"That's quite rude, Iwao."
Yasuha Kiyoko walked up to Akuto and extended her hand, her eyes filled with scrutiny. "Yasuha Kiyoko, Special Class Investigator."
"Akuto, Second Class Investigator." Akuto was neither humble nor arrogant; more accurately, it seemed like he looked down on everyone.
The giant bird turned into black liquid and flowed into Akuto's shadow.
Akuto walked toward the stairs with his hands in his pockets.
"The newcomer certainly has a lot of personality."
"I heard from Mr. Mado that he's a very powerful fellow."
Kuroiwa Iwao and Shinohara Yukinori still looked quite happy, while Mado Kureo turned around, his mismatched eyes wide.
"His abilities are unheard of. He actually saved my life." At those words, the expressions of the three Special Class Investigators turned solemn.
They had seen the report; at that time, Mado Kureo's limbs had been severed, and he was on the verge of death.
Yet when he returned, Mado Kureo was completely whole.
At the time, some even thought Mado Kureo's report was falsified.
But in the end, they actually found Mado Kureo's severed limbs under the bridge!
"It's understandable for someone like that to have a personality."
Yasuha Kiyoko gave a light chuckle; though her expression was serious, she still exuded a certain allure.
"He would be very reliable as an ally."
"I don't know what that guy Yoshitoki was thinking. To make such a strong person a Second Class Investigator—saying it's because of his resume is a bit of a stretch."
After Kuroiwa Iwao finished speaking, he realized that Shinohara Yukinori and Yasuha Kiyoko had already left.
They didn't dare speak ill of the Director, nor did they dare listen to it.
Joining the CCG wasn't too complicated.
It was just filing records and taking an oath.
Akuto couldn't even be bothered to open his mouth for the oath-taking step, so it ended up with the Investigator who brought him in taking the oath himself.
The scene was quite awkward.
Once everything was completed, Akuto was officially an Investigator.
He had no partner, so no one assigned work to him.
"Second Class Investigator Akuto! Wait a moment!"
Just as Akuto was about to head out for a stroll, a young girl barely 1.5 meters tall ran over, panting with her hands on her knees as she raised a hand.
After catching her breath, the girl suddenly gave a ninety-degree bow. "I am Watanabe Maruko, a Third Class Investigator."
"I am also your liaison. You can contact headquarters for anything you encounter outside, and I will be your point of contact."
"Please take care of me!"
Maruko was quite nervous, her hands tightly clutching her skirt.
"Mhm."
Akuto glanced at her and turned to leave, but Maruko remained in her bowing posture:
"I will definitely work hard! Please don't replace me, Third Class Investigator Akuto!"
Akuto paused for a moment, then opened the door and left the CCG building.
"Second Class Investigator Akuto." A man in a suit walked over from not far away; he had a long face and freckles.
"My name is Kitamura Kohei, Second Class Investigator. Please look after me."
"Mhm, nice to meet you."
Akuto didn't really mind interacting with the Investigators; after all, they would be colleagues from now on, so there was no need to give them the cold shoulder.
"Is your liaison Watanabe Maruko, Second Class Investigator Akuto?"
"What about it?"
Akuto turned his head in confusion.
Kitamura looked left and right, then leaned in close to Akuto and whispered. "She's a famous jinx in the CCG!"
"Every Investigator partnered with her has died! And they all died horrible deaths within a week!"
"Five people have already died. If... you should probably change to someone else."
"I see. Thanks." Akuto nodded slightly. Kitamura didn't seem to understand Akuto's thoughts and asked with a frown:
"You're not planning to change? It's perfectly normal to switch liaisons."
"No, it's too much trouble."
Just then, Akuto's and Kitamura's phones rang at the same time. They took them out and saw it was a mission sent from headquarters.
A Ghoul attack had occurred, and the location was not far away.
"Let's go take a look."
"Did you drive?"
"Ah? Yes, I did. Let's go together. I didn't expect our first mission to be a collaboration; it must be fate."
Kitamura didn't dwell on Maruko's matter anymore.
After all, he was just giving a well-intentioned warning and didn't have a grudge against Watanabe Maruko.
Not long after they left, Watanabe Maruko stepped out from behind the door, tears welling in her eyes.
Akuto quickly regretted sitting in Kitamura's passenger seat.
This kid was not only a chatterbox and overly enthusiastic, but his damn driving skills were also terrible!
The short few kilometers made Akuto's stomach churn!
Fortunately, the crime scene wasn't far. Akuto escaped the car before it had even come to a full stop.
It was an abandoned port with almost no one around.
CCG logistics personnel were searching for clues.
Akuto walked over to the corpse, where two other Investigators were standing.
"Yo, Second Class Investigator Okyu, Second Class Investigator Nishiyama."
Kitamura seemed very familiar with this man and woman. He stepped forward to greet them and then looked at Akuto enthusiastically.
"Let me introduce you."
"Okyu Senichi and Nishiyama Anki."
"This is Akuto, a Second Class Investigator who just joined the CCG."
Okyu and Nishiyama were taken aback, then immediately scrutinized Akuto carefully; after all, his reputation had spread even before he joined the CCG.
"Second Class Investigator Akuto, I am Okyu Senichi. Nice to meet you."
The guy wasn't tall and had an average face.
"Nishiyama Anki. My dream is to become a female Investigator like Special Class Investigator Yasuha. Nice to meet you." The girl was also wearing professional attire with her hair in a bun; she was a cute-type girl.
After the introductions, everyone looked at the corpse on the ground.
It was gruesome; half of the body had been eaten away.
Internal organs were scattered haphazardly around.
"What do you guys think?"
Kitamura lit a cigarette, his expression somewhat sighing; after all, it was a case of mourning for one's own kind.
"The Ghoul should be an acquaintance of the victim, or at least someone they knew. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come to such a remote place."
"I've already had the investigation department check the victim's social media and call logs."
Nishiyama's tone was a bit sorrowful.
Kitamura checked his phone before speaking. "The Ghoul should be active nearby. Judging by the traces, they ate at a leisurely pace, which means they are very familiar with the area."
Saying that, Kitamura smiled at Akuto.
"Don't feel any pressure, Second Class Investigator Akuto. We all learned slowly as well."
"I heard that Second Class Investigator Akuto is very powerful. If we find the Ghoul, we might have to rely on you for the extermination."
These words were spoken with a lot of emotional intelligence.
After all, the three of them had made their own analyses, while Akuto was just tagging along.
If it were an ordinary person, they would inevitably feel like they weren't helping and feel pressured.
Unfortunately, Akuto was not an ordinary person.
"So you're saying you haven't found the Ghoul's location yet?"
This sentence made the expressions of Kitamura and the other two stiffen, and they gave forced smiles:
"Finding Ghouls isn't that easy. These beasts usually pretend to be no different from normal people."
"It's normal for Second Class Investigator Akuto to feel some anger, since it's his first time facing such a thing."
Kitamura was still trying to cover for Akuto.
Framing Akuto's lack of social grace as anger at seeing a human killed.
He was a complete veteran of the workplace.
This kind of person thrives best; after all, he never offends anyone and even tries to be on good terms with everyone.
Who knows who might suddenly strike it big?
When that time comes, wouldn't they remember his kindness?
But by the same token, the strength of such people is usually not very high.
Relying on managing interpersonal relationships to get by in the workplace inevitably means poor professional competence.
"Since you haven't found them yet, leave it to me."
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Please check out my new fanfic, who knows if you guys might like it!
Title - In Tokyo With Heroic Spirit System