Chapter 105: The Second Victim

Upon hearing that someone had attempted suicide and that Xiaoxia had merely gone down to rescue them, Am immediately breathed a sigh of relief. In the world she had come from, saving someone from drowning was fraught with danger, but in this world, not only were people more resilient, but…

At that moment, a splash erupted on the water’s surface as a Gyarados emerged, carrying Xiaoxia and an unconscious person ashore.

Am quickly climbed over the railing of the small bridge and reached the riverbank where Xiaoxia had appeared.

“How is it…? Wait, isn’t this person…” Am was about to inquire, but then she recognized the figure. It was the middle-aged woman from the Hidden Leaf Village Enthusiasts’ travel group—the one named Uzumaki. Although her glasses had fallen off and she hadn’t changed clothes, she still wore the emblem of the Uzumaki clan pinned to her chest.

Xiaoxia was too focused to answer Am, alternating between chest compressions and artificial respiration. Am took a moment to examine the drowning victim—though it was still uncertain whether she was truly dead.

“Hmm?” Am lifted the woman’s bangs and noticed a bruise on her forehead.

Then Am glanced toward the bridge’s pier—if she jumped, it was plausible she had hit something.

But there was more…

The woman also bore obvious burn marks.

By then, Sonoko and the others had arrived, and Am asked, puzzled, “Why does she have burn injuries? What did she do before jumping into the river?”

“She set herself on fire first, then jumped in!” Sonoko said vehemently.

Am’s expression shifted to one of understanding—indeed, if she had only jumped into the river, Sonoko wouldn’t have screamed.

The scream came from seeing the woman engulfed in flames. Then, as she leapt from the bridge, Xiaoxia, an excellent swimmer, followed, likely pulling her into the water to extinguish the flames—Am mentally pieced together the sequence.

“Really? Could it be you misread it? Maybe it was a Gastly using ‘Flame Charge’ that jumped down?” Gengar, who had somehow pilfered a deer hunter’s hat and pipe, adopted the air of a detective.

Isn’t that a bit of a Kanto-style detective act?

“Return those! And no more grabbing other people’s things! Disable your ‘Thief’ ability right now!” Am shouted at the mischievous Gengar.

Usually, scolding a normal Pokémon like that would hurt their affection, but Gengar merely smacked its lips.

The ‘Thief’ ability, beyond battle, could be used to grab items from a distance. As soon as they entered the city, Gengar always switched to ‘Thief.’

Not far off, Kunsa, Heiji, and Conan arrived as well.

To Am’s surprise, the first to arrive after her were none other than Aunt Shizuka and Aunt Ginzi.

Had they not gone far at all?

Yumi, Heiji, and Conan followed closely behind. The location was not far from the Hokage Rock; presumably, everyone had heard the scream directly.

Seeing Konoha and Ran unharmed, the detective duo relaxed, but upon spotting another victim, Heiji quickly asked, “What happened? Konoha, what’s going on?”

“We just finished eating ramen and came out…” Konoha hurriedly recounted the recent events to Heiji and his mother.

Just as Am had imagined, as they approached the bridge, they saw the Uzumaki woman set herself on fire and then jump into the water.

While Konoha screamed, Xiaoxia immediately dove in, pulling the woman underwater in a ‘submerge’ move to extinguish the flames.

Only after that did she release the Gyarados, which pushed both herself and the woman ashore.

At that moment, the Uzumaki woman, being resuscitated by Xiaoxia, instinctively coughed up water.

Xiaoxia smiled with relief, pressing her ear to the woman’s chest and detecting a heartbeat.

“You saw her set herself on fire? And Xiaoxia jumped right in after?” Heiji looked skeptical at the woman who had just regained a heartbeat.

Though silent, Conan also wore a similarly doubtful expression.

“Hey! I was scared, but Xiaoxia definitely was the first to jump in!” Konoha said, annoyed.

“That’s right, and there was no one else nearby; she definitely set herself on fire,” Xiaoxia added.

“No, no, I’m not doubting what you said, but…” Heiji, sensing Aunt Ginzi’s gaze, hastily explained.

“It is a bit strange, Xiaoxia… Did the woman struggle when you rescued her?” Am asked for confirmation.

According to Sonoko and the others, the woman had just jumped, and Xiaoxia had rushed to save her. How could she have been unconscious from drowning?

“Eh? Now that you mention it… she didn’t struggle. She just floated on the water, fully ablaze. I quickly dragged her underwater, but it was only for a moment. Even if she swallowed water, she shouldn’t have…” Xiaoxia paused, realizing something.

The drowning victim shouldn’t have failed to struggle, especially while on fire.

“Could it be that she hit her head when she jumped and lost consciousness?” Yumi pointed out, noticing the wound on the victim’s forehead.

With these clues, Am’s memory began to stir…

“Ah! I know! The culprit must have knocked her unconscious earlier, tied her to the bridge, and when someone approached, threw her, already unconscious, into the water…” Am suddenly speculated wildly.

“Wait, but we actually saw her set herself on fire…”

“No! I bet you didn’t get a good look at her face. The culprit must have disguised themselves as her, set themselves ablaze, and jumped in, accidentally igniting the real woman drifting on the water. They didn’t expect Xiaoxia to dive in so quickly!” Am followed the thread of her memory and voiced her deduction.

Indeed, if Xiaoxia had been slower, what they would have seen was simply the normal drowned body, with burn marks.

“Wait, while that makes sense… don’t you think it’s a bit… rash to jump to such a conclusion?” Heiji said awkwardly.

Conan merely gave a look that said, “He always reasons like this.”

“Rash? That’s normal, because…” Am put on a serious face and said, “I’m a Grass-type trainer! Hahaha…”

Everyone: …

Thanks, that was a chill!

But Yumi truly felt it made sense and immediately sent Kunsa, who had water-type Pokémon, to swim downstream along the Nanga River to search for suspicious individuals. The Uzumaki woman was taken away by ambulance. If she woke up, the case would become clearer.

“I’m not a detective, just a passing trainer. For evidence and such, you all should handle it,” Am said, waving off the matter casually.

At that moment, Aunt Shizuka approached.

Even Am felt a bit nervous facing the stern woman.

“No, Am, you’re mistaken,” Aunt Shizuka said immediately, correcting her.

“Huh?” Am hadn’t yet processed it.

Aunt Shizuka continued, “Kunsa and the others will search for evidence later. As for the kids playing detective games… it’s better not to cause trouble at the crime scene.” She glanced at Heiji.

Am suddenly recalled that in this episode, Heiji’s father seemed to have deliberately egged him on, sending him fishing.

The Great Multiverse.

But if it were Aunt Shizuka, it wouldn’t be so blunt and crude…

“Mom, I was just trying to—”

Before Am could finish, she heard a sharp smack—Heiji was struck with a large wooden clapper, spinning nearly 360 degrees in midair before landing.