Liyami, who had wanted to hear Lavinia’s thoughts, waited for a long time without getting a response. Seeing this, Liyami turned back in confusion to look at her companion, only to find Lavinia staring motionlessly in a certain direction, seemingly trying to make out something carefully.
So, Liyami also looked in the direction of Lavinia’s gaze. As a result, she saw a shop that was still open and a figure standing at its entrance.
Seeing this, Liyami felt a slight surge of joy in her heart and prepared to go talk to that person.
This was someone they had finally encountered! Perhaps they could glean some information from them. They absolutely couldn’t let this opportunity slip away!
But Liyami had only taken a few steps before she stopped again, because the more she looked at that person’s back, the more familiar it felt. Just as Liyami was about to ponder why it felt so familiar, the figure half-turned, revealing their profile. This made both Liyami and Lavinia let out a simultaneous “Ah.”
They recognized who that back belonged to—it was Eleanor, whom they hadn’t known where she had run off to! She had actually come to this place!
Seeing this scene, Liyami couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. She had thought it was a local islander and wanted to ask them for information. What a pity it was actually Eleanor.
So, Liyami turned away in disappointment, planning to look elsewhere. But Lavinia patted her shoulder and pointed again toward Eleanor.
Seeing this, Liyami looked over again in confusion. Only then did she realize that Eleanor wasn’t just standing idly in front of the shop; she seemed to be talking to someone.
Once Liyami also noticed this situation, Lavinia and Liyami exchanged a glance and couldn’t help but smile. Then, they both walked toward Eleanor, ready to make good use of Eleanor’s “function”!
On the other side, Eleanor waved her hand, politely bidding farewell to the shop owner. As the owner completely closed up the shop, Eleanor couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh.
She still hadn’t managed to ask for any valuable information. If things continued like this, how could she help Kolin?
That’s right, Eleanor was inquiring about information related to the Population Disappearance Incident that Lavinia had mentioned earlier. And the reason she was doing this, of course, was because of Kolin.
Initially, she had just wanted to invite Kolin to go play at the beach together. But she hadn’t expected that when she entered Kolin’s room, Kolin was already gone, leaving only a note behind.
After reading the contents of the note, Eleanor felt quite helpless. Kolin had actually given up the chance to frolic in the water with a beautiful girl, choosing instead to go investigate some population disappearance incident. This was just… so typical of something Kolin would do.
Regarding this, Eleanor had no complaints. After all, what Kolin was doing now was originally one of the purposes of their coming here, so she naturally wouldn’t say anything.
She was just a bit angry. He could have simply told them about this matter directly; they wouldn’t have hindered him. Yet he had to go investigate alone, leaving all of them behind! How could that not make people angry!
But after her anger subsided, Eleanor still sighed and went out alone to look for Kolin. Since Kolin had already gone to investigate the incident, she wasn’t interested in playing alone anyway. It was better to accompany Kolin in the investigation. Moreover, perhaps during the investigation, she could even improve the relationship between the two of them!
As for Liyami and Lavinia, they probably thought the same way. So, to get a step ahead, Eleanor planned to first ask a few locals about the situation regarding the Population Disappearance Incident. She wanted to appear more useful when she reunited with Kolin.
But when she arrived on the street, Eleanor realized something was off. The street, which should have been bustling, was now eerily quiet, with almost no one besides her. Moreover, most shops were closed, with only a very few still open, and even those seemed like they were about to close soon. This didn’t match the image of a popular resort island at all.
You have to understand, this was a popular resort island, and it was August—the perfect time to come on vacation. How could there be so few people? Furthermore, this street should be one of the liveliest places on the island, right? How could there be only this many people?
Seeing this situation, Eleanor knew the actual situation wasn’t as simple as she had thought. Whatever could turn a supposedly bustling commercial street and resort island into its current state, that Population Disappearance Incident must be extremely troublesome. The local Special Incident Handling Squad was probably running around in a panic by now, right?
It seemed Lavinia’s thinking was quite thorough. She managed to get Kolin to willingly come on vacation with them while also conveniently solving such a troublesome incident. It has to be said, Eleanor admitted she had somewhat underestimated Lavinia. She was much smarter than Eleanor had thought.
Thinking of this, Eleanor immediately felt she couldn’t lose to her either; she had to gather information quickly!
So, after practically running up and down the entire street, asking a few people and several shop owners who were still open, Eleanor finally learned a bit of information about the Population Disappearance Incident. Although she hadn’t obtained any crucial intelligence, she at least understood quite a bit about the basic aspects.
Thus, after asking one more shop owner who was about to close—also the last person she could ask on this street—Eleanor couldn’t hold back another sigh.
The efficiency was too low. In such a long time, she had only asked this few people, and the information she got was mostly similar, all rumors of little value. She couldn’t get any information about the core of the incident at all. If things continued like this, how could she help Kolin?
Just as Eleanor was brooding over this, someone poked her back from behind with a finger. Seeing this, Eleanor turned around in confusion, about to ask what the other person wanted, when she saw two extremely familiar faces—Liyami and Lavinia, both wearing strange smiles.
Upon seeing these two, Eleanor knew she was done for. Judging from their inexplicable smiles, whatever awaited Eleanor next definitely wouldn’t be anything good.
Eleanor felt her already aching head was about to explode. She really didn’t want to see these two at a time like this, especially when these two were smiling so creepily!
Of course, Liyami and Lavinia naturally didn’t care how much Eleanor resisted them. They just kept smiling and staring at Eleanor on their own. Until Eleanor finally couldn’t take it anymore and raised her hands in surrender.
“Alright, alright, stop smiling so creepily! What do you two want? If you have something to say, just say it directly!”
Seeing Eleanor had given up resistance, Liyami and Lavinia immediately high-fived, celebrating the success of their joint operation. Eleanor, watching from the side, frowned deeply.
Seeing that her and Lavinia’s operation had succeeded, Liyami didn’t waste any more time and directly stated her question.
“So, what were you doing just now? You weren’t secretly investigating alone, were you? If that’s really the case… we hope you’ll tell us everything you know!!!”