“Why do you work under someone like that?”
Not long after the boss left the room, Minami began humming again, casually preparing the tools she intended to use to dismantle me.
I threw the question at her back, and she turned around, looking at me as if I were the strange one.
“Someone like what?”
“Your boss. You almost got murdered just now.”
I was referring to the moment Minami had stepped in to block the boss’s greedy gaze when it landed on me.
At the time, she had claimed ownership of my body, and the boss had pleaded for leniency, asking if there was any way she could change her mind.
Up to that point, it had been a perfectly ordinary conversation—except for the fact that the subject matter was utterly deranged.
Minami had remained firm in her refusal, even when he suggested other targets, and the boss had pretended to ponder the matter accordingly.
But his eyes had told a different story.
Though his gaze had shifted from me to Minami, that repulsive quality hadn't changed.
The bastard was weighing his options.
He was calculating whether it would be more profitable to keep Minami alive or to kill her right then and there to claim my body for himself.
If the phone hadn’t rung at that exact moment, something terrible would have happened for sure.
I could tell just by watching from the sidelines. No matter how airheaded she seemed, there was no way Minami hadn't felt it.
And yet, she remained as composed as ever.
Checking her tools once more, she spoke. “I don’t care. The treatment of a regular employee is usually worse than that of a slave anyway.”
“...That’s a strangely hard point to argue against.”
It felt as though a bleak slice of reality had just been uttered by the woman who seemed the furthest thing from realistic.
Put another way, she had been working with those monsters all this time, existing in an atmosphere where she could be killed at any second.
I didn’t get it.
I didn't understand why she wanted to become a Ghoul, nor why she would choose to work with people who treated her so poorly.
But apparently, none of that mattered to her.
Clatter-clatter!
The tools she had been inspecting were laid out in a neat row beside the iron bed I was lying on.
The awl she had planned to use to gouge out my eyes now seemed almost cute by comparison.
Saws, scissors, sulfuric acid, surgical scalpels, hammers, and more. It was a collection of props straight out of a B-grade gore film.
Ah, I’m really going to die, I thought, though I was powerless to stop it.
Perhaps because I had thrashed around earlier and smashed the boss’s crown with my head, someone had brought a heavy-duty belt and strapped me tightly to the bed. Now, even struggling was impossible.
The only weapon I had left was my tongue; I had to somehow talk Minami into changing her mind...
But was that even possible? Could I actually reason with this crazy bitch?
I didn't have a license in psychological counseling, but I had no other choice.
“What did you do before you started this kind of work?”
“Oh? Have you suddenly developed an interest in me?”
“Would I not be interested when you're about to tear my body to shreds right now?”
Time was running out.
I had to find it—the keyword that would strip away that sly, playful smile.
The decisive trigger that would force her true face to emerge from the shadows.
And I had to find it quickly, before she decided whether to start with the awl or the saw.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“I’ve had plenty of suitors, but not a single one of them ever measured up.”
“Then how about me?”
“My, how bold. If we meet again in the next life, I’ll be the one to confess first~.”
So my death in this life is already a given.
That didn't work at all. Something else!
“Why do you want to become a Ghoul so badly?”
“I already told you, didn’t I? I admire them because they’re cool.”
“If you admire Ghouls that much, want me to introduce you to one? I know a middle-aged Ghoul who is absolutely terrifyingly strong.”
“Really? If such a person actually exists, that would be lovely~.”
No. She was reacting slightly, but she didn't believe me.
It wasn't as if I could just call Kuzen right now to prove it. Something else!
“By the way, what do your parents do? Both of my parents have passed away. Especially my father, because of your damn boss...”
CLANG!!
A piercing metallic shriek cut me off mid-sentence.
It was the awl. The tool Minami had been holding was now driven halfway into the iron plate by my head.
Still gripping the handle, Minami looked at me with a sweet, thin smile.
“Could you let me concentrate? One really needs to be mentally prepared before starting the work~.”
“...”
I fell silent in shock, staring at the awl embedded in the metal beside me.
It wasn't the threat that had me stunned.
She reacted.
I had found the keyword.
‘Parents.’ That was the trigger for Minami.
I had to use this to drag her true self into the light. Just as I was desperately trying to formulate a sentence around that keyword,
Thump!
“Mmph?!”
Minami clamped her hand over my mouth.
As if she had finally made up her mind, she looked down at the saw in her other hand.
“All right, I’ve decided. Gouging out your eyes is an option, but I think I’ll just cut your head off cleanly.”
