Red Blood Guild

As Riyochi walked toward the Head of the Red Blood Cabin, two bodyguards in black suits and dark glasses stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Here's my ID. Your boss invited me here, so if you may…" Riyochi said as he showed his ID.

"Let me check first…" one of them said as he contacted someone through his Bluetooth.

"You may enter, sir," the guard said after a moment, and they stepped aside to let him in.

Entering through the gate, Riyochi found himself facing a large table. As the big black chair on the other side slowly turned, he saw the head of the Red Blood Guild: a man with crimson red eyes and blazing red hair, wearing a white suit and a black eyepatch over one eye.

"Welcome… Detective Riyochi-san. Please, take a seat…" he said as he placed both of his hands together on the table.

"Thank you… for answering my request, Mr. Blaze…" Riyochi said as he walked forward, pulled the chair, and sat down.

"Do you want any coffee, or maybe tea?" Blaze asked him as the secretary standing beside him stepped forward, ready to serve.

"Nah… maybe some other time. Today I'm here for the subject I wrote about in the formal letter before," Riyochi said.

"Hmm… well, what do you want to know? I will be happy if I am able to help you," Blaze said with a clever smile on his face.

"It is confidential, so if…" Riyochi began, and Blaze signed to his secretary to leave them alone.

"So… now we are alone. You can ask whatever you want to ask," he said again.

"It is about the incident that happened in the abandoned warehouse… Why were your Shadow Hunters there?" Riyochi asked.

"Well… let's see…" Blaze pushed his chair a little back, pretending to think, and with a small chuckle he said,

"Dunno. You know my guild has an independent system. The employees can do whatever they want… so I don't have any idea what they were doing in an abandoned warehouse," he said.

"I see… it seems I will not receive any cooperation from your side… so I will change the subject…" Riyochi said. His hand went to his coat as he took out a plastic bag with a letter inside and slid it toward Blaze.

"You know this letter, right?" Riyochi asked.

Blaze took the letter and inspected it, but before he could reply, Riyochi said,

"Don't tell me you even have an independent system of hiring anyone. As per the policy of your guild, every hunter shall be observed by the guild head before any offer is given to him."

"Haha…" Blaze laughed a little, then said, "Maybe you read our guild policy in detail, Detective. Yes… this letter belongs to this guild, and the offer was really given after my observation of the person."

"Then just answer the question. Why did you try to recruit a totally random Shadow Hunter without any great achievement?" Riyochi questioned.

"Ahhh… so you are also interested in Shinra Kuro-kun…" Blaze said.

"Don't change the subject. Just answer why one of the biggest guilds in Japan is so interested in a random Shadow Hunter that the guild head sent five B-class Shadow Hunters to appoint him?" Riyochi asked, his tone changing.

"Well… haha…" Blaze laughed, his tone also changing. "What if I deny answering this question?"

"Then…" Riyochi took out a cigarette box from his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a drag, then released the smoke.

"If you don't cooperate, then what can I do? Being a normal human with no power, facing you — an S-class Rank 1 in the Red Blood Guild — would be foolishness. I know my limits too well," he said.

"Hahahahaha… you really are an interesting person, Detective… Well, I will answer your question here," Blaze said. He picked up a remote and turned on the screen behind him.

It showed every detail about Kuro.

"That is…" Riyochi was a little surprised.

"Yup, this is every detail regarding Shinra Kuro… his birthplace, family, work, education, and much more."

"Hmm… I see. So you really did your research on him, but it still doesn't give me my answer," Riyochi said.

"Do you know the incident related to the Red Portal that opened in ruins?" Blaze asked, bringing both hands together.

"You mean… the incident where all the Shadow Hunters died… and one of them, who was able to clear that portal, was later killed by Shinigami in an abandoned building?" Riyochi said.

"Yes… Detective, you are correct in the majority of it, but there is one thing you are mistaken about…" Blaze said.

"Mistaken?" Riyochi looked confused and curious.

"The portal that opened in Red Portal was not cleared by Denji… the leader of that mission…" Blaze said.

"What are you talking about? There was no other one assigned to—" Before Riyochi could finish,

Blaze clicked his tongue.

"That's why you are not really updated, Detective… There were two people who cleared that portal. The first one is a middle school girl, Sakurako Ayami, and the second one is…"

"Shinra Kuro…" Riyochi said.

"Correct… It was confirmed after Sakurako Ayami came back to us after completing the mission to deposit the rewards she found in the portal. After getting a report update, we found that there was a person who cleared the portal entirely without any support," Blaze said.

"But how were you able to find out that the person was him…?" Riyochi asked.

"We made a sketch as per Ayami's description, so we were able to find him," Blaze said, then added,

"But there is one thing that we still haven't been able to find out… He claimed himself to be a D-class Shadow Hunter, but we don't have his registration… That leads us to believe he is one of the illegal Shadow Hunters… also called an Unregistered Hunter…"

"I see… so you thought if he is unregistered then it would be beneficial to you if you offered him a high rank in the Red Blood Guild," Riyochi said.

Blaze sighed and said,

"But… it is a shame he rejected our offer, and before we could reach him again, that bastard Shinigami killed my men…" He ground his teeth and slammed his hand on the table.

"Hmm… that is enough… Thanks for the information… I have to go; there are still many things I find confusing… I will look forward to you if I need any cooperation…" Riyochi said as he stood up and left.

The secretary entered as she bowed to Riyochi, then closed the door behind him.

"So…? Were you able to find the information I asked for…?" Blaze asked.

"Yes, sir…" she replied, then clicked on the remote as the picture of Akari appeared on the screen.

"Shinra Akari… huh… well, we will meet soon," Blaze said.