A sudden wave of motion sickness surged up.
Whether it was because the police car had turned into a roller coaster, or because the corpse in front of me had triggered a panic attack, I couldn't tell.
But I couldn't collapse here. Even as the world spun around me, I forced my eyes wide open and held on.
Get a grip. There's a dangerous monster less than a meter away.
If I didn't desperately find some thread of survival, the moment this confusion ended, my life would be over.
The car was swaying violently, unstable as a snake slithering forward. One wrong jolt from a bump in the road and the wheels could veer off and crash into the sidewalk where people walked.
The vehicle was going too fast.
The young police officer whose head had vanished was slumped over the accelerator.
The speed would only keep increasing. The wind pressure would keep the door from opening, and smashing the window to escape would be difficult.
The middle-aged officer in the opposite seat... no, the Ghoul using a police identity, only sighed at the runaway train of a car and did nothing at all.
Was that calm because a Ghoul's body was tough enough not to be badly hurt even if it crashed at this speed?
He was wearing a disguise, but he didn't look guilty about having killed a junior he'd worked with for a long time. Maybe he was just thinking about how to get out of this annoying mess.
Think.
Think.
Is there a way out here? Can I see it?
"I see it!"
I sprang up from my seat and thrust my upper body forward.
Over the lowered headrest in the front seat, I shoved my torso between the corpse of the young officer and the car roof.
I had to take the spray of blood straight to the face, but I ignored it and stretched out my handcuffed hands.
"...!"
The Ghoul stared at my bizarre movement, eyes wide.
He probably didn't react immediately because he couldn't tell what I was trying to do, but it was more likely confidence that no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't do anything to him.
That gave me the opening I needed.
I grabbed the wheel, which had lost control and was shaking, and yanked it hard.
Screeeech...!!!
Even though I hadn't hit the brakes, the sudden change in direction made the tires shriek against the road in a way that stabbed straight through my eardrums.
Clutching the twisted wheel with all my strength as if it were a lifeline, I fought against being thrown out by the centrifugal force.
"What are you doing...!"
Only then did the Ghoul react. He reached toward me, but it was already too late.
I glanced sideways.
A shadow was closing in on the window beside the Ghoul, swallowing it whole.
It was a truck barreling down the opposite lane.
KRAAANG!!!!!!!
The impact sound of metal being crushed in an instant. My mind, along with the world, rolled deeper into a pit of chaos.
Murmuring voices.
I clung to consciousness through the noise.
My head hurt. My stomach felt like it was about to turn inside out.
My vision was blurred as if a thick fog had settled over it. I couldn't see anything. Fear surged up that maybe I'd injured my eyes.
Murmuring voices.
I could hear people talking.
Relying on my senses, I crawled toward the sound. Before long, I felt myself slipping out of an uncomfortably narrow space.
I rubbed my eyes with my hands and blinked several times.
Fortunately, my eyes didn't seem to be injured. My vision gradually returned, and the surrounding objects came into focus on my corneas.
What I saw first was a crowd gathered on the sidewalk, staring at me with shocked expressions.
Turning my head, I saw shards of glass and fragments of metal.
Looking behind me, I saw the police car I had just crawled out of... no, the heap of scrap metal it had once been, lying overturned like a flattened pancake. Behind it was a truck with its front end completely crumpled.
Thank goodness. Even I could tell that had been a stupid move, but I didn't seem to be badly hurt...
"...No, I am."
Drip...
Red seeped into the corner of my vision and spread.
Touching the wound on my forehead, I realized it was my own blood.
"What happened to that bastard?"
I looked back at the vehicle that had turned into scrap again.
The passenger seat where that Ghoul had been riding had slammed head-on into the truck and now didn't even have a shape left.
No matter how tough a Ghoul's body was, there was no way he could survive that.
...That useless hope was shattered in less than five seconds.
Thud!
What had probably once been a door flew off, and from the back of the vehicle rose a shadow I was in no way happy to see.
His hat was gone, and his face was covered in blood, but thanks to a Ghoul's regeneration, the actual wounds were nowhere to be seen.
The Ghoul who had escaped the car turned to look at me.
His eyes, blazing as if molten lava had been poured into them, were filled with unmistakable killing intent aimed at me.
"For a moment there, you really made my heart drop. I thought you'd only be sharp, but I didn't expect you to be this cunning too. Honestly, I'm unlucky as well. Of all people, I had to pick someone like you..."
