“My name is Yatsuki Shiho...”
“I see, Shiho. Why are you here?”
“W-well...”
The girl who had introduced herself as Shiho fidgeted, unable to answer Hitokawa’s question.
“And where did you get this?”
Hitokawa held up a metal object wrapped in a handkerchief. It was the pistol Shiho had used, loaded with Q Bullets.
“A pistol, let alone the ammunition, isn’t something you can acquire through normal means.”
“I-I... That...”
“And those two men from earlier, what on earth was that about...?”
“Haa, you’re going to give the viewer a heart attack with all this stalling.”
Eto cut Hitokawa off and pushed him aside.
Hitokawa naturally bristled.
“What do you think you're doing!”
“You’re scaring her! I’ll ask, so just stay out of it!”
With that, Eto lowered herself to Shiho’s eye level and spoke in a friendly tone.
“Hi. I’m Eto. Takaki Eto. We’re not trying to blame you for anything. We’re just really curious. I’m only going to ask a few things, so will you answer me?”
Perhaps because Eto looked to be around her own age, Shiho didn’t seem frightened and obediently nodded.
Hitokawa watched from a short distance as Eto questioned the girl and Shiho answered, muttering in disbelief.
“Something is seriously wrong here. She's terrified of the investigator, but perfectly fine with the Ghoul?”
After kicking at the ground in frustration, Hitokawa looked up to see Eto approaching him with a stiff, grim expression. He frowned in confusion.
What could she have heard to make that face?
“What did she say?”
Eto wordlessly held out a photograph. It appeared to be the one Shiho had been carrying.
Hitokawa took one look at it and barely managed to swallow the string of curses that nearly burst from his lips.
Then, with a face twitching as if seized by a spasm, he finally managed to speak.
“W-what... is this?”
“It’s Shiho’s ‘mother.’”
“Don’t be ridiculous!! This is...!!”
Hitokawa couldn’t finish his sentence and stared back at the photo.
A head impaled on a tree, with intestines draped over it like a macabre decoration. It was the same imagery as the photo he had once accidentally shown Koma.
“This is the work of the Artist!”
“Artist? An artist?”
Eto, hearing of the Ghoul known as the Artist for the first time, was puzzled, but there was something more urgent to discuss.
“Shiho lived alone with her mother, but one day her mother disappeared. Then, a few days later, this photo and a pistol were delivered by courier. The sender was listed as her mother. ...Doesn’t this sound familiar?”
“...Koma.”
Koma had also received a pistol loaded with Q Bullets in a package delivered under his father’s name.
“And Koma’s father was killed by the Artist during a mission...”
“Grandpa...”
Eto looked shocked, hearing this for the first time.
She had never properly met Koma’s father.
Whenever she mentioned wanting to meet him, Koma would look troubled and say, “No. He’s the kind of man who’d probably pull a knife the moment he saw you.”
But Eto remembered better than anyone how deeply Koma had mourned his death.
“Koma lost his father to the Artist, and then a Q Bullet pistol was delivered in his father’s name. It was as if they were daring him to take revenge. Now, this girl, Shiho, lost her mother to the same Ghoul, and a Q Bullet was delivered under her mother’s name. This is too specific to be a coincidence.”
“There’s one more suspicious thing. When she was in shock after seeing that horrifying photo of her mother, someone called her.”
“A phone call?”
“It was a man’s voice she’d never heard before. He apparently told her who killed her mother, and gave her detailed instructions on where they were and how to kill them.”
“No, you’re telling me that little girl did something this reckless just because of a call from a stranger? Having a Q Bullet doesn’t make you an expert! That child nearly got killed by a Ghoul!”
“She found it strange too. But she said that while listening to the man, a surge of rage and a desperate need for revenge welled up inside her, and before she knew it, she was following his orders.”
To think someone could lure a girl of only seven or eight years old into trying to assassinate a Ghoul alone, using nothing but a voice.
Was that even possible? And if it was, what kind of monster was the one who orchestrated it?
While Hitokawa was reeling, Eto spoke up.
“Mister Hitokawa. This is just a guess, but could the Artist you mentioned and the group that kidnapped Dad... be the same?”
