"Investigator Marude, you have a call!"
Inside the office, the secretary picked up the phone and then turned her head.
"Who is it?" Marude rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.
"It's Hayashi" The secretary nodded, speaking truthfully.
"Hayashi?" Hearing that name, Marude instantly perked up.
After all, although Hayashi hadn't been with them long, his feat of soloing an S-rated ghoul without injury was too dazzling to ignore.
"Give me the phone, I'll talk to him." Marude put down his file and took the receiver.
"Investigator Hayashi, what's the matter?"
"Investigator Special Marude, I just wiped out the Ghoul Restaurant. Send a few investigators over to handle the aftermath."
The moment the call connected, Hayashi's impossibly lazy voice came through.
"Huh?"
The sheer amount of information in that one sentence made Marude freeze for a moment, almost unable to process it.
"Wait, are you saying you single-handedly destroyed the major ghoul syndicate, the Ghoul Restaurant, in the 7th Ward?"
It took him a full thirty seconds to recover from the shock.
"That's right. Just finished."
On the other end, Hayashi's tone was still light and casual, as if it were nothing.
"Well done. Damn well done! Good, give me the address. I'll dispatch people right away."
Marude clenched the receiver tightly, his face filled with excitement.
He had had his eye on the Ghoul Restaurant for a long time. But no matter what, he could never catch their trail, which had been a major headache.
Yet now, Hayashi had obliterated it in one stroke. Perfect!
After Hayashi gave the address, Marude immediately had the secretary write it down and sent the nearest investigators to the site.
"I knew that kid had skills — sure enough, he's the real deal!" Slamming his fist on the desk, Marude's face lit up with excitement.
But moments later, he fell silent again.
"Perhaps… that dangerous mission could be entrusted to him."
…
Meanwhile, in a luxury hotel elsewhere—
"Amon, what do you think of Hayashi?" Walking down the corridor toward a private room, Kureo suddenly asked.
"Hayashi's strength is extraordinary. Forgive my bluntness, but he may already be on the level of a Special Class Investigator." Amon thought carefully before speaking with solemn seriousness.
"An interesting answer. From the first moment I saw him, I could feel he was strong—very strong. And not just stronger than us, but far stronger." Mado nodded, his one eye opening slightly, a glint of excitement flashing within.
"But I didn't expect he could single-handedly wipe out the entire Ghoul Restaurant. Fascinating." At that, Amon couldn't help but nod in agreement.
Half an hour earlier, they had received an emergency notice from CCG Headquarters: the large ghoul syndicate known as the Ghoul Restaurant had been wiped out by a single investigator.
At the time, Amon and Kureo happened to be nearby investigating, so they rushed over immediately.
At first, Amon wondered which investigator could possibly be strong enough to infiltrate so deeply alone.
But once he learned it was Hayashi, he wasn't surprised at all.
"Room 607. Should be here." Seeing the target room ahead, the two men stopped.
After listening closely for movement inside, Mado pushed the door open.
Creak—
The moment it opened, a heavy stench of blood wafted out.
"What a strong smell of blood. This must be the place." Amon frowned, gripping the quinque case in his hand tightly.
"Relax a little, Amon. I don't smell any danger." Kureo's one eye scanned the room before stepping inside.
Soon, the two found a hidden passage leading upstairs.
Emerging from the passage, the stench of blood grew even stronger.
The place looked like an arena—but it was filled with severed limbs and blood-soaked remains.
Corpses lay scattered across the floor, most dressed in fine clothes and elaborate masks.
"So many dead…" Amon frowned as he looked around.
"These people must indeed have been members of the Ghoul Restaurant." Examining the well-dressed corpses, Kureo nodded.
That was when they noticed Hayashi sitting casually atop a chair made from piled ghoul corpses, playing with his phone as if nothing had happened.
Amon stared in disbelief. Faced with such a brutal, bloody scene, how could he act so calm—so nonchalant?
"Investigator Hayashi, we came to assist!"
"You're here?" Seeing them, Hayashi put down his phone and stood.
"All the ghoul bodies are down here. You can verify if they were part of the Restaurant. Also, there seems to be another escape passage above. You should check that out too." He pointed to the noble seating area above.
"Alright, leave it to us." Amon nodded, jotting it down in his notebook.
"Good. Then I'll leave the rest to you. I'm heading back." Hayashi patted his shoulder, then turned to go.
"You're just leaving?" Amon blinked in surprise.
He had expected Hayashi to wait for headquarters clerks to arrive and give a full report. But instead, he was walking away so casually?
"Is there a problem?" Hayashi turned back, looking puzzled.
"Aren't you going to explain the situation in detail?" Amon coughed, his expression deadly serious.
"Oh, that." Hayashi paused, thinking for a moment, then said slowly:
"Someone invited me to dinner here. Then the dining table rose up, bringing me into this arena. There were a bunch of ghouls seated above. Then some big guy rushed out to dismember me — but I killed him instead. After that, I tore through all the ghouls here. Finally, I called headquarters for backup. That's about it."
Nodding lightly, he spoke with perfect calm.
"I… see?" Amon was dumbfounded. He understood every word individually, yet together they made no sense at all.
"Anyway, tell the clerks the details. I have things to do." Hayashi nodded and started walking off.
"Wait, Hayashi—"Kureo Mado suddenly called out.
"Mado, what is it?" Hayashi stopped and turned.
"It's like this. My daughter, Akira Mado, is a second class with the CCG. I've been wanting to find her a seasoned investigator to guide her, to sharpen her skill and experience. But until now, I haven't found the right candidate. Lately, I heard you've gathered a lot of subordinates. So… would you take my daughter under your wing?" Kureo's one eye opened slightly as he offered a genuine smile.
"If she's willing, then of course" Hayashi nodded without hesitation.
After all, having more subordinates was never a bad thing. At the very least, they could help with tasks.
He couldn't guarantee teaching them much, but ensuring their safety—that he could do.
"Many thanks. That's a big help." Kureo smiled faintly, his eye narrowing.
"Since I could die any day, I must prepare in advance. If I pass away… then I'll entrust my daughter to you."