Kureo Mado was handling his documents in his office as usual, and just then, the door to his office was knocked with a slightly rushed sound of footsteps.
"Come in."
"Section Chief Mado!"
Koutarou Amon greeted him immediately upon entering, but unlike usual, he did not address the opponent as 'Mr. Mado.' This was because he was very familiar with the opponent's personality, which could be said to completely separate public and private life. Given their relationship, it was perfectly normal for him to address the opponent as 'Mr. Mado' in private, but if he dared to address him that way in the branch, the opponent would be angry. Even the opponent's daughter usually addressed him as 'Section Chief' or 'Special Class Mado-Designate.'
"Is something the matter, First-Class Amon?"
"Well, this morning I planned to pick up Lancer and bring him to the branch, but I found that he wasn't home, and then I remembered that his phone number had been canceled..."
Hearing Koutarou Amon's words, Kureo Mado revealed a strange smile.
"Don't worry. Lancer simply went out to 'work.'"
"Work?"
The Confused Koutarou Amon didn't know what to say. He once thought that waking up at five in the morning every day to exercise was weird enough, but Lancer was already out?
"Take a look."
Saying that, Kureo Mado handed several reports in front of him to Koutarou Amon.
At this moment, Koutarou Amon noticed that the opponent was actually dealing with documents early this morning. One must know that although the Section Chief was busy, he was relatively leisurely when there were no emergency situations or large-scale operations. Kureo Mado even often secluded himself in his laboratory. The opponent was indeed a little strange today.
And after reading the report for a while, the expression on his face also became strange, because the documents in his hand were all Ghoul reports.
This in itself was nothing to be surprised about, as the CCG's task was to suppress Ghouls, but the strange thing was that the highest rank among these Ghouls was only S-rank. There was no need for Kureo Mado, the Section Chief, to personally handle dealing with them.
Kureo Mado did not have the habit of playing guessing games. Seeing Koutarou Amon utterly confused, he rubbed his head and explained. Koutarou Amon was a 'junior' he was very satisfied with. He had considerable strength and a very resolute personality, but he was more suitable as an executor than a decision-maker.
"These are all Ghouls that Lancer dealt with last night, and quite a few of them were Ghouls not included in the CCG archives. Since he doesn't have an assistant, I conveniently handled it for him. I didn't expect there to be so many..."
Generally speaking, from the rank of First-Class Investigator onwards, they belonged to the 'elite' class, and from this rank, they would also be assigned an assistant. For example, Akira Mado, who was assigned to Lancer after graduating from her internship, but unfortunately, Lancer left not long after. Akira Mado naturally had to learn under other Investigators after losing her superior. Now that she was a First-Class Investigator herself, how could she still be Lancer assistant? Furthermore, Lancer return was very sudden. Helping him regain his Investigator status was already troublesome enough, let alone assigning him an assistant.
Kureo Mado, as Lancer former superior and guide, was naturally willing to help him handle some matters. He was resting anyway, but what he hadn't expected was that there would be so many.
"Suppressing over 30 Ghouls in just one night... Is Lancer planning to break Special Class Arima's record from back then..."
Koutarou Amon knew, after witnessing Lancer sparring match with Juuzou Suzuya, that the opponent's growth over the past two years was far greater than his own, but he hadn't expected it to reach such an exaggerated level.
"Yes, that kid certainly didn't waste two years."
There was no doubt that Kureo Mado was in a very good mood at this moment.
When a motorcycle stopped in front of the CCG Ward 20 branch, everyone involuntarily looked at the man with the calm expression.
There was no doubt that Lancer himself, as an Investigator originating from the Ward 20 branch, naturally enjoyed a high reputation within the Ward 20 branch, but no one had expected him to bring so many 'surprises' or 'shocks' to everyone on his first day back.
The Third-Class Investigators responsible for the night shift at the nearby branches, and the Second-Class Investigators leading the teams, all went through a 'sleepless night' last night.
Lancer only cared about suppressing Ghouls. As for cleaning up the scene and taking away the Kakuhou for Quinque production, none of that concerned him. So who was going to do these things? It was simple: naturally, the rookies who had to endure hardship.
Lancer eliminated over thirty Ghouls in one night. A portion of this was the result of rushing to assist after 'distress alarms' were raised, but the majority were the result of him turning into a 'Raven' and scouting from the air.
The final result was that the Ghouls that were eliminated were scattered over a very large area, and the people from the nearby branches kept rushing to help him clean up the scene.
