Before the words had even finished falling, Ihei Byakuya had already charged out from the darkness.
He grabbed Fura Taishi by the collar and yanked him backward, saving Fura Taishi, who had not yet reacted.
Tanaka's Rinkaku kagune also struck at once, stopping just a little short of piercing Fura Taishi's body.
If Ihei Byakuya had not intervened in time just now, Fura Taishi would have been in mortal danger.
"What is that thing? A monster?!"
Fura Taishi cried out in shock after coming back to his senses.
"That thing is a ghoul. Haven't you heard of them?"
Ihei Byakuya said.
"Ghoul...?"
Fura Taishi froze for a moment. It was a term he had occasionally heard on television.
It was said to be a kind of monster that ate people, yet had an appearance just like humans.
Fura Taishi had always thought it was something made up to scare children. He never imagined that such man-eating monsters really existed, and that one was even hiding in his own school.
At this moment, Uruka Minami also slowly walked out from the shadows.
She did not seem to intend to help Ihei Byakuya fight. Her Kakugan did not appear, and she did not reveal her kagune. She looked completely like an ordinary human girl.
Because she knew that with Ihei's strength, he did not need her help. Moreover, Fura was right there, and she could not casually expose her ghoul identity in front of outsiders.
"Hello there..."
Facing the three of them, Mr. Tanaka remained calm and even had the leisure to greet them.
"So it really is Mr. Tanaka who is the ghoul. And being a cleaner, you could also keep track of the situation inside the school. Thinking about it, that really is terrifying."
Uruka Minami said slowly.
"Minami!"
Since Minami was really here, Fura Taishi instinctively wanted to protect Uruka Minami behind him.
"Although I recently tried to go after students and teachers, it did not go very smoothly. Today I finally ran into a rare good opportunity..."
As he spoke, Mr. Tanaka took off the baseball cap on his head, fully revealing a pair of ferocious, crimson Kakugan.
Realizing that the other party intended to eat him and Minami, Fura Taishi immediately picked up a wooden stick from the ground.
"Ahhh-!"
Fura Taishi roared as he charged toward Mr. Tanaka.
"Don't go!"
Ihei Byakuya immediately warned him.
However, Fura Taishi did not listen to Byakuya at all.
He underestimated the strength of ghouls, thinking that since they looked the same as humans, they could not be that strong. At the same time, he wanted to show himself off in front of Minami.
Ihei Byakuya frowned slightly. This guy was far too reckless.
He had already prepared himself to step in and save Fura Taishi at any moment.
At this time, Fura Taishi had already rushed in front of Tanaka and swung the stick at him.
But the blow was easily blocked by Tanaka's powerful Rinkaku, and then Tanaka flung both the wooden stick and Fura Taishi himself away with a backhand motion.
Fura Taishi flew several meters away and slammed onto the ground. The wooden stick also snapped into two pieces.
Tanaka immediately followed up, his Rinkaku kagune, about three to four meters long, stabbing toward Fura Taishi.
At this moment, Ihei Byakuya also moved. The suitcase in his schoolbag had already transformed into a katana.
Just as that Rinkaku kagune was about to pierce Fura Taishi's body, Byakuya cut it off with a single strike.
"!!"
Fura Taishi was instantly shocked.
When he had just struck that tentacle-like thing with the wooden stick, it had felt like hitting a block of solid iron. Not only could he not damage it, but the recoil had also made his hand ache.
Yet Ihei Byakuya had cut it off with a single slash?!
"Th-that is...?!"
Seeing the weapon in Ihei Byakuya's hand, Tanaka wore an expression of utter disbelief.
He had actually seen a Quinque in the hands of that brat.
Was that not a weapon only investigators possessed?!
Ihei Byakuya did not give Tanaka any time to react and immediately lunged forward.
Tanaka's Rinkaku had just been severed and was difficult to use for defense. On top of that, he was still stunned, so Byakuya easily closed the distance.
Then he thrust a blade straight through Tanaka's abdomen, piercing through the Rinkaku Kakuhou at his waist as well.
"Pff!"
Tanaka immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed backward with a look of disbelief. "Why... would a brat like you... have an investigator's weapon...?"
"Because I am an investigator."
Ihei Byakuya said calmly.
"How is that possi..."
Before Tanaka could finish speaking, he completely lost his life.
To the very end, he could not believe that a brat still attending school was actually a ghoul investigator.
[Ding! The host defeated a B-rank ghoul and obtained a reward: system points *1!]
Ihei Byakuya casually shook the blood off the blade.
"..."
Fura Taishi, sitting nearby, was already completely stunned. He could not say a single word and even forgot to stand up for a moment.
At this time, Ihei Byakuya turned his head to look at Fura Taishi. After confirming that Fura Taishi was only stunned and not injured, he felt relieved.
"Ihei, Fura, are you both alright?"
Uruka Minami asked with concern, just like an ordinary human girl.
Fura Taishi finally snapped out of it. "I'm fine. But that guy... he just killed a ghoul...?"
He still seemed unable to believe that what he had just seen was real.
Ihei Byakuya did not respond. Instead, he directly took out his phone and made a call.
"Yes, it's on the Seishin High-school side..."
"There was a ghoul attacking people. It has already been subdued by me..."
"Please send people over to handle the scene. That's all."
This call was made to the CCG branch of the 13th Ward.
"You just said you're a ghoul investigator... is that true?"
At this time, Fura Taishi walked up in front of Byakuya and asked.
"Yes."
Ihei Byakuya nodded slightly.
"No wonder you are so strong..."
Fura Taishi said. "So tonight, you and Minami came to the school to deal with the ghoul?"
Ihei Byakuya nodded again.
"I really never expected that something like a ghoul would be in the school..."
Fura Taishi murmured.
"..."
Ihei Byakuya remained silent.
You should know that there is more than one ghoul in the school. The Uruka Minami standing behind you is the real boss.
About ten minutes later, personnel from the CCG arrived.
Among them was also Mado Kasuka.
After learning that Third-Class Ihei had acted on his own again, she came along as well.
Those sent by the CCG to handle the scene were investigator assistants and ordinary bureau staff, along with several medical personnel.
"Thank you for your hard work, Officer Third-Class Ihei."
As they dealt with Tanaka's body, those bureau staff also treated Ihei Byakuya with great respect.
An investigator capable of defeating a ghoul alone, even if it was only a B-rank ghoul, was extremely impressive to these staff members who had little combat ability.
"Third-Class Ihei, you acted on your own again."
Mado Kasuka walked up to Byakuya.
"It's fine. It looked like just a B-rank ghoul."
Ihei Byakuya said calmly.
"But what if it had been [Pumpkin Head]? You still need to be more careful."
Mado Kasuka's tone did not sound angry, but rather like she was advising Byakuya.
Then, she noticed Uruka Minami on the other side.
"It's that girl from last time again? It feels like she is always with you."