"Phew~ That felt good."
After cursing Amahane Byakuya who knew how many times, Furuta Nimura's expression immediately returned to normal, as though nothing had happened.
He seamlessly switched to thinking about his plans, his serious expression making him seem like an entirely different person.
Rize Kamishiro clearly knew he had been behind the last attack now, so succeeding next time would certainly be much harder.
Should he keep targeting Rize Kamishiro, or choose someone else?
Rize Kamishiro was undoubtedly the most suitable experimental donor, but getting his hands on her again would be far too difficult. Not only would he have to strike when she let her guard down, he would also have to avoid alerting the Washuu Clan.
If he changed targets, he could still only choose someone of the Washuu Clan's bloodline. Otherwise, he would be unable to achieve his ultimate goal of "becoming a Dragon."
There were many "breeders" within the Washuu Clan, all with relatively pure bloodlines. Though theirs were not as pure as Rize Kamishiro's, they would at least be usable.
These were the details Furuta Nimura pondered as he headed to his classroom.
As for what had just happened with Amahane Byakuya and Rize Kamishiro, he had already put it out of his mind.
Meanwhile,
Amahane Byakuya asked Rize Kamishiro a question he already knew the answer to. "Was that guy just now the one who attacked you last time, the one wearing the Clown Mask?"
"Yes, that was him. His name is Furuta Nimura. I've known him for a very long time."
Rize Kamishiro nodded as she answered.
"Then why did he attack you last time?"
Amahane Byakuya continued asking.
"Who knows?"
Rize Kamishiro replied casually.
She was not deliberately hiding anything from Amahane Byakuya. She genuinely did not know.
If Furuta Nimura wanted to drag her back to the Washuu Clan, the clan's other members should have made their move long ago.
But she had not seen anyone from the Washuu Clan in Ward 20.
If Furuta Nimura had some other purpose, she had no way of guessing it.
Whatever the case, Furuta Nimura had actually set her up and ambushed her. There was no way she would not hold a grudge.
Rize Kamishiro never imagined that Furuta Nimura's true goal was to turn her into an experimental donor. Otherwise, she would only have been angrier.
"I remember you saying you had a lot of enemies. Looks like you really are in a dangerous position."
Amahane Byakuya said.
"What's wrong? Are you scared?"
Rize Kamishiro smiled faintly. "If you want to back out now, you should still have time."
"I wouldn't say I'm scared. Once I've made a promise, I won't go back on it."
Amahane Byakuya replied calmly.
Afterward, Amahane Byakuya and Rize Kamishiro visited the university library.
Rize Kamishiro got a library card and borrowed a few books, all of them rather dark, bleak, and brutal.
Now that she could no longer prey on humans freely, reading was her only source of enjoyment.
After putting the books she wanted into her bag, Rize Kamishiro wandered around the university with Amahane Byakuya again.
As they walked beside a reservoir, Rize Kamishiro suddenly spoke. "Ghouls are supposed to be at the top of the food chain, yet they make all sorts of rules to protect themselves, like cowardly lions trapping themselves in their own cages. What do you think, Byakuya? Isn't it pathetic and ridiculous?"
The "all sorts of rules" she mentioned referred to the rules laid down by the ghoul organizations that controlled each ward of Tokyo, such as Anteiku in Ward 20.
Apart from Anteiku, which was somewhat unusual, the ghouls in the other wards followed much the same rules.
For example, they could not freely encroach on other ghouls' feeding grounds, had to pay a certain "residency fee" every month, and could prey on no more than one human a month without leaving suspicious traces at the scene.
"...That may be true, but there's nothing wrong with trying to survive. Ghouls only do that to avoid being hunted by the CCG's Ghoul Investigators. Most ghouls aren't as strong as you to begin with."
Amahane Byakuya said, "Besides, aren't you in the same position now? If I didn't restrict your hunting, sooner or later you'd have a whole bunch of Ghoul Investigators coming after you. And you already have plenty of other enemies."
Rize Kamishiro was not upset by Amahane Byakuya's rebuttal. Instead, she sighed. "That's why it's ridiculous. It seems I've become just like those weaklings now."
"What's ridiculous about it? Everyone's just trying to survive. Of course, if you become strong enough that you don't have to fear any enemy, you naturally won't need to restrain yourself."
Amahane Byakuya said, "But I'm human too, so I can't support you preying on humans as you please. And I also want you to be safer."
"Hmm... I just want to enjoy life a little more. After all, that's what I was born for in the first place."
Rize Kamishiro smiled softly. "Though I can't prey on humans whenever I want now, I've suddenly realized that reading books I like is pretty enjoyable too. And what I'm after even more these days is you, Byakuya."
Her words could easily give someone the wrong idea, but Amahane Byakuya remained perfectly rational. He knew exactly what Rize Kamishiro was really after. "I think you're after my flesh, not me."
"Well~ It amounts to the same thing~"
Rize Kamishiro said with a smile.
"If you really can find something you enjoy besides preying on humans, that would be best. At a time like this, don't make any more enemies for yourself. You'll be in trouble if a bunch of Ghoul Investigators set their sights on you."
Amahane Byakuya said calmly.
He did know that preying on humans certainly could not be called Rize Kamishiro's only source of enjoyment.
After all, before coming to Ward 20, Rize Kamishiro had lived in Ward 11. She had left because she was bored with the place and no longer found it entertaining, even though there had still been plenty of humans there to prey on.
That also showed just how completely she did whatever she pleased. Everything she did was for her own enjoyment.
"All right, all right. Keep nagging like that and you'll sound just like my old man, who loves lecturing me every day."
Rize Kamishiro sounded somewhat dismissive.
The old man she meant was naturally Kamatari Kamishiro, also known as "Kamatari."
"I said I'd protect you, so naturally I have to take responsibility for you too. A little nagging is only normal, though I don't think what I just said even counts as nagging."
Amahane Byakuya responded calmly.
Rize Kamishiro chuckled softly, then suddenly asked with a hint of curiosity, "Why do you want to protect me? Do you really like me?"
Though Amahane Byakuya had already answered her right after the steel beam incident, she had not taken him seriously at the time. She had assumed he was just saying it casually.
So now she wanted to ask again to be sure.
Before you continue