Yuuma entered the bookstore after I opened the door for her.
The sound of a bell above the door echoed through the quiet room, drawing the attention of everyone inside.
At first glance through the window, the store appeared to be empty, except for an elderly woman sitting behind the counter, focused on a small portable television. She was watching a cooking show, completely oblivious to our entrance. However, something caught my attention in my peripheral vision: a hooded figure was standing near the cash register, apparently examining the books on one of the nearby shelves.
As soon as the bell rang, the figure turned slightly in our direction without revealing their face. They remained motionless for a moment before slowly walking away from the counter.
The shop owner, on the other hand, noticed us immediately after the noise.
"Oh, Nishihara-kun, you again!" exclaimed the lady in a voice full of enthusiasm. "You're starting to make this a habit, huh? Who's the pretty girl you brought with you? Hmm… Don't tell me—"
"She's just a friend, Tanaka-san. Let's not jump to conclusions, okay?"
"Ah, I see, I see..." The lady gave a little laugh that made it clear she didn't believe it for a second.
"Well, I'm glad you're making friends."
Yuuma let out a low laugh and looked at me. "So it was true, huh? I'm not your only friend. You even have this nice lady."
I rolled my eyes and was about to respond, but the doorbell rang again. When I glanced back, the hooded figure from before was gone. A chill ran down my spine. That person had a strange presence. There was something about them that I could sense even without using Hades' Blessing.
"Something wrong?" Yuuma asked, noticing my distraction.
"No, I just thought I knew someone," I lied. "It must be my imagination."
Returning to the counter, Tanaka-san was now standing, adjusting her glasses to get a better look at us. "Well, young folks, make yourselves comfortable. If you need anything, just call me. This is your home."
"Thank you," Yuuma said in a surprisingly polite tone. It might have been part of her act.
As Yuuma began to explore the shelves, I turned to her and said, "Pick something you like. I'll get us something to drink. There's a machine on the street behind us that has the best hot chocolate in town."
"You're abandoning me in the middle of our date to get hot chocolate?" she asked with feigned indignation.
"It's an investment in the future of our date. Trust me, you'll like it," I replied, smiling.
She opened her mouth to say something else, but I was already walking away, waving over my shoulder as I exited. The bell rang once more as the door closed behind me.
The back street was poorly lit, but I knew the way to the drink machine well. What I had said earlier was only partially true. The old Akihiro Nishihara loved to read in this bookstore with hot chocolate from the machine I mentioned.
When I turned the corner, I found the machine exactly where I expected it to be. I put in some coins and chose a hot chocolate for myself and one for Yuuma. While waiting for the drinks to be served, I heard footsteps behind me.
"KHEHE... Well, I didn't imagine there were still such uninformed people in this part of town," said a venomous male voice.
I turned my head just enough to look over my shoulder and saw the same hooded person from before. My instincts almost made me smirk — my earlier hunch about the guy at the bookstore had been correct. Now that I was using Hades' Blessing, I was sure that he was not only a supernatural being, but also a devil—a Stray Devil, to be more exact.
"Uninformed?" I asked as I slowly turned toward the stray devil. "Are you talking about the various disappearances that have occurred in this area over the past few weeks? Yeah... Tanaka-san, the owner of the bookstore you were targeting, told me about it last week."
The stray devil's forehead furrowed and one eyebrow arched. "Ahh~ So you're not uninformed. You're just stupid for coming here even though you knew that... Too bad, because you found the reason for all the—"
BAAAM!
A sudden punch hit the stray devil's stomach before he could finish speaking, causing the hood covering his face to fly off as he spat out all the saliva in his mouth.
The impact of my punch also sent the stray devil flying backward, so he rolled across the concrete floor before crashing into a pile of old boxes.
As he groaned in pain, he looked more like a punk from a horror movie. His face and ears were covered in piercings, and he had sharp teeth and pale skin that would make Robert Pattinson jealous.
"Oh, how strange... I swore that using the Stygian Flame like this would work," I said aloud as I looked at my right fist, which was literally surrounded by a red flame.
It was then that a new system screen appeared with a warning:
[The current power of 'Level 1 Stygian Flame' is still too low to burn sinners alive. You must kill the sinners for 'Level 1 Stygian Flame' to consume them.]
"Ah... Now it makes sense why it didn't work," I muttered, placing one hand on my chin.
Meanwhile, the stray devil slowly got up, brushing off the dirt from his black coat with a pained expression.
"You made a big mistake, kid. That punch was pretty good, but it doesn't matter what you are. You think you can defeat me alone just because you hit me once? I am a devil who has consumed more than 33 humans!"
The stray devil's aura began to change, becoming heavier and darker. Horns sprouted from his forehead, his nails lengthened into knife-like claws, and his size increased.
I was scratching the inside of my ear with my pinky finger and smiled. "Sorry to disappoint you, but... did you say 'defeat'? No, I'm not going to do that."
"Of course not, because—"
"I'm actually going to kill you. Just defeating you isn't enough for me."
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