Ihei Byakuya wandered through the complex underground labyrinth like a headless fly, walking for a long time yet still having no clue where the exit of the 24th Ward was.
After all, he had only just transmigrated into this world, and he knew nothing about the underground maze of the 24th Ward. Even in the original story, there were barely any scenes depicting the 24th Ward.
"Hey, do you know how to get out of here?"
Having no other choice, Ihei Byakuya asked Yoshimura Eto, who had been following behind him the entire time.
Although he felt like he probably couldn't count on her.
Yoshimura Eto gently shook her head.
As expected, not reliable at all...
"You're human, right?"
At that moment, Yoshimura Eto asked.
"Yeah. And you, are you a ghoul?"
Ihei Byakuya took the chance to probe.
Even though he knew everything about Yoshimura Eto's identity and background, he couldn't show that he knew.
Because Yoshimura Eto's identity was extremely special and sensitive, if he exposed that he knew, she would immediately develop the intent to kill him.
Yoshimura Eto was also a hybrid of human and ghoul, but not a half-human. She was the only existing natural-born half-ghoul.
Completely different from Kaneki Ken later, who was an artificially created half-ghoul, Yoshimura Eto was born a half-ghoul.
She had only one Kakugan, while the other eye remained identical to that of a normal human, which was why the CCG called her the One-Eyed Owl.
Ghouls could not eat normal food, and even artificially created half-ghouls like Kaneki Ken couldn't. But Yoshimura Eto could.
Half-humans could also eat normal food, but they did not possess the overwhelming strength of ghouls, nor did they have the predatory organ known as the Kakuhou.
Moreover, half-humans had a fatal flaw, their lifespan was less than half that of normal humans. Even someone as powerful as Arima Kishou developed glaucoma around age thirty, by then his body was equivalent to that of an eighty- or ninety-year-old.
Thus, Yoshimura Eto was a one-of-a-kind existence, she had a normal human lifespan, yet she possessed ghoul strength and a Kakuhou. Calling her a "perfect new human" would not be an exaggeration...
"No."
Yoshimura Eto denied it.
And she wasn't lying, she indeed wasn't a ghoul, but a half-ghoul.
"Then I guess you're human too. You came to a place like this all by yourself?"
Ihei Byakuya played dumb.
Because ordinary people were not supposed to know about half-humans and half-ghouls, not even the human leadership of the CCG knew of their existence.
So he responded to Yoshimura Eto's words as a normal person would. He was wandering in circles anyway, with no idea when he would find the exit.
And talking might even let him pick up some useful information...
"I was captured and brought here with my dad."
"And where's your dad?"
Ihei Byakuya asked casually.
At the same time, he thought to himself that the "dad" Eto mentioned should not be her biological father, Yoshimura Kuzen, but her guardian, Noroi...
"He's... already dead..."
Her words carried a faint trace of sorrow and loneliness in her eyes, it didn't look like she was faking it.
"Ah... sorry. Let's skip that topic."
Ihei Byakuya suddenly remembered that Noroi had indeed been hunted down and killed in the 24th Ward.
And sure enough, the "dad" mentioned by Yoshimura Eto was her foster father, Noroi.
This also gave him a key clue about the timeline, this was after Noroi's death.
But this was not good news for him at all...
Since Yoshimura Eto had been able to survive in the 24th Ward from infancy, it was entirely due to Noroi's overwhelming strength. When he was alive, Noroi was an SS-rated ghoul.
So after Noroi's death, for Yoshimura Eto to survive alone in the merciless, hellish 24th Ward, she had to possess considerable strength of her own.
Ghouls didn't just view humans as food, there were even cases of ghouls eating other ghouls, an act known as [Cannibalism].
As a half-ghoul, Yoshimura Eto's true scent was actually that of a human, but because she had lived her entire life in the ghoul-infested 24th Ward, her body had long since been covered entirely by the scent of ghouls.
Even so, she could still easily be mistaken as food by other ghouls.
Normally, not a single human existed in the 24th Ward, so [Cannibalism] was extremely common. It temporarily relieved hunger and allowed ghouls to become stronger rapidly. Especially those who pursued extreme strength, such ghouls loved eating their own kind even more.
Growing up in such a sick, brutal environment, and even managing to survive alone after her foster father's death, there was no way Yoshimura Eto was some harmless little creature...
At this moment, Ihei Byakuya's vigilance toward Yoshimura Eto rose yet again.
"It's okay..."
Yoshimura Eto said softly, "Let's escape this place together."
"Alright."
Ihei Byakuya replied.
He knew very well that he had no way of shaking her off. If Yoshimura Eto had decided to cling to him, there was nothing he could do about it.
Might as well accept fate, what came next would simply have to be taken one step at a time.
Right now, Byakuya was feeling complicated.
The system had given him the god-tier reward Gura Gura no Mi at the start, but at the same time it had also thrown him into a god-tier nightmare of a beginning, he had run straight into the big boss,the [One-Eyed Owl]...
Feeling both mentally and physically drained, he sat down randomly to rest.
Yoshimura Eto sat down as well, though keeping some distance between them.
"Once we manage to escape, where do you plan to go?"
With nothing better to do, Ihei Byakuya began chatting again, hoping to casually gather more useful information.
"...I don't have any family left. I'll probably wander the streets."
Yoshimura Eto said, sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees.
"That's not good. I can help you apply for the CCG's orphan shelter. They take in kids whose families were killed by ghouls. By the way, how old are you?"
Ihei Byakuya followed up, asking about her age.
The CCG orphan shelter was indeed real, and it genuinely took in children affected by ghoul attacks. Using this reason to ask her age wouldn't make him seem even slightly suspicious.
"Twelve."
Yoshimura Eto answered casually.
Age wasn't something worth hiding in the first place.
Twelve...?
Ihei Byakuya was slightly surprised.
This was younger than he had expected.
"At twelve, you're still within the age range for the orphan shelter. When the time comes, I'll take you to apply."
On the surface, Ihei Byakuya continued speaking normally.
But inside, he was far from calm. If the fourteen-year-old Yoshimura Eto was already a fully developed "Kakuja," rated SSS by the CCG as the [One-Eyed Owl], then at twelve years old...
Just what level was she already at?