Conan froze and turned to look over. "She hasn't gone downstairs all day?"
Shiromoto Hidehiko sighed helplessly. "Chizuru really is something else, always making people worry. Don't tell me she's been sulking in there without eating and passed out from hunger... Where's the master key? I'll take it upstairs and check on her."
Haga Kyosuke picked up the ring of keys from the coffee table. Everyone had gone out for fun today, and the store manager had given him the keys before leaving. "This is it."
Shiromoto Hidehiko took the keys, handed the fish boxes to the manager, and turned to head upstairs.
The manager laboriously carried the two large fish boxes to the kitchen, where they would be used as ingredients for tonight's barbecue.
Just then, the phone at the counter rang. The female chef glanced at the caller ID and walked over to answer it. "Store manager? How's your car?"
The store manager sighed. "It's not fixed. It's too dark at the mountaintop—I can't see where the problem is even after taking it apart. I'll have to trouble you to come pick me up."
The female chef nodded. "I'll head out right away."
Hearing this, Mouri Ran glanced at the pitch-black mountain road and hurriedly said, "I'll come with you. It's not very safe for a girl to go out alone at night."
The female chef could not help laughing. Going out alone was unsafe, but would bringing along a slender, delicate girl like Ran somehow make it safer?
Still, she was more touched than anything by the guest's kindness. It would be nice to show her the night scenery and fireflies along the way, so she did not refuse. "Then thank you."
The two of them left the inn again and drove away.
Suzuki Sonoko was admiring