Conan froze for a moment, then, drenched in cold sweat, silently shifted away and hid behind a life-sized clothes hanger in the corridor.
Holding his breath behind the wide, fluffy skirt, he hid there for a few seconds and was just about to peek toward the bedroom to see if anyone had come after him.
But before he could stick his head out—
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone lightly knocked on the bedroom door a few times.
The person's knocks were neither hurried nor slow, leisurely and relaxed, as though they already knew someone was spying from the corridor but did not care. Instead, out of courtesy, they had used the knocking sound as a greeting.
It sounded as though the other party meant no harm.
But remembering That Lord behind the woman in black, Conan could not interpret it in a positive light—were those knocks just now a warning from the person inside?
At the same time, Conan was not the only one whose heart rate had shot up.
Just beyond the wall.
Hearing those knocks, Okiya Subaru also froze instantly. Someone so elusive, who showed no panic whatsoever even after being discovered and instead radiated a faint sense of righteous confidence, had to be Uzo...!
Okiya Subaru: "..." No. Calm down.
Theoretically, Uzo should still be in Tokyo.
More importantly, how was he supposed to deal with this? The person outside was knocking on the door, wasn't he?
Okiya Subaru: "..." Sh-should he open it and take a look?
If the person knocking really was Uzo, leaving him outside would only lead to a worse death.
He might as well open the door and see. If it was someone else, there would still be room to turn things around. If it was Uzo, struggling would be useless anyway...