A short while later, the discussion was nearly finished. Kasumigaoka Utaha always tried to express her understanding of the plot. Ren could always calmly shut her down with a single sentence: "You've never been in love."

Damn it! I'm sorry for never having been in love! Just because you have many girlfriends, you can flaunt it so wantonly? You scumbag!

Although she was furiously complaining internally, Utaha still tried to maintain her composure, aside from her thigh constantly trembling. It could be said that every one of Ren's questions struck her heart.

She knew that as someone inexperienced, it was too difficult for her to write these scenes well, so she subconsciously tried to compensate with flowery language. Unfortunately, this only made the plot more pretentious.

"Miki-nee, your coffee."

"!!!"

Touka Kirishima walked over and placed the prepared coffee in front of Miki, startling her. Due to her psychological reaction to the unknown, she instinctively recoiled.

This movement caused Touka's gaze to dim slightly, and the smile on her lips became stiff. The atmosphere instantly grew awkward. As her uncle, Renji Yomo also felt helpless at this sight. Once their identity as monsters was exposed, it was always difficult to interact normally with people who knew their secret.

Ren, who had almost finished their discussion, also looked at Miki. He initially thought she was another Ghoul, but he had just taken the time to consider it and realized there was no one with her appearance among them. Both Kasumigaoka and Touka called her Miki-nee, which piqued his interest.

"Miss, what is your name?" Ren spoke from behind her, and only then did Miki realize she had almost backed into him. She quickly pulled back, sat up straight, and brushed away the hair from her reddened ear.

"My name is Okudera Miki."

"Okudera Miki...?" Ren looked at her in surprise, finally gaining an impression of this person. Isn't she the senpai from 'Your Name'? Isn't she working at an Italian restaurant? How did she end up here?

"Is there something wrong with my name?" Okudera Miki asked, puzzled.

"No, your name is very pleasant," Ren gave a perfunctory reply, then changed the subject. "You seem very confused about Touka and their identities, and you're afraid of the unknown."

"…"

Okudera Miki's heart tightened. She hesitantly glanced at Touka, who could only return a stiff smile. She didn't want to be seen as a man-eating monster, but this had fallen upon her, and she had no choice.

Okudera Miki could only nod apologetically. "Yes, I'm very confused, and very... afraid."

"That's normal. After all, I was that afraid back then too," Kasumigaoka Utaha sighed with emotion.

"Utaha, you've been through it too! No wonder you're so calm…" Okudera Miki was astonished.

Ren chuckled. "Her performance back then wasn't as good as yours."

"Ren-kun, some things are better left unsaid," Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled faintly, her tone calm but with a hint of pleading.

Ren shrugged and didn't continue, putting her at ease. If he had said more, she would have been utterly mortified. At that time, she had performed even worse than Miki, directly losing control on the spot.

"Miss Okudera Miki," Ren said, "perhaps you should look at Touka and the others, the humans who have alienated into Ghouls, from another perspective."

"First, Ghouls…"

With nothing else to do, Ren explained to Miki about the creature known as a Ghoul, and how Touka and the others became them. What he said greatly shocked the Anteiku staff. He truly understood them very well.

"So that's how it is…" Okudera Miki completely understood that the changes were sudden and beyond their control. After learning that Ren had already enabled them to eat normal food, she also let go of her fear. After all, their friendships before the alienation were not fake.

After Miki sincerely apologized, what she received was not forgiveness, because they all believed she had done nothing wrong. The rift between them dissipated, but Ren himself aroused everyone's curiosity.

"Lord…" Touka, who almost misspoke, quickly corrected herself. "Ren-kun, what exactly is your identity? You know so much, and you're so mysterious!"

Okudera Miki, sitting beside him, also gazed at his handsome profile, her heart filled with curiosity. There was an inexplicable sense of security around this man.

"I'm just an ordinary Psychic. I can only say I'm a little bit stronger compared to you." Ren made a gesture with his thumb and index finger that was destined to lose him the Brazilian market—the Fingertip Universe.

"…"

A little bit? Touka didn't believe it. That strange ability to casually kill S-rank Ghouls, and to freely control all of them, in no way seemed like just "a little bit" stronger.

Touka no longer dwelled on this, instead asking something that interested everyone. "Ren-kun, besides Ghouls and Psychics like you, are there other supernatural powers in this world?"

"Yes, such as evil spirits, demons, and gods."

"Gods?" Kasumigaoka Utaha's eyes widened. "Are there gods in this world?"

"Yes, like those eight million gods. They're just very weak." It wasn't that Ren looked down on them; they really were very weak.

"How amazing," Okudera Miki was incomparably shocked. According to him, Ren was stronger than a god.

"Oh right, there are also Onmyoji," Ren added. "If you encounter an Onmyoji, just tell them my name."

"Eh? Why?" Touka tilted her head.

"Because all Onmyoji are my subordinates, and I ordered them to clean up man-eating Ghouls."

"…"

So it was to make them use his name to beg for mercy.

[Inorin Note:

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