"Surprise?"
Vermouth savored the word, feeling that something was off. Suzuki Sonoko, who had proposed this "surprise," was merely a simple-minded rich second-generation girl, but that was precisely why she could not be taken lightly—she was one of the people closest to Uzo, and the simpler her mind was, the more easily she could be influenced without realizing it, perhaps even becoming Uzo's puppet entirely. By that logic, this surprise was practically a gift from Uzo... What exactly could it be?
Vermouth: "..." The more she thought about it, the more unsettling it became. That child treated Angel and Cool Guy fairly well, but his mindset was different from ordinary people's. A surprise in Uzo's eyes... Could it be that, on this festive day, he planned to give his beloved classmates a baffling major case?
As her thoughts raced, "Dr. Araide" said uneasily, "Let's go back and take a look together."
Mouri Ran nodded, and the two hurried toward Teitan High School.
Teitan High School Gymnasium.
Aside from the two protagonists who had met outside, Akai Shuichi, who knew the inside story, was also surprised to see the stage play begin. If he remembered correctly, "Dr. Araide," the male lead, should still have been on the way. Yet during the previous scene change, he had clearly seen someone dressed as the male lead make a low-key appearance onstage.
"Did they just find someone to go onstage and temporarily fill Vermouth's role?" Akai Shuichi took one glance and stopped paying attention, turning instead toward the audience. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but he kept hearing a strange rustling nearby, carrying an inexplicable urgency and excitement.
After looking around for a moment, his gaze soon stopped on the area diagonally in front of him.
A lean, middle-aged man sat there.