Chapter 44

Number on the Desktop (机上の数字 Kijō no Sūji) is the forty-fourth chapter in the D.Gray-man (Manga) series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino.

Synopsis
As General Froi Tiedoll walks along, he is called out to and approached by Marie and Kanda.

Tiedoll cries when Kanda and Marie tell him that Daisya is dead, and that he is being hunted.

When Kanda asks Tiedoll to return to the Order with them, Tiedoll doesn’t answer, instead drawing a picture of Daisya’s hometown, Bodrum. When Kanda tries to get Tiedoll to focus on the matter at hand, the General stands and wishes Daisya a farewell, burning the picture.

Tiedoll finally responds and says he can’t go back, as they are still in the middle of a war and he needs to find more Exorcists.

Kanda and Marie give in and agree to go with them.

Back at the European Branch, Komui is in shock, staring at the one hundred and forty-eight caskets in front of him as Reever reports that six Exorcists and one hundred and forty-two Finders have been killed.

When the men behind them start speaking amongst themselves, wondering how Exorcists could have possibly been killed, Reever shuts them up and says that that isn’t how to talk in front of comrades who have returned from battle.

Komui then takes his beret off and thanks the dead men before bowing.

As Komui and Reever review the states of the Exorcists, they note that three Exorcists, Daisya and two from General Socalo’s unit, have died in the same way; that is, with internal organs removed but no external injuries showing where the organs could have been removed from. Reever then tells Komui that the third man from Socalo’s team, Suman Dark, is missing.

When they are approached by Finders who ask that the remains of one of the men who died be returned to his family, Komui shuts them down, saying that the men will all be cremated and buried at the Order and that the families will not be informed, as there is no guarantee that the grief-stricken family members will not bring their loved ones back as Akuma.

Once he is alone in his office, Komui forces himself to not feel upset, telling himself that he can only focus on victory.

In China, Allen peeks out from under a tarp on a boat he and the others are traveling in, thinking he heard something and wondering if it isn’t a panda. As Lenalee chides him, a pair of eyes watch them from a tree.

Chapter Notes

 * The eyes watching Allen at the end of the chapter are neither a panda's nor an akuma, they belong to Suman.