The rookies, who had worked non-stop and were sleepless all night, naturally complained about the workload of the previous night to their companions when they switched shifts during the day. Then, as they chatted, and the various branches communicated, everyone learned about Lancer 'great feat' of the previous night.
Information spreads very quickly within a small circle, and as the branch Lancer belonged to, the Ward 20 branch naturally had quite a few members being asked about Lancer information by other branches.
It was at this moment that everyone truly realized how terrifying Lancer strength was.
However, he himself didn't care much. For him, solving these Ghouls had no difficulty at all. Even the S-rank Ghouls, who previously required a lot of effort, couldn't last more than a few moves against him, and this was with Lancer attacking from the front.
For Lancer now, the real trouble was how to find them. Although the number of Ghouls was not small, they were still quite 'rare' compared to the entire population of Tokyo.
Under everyone's gaze, Lancer arrived at Kureo Mado's office. As expected, the opponent was sitting in his office, holding a cup of tea.
"Special Class Mado-Designate."
"Lancer, sit down."
After pouring a cup of coffee for Lancer as usual, he sat down across from Lancer.
"How was it?"
"It was alright. At least my hands aren't rusty."
Kureo Mado smiled at Lancer words, but then his expression became a little strange.
"Very good, but helping you organize the reports was a bit busy..."
"Uh..."
Since he hadn't formally joined, the reports were handed over to Koutarou Amon to write when he was following Kureo Mado before. Lancer only remembered the matter of 'reports' when the opponent brought it up, and it sounded like the opponent had helped him organize them.
And seeing the awkward expression on Lancer face, Kureo Mado's smile grew brighter, and he finally shook his head with a chuckle.
"Don't worry about it. I'm happy to do this job. After all, the more I organize, the more 'monsters' you've eliminated."
Although his expression was smiling, the fierce tone sounded very natural. This strange attitude was as if both the 'happiness' and the 'anger' towards Ghouls came from the heart. Although the two completely opposite emotions seemed contradictory when put together, he himself didn't seem to care.
"The documents have been organized. You can just send them over later. However, the matter of your 'assistant' is still being discussed by the higher-ups, especially your 'action' last night, which surprised the main branch quite a bit. I'm actually more inclined to create a team for you. I believe that with their help, you'll be able to be more efficient..."
The conversation started like a casual chat among family, but as soon as they touched upon official business, Kureo Mado couldn't quite control himself. Their topic quickly shifted to work, and due to his personality, he even sounded a little rambling when he spoke.
Lancer himself didn't care much. In fact, he was quite happy to hear the familiar 'nagging' from the opponent again after several years.
Kureo Mado couldn't stop once he started talking, and it wasn't until half an hour later when he realized that the tea in his cup was cold that he became aware of the passage of time.
Smiling helplessly, he signaled Lancer that he could leave, but as Lancer reached the door, he remembered something.
"Mr. Mado, can I ask a favor of you?"
"What is it? Anything that doesn't violate regulations is fine."
Kureo Mado was naturally happy that Lancer, who rarely asked for things, was 'asking' him for something for a change.
"Could you issue a few more changes of clothes? Especially combat uniforms."
Lancer unbuttoned his collar and showed Kureo Mado the slightly damaged combat uniform under his suit.
Since it was a genuine request, Kureo Mado naturally wouldn't refuse.
"No problem."
Lancer return initially only caused ripples among the CCG high-ranking officials and the Ward 20 branch, but as time passed, related matters gradually began to circulate within the Ghoul circle, because in just three days, nearly a hundred Ghouls had been suppressed by the opponent, and the deaths of these Ghouls served as a sort of badge of honor, making their name resurface in the minds of many Ghouls.
Three days, 2 S-rank Ghouls. As long as they weren't brain-dead, the Ghouls who received information about Lancer could tell how terrifying Lancer was, and what made them even more uneasy was that Lancer seemed to have no intention of slowing down, as if he would never be satisfied.
However, Ghouls were not creatures to be trifled with. Or rather, the Ghouls who wanted to live a normal life had already gathered in the Anteiku Area of Ward 20. The remaining Ghouls were determined to fight against the CCG. So what should they do when they couldn't find the enemy's weakness?
Naturally, they would use flanking tactics, but what made them even more desperate was that Lancer was not only a 'foreigner' but also seemed to have no friends other than his CCG colleagues. But just at this moment, two names resurfaced in their minds.
'Ryouko Fueguchi'
'Hinami Fueguchi'