As time passed, the CCG's Promotion Ceremony arrived as scheduled.
The white suit Byakuya had bought before came in handy.
Kurona and Nashiro would also be attending with him. Basically no investigator would be absent from such an important assembly.
From Special Class investigators at the top to Rank 3 investigators at the bottom—even including investigator assistants—there were only a few thousand people in total. Ordinary staff members who weren't even investigator assistants weren't counted.
"Rank 1 Investigator, Amaha Byakuya."
"Yes."
"You are hereby appointed as First Class Investigator."
The current CCG Bureau Director Yoshitoki Washuu conferred the promotion upon Byakuya.
Byakuya's promotion was the most uncontested. Immediately, waves of enthusiastic applause erupted from below.
After all, Byakuya had repelled the One-Eyed Owl. Otherwise, it was hard to imagine how many casualties the Owl would have inflicted on the investigators present in that battle.
Many people even felt that Byakuya's promotion from Rank 1 to just First Class wasn't enough—he should have been promoted to at least Associate Special Class.
But rules were rules. No one could skip ranks, even Arima, who had torn off two of the One-Eyed Owl's arms back then, had only been promoted from Rank 2 to Rank 1 after that battle.
Of course, achievements could accumulate. Later, Arima's promotions came faster and faster, becoming Associate Special Class before the age of 22—and he had only just been promoted from Rank 2 to Rank 1 at age 19.
This meant that Byakuya's path to Associate Special Class and Special Class would become increasingly smooth. Rules were rigid, but people were flexible. The CCG had no reason to leave a qualified strong person without promotion.
With the conferment complete, Byakuya had officially become a First Class Investigator.
[Ding! Host has been promoted to "First Class Investigator." Reward: 40 Fusion Points!]
Sure enough, at the moment of his official promotion to First Class, Byakuya received a system reward.
Moreover, the Fusion Points reward was quite substantial. When he eventually became Associate Special Class or even Special Class, the system reward would probably exceed 100 points.
"Rank 3 Investigator, Juuzou Suzuya."
"Yes~"
"You are hereby granted the rank of Rank 2 Investigator."
"Thank you~"
Suzuya also successfully completed his promotion. As he descended the stage, he smiled and flashed a "peace" sign at Byakuya.
Byakuya responded with a smile.
"Hehe~ I've finally been promoted to Rank 2. I wonder if I'll get a raise?"
Though Suzuya had changed somewhat under Shinohara's guidance, his personality hadn't changed much. Even at such an important occasion, he was chatting about salary.
"Rank 1 Investigator, Koutarou Amon, you are hereby granted the rank of First Class Investigator."
"..."
Not many investigators were promoted at this Promotion Ceremony. Byakuya was basically the star, followed by Suzuya and Amon.
Though the situation differed from the original story—Suzuya hadn't been able to finish off Jason after Kaneki had nearly killed him, and Amon hadn't managed to take down the Bin Brothers either.
But their results remained unchanged; they had both been successfully promoted.
Because Suzuya and Amon had still performed excellently in the Aogiri Suppression Operation, and in the months since its conclusion, they had eliminated quite a few ghouls, accumulating enough achievements.
After completing each investigator's promotion ceremony, Bureau Director Yoshitoki Washuu read aloud the names of investigators who had died in the line of duty during the previous Aogiri Suppression Operation, and observed a moment of silence for them.
The ceremony thus concluded, but the banquet had only just begun.
"Ward 20 seems to have become especially quiet lately. We haven't heard anything about the Binge Eater or the Gourmet for a long time. This area has become more peaceful than ever."
"The Aogiri Suppression Operation probably scared them stupid, hahaha—"
"Anyway, that's a good thing. This way we won't need to allocate too much manpower to Ward 20."
"..."
At that moment, Byakuya could hear people at the neighboring table discussing the Binge Eater and the Gourmet.
This was undoubtedly because of him. Ever since he had started interacting with Rize, she had never hunted humans again.
The same went for Tsukiyama. Since he was entirely focused on how to eat Byakuya, he hadn't been recklessly hunting humans in various creative ways like before.
"Suzuya."
At that moment, Shinohara walked over. "And Amaha, Amon—it's been a while."
"Shinohara-san, have all your casts been removed?"
Amon immediately spoke with respect.
"Yes. Thinking back, it really wasn't easy. In the first month, I couldn't even get out of bed..."
Shinohara showed a wry smile.
Then he suddenly sighed. "Speaking of which, Amon, you've already been promoted to First Class. It's quite moving..."
"This time was thanks to Shinohara-san's various good words on my behalf. Otherwise, I might not have had the opportunity for promotion. I'm truly grateful."
Amon modestly bowed in thanks to Shinohara.
"No, the fundamental reason was that you performed excellently yourself."
Shinohara smiled. "By the way, Iwao and Senzou also put in recommendations for your promotion. Especially Mado—he's been recommending your promotion to headquarters since long ago. This time he put in the most effort. You should go thank them properly."
What Shinohara couldn't say was that even Kureo Mado's will had been written about recommending Amon's promotion. But due to protocol, the contents of the will couldn't be told to Amon until after Mado's death.
"Yes!"
Amon nodded solemnly. "Then I'll go to Mado-san first."
As Amon left, Shinohara's gaze turned to Byakuya. "Amaha, congratulations on your promotion. I hear you'll soon be assigned to Squad Zero under Arima. Ui must be very happy."
"Yes, thank you, Shinohara-san."
Byakuya nodded.
"Although you'll be working in Squad Zero, normally you'll still need to lead subordinates like other First Class investigators. For us investigators, experience in leadership is also very important."
Shinohara scratched his head. "I just don't know who your subordinate will be. Do you have any preferences?"
"I don't have any particular thoughts at the moment. I'll follow whatever arrangements come from above."
Byakuya said calmly.
Shinohara nodded. "Alright then. Let's see what partner headquarters assigns you first, then decide. It's also possible headquarters has already arranged someone for you—I just haven't asked about it. If I'd known, I would have asked on your behalf when I went to headquarters last time."
...
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