Ch'en continued moving forward through the beatings.
That move had been like a meteor streaking across the sky—once it was gone, it was gone, never to return. She had even begun to suspect that everything that had happened that night had been an illusion, nothing more than her own wishful fantasy.
Look at the poor kid. She'd been beaten stupid.
Hoshino watched Ch'en trudge off to work with her head hanging, then turned back to start cleaning when a faint knock suddenly came from the door.
The knock sounded hesitant, with a hint of feigned elegance.
"Who is it?"
Hoshino went outside to look, but saw no one. She turned around and lowered her head to continue cleaning.
May was hiding in the bushes, trembling.
She had been the one knocking just now. She had regretted it from the very first knock, but out of inertia, she still knocked three times. Once she was done, May did not wait for anyone to answer. She darted straight into the bushes and hid.
This was absolutely not cowardice!
May lowered her head and spoke into her recorder. "I am at the entrance of Yae Shrine. The scent of truth is already wafting toward me, and I can't wait to taste this sweet truth. But a good detective must proceed with caution. I need to outwit them."
"Oh, it's a detective game?"
"Meow!"
Someone patted the Liberi girl on the shoulder, and the sudden fright sent her into an avian stress response.
She played dead.
Hoshino scratched her head. It took her quite a while to recognize the girl. As a four-star Sniper, she was fairly useful, but Hoshino had no other impression of her and could only identify her by other details.
"Likes detective work, investigates shrines, enthusiastic and lively, but also