And so, Ryuto and the others proceeded towards the neighboring street.

"Is this the place?"

Next to an artificial river was a building named "Yokuto Department Store."

"Yes, this is it, to be precise, it's the underground parking lot here."

"I see..."

After all, they didn't come here to buy clothes.

"What are we going to do next?"

Crepes·Clair checked the time.

"It's 13:25 now, time is running short, so let's head straight to the underground parking lot to change clothes. Mr. Amagi still hasn't changed, and Miss Anna also needs to change."

"Indeed, time is really running out. Let's hurry inside."

And so, Ryuto and the others made their way to the underground parking lot.

Just then...

"Thud—"

The crisp sound of impact and intense laughter could be heard.

The sound came from the right side, as Ryuto and the others had come from the left, so they didn't notice it earlier.

Huh?

The group turned their heads in surprise.

A few meters away from Ryuto stood two young men, and in front of them was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl with short brown hair for some reason, her eyes covered by a somewhat dirty white cloth.

Are they playing hide and seek?

Although this idea came to mind at first, Ryuto quickly dismissed it when he saw a metal bowl in front of the girl.

Clearly, it was begging, and why the girl's eyes were covered by cloth was evident, probably because she was blind.

As Ryuto thought this way, another crisp sound of impact rang out.

It was the sound of something falling into the metal bowl in front of the girl. Without a doubt, that something was thrown by one of the men in front of her.

Due to her blindness, the girl's hearing was better than average, but even if it weren't, she should have heard it, as Ryuto standing at a distance could hear it, let alone the girl closest to it.

Therefore, upon hearing that familiar impact sound, the girl lowered her head with a smile.

"Thank you very much."

Thanking someone whose name, appearance, age, and even gender she didn't know.

The person being thanked covered his mouth with his hand, trying not to laugh out loud, but in reality, he failed, and his laughter leaked out. Not only the girl in front of him but even Ryuto could hear it.

However, despite hearing the same sound, the reactions were different. The girl who couldn't see stood still in confusion because she didn't understand what was happening, while Ryuto, who was different from the girl, understood. It wasn't due to any other reason but simply because Ryuto could see, making him understand.

Because the object was a solid one, the sound it made when thrown into the metal bowl was hard to distinguish from a coin. But Ryuto knew what it was; in fact, Ryuto saw the whole process clearly, from the man picking up the object from the ground to throwing it into the metal bowl.

Because it wasn't the first time, Ryuto could see the whole process clearly, and thus, he understood that the impact sound and laughter he heard earlier were related.

The object thrown was a common one, more common than coins, something worthless that could be found anywhere on the ground: small stones.

"Those guys..."

Crepes·Clair angrily rushed forward.

But before that, she was stopped by someone.