"Speaking of which, Mr. Lancer, haven't you been going to the cafe for coffee much in recent years? I haven't seen you in a long time. If it weren't for your height being too conspicuous, maybe I wouldn't have remembered."
"By the way, I plan to open a bakery with Touka after I graduate from university. I'll make the bread, and Touka will be in charge of the coffee. If you like it, Mr. Lancer, why don't you introduce some colleagues to buy from us? I am very confident in my craftsmanship~"
"Speaking of which, Mr. Lancer, can you tell me some things about your work? Although I often see you in the news, there is basically no information about you online. Of course, if you can't say, then forget it."
Unlike Touka Kirishima, who always kept a straight face, Yoriko Kuroiwa was an outgoing girl. Perhaps it was because of this that she approached Touka Kirishima, who didn't talk much, at school and became her friend.
And although Lancer didn't talk much, he didn't mind chatting with the other party about the questions he could answer.
In the eyes of passersby, Lancer and Yoriko Kuroiwa chatting seemed more like friends, or rather, acquaintances, but in reality, the two had known each other for less than half an hour. On the contrary, Touka Kirishima, who was 'familiar' with Lancer, would occasionally sneak a peek at the two and follow silently beside them.
It wasn't until Touka Kirishima escorted the other party downstairs to her apartment building that the other party waved and said goodbye to the two.
Although Lancer and Touka Kirishima had known each other for a long time, they rarely communicated normally, or rather, the things they could communicate about were not things that could be discussed in public.
This led to an extremely strange scene. The atmosphere was quite good when there was an unfamiliar person just now, but when the two acquaintances walked together, they did not say a word. But at this moment, Touka Kirishima suddenly spoke.
"Yoriko has a boyfriend, and it seems they plan to get married in a while."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Facing Lancer helpless expression, Touka Kirishima only raised her chin.
"Guess what your reputation is like among ghouls now?"
There's no need to guess, okay?
Seeing Lancer expression of helplessness, Touka Kirishima also let out a light snort, as if victorious.
"Forget about the others, you are at least friends with Ms. Fueguchi and her daughter, right? It's better not to spread these strange rumors..."
"I'm certainly not talking about Ms. Ryouko or Hinami. I'm talking about the Aogiri Tree executive you caught last night. I heard that you had the female investigators of the 23rd Ward wash her clean while waiting for you to go over, and then you were still in the 23rd Ward today..."
As she was speaking, Touka Kirishima realized that the footsteps beside her had disappeared. She then saw Lancer covering his chest with one hand and holding the wall with the other.
After looking at Lancer for a while, Touka Kirishima sighed.
"You really are strange. You are given a terrifying nickname like 'Death Bird', yet you are shaken by such a matter."
"Of course not during a fight, but no matter what, I am still a person, and I feel annoyed when misunderstood, okay..."
Although Lancer preferred to remain silent during a fight, because in his opinion, this was both respect for the spear in his hand and respect for his enemy, of course, with the exception of some special circumstances, his own preference doesn't mean he hasn't encountered opponents who like to talk 'trash'. In fact, he has encountered many such enemies.
But he's not an idiot. He can still tell whether it is a deliberate attempt to provoke him or the 'consensus' of most people...
However, looking at the victorious expression on Touka Kirishima's face, Lancer competitive spirit suddenly emerged again.
"Guess what everyone would think if they knew that I not only knew 'Miss Rabbit', but had known her for more than two years, and often went to the cafe she worked at to drink coffee?"
At first, Touka Kirishima didn't react when Lancer said 'Miss Rabbit'. After all, the matter with Kureo Mado hadn't happened yet, so Touka Kirishima actually didn't have a specific number within the CCG, but as Lancer spoke, she remembered the pattern on her 'mask', and her expression immediately turned ugly.
Especially seeing Lancer expression of 'I'm screwed anyway', she didn't even know how to complain for a moment, but finally sighed.
"Are you a child?"
Although it was just a complaint, Touka Kirishima, whose face was a little red, stopped talking about the previous topic. After all, Lancer reputation among ghouls was already completely unsalvageable, and she didn't want to get involved.
However, when the two arrived downstairs at Touka Kirishima's apartment building, Touka Kirishima did not go up. Instead, after hesitating for a while, she walked towards Lancer.
"Mr. Lancer, about that matter earlier..."
Lancer didn't know if the other party intended to talk about the information he provided or the 'Owl's' matter, but he guessed it was the first one, but he suddenly reached out and pressed his hand on her head.
"I will go and talk to the Manager about the specific matters. It's better for a child not to think too much."
After saying that, Lancer waved his hand and turned to leave. This matter was too important and obviously not something Touka Kirishima's personal opinion or individual could influence, so he simply didn't say much.
But looking at Lancer departing back, Touka Kirishima was stunned for several seconds. "I'm not a child!"
Whether it was the workings of a rebellious spirit or some other reason, she complained softly.
"I'm not a child!"
––––––
Lancer had planned to use 'Anteiku' to find researchers among the ghouls. In Lancer opinion, for the future of their own species, they would not betray him, at least until the results came out. More importantly, those people were 'employees'. He hired them with mutual consent, and if something went wrong, he didn't need to have too much psychological burden. This was purely 'utilization'.
But last night's operation made Lancer think of another matter –––––– what exactly was the Quinx Squad?
They were undoubtedly not pure humans, because a single Kakugan appeared when they used their 'weapons', but it wasn't quite right to say that their situation was similar to Ken Kaneki's either, after all, what appeared from them were weapons, not just simple Kagune.
'Is the CCG really researching a technology to turn humans into half-ghouls?'
With this doubt in mind, he returned to the 20th Ward Branch.
Lancer was certain that Akira Mado, as the commander of that small team, should know something, but Lancer, not wanting to cause too much trouble for the other party, still chose to find Kureo Mado to understand the situation. After all, Akira Mado was his daughter, and he himself was the Branch Chief of the 20th Ward. It was impossible for him to know nothing about this.
"Bang~ Bang~"
But strangely, when Lancer knocked on the office door, he found no response.
'Is he in the lab?'