Bookshelf Devil

Although Aki Hayakawa had always been used to working alone, after meeting the boy before him a few times, he felt they could get along.

He wasn't sure why, but the boy seemed to understand him quite well.

Besides, when facing the Crab Devil earlier, the boy had shown both considerable strength and a level head.

Young Private Devil Hunters were usually frightened when facing devils. Even killing one could leave them psychologically scarred, but the boy showed none of that.

So if he wanted a partner, the boy before him would be an excellent choice. They got along, and he was both capable and mentally resilient.

He just didn't know whether the boy would agree.

"Partners? Sure."

Asaba Kotone accepted without the slightest hesitation.

He had always felt that Aki Hayakawa might be one of the entries in the compendium that hadn't been unlocked yet. Getting to know him early and raising his affection couldn't hurt.

His quick acceptance actually caught Aki Hayakawa a little off guard.

"I'm Aki Hayakawa. I look forward to working with you."

Aki Hayakawa held out his hand to Asaba Kotone.

"I'm Asaba Kotone. Likewise."

Asaba Kotone shook Aki Hayakawa's hand.

Then they went to a guild attendant to register their information.

After forming a partnership, they needed to register with the guild so that any devils they killed would count toward both their records.

Once they officially became partners, Asaba Kotone also learned about Aki Hayakawa's record.

Aki Hayakawa had only been a Private Devil Hunter for a few months, yet he had already killed more than a dozen devils. Although they all seemed relatively weak, it was still an impressive record.

Devils didn't appear very frequently. Sometimes, not a single devil would appear anywhere in the entire area for a whole day. It was highly unpredictable.

After all, who could know when a devil in Hell would reincarnate and suddenly appear somewhere in the human world?

Of course, reincarnation wasn't the only way. They could also be sent to the human world through the Hell Devil, though that was extremely rare. In the original story, Makima had traveled from Hell to the human world in search of Pochita through the Hell Devil.

At the same time, Aki Hayakawa saw Asaba Kotone's record.

"You only registered as a Private Devil Hunter two days ago, and you've already killed two devils?"

Aki Hayakawa was immediately surprised.

This wasn't just a matter of luck with devils appearing at random. Devil Hunters usually had to pay a price to use Devil Power. For instance, he had to offer some of his flesh to use the Fox Devil's power, so every time he used it to kill a devil, he needed several days to recover.

There were exceptions, though. Since the terms of a contract depended on the devil's whims, some devils might demand very little in return. He figured that was probably the case for Asaba Kotone.

Afterward, Asaba Kotone and Aki Hayakawa continued waiting in the hall.

A full two or three hours passed before the two finally saw a notice announcing a devil sighting.

They accepted the job immediately, before the other Private Devil Hunters in the hall could even react.

"It's that kid Aki Hayakawa again. He never lets up. Whenever he's in the hall, he's almost always the first to grab a job as soon as it appears."

"It's one thing when it's a group job, but this one looks like a solo job, and he snatched that up too. He doesn't even have a partner. He's keeping it all for himself."

"Speaking of partners, doesn't that person next to Aki Hayakawa look like his partner? Hasn't he always worked alone?"

"Huh? That kid actually decided to get a partner? I thought he'd keep working by himself forever."

Some of the Private Devil Hunters nearby began discussing them.

Just as they had said, the job Asaba Kotone and Aki Hayakawa had accepted was a solo job.

Of course, a solo job didn't mean only one person could go. Partners could go together too.

Group jobs, on the other hand, generally involved powerful devils that one or two Private Devil Hunters couldn't handle, requiring several hunters to be assembled to take them down.

Only after securing the job did Aki Hayakawa start reading its details. "Our target this time is the Bookshelf Devil. The location is the Library... isn't that right nearby?"

"The Library, huh? That's pretty close. Let's hurry over."

Asaba Kotone had been to the Library just two or three hours earlier. It was only a ten-minute walk from here.

Taxis were always parked outside the guild's entrance. Devil Hunters were pressed for time whenever they went to hunt a devil, and taking a taxi was undoubtedly one of the faster options. Taxi drivers generally charged Devil Hunters a little less, too.

Taking a taxi, Asaba Kotone and Aki Hayakawa soon arrived at the Library.

They could see many people, including Library staff, fleeing the building. Screams, sobs, and other clamorous sounds filled the air.

"There must still be people trapped inside. Let's hurry in and save them."

With that, Aki Hayakawa immediately ran into the Library.

With his exceptionally keen perception, Asaba Kotone was the first to locate the Bookshelf Devil.

The Bookshelf Devil had the rectangular body of a bookshelf, but a dense mass of human hands grew from its underside, allowing it to move. Each compartment on its front was a mouth, with a creepy, bloodshot eyeball above it. Bloody tongues resembling intestines extended from the mouths to attack people.

Someone over there was about to be attacked by the Bookshelf Devil.

"I'll save them. You take care of the Bookshelf Devil."

The moment he finished speaking, Asaba Kotone vanished.

His right eye sucked both him and Pochita in, while he used his left eye's Kamui to open a spatial portal near the Bookshelf Devil, allowing him to teleport.

Aki Hayakawa's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Asaba Kotone teleporting.

Just as the Bookshelf Devil's tongue wrapped around a girl in a high school uniform and was about to drag her into its mouth to eat her, Asaba Kotone suddenly appeared beside her.

He placed his hand on the girl's shoulder, bringing her under Intangibility along with himself and Pochita. The Bookshelf Devil's tongue instantly lost its target.

The Bookshelf Devil hadn't even figured out what was happening yet.

"Kon!"

Aki Hayakawa formed the shape of a fox's head with his right hand. The Fox Devil's head instantly appeared out of thin air and swallowed the Bookshelf Devil whole.

"Can I swallow it?"

Aki Hayakawa heard the Fox Devil's voice.

"...Suit yourself."

There was some hesitation in Aki Hayakawa's voice. Although he didn't need the little money he could earn from selling the Bookshelf Devil's corpse, he now had a partner and had to consider his feelings.

Still, he agreed to the Fox Devil's request and let it eat the Bookshelf Devil. When the Fox Devil was in a good mood, it would demand a lower price from him.

If his partner minded, he would compensate him out of his own pocket.

Asaba Kotone, however, wasn't concerned about that at all. What mattered to him right now was that the high school girl in uniform before him happened to be Kobeni Higashiyama.