The body of the one who was alive moments ago crumbles away like rot-eaten wood.
Beside it, a fledgling owl alights—one that has only just learned the mechanics of flight.
A fledgling… was it?
A sudden doubt flickered. When exactly does a baby owl become an adult? Is it when the molting ends and the body grows? When it learns to beat its wings and rises from the nest?
No. That isn't it.
One cannot claim to be an adult simply because their frame has grown or because they have mastered the sky. There is only one moment when a fledgling owl truly becomes an adult:
When it learns how to hunt.
It is the moment it takes the small animal its mother brought home and, with its own beak and talons, tears it apart.
Eto needed to know the method of killing. She needed to understand the raw sensation of ending a life. Instinctively, she knew that if a situation arose where she was forced to kill, a single moment of hesitation could cost her everything.
Therefore, she studied the sensation of murder. She had judged for herself that she could no longer remain a fledgling. And so, she killed—shouldering the weight of that guilt.
The Owl becomes a true hunter.
And as Hitokawa realized this fact, he felt an uncontrollable surge of white-hot rage.
Her heart pounds.
It pulses with such violence it feels as though it might burst at any moment. Blood, still clinging to its warmth, drenches her hands. The heat travels from her fingertips, snaking its way up to her brain. In stark contrast, the corpse of the ghoul—its heart pierced—cools with rapid finality. It was a tangible realization of the very concept of "taking a life."
𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰…
A chilling dawn wind swept through the space between them. Eto let out a shallow breath, feeling the air soothe her feverish mind. Her head felt heavy, swimming in a strange haze.
This sensation, like a mild intoxication… it wasn't unfamiliar. She felt as though she had tasted this somewhere before. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?
…Ah. That was it.
『𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩.』
The same drunkenness lingered now. Of course, that time had been far more rapturous.
'…Ah. Right. Papa. I have to find Papa.'
To find him and… what was it she intended to do? Her clouded mind interfered with even that simple thought. Nevertheless, she did not forget her immediate task. Moving only her 𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘯, she looked toward the ghoul whose arm had been severed.
"…?!"
The ghoul, who had been composed while facing Eto only moments ago, was now tense, his posture radiating a primal caution. It wasn't because his comrade was dead or because he was now outnumbered. It was because something inside Eto had shifted, triggering his survival instincts.
'If it's now… I think I can do it.'
Do what? Even Eto didn't know the answer. She simply felt that if she kept killing the thing in front of her, the answer would reveal itself naturally. Crouching like a beast, Eto put strength into her legs, preparing to spring forward like a bolt of lightning—
𝘊𝘙𝘈𝘊𝘒!!
Immediately after, a blunt impact struck the back of her head, snapping her neck forward.
"~~~!!!"
The sheer, ringing pain echoing through her skull blew away every trace of her intoxication. Rubbing the back of her head where a large lump was already forming, Eto turned around with tearful eyes.
There stood Hitokawa, his expression twisted with a dark, simmering frustration, glaring at her while brandishing the hilt of his greatsword. It was no wonder it hurt; he had struck her with that heavy mass of steel.
"W-What was 그that for?!"
"That's my line, you damn brat. What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"We agreed beforehand that we would take the enemy's life if necessary!"
"I meant 𝘐 would be the one to do it! Not you!!"
Hitokawa raised his voice, his anger genuine. Eto shrank back momentarily, feeling a fury even more intense than when he had first discovered she was a ghoul.
"Do you really not understand what you've done wrong?"
"I… I know that the act of murder is wrong. That's why I'm prepared to be punished for this…"
"It doesn't end with you just 'taking responsibility,' you idiot!!"
Hitokawa grabbed Eto by the collar and pulled her face close to his.
"Listen to me! To me, you're just a ghoul. But to one person—to Koma—it's different. The affection he's shown you is real. That's why he fought me, even though I insisted on sending you to Cochlea! He fought to protect your life together! He wanted to keep your 'ordinary' world intact! So why the hell are 𝘺𝘰𝘶 the one trying to throw that world away?!"
"…?!"
At those words, Eto finally understood the source of Hitokawa's rage. Koma hadn't just been trying to protect her. He had been fighting, even at the cost of his own body, to preserve the peaceful daily life they shared.
And Eto had been the one to try and break it. She had overlooked the fact that by learning "how to kill," she was drifting further and further away from the life Koma wished for her.
"I'll overlook this just once. But if you ever take another life again—even if that bastard is a piece of trash not worth leaving alive…"
𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬.
Hitokawa's massive blade was lowered against Eto's slender neck.
"I will take your head right then and there…!!"
There was no falsehood in the warning he spat through gritted teeth. He truly intended to kill her if it came to that. Even if it meant an irreversible break from his old friend, it was better than watching that friend be destroyed alongside a daughter who had "gone over the edge."
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥!
As Hitokawa released her collar, Eto slumped powerlessly to the ground. She was thrown into a state of confusion, realizing that the actions she took for Koma's sake might actually be the cracks that would shatter their life together. Hitokawa left her there and took a long stride forward.
