"Stop waving and get over here!"
Tono quickly stood up after glancing back, shouting to the group, "Ms. Toda is drowning!"
"What?!"
Everyone on the scene froze in shock.
It was clear they found it hard to believe that Kiwako Toda was drowning. But recalling her behavior earlier, they couldn't help but believe it.
"Kiwako!"
Matsuzaki Masahiko was the first to snap out of it, shouting her name as he rushed toward the water.
"Wait! Masahiko, you can't swim!"
Following closely, the four university diving club members sprinted toward the shore.
Seeing everyone rush out, Ran also stood up, following right behind Conan.
Tono didn't just stand there either—he quickly followed.
...
It was high tide in the afternoon, and the previously calm sea was now turbulent. Ocean currents, stirred by the sea breeze, sent waves crashing toward the shore.
Soon, the group reached the spot where Kiwako Toda was struggling.
Masahiko Matsuzaki, who had charged ahead upon hearing she was drowning, was knocked down by a wave. Not knowing how to swim, he ended up coughing as he inhaled seawater.
"Did you forget you can't swim?!"
Ito Yo quickly arrived, pulling Masahiko back and tossing him behind him.
Then, he rushed over to Kiwako, grabbed her by the jaw, and began dragging her toward the shore.
"Kiwako!"
"Stay calm!"
Everyone quickly gathered around to check her condition.
"This doesn't make sense..."
Tono, who was standing nearby, examined the water that only reached his chest, frowning slightly.
The water was shallow—only up to his chest.
Even if Kiwako wasn't as tall as him, it shouldn't have submerged her head.
It could be possible for someone to drown if they were panicking, but...
Kiwako Toda was a member of the diving club, highly skilled in swimming. Someone capable of free diving wouldn't drown in such shallow water, right?
Could she have had a leg cramp?
As Tono was putting the thought aside, about to follow the others back to shore, a system notification suddenly rang in his ears: "A new detective mission has been detected. Please check it out."
Tono opened the system's task interface, and a system screen appeared before him:
**[Detective Mission: Sea Snake Murder Case]**
- **Objective:** Solve this case
- **Reward:** 1 million yen, 100 detective reputation points
- **Time Limit:** 3 hours
"So, it's not that simple, huh?"
Tono glanced at the system screen, then shifted his gaze toward Kiwako Toda. "A sea snake?"
If it was a sea snake, it should still be nearby.
Catching that sea snake would be the key piece of evidence.
Using a sea snake was indeed a clever murder tool. One bite, and the victim would be half-dead on the spot. Toss it back into the sea, and the evidence would be gone.
Closing the system screen, Tono activated his enhanced vision glasses and started searching for the sea snake mentioned in the task.
Soon, he spotted a black shadow darting through the turbulent waters.
It was only visible for a second or two, but it was enough for Tono to pinpoint the sea snake's escape route.
Taking a deep breath, he dove underwater.
It was a long, slender creature, with what looked like two transparent wings near its head.
The sea snake wriggled its body, swimming rapidly against the current, heading deeper into the ocean.
"What is something like this doing here?"
Tono caught up with the sea snake and grabbed it, examining the two translucent white wings as a flood of thoughts raced through his mind.
...
Meanwhile, on the shore, Kiwako Toda, who had been carried back by Ito Yo, coughed softly and asked weakly, "Where's Masahiko?"
"He's over there," Ito teased. "As soon as he heard you were drowning, he heroically rushed into the sea. Now he's completely soaked."
"That's good..."
Before she could finish, she closed her eyes.
"Alright, your wife is in your hands now."
Ito handed her over to Masahiko Matsuzaki. "She just drowned a bit. She should be fine."
"Yeah, yeah, no need to worry too much," chimed in Kawazu Kunio. "I think she just had a cramp."
"We should've known better than to let her go snorkeling..."
Masahiko Matsuzaki complained as he took Kiwako Toda into his arms.
"Strange, where did Senior Fujino go?"
At this moment, Ran, who had just returned with the group, sensed that something was wrong.
She turned her head, looking around, but couldn't find any trace of Fujino.
"He was just around here a moment ago."
Hearing this, Conan also scanned the surroundings.
"Could it be..."
Ran's expression showed concern. "Did he drown too?!"
Conan turned his gaze to the turbulent sea, frowning deeply.
He remembered that Fujino had been swimming quite fast earlier, so how could he have drowned?
Could it be that he had a leg cramp?
That wasn't out of the question.
Cramps don't discriminate. Even a professional athlete, if they got a cramp in the sea, would be in trouble.
Thinking of this, Conan started to panic and shouted at Ran, "Ran, go look for Fujino! He might be drowning too!"
Even though Fujino often messed with him, he couldn't let the guy die now.
He still had to use his sharp reasoning to properly take down the guy who always bullied him!
"Senior Fujino seems to be..."
Just as Ran was about to call for help, a loud shout came from behind her: "Everyone, don't move!!"
"Huh?"
*SPLASH!*
Everyone turned at the sound and saw Fujino leaping out of the sea like a fish, holding a black, writhing, snake-like object.
The scene was like something out of a legend, with Fujino emerging from the sea in a dramatic fashion.
"Huff..."
Fujino took a deep breath, easing the dizziness caused by the lack of oxygen, and then waved the sea snake, which was still twisting in his hand. "I found this sea snake nearby just now. Ms. Toda might have been bitten by it."
"A sea snake?!"
Only then did everyone notice the black, yellow-spotted, writhing creature in Fujino's hand, twisting like some bizarre piece of living elastic.
"Fujino, you..."
Conan looked at Fujino in astonishment, wanting to say something but holding back.
How long had this guy been underwater?
And he even caught a sea snake!
Sea snakes can swim up to 20 kilometers per hour in water.
Humans, at best, can swim around 5 kilometers per hour.
Not to mention doing it while holding their breath.
Conan remembered that four minutes had passed since he last saw Fujino.
Had this guy been underwater for four minutes?
Is that even something a human can do?
Actually, no, it's not something a normal person could do.
Fujino had spent three minutes underwater to catch that sea snake.
If his body hadn't been different from ordinary people, he really might have lost that sea snake today.
(End of Chapter)