Chapter 425

"22:00:00." The brown-haired boy took out his pocket watch to check the time after the loud lock sounded. "All the guests invited to this banquet are trapped in the manor - the organizer's time is really strictly controlled."

"I'm sorry to use such a rough method to restrict your actions." Merlin stood on the stage in the center of the venue and bowed to the guests exaggeratedly, "But this is a necessary measure to ensure that the banquet can proceed smoothly afterwards... Then, let me explain why all the detectives were gathered here."

"No signal!?" The moment Conan Edogawa noticed that his cell phone signal had disappeared, he turned his head to look at Holmes and the others standing not far from him. "Strange, even Mr. Sherlock, who has a rich expression, didn't show any change in expression because of the series of unexpected events at the banquet... Could they be insiders?"

"In fact, a large-scale serial murder case of a heinous nature has occurred in our country." The lights in the conference room went out as Merlin spoke, and the case data was projected behind him. "It can be said that it is a case more cruel than the Jack the Ripper case that occurred in the 19th century - and the members of our country who are actually responsible for investigating the case have not made any breakthroughs until now."

"Seal off the manor, cut off the signal - all these actions are to prevent anyone from leaking information about this case to the outside world." Another more mature and steady male voice took over the job of explaining the situation, "After all, although we used Jack the Ripper for comparison, this case did not cause such a large-scale sensation."

"Even in this era when information can spread explosively online, the details of this case have not been disclosed to the outside world at all."

"But no matter how incompetent a guy is, he can't just sit there and watch his people die in obscurity." This time, the voice that came was a young girl's firm and calm voice, "So we invited everyone to solve this case..."

"Wait a minute." The brown-haired high school boy interrupted the voice that came from nowhere, "This serial murder case is the case that you really need the help of a detective, right? Then my invitation letter says that you have received a warning letter from the thief Kid--"

"Well, we are British after all." A voice similar to the previous girl's voice, but more lively, answered his question, "According to the intelligence we have, the death rate of personnel in places where thieves are present will be reduced to 0% - for this reason, we used the gem as an invitation letter to the thief Kidd."

"Then I successfully received the notice from the Phantom Thief Kidd."

——Even Kidd was plotting against me.

Conan Edogawa twitched his lips speechlessly and turned his attention to the case files that covered an entire wall.

"I see. I understand." The brown-haired high school boy glanced at his watch again, quickly wrote down the important information in his notebook, and asked the organizer of the banquet, "Considering the specific responsibilities of different departments...can I assume that MI5 is in charge of this case?"

The voice on the other end fell into a long silence.

"MI5!?!"

However, many people present were frightened by the high school boy's overly confident assumption and showed somewhat surprised expressions.

"Well, let me correct what I said before." The brown-haired high school boy cleared his throat. "To be precise, the work related to this case was led by MI5, with the assistance of MI6."

"After all, although the case took place in the UK, the detectives on the scene were not the only ones invited to come - so relatively speaking, MI6, which is responsible for foreign affairs, should have provided assistance to your work."

"However, speaking of MI5, I have to mention a very interesting urban legend that I heard while studying in the UK." The young man saluted elegantly and said, "Let me introduce myself first - I'm Hakuba Detective, and I just returned to Japan after finishing my study in the UK not long ago."

"In fact, this urban legend not only mentions MI5, but also MI6. In fact, it seems that because it was an urban legend that was passed down orally a long time ago, it has already been adapted into a nursery rhyme..." Bai Ma touched his chin and pondered, "The melody is the melody of "Who killed Cock Robin"."

"A nursery rhyme related to MI5 and MI6..." Edogawa Conan glanced at Holmes and Moriarty, whose expressions remained unchanged, and turned his attention to the nursery rhyme told by Hakuba Detective, "Who killed Cock Robin"——"

Under the gaze of everyone, Bai Ma Tan began to tell the urban legends he knew.

"Who killed the crow?"

It's me, said the dog.

With my nose and footsteps,

I killed the crow.

Who saw him die?

It is I, said the lily,

With all my branches,

I saw him die.

Who took his blood?

It is I,said the Owl,

With my bright eyes,

I took his blood.

Who made the shroud for him?

I,said the Griffin,

With my feathers and down,

I will make the shroud.

Who dug his grave?

It's me, said the black dog.

