Ever since receiving his orders, Lancer hadn't once stepped into Anteiku. After all, he didn't wish to drag the café's people into trouble. But unexpectedly, this had instead aroused suspicion from Amon Koutarou.
"Lancer, not planning on visiting Anteiku today? Yesterday, when I went, the little girl who often brings our coffee asked me why you haven't been there for days."
The moment Amon mentioned "Anteiku," Lancer immediately raised his guard to maximum alertness. If that place were exposed, not only would a large-scale extermination operation ensue, but he'd also surely be subjected to an investigation himself. Though he hadn't had any substantial contact with the people there, it would unquestionably cause him immense trouble, at least temporarily.
"You know about my 'mission,' right? These past few days, I've already been targeted by ghouls at least three times. If I go there now, wouldn't that just bring trouble to the café?"
Maintaining an outwardly calm expression, Lancer even intentionally let his gaze drift slightly as he spoke, trying to avoid showing any suspicious reactions. However, unbeknownst to Lancer, this overly cautious behavior instead drew a knowing smile from Amon Koutarou, whose expression silently conveyed: "Just as I thought." Shortly after, Amon laughed gently, giving Lancer a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Relax, Lancer. Our patrol areas are remote and rarely visited. Anteiku isn't anywhere near your routes either, so there's nothing to worry about. The staff—especially that one employee—are absolutely fine!"
"Oh... Thanks."
Lancer didn't fully grasp Amon's intentions, but sensing the goodwill behind his words, he smiled and nodded nonetheless.
After Amon left, Lancer resumed today's 'work'—which was playing the role of a 'lone CCG Investigator patrolling the streets.'
Without doubt, the ghouls weren't fools. After three consecutive failed attacks, and with him still openly patrolling, they surely must have sensed something was off.
But even so, Lancer believed the attacks would not stop. After all, this was an extremely tempting 'trap' set by the CCG, meant to catch more ghouls to get information on Binge Eater and Jason.
The investigators hidden nearby either stayed completely out of sight or were deliberately placed far enough away to lure in more ghouls. Even the closest investigators would need several minutes to reach Lancer's position—this was an openly declared trap!
If those ghouls wanted to strike at the rising star of the CCG to damage their morale, then let them try—the price they'd pay was their lives!
...
"Two days straight without any attacks. You think those ghouls finally gave up?"
Near the vending machines at the CCG's 20th Ward branch, a roughly thirty-year-old Rank 2 Investigator took a sip of oolong tea and glanced cautiously at the young man beside him.
There was no need to ask—that young man was obviously Lancer. After all, aside from Lancer, there was no other young investigator who could make him speak with such care.
True, Lancer was also a Rank 2 Investigator just like him. But even with identical ranks, their positions were worlds apart.
Graduates from CCG's investigator training institutions usually started at Rank 3 Investigator. As long as they survived, reaching Rank 2 after some time was hardly difficult. But that was as far as an ordinary person could hope to climb.
For a select few geniuses, however, this was merely the starting line.
Like Amon Koutarou, who graduated at the top of his class and immediately received the rank of Rank 1 Investigator. And judging from Lancer's own displayed talent, unless something unexpected occurred, he was guaranteed to become at least a Senior Investigator or even a Quasi-Special Class Investigator in the future. Thus, the older investigator naturally watched his tone when speaking to Lancer.
But unfortunately, at this very moment, Lancer was holding his canned coffee and spacing out completely.
Instant coffee really is a far cry from hand-brewed coffee after all.
Indeed, this particular individual—finally able to relax a little inside the branch—was currently thinking of something completely unrelated to work. Fortunately, though his mind wandered freely, his ears were sharp. Hearing the muttered question beside him, Lancer shook his head.
"It's not that simple."
"?"
"We've already caught or killed so many of their kind—they were relentless before, yet suddenly they've gone quiet. It feels to me like this is just the calm before the storm."
Exactly—recently, they'd captured or exterminated close to forty ghouls, nearly matching his own record of an entire previous month. However, all the ghouls who attacked him recently were just ordinary—none were even S-rank. Lancer couldn't believe Jason's subordinates wouldn't include S-rated ghouls. The only explanation was that they were secretly planning something.
However, there was some good news: According to captured ghouls' statements, although Jason and Binge Eater were both ghouls, Jason was apparently annoyed that Binge Eater had intruded into his hunting grounds, and had started causing trouble for her.
For the CCG, this internal conflict was excellent news—after all, when two tigers fight, at least one will get wounded. Yet Lancer didn't anticipate that an "unexpected event" would still occur.
He was patrolling the streets as usual when, without warning, he encountered someone entirely unexpected.
Long purple hair, a figure alluringly curved beneath a black dress—everything about her radiated charm. Any sensible woman would never appear alone in a deserted alley late at night, because there existed something far worse than mere thugs in this world—ghouls.
But this particular woman was the exception. To her, whether human delinquents or ghouls—both were merely prey!
Kamishiro Rize.
Precisely because he'd run into someone so utterly unexpected, Lancer involuntarily halted his steps. Ironically, this abrupt pause drew the attention of several other investigators monitoring him.
"Investigator Lancer, is something wrong? Your position marker shows you haven't moved for nearly a minute."
The voice from the earpiece pulled Lancer's wandering thoughts back to reality.
This world continued to spin without regard for him. He wasn't its protagonist, so it was impossible for everything to always go his way. Encountering an unexpected person in an unexpected place—wasn't that, in itself, actually quite normal?
Haa—
After taking a deep breath, he pressed the comm button on his earpiece.
"Sorry. I just spotted a woman walking alone. I wasn't sure who she was, so I observed her for a moment."
"A woman walking alone...? Could it be a ghoul?"
"I'm not sure either. I plan to approach and check."
"Please be careful, Investigator Lancer. Backup forces are nearby."
"I'll be careful, Investigator Tanaka."
After ending the call, Lancer unconsciously tightened his grip around the suitcase handle—but in the end, he still stepped forward with his right foot.
"Excuse me, miss..."