"What does this say?"
Everyone crowded around, but with their level of education, none of them could read the writing on it. They could not even identify the language.
"Banjō, do you remember what the messenger looked like?" Louis had roughly finished reading, and his brows were already furrowed. Most of the letter was nonsense-ghouls and humans, discussions of the future. Only the final sentence was useful.
'I hope that, upon receiving this letter, you will come to a coffee shop called Anteiku in Ward 20 for a conversation. The time is...'
"Uh... I didn't really pay attention..." Banjō noticed the change in Louis's mood. He tried hard to remember, but nothing came to mind.
Everyone in the room had dealt with Louis back in Ward 18, and nearly all of them noticed the shift in the atmosphere. The cause of that shift, the thin sheet of stationery, had already been encased in ice by Crystallization. With a crack, fractures spread across it, and the letter turned to powder along with the shattered crystal.
"Everyone, the next time someone sends me a letter, capture the messenger first," Louis said coldly, then added, "Alive."
That evening, far away in Ward 20, Anteiku had closed for the day, and the final cleanup was underway.
"Why did you drag me into helping all of a sudden? It's my precious weekend..." Touka slumped over a table, looking utterly exhausted. She had spent the day studying at the library, only to be roped into helping that evening.
"We had too many customers tonight..." Nishiki Nishio leaned against the counter, worn out. His eyes drifted toward Sakuragi Aoi, who was short but quick and efficient. "You're pretty fast. Much more useful than that stupid woman who only gets in the way."
"I'm trying my best..."