New Novel
Chapter 13: Partners

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Partners

"Who was that guy just now? I don’t remember seeing him at all. Is he not a Devil Hunter from around here?"

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

"You know that guy pretty well, Hayakawa. Are you sure he isn’t your partner?"

"...No. I only ran into him earlier when I was heading out to hunt the Crab Devil. He’s the one who killed that Crab Devil."

"He killed the Crab Devil? He looks even younger than you, Hayakawa. He’s unexpectedly impressive."

After Kotone Asaba left, Aki Hayakawa and the female staff member chatted briefly.

"Seriously, Hayakawa, it’s about time you found yourself a partner. Don’t you want to join Public Safety and kill the Gun Devil? Public Safety evaluates Devil Hunters from all angles, you know. If you keep working alone all the time, it won’t be easy to catch their attention."

"...I’ll consider it."

At this moment, Kotone Asaba had already arrived at the black market the female staff member had mentioned.

Black markets across Japan were generally more or less the same, so Kotone Asaba directly found the official staff there.

He threw the Crab Devil’s corpse out of the Kamui dimension, while the Zombie Devil’s corpse remained inside for the time being.

The Crab Devil’s corpse appeared before the official staff almost out of thin air. Unless one was paying close attention, it was hard to notice the spatial distortion that occurred in that single instant. However, the official staff member was only surprised for a brief moment before regaining his composure.

There were all kinds of devils in this world, and Devil Hunters who made contracts with devils also possessed all sorts of devil powers. As official staff of the black market, he had naturally seen plenty of unusual things, so he simply regarded Kotone Asaba’s Kamui ability as a devil power.

"This is the Crab Devil. Please evaluate its value."

"Of course. Please wait a moment, sir."

Several official staff members began inspecting and evaluating the Crab Devil’s corpse.

A few minutes later, they were more or less done with the appraisal.

"Not bad. The corpse is in very good condition, so we can raise the price a little. We’ll set it at one million yen."

The black market’s official evaluation of a devil corpse’s value was mainly based on two factors. The first was the strength of the devil while it was alive, and the second was how intact the corpse was.

For example, the Crab Devil’s corpse was in very good condition. Its body had only been sawed in half by a chainsaw. If it had been a Crab Devil corpse chopped into pieces, it definitely would not have been worth one million yen.

"Fine."

Kotone Asaba did not say much. In the first place, he had no way to bargain with the black market’s official staff. He could only accept or reject the price.

After that, one million yen was transferred into his card.

This card had been given to him by the previous black market. It could be used at any black market across Japan, and it was also connected to a related bank, a bank established by the true boss behind the black market. He could go there to deposit or withdraw money at any time.

With this, Kotone Asaba’s official record consisted of hunting down the Field Mouse Devil and the Crab Devil. Because the Zombie Devil’s corpse had not been traded on the black market or reported to the guild, it was not counted.

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

Of course, he was not in a rush to enter the school right now. Instead, he planned to rent a place near the school first.

He would definitely stay in Chiba Prefecture for a while, but not for too long, so renting a place was necessary.

After renting the place, Kotone Asaba also set a "coordinate" there.

Then he returned to the Private Devil Hunter Guild. However, he did not use spatial teleportation. He took transportation instead.

Long-distance spatial teleportation consumed a lot, and with his current "constitution," he could not use spatial teleportation recklessly.

"You’re back so soon?"

The female staff member from before saw Kotone Asaba return.

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

Kotone Asaba asked directly.

Right now, what he needed was to hunt as many devils as possible and raise his reputation.

"Not for the moment. Competition among Devil Hunters in Chiba Prefecture is pretty intense. Devils that aren’t very strong are usually dealt with by private Devil Hunters right away, and powerful devils that private hunters can’t handle are dealt with as quickly as possible by Devil Hunters sent out by Public Safety."

"Thanks. Got it."

After saying that, Kotone Asaba temporarily went to a bookstore not far from the guild. He went to buy materials related to Japanese high school entrance exams.

Japanese, math, English, social studies, and science. These were the five subjects tested on Japanese high school entrance exams.

Kotone Asaba bought one set of materials for each of the five subjects so he could study in advance and prepare for the exam when the time came.

Of course, it was not as if he planned to stay at Chiba Rissei High School all the way until graduation. He did not have that much free time. At most, he would stay there for a while. Exactly how long would depend on how quickly the Affinity progressed.

After buying the materials, Kotone Asaba carried the bag containing the five books back to the Private Devil Hunter Guild.

He planned to study here, drink tea, and wait to see when a devil needed to be hunted.

He did not want to go out and slowly search for devils himself. Who knew how long that would take? He might not even find any.

Waiting for the guild’s announcements was the most convenient method. Once a devil appeared and was discovered, the Private Devil Hunter Guild would be notified immediately. Only if the devil was something the private Devil Hunters could not handle would Public Safety be contacted for support.

Because he possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, Kotone Asaba’s learning ability was far stronger than an ordinary person’s. The scope of knowledge tested on high school entrance exams was not that broad either, so he estimated that it would only take him a few days to fully master all of it.

Just then, Aki Hayakawa, who was still inside the guild, happened to pass by Kotone Asaba’s seat and saw that Kotone Asaba seemed to be studying.

He could not help stopping. His tone carried a trace of surprise. "Are you still a student?"

A Devil Hunter who was still a student was extremely rare. After all, Devil Hunters could lose their lives at any moment. Even young private Devil Hunters usually no longer had the mindset to study.

Or rather, many people who became Devil Hunters either wanted revenge because their family had been killed by devils, or had been forced into the job by their circumstances in order to make a living.

"More or less. By the way, you’re also waiting here for news of where a devil has appeared, right?"

Kotone Asaba guessed.

With his understanding of Aki Hayakawa, he could easily guess what Aki was thinking.

He could deduce that Aki Hayakawa at this point in time definitely wanted to hunt more devils and accumulate achievements, then enter Tokyo Public Safety. Only then would he have a chance to take revenge on the Gun Devil.

"...Yeah."

"Same here. When the time comes, I’ll be competing with you."

"..."

Aki Hayakawa fell silent for a while. Then, remembering what the female staff member had said, he sat down in the seat across from Kotone Asaba and said, "How about partnering with me? That way, we won’t have to compete."