"My name is Yatsuki Shiho..."
"I see, Shiho. Why are you here?"
"W-well..."
The girl who had given her name as Shiho fidgeted and couldn't answer Hitokawa's question.
"And where did you get this?"
Hitokawa held up the metal object wrapped in a handkerchief. It was the pistol Shiho had used, the one loaded with [Q Bullet].
"A pistol, let alone the bullets for it, isn't something you can get through normal means."
"I-I... That..."
"And those two men from earlier, what on earth was that about...?"
"Haa, you're going to make the viewer's head explode."
Eto cut off Hitokawa and pushed him aside.
Hitokawa naturally bristled.
"What are you doing!"
"You're scaring her when you say it like that! I'll ask, so stay out of it!"
Eto said that, then lowered herself to Shiho's eye level and spoke in a friendly voice.
"Hi. I'm Eto. Takaki Eto. We're not trying to blame you for what you did. We're just really curious about something. I'm only going to ask a few things, so can you answer me?"
Maybe because it was Eto, who looked about her own age, Shiho wasn't frightened and obediently nodded.
Hitokawa watched from a little distance as Eto asked questions and Shiho answered, then muttered in disbelief.
"Something's wrong here. The Ghoul Investigator is scary, but the Ghoul isn't?"
After kicking at the ground for a while, Hitokawa looked over when Eto approached him with a stiff expression and frowned in confusion.
What had she heard to make that face?
"What did she say?"
Eto wordlessly held out a photograph. It looked like one Shiho had been carrying.
Hitokawa took one look at it and barely swallowed the string of curses that nearly burst out of his mouth.
Then, with a face twitching like it had been seized by a spasm, he finally managed to speak.
"W-what is this... thing?"
"It's Shiho's 'mother.'"
"Don't be ridiculous!! This is...!!"
Hitokawa couldn't finish and looked back at the photo.
A head impaled on a tree, with intestines draped over it like decoration. It was the same image as the contents of that photo he had once accidentally shown Koma.
"This is the 'Artist's work'!"
"Artist? An artist?"
Eto, hearing about this Ghoul called the Artist for the first time, was puzzled, but there was something more important to say first.
"Shiho had been living alone with her mother, but one day her mother disappeared. Then a few days later, this photo and a pistol were delivered by courier. The sender was listed under her mother's name. ...Doesn't this sound familiar?"
"...Koma."
Koma had also received a pistol loaded with [Q Bullet] in a package delivered under his father's name.
"And Koma's father was killed by the Artist during a mission..."
"Grandpa..."
Eto looked shocked at hearing this for the first time.
She had never properly met Koma's father.
Whenever she said she wanted to meet him, Koma would look troubled and say, "No. He'd probably pull a knife the moment he saw me."
But Eto remembered better than anyone how deeply Koma had mourned his death.
"Koma lost his father to the Artist, and then a [Q Bullet] pistol was delivered in his father's name. Almost like they were asking him to take revenge. And this girl, Shiho, lost her mother to the same Ghoul, and then a [Q Bullet] was delivered under her mother's name. Isn't that too much to be a coincidence?"
"There's one more suspicious thing. When she saw that horrifying photo of her mother and was too shocked to think straight, someone called her."
"A phone call?"
"It was the voice of a man she'd never heard before. And that man apparently told her who killed her mother, then gave her detailed instructions on where they were and how to kill them."
"No, you're telling me that little girl went and did something this reckless just because of a call from some man she'd never met? Having a [Q Bullet] doesn't make that possible! That child nearly got killed by a Ghoul!"
"She seems to have found that strange too. While listening to the man, her anger at the culprit and the urge to take revenge welled up, and before she knew it, she was following his instructions."
To think he could lure a girl of only seven or eight years old into trying to kill a Ghoul alone, with nothing but his voice.
Was that even possible? And if it was, what kind of bastard had actually carried it out?
While Hitokawa was still reeling, Eto spoke up.
"Mister Hitokawa. This is just a thought, but could the Artist you mentioned and the group that kidnapped Dad... be the same?"
"The Artist is a group? No way. The Artist has definitely been operating alone for years..."
