Hearing Eto say she'd brought her boyfriend back, the middle-aged man was momentarily stunned.

Come to think of it—the little girl from ten years ago would be in her twenties by now.

Old enough to be dating, certainly.

He just couldn't imagine what kind of man this Eto had taken a liking to.

In his memory, this one-eyed ghoul named Eto had been a very cute little girl.

Her cute appearance formed a stark contrast with her brutality—though Ward 24's environment was to blame. The environment had forced Eto to become so vicious, otherwise she couldn't have survived at all.

"..."

Byakuya simply pretended not to hear Eto's teasing.

But his non-response appeared to outsiders as tacit confirmation.

"Please, go ahead. Pretend you never saw us. We absolutely won't stand in your way."

The leading man spoke hurriedly.

He was terrified of displeasing Eto—one wrong move could cost him his head.

"Relax, I have no interest in attacking you. Though I can't speak for my darling..."

Eto smiled faintly.

This frightened the man considerably.

Byakuya could only speak up. "Let's go."

"Okay~"

Eto looked quite pleased, immediately linking her arm through Byakuya's as if they really were a couple.

Byakuya and Eto continued deeper in, while the middle-aged man and his subordinates hastily cleared a wide path for them.

As they disappeared into the distance, the man finally exhaled in relief.

"Boss, were those two really that scary?"

One clueless subordinate couldn't help but ask.

The man immediately smacked him on the head. "Idiot! What if she'd heard that? We'd all be dead here!"

The subordinate shrank back, not daring to speak again.

But the man still explained. "Have you heard about the little girl who once bathed Ward 24 in blood? The one who devoured more than half the ghouls here? Among those she cannibalized, someone of my level would be just an appetizer..."

Hearing this, the subordinates finally realized how terrifying that strangely dressed girl had been...

...

Byakuya and Eto had now reached the deepest part of Ward 24.

They'd been traveling through the underground labyrinth for quite some time, encountering many powerful ghouls along the way.

But before Byakuya and Eto, those so-called powerful ghouls seemed utterly weak.

At least among pure ghouls, there was nothing stronger than the One-Eyed Owl.

Eto didn't even need her kakuja form—her kagune alone could easily dispatch other ghouls.

Just now, Eto had used her iridescent kagune to instantly kill a ghoul.

Eto's Kagune

"As expected, kagune can change shape through imagination. Your kagune is the strongest proof."

Byakuya remarked.

"How is it? Beautiful, right?"

Eto asked.

"Stunning, yes. But 'beautiful' isn't quite the word. More like... grotesque..."

Byakuya critiqued.

"Tch... What kind of way is that to describe a girl?"

Eto was displeased.

"What's wrong with that? No matter how grotesque your kagune is, it doesn't change that you're beautiful."

Byakuya said matter-of-factly.

"Hmm? Are you saying I'm beautiful?"

Eto asked immediately.

"Do you really need to ask? Don't tell me you have no self-awareness about your own appearance..."

Byakuya spoke without changing expression.

"Self-awareness is one thing. I want to know how you see me. Give me an honest assessment?"

Eto smiled.

"Hmm... A beautiful strong woman."

Byakuya gave a simple evaluation.

As the One-Eyed Owl, Eto certainly fit the term "strong woman."

"Strong woman? Mm, I like that. Very good."

Eto nodded with satisfaction.

Byakuya continued. "Though petite, that's also a cute point."

"Can that really be a positive? I've always been a bit troubled by it. If only I hadn't been so malnourished as a child."

Eto claimed to be troubled, but her tone suggested she couldn't care less.

As a natural-born half-ghoul, Eto had a unique advantage—she could absorb nutrition from both human flesh and normal food. Normal food just wouldn't boost her RC cells.

But unfortunately, she'd grown up in Ward 24—a place with neither human flesh nor normal food. Only ghouls killing and eating each other...

She could only barely stave off hunger by cannibalizing other ghouls' kakuhou.

"Why wouldn't that be a positive? Not everyone is into tall girls with long legs."

Byakuya said casually.

In both his previous life and this world, there had never been a shortage of so-called "lolicons."

So who exactly were these "lolicons"?

Hard to guess, really.

"That's not very convincing coming from you, considering Rize is exactly the tall, long-legged type you described."

Eto's tone turned slightly wistful.

...

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