“Mmmph! Mmph!”
“Don’t worry. I’m quite experienced with this, so I can make the cut very pretty. First, the saw blade will slice through the skin. Then it will hit the thyroid in your neck. Since it's cartilage, it cuts quite easily. As it goes deeper, the muscle and body fat will make the saw harder to move, but once I sever the artery, the resistance will fade. After that, I’ll cut through the trachea until I hit the vertebrae, and then I’ll use an axe to sever the bone in one go.”
She spoke with a fluid ease, as if she had repeated this process countless times.
There wasn't even a trace of malice in her voice. Like a butcher who had grown numb to the act of slaughtering pigs, Minami brought the sharp edge of the saw to the tip of my Adam's apple.
“Mmmph!! Mmph!!”
“Now, good night, Koma-kun~.”
She whispered tenderly, as if putting a child to sleep, and put her weight into the saw.
The blade began to bite into my skin—!
Knock, knock.
Suddenly, an absurdly casual knock echoed through a world that had been strained to its absolute limit.
Minami stopped, glancing toward the door with a puzzled expression.
She looked genuinely confused, as if none of the people she knew possessed the courtesy to knock before entering this room.
With a suspicious look on her face, she called out, “Who is it?”
That voice.
As if the door itself had been waiting for that single question, it was violently ripped from its hinges.
And with it came a voice I knew all too well.
KWA-GA-GA-BOOOOM!!!
“Democracy delivery, you rotten bitch!!”
***
Hitokawa had chosen the stairs leading underground.
It wasn't based on any special intuition.
He had simply been taught that Ghouls, by their nature of hiding, preferred inconspicuous locations that were enclosed on all sides.
If they were concealing themselves and potentially using underground waterways as an escape route, the probability of them being in the basement was far higher than on the upper floors.
Surely there wasn't a Ghoul arrogant enough to sit on the top floor of a massive building and look down upon the world. If there was, he’d love to see their face.
He descended to the first basement level, but after searching every room, there was no sign of Koma.
He felt a surge of anxiety; if he went to the second basement and still found nothing, it meant his hypothesis was wrong and he had wasted precious time.
As he searched the second basement, he caught a faint sound.
Was it just a rat? Or the sound of a conversation? Clinging to a sliver of hope, he followed the noise.
He eventually arrived at a heavily closed door at the very end of the hall.
The door was made of iron, but the hinges were old and rusted. He knew that if he kicked it with all his might, it would collapse.
However, doing so would create a loud noise and immediately give away his position.
Hitokawa decided to test the waters with a light knock.
“Who is it?”
The voice that answered was one he recognized.
Once he heard it, there was no longer any reason to hesitate.
He slammed his foot into the rusted hinges, bringing the door crashing down.
KWA-GA-GA-BOOOOM!!!
“Democracy delivery, you rotten bitch!!”
Though his entrance was boisterous, his mind remained cold and analytical.
The moment the door fell, he scanned the room in a split second.
There were no other Ghouls present. Only Minami holding a saw, and his friend who was seconds away from being decapitated.
Rather than feeling relief that he wasn't too late, he prioritized neutralizing the threat.
The distance was too great. Even if he lunged, it would take two or three steps to reach them. If Minami snapped and sliced Koma's artery, it would be over.
In that case...!
He limited his movement to a single, explosive step.
He stomped violently onto the fallen door.
The resulting recoil surged up through his legs, through his core, and into his right arm gripping the metal case. Using that momentum, he swung the case with the power of a professional baseball player and hurled it.
“...?!!”
Minami reflexively raised her arms to protect her head.
But the weight and force behind the metal case were overwhelming. A sickening crack echoed from her blocking arm, and the shockwave rattled her skull.
As Minami collapsed like a rotten log, Hitokawa charged.
He hit the switch on the case as it fell with her, flipping it open and drawing his Quinque in one fluid motion.
Simultaneously, he delivered a powerful kick to Minami’s exposed abdomen, sending her flying toward the wall. He then transitioned seamlessly into a defensive stance with his deployed Quinque, scanning for any potential ambushes.
There were no ambushes.
Nor was there any sign of anyone rushing to the scene. It seemed Eto was handling things well upstairs.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, Hitokawa looked at Koma, who was bound tightly to the iron bed, and let out a laugh that was half-relief and half-disbelief.
“What the hell is this? Are you playing the part of a caterpillar?”
“And what are you doing? Playing the part of a veteran Ghoul Investigator?”
Koma grinned back at Hitokawa, admitting that he actually looked the part.
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