"That's right," Koma rumbled. "People from Anteiku haven't fallen so low we need a child to protect us like that!"
Manager Yoshimura rose slowly. The habitual kindness had left his lined face; only gravity and resolve remained. He stepped between Touka and the three, looked Rei Ao straight in the eye, and said in a low voice:
"Their view is also mineas the elder here."
Pain and determination burned in his gaze. Once, to save himself and protect his daughter, he had killed his wife Yuna with his own hands. It was a sin and a cowardice he would never be able to let go. Now, he would not watch another junior he loved like a daughter sacrifice herself for them.
"Your power reaches the sky, sir; we know we're no match. But there are principles we must uphold, even if it costs our lives."
Yoshimura didn't speak loudly, but his resolve brooked no argument. He traded a look with Yomo, Irimi, and Koma. In an instant, all four eyes flushed crimsontheir kakugan flaredas a do-or-die will rose. The caf bristled, a fight ready to ignite.
"Wait! Everyonedon't!" Touka, held in Rei Ao's arm, panicked. She struggled to stand and cried anxiously to the manager and her uncle, "It's not what you think! I I agreed to all of this!"
"Agreed?" Yomo frowned, clearly unconvinced. "Touka, you don't have to fear him! We're here"
"I really did agree!" Terrified they'd actually attack and enrage Rei Ao, Touka blurted, mind racing, "II promised to be Rei Ao's girlfriend. He'll protect everyone!"
Her words stunned the room. Girlfriend?
Touka's cheeks flamed as her eyes darted about. But things had gone this far; she could only double down, trying to dress the cold bargain up as a story of mutual love.
"A-and also!" She drew a deep breathas if mustering every ounce of courageand said, trembling but crystal clear, a line that even frightened herself: "Most importantly II like Rei Ao, too!"
She immediately cast a pleading look up at him, eyes filled with a silent "please just go along with it."
She didn't want the manager and her uncle to feel guilty because of hermuch less to clash with the unfathomable Rei Ao over her.
Rei Ao looked down at the flustered yet stubborn girl in his arms, lips quirking into a half-smile. He naturally saw through her little ploy.
But to him, the form of the deal didn't matteronly the contract itself. He shrugged, lazy as ever. "Mm. You could put it that way."
~~~
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Chapter 924: Eto wants to make a deal!
""
Yoshimura Kuzen, Yomo Renji, and the others fell silent at once. The killing intent around them eased slightly, but the doubt and worry in their eyes didn't fade.
None of them were foolsthey could hear how forced Touka's words sounded, and how perfunctory Rei Ao's attitude was.
This so-called "boyfriendgirlfriend" arrangement was clearly nowhere near as simple as Touka made it sound.
Still, it didn't seem like pure coercion and sacrifice either; there seemed to be some feelings mixed in.
That calmed them a little, though their hearts were far from at ease. Rei Ao's power and mystery were too terrifying.
With Touka by his side, who knew whether it would bring blessing or disaster.
Just as the mood began to ease, a thoughtful light flickered in Eto Yoshimura's eyes as she watched from the side.
She looked at Kirishima Touka, who was anxiously spinning a story to shield her companions, then at the mysterious man who seemed to have everything in hand and treated this "deal" with indifference. A boldborderline insaneidea sprouted in her mind.
She suddenly spoke, her hoarse voice carrying a strange interest. "Rei Ao-sama, can just anyone make a deal with you?"
"Oh?" Rei Ao arched a brow, genuine curiosity in his gaze. After traveling through so many worlds, seeing his power and the nature of his bargains, Eto was the first to approach him so proactively.
"Not exactly," Rei Ao said with a secretive smile, keeping them in suspense. "The kind of deal we're talking about isn't as simple as you think. Not everyone is qualified, and not every wish can be granted so easily."
The more he said, the brighter Eto's interest burned. "Then," she leaned forward slightly, pale skin showing between the bandages, eyes locked on him, "can I make a deal with you? And how far can you go?"
"I can do anything you can think of and anything you can't imagine," Rei Ao said mildly, his tone the detached indifference of someone looking down from above. He paused, swept his gaze over the room, and offered an example that could overturn their entire worldview. "For instance bringing anyone who has died back to life."
"What?!"
Everyone in the cafYoshimura Kuzen, Yomo Renji, Irimi Kaya, Koma Enji, even the ever-composed Arima Kishoustared wide-eyed in shock and disbelief, Touka alone unfazed as someone who already knew part of what Rei Ao could do.
