"...All right."
Asa Mitaka was at a loss for words for a moment.
Makima, standing beside them, remained silent and had not interjected at all.
After a while, Asa Mitaka asked, "So you're just here to attend school?"
"Mm-hmm, that's right."
Asaba Kotone nodded.
"That's good, then."
Asa Mitaka breathed a slight sigh of relief. "I thought a devil had appeared at school, and a Public Safety Devil Hunter had gone undercover here."
"Nothing like that."
Asaba Kotone said.
Although he could not be entirely certain whether there were any devils in this school right now, he certainly had not enrolled because of a devil.
"Then..."
Just then, Asa Mitaka suddenly realized something.
Since Asaba is a Public Safety Devil Hunter, could Makima, who transferred here today just like him, also be a Public Safety Devil Hunter?
"Makima, are you a Public Safety Devil Hunter too?"
Asa Mitaka asked Makima curiously.
"That's right. She's one too."
Asaba Kotone answered for Makima.
"Two Public Safety Devil Hunters transferring into our class at the same time-there must be something important going on, right?"
Asa Mitaka grew increasingly concerned about this.
Just as Asaba Kotone was about to casually make something up to brush it off, Makima spoke without consulting him. "It certainly is something very important to Asaba. His mission is to protect you, Mitaka."
"..."
Asaba Kotone was a little dumbfounded.
He had not expected Makima to say that outright.
"Huh... Huh?! Protect me? Why?"
Asa Mitaka almost failed to process it, and her face immediately flushed slightly.
Now, Asaba Kotone could only go along with the subject and force an explanation. "That's because a very terrifying devil will appear at this school before long."
"Didn't you just say it was nothing like that?"
Asa Mitaka asked.
Asaba Kotone said, "What