[Mission 1: Get Acquainted with Furuta Nimura & Kamishiro Rize]
[Missiom Reward: 10 Attribute Points]
From the mission's title alone, Uchiha Byakuya could already guess its general objective.
After all, Furuta Nimura and Kamishiro Rize were not only childhood friends but also tragic figures of the Washuu Clan.
"My name is Uchiha Byakuya."
Byakuya replied.
"Byakuya-nii, you must be a Ghoul Investigator by now, right?"
Furuta Nimura asked with a smiling face.
The moment he noticed the "Dove" emblem on Byakuya's chest, he had already confirmed his suspicion.
"That's right."
Uchiha Byakuya nodded.
At this point in time, Furuta was still far from the twisted individual he would become in the original story.
Right now, he was still a bright and refined young boy.
If Byakuya's memory was correct, Furuta should be only eleven years old at the moment.
"Calling him Byakuya-nii… Ugh, that's kinda gross, Furuta."
Kamishiro Rize immediately cringed, complaining about the awkwardness of his wording.
However, Furuta remained completely unfazed.
"This Nii-san is already an investigator, you know? I want to become one too!"
He said, eyes full of curiosity.
Rize, on the other hand, seemed disinterested, casually commenting:
"An investigator? That sounds boring."
"If you're really interested, Furuta, you can come to the CCG branch in the 2nd Ward someday, I'm the branch director there."
Uchiha Byakuya said.
The half-human children of the Sunlit Garden were allowed to leave once they reached a certain age.
Most of them ended up joining the CCG as Ghoul Investigators, while some also served V while maintaining their roles at the CCG.
Byakuya had already decided that Furuta Nimura would one day become a part of the Zero Squad.
But before that, he wanted to prevent him from developing the same twisted mentality he had in the original timeline.
In terms of potential, Furuta was second only to Arima Kishou among the children of the Sunlit Garden.
Moreover, he was a brilliant strategist, a true master of deception.
Most importantly; Furuta also wished to change the world.
It was just that, in the original story, his hatred and insanity led him down a path of extremism.
To Uchiha Byakuya, this meant that Furuta could still be useful.
"A branch director? That's amazing!"
Furuta immediately exclaimed in admiration.
After casually chatting with Furuta Nimura and Kamishiro Rize for a bit, Uchiha Byakuya eventually took his leave.
After all, the task required familiarity, and that wasn't something that could be achieved in just one meeting.
For now, there was no need to rush deeper interactions with these two.
Not long after, Uchiha Byakuya left the Sunlit Garden.
For now, he wasn't in a hurry to select the third member of the Zero Squad.
2nd Ward - CCG Branch
As the newly appointed Branch Director of the 2nd Ward's CCG Branch, Uchiha Byakuya had many responsibilities to manage.
However, he delegated most of the work to the former branch director, Associate Special-Class Investigator Kimura.
As for the two kakuja arms of the Owl, they had already been sent to the 1st Ward's CCG Research Facility.
The SSS-rated quinque "Owl" was currently in the process of being created.
Once completed, it would belong to Uchiha Byakuya.
After handling his duties at the CCG, Byakuya returned to Shoei Publishing, where he continued working as an editor.
There had been new developments in the publication process of 'Dear Kafka'.
Later that night, Uchiha Byakuya, as usual, met with Yoshimura Eto to discuss matters related to her literary works.
"Takatsuki-sensei, the publishing process is going smoothly, there shouldn't be any major issues moving forward."
Yoshimura Eto smiled in satisfaction.
"That's good to hear."
After finishing their final edits on the manuscript, Eto didn't immediately leave.
Instead, she casually flopped onto Uchiha Byakuya's bed, resting as if it were her own home.
"By the way, I heard that the 2nd Ward's CCG Branch was attacked today… Apparently, by a really powerful and terrifying ghoul?"
Eto suddenly brought up the topic.
"Yes, it was an SSS-rated ghoul known as the 'One-Eyed Owl.'"
Uchiha Byakuya responded calmly.
"SSS-rated ghoul? That sounds so scary…"
Eto put on an expression of fear, playing the part of a helpless human girl.
Uchiha Byakuya's face remained unmoved.
Watching Eto's little performance, he couldn't help but find her kind of adorable.
Judging from her reaction, she had probably already realized that the "Owl" who attacked the CCG today was her father.
"Indeed, his strength was overwhelming, we barely managed to hold our ground."
Uchiha Byakuya went along with Eto's act.
"But… we've already uncovered some leads on the One-Eyed Owl's whereabouts, once we confirm its location we can launch an extermination operation."
Uchiha Byakuya intentionally fed her this false information.
"Ohhh, that's great news! The sooner we get rid of such a dangerous threat, the better!"
Eto cheered on the surface, but internally, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Even though she was disappointed in her father for his passive existence, he was still her father.
A child worrying for their parent needed no reason.
And now, learning that he had disguised himself as her to divert the CCG and V's attention; It softened the resentment and hatred she had long harbored toward him.
She had originally thought that the CCG was weak, incomparable to "V", where even average members were as strong as Associate Special-Class Investigators.
But now, she realized that the CCG was much stronger than she had expected.
And that annoying lolicon investigator in front of her; He was far from ordinary.
If the CCG truly tracked down her father, then it meant he was taking responsibility for her actions.
It meant he would be the one to pay the price.
Even though Eto's facial expression remained perfectly controlled, Uchiha Byakuya caught a subtle shift in her eyes.
A tiny flicker of emotion that revealed her true concern.
Just as he had predicted; Eto still cared about her father's safety.
In that case, there was still a chance for reconciliation.
Uchiha Byakuya had barely settled into his role as the new "Cleaner" when Kaiko sent his first directive.
"The organization responsible for the previous two attacks on the 2nd Ward's CCG branch, as well as the assault on the 23rd Ward's "Cochlea"-We've located their base, you and Arima Kishou are to eradicate them."
Kaiko was still investigating the truth behind the One-Eyed Owl.
Because unlike the previous Owl attacks, where the ghoul slaughtered indiscriminately; This time, the Owl had attacked alone and killed no one.
The inconsistencies troubled him deeply.
Additionally, Kaiko knew that Yoshimura Kuzen spent most of his time operating a "boring" coffee shop in the 20th Ward.
Which meant the previous Owls may not have been him at all.
When Kaiko discovered that the group responsible for those attacks was hiding in Uchiha Byakuya's own territory; His suspicions grew even stronger.
"Understood…"
Uchiha Byakuya replied with a calm tone.
But deep down, he felt a headache coming on.
His very first mission as the Cleaner, and it was already this difficult?
There was no doubt about Kaiko's target.
It was Aogiri Tree.
So to speak; Uchiha Byakuya and Arima Kishou were about to launch an extermination against Yoshimura Eto's faction.