The figure that emerged from the settling dust wasโฆ
"๐๐ข๐ข! ๐๐ข๐ข! ๐๐ข๐ข! ๐๐ข๐ข!"
It was Eto, gasping for air so violently it felt as though her lungs might give out at any second. Shocked, I called out to her reflexively.
"Eto?!"
Startle!
Eto's body jerked. Her frame was riddled with wounds, blood slicking her skin. Beyond the jagged cracks in her mask, her pupils were half-dilated, clearly showing she was far from alright. Yet, she had not missed the sound of my voice.
"Paโฆpa?"
Eto staggered forward. Her movements were as precarious as a newborn taking its first steps. Eventually, her body tilted forward as if collapsing, and I lunged just in time to catch her before she hit the ground.
"Eto! Are you okay? Stay with me, Eto!"
"Paโฆpa, Papaโฆ"
Eto reached out with a trembling hand. Her gaze was unfocused, and the scent of blood wafted from the teeth visible between her parted lips. That scent, combined with her state, mirrored her mindless episodes so closely that I tensed reflexively. Fortunately, the worst did not happen. Eto simply draped her arms around my neck and leaned her weight into me, appearing relieved.
"Thank goodnessโฆ. That Papaโฆ is safeโฆ."
She hadn't lost her reason. Relieved by that fact, I answered her.
"You idiot. That's my line!"
Though she had sustained many injuries, there were no fatal wounds that threatened her life. She was simply unable to support herself because she had pushed her body to the brink of collapse.
Hitokawa, having observed Eto's condition, turned his gaze toward the two ghouls lying on the floor. One was the portly, middle-aged man called the Department Manager, and the other was the Insect-Masked ghoul, the Assistant Manager. Hitokawa looked back and forth between the two fallen monsters and Eto, his expression one of utter disbelief.
"My godโฆ I can't believe it even as I'm looking at it. You took them both down alone?"
"I didn'tโฆ kill themโฆ."
Eto, cradled in my arms, spoke as she struggled to look at Hitokawa.
"Becauseโฆ I promised. I only destroyed their ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถโฆ and knocked them out."
"Is that even possible? To take down two ghouls while enduring the stamina drain of an ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ?"
"It wasโฆ dangerous, certainlyโฆ but I shifted my perspective."
"Meatโฆโช"
At that moment, Eto had been on the very precipice of losing her mind. If she wasn't allowed to eat Papa, she could simply eat the ghouls in front of her. Eto was moments away from putting that dangerous shift in perspective into action.
However, in that instant, a final shred of reason slammed on the brakes. She felt it instinctively: consuming "ghoul flesh" any further would be dangerous. It would be like stepping voluntarily into an inescapable swamp.
But what then? She had no strength left to maintain her ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ, and her physical stamina was zero. Energy. She had to consume something that could be converted into energy.
She inverted her perspective once more. The nutrients a ghoul needsโthe cells that serve as a ghoul's weapon. Those were not strictly limited to the interior of a ghoul's body. She realized what she had to eat!
"Die, you brat!!"
Perhaps sensing the dangerous aura in Eto's eyes as her reason threatened to fly away, the Department Manager hurled his ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ feathers without hesitation. Even as the barrage of quill-like projectiles flew toward her like bullets, Eto did not dodge.
She didn't even try.
She curled her body, overlapping her right arm and leg to protect her vital organsโher head and heart. The ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ shards slammed into her limbs, embedding themselves like shards of glass. Though she had protected her vitals, it didn't change the fact that she was severely wounded.
In that moment, as if she had been waiting for it, Eto bit down on her own injured arm.
"?! What is that brat doing?!"
For a second, the Manager thought she had lost her mind. But he was wrong. She wasn't eating her own arm; she was devouring the ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ shards that had pierced it!
"๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฉ...!! ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!!!"
Having devoured the shards, Eto let out a blood-curdling scream. It was as if she had chewed and swallowed broken glass; an indescribable agony radiated from where the ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ had passed, surging up through her nervous system.
"You fool. You're so cornered you've resorted to eating ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ!"
"๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ!!"
The Assistant Manager, seeing Eto writhing in pain, viewed it as the perfect chance to finish her and leaped high into the air. He concentrated his two ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ tentacles into a single mass and swung them down toward Eto like a falling hammer.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!!!
Eto, unable to even contemplate a counterattack, was crushed by the ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ and plummeted through the rooftop floor to the level below. It was a strike from a ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ, the strongest of the four ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ types. Having taken such a hit while unable to even steady herself, there was no way she could be alive.
Judging the fight to be over, the Department Manager retracted his ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ. He was exhausted after maintaining his ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ for so long.
That was his fatal mistake.
๐๐๐๐๐!!!
In that instant, an ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ erupted from beneath the Manager's feet and skewered his shoulder. To be precise, it pierced exactly where his ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ was located.
"๐-๐๐จ๐ฉ?!"
"Finallyโฆ I managed to pierce it."
The voice belonged to Eto.
She hadn't been writhing in pain on the floor; she had used the timing of the ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ'๐ด descent to erupt her ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ from her back against the floor. The recoil had created a hole just large enough for Eto's small frame to drop through. All the ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ had crushed was the surrounding floor left behind after Eto had already escaped.
