Mission 94 (
Summary[]
The Forgers at the snowy mountain
After watching Bondman skiing on a snowy mountain on the TV, Anya tells Loid that she wants to do that too. Loid tells her they do not have time for that, but he relents when Anya starts to cry. As such, as Anya's reward for working hard on her exams, the Forgers take a ski trip to a big, snowy ski mountain.
As the Forgers goes skiing, Loid teaches Anya and Yor how to ski. Yor slips as she ends up going the wrong direction at high speed but kicks herself off a tree and flips to make a safe landing, and she tries to excuse this feat to the stunned Loid. After struggling to ski, Anya finds herself not having fun, which Bond makes up for as they go sledding down the mountain with Loid and Yor.
A cold wave overtakes the Forgers
The weather starts getting cold, ending the fun of the Forgers. Loid senses a blizzard is brewing, and Yor offers to return home. However, the roads have closed because of the blizzard, forcing the family to stay at a lodge for the night. At the lodge, the Forgers are given the last vacant room. The family is then introduced to the others inside: the ski club college students, the lodge owner and his wife, the lodge employee, a tabloid writer, and an avid skier. During dinner, the tabloid writer tries to scare Anya with an old town legend of "The Red Snowman," a monster who murders the townsfolks one by one during blizzards and likes targeting noisy children who stay up past dark. However, this gets Anya excited to search for this monster.
A dangerous, shadowy figure roams the lodge halls
As the guests split off to do their own business, the lodge owner's wife reminds everyone to return to the lobby to try one of their famous cakes in about an hour. The Forgers then head to their room. Yor quickly gets flustered at the idea of sleeping in the same room as Loid and runs away to cool off in the blizzard for a bit. Loid decides to step out as well, intending to observe the lodge's layout for possible escape routes, and lets Anya and Bond tag along. Meanwhile, a shadowy figure with a sharp object walks through the halls.
After the hour passes, Loid and Anya have cake in the lobby, with the former wondering where Yor is while the college students also wonder the same for one of their friends, Max. After hearing a loud crash, the students decide to check their rooms at the lodge owner's suggestion but find nothing. As Yor returns, the students check on Max, who has been silent in his room. After opening his door, everyone is shocked to find Max lying on the floor with an object stabbed into his back. After getting Yor to take Anya back to their room, Loid checks on the still-alive Max and treats his injuries. One of the students sees that Max has been stabbed with a frozen carrot and fears that they have been targeted by the Red Snowman.
Loid declares to find the culprit's identity
After doing all he can for Max's injuries, Loid asks if the police and paramedics were able to be reached, but the owner reveals that their phone line has been cut. Everyone panics, but Loid fixes the phone lines, claiming that he had a part-time job repairing electronics in college. After making the call to the police, the lodge owner announces that they will not be able to arrive until morning. A student worries about the killer, but Loid tells everyone that after investigating the area and observing the recent incidents, he has concluded that the attacker is not an old town legend or an outsider, but someone inside the lodge. Suspicion quickly falls on Yor, as she was the only one who was not in the lobby when Max was attacked, but Yor says that she was outside enjoying the breeze. Due to the blizzard outside, the tabloid writer doubts Yor's statement and tries to have her restrained, but Loid stops him and declares to find the real culprit and prove their guilt.
After Loid's declaration, Anya hears the thoughts of the lodge owner, who reveals himself as the killer. The lodge owner decides to change his original plan to make the murder appear to be at the hands of the Red Snowman myth to a lover's quarrel among the college kids and swears to kill all of the ski club members for being loud and messy in his establishment. Loid tries to get the alibis of everyone between dinnertime and finding Max, but the ski club members refuse and stay in their room until the police arrive. Anya senses Bond having a vision and finds out the time and place of the next attack after reading his mind. Anya then hints this information to Loid and suggests they explore at that time, but he refuses.
Loid and Anya catch the killer
Later, due in part to Anya's influence, Loid catches the lodge owner just before his next attack, then uses his intuition and photographic memory to uncover the killer's tricks and dismantle his alibi, all while without raising any undue attention. As the police arrive to find the incident resolved, the killer is taken into custody, thus ending the case of the attempted Red Snowman murders. Afterward, on the Forgers' way to the station, Anya is excited by how the incident felt like a real-life detective show and declares it the best trip ever. As Loid and Yor warn her to stay away from dangerous people, Anya thinks to herself how both of them are dangerous too.
Characters[]
Trivia[]
Teaser image for collaboration
- The chapter is an homage to the 1994 Japanese visual novel, Kamaitachi no Yoru (released in English as Banshee's Last Cry), which follows a murder mystery at a ski lodge when a snowstorm takes place, with similar plot elements that kick off the mystery. The chapter illustration also makes a reference to the game.
- On September 3, 2024, before the release of Volume 14, the official Shōnen Jump+ Twitter account posted a teaser image of the Forgers pictured in a game similar to the original. On September 4, 2024, a special website for a game, which is a collaboration between the manga and Spike Chunsoft (the game's original developer) called Kamaitachi no Yor, was released.
- The chapter also pays homage to the Case Closed series (also known as Detective Conan).
- The shadowy figure on page 11 is a reference to "The Criminal," who is typically a black or shadowed humanoid figure that serves as a substitute image for the culprit of the story to keep their identity a secret until the reveal[2], which explains why the figure shared no resemblance to Rodger, who eventually turned out to be the true culprit.
- On page 22, when Loid points his finger at the criminal, he stands in Shinichi Kudo's characteristic pose.
- All of the newly introduced characters for this chapter have names that are puns on their backgrounds.
- The name of the station, Yukigoonie Station, is a play on the Japanese word yukiguni (雪国?), meaning "snow country" in English.
References[]