"Takatsuki-sensei's book signing will be held tomorrow afternoon at Satou Bookstore in the 20th Ward!"
Hearing the announcement, Amon Koutarou raised a curious eyebrow and asked, "Ryu-kun, do you like reading? I feel like I've heard the name Takatsuki Sen quite a lot."
Uesugi Ryu paused the video he was watching, tilted his head slightly, and rotated his neck a few times before answering casually,
"Mm... I guess you could say I enjoy it occasionally. But I've got a friend who's really obsessed with that author."
At that moment, Mado Kureo pushed open the door to the office, wearing a rather exasperated expression.
"Honestly, the ghouls in the 20th Ward are strangely well-behaved these days!"
"It's like they never even existed. It's so eerily quiet, it's unsettling."
Hearing this, Uesugi Ryu instinctively rubbed his nose with a guilty expression.
For one, the 20th Ward had always been relatively peaceful under Anteiku's management.
For another, thanks to Ryu's repeated sting operations, many ghouls had grown too frightened to go out hunting anymore.
After all, no one wanted to fall for the bait of this ghoul-fishing maniac.
Not that Mado Kureo was any less of a baiter himself, he and Ryu were both seasoned anglers.
That said, this pond had been discovered by Ryu first.
Of course, there was little doubt that Anteiku had quietly leaked word of Ryu's presence to local ghouls as well.
And then there was Kamishiro Rize, the infamous Binge Eater, who had been "killed" by falling steel beams.
Her absence brought an unprecedented level of calm to the 20th Ward.
After the end of their last vacation, the trio had returned to their usual duties in the 15th Ward for about two and a half weeks.
Just recently, they'd received transfer orders assigning them back to the 20th Ward for investigative duties.
"The 20th Ward... it's an interesting place," said Mado Kureo, flipping through a file at his desk.
"Despite having an unusually low feeding rate, it harbors many dangerous individuals."
As a ghoul-hunting expert, Mado immediately sensed that something was off.
"You see," he continued, "it's a stretch to say the CCG has ever truly focused on the 20th Ward.
But strangely enough, despite our limited manpower, this place remains unusually stable."
He suddenly looked up at the two others.
"What are your thoughts?"
Uesugi Ryu didn't reply right away, instead adopting a thoughtful pose, purely for show, of course.
He obviously already knew the truth behind the 20th Ward, inside and out at that.
Mado didn't push him, patiently waiting for both men to answer.
"There's probably a powerful manager in place," Amon said slowly. "The ghouls must be following that person's rules and avoiding unnecessary killings to keep the CCG at bay."
Mado nodded.
"That's generally true. It's the same in most wards. But what about the Binge Eater's outrageous feeding habits? Why wasn't that controlled by this so-called manager?"
Then, he suddenly raised two fingers, his expression sharpening with a hint of menace.
"Only two possibilities: One, the Binge Eater's strength exceeds the manager's. Two, this ghoul has connections and a serious backing."
Amon was stunned by the sharp deduction and couldn't help admiring Mado in his heart.
"Incredible, Mado-san..."
Uesugi Ryu, meanwhile, followed the deduction with a calm continuation.
"Based on your analysis, Mado-san, I'd say the Binge Eater probably knew the manager well, possibly very well, but since she recently vanished, maybe she left the 20th Ward."
Which, to be fair, was entirely accurate.
Rize's adoptive father, Kamishiro Matasaka, had once been closely connected to Yoshimura Kuzen.
That was a major reason Yoshimura had long turned a blind eye to Rize's excessive feeding.
"Exactly!" Mado's eyes lit up, his voice brimming with fervor.
"If we can capture the Binge Eater, she might lead us to a whole web of powerful individuals!"
He was now fully immersed in the thrill of chasing the truth.
Uesugi Ryu looked at Mado with some genuine admiration.
After all, he had the advantage of knowing the entire plot beforehand.
Mado, on the other hand, had made all of these deductions from just a small irregularity.
The more time Ryu spent with him, the more he realized how terrifyingly sharp Mado truly was.
If he hadn't eventually slipped up and been killed by Kirishima Touka, he might've even uncovered Anteiku's secrets on his own.
Compared to his combat strength, it was Mado's deductive power that was truly frightening.
He was a born strategist, on par with the likes of Marude Itsuki.
What a shame.
Had his wife, Mado Kasuka, not been brutally murdered by the One-Eyed Owl, perhaps Mado would never have become the man he was now...
...
Several days later, the sun was shining brightly, and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves.
The campus of Kamii University was calm and peaceful.
In a small, secluded park on the grounds, Nagachika Hideyoshi and Kaneki Ken sat side by side on a bench.
Kaneki, wearing a white eye-patch, looked distracted and troubled.
After a long hesitation, he finally spoke in a low voice:
"Hide... from now on, don't talk about me to Ryu anymore."
Hide's face immediately twisted into a confused frown. He halted in place, turned around, and stared Kaneki straight in the eyes.
"Huh? Why not? You just got discharged from the hospital. Shouldn't we all get together to celebrate?"
Kaneki rubbed his chin absentmindedly and turned his face away, avoiding Hide's gaze.
"It's just... Ryu-kun's a Ghoul Investigator, after all. He must be incredibly busy with work..."
"Besides, I'm fine now. There's no need to bother him."
He stammered for a while, but couldn't come up with a convincing excuse.
In truth, only Kaneki knew the real reason.
Ever since becoming a ghoul, he'd felt a growing sense of fear around Uesugi Ryu.
As a CCG investigator, Ryu likely had all sorts of methods to detect ghouls and if Kaneki got exposed, it'd all be over..
Then there was that question Ryu had asked back at Anteiku, at the time, it seemed like Ryu was merely confused about becoming a Ghoul Investigator.
But thinking back, Kaneki couldn't shake the feeling that there had been a deeper meaning behind the question.
It felt almost as if Ryu knew something.
Hide looked at Kaneki thoughtfully, then reluctantly nodded.
"Alright. I won't bring it up on my own.
But if Ryu asks me, I'm not covering for you."
Kaneki breathed a sigh of relief.
"Just stall for now... stall as long as possible."
He still had no idea what had really happened to his body, and wasn't ready to face it.
As for what came next... that was a problem for future Kaneki.
Right now, there was a more urgent issue to deal with.. His stomach was rumbling loudly, growling with an intense hunger.
He was starving.