“They really did set up a meticulous encirclement, those bastards.”
After spreading the map out again, I could only look on with a look of sheer disbelief.
The map was covered in a massive circle of X marks, as if they intended to ensure not even a single ant could slip through. Every mark represented the position of a Ghoul Investigator.
In the end, there was no weakness in the perimeter.
No matter which way we turned, a wall of investigators blocked the path. Furthermore, the investigators were positioned to move flexibly; the moment a skirmish broke out, they could shift and surround the target in an instant.
Whoever was in charge was clearly a highly capable commander.
It was impossible to slip the Ghouls out through the gaps between the investigators. That was why we had settled on a “back route.”
Of course, if such a route already existed, the investigators would never have left it unguarded.
Our goal was to carve out a back route where none existed.
“Found it.”
While I was studying the map, Enji’s voice rang out. Eto, Kaya, and I, who had been scattered around the area, gathered at the sound of his voice.
We were currently hiding inside a building that had been closed off for a long time.
It had once served as a Ghoul research facility, but it was said that a captured Ghoul had gone berserk one day, turning the place into a scene of absolute carnage.
The laboratory was eventually shut down to bury the trauma of the incident.
When the facility closed, they reportedly sealed every passage leading to the underground sewers with concrete.
This sparked suspicions—people wondered why it was necessary to block the sewers just to close a building, and rumors spread that the facility had been using the sewers to dump something unsavory. The research institution remained silent, and the closure eventually faded into a minor commotion.
One of those concrete-sealed sewer passages happened to connect perfectly with the sewers of Ward 7.
Eto had been the first to discover this route, suggesting that the investigators' reach likely wouldn't extend this far. The rest of us agreed.
Not only was the passage already sealed, but the point where it connected to Ward 7 was in a location that was difficult for both investigators and Ghouls to access.
“Hup!”
KWA-GA-GA-GA-BOOOOM!!!
With a short grunt, Enji drove his fist forward, blowing the concrete wall apart.
Concrete fragments flew outward, but we heard no sound of them hitting the ground. The four of us peeked through the breach in the wall.
There was nothing there.
Only darkness.
We were standing in a hole punched through the center of a wall so massive it was hard to gauge its true scale.
I clicked my tongue, recalling the rumors about the abandoned laboratory.
“Seriously. Who builds a sewer in such a weird place? Maybe the people here really were dumping things, just like the rumors said.”
“Perhaps it really is a path that leads to the 24th Ward.”
“The 24th Ward?”
I turned toward Kaya at her mutter. Eto also looked intrigued, as if she were hearing of this district for the first time.
The wards in this city only ran from the 1st to the 23rd. A 24th Ward did not exist.
Kaya gave a brief explanation.
“It’s a district said to exist deep underground, beneath the city. However, the path there is unknown, and the suspected routes are blocked by walls of Kagune, making them impassable. Rumor has it that all the ominous things discarded by the city flow into that place.”
“Sounds like an urban legend.”
Why does the unknown pull at the human heart so strongly? For a moment, I felt a desire to see the 24th Ward for myself, but I quickly shook my head.
The attraction to the unknown is born of fear.
Uncertainty is the essence of fear, and it is to resolve that fear that people seek to uncover the unknown.
I didn't know exactly what a wall of Kagune was, but just imagining it gave me the feeling that I should stay far away.
It was like a warning sign. As someone pursuing a peaceful life, ignoring a warning sign was not an option.
“So don’t let your curiosity get the better of you, Eto.”
Jolt!
Eto flinched and averted her gaze. She was at an age where curiosity and impulsiveness were at their peak.
“Where is the other passage?”
“Hmm…….”
At Enji’s question, I unfolded the map again.
According to the map, there was a passage leading from Ward 7 directly across from us, beyond the bottomless void of the floor.
However, no matter where I looked, the opposite wall was smooth.
There was no hole that looked like it led to Ward 7.
“The map says it's right in front of us, but it looks like the Ward 7 passage was also sealed with concrete.”
“Knowing the direction is enough.”
Kaya stepped forward and unleashed her Kagune.
Her Kagune was an Ukaku.
Fragments of the wing-shaped Kagune shot forward like bullets, slamming into the wall.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-BOOOOM!
Six volleys struck the wall at precise intervals. A prominent crack formed at one point, and the section collapsed in a heap. Revealed behind it was the passage leading to Ward 7.
Now that a route to safely extract their subordinates had been secured, Enji and Kaya’s expressions brightened.
“We’ll take it from here.”
“Will you be alright? The path into Ward 7 is still complicated.”
“I’ve memorized the map, so it’s fine.”
Enji suggested they part ways here, and Kaya eased his worries by confirming she had committed the map to memory.
“Besides, didn’t you say you were only dipping a toe in? It gets much deeper from here, so it’s better if you don’t come.”
“That’s true.”
“Then, let's see each other again alive.”
After a brief farewell, Enji and Kaya leapt into the passage and vanished. I stood there, staring in the direction they had gone.
“Aren’t you going?”
“It won’t take that long.”
Eto spoke to me as I remained motionless, and I replied calmly.
Eto sighed and looked in the same direction as I was, as if resigned.
“You’re worried, aren’t you?”
“Imagine stopping a novel at a cliffhanger and trying to go to sleep. Do you think you could actually rest?”
“I suppose that's true.”
