Hiruko Kagetane

Watching the three disappear, Enju lowered her little head and looked at the slip of paper in her hand.

It read: Empire Cursed Children Shelter, Tokyo 59th District, across from Kusama Hanaya. All Cursed Children may come here to receive the Empire's protection.

After reading the information, Enju hesitantly tucked the slip into the inner pocket of her little leather jacket.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Rentaro kicked open the door to a room under the watchful gaze of a police officer in a gray overcoat.

As the door flew open, a pungent stench of blood hit him in the face. Rentaro hurriedly rushed into the room with his gun raised.

Inside, two guards' corpses lay in a dent in the wall, while large amounts of blood were splattered across it.

In the middle of the room, atop a wooden table, stood a mysterious man dressed in a burgundy tailcoat, wearing a black top hat and a smiling mask.

The man suddenly turned to look at Rentaro. Beneath the smiling mask, a pair of pale golden eyes was revealed.

"You're awfully slow, Mr. Civil Security Officer."

Rentaro frowned and slightly lowered his raised pistol.

"Are you one of us?"

The mysterious man shook his head.

"I came to track the Gastrea too, but we aren't colleagues."

The mysterious man spread his white-gloved hands.

"Because I killed all the police here."

Rentaro's nerves instantly tightened, and a trace of shock appeared in his eyes.

"Damn it!"

Gritting his teeth, Rentaro charged forward in a single stride and threw a punch at the man's face.

The man remained calm. He casually raised one hand and blocked Rentaro's heavy blow, a hint of mockery flashing through his eyes.

"Not bad."

With that, the mysterious man swung his leg and kicked Rentaro heavily into the wall.

Rentaro