Free Web NovelChapter 1580: Chapter 471: Ritual
"Click~"
"Good morning, ladies..."
The next day, Jinghe District, Sakuragi Residence.
Nara yawned as she pushed open Sakuragi Hitomi’s bedroom door, only to pause slightly upon entering.
Inside the room, she saw Sakuragi Hitomi sitting on the floor in her pajamas, writing or drawing something, and scattered around her were notes. A frail black cat sat amidst the papers, as if it could read, also bowing its head to look at the pages.
"Nara, great, you’re here! How did the matter I entrusted to you last night go?"
Upon seeing Nara, Sakuragi Hitomi, whose eyes were slightly bloodshot, immediately looked up at her and asked urgently.
Upon hearing this, Nara opened her mouth but didn’t immediately respond. Instead, she surveyed the room and asked,
"...You didn’t stay up all night, did you?"
Especially when her gaze fell on the black cat, Nara’s eyes paused involuntarily.
Sakuragi Hitomi did love cats, but they were all kept in the cat room and never entered her bedroom. This was quite unusual.
The main reason was Sakuragi Hitomi’s health.
No matter how well you clean, places where cats frequent always have hair left behind.
For someone with a healthy constitution, this tiny amount of hair is completely harmless.
But it’s different for Sakuragi Hitomi. If she stays in such an environment for long, her fragile respiratory tract would get inflamed, causing incessant sneezing and other chain reactions.
This is why, despite her love for cats, she never allows them into her living area.
Even when she occasionally goes in to feed or play with them, she has to keep track of time; otherwise, she needs to wear a mask.
And now, with the cat appearing in the bedroom and Sakuragi Hitomi being in poor shape, it was clearly out of the ordinary.
"No, I just didn’t sleep well, don’t worry about me... Nara, did you find anything last night?"
"...Yeah, I had someone look around. He didn’t go to the hospital, and the nearby surveillance cameras didn’t catch Yan Huan leaving. It’s impossible to check every camera in the city; we’ll have to focus on places he might frequent."
As she spoke, Nara subtly moved the black cat a bit further away from Sakuragi Hitomi and said softly,
"But this morning I went to his public rental apartment in the South District, broke open the lock, and took a look. It was a mess inside; he wasn’t there, but there were traces of his blood..."
Saying this, Nara was also silently asking:
What exactly happened?
Why the sudden urgency to find Yan Huan in the middle of the night, why did his apartment look like it was attacked...
Could it be Alvira’s doing?
"I see..."
But Sakuragi Hitomi merely pinched her chin, furrowed her brows, and did not explain what specifically had happened.
Seeing this, Nara pondered for a moment, then asked,
"Do you need to call the police?"
"No need!"
Upon hearing this, Sakuragi Hitomi immediately shook her head.
The matter involves the modifier; the President understands it better than her and won’t use the modifier to act recklessly.
Involving more outsiders might not help at all and could even spiral the situation out of control.
"...Alright."
Nara squinted her eyes, holding the frail black cat, and instinctively glanced at the notes Sakuragi Hitomi was writing on the floor.
She couldn’t understand what was on them, but she saw a hand-shaped drawing with many neat little characters written near the five fingers.
Curious, she was about to pick one up to take a look, but Sakuragi Hitomi quickly held it down.
"..."
Nara looked at Sakuragi Hitomi in confusion, but saw that Hitomi awkwardly pulled the papers into her arms and asked in a low voice,
"Nara, can you please keep an eye on the President’s house for a while? Let me know immediately if he shows up, okay?"
"Keep an eye?"
At this, Nara raised her eyebrows, seemingly recalling something.
She then turned and walked to a nearby bookshelf, stretching to take down a small box from the top.
"Here."
Opening the box, there lay a camera quietly inside.
"Use this, it’s more convenient."
"Uh..."
At the sight of this device, Sakuragi Hitomi couldn’t help but press her lips together.
This was the camera placed in the student council, and it was the first camera she used to monitor Yan Huan.
Back when she set up the barrier, this was the first place she put it, and since it was useless, it had been taken down.
It stayed on her bookshelf ever since and wasn’t thrown out with the other cameras.
Originally, she didn’t want to revisit these memories, but given the urgent situation, she had no choice but to return to her old profession...
"Then... please take care of it..."
"Alright... but I’m not sure if this will still work. The wire was just ripped out when it was dismantled. I’d better buy some new ones."
Nara pursed her lips, shaking her head as she closed the box and put it back on the shelf.
She then prepared to leave, holding the cat,
"I’ll go buy some cameras and set them up where Yan Huan might appear... By the way, are you going to school today?"
"Today I’ll just..."
Hearing this, Sakuragi Hitomi covered her temple, shaking her head.
After a sleepless night, she felt a little unwell, and simply decided to take a day off.
"...Alright. But I have to remind you, with movements like these, it won’t be long before Alvira notices."
"..."
Sakuragi Hitomi pursed her lips, lowered her eyes, and pondered for a moment, but still resolutely looked up at Nara,
"That... doesn’t matter."
"...Got it."
Nara sighed, shaking her head, and was about to leave to get to work.
"Click..."
And as the door closed, Meow ran back near Sakuragi Hitomi and said,
