Clatter-! As if by some medical miracle, Banjō, who had been on the verge of freezing solid, suddenly opened his eyes. His tongue was already frozen stiff, though, leaving him unable to speak. If the crystalline chains hadn't restrained him, he probably would have leaped straight up.
"I can tell you one thing for certain: right now, she's suffering a fate worse than death." Seeing that it was working, Louis pushed harder, pouring out the story he had prepared in advance.
"All sorts of powerful factions have their eyes on her, too. I don't want to provoke them."
"So..." Louis stared hard into Banjō's eyes, unconsciously tightening his grip. "If you can't prove your worth, I won't take that risk."
A muffled boom sounded inside Banjō's body. Like a bomb that had been primed for ages suddenly going off, a tremendous surge of heat erupted, forcing out all the cold Louis had poured into him in an instant.
And it didn't stop there. After driving the cold out of his body, that tremendous heat kept surging. Waves of warmth suddenly burst from Banjō's right shoulder, mingling with the chill in the air.
The abrupt collision of hot and cold air whipped up a miniature hurricane. The once-tidy room became a mess in an instant, with pens, paper, and other light objects flying wildly through the air.
"What an overwhelming presence..." Sensing Banjō's Kagune erupt, Louis immediately withdrew his arm and formed an ice shield to defend himself. A Ghoul's Kagune became extremely unstable when they were agitated, making accidental injuries all too likely.
But he waited a long time, until the turbulent air in the room finally settled, and the anticipated attack never came. All that remained was the sound of heavy breathing.
Louis flexed his fingers. The room had