Despite the grim situation, Ryuto took a moment to reassess the current state of affairs. For some reason, upon returning to the hotel, he found several police officers stationed there.

It was unexpected that the other party acted so swiftly. Had they traced Ryuto back to this place, or had they traced the people he had rescued here? Regardless, the current situation was undoubtedly dire.

Hiyori seemed to have realized this too.

"Master Ryuto, what should we do?"

"Well, not to mention us, I am also worried about Asuka. I don't know how things are over there. It's been hours since our last contact, so let's make a phone call first."

With that, Ryuto took out his phone and dialed Asuka's number.

But...

"Huh? That's strange, I can't seem to get through."

Despite trying a few more times, Ryuto couldn't establish a connection. Reluctantly, he also dialed Arashikaze Manami's number, but the result was the same.

"What's going on?"

"Could something have happened?"

Hiyori speculated.

"It's very likely. By the way, Misaki, didn't you come back earlier? Did you see Asuka and the others then?"

"No, when I came back earlier, I didn't see them or even those police officers."

Misaki shifted her gaze towards the nearby police officers.

"...It seems like they haven't returned to the hotel. Although I'm not sure about the details, they must have encountered something on their way back."

"What should we do then?"

Hiyori inquired.

"Perhaps those police officers might know something."

Misaki suggested, running her hand through her long hair.

"That's a possibility."

"Should we capture those people and interrogate them?"

However, Ryuto quickly intervened.

"Wait, this is just speculation. They might have come looking for us."

"But if we stay here, we won't make any progress."

Ryuto nodded in agreement with Misaki.

"Exactly. We have to take action ourselves."

"Action?"

Hiyori asked, puzzled.

"Well, we don't know why they have come here, but one thing is for sure - they didn't come for a surprise inspection or to collect taxes. And those people are inside. We can't just ignore them. Besides, there might be some clues inside. In any case, we have to go in."

"How do we get in?"

"If the front door won't work, we'll have to use the back door."

And so, the three of them arrived at the back of the hotel. Instead of entering directly, they decided to...

With Hiyori carrying one person in each arm, they jumped up since Ryuto and Misaki didn't have the physical prowess.

Thankfully, they were only on the fourth floor, so it wasn't too high.

However...

"Ah... ah..."

After sneaking in through a window on the fourth floor located in the hallway, Ryuto finally couldn't hold on any longer, dropping to his knees and gasping for air.

Even though he knew there shouldn't be any danger, he still couldn't adapt. It felt like he was flying high up in the sky. Of course, Ryuto didn't have a fear of heights, but even so, he didn't want to try that adrenaline-inducing stunt, similar to bungee jumping, a second time.

After all, no matter how many times he did it, he could never get used to it.