Lancer, who had made a plan, was originally going to take out his phone to ask Kureo Mado to come out to discuss it, but his hand stopped in mid-air.
In what capacity would he tell Kureo Mado? If the other party asked about this information, how should he explain it? If he couldn't convince Kureo Mado, then how could he help him convince others?
Although Kureo Mado hatred for ghouls had reached a distorted point, he was also an excellent and serious investigator and would not unconditionally believe Lancer words.
'It seems I can only collect information when Kaneki is kidnapped for the first time.'
Lancer didn't know the later plot. Although in the known plot, 'Gourmet' already had a suspicion of being whitewashed, his attitude towards Touka and the others was the same; he wanted to witness their actions with his own eyes.
A person could not be infinitely forgiven because of the 'future'. Lancer was not a clever person who liked to 'compare'; he was just a fool who liked to look at the present.
He was attacked by a ghoul, saved by an investigator, and witnessed countless ghouls' atrocities. If he didn't know some of the plot, he would probably be like Kureo Mado and would not hesitate to fight against any ghoul.
To witness with his own eyes, and then to judge with his own heart, this was his choice!
But what Lancer didn't expect was that while he was drinking coffee, the sound of a bell suddenly came from the door, and then he widened his eyes.
A young girl in a beige dress was following a long-haired married woman into the shop.
The two seemed to be very surprised to see him, a CCG investigator, in the shop. The little girl even hid directly behind her mother, and the mother nodded at Lancer.
Lancer knew the identities of the two. The married woman was Ryōko Fueguchi, who was personally killed by his benefactor, Kureo Mado, and the little girl was Hinami Fueguchi.
However, while Lancer knew their identities, they could not determine Lancer thoughts, so they did not make contact with Touka or the manager. Instead, they ordered a cup of coffee and sat away from Lancer, looking like ordinary customers.
Seeing their occasional glances, he probably knew what had happened. It was likely that Hinami's father was attacked by 'Jason', so Kureo Mado should have also gone to the scene. After that... if no accident happened, then Kureo Mado 'death date' was probably approaching.
Would Lancer allow such a thing to happen?
"Kirishima, the bill."
He swallowed the dessert in one bite, then raised his coffee and drank it all before walking towards the cashier. Touka, who was originally holding a rag, had a strange look on her face.
In her memory, Lancer would sit in the shop for about half an hour each time. Of course, if he was called by a phone call, that was another story, but this time, he had only sat at the table for about ten minutes, so why was he leaving?
"Is today's coffee... not brewed well?"
When he took the change from Touka's hand, her abrupt question made Lancer pause. Because he had been thinking about things earlier, he hadn't paid any attention to the taste of the coffee. As for the last bit? Well... no matter how good the coffee was, it wasn't meant to be chugged down in one go, especially black coffee without sugar. Strictly speaking, the last mouthful was extremely bitter.
"Sorry, I was thinking about things just now, so I didn't pay attention."
But Lancer wasn't a person who liked to lie. He directly stated his situation, and then he felt that Touka seemed a little disappointed? Was it his illusion?
"I hope to see you again next time."
Looking at the bowing Touka, Lancer said something that even he found strange.
"If possible, next time, can I try this coffee again?"
Lancer words made Touka pause for a moment, but then she nodded with a smile.
Lancer, who was seeing Touka's smile for the first time, was also stunned for a moment. Then he rubbed his nose and turned to 'flee', which made the smile on Touka's face grow even brighter.
"I didn't expect the 'dove' to have a side like this."
"Of course. Not only us ghouls, but doves also have their own lives. We are in opposition to each other. Just as the doves don't understand us, we don't understand them."
"Manager?"
The voice that suddenly came from behind startled Touka, and what the other person said made her heart ache.
Indeed, although the other party seemed a bit 'strange' now and even behaved worse than the boys in her school, it couldn't change his identity. Their seemingly unintentional chat earlier also revealed his identity.
Touka never thought she was wrong. She didn't become a ghoul out of hope, and neither did her father. They clearly never attacked humans, so why was her father still captured in the end?
They were not the ones who were wrong, but this world!
This world full of malice!
The sense of accomplishment of a high school girl teasing an adult gradually disappeared because of reality, replaced by endless melancholy.
At the same time, on the other side, Yoshimura, who had been squinting his eyes, also opened them a little, and a hint of melancholy appeared in his usually calm eyes.
His feelings for Touka could basically be understood as sympathy and the care of a senior for a junior.
He knew about Touka's father's matter, and he himself had a huge disagreement with his own daughter. Perhaps he didn't want to admit it, but in a way, he saw Touka as his 'daughter', which was why he came out at this moment and said those words.
As someone who had been through it, he knew how big the gap was between humans and ghouls, not to mention a CCG investigator, and a young investigator whom countless ghouls and investigators believed would eventually become an associate special-class investigator and even have a chance to challenge a special-class investigator.
Even if there were no such feelings between the two, he had to nip all signs in the bud because he didn't want to regret it in the end.
Touka was a bit down, not because of what Yoshimura said. She was definitely not feeling that way because of Lancer, after all, the two weren't even friends; at most, they were just familiar people.
But at this moment, Ryōko Fueguchi, who was holding the little girl's hand, also walked to the cashier after confirming that there was no one else in the shop.
"Manager..."
"Sorry, Mrs. Fueguchi, just now because of the dove..."
Looking at the haggard-looking Ryōko Fueguchi, Yoshimura quickly explained, but the other party shook her head.
"My husband said that 'someone' was going to find him, and he told us to hide first."
"An investigator?"
Yoshimura's expression had become a little gloomy...