The red sun sank in the west, the passage of time blurred amidst blooming blood and surging adrenaline.
With Nutcracker slain, Madam A captured, and Mr. PG dead… the leader of the organization "MADAM," Big Madam, had been forced to appear, only to be besieged by investigators led by Yukinori Shinohara. The massacre inside the ghoul restaurant had already reached its final act.
The blockade of escape passages was completed smoothly. Under the command of Branch Chief Taishi Fura and North American agent Dennis, Ward 7's CCG branch successfully sealed all surface exits of the restaurant. With the encirclement complete, it was now time to pursue the remnants with all strength, exterminating every last one.
No gaps in the encirclement. Total annihilation!
That was the operational goal set by Vela.
The tactic of "leaving one side open" did not apply to ghouls, nor to a city as densely populated as Tokyo.
Step, step.
Emerging from the D-zone escape passage littered with corpses of mutilated ghoul diners, Vela strode through the hollow, silent evacuation hall. She ascended the wide gilded staircase, red carpet rolled down its steps, making her way unhurriedly toward the restaurant's core.
She had to admit, these ghouls who had blended deepest into human society, styling themselves as the upper class, certainly had a sense of ceremony.
The bourgeois flavor—fitting.
Kureo Mado led his squad behind her.
Among them, Madam A, frail to begin with and now injected with Rc cell suppressants and a heavy dose of anesthetic, had lost consciousness entirely. She was crudely stuffed into a restraint bag and carried on an investigator's back. The Yasuhisa sisters, also injected with Rc suppressants but still conscious, were shackled in Quinque handcuffs.
Nashiro, less injured, supported Kurona, who had taken a brutal kick from Vela.
Amon Koutarou, carrying his dark blue long-handled heavy Quinque, looked on with a conflicted expression. Around him, North American operatives kept rifles slung across their chests or Quinques in hand, ready for any attempt at resistance from the sisters.
Amon opened his mouth several times, wanting to ask, but each time fell silent.
Only Vela's voice, speaking with Kureo Mado, and the chatter over radio reporting squad status and receiving orders, broke the air.
Along the way, their unit occasionally crossed paths with scattered CCG squads hunting down stragglers.
Rat-tat-tat-tat! Gunfire rang. The lavish interior decorations were shredded as if gnawed by dogs. The ghouls' organization was in ruins. Their leaders of S-rating and above—dead or crippled. The remaining B- and A-rated ghouls, terrified out of their wits, no longer posed any real threat to investigators.
One squad advanced step by step, Quinques in hand, forcing a ghoul to flee in desperation. Trapped in a corner, with gunfire cutting off escape, blades and gun thrusts came in succession. Steel pierced through chest, pinning the ghoul to the wall.
Elsewhere, seven or eight ghouls huddled together in flight, only to be cornered in a room by a mixed squad of over a dozen CCG investigators and North American operatives. They were slaughtered like livestock.
Ukaku Quinques fired in volleys, drowning out muffled cries.
Close-combat Quinques cleaved, blood spraying like fountains.
American-style rapid strikes smashed faces, scattering chunks of flesh.
Just a day before, this ghoul restaurant had butchered "ingredients" live for its guests' meals. Now, the roles had reversed—the "ingredients" were ghouls, and what feasted upon them was Quinque steel.
"Hey, Charlie, how many did you drop?"
"Four, maybe six. Who knows? Tokyo ghouls are this bold? A measly B-rated dared to charge my line… Did it think my assault rifle was a toy? At least the rest learned quick. You, Mike?"
After saluting Vela as they passed, two North American operatives exchanged casual words that left the Yasuhisa sisters deeply shaken. To be spoken of like pigs or dogs—hearing such disdainful tones firsthand, as the targets themselves, struck deep.
As top students of the CCG Academy, daughters of Nanase Yasuhisa—a wealthy man who had funded the CCG's artificial ghoul project—the sisters had received the best education. Their English was more than good enough to understand every word.
