Encounter

August 29th, Tuesday, 4:00 p.m.

After picking up Misa, Shiraishi drove toward Karakuri Ridge.

They were less than an hour away from the Takeda family home when Shiraishi suddenly spotted someone walking toward them from the opposite direction by the roadside—

Even if the Takeda family home could not exactly be called "the middle of nowhere," one had to walk nearly a kilometer before reaching another house. The road was flanked by mountain forest, with hardly any pedestrians around. Any passerby they encountered naturally stood out.

"Hm?" Shiraishi seemed to have noticed something and hit the brakes.

Misa, who had been telling Akako in the back seat about the legend of "Lord Spider" she had heard as a child, was jolted by the braking and looked at Shiraishi in confusion.

Not only were the people in the car startled, but so was the passerby outside. Seeing that it was a white man—an American, no less—he immediately became wary. In America, a car stopping by the roadside in a situation like this could very well mean a highway robbery.

"Misa, it's a foreigner," Shiraishi reminded her.

Tottori Prefecture was not Tokyo. Foreigners were rare here, especially in such a remote place, and they were already close to the Takeda family home.

There were other homes in this direction, of course, but encountering a young white man at this time, even without any other proof, made Shiraishi suspect that he was the Robert Misa had mentioned.

Hearing that, Misa curiously looked outside, then froze—

"Misa!" The white man recognized Misa first, and delight immediately appeared on his face. "Misa? It really is you—"

"Ro-Robert? What are you doing here?" Misa was stunned as well. Officer Shiraishi had only just brought this up—what a coincidence.

"Of course I came to find you!" Robert