Strictly speaking in Japanese, the terms for paternal and maternal grandfathers are different—"chichikata no sofu" and "hahakata no sofu" respectively.
But in everyday speech, people certainly didn't use such rigid terminology. Both were simply called "grandfather."
If one really insisted on formal terms, then in Japanese form it would become "hahakata no sofu," which sounded far too strange...
"That kind of thing is still a long way off. But speaking of which..."
Rize suddenly thought of something. "It seems there really are no restrictions between humans and ghouls. Regardless of whether you as a half-ghoul count as human or ghoul, it wouldn't make any difference."
She knew that the half-humans from the Sunlit Garden were all mixed offspring born from the union of humans and ghouls, which proved that human-ghoul unions worked perfectly fine.
"..."
Byakuya's brain momentarily short-circuited.
It was one thing for Shachi to ask such a question, but Rize's statement was even more outrageous!
That said, when it came to that sort of thing between humans and ghouls, one had to start from the origins of ghouls.
One thing was certain: in the original story's ending, the "Dragon Orphans" born after the Dragon transformation would continuously evolve to take on human appearances, and humans infected by the "Dragon toxin" would become ghouls.
This strongly suggested that ghouls and humans actually shared a common origin.
There was another piece of evidence: a hundred years ago, the Washuu Clan had produced a natural-born half-ghoul called the "One-Eyed King." After transforming into Dragon, this being had nearly destroyed all of Tokyo. The original Tokyo had sunk underground, and the current Tokyo was rebuilt afterward.
In fact, at the deepest level of the Ward 24 labyrinth lay the underground world where old Tokyo was buried. There was a population of original inhabitants there who were also ghouls—their true identities were actually the humans who had sunk underground along with old Tokyo, transformed into ghouls by the "Dragon toxin" released by the One-Eyed King.
All this evidence indicated that the ancestors of ghouls were actually humans. As for how the very first ghoul came to exist, that remained unknown.
In any case, since ghouls and humans shared a common origin, there naturally was no such thing as "reproductive isolation"...
"This topic is still too early. At the very least, let's deal with the Washuu matter first..."
Byakuya said.
"The Washuu..."
Shachi's expression immediately grew grave. "Are you really planning to oppose the Washuu?"
"There's no other choice. If I want to change this world, the Washuu are the biggest obstacle."
Byakuya's expression also turned serious.
"It seems you've already steeled yourself for this. In that case, this old man won't say anything more."
Shachi said solemnly. "On the contrary, I will support you both to the best of my ability."
He knew how terrifying the Washuu were, but having Rize constantly hiding and running wasn't a solution either. Sooner or later, the Washuu would discover her whereabouts.
He had seen powerful strength in Byakuya, and the young man also appeared to be the type of "half-ghoul" that the Washuu feared.
The Washuu Clan both desired and feared half-ghouls. A hundred years ago, that One-Eyed King had nearly destroyed the Washuu Clan, only failing due to his "kind" nature.
Rather than constantly hiding, actively opposing the Washuu Clan might be the best way to protect Rize.
Besides, Rize had no objections, so he decided not to offer pointless discouragement. Rize had never listened to him anyway.
"Then thank you, Kamishiro-san."
Byakuya said.
"No need to thank this old man. Rather, I should be thanking you. Without you, this foolish child Rize would probably have fallen into someone's hands long ago..."
Shachi spoke meaningfully.
The "someone" he referred to was the Clowns organization.
He had long known of the Clowns' existence, especially after joining Aogiri Tree and learning that the Clowns had also set their sights on Rize.
Yet Rize was still perfectly fine even now. Just thinking about it made clear that someone must have helped her.
Otherwise, given Rize's personality and behavior, she would have easily fallen into Aogiri Tree's or the Clowns' hands.
"..."
Rize immediately pouted slightly, seemingly displeased with Shachi's words.
But unusually, she didn't talk back to him, because she truly couldn't deny that if Byakuya hadn't saved her back then, she would be the one serving as Dr. Kanou's "experimental subject" right now.
Shachi's keen perception caught Rize's unusual reaction—his foolish daughter actually wasn't arguing back. He couldn't even remember the last time such a rare thing had happened.
"It seems something really did happen. Rize is abnormally silent."
Shachi immediately remarked.
"You're so annoying..."
This time Rize couldn't help but retort. Then she explained what had happened: "I didn't expect Furuta to ambush me like that. If Byakuya hadn't come back to save me, that guy would definitely have succeeded..."
"Nimura Furuta? Isn't that the kid who helped you escape from the Washuu? How did he..."
Shachi was startled for a moment, then the Clowns suddenly came to mind.
"That guy is already one of the Clowns. I only know he was working with a doctor named Akihiro Kanou, planning to use my kakuhou to create so-called 'one-eyed ghouls.'"
Rize said. "Although the plan to ambush me failed, he apparently found another way to capture someone from the Washuu afterward, providing Kanou with an experimental subject."
"One-eyed ghouls..."
Hearing this, Shachi's eyes narrowed as he fell into deep thought.
The Clowns' goals had always been difficult to fathom, but regarding this matter, he instinctively thought of the "One-Eyed King."
Whether it was the One-Eyed King from a hundred years ago or Aogiri Tree's One-Eyed King, both were one-eyed ghouls—or rather, half-ghouls.
Of course, Shachi had always believed that Yoshimura's daughter was Aogiri Tree's One-Eyed King. He knew nothing about Arima.
"Come to think of it, there are two relatively successful experimental subjects living at our place."
At that moment, Rize suddenly mentioned Kurona and Nashiro.
"Is that so? This old man would like to meet them..."
Shachi immediately grew curious.
"Then let's go home first, darling~"
Rize said to Byakuya with a smile.
It sounded like Rize was living with this young man. But since they were already in love, Shachi found cohabitation perfectly normal.
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"