Suga paused to think for a moment.

“I’ll have lunch at this inn’s restaurant instead, while looking at the situation in this place.”

Suga looked at Nellson with a curious expression.

“Sorry, Nellson. Can you join me for lunch? Even if you don’t eat….”

Nellson nodded in astonishment.

“Of course, Suga. No problem.”

Suga stood up from his seat and closed the shoji sliding door of his room. Suga walked out of the room; Nellson then flew after him.

Suga walked down the corridor he had walked before and arrived at an expansive restaurant room with one section with a higher surface that provided short tables with Japanese sitting cushions (zabuton) on the floor and a tatami floor, and another section of the room that had groups of wooden dining tables with two long wooden chairs facing each other and glossy brown wooden floors. A kitchen with a modern, classic Japanese-style kitchen bar on one side of this dining area and rows of shoji sliding doors opened completely, showing a beautiful view of the classic Japanese garden and mountain in the distance at the rear of the inn.

Suga walked into this room through tall, glossy brown wooden framed glass double doors; Nellson flew after Suga and landed on the floor near Suga. Suga looked around curiously; his attention was focused on two middle-aged police men detectives wearing suits and loafers, sitting on the cushions (zabuton) with a short table between them and talking about something with serious expressions. Suga decided to sit near the two police detectives a few tables apart. Suga looked at the menu book on his desk and chose what he wanted to order while his mind was divided as he listened to the conversation between these two police detectives. One of the police detectives said.

“Where do you think the eleven people gone missing from this town are?”

The expressions of fellow detectives nearby turned serious.

“I don’t know; it’s been several days, and we still haven’t found a definite clue to their whereabouts. The weird thing here is if one or two people are missing, it might be difficult for us to find a clue, but eleven people with no clue at all? How can we have trouble as if all of them have disappeared into thin air?”

The police detective answered.

“I don’t know, maybe this town is cursed or something....”

The two detectives continued talking to each other while occasionally eating and drinking.

Suga’s attention returned to the menu in his hand; he then called the waitress. A waitress wearing a kimono approached Suga and then sat in a seiza position to take his order. The waitress’s attention was immediately drawn to the owl Yokai Nellson standing on the floor near Suga. Suga smiled.

“He is my pet owl who is doing cosplay.”

The waitress’s attention was directed back to Suga, then smiled. The waitress writes down Suga’s orders.

“Is there anything else you want?”

Suga shook his head and smiled.

“No, thank you.”

The waitress bowed respectfully, then stood up and walked back into the kitchen.

Suga enjoyed dishes on his table while enjoying the beautiful scenery behind this inn. Suga’s attention was also divided between the two detectives, who were still chatting.

“After this, I will try to find information by going around the town, how about you?”

His partner detective, sipping the tea from his glass.

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“Townspeople's information and behavior is strange for some reason; it gives me a chill.”

The detective nodded.

“Now that you mention it, it sure is weird. You want to come with me?”

His partner shook his head.

“No, I’ll just double-check my investigation details instead.”

The detective looked curious.

“Then what about this case? Is it true that tomorrow we will leave this town?”

His partner’s expression turned doubtful.

“Yeah, what else can we do? Our investigation has reached a dead end. But, of course, the investigation will still continue until an unspecified time limit. Let’s hope we can find a clue. The local police of this town will also continue to investigate.”

The detective nodded. Sometime later, the two detectives stood up and then left.

On the other hand, Suga continued to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two detectives while continuing his almost-finished lunch. Nellson looked curious and walked up to Suga.

“Looks like the detectives will be leaving the town soon.”

Suga nodded.

“They must be the police from outside Kagohara town; there’s no way they will continue to stay in this town to investigate.”

Nellson nodded.

“What about us? What we’ll do?”

Suga stops eating for a moment.

“After this, we will go around the town to find information.”

Nellson nodded; Suga then drank his glass of tea.

The current time is 2:30 pm. Suga walked out of the inn's entrance and then looked around him. Suga took out his smartphone and checked his investigation files for a while.

“Okay, I’ll check the nearest victim’s house first.”

Suga looked around curiously.

“Should I walk or....”

Suga’s attention was focused on the bicycle rental shop in front of a one-level house in the area around the front of the inn.

“Transportation problem solved.”

Suga walked towards the bicycle rental shop owned by an old man and then rented a bicycle with a basket in front of it and a pillion area in the back. The old man’s attention was drawn to Nellson, who looked at him in astonishment.

“What a unique bird. Is it an owl?”

Suga smiled.

“That’s right, uncle. He is my pet who likes to do cosplay, like what he is doing now.”

The old man nodded; Nellson, standing on the floor, raised his head and watched the two of them curiously. Suga excused himself to the old man and then got on his bicycle.

“Okay, get on board, Nellson.”

Nellson turned to Suga and nodded. Nellson flew and stood in the basket attached to the front of the bicycle handlebars, Nellson’s head sticking out higher than the basket. The old man was slightly surprised to see that.

“Wow, what a smart owl. He understands your orders.”

Suga smiled awkwardly.

“Yes, sir. Because I train him every day, hahaha.”

Suga forced a laugh. Nellson watched the two of them from inside the basket curiously. Suga pedaled his bicycle away from here.

Suga rode the bicycle with Nellson in the front basket. Suga cycled on an asphalt road that connects classic Japanese modern-style buildings. On the outskirts of the town are rows of shops and shophouses on the right and fruit plantations on the left on the lower ground. Suga stopped for a moment in front of a bus stop.

“I got engrossed in riding a bicycle around this town and forgot my task.”

While standing in the basket in front of the bicycle handlebar, Nellson turned around and looked at Suga.

“What’s wrong, Suga? I feel like we’ve been going in circles ever since.”

Suga smiled awkwardly.

“Indeed, that’s what happened, hahaha.”

Nellson looked at Suga in surprise. Suga took out his smartphone from his trouser pocket, checked his investigation files, and saw the address records of the victims’ houses.

“It will be difficult to find these addresses.”

Suga rode his bicycle back and stopped at a bakery and cake shop. Suga walked into the shop, and Nellson was still waiting in the bicycle basket. After buying a pack of bread and asking the shop owner lady for the addresses Suga was looking for, he walked out of the shop and returned on his bicycle. Nellson looked curious.

“Do you know where these addresses’ are?”

Suga nodded.

“Yeah, we even already passed a few of these addresses, hahaha.”

Suga laughed awkwardly. Nellson looked at Suga curiously. Suga opened a pack of bread he had just bought, then ate it while pedaling away from here.

The current time is 3:45 pm. The evening sky turned orange, colored by the warm sunlight and the gentle breeze blowing. Suga rode his bicycle with Nellson standing in the front basket. Not long after, they arrived at a two-story Japanese classic-style house with a garage at the front of the house. Suga walked to the house entrance, Nellson flew after him and landed first in front of the entrance. Suga pressed the intercom bell of this house, but there was no answer on the intercom device. Not long after, a middle-aged woman opened the door to this house and looked at Suga with an astonished expression.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

Suga took out his ID and showed it to this woman.

“I am a government investigator assigned to work on missing persons cases in this town.”

This woman looked at Suga’s ID card with an expression of disbelief.

“You are a government investigator?”

Suga smiled.

“That’s right. I may not look like it, but I am an investigator, after all.”

The woman’s expression was still a bit of disbelief, but she tried to accept it. The woman’s attention turned towards Nellson, who watched them curiously. Before this woman commented, Suga immediately said with a smile.

“This owl is my pet who likes to do cosplay like he is doing now. I used to take him to accompany my investigations.”