"I swear I'm not lying to you. Really."
Nekomata raised her hands in surrender. She'd only come to help with the daily running of the cat café, but somehow, she couldn't leave now. These little ones really did adore Zane.
As she thought about it, her gaze dimmed. It would be a lie to say she wasn't worried—but besides worrying, what else could she do? If it were just that Zane had gone missing, it wouldn't be so bad. But what they said about Miss Miyabi that day… that part truly unsettled her.
According to Nicole, Zane's mentor—the officer Qingyi—had already submitted his resignation. His condition over the past two days had been terrible, clearly because of Zane's disappearance.
To be honest, she wasn't handling it well either, often spacing out without realizing it. After all… this place had been built by the two of them together.
Before, Zane would sometimes be away from Tanuki House, but most of the time, Nekomata could see him around. Even during those rare times he wasn't there, she could still sense traces of his presence—it was reassuring.
But now, three days had passed. Zane had vanished completely, without a trace, and hadn't returned to Tanuki House.
"Meow... You're all worried, and so am I..."
Nekomata slumped weakly against the edge of the sofa. Just moments ago she had been chatting with the cats, and now even she was sighing.
After a brief pause, she gathered herself again, stood up, patted her cheeks, and raised a hand to cheer herself on.
"This Nekomata can't just keep moping around like this!"
"Zane's so capable—he must be on some secret mission. If I keep acting like this, he'll knock me on the head when he gets back..."
Her two tails swished behind her as she regained her energy. Looking around Tanuki House, she rolled up her sleeves and declared,
"Come on, meow! Let's get to work and show Zane a brand-new Tanuki House when he returns!"
...
Zane had been missing for three days. Since breaking through the blockade, Hoshimi Miyabi had also disappeared from everyone's sight for three days. Aside from Qingyi, no one had seen her since that day. Not her parents, nor her colleagues from Section 6.
Inside the Hoshimi residence, the large estate was quiet, almost empty. In the courtyard between the corridors, new greenery was sprouting with life. After the abnormal snowstorm that struck New Eridu, the plants here had been replaced by specialists. Now, they were just beginning to grow again. As for the old vegetation, it had long perished, fading away along with the endless snow.
In the front hall of the Hoshimi residence, Hoshimi Souichirou was meeting with Tsukishiro Yanagi and the others. He had invited them himself—naturally, to learn something about his missing daughter. After all, as former colleagues of the "fugitive" Hoshimi Miyabi, the members of Section 6 held important roles in the pursuit operation and were likely to know more than most.
However, despite Souichirou's hopeful gaze, Tsukishiro Yanagi and the others brought no new information. Even the entire pursuit team was just as lost as he was regarding Hoshimi Miyabi's whereabouts. Soukaku, standing to the side, was unusually silent.
"Sigh... what are we supposed to do now?"
"How could Miyabi possibly have done something like that...?"
After hearing Yanagi's report on their recent findings, Hoshimi Souichirou murmured with a troubled look. He and Miyabi's mother had been deeply worried. Neither could comprehend how their brilliant, strong, kind, and responsible daughter had changed so suddenly. It had all happened far too quickly.
Yanagi and Harumasa exchanged glances, both showing signs of fatigue and concern.
"Head of the Hoshimi family, this likely has little to do with Miyabi herself. At the time, she was in a state of complete loss of control—we all know the reason for that. That's why she's being pursued, not hunted."
"The most urgent thing now is to find her," Harumasa said seriously after a short pause.
"After all, since Miyabi hasn't come forward on her own, there's a high chance she's still in that same uncontrolled state."