"Youโฆ you damnโฆ brat...!!"
"Thanks to you, I can fight a little longer. Thank you."
๐๐๐๐๐!!!
Eto, having climbed back up to the rooftop, delivered her word of thanks along with a savage kick to the Manager's jaw. The impact sent him sprawling, unconscious. Eto then turned her gaze toward the Assistant Manager, who was still tilting his head in confusion, looking back and forth between the hole in the floor and the perfectly fine Eto.
"๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ?"
"Now it's just you."
"๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ!! ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ!!!"
The Assistant Manager lunged at Eto with his usual bizarre laughter, and Eto met him head-on, her ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ flaring with renewed intensity. It wasn't until the battle had moved from the roof back down through the lower floors that she was finally able to settle the score.
"This kid is a total lunatic, isn't she?"
Having heard Eto's story, Koma muttered with a look of sheer disbelief.
"A ghoul's ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ exists for hunting, but it's also a weapon used for competition within the species. Its composition acts as a poison to any ghoul other than its owner. Devouring it for nutrients is no different than drinking poison."
"What? Then is Eto going to be okay?"
"Fortunately, it was an ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ she ate, so she lived. ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ have the property of dispersing RC cells. The fact that it was the same type of ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ likely reduced the rejection reaction. But it's not like there are no effects. She'll be suffering from the aftereffects for a while."
Anxiety flared at the mention of aftereffects, but Hitokawa assured him they weren't severeโmostly high fevers and a temporary drop in physical function.
I looked down at Eto in my arms. Her condition was heart-wrenching, but as her parent, I had to say what needed to be said.
"If you judge it to be too much, you're supposed to run away. Why did you fight until the very end? Do you think you're a protagonist in some hot-blooded manga?"
"That's not something Papa should be sayingโฆ."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Both of you are exactly the same, so let's leave the lecture there. Hey, Koma. Let me ask you something."
Hitokawa pointed a finger at the two unconscious ghouls and spoke.
"Is 'The Artist' among them?"
"...No. I didn't see The Artist's face, but I know these two. They're the Department Manager and the Assistant Manager. The Artist is the President."
"I figured as much. Even for Eto, if she had faced The Artist as well, it wouldn't have ended like this."
Hitokawa murmured to himself, resting his hand on his chin in thought.
"What is it?"
"Something's strange."
Hitokawa looked toward the basement through the hole in the floor.
"When I searched the basement, only you and Minami were there. The Insect-Masked ghoul only appeared and came up through this hole just as I entered the basement. Hey, Eto. Was there anything suspicious on the upper floors?"
Eto looked up at his question. She was still weak, but her breathing had stabilized after the short rest.
"I fought my way all the way to the roof, but I didn't see anything suspicious. If someone had been hiding there, wouldn't they have attacked me sooner?"
"That's why it's strange. According to Koma, The Artist was definitely here when we first entered the building. But now he's gone. Where did he disappear to?"
Now that he mentioned it, it was indeed bizarre. The Artist, who had certainly existed when Eto and Hitokawa arrived, had vanished from both the upper and lower floors. Unless there was some secret room like in a movie, where could he have gone?
Hitokawa pondered for a while, but eventually scratched his head, unable to find even a hint of an answer. He decided to give up on The Artist for now.
"It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but let's pull out for today. The fact that The Artist is gone is actually an opportunity for us. Especially since we can't call for CCG backup right now."
"What? I thought you were going to call for support the moment Papa was rescued?"
"That lunatic woman you know so well smashed my phone."
"That woman really is a..."
Eto gritted her teeth, thinking of Minami, with whom she seemed to have nothing but bad blood. I decided it would be best if those two never met again. I stood up, cradling Eto in my arms.
"We'll have a chance to settle things with that insane artist someday. Let's go home for now. Honestly, I don't want to be here for even another minute."
The other two nodded in agreement. Dawn had fully broken, and bright light was streaming in through the main entrance. Seeing that light made the reality of having survived this tumultuous day finally sink in.
Just as we were about to walk toward that lightโฆ
Eto's gaze changed.
She noticed itโbefore anyone else in the room. Before the scar on my right arm could react, before Hitokawa's instincts as a Ghoul Investigator could fire. Eto sensed its presence.
And she judged that it was already too late.
Before she could turn her head, before she could make a sound, Eto curled her body and planted both feet against my chest as I held her.
She shoved me away with all her might.
As I lost my balance and fell, Eto slipping from my grasp, I saw it.
A dark-red halberd-like ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ, flying through the space I had just occupied.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!!
It pierced Eto.
A dark-red mass, appearing twice as thick as an adult's arm, impaled Eto through the abdomen.
Before the horror could even register, before Hitokawa could react and move his greatsword, a grating voice reached our ears.
"You can't leave yet. Certainly not."
It was a voice I had definitely heard before. The voice that had been hiding in the shadows.
But when I identified where that voice was coming from, I couldn't believe my eyes.
It came from the spot where the two ghouls Eto had defeated were lying. One of them stood up.
The ghoul wearing the insect mask.
There was no bizarre laughter. No grotesque movements. With the elegant motions of a stage actor, he reached up and removed the insect mask.
"Losing such good material once with your father was quite enough."
A man with crimson ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ offered a repulsive smile.