Chapter 13: Keeping the Secret
After leaving, Kenzo decided to walk down the street without much haste.
After a decade of operating in the underworld of clandestine business, Kenzo had managed to expand impressively into various nocturnal and business industries. His network of businesses had transformed into a complex web that spanned from bars and nightclubs to restaurants, security companies, cleaning services, regular stores, cafes, and many other activities. Each of these businesses served both legitimate and dark purposes in Kenzo's grand scheme of operations.
Bars and nightclubs were the perfect facade for laundering large sums of money. There, cash transactions mingled with the legitimate income from customers, making the money trail nearly impossible to follow. Restaurants also served as ideal places for this purpose, and business dinners with local politicians and entrepreneurs further disguised the source of funds.
Security and cleaning companies provided an additional layer of protection and cover-up. Security kept nosy outsiders and external threats at bay, while the cleaning staff helped eliminate any incriminating evidence and maintain the places looking immaculate.
Regular stores and cafes were used as vehicles to launder money more gradually and less suspiciously. Legitimate earnings were mixed with illegal ones, and tax declarations were meticulously filed to avoid raising suspicions.
But the boldest move of all was the focus on constructing apartment buildings. Kenzo used these real estate investments to place his trusted people, thus ensuring stable employment and absolute control over his network. Additionally, these buildings also served as additional sources of income through property rentals to third parties, further facilitating the concealment of illegal money.
However, Kenzo was aware of the risks involved in his operations and always stayed one step ahead of the law. He had a team of expert lawyers and accountants who worked diligently to ensure that all transactions were difficult to trace. Ghost companies, offshore bank accounts, and international transactions were just some of the techniques used to hide his illicit fortune.
Over the years, Kenzo had perfected his ability to operate in the shadows, building a clandestine empire that defied laws and morals. His success lay in his cunning ability to balance legality and illegality, weaving a complex web of businesses that kept him anonymous while accumulating wealth and power. But he also knew that in this dark world, danger always loomed, and a single mistake could bring it all crashing down.
Without his trusted men, the famous nine pillars he hoped would become ten in the future, he couldn't have achieved all this because he did very little personally. In addition to helping anyone in need, these individuals who were actually Ghouls had education and work experience. If he placed them in the right positions, they would simply be ordinary people.
His ambition was certainly enormous, but his focus was always on reintegrating Ghouls into the normal world and maintaining that secure control as long as there was peace. All of his Crows were calm, living in the shadows and rarely showing their beaks, but each of them would rise in the darkness if their world was threatened.
This is why, in addition to the warrior Ghouls, those who simply tried to live a normal life would fight to keep that dream alive, which until now seemed stable. They all respected the Crow Master, and in one way or another, they had all obtained what they desired.
Food abounded in abundance, with good management, and there was always bread to be had. Of course, not normal humans like the people surrounding Kenzo at this moment, but unforgivable criminals or powerful individuals who believed themselves above others.
Rapists, murderers, swindlers, and pedophiles were just some of their victims, and all of them ended up as food. The best part was that no one missed them. Five years ago, when food was scarce, his organization attacked a maximum-security prison. Of course, maximum security was for humans, not Ghouls.
That act was the last one performed by the Three-Eyed Crow organization before disappearing into the shadows. But on the internet, everyone believed it was more than perfect that bad people became food for Ghouls. This made Kenzo open his eyes and think that somehow they could all live together just as they were secretly doing.
"Mom, that man is super muscular! When I grow up, I'll be just as strong to protect you!" A child with a bruise on his face held his mother's hand, which hid signs of abuse, catching Kenzo's attention.
Walking toward the child, he asked, "Don't you think it might be too late?"
The child looked seriously at Kenzo and said, "I can't do anything. My father hits my mom when he's drunk, and when I try to stop him, he did this to me..."
The boy's mother panicked, immediately picked up her little son, bowed her head, and rushed away. But Kenzo's voice stopped her, "Please wait, hold on a minute."
Kenzo, who managed to stop the lady, smiled and whispered, "I shouldn't say this, but I can help you with your problem. I don't concern myself with your private life, but if you ever want to make the cancer in your family disappear, just call this number, and I promise you'll never hear from that man again."
"I don't need it..."
"Feel free to take the business card anyway. Remember, we're available 24 hours a day and more effective than the police."
Kenzo stopped before continuing on his way to a large library. It seemed there would be a book conference today, and he wanted to see a special person.
Just as he was about to move away, a child's voice came from behind, and the same boy said, "Thank you! I'm sure my mother will call you."
"In the end, everyone calls..." Kenzo continued his journey, reminiscing about his sister. He hadn't seen her in a long time, and now that they were both 22, they probably had few memories of each other.
The first time they met was at 16, then at 20, and finally two years later, Kenzo would be the one to take the initiative to visit her. The conference would be about her and some other writers, but the most famous by far was the writer Takatsuki Sen, and the chosen venue was a very informal yet cozy one.