Eto admitted it readily.
I found a spot to sit, and Eto settled in beside me. She then pulled something from her pocket.
A small, rectangular treat. Chocolate.
Unlike other Ghouls, she could consume human food, but since she couldn't taste it or derive nutrition from it, she hadn't brought it for herself. She had brought it for me.
“Would you like some chocolate?”
“Did you expect me to just hang around here?”
“I’ve lived with Dad for years. I can tell exactly what you're thinking.”
I let out a hearty laugh and took the chocolate from the proudly shrugging Eto.
As I took the treat, I noticed something else remaining in her pocket. A hard candy, carefully wrapped in plastic.
“…….”
“Just in case.”
Feeling my gaze, Eto smiled awkwardly.
That was no ordinary candy. It was something I had specially made for her previously.
The ingredients were simple: bones from a suicide victim, finely ground and mixed with my own blood, then hardened into a sphere.
Eto’s combat style was said to be extremely energy-intensive. This energy included not just stamina, but the nutrients she gained from consuming humans.
During her fight with the Artist, a single piece of human flesh had brought her back from the brink of death, providing the foothold for her victory. Based on that experience, I had created these candies so that Eto would have a lifeline in case of a dire emergency.
The reason she had brought the emergency Ghoul candy was obvious. She was preparing for the worst.
“……I hope you never have to use it.”
“I hope so too.”
I checked my phone.
12:15. Midnight had already passed. It wouldn't be surprising if the investigators moved at any moment.
I looked back toward the passage where Enji and Kaya had disappeared and muttered,
“Whether you're Ghouls or investigators, just come back safely. I'm not in the mood for another nightmare tonight.”
***
“He’s a strange one.”
Kaya muttered as they traversed the passage. She didn't specify who she meant, but Enji, who knew exactly who she was talking about, agreed.
“He is strange.”
The subject of their conversation was none other than Koma.
By all appearances, he was an ordinary human. He wasn't strong like a Ghoul Investigator, nor did he possess any special abilities.
Yet, such a man was raising a Ghoul daughter and counted a Ghoul Investigator as a friend.
Even knowing that Enji and Kaya were Ghouls, he showed no fear and extended a helping hand to them, despite having known them for only a short time.
To them, Koma was an anomaly.
Because of this, they could not view him as they did other humans.
He was now a benefactor who had acted on behalf of them and their subordinates.
“When Yoshimura-san sent us to him, I thought he was simply entrusting him to our care.”
When they first visited him as a friend of Kuzen and discovered he was human, they had been beyond bewildered. But now, they felt they understood why Kuzen had chosen Koma as a friend.
“But that wasn't it. Yoshimura-san was entrusting us to him.”
“…….”
Kaya didn't respond, but she was already in agreement.
They were people who had lived miserable lives without parents before forming their own pack. To them, the way Koma and Eto lived together brought an inexplicable warmth to a corner of their hearts.
It was the feeling of a child toward a parent—a feeling they had never once possessed.
After running for some time, they encountered a blockage. This appeared to be the final concrete sealing wall.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-BOOOOM!!
Enji and Kaya struck the wall in unison, their fists and feet smashing through the barrier.
Leaping through the flying debris, Enji grinned.
“Our benefactor doesn't seem to want anyone dying today.”
“I'll let it slide just for today.”
En and the Black Doberman.
Two bitter rivals who had been desperate to kill one another had formed a temporary alliance, bound by a common enemy in the CCG and the wishes of a strange human named Koma.
***
“Commence the breach!”
At the commander's radio command, the investigators gripped their weapons and began entering the sewers.
Nothing happened during the first few minutes of the advance, but soon, reports of chaos began erupting from multiple locations.
“Engagement in column 16A!”
“Ghoul sighted in 14C! Identified as B+ rate Ghoul ‘Mole’!”
“Casualties in column 21D! Opposing Ghoul unidentified, but estimated to be A-rate or higher!”
“‘Badger’ spotted in 6A! Injured and retreating!”
“Multiple Ghouls, including ‘Mantis’ and ‘Ptarmigan,’ spotted in column 10B! They are attacking investigators in a pack!”
“Any First Class investigators with capacity, support column 21! I will head to column 10 with the Associate Special Class!”
As the battle ignited, the heat of the conflict poured in from all sides like a waterfall. Hitokawa frowned; no matter how many times he experienced it, he could never get used to this intensity.
“It’s started.”
“W-will they be okay?”
“Don’t worry. The investigators on the front line aren’t as fragile as you think.”
Though the sounds of combat were violent, Hitokawa knew his allies would not fall easily. There was something else that bothered him more.
Mole, Badger, Mantis, Ptarmigan…… those are all just the identification names of Ward 7 Ghouls. We definitely confirmed the presence of En and the Black Doberman, so where are they?
Hitokawa was preoccupied with the two Ghoul groups that were avoiding direct confrontation with the investigators.
If they wanted to escape, now—while the encirclement was shaken by the other Ghouls—would be the perfect opportunity.
Were they planning to hold out inside? Or was this some kind of trap?
While Hitokawa wore a suspicious expression and Hoshino trembled in tension during her first large-scale battle, the boy named Arima standing behind them was looking in a completely different direction.
“…….”
A faint glint of interest flickered in his eyes, entirely indifferent to the battle unfolding before him.
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