After returning home and finishing dinner, Asaba Kotone prepared to deal with the Jealousy Devil's corpse.
When the police took his statement, they had told him that the Jealousy Devil had originally appeared in Tokyo and fled here after being severely wounded by Tokyo's Public Safety Devil Hunters.
Tokyo Public Safety had even issued a bounty, offering a reward of one hundred thousand yen for useful information. Anyone who killed the Jealousy Devil and handed over its corpse as proof could receive a reward of two million yen outright.
The fact that Tokyo Public Safety was offering two million yen was enough to show how dangerous the Jealousy Devil was.
Whether people's fear of "jealousy" was particularly strong was another matter. A devil's strength wasn't determined entirely by how much people feared it.
The nature of a devil's ability was determined by its name, while people's fear determined the upper limit of that ability.
Take the Doll Devil that Master had contracted with, for example. How afraid could people really be of "dolls"? Yet its ability was extremely powerful: it could turn anyone it touched into a doll.
As for the Jealousy Devil, setting aside the upper limit of its power, the nature of its ability was formidable too. It had probably hidden beneath the school to absorb the students' jealousy and heal its injuries. Giving people devil power also made them extremely prone to jealousy, and once that jealousy reached a certain level, they would lose their reason. In other words, they would fall under the Jealousy Devil's control.
An ability like that posed an enormous danger to the public.
However, claiming the two-million-yen bounty would require a trip to Tokyo Public Safety, while selling the corpse directly on the Black Market would probably fetch the same amount, perhaps even more.
Asaba Kotone had the right to choose whether to hand the Jealousy Devil's corpse over to Tokyo Public Safety or sell it on the Black Market.
By comparison, selling it on the Black Market was more convenient and would most likely fetch a higher price.
Just as Asaba Kotone was about to take Pochita with him to the Black Market, he suddenly remembered that Pochita's affection level hadn't seemed to rise in quite a while.
Or had I simply missed it when it went up?
With a thought, Asaba Kotone summoned the compendium before his eyes. He opened it to Pochita's entry on the first page and saw that Pochita's affection level had already reached fifty percent.
But he distinctly remembered Pochita's affection level being only 45%. He had no idea when it had risen again. Had it happened while he was asleep?
Rather than dwell on such a minor detail, Asaba Kotone turned the compendium to its fourth page. Since Pochita's affection level had reached 50%, the fourth page had surely unlocked as well.
When he turned to the fourth page, he saw that the newly unlocked entry was "Reze."
There was also information about her: age unknown, "Bomb" weapon hybrid, affiliated with the Soviet Union Military.
Reze?
Asaba Kotone was somewhat surprised that Reze was the subject of the compendium's fourth page.
Reze was one of the characters in the original manga who had left the deepest impression on him. Even now, thinking about her still left him with a lingering sense of regret.
But Reze was currently in the Soviet Union, and Asaba Kotone couldn't easily approach her for the time being.
He still hadn't finished everything he needed to do in Japan, so he had no time to visit the Soviet Union right now.
Besides, Reze was both a "guinea pig," a soldier devoted to her country, and an agent of the Soviet Union Military. Even if he went straight to the Soviet Union, meeting her would be difficult.
Of course, having Pochita return to his Black Chainsaw form or merging with Pochita to become a weapon hybrid would bring the Chainsaw Devil into the world and could lure the Soviet Union into sending Reze.
But then, besides Reze, a whole host of troubles would follow. North America and the countries of Western Europe would certainly send people to cause him trouble. He wasn't afraid of trouble, but he still hated it.
And Pochita clearly had no desire to return to his Black Chainsaw form. He only wanted to stay as he was and live an ordinary, happy life with him every day. Otherwise, Pochita could return to his Black Chainsaw form whenever he pleased.
Of course, their contract might also have played a part. Back then, he had given Pochita his blood to drink and told Pochita to come with him, and Pochita had taken that as a contract.
In any case, he could only put Reze's situation aside for now and revisit it once he had a better idea of what to do. At the moment, Asaba Kotone only wanted to go to the Black Market and sell the Jealousy Devil's corpse.
But just then, his phone suddenly rang.
He saw an unfamiliar number. It was neither Denji nor Aki Hayakawa.
Someone besides Denji and Aki Hayakawa actually knows my number?
Surely it isn't some advertisement or scam?
Puzzled, Asaba Kotone answered the call.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"This is Tokyo Public Safety. I'm Takeuchi Hirachi, captain of Special Division 2. I got your number from Hayakawa, one of my team members."
The caller explained his identity and where he had gotten the number simply and clearly, and Asaba Kotone immediately understood the situation.
The Control Devil probably hadn't come to the Human World yet. Even if she had, she wouldn't have established the Special Division for Devil Affairs so soon.
In the original story, the Special Division for Devil Affairs was a special project personally established by the Control Devil, Makima. Ostensibly, it was experimental, but in reality, it was groundwork she had laid in advance to break the contract between Denji and Pochita.
Just consider the people in the Special Division for Devil Affairs. The ordinary humans had all died, while Aki Hayakawa and the others were used by Makima to break Denji emotionally. Apart from Kishibe and Kobeni Higashiyama, who had barely survived, the rest were all Pochita's followers from his time in Hell.
In the timeline Asaba Kotone currently inhabited, Tokyo Public Safety had no Special Division for Devil Affairs yet, only the Devil Extermination Division. Public Safety offices everywhere had Devil Extermination Divisions.
Aki Hayakawa had also joined Special Division 2, just as he had expected. He remembered that in the original story, Aki Hayakawa had been in Special Division 2 before being assigned to Special Division for Devil Affairs 4.
"So, Captain Takeuchi, what can I do for you?"
"It's nothing major. I'd just like to ask about the situation. Have you really killed the Jealousy Devil? The Chiba police have already explained what happened, but we'd still like to confirm it with you. It is a rather dangerous devil, after all."
"That's right. I've killed it, and I have the corpse here."
"All right. Would you be willing to let us send someone to inspect the corpse? We'll also pay you the bounty."
"...Sure."
Since the other party had gone that far, Asaba Kotone couldn't very well turn him down.
He had been very polite, and he would send someone straight to Asaba Kotone's home.
His concern in the first place had been the hassle of making a round trip to Tokyo Public Safety. The amount of money didn't really matter. Selling it on the Black Market wouldn't fetch that much more, and he didn't care about such a small sum.
He would join Tokyo Public Safety sooner or later anyway, because Makima would eventually appear there as well. Doing Captain Takeuchi this favor would have its benefits.
"Thank you for your cooperation. I hope we can become colleagues someday. Tokyo Public Safety would welcome you anytime."
With that, he hung up.
Before you continue