High School Girl

"Hey, hey, we're all colleagues here. We should get along peacefully. Shisho, you can't greet a colleague like that."

Shinohara Yukinori stepped between the two and began drilling basic common sense into Suzuya Juuzou.

Su Xiao naturally wasn't furious at someone who didn't even possess basic common sense.

Still, if he got the chance, he would definitely teach this brat a lesson.

"Really~? So that's how it is. Sorry~."

Suzuya Juuzou laughed and actually sincerely apologized to Su Xiao. What a contradictory personality.

"Mr. Shinohara, is the test over?"

Shinohara Yukinori flexed his still-numb arms and nodded.

"It's over. You are now officially a Ghoul Investigator with the CCG."

Shinohara Yukinori's expression grew serious.

"Becoming a Ghoul Investigator is a responsibility. Protecting ordinary people and driving out those man-eating Ghouls is our primary duty. We may suffer Sacrifice in the process, but it will be worth it..."

The impassioned speech began. Although Su Xiao found it boring, he didn't show any impatience.

"That's all. If you're mentally prepared, you can go carry out a mission now. However, a Third-Class Investigator can't act alone and needs to operate under the protection of a Senior Investigator..."

Su Xiao gave a light cough.

"Mr. Shinohara, who do you think can protect me?"

Shinohara Yukinori let out a dry laugh and shook his head.

"Well~, those are the rules."

"I can handle it alone. All I have to do is drive out a Ghoul. As long as the goal is achieved, the process doesn't matter."

After hesitating for a long while, Shinohara Yukinori nodded. Su Xiao truly didn't need a Senior Investigator's protection. If anything, Su Xiao was more likely to protect a Senior Investigator.

"In that case, I'll give you a lead on a Ghoul now."

Shinohara Yukinori walked to the desk and handed Su Xiao a file.

Su Xiao looked through it. The contents were rather miscellaneous: strange sounds coming from the sewers, female students going missing, and things of that sort.

"This is our daily work. Ghouls are extremely cunning, especially in Ward 14, an area that isn't exactly peaceful but isn't chaotic either."

Driving out a Ghoul wasn't a simple matter.

Most of the Ghouls in Ward 14 hid among ordinary people. Aside from revealing their true forms while hunting, they stayed concealed at all other times.

A Ghoul only needed to feed once or twice a month to sustain its body. To drive these Ghouls out, the most important thing was finding them.

For Su Xiao, most of the difficulty in driving out a Ghoul lay in locating it. Once he found one, things became simple.

"The information in your hands should all concern the movements of a single Ghoul. Find him and drive him out."

Shinohara Yukinori's expression was solemn, and killing intent flickered in his eyes.

"No problem."

Su Xiao turned and was about to leave the office. Although he had plenty of time, he couldn't waste it.

"Byakuya, remember to go to the Logistics Department and collect your equipment. Those tools will be very useful."

Su Xiao stopped, nodded, and left.

"Another cold colleague has arrived. Sigh, what a headache."

Shinohara Yukinori sat behind the desk and lightly pressed his forehead. When he looked up and saw the grinning Suzuya Juuzou, his headache worsened.

Su Xiao first went to the Logistics Department and, after presenting his credentials, collected a large number of tools.

An hour later, Su Xiao arrived alone at a park and crouched on a bench by the roadside.

The park was shaded by lush trees. A breeze swept past, stirring the leaves with a rustle. The midday sun scorched the earth, while summer cicadas clung to the trunks and screamed.

Because of the heat, there were very few people in the park. Fortunately, Su Xiao was sitting beneath the trees, where it was fairly cool.

The information Shinohara Yukinori had provided wasn't particularly detailed, but it gave him a general target. More than a dozen disappearances had occurred in this park over the past six months.

The CCG had a clear division of labor. Ordinary Investigators were responsible for finding clues, and their combat strength wasn't particularly high.

Once the clues were clear enough that a Ghoul might be encountered, Senior Investigators would personally lead their subordinates in the search, preventing unnecessary casualties among ordinary Investigators.

Even so, five ordinary Investigators had already disappeared in this park.

Shinohara Yukinori had been preparing to head out earlier because he wanted to inspect this park.

Su Xiao watched the passing pedestrians, but he found nothing for a long time. He wasn't in a hurry, though.

According to the information Shinohara Yukinori had given him, there hadn't been a disappearance in this park for the past two Sundays.

That Ghoul would appear soon, because this was its hunting ground.

Some Ghoul behavior resembled that of wild beasts. For example, they divided territories, or hunting grounds. Two Ghouls might even fight over territory.

The Ghoul would appear within three days at most. Moreover, its rank might not be low. It definitely wasn't some weakling below A-rank.

Most Ghouls died because they couldn't restrain their appetites and were eventually discovered by Investigators.

Success was inseparable from patience. Su Xiao simply sat on the park bench and waited in silence.

Time slipped away in the blink of an eye, and it was already past three in the afternoon.

A gentle melody drifted over from the distance.

"A school?"

Su Xiao gazed toward a building in the distance. Half an hour later, the number of pedestrians in the park gradually increased. They were all high school students who had just been dismissed.

Most Ghouls hunted at night, so Su Xiao planned to spend the night here.

"Big brother, why are you sitting here all by yourself? You must be lonely."

A high school girl in a school uniform sat beside Su Xiao. She wore a light top and a short black skirt.

Su Xiao narrowed his eyes.

"..."

Silence.

"Tsk~, what a boring guy."

When she saw that Su Xiao ignored her, the high school girl stood up and walked away.

Night fell, and the park's streetlights came on.

Su Xiao had kept watch all afternoon and was inevitably getting hungry. Just as he was about to stand and go eat dinner, he suddenly heard a brief scream.

The scream was extremely short, lasting only an instant, but his sharp senses still caught it.

Su Xiao immediately rose and hurried toward the source of the sound. It had come from a corner of the park, not far from him.

When he reached the location, Su Xiao swept his gaze around, but found nothing. There wasn't a person in sight, or even a ghost.

He absolutely hadn't misheard the scream, so something had definitely happened here.

After searching carefully, Su Xiao found several drops of blood and half a broken fingernail at the edge of a flower bed.

He dipped a finger into a little of the blood. It had already gone cold but hadn't coagulated, which meant it was fresh.

"Crunch, crunch~."

The sound of flesh being torn and chewed came from the nearby woods. Su Xiao silently entered the forest, and a cruel scene appeared before his eyes.

An unrecognizable victim lay facedown on the ground, while a Ghoul crouched over them and devoured them.

Finding a Ghoul should have been a good thing, but Su Xiao frowned.

The Ghoul before him wasn't strong, only around B-rank. Moreover, this savage method of feeding made it unlikely that it could evade an investigation by ordinary Investigators.

From the Ghoul's ravenous appearance, Su Xiao roughly guessed what had happened.

This might not have been the Ghoul's hunting ground, but it was simply too hungry and had been forced to take the risk.

"Stray dog, who allowed you to hunt in my hunting ground? Are you looking to die?"

A crisp female voice rang out through the woods. At the same time, a very thin Kagune lashed toward the feeding Ghoul.

"Splurt!"

Its head flew through the air. Before the feeding Ghoul could say anything, it was beheaded, its face filled with terror.

The owner of the Kagune emerged from between the trees. When Su Xiao got a clear look at her, he was somewhat surprised. She was actually the high school girl he had seen during the day.

She was a Ghoul.

(Please vote.)

"Jiao" isn't a typo. I really couldn't type that other character.