“The Artist is a group? No way. The Artist has definitely operated alone for years...”
As he spoke, Hitokawa stopped abruptly, as if a realization had struck him, and stroked his chin.
“No, wait. Maybe not. If the last sighting mentioned him being with unidentified Ghouls, perhaps he grew tired of the CCG’s relentless pursuit and started recruiting subordinates.”
“Then that group’s hideout could be right here.”
Putting all the information together, the Artist was definitely connected to the ones who had kidnapped Koma.
If they were separate factions, it would be one thing. But if that monster was part of this group...
“Then why did they kidnap Dad...?”
Eto stared at the photo of the horrific scene.
Perhaps she had reached the same conclusion as Hitokawa, because her face went deathly pale.
Hitokawa grabbed Eto’s arm just as she looked ready to bolt.
“Hey, calm down!”
“How am I supposed to calm down?! If we don’t hurry, Dad is...! Dad is...!”
Unable to control her emotions, Eto’s [Kakugan] surfaced.
It was fortunate that Eto had her back to Shiho.
If Shiho saw Eto like this, she would have been terrified. Though, from the looks of it, she was already just as frightened by Eto’s screaming.
“If you want to give Koma any chance of survival, then listen to me!”
“...!!”
Eto finally pulled herself together and turned back toward him. Hitokawa let out a heavy sigh.
Honestly, this girl was usually so mature, but the moment Koma was involved, she reverted into a reckless child.
“The Artist is S-rated. Under normal circumstances, even the two of us together couldn't beat him. On top of that, that insect-masked Ghoul is estimated at A-rate. We don’t even know how many other Ghouls are there. Charging into their hideout like this would be like a moth flying into a flame.”
“So you’re telling me to give up!?”
“That’s not what I’m saying, so listen to the end!!”
Hitokawa pressed a hand to his forehead.
To be honest, he didn’t want to bring this up to Eto. His values, his conscience, his pride—none of them would allow it.
But when he weighed those things against Koma’s life, Hitokawa had no choice but to make a decision.
“Listen carefully. In order to save Koma...”
Hitokawa forced the words past his lips and looked Eto in the eye.
“You have to die, Eto.”
“Wait a moment, Minami.”
Minami, who had been waving an awl in front of my eyes while debating which eyeball to gouge out first, turned around at the voice from behind her.
“Oh my~ Boss? It’s been a while since you’ve come out~?”
Boss?
I didn’t know who he was, but the title alone made it clear he was the head of this insane group.
Let’s see what kind of bastard we're dealing with.
I tried to lift my head to see his face, but Minami’s back blocked my view.
Even when I tried to shift my body, I was bound too tightly to move.
“I hear you’ve brought back a rather interesting subject?”
“Yes! I think I can create a real masterpiece this time~. Especially the eyes—they’re just so, so wonderful~.”
“I see. May I take a look?”
“Of course!”
Minami stepped aside obediently, and I nearly screamed.
It wasn’t because of the boss’s face.
It was because the moment Minami moved, a shadow fell over me as if something were pouncing. I couldn't even see a full face.
All I could see were his eyes.
They were so close they filled my entire field of vision, practically pressed against my own, bloodshot and staring straight into my soul.
It was like a scene from a horror movie.
I tried to turn my head away, but the hands pinning me down on both sides wouldn’t budge.
Something in those pupils—a madness beyond human comprehension—made my stomach churn.
Please, just back off. I’m seriously about to throw up.
After staring into my eyes for a long moment, the boss narrowed his gaze, as if something displeased him.
“What a pity. To meet you in such a state. Takaki Koma.”
“?”
What the hell? This guy knows me?
While I was still reeling, the boss continued.
“Your father, Takaki Harima, was also a subject I quite liked... but he resisted so fiercely that I had no choice but to kill him on the spot. Even now, I regret that I couldn't bring his body back with me.”
“....................................................................................................”
Hey, calm down.
Remember your situation. Provoking him now is a bad idea.
...That was my reason whispering to me.
And my heart answered it.
“What the hell did you just say, you bastard?”
A rage that reason could no longer suppress boiled over, and the boss’s eyes curved, as if he finally found me interesting.
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