"Could he have already finished visiting and left?"
The guess flashed through his mind, but Calvados soon ruled it out: if they really had left, there should have been a round of pleasantries plus the commotion of a group of people going downstairs—this place's soundproofing was mediocre, and he shouldn't have missed that kind of noise.
"Then they got too bored waiting and started sitting around in a daze together?"
For a brief moment, he was a bit confused, and even had the thought of going over to take a peek.
However, soon, an Organization cadre who had encountered plenty of unexpected incidents in his time promptly cut off his unnecessary curiosity. "Whether they left or not has nothing to do with me. Forget them. I'll keep cleaning first."
He rinsed the rag again and went on wiping until he had cleaned the entire room spotless.
After completing an all-around cleaning, Calvados wiped his hands, looked at the fruits of his labor, and nodded in satisfaction.
But soon he discovered that the room still didn't look all that tidy. After sizing it up carefully, the problem seemed to lie with the old furniture.
—For example, that old television set in the corner.
"What era is this? They're actually still using a CRT television..." Calvados walked over speechlessly, planning to move it out of the room and dump it on the landlord. "Might as well get rid of it and replace it with a projector. That way I can watch movies at home too. Safer than a movie theater."
He stopped beside the television and was just about to reach out. However, right then, the television came on with a buzz.
A black-and-white static screen crackled into view before him. At the same time, a human voice as low as a