carefully. We will be officially issuing the Dugong Arrows in one hour. Please prepare to assemble at Mermaid Falls immediately!"

After she left, everyone dispersed, chatting in twos and threes as they headed towards the Mermaid Waterfall that Junhui had mentioned.

When Kazuha saw that he had been chosen, he was first shocked, then delighted, and finally couldn't believe it when Ran handed him his hand, leaving Ran somewhat helpless.

Ran looked at Kazuha, who was in a state of excitement, and said helplessly, "Kazuha, I know you won the lottery, but you don't need to be so excited."

"I really can't believe it! I actually got it!" Kazuha's face practically screamed, "I'm the luckiest person ever!"

To Guangyou's slight disappointment, the sky was completely covered by clouds, and he couldn't see any stars. There were no factories or pollution sources in this small town.

The island is separated from the city by a vast ocean, and the inability to see the starry sky over the sea is quite disappointing for Guangyou. He has no interest in the so-called Dugong Arrow, let alone immortality, and he is not even sure if the so-called magic is real.

Upon arriving at Mermaid Falls, Junhui was already waiting for everyone. After seeing that almost everyone had arrived, she said, "Now, please invite our three lucky guests to come forward."

Kazuha was the most enthusiastic, followed by Naoko Kuroe, whom she had met during the day. However, the third winner emerged swaying as Kimie called out to her several times.

The one who came out was Kadokawa Benzo, Saori's father. Benzo's eyes were somewhat glazed, and his flushed face and the strong smell of alcohol that could be smelled even without getting close showed that he was drunk.

Guangyou raised an eyebrow, his gaze drifting to a humanoid shadow on the waterfall, then he grinned: "Mermaid Waterfall is for burying mermaids, isn't it?"

After the three stepped forward and took the dugong arrow from Kimie's hand, Kimie said to Kazuha and the other two, "Now please accept the light of bliss!"

It's called the Light of Bliss, but it's really just fireworks. The name sounded a bit strange to Guangyou, but he quickly realized, "Is this Light of Bliss a gift for the 'Mermaid'?"

Everyone's attention was drawn to the dazzling fireworks in the sky. A man in the crowd turned to the people who had come with him and said, "These fireworks look much better this time!"

Just as he continued to look up at the fireworks, a dark shadow on the waterfall caught his eye. He immediately pointed to the shadow and called out to the crowd, "What's that?"