To Suzuya Juuzou, four measly small fry were nothing more than a light appetizer.
Beside him, three mangled corpses lay sprawled in grotesque disarray, their limbs twisted and torn apart, a scene bathed in blood and horror.
Yet compared to the battlefield where Uesugi Ryu had fought, this was hardly different in scale.
Among the four ghouls that had surrounded Suzuya Juuzou, one who was relatively strong realized the situation had turned sour and promptly betrayed his comrades, fleeing on the spot without hesitation.
"Aiya~ I'm really sorry, Uesugi-kun~! I accidentally let one of them escape~"
Juuzou scratched his head while grinning cheerfully, his refined face now brimming with excitement and glee.
Uesugi Ryu looked at the bloodstained Juuzou for a moment, then chuckled helplessly.
"Haha, no worries. You did great already. Besides, this much is more than enough."
Saying that, he glanced down at his own reflection in a nearby pool of blood and noticed his face was similarly streaked with red.
To prevent the ghouls from escaping, he'd thrown aside all decorum.
After all, this abandoned construction site was quite advantageous for fleeing, open terrain and clear lines of sight in all directions.
Managing to eliminate this many was already his limit; ghouls weren't all stupid. Once they saw the tide turning, they ran. That was only natural.
Juuzou laughed gleefully and swung the Quinque in his hand a few times.
"Oh, but this was so much fun, Uesugi~! This Quinque is really interesting!"
While this Quinque from Mado Kureo wasn't particularly powerful, its design was clever and elegant.
But since it belonged to Mado himself, Uesugi Ryu couldn't just give it away without permission.
Uesugi Ryu pointed toward the Wolf of the Owl Leader's headless corpse.
"Juuzou, I'll leave the Quinque made from this guy to you."
"Me? Really!? Uesugi-kun, you're the best!"
Juuzou pointed to himself, eyes gleaming. After Uesugi Ryu confirmed with a nod, Juuzou immediately crouched beside the headless corpse and began enthusiastically examining the Kagune.
Uesugi Ryu leaned against a metal crate and took out his phone to call the 14th Ward CCG Sub-branch.
Along the way, he finished off a few of the not-yet-dead ghouls and absorbed some Kakuhou.
To be cautious, he didn't absorb any from the intact ghoul corpses, those might be scrutinized.
Most of the bodies were wrecked anyway, and the ones Juuzou had killed were completely unusable, he hadn't even given them a chance to release their Kagune before slicing them up.
Loot summary:
Energy gained: 52 points
Mana gained: 86 points
Confirmed kills: 1 S-rank ghoul, 3 A-rank, 5 B-rank
His mana pool had now reached an astonishing 265 points, though with only two mana-consuming skills, it felt like overkill.
Uesugi Ryu smiled wryly to himself.
Sometimes he felt like he'd gone down a weird path.
If he were a ghoul, with his Soul Devour ability, he'd probably be close to invincible by now.
By this point, the number of ghouls he'd defeated was too many to even count on both hands.
Still, compared to veterans like Mado Kureo, who had accumulated years of experience, he was far behind.
Once the local CCG operatives arrived, Uesugi Ryu and Juuzou left the site.
"Haha! Uesugi killed 9 of them! I only got 5!"
Juuzou happily counted on his fingers, face full of amazement.
As he recalled the earlier intense combat, Uesugi Ryu couldn't help but muse: including the one lone ghoul he dealt with before, Wolf of the Owl's full roster should have been 15 people.
That scale wasn't small by any means. Ghoul groups like Aogiri Tree were still the exception, not the rule.
Just then, Juuzou seemed to remember something.
With a regretful pout, he muttered:
"Aiya~ what a pity! That naughty little runaway took my precious Quinque~!"
He instinctively touched his waist where his small blade had been stored.
That was his only Quinque at the moment, since he hadn't yet "borrowed" the remaining 55 blades from the warehouse.
Of course, in Juuzou's mind, he'd probably already decided they were his.
After a few seconds of sulking, he suddenly broke into a grin again, clearly having forgotten all about it.
After all, people don't get sad over loss unless they lack a better replacement.
Uesugi Ryu turned his gaze to Juuzou, who was now hugging the metal case to his chest and humming an odd little tune to himself.
"Juuzou, it's getting late. Want to grab some late-night food together?"
It was nearly 11 PM by now. They had spent a good while wrapping everything up.
For most people, after experiencing such a bloody, brutal life-or-death fight, they'd hardly be in the mood to eat.
Not vomiting up their dinner would already be considered strong willpower.
But Suzuya Juuzou didn't seem affected in the slightest.
Upon hearing the invitation, he blinked his crimson eyes but didn't respond immediately.
His gaze wandered past Uesugi Ryu to the sports car parked in the distance.
Even though he lacked some "parts," Juuzou was still a teenage boy, and flashy cars held an irresistible allure.
A few moments later, he snapped out of it, realizing he had spaced out.
He crossed his arms casually and replied with a lazy grin:
"Aiya~ sorry about that. I got a bit too mesmerized\~"
Uesugi Ryu pulled a car key from his pocket and tossed it over.
At the same time, he took the case from Juuzou's hands and walked ahead to load it into the trunk.
"Since you like it so much, you can drive."
Juuzou clutched the key tightly, standing frozen in place for a moment.
He blinked, thinking:
Wait... I've never actually driven a car before...
But instead of worry, the realization brought a gleam of excitement to his face.
He dashed toward the car, opened the door, and plopped into the driver's seat.
Just as he was about to start the car, he glanced over and sheepishly said:
"Oh right, Uesugi, I don't actually know how to drive."
Uesugi Ryu smiled calmly and began explaining the basic operations of the vehicle.
Juuzou nodded eagerly, absorbing the instructions while mentally mapping the steps.
Though he still looked a bit hesitant, deep down he was itching to try it.
Had it been someone else's car, Juuzou wouldn't have hesitated for even a second.
Take that one guy's motorcycle for example, Juuzou had just taken off on it without a second thought, not caring if it got wrecked.
But Uesugi Ryu was different.
From him, Juuzou felt something special: trust and care. And he didn't want to betray that.
As Juuzou continued to contemplate whether to start the car or not, Uesugi Ryu calmly fastened his full-face helmet and said:
"Let's go, Juuzou. I trust you."
Juuzou glanced over, stunned.
You say you trust me... and still wear a helmet?
Juuzou pouted slightly, then slammed the pedal down.