After reaching an agreent, the slightly stiff atmosphere between them dissipated.
Dressed in animal pajamas, the two walked hand in hand through the quiet night streets, looking like a pair of silly lovebirds out for a nightti stroll.
Although they drew so attention, most people chose to ignore them.
As they reached a business district where the surrounding shops and supermarkets had already closed, they ca to a stop.
"Hah... So many people were staring at us just now."
Yoko shivered slightly, feeling uneasy.
"..."
Ren was speechless at her reaction.
This woman... she really doesn't think before acting.
For soone like him, a textbook case of social anxiety—not to be confused with a social recluse—this kind of situation was the last thing he wanted to experience.
Just as he was about to sigh, a strong sense of intuition prompted him to look up.
Ren turned his head to the right, spotting a supermarket that had already ceased operations for the day.
The lights inside were completely off, making it difficult to see anything through the glass.
However, white graffiti was visible on the three upper windows of the supermarket.
A pale white curtain hung behind the graffiti, making it even harder to make out the markings clearly.
Ren then turned to look at the office building on the left, which was still brightly lit.
Due to the strong illumination from that side, the white light reflected off the supermarket's glass, making the graffiti even less noticeable.
But he could still see it.
"SOS."
"Huh?"
Yoko turned toward Ren, puzzled.
Noticing his gaze, she followed his line of sight and looked in the sa direction.
However, with the night's darkness acting as a curtain, the supermarket's interior appearing pitch black, and the glass reflecting light, she couldn't see the supposed SOS at all.
"Where? Where do you see 'SOS'?"
Yoko squinted, trying to find it but to no avail.
"The reflection makes it hard to see. It's normal that you can't spot it."
As he spoke, Ren took out his phone from Sefirah Castle. Instead of dialing the ergency line, he called a certain police officer he was familiar with.
After a few monts, the call connected.
With his keen hearing, Ren imdiately picked up on the background noise—it was far from quiet. He could hear several people talking.
It seed like she was working overti.
"Good evening, Officer Sato."
"...Oh, it's you."
Recognizing the voice, Sato Miwako imdiately knew who was calling.
That strange, mature-sounding boy she had t on Tsukikage Island.
"Why are you calling so late? Did sothing happen again?"
Miwako joked, half-expecting him to say no.
"Yes, actually. Just as you said."
"..."
She had only been joking, but the mont she realized he was serious, Miwako's deanor changed.
"Are you in trouble again?"
"No, nothing like that. I was just out for a walk with my neighbor to get so fresh air, and I noticed an SOS sign written on the glass of a closed supermarket."
"Also, the curtains on the three windows with the SOS markings have been drawn."
Miwako's breath hitched.
An SOS sign written on the supermarket's glass...
Sothing so obvious should have been noticed sooner.
If no one had seen it before, that would an soone wrote it after the supermarket closed.
And if the windows with SOS had curtains drawn over them... it was clear that soone was trying to conceal the ssage.
Which ant, sothing was happening inside that supermarket.
A bad feeling crept up her spine.
Because she suddenly recalled—
Recently, there had been a series of supermarket robberies targeting high-value items like gems and jewelry.
Feeling the shift in her tone, Ren's curiosity was piqued.
"Has sothing similar happened before?"
"...Yeah, you could say that."
Miwako hesitated for a mont but didn't deny it.
"Recently, a gang of robbers has been targeting supermarkets.
"They operate with careful planning, disguising themselves as cleaning or event staff before attacking the security guards after closing ti.
"They then steal valuable gems and jewelry from the supermarket's counters.
"They disable the security system beforehand, ensuring that no alarms are triggered.
"In other words, they're a well-prepared and highly organized criminal group."
"After the recent incident on Tsukikage Island, this new wave of robberies has put pressure on Inspector gure—his superiors want the case solved as soon as possible."
Miwako sighed.
"But the problem is, I don't know if this SOS is a real distress signal or just so prank."
"If I had concrete proof, I could convince Inspector gure to mobilize a large police force for an arrest operation."
"But without solid confirmation, I'd only be able to bring a few colleagues along to check it out."
"Are you sure about what you saw?"
Ren smirked slightly, then turned on the speaker function and handed the phone to Yoko.
Yoko imdiately understood his intention and took the phone with her free hand.
There was an easy way to confirm if this was the work of the robbers.
For most people, they would need to enter the supermarket to verify the situation firsthand.
But for a Seer, no secret could remain hidden.
Ren took out the maple leaf gold coin from his pocket, raised it slightly, and flipped it.
The coin landed with the letter side facing up.
A clear answer.
"I can confirm—it's the robbers."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
The next mont, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps on the other end of the phone.
It seed like they had sprung into action imdiately.
"The location is Kaminari Supermarket, on Akasaka Road."
"Got it!"
Amamiya Ren hesitated for a mont before posing another question in his mind.
—Do the robbers have guns?
He flipped the gold coin again.
Once more, the letter side faced up.
"Officer Sato, be careful. The robbers are ard."
"...As expected."
Miwako wasn't too surprised.
In previous cases, security guards had reported feeling sothing cold and tallic pressed against their backs.
However, since they had been blindfolded at the ti, they couldn't confirm whether it was a real firearm or just a replica.
"You're still outside the supermarket?"
"Yes."
"Take your neighbor and leave imdiately. That place is dangerous."
"Understood. Good luck with your work."
With that, Ren ended the call and tucked the gold coin back into Sefirah Castle.
He took his phone and stopped paying attention to the supermarket.
Instead, he simply led Yoko away.
"We'll leave this to the police."
Yoko, still slightly dazed, didn't resist.
She cast one last glance at the supermarket but said nothing.
Instead, she quietly followed Ren as they left.
(To be continued.)
***
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