"Just stay there and watch."
Shouldering the greatsword with a heavy 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬, Hitokawa glared at the ghoul before him.
"Killing ghouls is 𝘮𝘺 job."
'Hmm… what is this? Internal strife?'
The Section Manager watched the scene, observing Hitokawa shouting at Eto. The aura Eto had radiated when she killed the Junior Manager had been truly dangerous. She looked intoxicated, yet there was a chilling sharpeness to her, like a predator honing its claws. His survival instincts had been screaming at him.
The last time the Manager had felt this level of threat was when he had stood before the 'President.' He knew he should have attacked while they were distracted, but after witnessing Eto's transformation, he had hesitated to make a move.
Just as he was considering whether it would be better to simply flee back to the company, something unexpected happened. Eto sat down, appearing to have lost her will to fight. And when he saw Hitokawa approaching with a greatsword—presumably a 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦—the Manager let out a hollow laugh.
"How absurd. You're challenging me while voluntarily cutting your own combat strength?"
"That kid was only brought along as support. I always intended to be the one to hunt you down."
Hitokawa stopped about ten meters away from the Manager. It wasn't a long distance, but in a fight against a ghoul, it wasn't particularly far, either.
"I'm grateful, then. To be honest, I was a bit burdened by the prospect of fighting that brat."
"Are you seriously telling me you were scared of a kid who just started grade school? If you can't act your age, maybe you should be wearing diapers."
Hitokawa smirked, his voice dripping with mockery. The Manager's brow twitched in irritation. His pride had already been wounded by the fact that he had felt a sense of crisis from a mere child.
"I thought about just withdrawing, but I've changed my mind. I might leave the girl alone, but I'm going to tear that mouth of yours wide open before I go."
"Give it your best shot."
𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!!
The moment the words left his mouth, the Manager lunged forward, kicking off the ground. He surged forward in a low crouch, as if sliding across the earth, as a metallic 𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘦 erupted from his back. Hitokawa gripped his greatsword with both hands, settling into a stance. His 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦, 'Iwawashi,' was also a 𝘬𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶 type.
A battle of 𝘬𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶 versus 𝘬𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶. This meant…
'A battle of weight!'
Whether it is a ghoul or a trained investigator, a 𝘬𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶 always feels heavy. The key to the fight is how effectively one can utilize such a high-mass weapon. In that sense, the Manager's low-profile charge was highly suspicious. It is always more effective to swing a heavy weapon from top to bottom rather than bottom to top.
Was it a feint? Or a frontal attack disguised as one? Should he dodge? Or counterattack?
As an investigator who lived in a world where split-second decisions dictated life or death, Hitokawa reached a conclusion instantly. The veins in his arms bulged as he raised the greatsword above his head. He brought it down with all his might toward the Manager, who was now within arm's reach. He judged that even a ghoul would find it difficult to change direction suddenly while moving at such high speed.
"Fool!"
At that moment, the Manager's silhouette soared vertically. It was a perfect timing where the swinging blade missed him by a hair's breadth. Beneath the Manager's palms—which were now high in the air—his 𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘦 had extended into the shape of a spring. By combining a ghoul's leg strength with the metallic elasticity unique to a 𝘬𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶, he had produced a movement that defied common sense.
In an instant, he occupied the space directly above Hitokawa's head.
The greatsword, swinging with added momentum, could not be stopped mid-air. The Manager brought his 𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘦 down toward Hitokawa's now-defenseless head.
𝘗𝘜-𝘗𝘜-𝘗𝘜𝘚𝘏!!!
However, the descending 𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘦 lost its strength mid-swing. An attack had flown in from a completely unexpected blind spot.
"What…?"
"My 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦, Iwawashi, you see…"
The objects that had flown up from below his chin and riddled the Manager's body looked like feathers carved from stone. They were the "plumage" of the wing-shaped greatsword.
"…It's a very rare 𝘬𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶 that is capable of long-range attacks."
With the press of a button, the feathers were ejected simultaneously in the direction they were pointed. Each one was a miniature 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦 in its own right—bullets that dealt significant damage to a ghoul's body. Immediately after the swing, the feathers had been pointed directly at the Manager. Hitokawa had simply discharged the rounds at the fool who had entered his kill zone.
Hit by a barrage of projectiles while completely exposed, the Manager's posture broke, and he fell from the air. Even as he collapsed, he struggled to move his lips.
"Such… cowardice…"
"Since when did we investigators ever play fair with your kind?"
A Ghoul Investigator is always at war with ghouls. Because of this, they realize more desperately than anyone else that their inherent strength is far weaker than that of their prey. Because they know this, they are always seeking ways for the weak to overcome the strong.
Deceiving a ghoul is the very essence of an Investigator's combat style.
As if to drive that point home, Hitokawa twisted his body with all his strength, and his greatsword, swinging with a violent momentum, cleaved the falling ghoul in two.