Ward 1, CCG Main Office.
"Marude-san, is Bureau Director Washuu not in today?"
Since Byakuya couldn't find Yoshitoki Washuu in the director's office, he asked Marude.
"That's right, the Director is temporarily out. But he should be back soon."
Marude replied. "If there's something you need, you can tell me first, and I'll pass it on to the Director later."
"Mm. Akira and I are currently investigating the S-rated 'Gourmet,' but we've hit a bit of a wall. What we can confirm is that the 'Gourmet' is closely connected to the Ghoul Restaurant in Ward 7. I previously captured a ghoul from the restaurant called 'Madam A,' and I'd like to see if we can get any useful intel from her."
Byakuya explained his purpose for coming.
"That 'Madam A,' huh? I know her. We originally tried to get intel about the 'Madams' from her, but she claimed she was just an ordinary member and didn't know any internal secrets."
Marude said with a tone of complaint. "We even had her reveal the meeting locations with the other 'Madams' and sent people over, but still didn't find anything useful. Those 'Madams' in the Madam organization are too cautious."
Byakuya was silent for a moment. "...I see. But I'd still like to see if there might be something new."
He wasn't concerned about the Madam organization for now. His current focus was solely on Dr. Kanou. Though sooner or later, he'd have to deal with the Madams too.
"Alright. You're the one who captured that 'Madam A' in the first place, and you're a First Class investigator now. You're fully qualified to personally interrogate her."
Marude said casually. "As for the Director, I'll pass this along to him."
"Thank you, Marude-san."
Byakuya said.
"It's nothing."
At this moment, Marude suddenly smiled and clapped his hand on Byakuya's shoulder. "But by the way, Amaha—you're already calling Akira Mado by her first name, huh? Quite close, aren't you? But let me warn you—she's the daughter of that 'Quinque maniac,' you know..."
Marude had lowered his voice slightly, but the effect was minimal—everything he said was completely audible to Akira standing beside Byakuya.
That was just Marude's personality. Except for not daring to badmouth Chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu to his face, the man was never serious.
In the original series, even after Kureo Mado's death, Marude had joked about it with Koutarou Amon. Compared to that, this kind of joke about Akira was mild.
"..."
At this moment, Akira's face showed no displeasure. She remained expressionless and had no intention of responding to Marude's slightly snide joke.
"Actually, it's because Akira feels that using honorifics with her is a waste of time."
Byakuya spoke up to explain on Akira's behalf.
"Ah~~ there it is again. She really is the same kind of person as her father."
Marude made no effort to hide the disdain on his face.
"Also, Akira is my subordinate, not yours, Marude-san. I hope you'll be mindful of that."
Byakuya said with a smile.
His tone was polite enough, but the words themselves were not so polite.
[Ding! Host spoke up for Akira Mado and Kureo Mado. Reward: 20 Fusion Points!]
Hearing this, Akira was somewhat taken aback. She hadn't expected Byakuya to stand up to Marude for her sake.
Though his words and tone were superficially fine, the actual behavior was clearly pushing back against a superior.
Marude held the position of Special Class investigator. To First Class investigator Amaha Byakuya, he was effectively a superior.
"Oh?"
Marude wasn't displeased by this. Instead, a flash of surprise passed through his eyes, and he responded to Byakuya in a normal tone: "I understand. I'll be more mindful in the future."
It wasn't until Byakuya and Akira had left that Marude let a grin spread across his face. "Got quite the temper, doesn't he? But I like it. If he were as stone-faced as Arima, that'd be way too boring."
Of course, his "stone-faced" comment was just offhand.
Though Arima really was more or less stone-faced—only occasionally showing a smile, with no other expressions whatsoever. And many of those occasional smiles weren't even genuine.
...
"First Class Amaha, it seems you don't have much respect for your superiors either. You actually talked back to a superior over something so trivial."
As they left CCG headquarters, Akira suddenly spoke up.
"In my view, that wasn't trivial. Making that kind of inappropriate joke right in front of you—as a superior, he especially shouldn't act that way."
Byakuya said evenly.
He dared to say those things to Marude because his strength gave him the confidence. His main reason for staying in CCG was to earn more Fusion Points—otherwise, he wouldn't need to give these CCG people any face at all.
"Still, thank you for this..."
At this moment, a faint smile appeared on Akira's face. "Not just for speaking up for me, but also because you're the first person to ever speak up for my father."
"It's nothing. As for Marude-san—he just likes making these inappropriate jokes that offend people. I hope you won't take it too much to heart."
Byakuya said.
Akira nodded slightly. "Mm, I know. Though he often acts crazy, his abilities are unquestionable. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made Special Class."
Next, Byakuya and Akira set off for Cochlea prison in Ward 23.
...
Shortly after Byakuya and Akira left, Bureau Director Yoshitoki Washuu returned.
In the director's office, Yoshitoki and Marude sat together chatting like old friends.
"Yoshitoki-san, there's something I need to pass along to you."
Marude first informed Yoshitoki about Byakuya's request.
"Mm. Something like this doesn't really need to be reported to me. Speaking of which, First Class Amaha is already busy again? My original intention was for him to take it easy in Ward 20."
Yoshitoki said.
"Well, he's partnered with Mado's daughter. She's clearly the same as her father—'Quinque maniac' plus 'workaholic.' Being partnered with Akira Mado won't be easy on Amaha."
Marude said with a laugh.
"That can't be helped. Also..."
At this point, Yoshitoki brought up something serious. "I'll be returning to the front lines soon."
"Really? You're going back to the front lines, Washuu-san?"
Marude was immediately surprised.
"Yes. These are the Chairman's orders."
Yoshitoki said with a grave expression. "It's been a long time since I've commanded from the front lines. Just looking at the carnage from that scene, I can tell this will be a very difficult mission..."
He used the carnage from Aogiri Tree's attack on Cochlea as his surface explanation. In reality, he knew the impending difficult mission was related to the "Owl" in Ward 20...
...
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