Beside them, Kurosawa Kazuma suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his nose and eyed the other two suspiciously.
Yet Hashimoto Maya wore a look of perfect righteousness, while Inozuka Saburo was deep in thought. Neither of them seemed to be badmouthing him in their hearts.
Just then, Inozuka Saburo's eyes lit up as he thought of a solution. "You know dashcams, right?"
"Duh, who doesn't?" Kurosawa Kazuma said, then suddenly understood. "We just need to bring a video camera and record our entire trip!—Preferably an old-fashioned one that can't edit footage or Photoshop anything. That way, the killer will have some reservations. Even if they try to frame someone, they'll frame somebody else."
The three exchanged glances and nodded slightly, sharing an unspoken understanding.
Everything was ready. All that remained was to escape.
"The search around here is still tight right now, so this place is safe too. Let's wait another couple of days, until the police let down their guard and ease up on the searches. Then we'll set off. The theater troupe will be performing by then too."
The next afternoon.
Three high school students and one Fake Elementary School Student wandered through the Commercial District, lamenting their poor classmate, whose life had been full of misfortune and whose whereabouts were unknown.
While paying, they noticed a raffle. Thinking they were already there anyway, Mouri Ran jogged over and casually drew a ticket.
"Ding—"
The clerk shook the bell in his hand. "Grand prize! A full package for the Aphrodia Troupe, including food, lodging, and travel expenses—congratulations, miss!"
"Theater troupe tickets?" Mouri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko froze for a moment, then beamed. "We were just thinking that after what happened to Ito's family's theater troupe, we had nowhere to rehearse our play. Who knew we'd get another chance to