Kenzo unknowingly arrived at the location after about twenty minutes, and many renowned writers were in attendance.
Among the most well-known was Takatsuki Sen. Kenzo found her immediately when he entered the exhibition hall.
Like Takatsuki Sen, she was an attractive woman of medium height at 22 years old. She typically wore curious and sleepy dresses in a modest manner. Her long green hair usually looked messy and disheveled, tied up above her head with a messy bun. However, despite her usually disheveled appearance, she was a great beauty with many admirers. To Kenzo, she bore a striking resemblance to his mother, Ukina.
Her personality was extremely complex, with intelligence and emotion as a human and cruelty and rage as a Ghoul.
Kenzo had known her as Eto Yoshimura, but he had never before been able to observe her every action, and, honestly, he hadn't cared much about her before now. What he did know was that she was strong despite her small and beautiful appearance.
Because she had chosen to have a separate identity from her last name, she went by the pen name Takatsuki Sen as a novelist and often attended various events like an ordinary person.
Since she was half-human, just like Kenzo, they could pass through RC-scanning gates that usually detected non-humans. This stroke of luck allowed them to live relatively normal lives.
These gates were quite impressive because they were used to detect and identify Ghouls, merely by trying to enter a secured area. Fortunately, these devices were present in buildings owned by the Ghoul Countermeasures Commission and were used to prevent Ghouls from passing beyond the main entrance.
These devices were considered too expensive for use in most public and government buildings, which limited their usage to the CCG. Nevertheless, they were a vital tool to prevent Ghouls from infiltrating important government positions.
At that moment, Eto was engaging with her readers with a smile on her face, but then her eyes noticed Kenzo, who was sitting not far away.
"Eh?" Eto frowned. She hadn't expected that boy to come to such an occasion.
Kenzo didn't approach her but gave a slight wave of greeting to his sister, Eto.
"I'm sorry, let's take a ten-minute break!" Eto kindly informed her readers and then walked slowly toward Kenzo.
"It seems your works have attracted many readers!" Kenzo looked at Eto and teased with a smile.
"Of course, but why did you come here?" Eto responded generously. Both she and he knew each other's true Ghoul identities, but she didn't know that he controlled the secretive Three-Eyed Crow organization.
"Can't I come to see my sister who disappears every three years?" Kenzo clasped his chest as if wounded by his sister's words.
"Then it's a real honor for me that the famous and solitary Kenzo has come to visit!" Eto said in a tone that wasn't really submissive.
"Uh... My dear sister, you're not still mad, are you?" Kenzo asked with a sly smile.
"Mad? My dear brother, why would you think that?" Eto laughed sweetly.
"Well... It seems my dear sister is still mad!" Kenzo said with more certainty after hearing Eto's tone.
"Fine, if there's nothing else, I won't accompany you to the door. You can do as you please!" Eto said, turning around with the intention of leaving.
Seeing Eto walk away, Kenzo didn't stop her either. Not long ago, his younger sister had invited him to join the Aogiri Tree immediately after discovering his true identity as a Ghoul.
However, Kenzo had rejected it without hesitation, which had always troubled Eto.
Eto had a very open personality. She was always lively and cheerful when dealing with other people, but she wore a different expression when confronting Kenzo in his Ghoul form.
Kenzo sighed, turned around, exited the exhibition hall, and lit a cigarette outside. He had rejected her for a good reason. He wanted to meet with her as the leader of the Three-Eyed Crow and not as her brother. Of course, his motive was to uncover her intentions with that organization and whether it would be an obstacle he needed to worry about.
As Kenzo smoked, it began to rain, and he furrowed his brows in disapproval.
After finally going out to meet his grumpy sister, she seemed angry because she thought he couldn't understand her and, of course, because she lived with the father she despised.
This made Kenzo feel very annoyed.
Just as Kenzo was filled with emotions, he looked at a large tree not far away.
At that moment, Eto also left the exhibition venue early, perhaps because of the appearance of her brother, which left her somewhat distracted. Along with the rainy weather, she also felt inexplicably irritable, and she was now walking in the rain under a large tree.
Seeing this, Kenzo felt that an opportunity had arrived. As the older brother, he felt the need to do something for his sister, who seemed to have little control over her future.
Kenzo took an umbrella from a man in a suit, then walked slowly toward his sister and asked, "How about I take you back home? The rain probably won't stop for a while."
"Thank you, but my friend will be here soon!" Eto responded casually without looking at Kenzo.
Hearing this, Kenzo's expression cooled. His sister had always been this way with him the times they'd met, which had always bothered him. With a sigh of annoyance, he placed the umbrella on the ground and said, "You don't even understand me. Why are you getting angry over a decision I made based on my thoughts about the future? You have no right to be mad without first getting to know me well, but you should stop that unjustified hatred toward others."
Leaving these words behind, Kenzo left his younger sister alone once again.
"You're not the only one who's angry at the world..."
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