Ghoul? No Fool!

[Day 20 -Investigator Rank: 3]

I look around my desk, scanning the neatly tidied papers and the ghoul investigation report on top. The forensics team found traces of the ghoul. It's estimated to be a D rank, and at most a C rank, due to its sloppy nature. Further down the alley, a section of the pavement was broken up from blunt force, so it's suspected to be a Bikaku. Being unable to incapacitate the victim without leaving evidence lowers its threat level.

Our team has been tasked with terminating this ghoul, presumably to help me gain experience fighting ghouls. Along with the investigation report, there was a map marked with other ghoul victims in the past year that were similar to this case. Thirteen similar victims were clustered in a very small area. Three witnesses gave similar statements describing a young man with black hair, somewhere between 1.5-1.8 meters (5'6"-5'10"). There was no description of the Kagune.

The most crucial detail is that all the victims were drunk. The blood left behind was tested, and each victim at least had their judgment impaired due to alcohol. Now, we know that bait is the best way to go about it.

I sit back in my chair, scanning through the report as Akira walks in, her expression serious. She glances at the report in my hand and raises an eyebrow.

"Ready for your first real hunt? I'm looking forward to seeing you drunk."

"So that's the plan."

It's never bad to try something new, I guess.

———

[Day 37 -Investigator Rank: 3]

For the past 17 days, I have been studying ghoul behavior, doing patrols away from the suspected area, and ordering alcohol at bars near where the ghoul feeds. I drink a lot, discreetly talk to Akira, and act drunk. I have an immunity to alcohol due to my unusual situation, and it just makes sense. Every day, I stumble to a fake home, and after a few minutes, I run home, as the ghoul has no cases where he follows the victim home.

I drink one last stein, pay up, and stumble to my fake home. About halfway there, I notice someone trailing me very indiscreetly. They are dressed in a full black trench coat. I walk and slam the side of my head twice so that Akira knows I have a suspect. I shake my head so that the ghoul doesn't think anything of it. The ghoul gets closer and closer before he grabs my arms and whispers.

"Hey buddy, how about we take a trip over there?"

He starts to drag me by the arm into the alley.

"But my home is that way," I say with slurred speech, vaguely pointing away from the ghoul.

"I am walking you home, so stop struggling."

I let him drag me into the alley; it might be an issue if we fight near civilians. As he's halfway through the alley, I grab his arm and flip him over my shoulder and wait. His irises go red. Just as his Kagune manifests, I grab it and rip it off his body. He shrieks, and I snap his neck. First ghoul killed. I wait a bit to make sure he stops moving and look up to see Akira nodding at me. She picks up the Kagune that I discarded and hands it to me. I smile at her and dig in.

———

[Day –365 -Investigator Rank: Null]

Inside a large conference room sat a large group of people. They were sitting at an ovular table and discussing Taka. A large black-haired man speaks up.

"You want to let a ghoul be an investigator!?"

Mado stands at the end of the ovular table with a large opened briefcase full of papers, and a man wearing a lab coat behind him says.

"Yes, I do, sir. But please may I remind you that he is not a ghoul; in fact, he feeds on ghouls. If anything, we should be giving him a whole new species name!"

"Do you have any conclusive evidence of this?" the man says, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"We have no evidence of him feeding on ghouls yet! But we do know that he has absolutely zero RC cells in his body! He actually has a new type of cell that predatorizes RC cells. There is an organ in his lower back much like a Kagune, but it's completely internal and turns RC cells into Blue Cells. Then it combines the BP cells with RC cells to create purple cells! It's amazing! Oh! The BP stands for Blue Predatory! And I already have a name for the combined cells: PH cells, Purple Hybrid cells! All we need now is for him to hunt some ghouls! Then we will fully know how his body works!" the man in the lab coat says extremely fast.

"You have written about this in a report, yes?"

"Of course, sir!"

The man waves over his assistant and says to them loudly.

"Get me that report sent to my office because I understood none of that."

The assistant nods and scurries away. The large man asks the man in the lab coat again.

"And you fully believe that the ghoul will not attack any humans? It's not like ghouls only have RC cells."

"Yes, sir! In fact, I believe eating humans is detrimental to him. Well… Not physically, but he grew up around humans and it would affect his mental health if he kills them!"

"Mental health, really?" The man says and lets out a sigh.

Mado speaks up.

"Sir, if I may, my wife and I fully support Takahashi. We have raised him since he was six and we truly believe he is on our side."

"Is he fully aware of investigator law?"

"We have trained him since he was young, sir."

"If he passes the written test, he may become an investigator in one year, as long as he agrees to testing."

"Thank you, sir."

"The meeting is adjourned. We will reconvene in one and a half years for a follow-up."