The three girls had no idea they had already arrived. They kept their eyes tightly shut, still clinging to Byakuya and Eto.
Seeing Byakuya and Eto suddenly appear with three strangely dressed little girls, Yoshimura slightly opened his mouth, as if about to speak but then stopping himself.
The three girls weren't wearing normal clothes. Instead, they had on gray robes that seemed designed for stealth and ease of movement at night.
"Byakuya... Eto... who are these three?"
Yoshimura couldn't help but ask.
"Don't tell me you've picked up three more daughters? Manager, you really have it rough—raising this many kids at your age" Hikari joked.
"It's fine, I'll help the manager. Besides, it's good for Touka and Ayato to have more companions" Yomo said seriously.
Only Roma knew the truth about these three girls. A flicker of surprise flashed through her eyes.
She had been to the underground world of the 24th Ward before and had even met the Underground King—the first One-Eyed King. Naturally, she had also encountered the native inhabitants of that world.
She hadn't expected Byakuya and Eto to go straight down there and bring some of them back—let alone do it so quickly!
Roma had already heard through the grapevine that Byakuya was actually the One-Eyed King of Aogiri Tree and that Eto was the One-Eyed Owl.
After learning this, everything suddenly made sense.
Back when Byakuya defeated her in Cochlea, she was immediately captured by the One-Eyed Owl. The series of events that followed had always felt somewhat odd to her.
Now, it all became clear...
"We've arrived. You don't need to be so scared" Byakuya reassured the three girls.
Only then did they slowly open their eyes. Once they realized they were standing on solid ground, they finally let go of Byakuya and Eto.
Feeling a little embarrassed about their earlier behavior, they folded their arms in an attempt to regain some dignity.
"They're natives of the underground world. I brought them up here" Byakuya explained to Yoshimura and the others.
"The underground world? What kind of place is that?"
Yoshimura asked, puzzled.
Aside from Roma, the others in the café were also confused.
"It's the deepest part of the 24th Ward. There's an entire underground world down there. A long time ago, the Washuu Clan produced a natural-born half-ghoul..."
Byakuya briefly explained the Washuu clan's secret and the history of the first One-Eyed King.
"A place like that actually exists..."
Yoshimura sounded slightly amazed.
"The Washuu clan, the ones running the CCG, are actually a family of ghouls? That's an unbelievable revelation! If this gets out, it'll shake all of Tokyo!"
While Yoshimura and Roma already knew the truth about the Washuu clan, Hikari and the others did not.
Compared to learning about the underground world, the truth about the Washuu clan was even more shocking.
"That reminds me—technically, Byakuya is in charge of the CCG now, right? It's kind of surreal that the Bureau Chief and a Special Class Investigator are just casually chatting with us here" Yomo mused.
Since Byakuya had restructured the CCG, Yomo had learned a lot about him from Yoshimura and Eto.
The unease he once felt toward Byakuya had faded, and now he held him in high regard.
"Is that so? Then I hope the Bureau Chief will be lenient with us" Koma joked.
"No need to go easy on this guy — he should've been thrown into Cochlea ages ago" Irimi teased.
"The CCG isn't what it used to be. We're working toward peaceful coexistence between humans and ghouls now" Byakuya said. "But before that, we need to handle the situation in the underground world."
As they talked, the three little girls couldn't contain their curiosity any longer and started looking around.
Everything was new and fascinating to them, especially the bright blue sky outside the window. It was a breathtaking sight they had never seen in their lives.
Byakuya turned to them and said, "This is the world aboveground. How do you like it?"
"It's amazing! It's completely different from our old world!"
"I want to go outside and explore! There's so much cool stuff out there!"
"The surface world is so beautiful... Unlike our home, where the sky is just endless darkness..."
The girls were in awe.
Byakuya then said to Yoshimura, "Eto and I will take them outside for a bit."
"Alright. When you come back, let them try our coffee" Yoshimura said with a smile.
"Got it."
Byakuya nodded before stepping outside with Eto and the girls.
"By the way, I don't even know your names yet. What are they?"
Byakuya asked.
"Amy"
"Echo"
"Alia"
The three girls answered almost at the same time.
The short-haired one was Amy.
The one with twin braids was Echo.
The blonde-haired one was Alia.
Just like in the picture.
"So, you're sisters?"
Their names gave Byakuya that impression.
"Yeah. Amy is the eldest, and Alia is the youngest" Echo nodded.
"I see..."
Byakuya nodded slightly.
"The way you name people is different from ours, but your names are really pretty" Eto said with a warm smile.
"I'll let you explore for a bit, but you have to promise not to cause trouble. Especially when you see humans that smell appetizing—you must not attack them. There are humans everywhere here" Byakuya warned.
"Got it."
"Yeah, we won't do anything reckless."
"But… didn't you say the surface world has plenty of food? If we can't attack them, where do we get food from?"
Echo asked. In her understanding, food could only be obtained through killing.
"No need to worry. You'll find out soon enough. The meat I gave you earlier wasn't obtained through fighting, after all" Byakuya explained.
"Alright..."
Echo replied, though she was still unsure.
For now, she was too fascinated by the outside world to worry about food.