Pov Narrator.
"Shouldn't there be someone here to receive me or, at the very least, some sign of someone waiting for a Devil Hunter to arrive?" Isagi raised an eyebrow upon noticing how quiet the place was.
It was far too peaceful. There were no voices, vehicles, or even footsteps to be heard. He could only hear the sound of the wind and the farm animals. Isagi entered the place by jumping over the fence. The animals seemed to be fine, but there was no one watching over them or taking care of them. This made Isagi frown slightly.
"This place is way too quiet..." He continued walking a few more meters until a familiar metallic smell reached his nose. "This smell... I've smelled it so many times that it's become familiar to me." He said as his expression changed slightly.
Without wasting any more time, he quickened his pace toward the barn, which was precisely where the smell was coming from. The closer he got, the stronger it became. Finally, he arrived in front of the door. Isagi placed a hand on it and opened it. The light from outside suddenly flooded into the dark barn.
The floor was stained with blood. A devil's corpse lay to one side, completely motionless, but that wasn't what caught Isagi's attention the most.
His eyes slowly moved around the place. There was someone else there. A figure was sitting on the floor.
There, sitting near the corpse with her hands covered in blood, was an adorable young girl of average height. She had straight black hair, while her eyes were mismatched, one a bluish-gray color. The girl maintained a dejected expression, her gaze distant and her body slightly hunched over.
"(Did she kill the devil all by herself?)" Isagi thought with slight surprise, since the young girl in front of him didn't look physically strong.
Based on her appearance, she definitely didn't seem like someone capable of facing a devil on her own. When she noticed the light entering the barn and saw Isagi standing in the doorway, she slowly raised her gaze. Her eyes were expressionless. Empty. As if she barely had any emotions.
"Hey, girl, did you kill the devil?" Isagi asked as he took a step toward her to check if she was okay.
The young girl didn't answer immediately. She simply maintained that empty gaze on Isagi.
"There's still one left, sir." That was all she said.
A creaking sound coming from behind Isagi broke the silence. Isagi's eyes widened slightly. He didn't need to hear anything else. A grasshopper-like figure, slightly larger than an adult, appeared behind him. It had four arms, bulging eyes, and an enormous mouth full of teeth.
However, a small black butterfly was already fluttering around Isagi. For an instant, Isagi observed the insect. In the next instant, he turned around and drew Magatsumi. The blade cut through the air with a clean motion. The small black butterfly immediately turned into a flying slash that shot forward, cutting through space itself. The attack didn't travel any distance; it was as if it had appeared directly on top of the devil.
The slash cut through the devil before it could even react. There was no time for it to scream. No time for it to raise one of its arms. The attack simply passed through it. For a brief second, reality itself seemed to have been split apart by that slash.
The devil remained motionless. And then, its body began to separate.
"Ssss, motherfucker... I think I went a little overboard." Isagi watched what had happened in horror.
He hadn't just killed the devil. He had destroyed almost the entire farm. The slash had extended much farther than Isagi had imagined. Butterfly's range was far greater than he had calculated, and it was also quite difficult to aim.
His original intention had been simple. He wanted to blow the devil's head off. But instead, he ended up splitting it in two and, on top of that, destroying everything behind it. Isagi swallowed nervously as he observed the damage.
It was difficult to aim because the slash didn't work like a normal attack. Butterfly cut through space itself, practically ignoring the concept of distance. Instead of traveling through the space between Isagi and his target, the slash appeared directly at the location he had pointed toward.
The problem was that he still didn't know how to precisely control where that slash ended.
"This attack is way too powerful..." Isagi muttered. His hands trembled slightly from the adrenaline as he contemplated the disaster he had caused with his first serious attempt at using the dimensional slash.
He had completely underestimated the ability. Isagi stared at Magatsumi for a few seconds. Then he made a mental note. Never use Butterfly on instinct alone again. First, he had to learn how to aim properly. Because if that slash went off course in the same way again, next time he could end up cutting something much more important.
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"So, what are you going to do now?" Isagi asked, sitting calmly outside what remained of the farm, on the low stone wall that was still standing.
Beside him, the young girl who had told him her name was Osaragi was calmly eating something Isagi had given her. The place was unrecognizable. What had once been a farm now looked more like an area that had survived a natural disaster.
"Are you a god, sir? Did you come for me because I killed a devil?"
"What do you mean, sir? Where did you see my mustache or gray hair?" Isagi said with boredom, since he didn't like being called sir. "Nah, I'm not a god. I'm just a guy who kills devils for rewards, too."
"Oh, that's too bad."
Osaragi took another bite of her croquette. She didn't seem upset or have any intention of complaining about the destruction of the farm. She simply hunched forward a little and continued eating in complete peace, as if she hadn't just witnessed a slash capable of splitting space itself.
Isagi, for his part, remained seated, thinking about what to do with the girl. He thought she was weird. She was quite expressionless and somewhat childish in a way, since instead of getting scared after seeing the dimensional slash or worrying about the destruction of the farm, the first thing she had done was look for something to eat.
"Do you have any other family? I could take you to them if you want." Isagi suggested, trying to find a way to get rid of her and leave her somewhere safe.
"Mmm, no. It was just my parents and me." Osaragi replied, lowering her gaze a little... only to finish her croquette.
"You've got to be kidding me." Isagi pinched the bridge of his nose. He had destroyed the only place where that girl could stay. And now, based on what she had just said, she didn't have parents either.