Before long, they reached the core of the ghoul restaurant. The darkened space was thick with blood and gunpowder. Dispatching with a single spear thrust a crazed ghoul who had leapt at her from a corner, Vela strode across the ruined reception area and spectator seats, her gaze falling upon Yukinori Shinohara, clad in the living Quinque armor [Arata].
"It's over…"
He sighed heavily, laying a hand gently on Suzuya Juuzou's shoulder.
Around him stood Chuu Hachikawa, Take Hirako, and Taishi Fura, forming a semicircle with weapons drawn.
In the rubble-strewn center lay the corpse of a woman—or at least, judging from her clothing and upper body, a female form. The pool of blood spreading slowly beneath her showed she had only just died.
Metal braces in her mouth. A massive, tank-like build, thick golden chains and bracelets, vulgar in her extravagance.
There was no doubt. The SS-rated ghoul 'Big Madam.'
Clap, clap.
"With Big Madam eliminated, the operation against the ghoul restaurant can be considered complete."
Vela clapped, drawing all eyes to her. Clearing her throat, she stepped forward, glancing at Suzuya, who stood calmly over the corpse of the one who had once been his tormentor.
Yes—his tormentor.
It was Big Madam who had abducted Juuzou, raised him as a 'butcher boy' in her ghoul restaurant, and even smashed his reproductive organs in cruelty. It had been Shinohara's squad that stormed 'MADAM' and rescued him.
In a sense, the only 'mother' figure in Suzuya's childhood memories—though twisted—was this grotesque woman. And now—she was gone.
"Rank-2 Suzuya, are you able to continue with the mission?"
"Russell, about Suzuya…"
Shinohara hesitated, wanting to ask Vela to allow him more time to adjust.
But—
"I'm fine, Shinohara-san."
Juuzou looked at the body, shaking his head calmly. "Actually, no matter what others say, I never hated her."
"The reason I destroyed 'Mom' was because you taught me: I am human, I am an investigator. Investigators kill ghouls. That's only natural. Didn't you always say we must do everything possible to prevent what happened to me from happening again?"
Though his sense of normal humanity was still weak, though he was often detached, eccentric, even unhinged, he could feel Shinohara's sincerity—the care of a guardian treating him like his own son, the earnest wish to guide him into a fine investigator.
And because of that, he made his choice.
"Juuzou…"
Shinohara was stunned.
Before he could express his emotions, Juuzou's tone shifted back to its usual quirky cadence. He bounced up cheerfully before Vela.
Smack! Shinohara slapped his face into his palm.
Education—still a long road ahead.
"Ne, ne, Special Class Russell, Special Class Russell! On the radio earlier, you said something about Kurona and Nashiro—did you really meet them? They really became ghouls?"
His eyes gleamed with excitement.
"That question, we'll answer, Juuzou."
"Eh, it really is Kurona and Nashiro."
Handcuffed, escorted by Amon Koutarou, Nashiro supported the weakened Kurona as they appeared in the hall, answering Juuzou's question. Shinohara and Vela exchanged glances, both expressions turning grave.
"Kanou Akihiro, is it?"
Vela had already briefed them briefly over radio earlier. If memory served, Kanou had once worked for the CCG…
"Whether it is or not—we'll investigate and confirm."
She made no attempt to hide the fact she had already drawn her own conclusions.
"Right here, speak. In front of Special Class Shinohara, Associate Special Class Hachikawa, First Class Mado, Rank-1 Amon, First Class Hirako, First Class Fura. Before both our Japanese and American colleagues. If you have grievances, speak them all. But if you cannot account for yourselves and are judged to be lying—I will have you made into Quinques."
At that, the gathered investigators fell into thought.
Grievances?
What did she mean by that?
Take Hirako, sharp in political instinct, narrowed his eyes at Vela. What grand game was she playing? Problems within the CCG? Or dissatisfaction from North America at CCG's years of incompetence? Or something else?
"Ne, ne, what's the real reason? Why did you become ghouls? If you became ghouls, does that mean I can cut you down now?"
While other investigators hesitated, Suzuya Juuzou—once their classmate at the Academy—had no such reservations.
