The choice

Seeing Jin Toka like this, Akira Mado grew even more eager, unable to suppress the curiosity in her eyes.

Click...

The door opened with a click.

Akira Mado finally got to see Huiqi's collection room, just as she had hoped.

"The row on the left is throwing-knife Quinques. Pick whichever you want. The right side has all the other weapon types mixed together."

Akira Mado stood frozen, her mouth slightly open and her eyes blank, as though she had taken in so much information at once that her brain could not process it.

"When did I leave behind... all this useless stuff?" Huiqi looked puzzled too. He knew why there were so many throwing-knife Quinques: without support staff to retrieve them, any he used were effectively disposable.

That was why he stockpiled daggers and throwing-knife Quinques, but he had never imagined there would be so many weapons besides long swords.

"Ahem, sometimes I use your spoils to explore a few ideas of my own, so..."

"Got it. Is this Quinque one of your creations?"

Huiqi pointed curiously at a bizarre-looking Quinque.

One end was shaped like a whip with a ferocious appearance. Fine spikes lined its length in layers, with a depression in the middle and a tail resembling a triangular military spike.

"Yep, a Combination-Type Quinque. I got the inspiration from that one you asked me to make, but this one doesn't work very well."

"And you made it anyway." Huiqi touched the Quinque with a finger. It felt pretty good, though he had no idea how practical it was.

"Uh... you wouldn't be interested in it anyway, so I figured I'd experiment." A flicker of awkwardness crossed Jin Toka's face.

While the two talked, Akira Mado inched toward the long-sword Quinques as though admiring priceless treasures, her gaze fixed on each weapon.

"This one's great... I love it... that one's nice too... this one, this one, this one!"

"I can't choose. What do I do? What do I do?"

Hearing the muttering behind them, Huiqi and Jin Toka both turned to look at Akira Mado.

"Long swords are hard to learn to use. Why not choose something with ranged attacks?"

As he spoke, Jin Toka pointed at several gun-shaped Quinques.

"Guns?"

At that, Akira Mado turned her attention in the direction Jin Toka had indicated.

The wall was covered in gun-shaped Quinques, from small ones resembling pistols to enormous sniper rifles.

Akira Mado's gaze darted back and forth between the swords and guns. She had no idea what to choose.

"Huiqi, what do you think? You've been an investigator for so long. You must know all about this!"

After hesitating for several minutes, Akira Mado passed the decision to Huiqi.

"Uh... all I can say is that I don't use guns."

Huiqi answered without hesitation. Gun-type Quinques were nowhere near as practical as melee weapons. Most importantly, even the damage they inflicted on ghouls was limited, whereas a long sword could severely wound one with a single slash.

"Oh, I get it! Then I'll choose a sword."

"Sigh. Choosing something that suits you is what matters most. Huiqi is Huiqi. Just because he can use a long sword skillfully doesn't mean you can. Other investigators who use long swords frequently get injured or killed."

Jin Toka spoke earnestly. According to the laboratory's data, ranged Quinques outnumbered melee weapons.

"No. I want a long sword."

"..."

"All right, all right. Take your pick, then. From left to right, they range from S-rate to SSS-rate." Jin Toka sounded rather helpless.

Hearing that, Akira Mado eagerly reached out to touch one of the long-sword Quinques. Its design was exactly what she had envisioned.

The blade had a streamlined shape, its edge gleaming coldly. Under the collection room's lights, it reflected fantastical colors. Merely looking at it was enough to feel the chill of death.

"An SS-rate Quinque, Chehe Zhe. It was made from an SS-rate kakuja ghoul from Ward 7, code-named Nameless. I wouldn't recommend it for you."

Standing beside her, Jin Toka explained the sword's details, his gaze tinged with regret and pity.

This Quinque was undoubtedly in the upper-middle tier of Huiqi's collection. Akira Mado had quite an eye to pick it out at first glance, but it had never been designed for a woman. Its sheer weight alone posed an enormous barrier.

Akira Mado looked at Jin Toka in confusion, not understanding what he meant.

"Look at the weight listed below."

"Seventy kilograms... okay."

Seeing that, Akira Mado decisively gave up. Her strength was nowhere near enough to swing this sword.

Before long, Akira Mado found another long sword she liked.

This time, before Akira Mado could speak, Jin Toka shook his head to indicate that it would not do.

"Why?"

"It's badly worn, and I haven't finished repairing it yet..."

"Okay."

While the two searched for a Quinque, Huiqi inspected his collection room as well. In the past, he had always picked up his Quinques in the laboratory area and had barely ever visited the collection area.

Ten minutes later...

Akira Mado had fallen silent and stopped moving. Every time she picked a Quinque, the man beside her said no. His reasons varied, but they were all frustratingly convincing.

"Honestly, what am I going to do with you? If Huiqi hadn't brought you here, I wouldn't have spent so much breath on this. Just use this Quinque."

As he spoke, Jin Toka walked over to a long-sword Quinque.

"An S-rate Quinque, Emelisa. It was made from an S-rate female rinkaku ghoul from Ward 17, code-named Enchantment. It's a fairly suitable weapon for a woman."

As he spoke, Jin Toka picked up the sword and handed it to Akira Mado.

The blade was as thin as a cicada's wing, its edge tinged blue-green and gleaming with a biting chill. A red gemstone was set into the hilt, shimmering eerily under the collection room's lights.

"There's a CCG tracker inside the gemstone. Take good care of it."

Akira Mado accepted the sword and looked at Jin Toka with an expression that said, Why didn't you tell me sooner?

Jin Toka, however, wore an expression that said, You never asked. The atmosphere grew strangely awkward.

"How come you know more about these than I do?" Huiqi walked over, a faintly unfriendly edge to his voice.

"We've worked together for so long that I'm practically your personal developer. Besides, I get a report on every ghoul corpse, and I've always handled your post-battle weapon maintenance." Jin Toka answered in a meek voice, looking aggrieved.

"All right, all right, stop acting like that." A shudder ran through Huiqi as he took a few steps back. How had he never noticed this side of the man before?

"I'll take this one." Akira Mado stroked the Quinque lovingly, her eyes filled with nothing but the sword.

"Go test its sharpness. If there are any problems, let me know right away."

Jin Toka pointed at the Quinque Steel in the distance.

"Okay, okay, okay."

At that, Akira Mado eagerly ran over.

"You're actually willing to let her test it? I remember Quinque Steel being pretty expensive."

"It's only because you brought her. Anyone else definitely wouldn't get this chance," Jin Toka answered irritably. Although he had plenty of resources at his disposal as chief researcher, he could not afford to squander them like this.