A car pulled up beside a deserted dump. The man who stepped out from the driver’s seat was Hitokawa.
After scanning the surroundings, Hitokawa realized that Eto had not yet arrived and pulled out his phone.
The screen lit up, displaying the current time.
12:40 a.m. Roughly fifteen hours had passed since Koma had been kidnapped by the Ghouls.
Following the incident, Eto had been tasked with gathering intelligence on the Ghoul side—specifically the Insect-Masked Ghoul—while Hitokawa independently tracked information on the human side: Shinaoto Minami.
Eto, who had already encountered Minami, reported that the woman didn't smell like a Ghoul at all.
However, the circumstantial evidence made it clear that Minami was inextricably linked to the Insect-Masked Ghoul.
Consequently, while Eto hunted the masked Ghoul, Hitokawa focused on tracing the movements of this human woman. He had come to this designated meeting spot to share his findings.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Ring... ring...
He dialed the number and pressed call. The ringing tone echoed softly through the air.
Then, the sound of a phone receiving that very signal chirped from directly behind him.
“……!!”
Hitokawa reflexively leaped back, clutching the steel case in his hand. Perched atop the roof of the car he had just exited was a small, owl-like figure.
The blanket wrapped around her body was tattered in several places and stained with blood.
The owl mask covering her face was cracked and ruined, a stark contrast to its origin as a cute mascot from a popular manga.
Seeing the coexistence of a Ghoul's and a human's eye peering through the fractures of the mask, Hitokawa finally relaxed his guard.
“Eto?”
“Yes.”
Eto nodded and leaped down from the car.
The movement was as light as a bird's, yet as her feet hit the ground, her balance wavered ever so slightly. It was obvious at a glance that she was exhausted.
Hitokawa watched her with a complicated expression.
Though he wasn't a Ghoul himself, he knew their world was a brutal meritocracy—a place of survival of the fittest where the weak were simply discarded.
Even if she were searching for someone, there was no way a strange outsider, especially a child like Eto, would be handed sensitive information so readily.
The methods Eto must have used... were not hard to imagine.
A child born of both Ghoul and human, raised by human hands, had dove headfirst into that predatory world and crawled back out.
All to save the human who had raised her, with a body so small...
Shake, shake!
Hitokawa shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now was not the time for sentimentality.
Eto seemed to feel the same; the moment she faced him, she cut straight to the chase.
“Did you bring the map?”
Hitokawa retrieved the map from the back seat and spread it across the ground.
The layout of Tokyo, divided into twenty-three wards, was visible at a glance. Eto scanned it once before gripping a pen.
Red dots began to appear across the map in quick succession. From those dots, long lines extended, forming a series of arrows.
Unable to tell what Eto was doing, Hitokawa shifted his weight impatiently.
He knew she was brilliant and that this wasn't the time for games, but to an observer, she looked exactly like a toddler scribbling on a map.
“Hey, what are you doing? Fill me in.”
“Mister Hitokawa, you said this Ghoul was only recently discovered, right?”
“Yeah. I'm still wondering why someone that powerful has stayed off the radar until now.”
“I think it's because he rarely ventures out unless he's hunting. If eating is his only goal, he would establish a central hideout and expand his hunting grounds outward from there. In fact, every sighting of the Insect-Masked Ghoul occurred only while he was feeding. I've marked those locations here.”
Hitokawa scanned the map. The red dots were heavily concentrated in Wards 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15, with a sharp drop-off in other regions.
I see, so the red dots represent his range of activity. But even then, the high-frequency areas covered nearly the entire southwestern portion of Tokyo.
Investigating that entire area would be a nightmare, even with a massive team.
“Then what are the red arrows?”
“The direction the Insect-Masked Ghoul moved after eating.”
In that moment, Hitokawa couldn't help but admire Koma for raising such a sharp child.
If food was the only objective, the Ghoul would head straight back to his sanctuary once satisfied.
Of course, his path might vary based on whim. But if he moved toward the same location repeatedly, and not just once or twice...?
And the point where Eto's arrows converged was...
““Ward 12!””
Eto and Hitokawa spoke in unison.
More than half of the arrows pointed toward Ward 12. Furthermore, most of the arrows originating from the red dots within Ward 12 were aimed toward the coast.
“This is the limit of what I can deduce. Now, the only way is to go to Ward 12 and scour the coastline.”
“We have about eight hours left until the time limit. Considering the travel time, that's incredibly tight. Get in the car, now!”
Hitokawa climbed in and ignited the engine. However, Eto didn't follow; she simply shook her head.
“It'll be faster if I run straight there across the rooftops. I'll go ahead and look for Dad, so you just follow behind, Mister Hitokawa.”
Logistically, it made sense. But Hitokawa shut her down immediately.
