Vodka summarized the patterns behind Cito's past appearances, trying to guess Uzo's movements this time. He quickly discovered...
There seemed to be no pattern at all.
"Who would've thought that 'Uzo,' who was sinister and cunning in front of others, always looking like he was about to send someone to their funeral, was actually just a convenient errand boy for the real Uzo?"
He sighed and muttered to himself, "As far as I remember, that guy Uzo even had 'Uzo' run errands and buy him alcohol before—and more than once. This time, although he showed up in public, maybe he doesn't actually have a specific target. Maybe he was just too lazy to solve the case himself?"
"It'd be great if that were true, but I still need to guard against him having some other purpose. Still, no matter what he wants to do, I'm so far away from him that there's no way he can screw me over."
Vodka estimated the physical distance between them and immediately felt reassured. He secretly noted this key point and decided to wait and see.
Elsewhere.
Akai Shuichi found his Toolbox and busied himself in front of the mirror for quite a while. Then, staring at the utterly ordinary, slightly tall passerby in the reflection, he fell into thought.
Previously, in order to switch places with Okiya Subaru, he had specifically sought out Kudo Yukiko to learn a half-baked Disguise Technique, allowing him to disguise himself as Okiya Subaru.
Now, with the genuine Okiya Subaru's attempt to flee having failed, that replacement plan had temporarily fallen through. Still, he had retained the skill.
"I can't disguise myself as a specific person yet, but simple concealment should be enough."
The only concern was that, in order to deliberately make himself look different from