Scenes from upstairs just now flashed through his mind...

The once gentle and naive girl, when a blond youth burst in to catch her cheating, suddenly seemed like a different person—her lips curled in a mocking smile, her eyes glancing sideways at his own pathetic figure crouched on the floor, clutching his head...

In that instant, even the last bit of warmth in Travis Clark's heart was completely extinguished.

What a sin!!!

......

Behind the bus stop.

Edward Harris watched as Travis Clark tucked his head between his knees, hands over his head, sparse hair poking through his fingers. One could easily imagine the "mask of pain" on that face.

Tonight's events were probably the final straw, utterly breaking the middle-aged man. He likely couldn't go home and keep up the pretense with his wife, maintaining a marriage already riddled with cracks.

After years of hard work, reaching middle age, and then one night realizing you have nowhere to go, no one to rely on...

Men in New Tokyo really have it tough!

Edward Harris had never been married in his previous life, and in this one he was still a high school student. He just found the middle-aged man's plight a bit pitiful, but couldn't really empathize beyond that.

After following all night, Edward Harris weighed his wallet, considering whether to buy this down-and-out, miserable man a hot drink from the vending machine.

At that moment, a bus with bright yellow headlights turned the corner not far away.

Clang—!

A hot drink dropped from the vending machine.

Hmm, the cheapest kind.

Edward Harris bent down to pick it up, about to turn around.

Suddenly, he noticed a petite figure hop off the front door of the bus at the stop. She wore a black hoodie similar to his, with a short skirt, tights, and long boots—a very typical street-girl outfit in the Land of Wa.

However, at that moment,

Edward Harris's pupils suddenly contracted.

If he wasn't mistaken, in the dim light, he clearly saw a flash of silvery short hair and a pair of short cat ears atop the girl's head.

The next instant, the girl pulled up the large hood of her black hoodie.

Now, under the dingy yellow streetlight at the bus stop, there was only the middle-aged man sitting there with his head in his hands, and the petite girl who had just gotten off the bus—what Edward Harris had just seen seemed to be nothing but an illusion.

What was going on?

He was still a bit suspicious when he saw the petite girl suddenly move closer to Travis Clark.

Could this be some kind of local street performance in the Land of Wa?

Holding coffee and a hot drink, Edward Harris froze for two seconds, then quietly took two steps back into the darkness, deciding to watch for now.

In his mind, after tonight's trauma, the middle-aged man probably wouldn't be interested in women for a while, right?

......

At the bus stop.

Travis Clark noticed the approaching footsteps and, looking utterly dejected, just raised his head—only to suddenly jolt all over, staring up in a daze, unable to look away.

What the—?!

Edward Harris was dumbfounded.

Are women really that irresistible?

But the next second, he sensed something was off.

Under the black hood, the girl's face was obscured, but a strange red glint seemed to flash by—then the middle-aged man, who had been slumped on the bench, immediately stood up like a puppet on strings.

Next, the girl turned and walked toward the subway station.

The middle-aged man followed silently, as if bewitched, step for step, like they were old acquaintances—if it weren't for Edward Harris watching closely, even passersby brushing past would hardly notice anything unusual.

Staring at their backs,

Edward Harris couldn't help but frown slightly.

Suddenly, he recalled the police wanted poster he'd seen on the train earlier, and thought of the silvery short hair and pointed ears he might have glimpsed...

And this strange scene before him.

Could this be the cat burglar from that theft case?

At that moment, the first thing that popped into Edward Harris's mind was the reward amount on the wanted poster he'd seen on the train.

For providing information:

A verified capture would earn a 400,000 yen reward.

You know, a New Tokyo office worker's salary is just over 300,000 yen.

Local rent ranges from 50,000 to 100,000 yen a month; Edward Harris's place was cheaper at just 48,000, and with living expenses, his monthly costs were under 150,000 yen.

So, if he could help the police catch this cat girl, he could cover more than two months of living expenses, and even treat himself to a few good meals now and then.

The middle-aged man before him had already had a rough enough night, so even if Edward Harris wasn't tempted by the reward (well, okay, he was very tempted), he still felt he should play the role of a good citizen.

He immediately, without drawing attention, took out his phone and dialed the police.

Upon hearing his description, the police took it very seriously, instructing Edward Harris to keep his phone on for location tracking. Officers from the local station and the Metropolitan Police Department's Third Investigation Unit would arrive at the scene soon.