"You—!"
Nashiro flushed with anger.
"Enough, Nashiro."
Kurona wore a look of weary resignation. The reaper stood watching nearby. Though she had no desire to betray the lofty ideals of 'Father,' nor the conviction that the world was trapped in a twisted 'birdcage,' she knew the weight of priorities.
Nashiro was her only family. If she refused to speak—or lied—Vela would indeed kill her.
"Suzuya, one day you'll understand. The CCG's hidden truth. This world is bound by a man-made 'birdcage,' and the Washuu clan and the CCG are that very cage!"
"For their own interests, they will never completely eradicate ghouls. Because if ghouls were gone, the CCG and Washuu would lose their purpose. My father—he invested heavily into artificial ghoul research for the sake of the CCG and humanity's future. But because he touched forbidden domains, saw what should never have been seen—he was silenced by you all…"
"Record that."
Vela rubbed her chin with interest, her smile turning ever more amused.
"Back it up. Send it to Headquarters in Ward 1. In my capacity as Special Commissioner of the North American Commission of Counter Ghoul [Tokyo]."
She emphasized her title.
"The testimony of former top Academy trainees and daughters of a major CCG project investor—whether this is Kanou Akihiro's doing or an internal Washuu matter—I expect Bureau Chief Washuu and the Chairman to investigate thoroughly. That is my will, and the will of the North American Commission."
In truth, Vela thought, Kurona's claim that the CCG hunts ghouls but never to extinction—was hardly unique. The same applied worldwide.
After all, if one didn't take, another would. How else would Commissioner Smith take his share?
That was why she saw herself as an enforcer, not a bitter avenger. Ghouls must be struck down—but not eradicated.
It was the same in North America. As long as the Commission of Counter Ghoul existed, there would be budgets, entrenched interests, livelihoods depending on the fight. It had become an industry, a business, a field of technology…
Compared to Tokyo's CCG—so narrowly focused, so regionally bound—America's system was broader.
After all, America had its own conditions. The North American Commission of Counter Ghoul not only governed the Americas, but acted as an international anti-ghoul police force, intervening worldwide.
It was never purely anti-ghoul, either. Homeland defense, counter-federal crime, public safety, anti-narcotics, counter-cults, organized crime suppression, international intelligence gathering… overlapping with CIA, FBI, NSA. Competition was natural. Priority depended on circumstances.
Japan, on the other hand, was already in chaos—damaging its international image.
But of course, Vela couldn't say that aloud. It would shatter morale among the rank-and-file investigators who bore blood feuds against ghouls.
Better to play the benevolent official, magnanimous with others' sacrifices. That mantle—Vela would take up.
"This matter," she said, passing Shinohara's side, "I'll handle."
Then, pressing her earpiece, Vela formally declared: "Ward 7 ghoul restaurant operation—victory complete."
"Associate Special Class Hachikawa, you continue eliminating stragglers, clearing threats."
"First Class Fura, you are Ward 7 Branch Chief. Local reassurance is your strength. Lift warning zones stage by stage as appropriate. One requirement—no accidents."
"First Class Mado, coordinate with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and courts. Tell them this: I, Vela Adelheid Russell, Special Commissioner with full authority, demand cooperation. Identify all ghouls executed in this operation, and immediately confiscate all personal assets."
"First Class Hirako, notify the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. Inform them I require all details on the restaurant property, surrounding land, contracted construction firms, and large-scale capital circulation. Submit the report to my office within three days. The sooner, the better. And don't forget the financial documents seized inside."
"Special Class Shinohara, since Suzuya is your partner, I leave Kurona and Nashiro in your care. Protect and monitor them. Compile their testimony with your own annotations and submit to me. Back it up. Copy to Ward 1 Headquarters."
"As for Bureau Chief Washuu—I'll handle him myself."
"As for Kanou Akihiro and his half-ghoul lab—Dennis, Rick, draft a request to the military. On grounds of hidden development of bioweapons of mass destruction, seek deployment of the US-Japan joint NBC defense forces."
…