Chapter 45: Expected House Breaker!
Nashiro was worried about whether she had snored or looked unsightly while asleep.
However, Kurona's reaction was even stronger. She couldn't help but ask Nashiro, "Hey... I didn't do anything embarrassing just now, did I?"
"I'm not sure... because I... well, just like you, I accidentally fell asleep on him too," Nashiro admitted awkwardly.
"You too..."
Kurona was stunned for a mont. "Alright then..."
...
When Ryoma returned ho, he noticed the door was closed but not locked.
The first thing that ca to mind wasn't a burglar — instead, a certain familiar woman crossed his thoughts.
Opening the door, he imdiately spotted a pair of pink high heels by the entrance. Sure enough, it was Rize Kamishiro.
So that's why Rize asked for a spare key — so she could drop by whenever she pleased.
"I'm back," Ryoma called out.
"Welco ho, darling~" Rize's playful voice floated from the living room.
"If I hadn't given you that spare key, I'd have thought a thief broke in," Ryoma quipped.
"That's kinda harsh! Calling a thief?" Rize's tone turned mockingly resentful.
"I almost thought it — besides, are you planning to stay the night?" Ryoma asked.
"Yeah, is that a problem?" Rize replied nonchalantly.
"Of course not. Stay as long as you like," Ryoma answered calmly.
At that mont, Rize got up from the sofa and approached him. Ryoma didn't need to guess what was coming next — he already knew.
Sure enough, Rize leaned in close and began sniffing him from head to toe.
This ti, her inspection was so ticulous that Ryoma imdiately felt uneasy.
"...A mix of several ghoul scents... but also so human scent... and... a faint hint of girls' perfu," Rize muttered.
Her heightened senses — far sharper than most ghouls — allowed her to distinguish even the subtlest of slls.
Last ti, Rize hadn't been this thorough. But now, she seed unusually focused.
Especially when she caught the distinct scent of a woman — no, two won. Her expression shifted slightly.
"Your nose is way too sharp..." Ryoma grumbled.
"It's not just one — there are two distinctly noticeable female scents," Rize observed, her tone sharpening.
"And... where did you go? Why do you reek of them?"
Her deanor changed again — the teasing vanished, replaced by a colder, more serious look.
The "them" Rize referred to was the half-humans of the "Zero Squad."
Having grown up among the Washuu clan's half-human branch families in the White Ward, Rize knew their scent well.
Most ghouls wouldn't be able to distinguish a half-human from an ordinary human by sll alone, but Rize's unique upbringing allowed her to pick up on those faint differences.
More importantly, to Rize, those half-humans were nothing but lapdogs of the Washuu family — mindless tools raised to serve their twisted ambitions.
So, seeing Ryoma cross paths with those half-humans naturally worried her.
"What do you an by them?" Ryoma played dumb.
"...I guess that makes sense — you probably don't know much about them," Rize murmured thoughtfully. "So... what exactly were you up to today?"
Then, as if struck by a thought, her eyes narrowed.
"Wait... Are you secretly a CCG investigator?" Rize asked suspiciously.
If Ryoma didn't recognize half-humans by scent, then the only reasonable explanation was that he'd encountered them while working for the CCG.
After all, so half-humans were assigned to the CCG to bolster the investigators' combat ranks.
"No, I'm not officially an investigator yet. I'm still just an intern," Ryoma clarified.
Since Rize had already pieced things together, Ryoma didn't see the point in hiding it.
He could sense that Rize's initial wariness toward him had eased a little, so he didn't mind sharing a few details.
"I see..."
Now things made sense to Rize.
Whether Ryoma was an intern or a full-fledged investigator, it was inevitable that he'd encounter those half-human operatives in the CCG.
"But with your strength... you're still just an intern?" Rize asked, surprised.
"Well, I only recently decided to beco a CCG investigator," Ryoma explained with a shrug.
"So, you're about to beco an investigator... yet you're still protecting a ghoul like ?" Rize's smile turned wicked. "You do know that's a serious cri under the Ghoul Counterasures Law, right?"
"Yeah... but that law is ridiculous anyway." Ryoma scoffed.
After all, the Washuu family — the very ones who drafted the Ghoul Counterasures Law and established the CCG — were ghouls themselves. That irony alone made the law absurd.
Besides, there weren't many investigators who followed the "Ghoul Counterasures Law" to the letter.
Ryoma's blunt words caught Rize off guard.
"If soone overheard you saying that, you'd be in deep trouble," she warned.
"That's why I'm only telling you," Ryoma replied with a calm smile.
Rize chuckled lightly, then smoothly changed the subject.
"So, all those ghoul scents... you picked them up while fighting alongside other investigators, huh? No wonder you sll like Quinques," she remarked.
"Yeah, that's exactly it." Ryoma reached into his inner pocket and revealed his Quinque.
"I get that part... but..." Rize's smile suddenly turned predatory.
"What about those two girls' scents?"
T/N: need a bit of help, what was his quinque again? I forgot lmao...
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