With my claws and teeth,

I will dig the grave.

Who will be the pastor?

It is I,said the Nightingale,

Using my little notebook,

I will come to be a pastor.

Who recorded history for him?

It's me, said the cat.

If you are in the dark,

I will record his history.

Who will hold the torch?

It's me,said the robin,

I took it immediately.

I will hold the torch.

Who will be the officiating priest?

It is I, said the eagle,

I will die with hope,

I will be the officiating priest.

Who is going to ring the bell?

It is I, said the white horse,

The dawn has come.

I will ring the bell.

Who will come to the funeral?

It is I, said Cambion,

In that paradise full of hope,

I will bury him.

Who will sing the dirge?

It is I,said the banshee,

Wandering on the misty lake,

I will sing a dirge.

Who inherited his wish?

It's us, said the red dragon.

I will continue his dream later.

Spread hope across this land.

So, goodbye, crow.

Everything in the forest,

All sighed and wept,

They heard the melodious bells,

Ring for the poor crow and the land of hope.

Revelation

Tell all stakeholders,

This announcement,

The dog will be judged.

In the next forest court. 』

"…Generally speaking, there is no change compared to the original nursery rhyme." The white horse paused and looked at the people present, "But as an urban legend, this nursery rhyme contains some interesting words. Although there are unreal creatures in the beginning of this nursery rhyme, they are not as interesting as the Cambion and the red dragon that appear later."

"Also, there is a place that is very interesting - 'Avalon, a paradise full of hope'." Conan Edogawa, who had been told some information about MI6 by Holmes and Moriarty in advance, quickly matched the content of the nursery rhyme that was a metaphor for MI6 and began to deduce the content related to MI5, "Speaking of Avalon, it is the resting place of the Eternal King in the UK..."

"I won't explain the part about MI6 in this nursery rhyme because we don't have enough information." Detective Hakuba spread his hands to everyone, "Let's skip the process of explaining it word by word. I think as detectives, you can definitely think of the relationship between these words to some extent. In short, this nursery rhyme is saying that there is a group in MI5 that is related to the Knights of the Round Table and is closely related to MI6."

"Although the number of people officially mentioned in the nursery rhymes is not as many as that of MI6, they can basically correspond to the legend of the Knights of the Round Table - I guess the number of people in this group should be far more than the number mentioned in the nursery rhymes. After all, there were 150 Knights of the Round Table in its heyday. Even if we only count the famous Knights of the Round Table, there are at least 12... Of course, this data does not include King Arthur himself."

"…That's what the detective said."

"…That's what the detective said."

Two smiling voices rang out one after another, as if confirming the opinions of the people around them.

"I said we shouldn't trust their proposal." The calm and steady male voice that appeared earlier expressed his opinion indifferently, "Asking detectives to solve the case will only allow them to dig up all our secrets instead of speeding up the process of solving the case."

"Don't say that." A young and sunny male voice interrupted the man's complaint, "After all, if they accept a commission without knowing the client's background, they won't be called famous detectives."

"That's what I said—"

"Excuse me." A somewhat cold young man interrupted their conversation, "From the last sentence of those two people, they have made our conversation public."

“…”

The radio in the conference hall fell into silence - but soon even angrier voices rang out.

"——I will never forgive you!——You——guys!!" Along with the frequent muting of keywords, a young girl's voice appeared, "How dare you——embarrass yourself——in front of——me!!! Get ready to die————————"

Along with the sharp muted sound, a roar like thunder rang out in the radio.

"Should I go take a look?" Fujimaru Ritsuka turned his head and whispered to Bedivere, who was still at the meeting place and had not joined the other Knights of the Round Table. "That sound, is it Mordred opening his Noble Phantasm? Is that okay?"

"Don't worry, this kind of situation is already a daily occurrence here." Bedivere gave Fujimaru Ritsuka an impeccable smile, "Besides, this manor has been strengthened by Mash and Galahad, so no matter what they do, it won't be damaged. As long as they finish fighting in the back, they should all come out together."

"However, we can't just let the detectives stand and listen to them fighting." Bedivere left Fujimaru Ritsuka's side and stood in the center of the stage where Merlin had stood before. "Nice to meet you, ladies and gentlemen - I'm Bedivere. Now that we know the true identity of the client, can you start to solve the mystery of this serial murder case?"