Bring the dead back? Impossible. Life and death, the cycle of reincarnationthose are the bedrock laws of the world, a forbidden domain no power can touch.
Yoshimura's breath hitched; Ukina's face flashed through his mind. He shook his head hard, crushing the absurd thought. Impossible it has to be impossible
Arima pushed up his glasses, eyes behind the lenses sharp as knives, searching Rei Ao's face for the slightest hint of a joke or a lieand found none. The man's gaze was calm, unruffled. He spoke of resurrecting the dead as if it were as ordinary as eating or drinking.
"Believe it or don't," Rei Ao said, unconcerned by their shock. His eyes returned to Eto. "Of course, I can offer you a chancea chance you might never get again."
""
Eto stared hard at him. Reason told her that resurrecting the dead was a fantasy, a complete lie. But she had just watched this man casually strip her of her kagune. She had seen him move everyone from a battlefield to this caf in an instant. Power like that was godlike, beyond understanding. Maybe just maybe
In a lightning-quick turn of thought, the "crazy" option won out. She drew a deep breath. "I want to make a deal with you."
"Eto!" The first outcry came from Yoshimura. He had already watched Touka seemingly fall into some murky bargain. Now his daughter wanted to follow? He couldn't accept it. "Don't be impulsive. You have no idea what the price of such a deal might be!"
But Eto only shot him a look so cold it burned, dripping with mockery. "Shut up." She wouldn't even call him father. "You have no right to question my decisions. I know exactly what I'm doing."
""
Everything Yoshimura meant to say jammed in his throat under that "shut up" and that icy stare, dissolving at last into a weary, pained sigh. Retribution this is retribution
Rei Ao had no interest in their family drama. He addressed Eto directly. "Fine. But understand this: with my deals, I alone hold the final right of interpretationand cancellation. And" He looked her up and down, a playful hint in his tone. "Bargaining chips on you that actually interest measide from yourselfare basically nil."
Off to the side, Touka gave an awkward twitch of the lips. True enough. She was the sameaside from her own body, she hadn't had much else to put on the table.
"Heh. Doesn't matter." Eto's lips curled into an alluring, slightly mad smile. "As long as you can give me what I want, I can belong to youprovided you don't mind that I'm a one-eyed 'monster.'"
"Heh." Rei Ao gave a noncommittal smile. "I don't mind vampires, demons, or elves. That little quirk of yours is nothing more than a trivial trait."
Vampires? Demons? Elves? A flicker of doubt crossed Eto's eyes, but she let it go. What mattered now was how Rei Ao would fulfill the terms of her deal.
Chapter 925: What's your Plan? Make Every Human turn to Ghoul or Every Ghoul turn to Human?
"Go on," Rei Ao asked at his leisure. "What do you want? To bring some specific person back? Or?"
He was genuinely curious what Eto Yoshimura had in mind.
Eto shook her head. A near-fanatical fire kindled in her kakugan. She spoke clearly, word by word:
"I don't want to change one person's life or death.
"I want to change the current, twisted stalemate of despairghouls and humans set against each other, grinding each other down.
"I want to spark an unprecedented transformation and break this cursed cycle.
"For ghouls, and for the humans dragged into this, I want to open a brand-new path where we can coexist."
"!!!"
Yomo Renji, Irimi Kaya, and Koma Enji all stared in utter shock. They had always thought Aogiri Tree was an extreme, violence-worshipping group that ruled by fearnever imagining its leader's true goal was this grand, even idealistic.
Even Yoshimura Kuzen lifted his head, his aged eyes full of astonishment and disbelief. His daughter harbored ambitions like this?
Just then, the long-silent Arima Kishou pushed up his glasses and spoke calmly: "That is the goal I share with the new One-Eyed King. To achieve it, I am willing to make a deal with you as wellusing my limited life and everything I can offer."
Rei Ao waved a hand as if he'd heard something distasteful. "Sorry, I'll pass. I'm not interested in menespecially half-dead men."
Arima: ""
A hairline crack seemed to appear in that icy mask of his.
Eto narrowed her eyes at Rei Ao. "It seems, Rei Ao-sama, you're the sort who doesn't mind a 'monster' like me, yet you're quite picky about men."
She paused, then pressed him again: "Sowill you accept my deal? Are you truly confident you can do something that practically changes the world?"
She stared hard at him, trying to spot the faintest hesitation or exaggeration. All she saw was a loose, even slightly bored smilelike what she'd asked for was trivial.
