"A large-scale bloodshed incident has occurred at the Ghoul Restaurant in the 7th Ward."
"Nearly a hundred ghouls have been slaughtered by an unknown individual. The scene is extremely brutal."
"Repeating over a hundred ghouls have been killed. The scene is extremely brutal."
The moment this message from headquarters came through, both investigators were left utterly stunned.
"Grassfield… am I hallucinating?" the bearded middle-aged man muttered blankly.
"Did they really say over a hundred ghouls were slaughtered?"
If it were a report saying over a hundred humans had been killed by ghouls, he would've believed it without hesitation. After all, the power gap between humans and ghouls was enormous against ordinary humans, ghouls slaughtered unilaterally, leaving no chance for resistance.
But what had he just heard?
Over a hundred ghouls… slaughtered?
What kind of monstrous strength would that require?
"Could it have been an internal war between ghoul organizations?" he wondered aloud.
"Nakajima, I don't think you're hallucinating," the young man with glasses replied gravely.
"I heard the same thing over a hundred ghouls killed."
Grassfield swallowed hard. He, too, was shaken to the core.
"This… should be good news, right?"
"If Investigator Mado hears about this, he'd probably be thrilled," Nakajima said.
"It is good news," Grassfield replied slowly.
"But the problem is we have no idea who could pull something like this off."
...
Seventh Ward.
The area around the Ghoul Restaurant had also been sealed off, surrounded by a large number of fully armed police officers.
On the second floor of the restaurant, Shinohara Yukinori and Kuroiwa Iwa, accompanied by several investigators, were carefully examining the scene.
"Kuroiwa… I've been fighting ghouls for over half my life," Shinohara said hoarsely, drawing in a sharp breath.
"And even all the ghouls I've killed put together don't come close to this number."
"This scene is just… too bloody."
"For the first time in my life, I actually feel a hint of pity for ghouls."
"These ghouls likely all belonged to the same organization," Kuroiwa said in a low voice, crouching down.
"Look, they're all wearing white masks."
"But there's something extremely strange."
"Every single one of them had their kagune removed after death."
He flipped over a corpse as he spoke.
"Yes, I noticed that too," Shinohara nodded.
"As far as I know, something similar happened earlier in the 20th Ward."
"There was someone who specifically hunted ghouls and extracted their kagune."
"I don't know whether it's the same organization… or the same person."
Hearing their conversation, Amon who was examining a corpse nearby felt his heart stir.
"Could it be… him?"
"No, that's unlikely," Amon quickly dismissed the thought internally.
"That guy is strong stronger than S-rank ghouls but there's no way he could massacre this many so easily."
"To kill this many ghouls, you'd need at least SS-rank strength."
"And he's far too young… it shouldn't be possible."
Originally, Amon had been transferred to the Special Countermeasures Unit to deal with the mysterious ghoul organization in the 11th Ward.
Yet before he could even take up his post, something of this magnitude had already happened.
"Shinohara," Kuroiwa said solemnly,
"I think this incident should be classified as an S-rank case."
"Even though so many ghouls being killed is good for us, we don't know the attacker's purpose nor do we know what kind of organization this is."
"This kind of hidden threat is terrifying."
"In terms of danger, it may not be inferior to that mysterious ghoul organization in the 11th Ward."
Having served as an investigator for so long, Kuroiwa understood one thing very clearly:
Open dangers weren't truly frightening.
It was the unseen, unpredictable ones that made people defenseless.
"I agree," Shinohara nodded.
"We really do need to take this seriously."
"I'll report to headquarters later and send more people to investigate, starting from the 20th Ward. We need to find clues related to this organization."
It was only natural that they subconsciously concluded this was the work of an organization.
After all, massacring over a hundred ghouls in one night was a "feat" that no one had ever accomplished.
If they were to talk about the ghoul responsible for killing the most investigators, however, there was a name everyone knew
The infamous SSS-rated ghoul: the One-Eyed Owl.
The crime scene at the Ghoul Restaurant was unimaginably horrific.
And yet, among the hundreds of ghoul corpses, one was conspicuously missing
Tsukiyama Shuu.
Of course, neither Shinohara nor Kuroiwa knew this.
Even the perpetrator himself Fushimi Kyo had no idea that Tsukiyama's corpse had vanished after he left.
...
At this very moment, on the rooftop of the building directly opposite the Ghoul Restaurant, a small girl sat on the edge.
A camera hung around her neck, and her short legs swung back and forth cheerfully.
She looked lively.
Innocent.
Cute.
The little girl pulled out a photograph from the shoulder bag she carried with her.
In the photo, Fushimi Kyo stood beneath glaring spotlights, his entire body drenched in blood.
Around him lay mountains of corpses and seas of gore.
The girl stared at the photo, her eyes burning with excitement.
"I've followed so many ghouls," she murmured.
"I've taken countless photos of them hunting."
"But only this one, only this photo truly satisfies me."
"These sharp features…"
"That wicked smile…"
"And that perfect body…"
"Aaah~ I think I'm falling in love!"
"My heart's pounding like crazy!"
This little girl who looked no more than eight or nine years old was none other than Hoji Chie, the one who had previously met Tsukiyama Shuu.
As expected, she truly lived up to her reputation as the most terrifying "paparazzi" in the foodie world.
No one knew how she managed to take this photo.
She'd captured it so perfectly that even Fushimi Kyo himself hadn't noticed her presence.
"Fushimi Kyo, huh?" she said, resting her chin on one hand thoughtfully.
"You killed my sponsor…"
"So… how are you going to compensate me?"
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