Upon hearing the shout from the basement, Minamoto Tamako's face changed suddenly. She realized there was someone down there and quickly took out a pink flip phone, turning on the flashlight at its end, and shone it towards the basement entrance.

She saw a dirty girl looking up at the exit, noticing Minamoto Tamako and Fushimi Roku, and shrank back into the darkness in fear.

"Don't be afraid! We're the police..."

As she spoke, Minamoto Tamako intended to go down to save the person. She couldn't imagine how a teenage girl had survived in the basement for so long—it's been over a month since Nishino Ruta passed away. Could it be that this child had been hiding in the basement all this time?

Just as she was about to step onto the stairs, she heard a 'clack clack' sound coming from the depths of the darkness, as if something was being pulled taut.

Fushimi Roku heard it too. Realizing what the sound was, he immediately reached out to grab Minamoto Tamako by the collar, pulling her back with force. Her feet lifted off the ground, and—swiftly followed by a 'whoosh'—a crossbow arrow shot between her legs, deeply embedding itself in the wooden staircase with a crisp 'thud' sound.

Minamoto Tamako was startled, hanging from Fushimi Roku's hand like a wilted cat. She stared at the crossbow arrow in the stairway, its tail feathers still trembling slightly, feeling a surge of lingering fear.

If Fujimura-kun's hand had been a bit slower, wouldn't this arrow have gone straight through her, chilling her to the core?

"Th-thank you..."

Minamoto Tamako wiped the cold sweat from her brow, her feet dangling as she asked, "Can you put me down?"

Fushimi Roku let go of his hand, and with a thud, she landed on the ground. This time, she dared not stick her head out again, nor did she dare to get too close to the basement entrance.

Both of them simultaneously stepped back, leaning against the residential door, guarding the entrance to the basement, standing one on each side like door gods, arms crossed as they whispered strategies to each other.

"Fushimi Deputy Captain, what do you think is going on?" Minamoto Tamako asked first.

"Deputy Captain?" Fushimi Roku, as usual, noted the odd focus.

"You performed remarkably just now, so I've temporarily decided to promote you to Deputy Captain of the Detective Squad, so you can stand on equal footing with the Captain," Minamoto Tamako solemnly patted Fushimi Roku on the shoulder. "This is the highest level of reward for a team member!"

"So according to you, I should thank you?" Fushimi Roku retorted.

"No need, no need!" Minamoto Tamako waved her hand. She perceived Fujimura-kun's sarcastic tone, but the life-saving grace was too significant; she had nothing to repay, and discussing favors with Fujimura-kun seemed too formal. She decided to keep it in her heart and repay him when an opportunity arose in the future.

Fushimi Roku just wanted to finish this case quickly. Once it was over, he wouldn't care about any 'Deputy Captain' reward, so he was not in the mood to argue with Minamoto Tamako. He analyzed earnestly, "I reckon there's either another person down there, or that girl is shooting at you with a crossbow."

"I think so too. If I'm not mistaken, that little girl should be Nishino Fuyu..." Minamoto Tamako held her chin with both little fingers, looking thoughtful. "There's a strong possibility of other people being involved. Maybe a kidnapper is holding her, so she can't leave the basement... What do you think?"

"I think there's only her." Fushimi Roku speculated.

"Why?" Minamoto Tamako didn't like to think ill of people, especially a twelve-year-old girl. How could she do something like shooting to kill with a crossbow?

"If there was another person, do you think it would be an adult or a child?" Fushimi Roku asked back.

"Probably an adult..." Minamoto Tamako imagined a scenario where a teenage boy imprisoned a twelve-year-old girl in a basement. It was inexplicably spooky, even more so than a crime committed by an adult.

"Would an adult let her pop her head out and call for her brother?" Fushimi Roku questioned.

"Good point... Then it's a little boy?" Minamoto Tamako frowned.

"I'm not going to debate why you assume it's a boy," Fushimi Roku said squinting. "If it's kids of the same age, how do they get a crossbow? How do they deal with food, drink, and sanitation? How do they take care of another child of the same age? You saw it just now; the girl, though dirty, wasn't bound and bore no injury marks."

" ... By that logic, the possibility of it being just her is indeed very high." Minamoto Tamako couldn't help but feel puzzled. What on earth happened that a twelve-year-old girl would guard a basement and attempt to attack strangers with a crossbow?

"Exactly."

"So what should we do now?" Minamoto Tamako asked, turning off the flashlight on the pink flip phone, intending to call for backup. "Should we report to the station and request reinforcements..."

"Are you asking me?" Fushimi Roku stared at her tiny hand.

"Of course, is there a third person here?" Minamoto Tamako looked around. In horror films she used to watch, when the male and female protagonists talked, a third person would suddenly appear, which left a small psychological shadow on her.

Fushimi Roku feigned a sudden realization and said, "Oh! Then I have two plans. The first one is the easiest: we call the station, have the mobile team come over, throw a flashbang down there to blind the twelve-year-old girl's eyes, then jump into the basement, give her an uppercut, and use our knees to pin her neck to forcibly subdue the terrifying criminal wielding a controlled weapon..."

"... What's plan two?" Minamoto Tamako's dialing fingers froze.

"The two of us jump down and subdue a little girl." Fushimi Roku said expressionlessly.

"Wouldn't that be too dangerous?" Minamoto Tamako was worried for the girl. What if they lost control and accidentally injured her?

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