Chapter 172: "Mana Replenishment"
"It really takes a heavy toll on you to summon the Falling Devil. I suppose I was a bit too casual with it—so, what kind of compensation do you want?"
Otonashi Chiya asked straight to the point.
"For the foreseeable future, you're treating me to meals. I want to eat my fill every single day."
Kiga's demand sounded remarkably down-to-earth, though the average person certainly couldn't afford to foot that bill.
Fortunately, Otonashi Chiya's wealth was virtually bottomless, making it easy enough for him to support this super-sized glutton.
"No problem, eat as much as you want, whatever you want."
Otonashi Chiya agreed offhandedly.
Naturally, he had no intention of cooking for Kiga himself; treating her at high-end restaurants was much safer, as Kiga's appetite alone would work him to death in the kitchen.
"Speaking of which, just how severe is your depletion? I recall devils needing to drink human blood to recover quickly, don't they?"
At that, Otonashi Chiya raised a question.
Evidently because she had been addressed as "Kiga" once more, Kiga instantly fell silent, acting as if she hadn't heard a single word.
Realizing the source of the issue immediately, Otonashi Chiya corrected himself: "Little Famine (Kiga-chan)."
Kiga responded with completely natural promptness: "In theory, yes, but are you actually willing to let me have a sip?"
"Though honestly, I find the blood of neither humans nor devils particularly tasty—it's far inferior to the flavor of things like cola, milk tea, or fruit juice. So it doesn't really matter to me if you're unwilling."
Kiga spoke in a thoroughly flat tone devoid of emotion.
"It's no trouble at all, go ahead."
Otonashi Chiya casually extended his forearm toward Kiga.
Considering that summoning the Falling Devil had severely taxed Kiga, letting her drink a mouthful or two of blood to accelerate her recovery was a fair form of compensation. Moreover, a mouthful or two had virtually zero negative impact on his immensely robust constitution.
Since an opportunity to rapidly recover her lost power presented itself, Kiga naturally had zero reason to refuse.
Disregarding whether it tasted good or not, she figured she might as well take a gulp to regain her strength first.
Kiga sank her canine teeth directly into Otonashi Chiya's forearm, keeping her bite relatively gentle without tearing a massive wound.
"Hurry it up, or my wound is going to auto-heal in a second."
Otonashi Chiya reminded her.
Because his "vitality and blood" stats were currently so astronomically high, such minor surface wounds closed up almost instantaneously, and he wasn't particularly fond of the sensation of being bitten repeatedly.
The moment she took a single sip, however, Kiga's eyes widened, her pupils trembling slightly.
Otonashi Chiya's blood was nothing like the foul-tasting human blood she remembered; on the contrary, for reasons unknown, it was exceptionally delicious!
Kiga couldn't help but greedily take a deep, heavy gulp.
She had originally assumed human blood tasted dreadful, only for the reality to deliver an instant, undeniable true-to-form turnaround.
For Otonashi Chiya, this barely registered as any sensation at all, though the Wrath Devil residing within him wasn't particularly thrilled.
Scarlet suddenly felt a spike of jealousy seeing Kiga blatantly indulging in Otonashi Chiya's blood like this—and drinking such a large quantity all at once, unlike her, who only ever dared to sneak tiny sips in secret.
The blood coursing through Otonashi Chiya's veins was overwhelmingly delicious, which was a primary reason Scarlet stubbornly refused to ever leave his body.
Though the wound on Otonashi Chiya's forearm healed itself within mere seconds, Kiga had already managed to swallow two large mouthfuls.
"That should be about enough, right? You're not planning to take another bite out of me, are you?"
Otonashi Chiya remarked.
"Mmh..."
Thanks to Otonashi Chiya's blood, Kiga not only recovered her lost power at a rapid pace, but even grew noticeably stronger than she had been before.
"She's a visitor who came to see me about some matters, nothing to worry about."
Otonashi Chiya casually bypassed Reze's probing question, not wanting to dive into the particulars of his contract with the Famine Devil right in the middle of a crowded school shelter.
Reze narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly not entirely convinced by the brief explanation. Her gaze lingered on Kiga for a moment longer, picking up on that subtle, uncanny aura that separated non-humans from ordinary mortals, but she chose not to press further. Given how much chaos had just unfolded outside, an eccentric visitor was practically the least of their concerns.
"Fair enough," Reze said, crossing her arms. "The kids are starting to calm down, and the teachers are organizing some food distribution. The perimeter is still completely locked down by the Association, though."
"Keep it that way for now," Otonashi Chiya replied, looking over the rows of students sitting along the shelter floor.
The immediate crisis triggered by the Devil Church had been comprehensively stamped out, its core leadership and invading vanguard fed entirely to a diner in Hell by a Primal Devil. The grand scheme to derail the universalization program had collapsed into an unmitigated disaster for the cult. Yet, the bureaucratic ripples of such an event—involving high-ranking devil intervention, an active deployment of official and private hunters, and massive public disturbances—meant the upper echelons of the Devil Hunter Association would be tied up in administrative and security protocols for days.
Kiga stood quietly beside Otonashi Chiya, completely indifferent to the shelter's occupants or Reze's scrutinizing gaze. Having secured a reliable, renewable source of top-tier replenishment—and a lifelong dining pass funded by her contractor—she looked rather content, her head tilting slightly to the side as her balance-defying earrings caught the shelter's fluorescent lights.
"Well," Kiga murmured softly, just loud enough for Otonashi Chiya to catch, "since the trouble is over, when does the compensation dining session start?"
Otonashi Chiya let out an amused breath. Even in the middle of a disaster zone cleanup, this gluttonous horseman's priorities remained entirely unaltered.
"Once we're officially off duty," he answered quietly.