"Help! Monsters have invaded Tokyo!!"
The three little ones panicked and ran headlong into a hard, cold "wall" covered in scales.
Looking up, they saw a giant frog, almost as tall as a person, wearing a tattered cloak and leaning on a miniature cane, staring at them with its huge, expressionless frog eyes.
Its pale skin gleamed with a damp, eerie light under the moonlight.
"Quack? (What happened?)"
"Waaaaah! The frog has become a spirit! It's a frog monster!" The children were terrified, tears streaming down their faces, and they turned to run in another direction.
When I turned around, I met a pair of sharp, bird-like eyes.
A large vulture with dull feathers and unusually sharp and cold eyes stood silently on a dead branch behind them, tilting its head and looking at the noisy human cubs with an eye that seemed to ask, "Has your takeout arrived?"
A tiger is in front, a frog is on the side, and a vulture is behind.
The three little ones completely broke down, their mental defenses crumbling entirely. They burst into tears, their sobs so heart-wrenching: "Help! Monsters! So many monsters! Where is Kamen Rider? Waaaaah..."
A piercing scream instantly shattered the tranquility of the martial arts hall.
"What was that sound?!"
"It's the children!"
"Kidd made a move?! He actually attacked a child! How despicable!"
The adults inside the museum and the police officers on duty outside were all alarmed, thinking that Phantom Thief Kid had carried out a terrorist attack, and they rushed out with flashlights, riot shields and even batons.
Inspector Nakamori charged ahead, his momentum unstoppable: "Kid! You've finally shown your fangs! Are you ready to take... uh?"
A dozen beams of flashlight beams swung wildly in the courtyard like searchlights, eventually focusing on three children crying so hard that snot bubbles were coming out of their noses, and in front of them three strangely shaped and oddly painted... animals?
A tiger that looks like it hasn't woken up yet and has a bewildered expression, a frog wearing a cloak and leaning on a cane that looks like it wandered onto the wrong movie set, and a vulture standing on a tree slowly preening its feathers.
"W-What's going on?" Kogoro Mouri's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "Kid's new magic trick? A massive animal migration? Or a zoo closing down and having a clearance sale?"
Inspector Nakamori was also dumbfounded, and his shout into the walkie-talkie stalled halfway through: "Attention all teams! The target is... the target is... what the hell is this target?!"
The scene was chaotic and filled with confusion.
Hanyu Nanami and Shimabukuro Kimie then strolled out of the building at a leisurely pace, as if they were just taking a post-dinner walk and casually observing a grand display of human bewildering behavior.
"Kagetora! Shonosuke! Grozaemon!" Mine Raylia's anxious voice rang out. She rushed to the courtyard and shouted at the three animals, "How many times have I told you not to scare the guests! Come back here!"
Surprisingly, the tiger actually whimpered like a big cat and lowered its head in a pitiful manner. The frog politely adjusted its non-existent hat, and the vulture obediently flew down from the tree and landed next to Feng Leilia.
The old lady and Mine Shizuka also rushed over and apologized repeatedly.
"I'm so sorry," the old lady explained apologetically to everyone, "They're not monsters, they're our family's... um... heirloom pets, the rather special kind."
"Pets?!" Kogoro Mouri's voice trembled. "Who keeps tigers, frogs, or vultures as pets?!"
Mine Shizuka smiled somewhat embarrassedly: "Actually... our ancestors from the Mine and Iron Sword families once made a pact with some... well, rather special creatures. They are our family's guardian beasts, passed down through generations. They are very gentle and never harm anyone."
—Although it looks a bit scary.
Iron Sword scratched his head and walked over, chuckling, "Kagehira usually likes to sleep and snore in the grass, Sho no Suke likes to cosplay as a philosopher, and Grozaemon likes to stay high up and contemplate the life of birds... They must have come over out of curiosity because the children are lively and cute, they definitely didn't mean any harm!"
Conan stared at the frog, Shonosuke, who was wearing a cloak and even trying to use its webbed feet to pull out a pocket watch, and couldn't help but twitch his lips: "This is way beyond the scope of a 'docile pet'..."
This art style is exactly like the NPCs you'd see in a fantasy RPG starting village!
Tigers, frogs, vultures... all living peacefully together in one room.
Conan's brows suddenly furrowed deeply, and the contents of the mysterious woman's divination from earlier that day suddenly flashed into his mind.
Could this be the place they were referring to?
But... it's not Ke Xue's style!
Absolutely not science fiction!
How could the other party possibly know he was coming here in advance? It couldn't have been divined, could it? Then what's the point of having detectives? Should we just use a crystal ball to solve cases from now on?!
The great detective's materialistic worldview was hit like never before, leaving him momentarily disoriented and wondering if he was still half asleep.
Yuzuru Hanyu watched with great interest from the side.
The Feng and Tie families did indeed have some connection with the magic world in their ancestors, but they were considered to be declining magic families.
As times have changed, the true lineage of cultivation has long been severed, leaving only some magical items whose effects are unpredictable and unwanted even in flea markets, as well as these family beasts that have long lifespans and more spirituality than ordinary animals due to an ancient contractual relationship.
Koizumi Akako's target this time is probably one of the few still usable magic potions treasured by the Mine family.
That potion that can shrink the iron sword was probably an old relic dug out from some obscure corner.
Miss Witch seems to be here to "replenish her inventory."
Yuu Nan's gaze swept over a barely noticeable corner in the shadows of the courtyard, where a faint magical fluctuation seemed to flash by.
His smile deepened.
The real show is just beginning.
.........
When they discovered it wasn't Phantom Thief Kid, everyone's hopes were dashed.
"What the heck! It was just a false alarm!" Inspector Nakamori sullenly put away his flashlight and yelled into the walkie-talkie, "Attention! Attention! All clear! It was a misunderstanding! Remain on alert! Over!"
The police officers looked at each other in bewilderment and returned to their posts.
"Seriously..." Kogoro Mouri rubbed his throbbing temples, looking frustrated and weak. "What a waste of excitement. I thought I could get off work early... no, I meant catch that pretentious thief sooner."
He turned and walked into the hall, muttering to himself, "Iron Sword's dad is still waiting for me inside. He was just halfway through that bottle of premium 'Kendo' sake, and he was really into it..."
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