At the same time, Uchiha Byakuya had no idea that the CCG was planning to hold a funeral for him.
He hadn't even considered the possibility that the Washuu family had simply declared him dead.
So after entrusting Furuta and Rize to Kamishiro Matasaka in the 6th Ward, he was leisurely allocating his stat points.
At the same time, he focused on recovering his stamina, ocular power, and RC cells.
All in preparation for the final showdown.
[Current Attribute Points: 1550]
[Ding! Attribute points successfully allocated!]
[Physicality +55]
[RC Cell Value +950]
[Attribute Points -1500]
As always, Byakuya kept a few attribute points in reserve.
Without even realizing it, he had accumulated this many attribute points over time.
With this round of upgrades, both his Physicality and RC Cell Value had nearly doubled.
[Physique: 120]
[RC Cell Value: 500 (Storage +2000)]
Now, his RC Cell Value should be enough to support the use of Double Kamui without too many restrictions.
Meanwhile, the letters sent by the CCG had arrived at Shoei, the publishing house of the author "Takatsuki Sen."
From there, Shoei forwarded them to her most recently updated address; Anteiku in the 20th Ward.
At that moment, Yoshimura Eto was sitting in the café, sipping coffee and reading a book, when she suddenly received an unexpected package.
The person delivering these letters was a young female ghoul investigator from the CCG.
"Miss Takatsuki, these are things left behind by Special-Class Uchiha…"
The female investigator personally handed over the letters to Yoshimura Eto, speaking in a heavy tone.
"…What is this?"
Eto clearly hadn't realized what was going on yet.
But from the investigator's expression and tone, she immediately sensed that something was wrong.
"Special-Class Uchiha… he… he's sacrificed himself. These were left for you…"
The investigator stammered slightly but still managed to get the words out.
"I see…"
Eto accepted the envelopes with a calm, neutral expression.
Each letter was individually sealed, yet all of them were addressed to the same person; her.
"…Also, tomorrow we'll be holding a funeral for Special-Class Uchiha. If it's convenient, we hope you can attend…"
"Um… My condolences…"
Leaving those words behind, the female investigator turned and left.
She was relieved that Special-Class Uchiha's relative was handling it calmly.
The last thing she wanted was a grieving family member having an emotional outburst, it would have been too much pressure for her.
Meanwhile, Yoshimura Kuzen and the café staff had all overheard the news of Byakuya's death.
Their expressions ranged from grief and solemnity to sheer disbelief.
The staff had no idea about Byakuya's conflict with the Washuu family.
They assumed he had died while carrying out a CCG mission and couldn't imagine what kind of ghoul could have been strong enough to kill him.
Could it have been Aogiri Tree's One-Eyed King or One-Eyed Owl?
Even warriors as powerful as Yomo Renji and Uta had been utterly powerless against them…
Uchiha Byakuya…
No matter how they thought about it, the only ones capable of killing him were the two SSS-rated ghouls from Aogiri Tree.
Clearly, apart from Yoshimura Kuzen, none of the café staff knew the true identities of the One-Eyed King and the One-Eyed Owl; who were, in fact, Uchiha Byakuya and Yoshimura Eto.
Even Yoshimura Kuzen himself only knew that Eto was the One-Eyed Owl; he had no idea where the One-Eyed King had come from.
Fortunately, Mayu and Touka were upstairs playing, so they hadn't overheard the news.
"Eto…"
Yoshimura Kuzen couldn't help but step forward, concerned about her reaction.
He could already guess what had happened to Byakuya.
Having fought against him once before, he was well aware that the only real threat to someone of Byakuya's strength was V.
Considering Byakuya's identity and their past conversation, it wasn't hard to piece together the truth.
But Eto's face remained emotionless.
She slowly tore open the envelope and pulled out several letters inside.
[Wishing 'Dear Kafka' great sales and success.]
[To Takatsuki Sen]
[The publication process is going smoothly. Sensei, just focus on your writing.]
[To Takatsuki Sen]
[…]
Just a quick glance at the handwriting and the casual tone of the letters, and Eto could tell that Byakuya had written them in an offhanded manner; filled with trivial, meaningless chatter.
He was probably just doing it to go through the motions. After all, there were no CCG missions that could have possibly posed a real threat to him.
Yet, every single letter was addressed to her.
After reading through them, Eto placed the letters back into the envelope.
Her expression remained neutral, but deep within her eyes, a cold, murderous hatred flickered.
She had long since abandoned any show of vulnerability. To her, it was meaningless; action was the only thing that mattered.
"What an Idiot.."
She murmured, her voice carrying a complicated mix of emotions.
Why did he have to go off on his own? Why didn't he tell her anything?
If they had worked together, would things have turned out differently?
For the first time in a long while, Eto felt numb.
Her mother, her adoptive father, and now the person she had feelings for, they all had died at the hands of the Washuu family.
If she didn't take revenge, she would never be able to live with herself.
Even though Eto's expression barely changed, Yoshimura Kuzen could tell she would not let this go.
And sure enough, in the next moment, she placed her book on top of the envelope and stood up.
"I have something to take care of. I'm heading out."
She didn't explain further, her tone calm and even.
But Yoshimura Kuzen knew exactly what she was planning. There was no way he could let her go alone.
"I'll come with you."
His voice was heavy with concern.
"There's no need. This started because of me, so I'll end it myself."
Eto smiled.
But that smile was strained.
She wanted to go alone. She wasn't even planning to bring the other members of Aogiri Tree, she refused to put them in such danger.
This was her personal vendetta.
All she could think about now was killing. Slaughtering Washuu members and venting her rage trough their blood.
Without another word, Eto turned and left.
"…"
Watching her retreating figure, Yoshimura Kuzen knew he couldn't just sit by.
"…Take care of Anteiku for now."
Leaving that one sentence behind, he quickly changed into a different outfit and followed after her.