"No, I'm not... I've always been stronger than everyone else. Ever since I was little, I used to break my toys." Osaragi said quietly. "Working in the fields was easy for me, and I felt like it wasn't for me..." Osaragi slowly raised her gaze toward Isagi. Her expression remained practically the same, but there was something different in her eyes. "Can I go with you, Mr. Isagi?"
Isagi blinked.
"What?"
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"Why did I even agree to this in the first place?" Isagi wondered as he pensively tapped his fingers against the table.
He didn't know when he had started becoming soft. Normally, he wouldn't help anyone without receiving some kind of reward from the system. If there were no benefits, why bother? And now here he was, with Osaragi sitting calmly on the sofa in his living room, wearing a simple black dress.
"Mr. Isagi."
"What?" Isagi asked, snapping out of his thoughts to see what she wanted now.
"I don't have any clothes."
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME! WHY ARE YOU ONLY TELLING ME THIS NOW, AFTER WE'VE ALREADY LEFT YOUR FARM?!" Isagi's eye twitched slightly.
He had agreed to bring her with him because he had felt a tiny bit sorry for her. The girl had been left homeless and, as far as he knew, she didn't have any relatives she could turn to either. But one thing was giving her a place to stay, and another completely different thing was discovering new responsibilities every five minutes.
Was this how mothers felt when their children showed up at three in the morning asking for help with a solar system model they had to turn in the next day?
"Because you didn't ask me. It's your fault." Osaragi pointed at Isagi, blaming him with impressive calmness while maintaining that same expressionless little face.
Isagi stared at her. The girl didn't even seem to understand the seriousness of what she had just said.
"I don't know why I agreed to take you in. I can barely take care of myself." Isagi sighed, sinking a little deeper into his seat. "Fine, we'll go buy you some clothes later. This hurts my wallet, since I only spend money on my eggs and creatine."
Osaragi didn't answer. She simply stared at him, observing him with those bluish-gray eyes that seemed to analyze him in silence. When Isagi was at home, he had gone back to his original hairstyle. Osaragi tilted her head slightly.
"(He looks like a sea urchin. Is that natural?)"
And there it was. Another one of those completely trivial thoughts that tended to pop into Osaragi's mind as she observed the people around her. She didn't say it out loud, of course.
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A few minutes later...
Showing off his infinite humility, since he remembered the Beast and his teachings about humility, Isagi decided to take Osaragi to the shopping mall so she could choose some clothes to wear.
Isagi still hadn't tested how strong she was, but if she had defeated a devil with her bare hands, then she must have considerable physical strength. After all, not just anyone could face those creatures and emerge victorious without using weapons or devil contracts.
Currently, Isagi was sitting down, waiting for her to finish trying on something she had chosen herself. Since he had gone to the most magical place in that shopping mall for a while —the gym—, he hadn't seen what clothes Osaragi had picked out.
When he heard the fitting room door open, Isagi raised an eyebrow and looked up.
"Are you going to a funeral or what? I didn't know you were edgy." Isagi commented, interlocking his hands as he stared at Osaragi.
She was now wearing a dark blue dress with brown floral mesh sleeves, a transparent veil over her head, and black shoes. Altogether, her appearance strongly resembled that of someone attending a funeral.
Isagi examined her from head to toe for a few seconds, trying to find an explanation for such a peculiar choice.
"Didn't you have something that screamed 'I'm in mourning' a little less?"
Osaragi tilted her head slightly, showing no reaction to his words.
"Well, I was thinking about something." She paused briefly before continuing. "Devils kill people, and we're going to kill devils, right? Wherever we go, there will be death, and people suffering from the loss of those people. I feel like, in a world like this, we'll see a lot of that."
Isagi's slight smile faded as he listened to her words. The explanation was quite simple, but it also made sense. Death would always be present. Both the deaths of devils and those of people who weren't strong enough to survive their attacks.
"I see. So, your clothing has a meaning related to what is about to surround you. How profound." Isagi nodded, genuinely impressed. Even he hadn't thought of something like that. "Well, if that's what you want to wear, I'm fine with it. Although, if someone asks you if you're going to a funeral, don't blame me."
Osaragi remained expressionless.
"Understood, Mr. Isagi."
"And stop calling me mister."
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After leaving the clothing section, both Isagi and Osaragi walked through the shopping mall corridors, blending in among the people moving from one establishment to another.
Isagi yawned, putting his hands in his pockets as he walked beside her. Having a partner hadn't been part of his plans. In fact, he had never imagined taking in a girl who had become homeless, much less agreeing to let her accompany him in his work.
He had only gone to complete a mission, ended up destroying a farm, and for some reason, now he had to take responsibility for another person. As he walked, Isagi began thinking about how to test Osaragi's abilities.
The best option would be to pit her against a devil that wasn't too strong, just to get a general idea of her physical level and see how well she could handle herself in combat.
He had no idea how to make her stronger, but he would figure something out. Maybe later, he would obtain some ability that allowed him to grant powers to other people or something like that.
"Mr. Isagi, do you think we could get something to eat before the first mission?" Osaragi pointed toward the food section on the left, maintaining her usual expressionless look.
Isagi followed the direction of her finger and looked at the establishments. Then he shrugged.
"Sure, why not? But there won't be any salary. I'll pay you with work experience. You'll learn from the highest-quality hard worker." Isagi snapped his fingers, feeling very confident in himself as he walked alongside her toward the food court.
He walked as if he were about to give a masterclass on the art of hunting devils, rather than going to buy something to eat. It almost seemed like he was forgetting one little detail. That the Public Safety higher-ups still wanted to kill him.
But well, perhaps all that confidence had gone to his head after experiencing a little of Magatsumi's power.
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End of the Chapter.