I pressed a hand to the wound on my forehead and replayed his words.
"Picked"? Me?
I thought about what that meant. The first time I met this guy was when I was returning home after finding the corpse.
He stopped me and questioned me on the spot.
A murder had occurred nearby. The reason I was suspected was the bloodstain left at the questioning site. He was a Ghoul. Ghoul bodily fluid had been found at the scene.
The case had been handed over to the CCG. That was why he had detained me as a suspect.
Pieces that had been scattered everywhere began to click together one by one, completing the full picture.
And when I faced that completed picture, I ground my teeth.
Rage surged up violently.
"You were the one who framed me...!!!"
Yes, it had started the moment I ran into this bastard during that questioning at dawn. From that point on, everything had gone wrong.
I had become his target.
"That murder was committed by you! Because you accidentally left traces of yourself there, a Ghoul Investigator was about to move in! So you made me your target! To turn this case into one that looked like a human crime disguised as a Ghoul's doing!! And you left that bloodstain at the very spot where I was questioned!!"
The bloodstain, the most important clue that had made me a suspect!
It hadn't been blood spilled from some other case. It had been prepared by this bastard, to drag me into the incident.
"Correct."
Clap, clap, clap.
The Ghoul smiled nastily and gave a perfunctory round of applause.
"You're probably the first human who's ever surprised me this much. So what now? At first, my plan was to imprison you, torture you, and make you write a suicide note confessing that you were the culprit... but if you're going to act like this, I can only kill you right now, can't I? If I keep you alive too long, who knows what kind of nonsense you'll pull."
The Ghoul shook his head as if he were truly troubled.
"My identity got exposed to a junior I've worked with for years. I almost got killed by a human like this. Today's really been unlucky. I'd like it if nothing worse happened."
"Don't make me laugh. The one who should be complaining about bad luck is me, not you."
Do you even know how badly you've twisted my life? I'm suspected of murder, Eto's gone missing, I got dragged in by the police, and now I'm facing a Ghoul.
If I could, I wanted to smash that Ghoul's face with everything I had.
Step.
He climbed over the wreck and came toward me.
I took a guarded stance and said, "Hey, are you sure about this? There are a lot of eyes on us. You really want to try killing me out in the open?"
Because of the car crash, a large crowd had gathered around us. Revealing himself as a Ghoul here would be no different from suicide.
But the Ghoul only grinned as if it meant nothing.
"Why not? Did you forget what my job is right now?"
In one hand, the Ghoul was holding... a gun. The blood drained from my face the moment I saw it.
Bang!
The Ghoul pointed the gun at the sky and pulled the trigger.
The first shot issued to police is a warning blank; after that come live rounds.
That was the preparation for firing live ammunition, and at the same time, a signal to draw everyone's attention.
The Ghoul took a steady stance and aimed the gun at me.
"Don't move, you vile criminal! As long as I'm here, you won't lay a hand on any civilians!"
Right. No matter what his true identity was, to anyone who didn't know better, he was just a police officer.
And I, with both hands cuffed, was clearly a criminal being dragged away by the police.
The commotion around us grew louder. But the main thing people were saying was suspicion directed at me.
No matter how much I shouted that the officer was actually a Ghoul, nobody would believe me.
"Damn it!!"
Once I felt the disadvantage, my response was immediate.
I had to get out of here.
The people here wouldn't protect me from that Ghoul. They'd only lend force to his actions.
I sprinted toward the side with the fewest people. Frightened by the charge of a man called a vicious criminal, the crowd quickly scattered and made a path.
I could see an alley ahead. If I got into it, I could escape his gunfire.
"Where do you think you're going!"
The Ghoul swung the gun toward me as I ran.
He pulled the trigger at almost the exact same moment I threw my whole body toward the alley.
Bang!
And then the gunshot rang out.
Koma lunged, but the timing was already too late. He could never outrun a pistol.
The Ghoul who had been aiming for Koma lowered the pistol, smoke still curling from the barrel.
Then he clicked his tongue and looked toward the entrance of the alley where Koma had disappeared.
The bullet that had clearly been meant to pierce Koma's body had been blocked by a metal signboard standing at the entrance.
Koma's figure had vanished completely into the alley and was no longer visible.
The Ghoul muttered in a regretful tone, "Today really is unlucky."
"