A string of ding-dongs rang out.
A minute passed. No one answered.
Vermouth stared at the utterly silent Agasa Residence. "...?"
Her heart sank, and a bad feeling quietly crept over her. After hesitating for a moment, the "newspaper salesperson" raised her hand and, with an indescribable feeling, pressed the doorbell again.
"Ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong—"
Even the crows passing by lowered their heads to look after being disturbed by the noise, yet there was still no response from inside.
"You're looking for Professor Agasa?" A mailman stopped beside her, slipped a travel postcard into the mailbox, and casually struck up a conversation. "Half an hour ago, I ran into his car at an intersection and chatted with him for a bit—he went out on a little trip."
Vermouth: "..."
The busy mailman did not linger. He gave the pale-looking visitor a puzzled glance, then waved, deciding not to meddle, and continued with his work.
As his bicycle rode farther away, the street became empty once more.
A cold gust swept by, stirring up several fallen leaves. Vermouth stood alone by the roadside, silently pulling her coat tighter around herself like an elderly woman in an empty nest.
After a long while, she finally could not help roaring in her heart, "... Uzo!!"
Angry as she was, she could hardly break into someone's house in broad daylight. Besides, the walls around that tech grandpa's home were hung with things that looked baffling at first glance, yet sent a faint chill down one's spine upon closer inspection.
On top of that, Uzo's house was next door, and several Cameras were scattered across his walls as well. After hesitating for a long time, Vermouth ultimately gave up on forcibly entering the house and left dejectedly.
As she walked farther and farther