As he spoke, Hitokawa suddenly stopped, as if something had come to mind, and stroked his chin.
"No, maybe not. If the last sighting said he was with unidentified Ghouls, then maybe he got sick of the CCG's relentless investigation and started taking on subordinates."
"Then that group's hideout could be here."
Putting all the information together, the Artist was definitely connected to the ones who had kidnapped Koma.
If they were separate factions, that was one thing. But if he was part of that group...
"Then why did they kidnap Dad...?"
Eto stared at the photo of the horrific scene.
Perhaps she had reached the same conclusion as Hitokawa, because her face had gone deathly pale.
Hitokawa grabbed Eto's arm as she looked ready to bolt like lightning.
"Hey, calm down!"
"How am I supposed to calm down right now?! If we don't hurry, Dad is...! Dad is...!"
Unable to control her emotions, Eto's [Kakugan] had surfaced.
It was fortunate that Eto had her back to Shiho.
If Shiho saw Eto like this now, she would definitely have been terrified. Though from the looks of it, she was already just as frightened by Eto shouting.
"If you want to raise Koma's survival rate even a little, then listen to me!"
"...!!"
At last, Eto pulled herself together and turned back toward him. Hitokawa let out a sigh.
Honestly, this girl was usually mature, but the moment Koma was involved she turned into a reckless child.
"The Artist is rated S. Under normal circumstances, even the two of us together would never beat him. On top of that, that insect-masked Ghoul is estimated at A-rank. We don't even know how many other Ghouls are with them. If we charge into their hideout like this, we're nothing but moths flying into a fire."
"So you're telling me to give up!?"
"That's not what I'm saying, so listen to the end!!"
Hitokawa pressed a hand to his forehead.
To be honest, he didn't want to bring this up to Eto. His values, his conscience, his pride—none of them would allow it.
But when he put those things on the scale against Koma's life, Hitokawa had no choice but to make a decision.
"Listen carefully. In order to save Koma..."
Hitokawa opened his mouth, which felt like it wouldn't move, and looked at Eto.
"You have to die, Eto."
"Wait a moment, Minami."
Minami, who had been waving an awl in front of my eyes while deciding which eyeball to gouge out first, turned around at the voice from behind her.
"Oh my~ Boss? It's been a while since you came out~?"
'Boss?'
I didn't know who he was, but just from the name alone I could tell he was the head of this insane group.
'Let me see what kind of bastard you are.'
I tried to lift my head to check his face, but Minami's back blocked my view.
Even when I tried to shift my body sideways, there was a limit while I was bound tight.
"You brought back a pretty interesting subject, I hear?"
"Yes! I think I can make a real masterpiece this time~. Especially the eyes—they're just so, so wonderful~."
"I see. May I take a look?"
"Of course!"
Minami stepped aside obediently, and I nearly screamed.
It wasn't because I'd seen the boss's face.
It was because the moment Minami moved, a shadow fell over my face like it was pouncing on me.
I couldn't even see his face.
All I could see were his eyes.
They were so close they filled my entire field of vision, practically stuck to my face, bloodshot and staring straight into mine.
Honestly, it was straight out of a horror movie.
I tried to turn my head and escape, but the hands holding me down on both sides wouldn't let me.
Something in those pupils—some madness ordinary people couldn't understand—made my stomach lurch.
Please, don't say anything bad and just back off. I'm seriously about to throw up.
After staring into my eyes for a while, the boss narrowed his gaze as if something displeased him.
"What a pity. To meet you in a form like this. Takaki Koma."
"?"
What the hell? This guy knows me?
While I was still confused, the boss continued.
"Your father, Takaki Harima, was also a subject I rather liked... but he resisted so fiercely that I had no choice but to kill him on the spot. Even now, when I think about it, I'm still disappointed I couldn't bring the body back."
"...................................................."
Hey, calm down.
Remember your situation right now. Provoking him carelessly is not a good idea.
...That's what my reason whispered to me.
And my heart answered it.
"What the hell did you just say, you bastard."
Rage surged up, something reason couldn't suppress, and the boss seemed to like that a little, the corners of his eyes curving.