The red-hooded figure didn’t seem to have noticed us. Her left hand, which was noticeably
white, was dragging a small bag. She wasn’t particularly tall, and her body was fairly slender.
Her coat resembled a poncho. Two cat ear-like protrusions stuck out of her hood. Although the
hood covered her head, I could see her blonde hair swaying to and fro as she walked.

“For an assassin, she sure sticks out like a sore thumb,” I whispered to Lico. “I didn’t think she’d
look so frail and slender.”

“You don’t need strength to kill someone,” Lico replied with an angelic expression on his face.

After we followed after her for a while, she turned into a narrow passageway and went through a
door labeled “Employees Only.”

The three of us huddled together beside the door.

“A staircase for employees... Where is she going?” I placed one hand on the door.

“Don’t,” Kyoko said, grabbing my arm. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Do you hear the grim reaper’s footsteps again? Don’t worry, I’m not gonna chase her too far. I
wanna at least figure out if she went up or down.”

I slowly pushed the door open.

All of a sudden, a slender arm shot through the doorway and grabbed onto my wrist.

“Eek!”

The arm pulled me through to the dim stair landing on the other side. Standing adjacent to the
door was Copycat, who was restraining me from behind. From far beyond the door, I could hear
the cold, lifeless muffle of a storewide announcement playing over the PA system.

Why didn’t I listen to Kyoko?