"Change how ghouls and humans live? That's it?" Rei Ao chuckled. "Your deal is child's play."
He snapped his fingers.
A phantom contract, gleaming gold and visible only to him and Eto, slowly unfurled in midair.
"Then the deal is sealed."
A flash of lightand the contract turned into a streak that sank into Eto's brow. The mad One-Eyed Owl had just staked herself on a wager of a deal with an unknowable being.
As the contract's glow faded from Eto's vision, a strange sense of binding, tightly linked to her soul, quietly took shapean unseen reminder that she had pawned herself to something beyond imagining.
Rei Ao regarded her, unhurried. What to others might be a world-upending bargain was, to him, nothing out of the ordinary. He asked lightly, "All right, with the deal sealedwhat's the implementation plan? How do you want to change the current ghoulhuman situation? If you like, I can offer a few ready-made options for reference."
He raised long fingers and listed them as casually as if reciting a menu:
"Plan One: simple and direct.
"I can erase all humans from the earth in an instantor erase all ghouls.
"One and done; the conflict ends at the root."
"Plan Two: biological re-engineering.
"I can convert all humans into ghoulsthen everyone's on the same side, no more food-chain conflict. Or the reverse: turn all ghouls into ordinary humans. They'd lose their power, but at least live like normal people."
His tone was utterly even. To everyone else in the caf, the words landed like thunder from the ninth heaven.
Erase all humansor all ghoulsin an instant?! Turn every human into a ghoul, or every ghoul into a human?!
What kind of insane, horrifying options were these?
""
The Antique caf fell deathly silent. The air itself seemed to congeal; you could hear a pin drop. Yoshimura, Yomo, Irimi, Koma even the ever-impassive Arimastared in shock and disbelief.
More than one mouth hung open as they looked at Rei Ao. In that moment he seemed less like a man and more like some nameless thing from the abyss wearing human skin.
Could anyone really say such things so lightly? And could it actually be done?
Power like that could hardly be called mere "power." It was divine authority. Or a demon's idle jest.
Even Eto's kakugan constricted, clearly not expecting options so extreme and terrifyingfar beyond her wildest imaginings.
After a stunned heartbeat, Touka was the first to come to. Almost without thinking, with a hint of urgent hope, she blurted, "Y-you mean turning ghouls into humans? If that's the case"
If they could return to being human, there'd be no more fear, no more hunger; they could live like ordinary people. It sounded like the best endingdidn't it?
"Not enough."
The cold, hoarse voice cut her off like a blade. Eto.
She turned and fixed Touka with that single, chilling eyefull of scorn and the message, "you're too nave."
"You think just turning ghouls back into humans would end all this twisted mess? That the world would suddenly become wonderful?"
~~~
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Chapter 926: Washuu... The Holy Grail that can Grant Wish!
Yoshimura Eto's voice carried the cruelty of someone who has seen through the dark.
"Heh. You're far too naive, little rabbit."
"W-what do you mean?"
Kirishima Touka frowned, a bad feeling rising in her chest.
"Heh."
Eto let out a cold, contemptuous laugh.
"If I told you that the CCGthe organization that claims its highest mission is to hunt ghoulsits true top decision-makers, the ones giving the orders"
She paused.
Then, word by word, like icy knives stabbing into everything they thought they knew:
"are themselves ghouls?"
"What?!!"
This time it wasn't just ToukaRenji Yomo, Kaya Irimi, and Enji Koma all gasped, their faces a mix of disbelief and horror.
The CCG's upper echelon are ghouls?!
How could that be?!
It sounded like sheer nonsense!
Why would ghouls create and lead an organization dedicated to exterminating ghouls?!
"T-that's impossible!"
Renji Yomo blurted out. The claim upended his worldview.
"Impossible?"
Eto's sneer deepened as she turned to Yoshimura Kuzen.
"Then let himonce a 'cleaner' for the V organizationtell you himself."
Every eye snapped to Yoshimura Kuzen.
Under their stare, his face dulled to ash. He closed his eyes, heavy with guilt.
Only after a long moment did he open them, speaking in a hoarse, exhausted voice:
"She's telling the truth."
He drew a long breath,
tearing open an old, festering wound.
"The CCG's predecessor was the 'Ghoul Countermeasures Institute.' Its foundersand the ones who truly control it to this dayare a family called Washuu."
"And the Washuu"
"are a pure-blood ghoul clan."
Boom!!!
Another thunderclap went off in everyone's heads.
