New Novel
Chapter 4: A Dangerous Woman

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: A Dangerous Woman

"She’s my partner. I’ll keep an eye on her."

With that, Kotone Asaba tossed the Field Mouse Devil’s head out of the Kamui dimension.

Because it all happened in the blink of an eye, the spatial vortex created when he opened the entrance to the Kamui dimension vanished almost instantly. Hardly anyone noticed the distortion in space itself, they only saw a huge Devil head appear out of nowhere.

A lot of people in the hall were startled on the spot, especially the receptionist standing closest to it. The bloody severed head suddenly appearing right in front of her made her scream in terror.

"Eek, aaahhh...!"

"..."

Kotone Asaba was a little speechless. "Relax. I just want to register as a private Devil Hunter."

A female receptionist who looked close to thirty, someone clearly steadier and more experienced, pulled the frightened newcomer behind her. "My apologies, sir. Please forgive her, she only started recently and still isn’t used to Devil corpses."

"It’s fine. That was partly my fault too."

Kotone Asaba had thrown the Devil’s head out of the Kamui dimension so suddenly that it was only natural for people to get scared.

"In that case, you’d like to register as a private Devil Hunter, correct? Our guild will keep this Devil head as both proof of qualification and your membership fee. If that’s acceptable, then please provide your name and contact information."

"That’s acceptable. My name is Kotone Asaba. As for contact information, I don’t have any at the moment."

"You don’t have any for now? That’s fine, you can come back and add it later. Please wait here a moment."

The receptionist immediately called someone over to carry away the Field Mouse Devil’s head, then left with them.

Kotone Asaba glanced around, spotted an empty seat, and headed over to sit down while he waited.

Pochita followed along, then jumped onto the sofa chair beside him.

Kotone poured two cups of tea, one for himself and one for Pochita, then fed Pochita a few snacks.

There was free tea and free snacks on the table, but only for private Devil Hunters.

Even though Kotone Asaba had not finished registering yet, he had already met the prerequisite for becoming a private Devil Hunter, successfully killing any Devil.

At this point, he was only waiting for the staff to finish the paperwork, so no one came over to stop him from enjoying the freebies.

Watching Pochita happily munch away, Kotone Asaba could not help thinking that it was a shame Denji was not here. Denji would definitely love these snacks.

Denji was probably still sitting at home hungry right now, so Kotone planned to ask where the black market was as soon as his registration was done, sell the Field Mouse Devil corpse from his Kamui dimension there, and then take Denji to get something to eat.

"Hey, little guy, interested in teaming up with me?"

At that moment, a heavily made-up young woman in revealing clothes walked over to Kotone Asaba and sat down across from him.

Devil Hunters usually looked for partners, two- or three-person teams that worked together. On the surface, what this woman was doing looked perfectly normal, but in truth, she had other motives.

"That woman’s picking a new target again, huh? Didn’t she just seduce some young guy yesterday... did she already finish with him?"

"That kid probably got every last yen on him swindled away. She might’ve even killed him to cover it up."

"Tsk, tsk... poor bastard. Getting singled out by her like that."

"..."

Quite a few people nearby started whispering among themselves.

Those of them who had been private Devil Hunters for a while stayed as far away from this woman, Keiko Matsuno, as they could.

She had a particular hobby, she liked luring people in, draining them of all their money, and then brutally killing them.

It was not because she needed money or anything like that. She simply enjoyed the process. That was why they called it a special hobby.

She specifically targeted rookie Devil Hunters and young people with little real-world experience. That strange-eyed boy happened to fit both conditions perfectly, so naturally she had set her sights on him.

Even though what Keiko Matsuno did was cruel and twisted, no one dared meddle in her business. At most, they only dared whisper about it in private.

That was because Keiko Matsuno had close ties to the local yakuza boss. The police could do nothing to her, and the Devil Hunters did not dare make enemies of that gang.

That yakuza syndicate’s sphere of influence was not limited to this little town. It had long since spread throughout Tokyo and was considered one of the most notorious major crime groups in all of Japan.

Kotone Asaba did not hear those whispers from the surrounding people, they were simply too quiet.

Even so, he could still tell there was something off about this woman.

He gave Keiko Matsuno, sitting across from him, a flat look, then took a sip of tea. "Sorry, I’m not interested."

"Is that so... what a shame. Looks like I’ll have to spend another lonely night all by myself~"

Keiko Matsuno put on a disappointed expression, then stood up and walked away with a seductive sway in her hips.

She could tell this kid was highly cautious, and since he had not fallen for it right away, she decisively gave up and went looking for her next target.

Not long after Keiko Matsuno left, a bald man came over and placed one hand on the sofa Kotone Asaba was sitting on. "You’ve got good instincts, kid. Good thing you didn’t fall for that woman, or you’d be in deep trouble."

"Oh? Is she that dangerous?"

Kotone Asaba asked casually.

"Of course she is. More importantly, she’s got the yakuza backing her. As long as she doesn’t cause some major incident that gets too much attention, she can pretty much do whatever she wants and nobody can stop her."

"Yakuza?"

That seemed to pique Kotone Asaba’s interest. "Is the boss of that gang named Hamano?"

"Huh...? Yeah, that’s right."

The bald man looked a little surprised. He had not expected this kid to know that much.

Kotone Asaba gave a faint nod, as though he had already settled on some kind of plan.

He stood up at once and went after the woman who had just left.

"Woof!"

Pochita immediately hopped off the sofa and followed him.

The bald man just stared in bewilderment. He had already told this kid how dangerous Keiko Matsuno was, so why was he chasing after her instead?

When Keiko Matsuno noticed Kotone Asaba following her, she frowned slightly. She had no interest in wasting time on someone who was no longer her target. "Did you need something else, kid?"

"Weren’t you saying you’d be lonely tonight? I think I can help with that."

Kotone Asaba smiled.

"Sure~"

Keiko Matsuno’s brow immediately relaxed, and her interest in Kotone Asaba returned.

A moment ago, she had thought this kid was highly alert, but it turned out he was just another horny little fool, and those were exactly the kind she liked to toy with.