Partner

"How come I don't remember that young guy at all? Isn't he a local Devil Hunter?"

"Ah... he said he was from out of town."

"You seem to know quite a bit about him, Hayakawa. Are you sure he isn't your partner?"

"...No. I just ran into him earlier when I went to hunt the Crab Devil. He was the one who killed it."

"He killed the Crab Devil? He looks even younger than you, Hayakawa. He's surprisingly capable."

After Asaba Kotone left, Aki Hayakawa chatted briefly with the waitress.

"Seriously, Hayakawa, it's about time you found a partner. Don't you want to join Public Safety and kill the Gun Devil? Public Safety evaluates Devil Hunters in all sorts of ways, you know. If you're too much of a loner, it'll be harder to catch their eye."

"...I'll consider it."

By then, Asaba Kotone had arrived at the black market the waitress had mentioned.

Black markets across Japan generally operated much the same way, so Asaba Kotone went straight to the market staff.

He tossed the Crab Devil's corpse out of the Kamui Dimension, leaving the Zombie Devil's corpse inside for now.

The Crab Devil's corpse appeared almost out of thin air before the staff. Unless they were watching very closely, they wouldn't have noticed the spatial distortion that lasted only an instant. Still, the staff recovered their composure after a brief moment of surprise.

There were all sorts of devils in this world, and Devil Hunters who contracted with them possessed all kinds of devil powers. Naturally, the black market staff had seen plenty, and they took Asaba Kotone's "Kamui" ability for a devil power.

"This is the Crab Devil. Sorry for the trouble, but could you appraise it?"

"Certainly, sir. Please wait a moment."

Several staff members began inspecting and appraising the Crab Devil's corpse.

A few minutes later, they had more or less finished.

"Not bad. The corpse is in excellent condition, so we can offer a little above the usual price. Let's make it one million yen."

The black market's appraisal of devil corpses mainly depended on two factors: how powerful the devil had been while alive, and how intact its corpse was.

For instance, this Crab Devil's corpse was in excellent condition, with its body merely sawed in half by a chainsaw. If it had been hacked into pieces instead, it certainly wouldn't have been worth a million yen.

"All right."

Asaba Kotone said nothing more. He couldn't haggle with the black market staff anyway; he could only accept or reject their price.

Afterward, one million yen was transferred to his card.

The previous black market had given him this card. It could be used at any black market in Japan, and there was even an associated bank, established by the big boss behind the black markets. He could go there to deposit or withdraw money whenever he wanted.

Thus, Asaba Kotone's official record consisted of killing the Field Mouse Devil and the Crab Devil. Since he hadn't sold the Zombie Devil's corpse at the black market or reported it to the guild, it wasn't included.

After leaving the black market, Asaba Kotone headed toward Chiba Rissei High School.

Of course, he wasn't in a hurry to enroll right away. He planned to rent a place near the school first.

He would definitely be staying in Chiba Prefecture for a while, though not too long, so renting a place was a must.

After renting a place, Asaba Kotone set a "coordinate" there as well.

Then he returned to the Civilian Devil Hunter Guild, taking transportation rather than using Space Teleportation.

Long-distance spatial teleportation consumed a great deal of energy. With his current "constitution," he still couldn't use Space Teleportation freely.

"Back already, young man?"

The waitress from earlier spotted Asaba Kotone returning.

"Are there any devils that need to be hunted right now?"

Asaba Kotone asked directly.

What he needed now was to hunt plenty of devils and build his reputation.

"Not at the moment. Competition among Devil Hunters here in Chiba Prefecture is pretty fierce. Devils that aren't particularly strong usually get dealt with by Private Devil Hunters right away. Any powerful devils the civilians can't handle are dealt with as quickly as possible by Devil Hunters sent by Public Safety."

"Thanks. Got it."

With that, Asaba Kotone made a quick trip to a library not far from the guild to buy study materials for Japan's high school entrance exams.

Japanese, mathematics, English, social studies, and science were the five subjects covered in Japan's high school entrance exams.

Asaba Kotone bought a set of materials for each of the five subjects so he could study ahead of time and be ready when the time came.

Of course, that didn't mean he intended to stay at Chiba Rissei High School until graduation. He had no time for that. He would stay for a while at most, and exactly how long would depend on how quickly the affection level progressed.

After buying the materials, Asaba Kotone returned to the Civilian Devil Hunter Guild carrying a bag containing the five books.

He planned to study here while drinking tea and waiting to see when a devil needed hunting.

He didn't want to go out and slowly search for devils himself. Who knew how long that would take, or whether he would even find one?

Waiting for announcements from the guild was the most convenient option. Whenever someone spotted a devil, they would immediately notify the Civilian Devil Hunter Guild. Only if the Private Devil Hunters couldn't deal with it would Public Safety be contacted for support.

Thanks to his Mangekyō Sharingan, Asaba Kotone's learning ability far surpassed that of ordinary people. The high school entrance exams didn't cover that much material, either, so he estimated he could master all of it in just a few days.

Just then, Aki Hayakawa, who was still at the guild, happened to walk past Asaba Kotone's seat and noticed that he seemed to be studying.

He couldn't help stopping, a hint of surprise in his voice. "Are you still a student?"

Devil Hunters who were still students were extremely rare. After all, a Devil Hunter could lose their life at any moment. Even young Private Devil Hunters generally had little interest in studying anymore.

Or rather, many people became Devil Hunters either because their family had been killed by devils and they wanted revenge, or because circumstances forced them to earn a living that way.

"You could say that. By the way, you're waiting here for news of a devil showing up too, right?"

Asaba Kotone ventured a guess.

Given what he knew about Aki Hayakawa, it was easy to guess what was on his mind.

He could deduce that Aki Hayakawa at this point must have wanted to hunt more devils and build up his record so he could join Tokyo Public Safety. Only then would he have a chance to take revenge on the Gun Devil.

"...Yes."

"Same here. I'll be competing with you for them when the time comes."

"..."

Aki Hayakawa fell silent for a moment, recalling what the waitress had said. He sat down across from Asaba Kotone and said, "How about partnering up with me? Then we won't have to compete."