A few minutes earlier, Louis had received a call.
"Eto?" Louis looked at the familiar number. She almost never called him first.
Especially since they had nearly come to blows earlier. It had been less than three hours since they parted.
A call at a time like this probably meant nothing good.
"..."
Even so, Louis pressed the answer button.
"Ah, Mr. Louis, there's something important I need to tell you."
"Go on..." The teasing voice told Louis all he needed to know. She was definitely up to no good.
"I just heard that a Special-Class from the CCG, the Ghoul Investigator known as the White Grim Reaper, went to Ward 20 today for some reason."
"..." Louis's pupils contracted, and he snapped his gaze toward the traffic below.
"You set me up?"
"Set you up? No. By my reckoning, you should have left Ward 20 by now. Or did something happen to keep you there?" The voice on the other end grew a little more serious.
"I spent quite a while today talking to that Manager you mentioned, just as you asked. In return, you ought to keep your end of the bargain."
"Today?" Louis instantly remembered that Eto had indeed come from the direction of the coffee shop.
If what she said was true... no, she had no reason to lie.
Louis narrowed his eyes, immediately realizing that the conversation had not gone well.
But that was not what he needed to worry about now.
If Kishou Arima really was in Ward 20, there had to be an operation targeting the ward. Abducting Aoi might have been part of the plan.
Not a whisper...
Louis thought of Nagachika, who worked as an assistant at the Ward 20 branch. He had received no warning from him.
But the greater