“Idiot! Have you forgotten how quickly an Ukaku burns through stamina? Sure, you'd reach Ward 12 faster than a car, but you'd have nothing left in the tank to actually fight the Insect-Masked Ghoul. Besides, who says he's the only enemy waiting for us?”
“But…….”
“No buts, get in! And I haven't told you about Shinaoto Minami yet. You need to know about that woman—her past is far from normal!”
“…….”
Eto desperately wanted to rush to Koma's side, but Hitokawa was right.
She was already exhausted from the series of battles she'd fought while gathering intel. If she pushed herself now, she would be useless upon arrival in Ward 12.
Moreover, the grim expression on Hitokawa's face suggested that the truth about Shinaoto Minami was something sinister.
A woman linked to the Insect-Masked Ghoul who played a part in Koma's abduction. Just who was she? Eto figured she could learn more during the drive.
Suppressing her urgency, Eto climbed into the passenger seat.
Vrrrrooom!!
The engine roared, and the vehicle tore away from the dump, racing toward Ward 12.
***
I felt a soft sensation tickling my face. It was a wet towel.
As the towel—which had been wiping away the coffee spilled on my face—was pulled away, the face of the person who had dragged me here came into view.
“You’re awake! Is anything bothering you~?”
“……I could probably write ten pages of complaints. Want the full list?”
“Mm~! Looks like you're fine. What a relief, what a relief~. Our section chief really is mean, isn't he? He handles his materials so carelessly~. You have to stay in peak condition until the day you're sublimated into art~!”
“Do you even listen to what people say?”
I'd felt it from the start, but this woman, Minami, became more exhausting the more I spoke with her.
Ignoring her overly friendly chatter, I scanned my surroundings.
The Ghoul superiors who had been gathered here, and even that Insect-Masked bastard who had been sleeping upside down from the ceiling, were gone.
“Everyone's in a meeting~. I wonder whose proposal will be chosen this time~? Personally, I think the section chief’s ‘Prometheus plan’ has the best shot, but... hmm~ I still hope mine gets picked~.”
Minami continued to babble without being prompted.
Prometheus? I hoped it wasn't the Prometheus from the myths. Please tell me they aren't planning to peck my liver out while I'm still alive.
Every single one of them was a lunatic; the unpredictability made it all the more terrifying.
“Aren’t you going?”
“I’m the lowest of the low, so I’m on guard duty~.”
Minami puffed out her cheeks, clearly pouting over her exclusion from the meeting.
Since we were alone, I decided to ask the question that had been eating at me.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re human, aren’t you? Why are you with them? Why on earth would you want to become a Ghoul?”
“Why? Hmmm~?”
Minami crossed her arms and tilted her head repeatedly, as if she had been asked a riddle.
Finally, as if she had reached a conclusion, her expression cleared and she looked at me.
“Admiration.”
“Admiration?”
“Yeah~. Like the way people go crazy for idols~. Aren't Ghouls just so cool~?”
“…….”
What is wrong with this woman...
I felt like I was talking to a child who thought serial killers were cool and wrote 'Murderer' as their dream job on a school form.
“I'm sorry, but I really don't get it.”
“I figured~. But look~. For example—and this is just a hypothetical example, okay~? Imagine a small animal. This little animal grew up being bullied and isolated by its own kind. It wanted to fight back, but it was too weak~. Then, one day, a vicious predator appears and eats every single one of the animals that bullied the little one~! The predator effortlessly achieves what the small animal could never do, no matter how hard it struggled~! That's just so cool~! It makes you admire them~!”
...She seemed to be trying to say something profound, but the sudden, dramatic shift in tone completely ruined the mood.
Regardless, Minami kept going.
“Anyway, that's the gist of it~. I want to live like a Ghoul, and to them, I'm a very useful tool if handled correctly~. I stay because I like them, and they keep me because I'm useful. Isn't that a wonderful win-win relationship? This is the true meaning of symbiosis between Ghouls and humans, don't you think~?”
“……Are you joking?”
Her words were so absurd that my voice came out cold.
“How is that symbiosis? One side is a fool following blindly without knowing the cost, and the other is just exploiting her. Don't call that symbiosis.”
“Oh~? I think this is the most fitting relationship for Ghouls and humans~. It's way better than just eating each other, right? So what? Do you know a better way for Ghouls and humans to get along~?”
“I don't know... 'better' might be the wrong word. In some ways, it's even worse than what you've got.”
“……?”
“Something called ‘affection’ can connect people, but it can also be a dangerous trigger. And you bastards just went and pulled that trigger.”
I hadn't spent seven years with that child without reason.
Even here, devoid of any information, I could see exactly how she felt, where she was, and what she was doing.
That was why I was worried, and that was why it was dangerous.
Just how do you people plan to handle the aftermath?
“My daughter is on her way here.”
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