One day, two days, a week, two weeks... Life in New Eridu remained unexpectedly calm. Though the media continued their relentless coverage, it had little impact on the daily lives of its citizens.
The large-scale Hollow disaster that erupted during the fireworks gala had long since faded from public attention under municipal control, no longer a topic of focus.
The manhunt for Hoshimi Miyabi remained fruitless. She seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving not the slightest trace behind.
As time passed, Miyabi's parents grew increasingly anxious, though their worry accomplished nothing. Tsukishiro Yanagi and the others shared their growing unease.
Yet the trouble went beyond Miyabi's disappearance. Because Zane and Tyce had vanished together, high-ranking figures from the White Star Institute, the Financial Alliance, the city administration, and even the military began showing outright hostility toward the Hoshimi family.
Opportunists took advantage of the situation, using media and information channels to paint Hoshimi Miyabi and her family as villains. As public opinion grew harsher, anything associated with the Hoshimi name became tainted in people's eyes.
Faced with this, Hoshimi Souichirou could only continue shrinking the family's sphere of activity—or rather, he had stopped caring about the family's affairs altogether.
All he wanted was for his daughter to come home.
...
At the video store on Sixth Street.
"So, any leads on the Hoshimi Miyabi case?"
Tsukishiro Yanagi stood beside the sofa in the back room, arms crossed. This time, Harumasa and Soukaku hadn't come along—she was on her own.
Tsukishiro Yanagi was meticulous by nature and played a similar role within Section 6. She had long noticed something suspicious about the siblings.
After Hoshimi Miyabi's last visit here, Yanagi had kept a closer watch on this video store. Anyone who could stay by Zane's side definitely wasn't someone ordinary.
As a Section 6 member with access to vast Shin information networks, once she decided to investigate, looking into two New Eridu residents was a simple task.
Later, when she connected the clues to the Proxy identity and sought the siblings' cooperation, everything fell naturally into place.
Once she had shown goodwill and mentioned Zane and Hoshimi Miyabi, the siblings became much easier to talk to.
"No luck. Even after combing through nearly half a month of records, we still haven't found anything. It's like she's deliberately hiding. With Hoshimi Miyabi's level of expertise, if she's really doing that, finding her will be next to impossible."
Belle stood before the computer, her hands flying over the keyboard as the glow from the monitor reflected in her eyes.
Fairy's abilities were impressive, but she couldn't create results out of nothing.
"It's not 'seems like' anymore—we can basically confirm it. The Section Chief is deliberately hiding. A lot of people have realized this by now."
Tsukishiro Yanagi's expression remained steady as she spoke quietly.
"And that's exactly why those who love to jump to conclusions have grown more and more critical of her."
After the first few days turned up nothing, the Section 6 members had already begun to suspect as much. After all, if she weren't hiding intentionally, it would be impossible for there to be absolutely no trace.
Yanagi had only hesitated to confirm it because she couldn't yet understand why.
"Sigh... The media really is the so-called Fourth Estate. Those people... Fairy's already done everything she could to suppress the spread, but it hasn't helped much."
Wise shook her head helplessly as she spoke.
"If Miyabi really is hiding on purpose, then Zane should be fine. At the very least, he's still alive—that would make sense."
Belle nodded thoughtfully, voicing her speculation.
Then, as if remembering something, she turned toward Wise.
"By the way, what about those Hollows?"
The Hollows that Zane had left behind hadn't disappeared after the disaster was contained. They remained—not visibly hanging in the sky, but shrunken and sealed off by the Falkenhayn Mercenary Troupe.
"With no progress elsewhere right now, maybe we should go take a look at those Hollows..."