"Honestly, you three little sisters are so disobedient."

Eto effortlessly subdued the three young girls.

They all lay on the ground, rubbing their backsides in pain—Eto had disciplined them in a certain indescribable manner.

"Ow hurts!"

"I'll kill yoo!"

"..."

The three girls cried out in pain.

"What are they saying?"

Eto looked confused.

"It's probably something like a regional dialect. After all, this old Tokyo sank underground over a hundred years ago. Their language has diverged from modern Tokyo's over time."

Byakuya explained.

Thanks to the language abilities granted by the system, he could understand what the three girls were saying—basically Japanese with an extremely heavy accent.

It was similar to how two people speaking different regional dialects might be completely unable to understand each other.

"So we can't communicate normally with them because of the language barrier."

Eto sighed with some frustration.

"Actually... I can communicate with them."

Byakuya said. "First, let them feel the threat of death. That'll make the conversation much easier."

"My thoughts exactly."

Eto nodded slightly.

The next instant, she transformed into the One-Eyed Owl, the tips of her kagune arms pressing against the three girls, ready to slice down at any moment.

The previously defiant girls instantly turned pale with terror.

"We mean you no harm. You attacked first. As long as you cooperate, nothing will happen to you."

Byakuya spoke to them in their dialect.

Eto had to listen very carefully to barely make out what Byakuya was saying. Though the accent was heavy, it was still Japanese.

"Th-then make her back off!"

At Byakuya's words, he gave Eto a meaningful look.

Eto promptly deactivated her kakuja form and stepped back to Byakuya's side.

The intimidation proved highly effective—the three girls immediately became cooperative.

They scrambled to their feet and stood obediently, though their expressions still showed some defiance and displeasure. All three of them had dead-fish eyes—hence, "the Dead-Fish-Eyes Sisters" seemed an apt name.

"Let me ask you something first. Do you know whether you're humans or ghouls?"

Byakuya asked the Dead-Fish-Eyes Sisters.

"Isn't that a stupid question? We're humans, obviously!"

One of the girls crossed her arms over her chest, looking cocky again—as if she'd already forgotten the intimidation from moments ago.

After adjusting for a moment, Eto gradually began to understand their speech.

"You actually think you're humans..."

Eto murmured.

This was useful information. The fact that these three girls believed themselves to be human meant that all the natives in this underground world considered themselves human.

After the One-Eyed King had transformed into the Dragon, the Dragon toxin had infected humans and turned them into ghouls. The original generation of natives probably hadn't wanted to accept their ghoulified identities, so they continued to identify as human.

This belief had been passed down through generations. The descendants simply accepted that they were human. And since they'd never left the underground world and had never seen actual humans, they had no reason to question it.

All of this proved that the ghoul natives' ancestors had been human...

"What're yoo talking about?"

The Dead-Fish-Eyes Sisters couldn't understand what Eto said.

"You talk to them. I'll just listen."

Eto said to Byakuya.

"You think you're human, right? Then let me take you outside to see for yourselves."

Byakuya had no intention of offering lengthy explanations—the most direct approach was simply to take them to the surface.

"Go outside? Where?"

"The surface."

Byakuya answered succinctly.

"Should I carry two while you take one?"

Byakuya asked Eto.

"Mm, you take two."

Eto nodded.

Byakuya walked over and scooped up one girl under each arm, hooking them by their stomachs with his bent elbows—carrying two at once.

"Put me down!"

One of the girls clearly disliked this position. With her feet off the ground, she felt extremely insecure and kicked her legs wildly.

The other girl had become fixated on Byakuya's scent.

She'd vaguely noticed it earlier—for some reason, this person smelled incredibly delicious. So delicious that she wanted to bite him right then and there.

But Byakuya didn't pay attention to any of this. Carrying the two girls, he leaped effortlessly through the hole he'd made earlier and arrived at the deepest part of Ward 24.

Then he set the two girls down.

Eto followed closely behind with the third girl. With her highly developed ukaku, she could naturally fly.

"Are you taking them outside?"

Eto asked.

"Yes. Since we came all this way, might as well bring them along. Otherwise, the underground world's natives will soon go completely extinct. And we can show them what the outside world looks like."

Byakuya nodded.

At that moment, one of the girls—a girl with twin tails—suddenly lunged at him, seemingly trying to knock him down.

But Byakuya wasn't so easily toppled. He stood firmly in place and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"Smells so good... so hungry..."

The girl buried her face in Byakuya's chest and nuzzled against him.

The other two girls also drew closer.

"She's right—this person smells amazing."

"I'm hungry too. It's been so long since we've had anything filling..."

These two also wore ravenous expressions, drool practically spilling from the corners of their mouths.

It wasn't just that Byakuya's scent was uniquely appealing—they had also been starving in the underground world for a very long time, which made the attraction to his body even more intense.

"Looks like they're treating you as food. After all, you do smell quite delicious."

Eto said with an amused expression.

"So that's what's going on... I'll give you food once we get outside. Just wait a bit."

Byakuya said.

But his words had no effect. The other two girls also pounced on him and even started tearing at his Akatsuki Robe.

"Oh my, our lolicon is about to enjoy himself~"

Instead of helping Byakuya, Eto stood back and laughed at his misfortune.

...

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