"You're making this judgment based on intuition?"
Koori Ui couldn't help but be surprised.
He wasn't dismissing Akira Mado's analysis—rather, he was impressed that she could present such a logical and well-organized case based purely on her instincts.
And she looked so confident about it, as if the truth couldn't be anything else.
"Don't underestimate Akira's intuition," Shinohara said with a gentle smile. "In that regard, she's very much like her father."
"Mado-san, huh... Yes, that does sound like him."
Koori Ui nodded slightly. Like father, like daughter, I suppose...
"Still, a target that even the 'Gourmet' can't manage to eat... If such a person really exists, that would be quite interesting..."
Shinohara fell into thought.
The reason the Gourmet had earned that particular nickname was his notoriously picky appetite—he seemed obsessed with pursuing so-called "delicacies."
Moreover, most ghouls had no interest in eating their own kind, since ghoul flesh tasted terrible. The CCG knew this well.
Logically speaking, the Gourmet shouldn't be interested in fellow ghouls. They'd never found any evidence of him engaging in cannibalism.
But if his prey were human, that explanation didn't hold up either. Besides CCG investigators, could any ordinary human really give an S-rated ghoul like the Gourmet so much trouble?
Forget ordinary humans—even among investigators, you'd need to be at least First Class to stand a chance against an S-rated ghoul.
Too many pieces of this puzzle didn't fit, but unraveling such mysteries was exactly what investigators were meant to do.
Akira continued explaining why she believed the Gourmet's target was most likely in Ward 20.
"After eliminating all those other areas, I noticed one more thing. Previously, the Gourmet frequently hunted and operated in Ward 20. But after his hunting frequency first dropped sharply, his activity in that ward also decreased significantly. After the second drop—when his hunting stopped entirely—he vanished from Ward 20 completely. That's why I believe his target is located precisely in the ward we've been assigned to."
Her analysis was remarkably thorough.
"I agree. Akira makes a good point."
Byakuya spoke up calmly.
He was undoubtedly the one with the most authority to comment here, since the "target" Akira had been describing was none other than himself.
"I think Byakuya makes a good point too."
Suzuya, who hadn't understood a word of Akira's explanation, chimed in at this moment.
This was finally his chance to contribute to the conversation.
"Suzuya, you..." Shinohara sighed with exasperation. "At least use the proper title—'First Class Amaha,' if you please."
"Mm-hmm, First Class Amaha," Suzuya immediately corrected himself.
Though in private, he'd probably go right back to his usual way of addressing him.
"In that case, let's focus part of our investigation on Ward 20, and the rest on the Ghoul Restaurant."
Shinohara continued, "I'll assign First Class Amaha and Rank 2 Mado to investigate the Ghoul Restaurant. Does that work for everyone? I believe First Class Amaha is best suited for this, given his previous contact with the organization."
He made sure to consult Byakuya and Akira before making any final decisions.
"No problem," Byakuya replied.
Akira gave a small nod of agreement.
"Associate Special Class Ui and Rank 2 Souzu will handle the Ward 20 investigation. As for myself and Suzuya, we'll continue pursuing the Binge Eater. Even if she's gone silent, we need to find some trace of her."
Shinohara laid out the assignments simply and clearly.
No one objected.
"Alright, that concludes this briefing. Take today to prepare—we officially begin our investigations tomorrow."
With that, everyone dispersed.
But it was only the briefing that had ended. The moment Byakuya stepped out of the conference room, Suzuya immediately followed.
"Byakuya, Byakuya~"
Suzuya bounced over cheerfully. "Did you get a new Quinque?"
"No. I already have three or four Quinques of my own. Having too many would just be wasteful."
In truth, he had exactly three: the S+ rated 13's Jason, the B-rated Thorn, and the B-rated Hiruko 1/76.
But he was counting the Uchiha Gunbai as well. After all, when dealing with outsiders, he could only explain it away as a Quinque.
At his current level, another S-rated Quinque wouldn't make much difference. Anything below S-rated would be even less useful.
He'd need at least an SS-rated Quinque for it to be worthwhile.
"I see... I just got a new Quinque recently, and it feels great to use."
Suzuya grinned.
Before the promotion ceremony, he'd been stuck at Rank 3. He needed to reach Rank 2 before he could officially own a Quinque, though he'd long since passed all the related aptitude tests.
So it was only recently that he'd received a Quinque that was truly his own, beyond the standard-issue Scorpion.
"If it feels right, that's good. You look happy."
"Yeah! With an A+ rated Quinque in hand, I can take down even more ghouls now. I might even be able to challenge S-rated ones!"
Suzuya's voice brimmed with excitement.
"Don't take S-rated ghouls too lightly. You're still just a Rank 2—and you're already talking about doing First Class work."
Shinohara, following behind them, couldn't help but interject.
He knew Suzuya was strong. The fact that he could eliminate A+ rated ghouls with just a B-rated Scorpion proved that much. But he worried about Suzuya getting overconfident if he ever actually faced an S-rated ghoul.
"Since we're not officially starting until tomorrow, how about we all go out for drinks tonight?"
Koori Ui suddenly suggested.
"I'm in. Come to think of it, I haven't touched alcohol since the Aogiri Tree suppression operation ended. I've been craving a drink lately."
Shinohara chuckled.
After all, he'd been bedridden for months—no drinking allowed during that time.
"I don't mind either," Byakuya said.
As for Akira, she had already slipped away to another room to organize intelligence on the Ghoul Restaurant.
"Well then, could you let Akira know? Though she'll probably turn us down..."
Shinohara was already anticipating Akira's likely rejection, giving Byakuya a heads-up.
...
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