New Novel
Chapter 15: Kobeni Higashiyama

Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Kobeni Higashiyama

The girl had medium-length bangs on the right side of her face, two red hair clips pinned on the left side, and her hair tied into short braids. Kobeni Higashiyama was only sixteen right now, but her hairstyle and hair clips were almost identical to the Kobeni Higashiyama from the original timeline four years later.

Her features were delicate and cute, with four beauty marks on her face, but right now, her expression was close to breaking down. Her face was covered in sweat and tears. Clearly, the Bookshelf Devil from just now had frightened her badly.

She was wearing a standard Japanese high school girl’s uniform.

Because Kobeni Higashiyama had been facing away from Kotone Asaba earlier, he had not recognized her right away. Now that he saw her face, he recognized her immediately.

[Affinity Codex entry activated: Kobeni Higashiyama]

[Reward obtained: Constitution +1]

[Current Affinity: 0%]

Maybe it was because Kobeni Higashiyama still had not recovered from the shock just now, but even though Kotone Asaba had saved her, her Affinity had not increased at all yet.

"It’s okay now. This place is safe."

Kotone Asaba lowered the hand he had placed on Kobeni Higashiyama’s shoulder.

He suspected that even if he had not acted to save her just now, Kobeni Higashiyama might have suddenly erupted and instantly killed the Bookshelf Devil herself. Although Kobeni Higashiyama in the original story looked timid and fragile, she could carry unbelievably hard at critical moments, and the upper limit of her strength was still unknown.

Based on what had just happened, it could be inferred that Kobeni Higashiyama, who was only sixteen at this point, might already have the same astonishing strength she had in the original story. Otherwise, in that situation, Aki Hayakawa might not necessarily have been able to save her in time. If that happened, then she would have suddenly erupted at the critical moment and instantly killed the Bookshelf Devil.

"Ah... ah..."

Only then did Kobeni Higashiyama react.

But when she turned around and saw Kotone Asaba’s eyes and Pochita, she was startled again. She immediately fell backward onto the floor. "Ow... It hurts... sob..."

"Don’t be scared. I’m a Devil Hunter, and this is my companion, Pochita. He won’t hurt you."

Kotone Asaba picked up Pochita and spoke to Kobeni Higashiyama.

Looking at the gentle smile on the boy’s face, as well as Pochita’s cute appearance without the slightest trace of ferocity, the fear in Kobeni Higashiyama’s heart gradually faded.

"W-was it you who saved me just now?"

Kobeni Higashiyama asked weakly in a quiet voice.

"Yeah. Hayakawa and I saved you together. The Bookshelf Devil from just now has already been dealt with by his devil power."

Kotone Asaba pointed at Aki Hayakawa, who was walking over from not far away.

Kobeni Higashiyama looked at Aki Hayakawa, then looked at Kotone Asaba.

"Th-thank you..."

She vaguely remembered that just as she was about to be eaten by the devil, someone had seemed to place a hand on her shoulder. Then, somehow, she had miraculously broken free from the Bookshelf Devil’s restraint. That hand must have belonged to the boy in front of her.

[Kobeni Higashiyama Affinity +10%]

[Kobeni Higashiyama’s Affinity progress has reached 10%. Achievement reward obtained: Constitution +1]

At that moment, Aki Hayakawa walked over and said to Kotone Asaba, "I let the Fox Devil swallow the Bookshelf Devil. If you need the money, I can make up your share."

"That doesn’t matter. If it swallowed it, then it swallowed it. You don’t need to pay me back."

Kotone Asaba waved it off.

"Fine. This person should be okay, right? If she’s fine, we can head back."

Aki Hayakawa seemed unwilling to stay here for long, like a cold, merciless worker who clocked out the moment the devil was killed.

"She doesn’t seem to have any physical injuries, but mentally, she seems pretty badly shaken. Why don’t you head back first, Hayakawa?"

"Yeah. Be careful."

After saying that, Aki Hayakawa left directly.

Kotone Asaba stayed behind instead. After thinking for a moment, he said to Kobeni Higashiyama, "Hmm... Let’s go eat something good. That should help ease the shock from earlier."

"Huh?... Eat something good? Um... I don’t have any money on me..."

Although Kobeni Higashiyama’s greatest hobby was eating delicious food, she had no money on her at all and could not afford anything.

"Of course I’m treating you. Just tell me whatever you want to eat."

"Huh? But I can’t just..."

Kobeni Higashiyama felt too embarrassed to accept.

"It’s fine. Just think of it as part of my job."

"O-okay!"

In the end, Kobeni Higashiyama could not resist the temptation of delicious food. She picked up a book from the floor, placed it back on the nearby shelf, then picked up her schoolbag and left together with Kotone Asaba.

"By the way, judging by your uniform, you’re a student at Chiba Rissei High School, right?"

Kotone Asaba was knowingly asking, but it was also to start a conversation.

Kobeni Higashiyama nodded. "Mm-hmm... I was just reading here earlier, and then a devil suddenly appeared..."

"I see."

Kotone Asaba responded.

It was already past five in the afternoon, which was indeed around the time high school let out. Kobeni Higashiyama had probably used the short period between school ending and going home to come to the library and read for free.

When they walked out of the library, the police had already sealed off the area outside, preventing uninformed people from approaching and also preventing the devil from escaping the library.

These police officers had probably just arrived after Aki Hayakawa left, and they did not know that the Bookshelf Devil inside had already been dealt with.

"I’m the Devil Hunter responsible for this mission. The Bookshelf Devil has already been successfully eliminated."

Kotone Asaba showed his ID and briefly explained the situation to the police.

"It’s already been eliminated? Thank you for your hard work."

After Kotone Asaba and Kobeni Higashiyama walked away, the police prepared to enter the library and handle the scene.

"That Devil Hunter just now looked like a high school student, but who would’ve thought he was that strong? We only just received the report and rushed over, but the Bookshelf Devil had already been dealt with by him."

"With efficiency that fast, there shouldn’t be too many serious casualties at the scene. I just hope no one died this time..."

"There really are more and more impressive young people these days. I heard there’s another one named Aki Hayakawa who’s also very strong."

The police talked as they entered the library.

Just now, only Kobeni Higashiyama had been attacked by the Bookshelf Devil. Everyone else had been injured from falling while escaping or from being trampled in the chaos, but in any case, the fact that no one had died was a good thing.

At this moment, Kotone Asaba, Pochita, and Kobeni Higashiyama were walking down the street. Kobeni Higashiyama looked somewhat distracted, clearly still frightened by the fact that she had been attacked by the Bookshelf Devil.

Kotone Asaba noticed how she looked as well. There was nothing he could do about it. Kobeni was just like this. She was clearly very strong, but her personality was too timid and fragile.

Just then, he saw a large truck not far ahead that specialized in selling ice cream.

He immediately remembered that Kobeni Higashiyama really liked eating ice cream.

"I’ll treat you to ice cream."

The moment she heard the words "ice cream," Kobeni Higashiyama immediately perked up.

"Huh?! R-really?!"