Ke Xue: Shinichi and I are childhood friends.

Chapter 1142 Nagoro's Past

"Lost, and lost miserably?" Yuya's face was filled with disbelief as he casually flipped through the webpage. "But according to the information we've found, although Nagoro's playing style changed greatly before his disappearance, the common point was that he was extremely skilled, even having the upper hand against the Meijin." (Karuta competitions are divided into male and female groups, but the current Meijin and Queen don't seem to appear in the movie. We only know that the previous Queen is Hattori Heiji's mother.)

"In comparison, Lady Gaoyue's record is quite mediocre... Ah, of course, I'm not saying..."

"That's fine," Achiha said, not caring about the offense in Yuya's words. "There was a gap between their states during that period. That's an indisputable fact."

"But you might not know that victory in karuta isn't simply determined by strength. Even if there's a disparity in strength between the two sides, the weaker party can still win simply because they're in better shape."

"Perhaps Nagoro was stronger than Satsuki, but he chose the wrong way to compete - since Satsuki was the only one at home at the time, he didn't use the hand reading, but used the match tapes we kept.

Do you know what this means? This is a tape Gao Yue has long memorized, even to the point where she can remember the order of the cards on the tape with her eyes closed.

Nagoro didn't consider this, perhaps simply out of self-confidence, and in this situation, he suffered a defeat he had never imagined."

"I guess that's why he didn't show up for the second day's tournament? Since he lost even this private duel where he could show off his strength, there was no point in wasting time on the second open tournament. He chose to disappear from everyone's sight and mark the end of his time in the world of karuta."

Yuya and the others looked at each other.

There are currently no loopholes in Achiha's words. After all, Achiha is the only one who knows the result of the private duel.

Perhaps, this is the truth?

At this moment, someone knocked on the door: "President, it's almost time."

Achiha checked the time and said to Yuya and the others, "I should almost be heading to the guildhall. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

After saying that, without waiting for Yuye and the others' reaction, he stood up and left the room.

Yuya exhaled, rubbed his brow and said, "It seems that we are investigating in the wrong direction. Maybe the murderer is not him?"

Conan's eyes moved: "Do you think it's Nagoro? But what's the motive?"

Hattori Heiji pinched his chin and said, "Five years ago, Nagoro Shikao challenged the then-president, Achiha Satsuki, and made a bet that the loser would voluntarily disband his karuta club."

Conan asked: "But, there is absolutely no need for Mrs. Gaoyue to accept this challenge, right?"

Hattori Heiji nodded. "Indeed, but Nagoro announced this to the media in advance, saying that Lady Satsuki would avoid the battle out of fear of Nagoro."

Conan suddenly realized: "I see, in this case, Lady Satsuki will have no choice but to accept the challenge."

Hattori Heiji continued, "However, Nagoro challenged Lady Satsuki to a private duel a day in advance and lost. As a result, she did not appear in the open tournament the next day. Because of Nagoro's withdrawal, Lady Satsuki was declared the winner."

"So far, Achiha's statements and the information Ms. Momiji told me are basically consistent."

"And then Nagoro disappeared, and the Nagoro-kai was forced to disband due to the loss of its president. Those who strongly advocated for the disbanding of the Nagoro-kai at the time..."

Yuya looked up suddenly: "Could it be Mr. Yajima?"

Hattori Heiji nodded: "Yes, this is what Miss Hongye told me."

Yuya pressed on, "What about the members of the Nakagawa Society?"

Hattori Heiji said, "Others may not know, but so far, only two people have joined the Gaoyue Society, namely Mr. Sekine and Ms. Momiji."

Conan couldn't help but speculate: "Could it be that the murderer is a member of the Nagoro-kai? Did he kill Mr. Yajima to avenge Mr. Nagoro?"

Yuya and Hattori Heiji both showed solemn expressions. This was indeed possible. After all, Yajima was the one who advocated the disbanding of the Nagoro-kai.

Hattori Heiji stood up in a flash: "Oh no! If this speculation is true, then Mr. Sekine and Ms. Momiji are in danger!"

Yuya and Conan looked at each other, and saw the solemnity in each other's eyes——

The person who advocated the disbanding of the Nagoro-kai was killed, so Sekine and Momiji, who "betrayed" the Nagoro-kai and joined the then mortal enemy Satsuki-kai, were probably also one of the targets of the murderer!

···

Meanwhile on the other side.

After waking up, Yuanshanheye ate something with his friends.

Then, Mao Lilan, Miyano Shiho and Curacao prepared to take the children out shopping for local specialties.

After watching his friends leave, Toyama Heye turned around and saw Hattori Shizuka standing quietly on the side. He quickly ran over and said, "Auntie, let's continue training!"

Hattori Shizuka said helplessly: "Don't practice for now, you should rest for a while. It's not good not to conserve your energy before the competition!"

Toyama Kazuha said excitedly: "I'm fine!" This is a competition that concerns the right to confess to Heiji, and she must not lose!

Mikuko Hizashi, who rushed over to help Toyama Kazuha with her training, was surprised to see Shizuka Hattori: "Kazu, Kazuha, could it be that the person helping you train is the former queen?!"

"Yes." Yuanshan Heye puffed out his chest proudly.

Meimoto Mirai excitedly shouted: "That's amazing, Heye, you will definitely become very powerful!"

Yuanshan and Ye Yuan raised their hands with full energy: "Then let's go back to the room and continue practicing!"

At this time, a somewhat familiar voice sounded.

"Since you're so keen on practicing, why don't you let me be your opponent? Although I don't think you can make it to the finals."

Yuanshan Heye looked back in surprise, and the next second his face turned ugly: "Ah, it's you! What did you just say!"

Yuanshan Heye was so angry that his face turned red. He immediately planned to have a good fight with this woman.

But she didn't expect that Shizuka Hattori stopped her, stepped forward and said to Ooka Hongye: "Kawabata needs to rest, why don't you let me be your opponent."

Ooka Momiji was so focused on mocking Toyama Kazuha that she completely ignored the people around her. Seeing Hattori Shizuka, she was extremely surprised. "You are the former karuta queen, Ms. Ikenami Shizuka?! Why are you helping her?"

Hattori Shizuka didn't explain, but smiled faintly and said, "Then, could you please play against me?"

Facing the former queen, Ooka Momiji showed no signs of stage fright. Instead, she ignited a strong fighting spirit: "Since it has come to this, I will respectfully obey your command."