My brain is burning.
It felt as if fire were coursing through my veins instead of blood.
What did this bastard just say?
Kill? Kill who?
My father?
This bastard killed my father?
I knew I had to stay calm. There was a possibility that he was lying.
But the emotion boiling up from the depths of my chest screamed otherwise.
I didn’t care. Truth or lie, this bastard had said something that should never be uttered. Right in front of me.
My throat tightened. I wanted to rip out those disgusting eyes with my teeth.
But no matter how hard I strained, my head wouldn’t budge.
This bastard—the one who called himself the boss—was holding my head firmly in place with both hands.
That was enough.
Bang!
Like a shrimp snapping its body, I launched myself upward from my toes.
Though my limbs were bound, I wasn't bolted to the iron bed. Using that freedom and the fact that my head was pinned, I slammed my knee directly into his face.
Crack!!
“!”
Even if I struck a Ghoul's body hard enough to break my own knee, it shouldn't have dealt significant damage.
Still, he must have been startled, because those repulsive eyes vanished from my sight.
“Oh my! How surprising. To think you’d attack in a situation like this. Is this what they call 'like father, like son'?”
The owner of those eyes drifted back into the shadows where the lamp light couldn't reach, letting out an admiring sigh.
My knee throbbed as if I'd slammed it against a steel plate, but I ignored the pain and glared at the silhouette hiding in the dark. I could feel a mocking gaze boring into me from the shadows.
“Takaki Harima. I’ve killed many investigators, but your father was especially memorable. He was like a wounded beast. No matter how hard I pressed him, the light in his eyes never died. Just like yours right now. In the end, he succumbed to excessive blood loss, though.”
“Shut up....”
“I wanted those eyes so badly I could have preserved them as a work of art. But if I’d lingered, the other investigators would have swarmed me, so I had no choice. I truly regret it, you know. I should have at least plucked out the eyeballs.”
“I said shut up!!”
I knew exactly why he was rambling about my father. He was simply enjoying himself.
He was savoring my rage, pure and simple.
That nauseating behavior actually helped me regain my composure.
Losing my reason was exactly what this bastard wanted most.
“...Who are you?”
I forced down my anger and asked.
Perhaps because I'd suppressed my rage faster than he expected, I could sense a faint note of disappointment emanating from the shadows.
“Didn’t you just hear me? I’m the boss here. I used to work alone, but one day I realized something: the world needs more 'works' to become truly beautiful. However, if you focus only on mass production, the quality drops. That is the nature of art. So, I gathered a few like-minded individuals. I leave the low-quality, fast-paced pieces to the others, while I pour my heart and soul into creating masterpieces of the highest quality. That is what this company is.”
Creating works. From those words, it was clear that the insane policy of this company—dismembering and decorating people—originated entirely from him.
Suddenly, I remembered a conversation I'd had with Hitokawa.
A story about a Ghoul who operated alone, not as part of an organization, but who did the exact same things this company did.
Could it be that this bastard....
“...You’re the Artist?”
“Oho! You know my alias? As expected of a Ghoul Investigator’s son. The CCG’s methods are truly irritating, but they gave me a nickname that suits me perfectly.”
He clearly loved being called an “artist.”
He truly believed that murdering people, decorating them, and displaying them on the street like advertisements was art. There was a terrifying conviction in his madness.
Everyone I’d met in this building today was insane, but this man was the most prominent lunatic of them all.
The Ghoul who killed my father, the boss of this twisted company, and the Artist.
He remained hidden in the shadows, as if clinging to some mysterious persona.
From his silhouette and voice, I could only infer that he was a tall man.
He dragged over a chair, sat down, and continued.
“Takaki Koma.... In truth, I’ve been watching you for far longer than you think.”
“...!”
I caught my breath.
Watching me for a long time? What did that mean? Had he been planning to dismember me and turn me into a "work" from the start?
The silhouette pressed the tips of his fingers together as if delivering a lecture.
“What is the most beautiful thing about humans? Appearance? The body? Hair? Voice? The heart? No. None of those! The most beautiful thing in a human is 'emotion.' Pure, intense emotion is the true beauty of mankind. So, when does that emotion shine the brightest?”
It might have been my imagination, but I felt the corners of his mouth curl upward.
“When they harbor a grudge. Not love, not friendship. It is when they purely resent, hate, rage, and harbor murderous intent that human emotion is expressed most vividly. That sight is so alluring it gives me chills!”
I was getting chills too.
But mine were from the sheer horror of hearing this bastard speak in such an excited voice.
“To be honest, I had high hopes. I expected you to be consumed by rage over your father’s death and hunt me down for revenge. I wondered if you possessed the same wildness as your father. The result? A massive disappointment. You didn’t lift a finger for four years.”
Glad to disappoint you.
It had been worth suppressing the hatred boiling inside me, if only to raise Eto.
“As a final test, I sent you a Ghoul-countermeasure pistol in your father’s name. I wanted to remind you of his death and place a weapon in your hands that could achieve your revenge.”
“...You were the one who sent that Q Bullet?”
“To be precise, I was just the errand boy~!”
Minami, who had been standing back, suddenly raised her hand and cut in.
