"I came here for ramen, but the owner got eaten instead."
"The ramen here was really good. I never imagined the owner would die so horribly just days after opening."
"A devil must have eaten them. Maybe the owner of that unpopular ramen shop across the street made a contract with a devil and had it kill the new owner."
"Businesspeople will do anything for profit."
The customers gathered outside the ramen shop buzzed with speculation.
Just then, Meng Fan and the others squeezed into the crowd.
"Make way."
"What are you pushing for?"
"Make way. We're Public Safety Devil Hunters." Aki Hayakawa took out his Public Safety ID.
"Public Safety Devil Hunters!!"
Passerby A's eyes went wide.
"Hurry inside and take a look. The owner died horribly."
"Everyone, back away from here. The devil might still be inside."
"The devil's still inside!!"
After hearing Aki Hayakawa's warning.
The onlookers scattered.
The crowded entrance instantly cleared out.
Aki Hayakawa drew his sword and took the lead, but Meng Fan grabbed his shoulder. "Don't rush in. Let Denji go first. Even if there's a devil inside, it'll attack him first."
"Huh???" Denji was utterly confused.
"Aki's only human. He can't come back to life. You're a devil and can't die, so you're the best choice to take point."
Aki Hayakawa froze, surprised by how considerate Meng Fan was.
"No problem, then. Just follow behind me."
Denji answered readily.
Then he strode casually into the ramen shop.
As he lifted the entrance curtain, three bodies came into view, hanging upside down with their ankles tied to the ceiling beams.
Two men and one woman.
Apart from their heads, which remained intact.
The rest of their bodies were nothing but bare bones.
Strangest of all, there wasn't a trace of blood beneath them.
The bones gleamed, clean of even the tiniest scrap of flesh.
They looked like anatomical specimens.
"Are... are these real or fake?" Denji stared, a little dazed.
"Definitely real. You can't give a dummy that kind of unblinking stare of someone who died in anguish." Meng Fan stepped forward to examine them. "The work is almost too perfect. Their bones look polished, all smooth and shiny."
"Devils eat people without leaving even the bones. How could one do something like this?" Denji watched from three paces away, afraid the skeletons might suddenly come alive. "Could this be another human killing, staged to frame a devil?"
"Impossible. No human could process bodies like this, even a chef with exceptional knife skills."
"You two, come in here and look."
Rather than examine the bodies, Aki Hayakawa had gone farther inside.
Meng Fan and Denji followed at his call.
"What is it? More bodies?" Denji asked.
"No. A line of writing."
"Can't read it." Denji glanced at the sentence written in blood on the dining table.
"Thanks for the meal," Meng Fan read aloud.
"The ramen's still slightly warm. Whoever it was left no more than fifteen minutes ago."
Aki Hayakawa held his hand beside the ramen bowl.
Cilantro had been sprinkled over the noodles.
The noodles rose well above the broth.
"If there were surveillance cameras nearby, finding the culprit would be easy. As it stands, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"Master, what are surveillance cameras?"
"You'll find out sooner or later."
"Hey, anyone here?"
"One bowl of ramen."
A man's voice came from outside the shop.
A scream followed immediately.
Meng Fan hurried out.
"What happened here??"
"Halloween props?"
"Right, Halloween props. Are you here to eat?"
Meng Fan answered as he emerged from the back room.
Seeing Meng Fan's unruffled expression, the man instinctively assumed the three bodies hanging upside down were props.
"I own the ramen shop across the street. My customers said something had happened here, so I came over to check."
"Something did happen. The owner's dead."
"He's dead? He didn't run away?"
"Run away? How did you know he ran away rather than died?"
"Uh... I heard my customers talking about it, so I came to see whether he'd run away or died."
"Your customers told you this shop's owner had run away, not died?"
The man froze for a second, then said, "Yes, that's right. So did he run away or die?"
"He's dead. But you're not getting away."
Meng Fan seized the ramen shop owner.
"What are you doing? Let go!"
"Master, what happened?" Hearing the commotion, Denji and Aki Hayakawa ran out of the back room.
"He isn't the killer, but he's definitely connected to whoever did it."
"I'm not the killer! Don't arrest me! Who are you people?"
"We're Public Safety Devil Hunters," Aki Hayakawa said calmly, taking out his ID.
"Public Safety Devil Hunters!!" The ramen shop owner immediately calmed down considerably. "Stop grabbing me. I really didn't kill anyone. If I had, I wouldn't have come over here."
"I know you aren't the killer, but you definitely know something."
"Excuse us!!"
Just then, a group walked in.
"Oh, you came for ramen too." Natsume Fan Zhi greeted Meng Fan and the others warmly, only to recoil at the hanging bodies a moment later. "What's this? The shop's new theme?"
"It isn't a theme. Those are real bodies hanging there."
"Real?" Startled, Natsume Fan Zhi approached the bodies to inspect them.
Delight soon appeared in his eyes. "Holy shit, these are practically works of art."
"I know you're a necrophiliac, but don't show it off in front of this many people."
"Have you found the devil that killed them?"
"No, but it's definitely connected to this man."
"No, it wasn't me! I never meant to kill him!" The ramen shop owner frantically waved his hands.
"You never meant to kill him? What did you mean to do, then?"
With everyone staring at him, the ramen shop owner let out a long sigh. "Actually, I contracted with the Cilantro Devil. I only wanted it to keep secretly adding disgusting cilantro to this shop's ramen. I never thought it would kill anyone."
"You're amazing, Master! You cracked the case already." Denji gave him an admiring look.
"The Cilantro Devil?" Natsume Fan Zhi repeated the name. "I've encountered the Cilantro Devil before. It's a real scourge of the restaurant industry. Usually, when one owner envies another's booming business, they contract with it to ruin the taste of the other restaurant's food."
"Yes, exactly! That was all I wanted!" the ramen shop owner said hastily, unwilling to be saddled with a murder charge under any circumstances.
"If you only contracted with the Cilantro Devil, then it definitely wasn't the killer."
"Then let me go."
"We can't release you. Natsume, take him back later and question him thoroughly."
"Will do." Natsume Fan Zhi signaled his subordinates with a glance.
The ramen shop owner immediately received a pair of silver bracelets.
"I told you, I didn't kill anyone."
"Shut up!" Natsume Fan Zhi roared, and the ramen shop owner instantly fell silent.
"If there's nothing else, you can leave. We'll handle the rest, and I'll inform Miss Makima," Natsume Fan Zhi said with a smile.
With that settled, Meng Fan left the ramen shop with the other two.
"Where are we eating now?" Denji held his loudly growling stomach.
"Why don't we check out that man's ramen shop?"
"You still suspect him?" Aki Hayakawa asked.
"Something about him just feels off."
"Come on, let's go. I can't wait to try the ramen."
Denji ran ahead of them toward the ramen shop across the street.
But he had only been inside for a few seconds.
When he came charging back out, screaming.
"They're dead! There are loads of people hanging inside!!!"
Before you continue