The appearance of Kurona and Nashiro, two "one-eyed ghouls," had piqued Touka's considerable curiosity.
Being asked to step out now only made her more reluctant to leave.
But she still left the room, because even those "one-eyed" sisters had already excused themselves.
While Byakuya was discussing matters with the manager, she could take the opportunity to chat with the sisters.
"Hello. I'm a waitress here—Touka Kirishima."
Touka took the initiative to greet Kurona and Nashiro.
Kurona and Nashiro normally didn't like interacting with strangers, but Byakuya had told them to get along with the people at Anteiku, and they hadn't forgotten.
"Hello. I'm Kurona Yasuhisa."
"I'm Nashiro Yasuhisa."
The sisters responded simultaneously.
Seeing that they weren't difficult to get along with, Touka relaxed a little.
"So you really transformed from humans into ghouls? And one-eyed ghouls at that."
Touka asked curiously.
"Yes. Nashiro and I were deceived by someone into undergoing an experiment, and we ended up like this."
Kurona said flatly.
"There's actually an experiment like that..."
Touka was shocked but didn't press further.
She understood perfectly well how difficult life was as a ghoul, especially for ghouls like herself who wanted to integrate into human society.
These sisters, forcibly transformed from humans into ghouls, must have suffered terribly at first just adapting to ghoul characteristics—particularly regarding food...
"I'm sorry. This must be painful for you, yet here I am prying into your painful memories."
Touka apologized.
"It's fine. We don't mind anymore."
Kurona said expressionlessly.
Nashiro echoed her sister's words.
As for whether that was true, only they themselves knew.
Meanwhile...
Byakuya and Yoshimura were having their own conversation in the room.
"Regarding Rize-san, the manager must know her true identity, right?"
Byakuya opened with this.
"Yes, the fact that Rize-san is a ghoul."
Yoshimura nodded.
"That's not what I meant. I'm talking about the Washuu..."
Byakuya's tone grew heavier, especially when he mentioned "Washuu"—his voice notably emphasized the name.
"..."
Yoshimura could no longer maintain his facade. After a moment of silence, he spoke: "You know about the Washuu?..."
"Not much. Just a little—Rize-san told me."
Byakuya said.
"I see. She actually told you about this."
Yoshimura was taken aback.
Though he didn't know Rize well, he'd gotten a rough sense of her personality from their interactions. He found it hard to imagine someone of her disposition revealing the Washuu Clan's secrets to a ghoul investigator.
More than that, the fact that Rize could coexist peacefully with this young investigator for so long was already miraculous in itself.
Yoshimura began to wonder about Byakuya's true identity, but he couldn't begin to guess who this person might actually be.
"If I recall correctly, Ward 20 was once territory controlled by two major ghoul factions—the 'Devil Ape' and the 'Black Dog.' Yet one day, both factions suddenly vanished without a trace, as if they'd evaporated into thin air, never to be seen again."
Byakuya spoke in a speculative tone: "There are only two possibilities. First, these two factions were annihilated by some outside force. But they were both led by SS-rated ghouls—if a major battle had occurred, there would have been some disturbance or evidence."
"The second possibility is that they were merged. Perhaps into what is now 'Anteiku'? Then who could have convinced those two infamous SS-rated ghouls to willingly merge? From what I've heard, the 'Devil Ape' and the 'Black Dog' were bitter enemies before their mysterious disappearance. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't have agreed to merge, would they?"
"Manager Yoshimura, as the manager of Anteiku, you must know these secrets?"
Byakuya stopped just short of directly stating that Yoshimura was Ward 20's leader—or in ghoul parlance, its "manager."
"...Amaha-kun, you certainly know a great deal. Since you've already said this much, I assume you already have your answer."
Yoshimura's expression grew increasingly serious, dropping all pretense.
The other party had laid things out so clearly that further concealment was pointless.
"So the manager confirms it."
Byakuya said mildly: "Given that both the Devil Ape and the Black Dog were SS-rated ghouls, the figure who could make these two bitter enemies put aside their grudge couldn't possibly be below SS-rated, right?"
"So... what exactly are you trying to say?"
Yoshimura's tone shifted subtly.
Byakuya's probing had made him worry about Anteiku's safety.
This young investigator knew far more about Anteiku than he'd imagined. If this person wanted to, the CCG could mobilize their full forces within days to subjugate them.
Even if manpower was currently short, they could marshal their forces after the Aogiri Tree operation concluded.
No matter how gentle Yoshimura seemed, when it came to Anteiku's safety, even he would show anger. This was his "reverse scale."
The main issue was that he still couldn't figure out this young man's true identity. Such an unknown variable only deepened his concerns.
"Rest assured, I harbor no ill will toward Anteiku. I simply wanted to chat with you, Manager Yoshimura. After all, your identity is both mysterious and intriguing."
Byakuya smiled as he spoke.
The grave expression on Yoshimura's face relaxed somewhat. "I'm just a decrepit old man with one foot in the grave. Nothing worth being curious about. Though I'd advise against digging too deep into Washuu matters—that path leads only to ruin..."
"Thank you for the kind warning, Manager. Then let me set aside the deeper matters of the Washuu Clan and speak only of what's already known."
Byakuya continued: "Those twin sisters from earlier are already ghouls, yet when they entered the CCG, they weren't detected by the RC Detection Gates. This can't simply be because 'artificial ghouls can't be detected,' can it? Also, I noticed that their kagune are identical to Rize-san's. Does that mean they were implanted with another Washuu member's kakuhou?..."
"..."
Yoshimura fell silent once more.
Honestly, he didn't want to continue discussing these matters with Byakuya-kun. The young man was dancing dangerously close to the edge.
...
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