It didn’t feel like she was trying to lighten the mood; she just seemed bored.
“You have no idea how hard that was! Breaking into the police station vault to steal that Q Bullet was a journey so arduous it would bring tears to your eyes. Want to hear about it?”
“I don’t want to hear a single word, so shut up and stay back.”
“...Tch.”
Minami puffed out her cheeks in a pout and stepped back again.
Ignoring her, I glared once more at the boss in the shadows.
“Too bad for you. I didn’t play along. I handed that gun over to the CCG the moment I got it. Reporting an unregistered weapon is a citizen's duty, after all.”
“Indeed, because of that, I had intended to give up on you. I dismissed you as a petty civilian who didn’t even have the courage to seek revenge. But fate is a cruel thing. You, whom I had abandoned, caught Minami’s eye and ended up right here before me. And now, I’ve discovered something new that can only be seen in person.”
A hand slowly reached out from the shadows. It was a grotesque hand, with unkempt nails and joints bent like gnarled old wood.
The fingertips pointed directly at me.
“When I look at you, I feel so many emotions. Hatred directed at me, barely restrained but undeniably present; patience, fighting to avoid being swept away by that hatred; fear, born from the realization of your hopeless situation; and yet, the courage to resist it all. Truly, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen emotions this dazzlingly clear. It’s like looking at a raw gemstone. I want to carve and polish it with my own hands to create a masterpiece the world will never forget...!”
Drip. Drip.
A wet liquid fell at his feet, forming a small puddle.
This bastard is actually drooling while looking at me, isn't he?
The most intense gaze yet slammed into me.
The intent was unmistakable: he wanted to scan my insides like an X-ray, examining everything down to the marrow to remake me into something new. Nausea surged in my throat.
What an appalling place. Hell would be more peaceful than this.
Just as the gaze felt like it might knock me unconscious, I was saved by the most unlikely person: Minami.
“No, Boss!”
She spread her arms wide, blocking the gaze pouring toward me with her entire body.
I looked at her, confused by the sudden help.
“I’m the one who’s supposed to use Koma-kun as material this time!”
“....”
Of course you are, you damn bitch.
In other words, she was claiming my body as her own material and didn't want him stealing it.
The boss replied in a troubled voice, “Can’t we negotiate? I really want this one.”
“No. That was decided in the meeting. Besides, Boss, you already have another subject picked out.”
“I do, I suppose. It would be a waste to let the theme of a child avenging a lost parent go to waste. The daughter of the woman I hunted recently should be ready to move soon. She’s only seven, but she has remarkable drive. Hmm, should I just settle for her?”
The boss fell into thought. I wanted to dig my fingers in my ears, but I was bound and unable to.
What the hell did he just say?
Seven years old? That's Eto's age. He gave a seven-year-old a gun and encouraged her to seek revenge against him?
“What a piece of shit.”
“Ah, our boss is a bit of a piece of shit, isn't he?”
“And you think you’re any different?”
I was sneering at Minami, who seemed oblivious to the fact that she was exactly the same, when a phone rang from the boss's side.
Ring-ring-ring! Click!
“What is it? ...What?”
Who was calling, and what was the news?
In an instant, the boss's gaze in the shadows shifted.
Throb. Throb.
The scar on my right arm, which had been quiet for a while, began to ache again.
Until now, his gaze had been disgusting, but it hadn't triggered the scar. That was because he had been acting as an "artist."
But the throbbing meant his gaze had returned to that of a Ghoul.
His purpose was now to fight.
“It seems we have an intruder. I’ll send the deputy and handle this.”
With those words, he opened the door and walked out.
Minami tilted her head, wondering what the big deal about an intruder was, but I clenched my teeth, already guessing who it was.
The scar on my right arm continued to throb.
***
“Now then....”
Beep.
After ending the call with the boss, the section chief looked straight ahead.
The entrance of the abandoned building stood wide open. Someone stood there, backlit by the faint light of dawn.
The section chief, who usually possessed the warm demeanor of a kindly old man, narrowed his eyes, a sharp light flashing within them. His gaze swept over the uninvited guest’s feet.
“What business do you have here with such 'gifts,' Owl Mask?”
Standing before him was a small Ghoul, its entire body draped in a blanket. The oversized blanket combined with the owl mask made it look like a human-sized owl.
At the owl’s feet lay two objects. The section chief knew exactly what they were.
They were his coworkers.
The severed heads of the chief and the assistant chief lay side by side. The section chief stared at them with a flat, emotionless expression.
They had only been playing house in a corporate structure; there was no real affection between them.
Even so, he wasn't entirely indifferent to the act of someone decapitating two colleagues and delivering their heads as a trophy.
This was a blatant violation of territory. A direct challenge.
“What do you want? If you’ve come to claim this territory, just know that everyone who tried before you is already buried in the ground. Now, leave.”
“....”
Despite the order to leave, the Owl Mask did not retreat. Instead, it took a step forward.
Whoosh!!
A red light, like flickering flames or the wings of a bird, erupted from its right shoulder.
“I heard your answer. Die.”
The section chief also unleashed his Kagune and charged at the Owl Mask.
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