Outside the ramen shop, Asa and Himeno waited quietly with the injured man.
The middle‑aged man looked uneasy, his eyes full of anxiety.
Asa looked calm on the surface, but inside she was a bit flustered. If Cael didn't come out in another five minutes, she had decided she'd march in after him herself, no matter what.
Himeno pulled out a cigarette and offered it to the man.
"You want a smoke? Helps take the edge off."
The man waved it off like it was poison. "Officer, will my daughter really be okay?"
Click.
Himeno lit her own cigarette with a spark and exhaled smoke.
"Don't worry," she said, calm but firm. "Whether it's Cael or Kobeni, they're both strong as hell. Everything will work out."
Just then, two blurry figures emerged from deep within the woods.
"There they are."
Asa's vision was better than everyone else's, and at a glance she saw Cael with a little girl on his back and a trembling Kobeni Higashiyama trailing behind.
A bright, charming smile curled on her lips. She stood on her tiptoes and waved.
"Hey! Cael! Over here!"
A moment later, Cael, covered in blood, and Kobeni walked up to the three of them.
Asa rushed forward, eyes wide. "So much blood. Are you hurt?"
Cael shook his head, brushing off the concern with a shrug.
"Asa, I'm fine."
He gently set the weak little girl down and handed her to her father.
"Daddy, the devil was so scary…" the little girl mumbled, exhausted.
The man hugged his daughter tightly, tears streaming.
"She's okay, just weak. You two should get her to a doctor right now."
The man bent forward with a thud and knelt before Cael, panic in his eyes. Then he pulled out his wallet and dumped all the change and cards out of it.
"Please, thank you so much! This card has 500,000 Yen on it, my savings from two years. Please take it, the PIN—"
"Whoa, whoa, no," Cael said quickly, pushing the card back at him. "I swear, I don't need your money."
He lifted a hand dismissively.
"I'm a part‑time Public Safety Devil Hunter."
"Are you trying to bribe an official here?"
"And besides, my superior's right here. It's not appropriate at all."
Cael wasn't hurting for cash. With his skills, handling just a few funerals earned way more than 500,000 Yen.
But poor Kobeni's eyes were still locked on the cards… 500,000 Yen was exactly the kind of money her bank account didn't have. And logically, beating a Muscle Devil should lead to a bonus.
But… she hadn't actually helped that much.
"Akai?" Himeno leaned in beside her.
"Ah, yes!" Kobeni responded, startled.
Himeno expertly peeled off Kobeni's uniform top and examined it.
"There's a ton of blood on this. That looked intense. You okay anywhere?"
"No… uh… it's all devil blood," Kobeni stuttered.
Intense?
Cutting a devil to meat paste with a knife wasn't exactly heart‑pounding heroic fun, but Himeno didn't need to know that.
After more thanks, the father and daughter drove off toward the doctor.
Cael peeled off his blood‑soaked jacket and used Dark Vortex to absorb the more noticeable stains. Everything else would get washed later.
Cael clapped his hands once.
"Trouble's handled. Asa and I have things to do, so we'll head out. See you later, Senior Himeno, Little Akai."
Himeno let out a sigh as he walked away.
"Cael, you should write an after‑action report. You can trade that in for a bonus. I've written them for you before. How about you write one this time?"
Cael waved it off with a casual shrug.
"Let Kobeni write it. She did put in effort this time. I'm not splitting the bonus with her."
"Eh!"
Kobeni was stunned. Wait… he's actually not writing it? What did he mean she put in effort? Was this going to be her money?!
Cael didn't make that decision just because Kobeni looked poor. Far from it.
He could have crushed the Muscle Devil easily because the gap in strength was massive and mechanically he was its natural counter. In reality, Cael had basically been played like a damn fool by that Muscle Devil's weird transformations.
But Kobeni had actually been the first to notice something was off about the little girl. That attention to detail was her strength.
So yeah, Kobeni deserved that bonus.
Watching Cael and Asa walk away, Kobeni couldn't hold it anymore. Tears flooded her face.
If a saint existed in this world, the first example would definitely look like Cael.
Noon.
Hayakawa Aki's Apartment, Third Floor.
Cael held his phone up in front of him.
"Aki sent me the address. This is Hayakawa Aki's place. The cat should be inside. I just don't know if the Blood Fiend she mentioned is home."
Asa stepped forward.
"I'll ring the doorbell."
Ding‑dong, ding‑dong.
Power, who was scrubbing the toilet, looked up at the sound.
The chubby Nyako lay lazily perched on her head.
"It's only noon. Did that Braid Girl skip work again?"
"Haha, so lazy, not diligent like me!"
Clatter!
Power tossed the toilet brush into the sink and carried the cat to the door.
"Stop ringing, stop ringing! I'm coming!"
She sniffed at the peephole before opening.
She'd been scared shitless by Kishibe's killing training before, so now she was extra cautious.
"It's not Braid Girl's scent… and not that old drunkard either…"
Peeking through the peephole, she saw a couple outside.
Tsk, weird humans with no recognizable smell. Did they go to the wrong door?
Might as well scare them off.
Creak!
Power yanked the door open and bellowed, "Humans! This is my home! Get lost, you croissants!"
But to her surprise, the two standing there didn't even flinch.
Asa's eyes immediately locked onto Nyako in Power's arms.
"It's Gurambun!" she cried out happily, grabbing Cael's hand.
Cael offered a faint grin.
"Yeah. Fat little cat. Looks like it recovered well."
"Huh?!"
Power's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"I am a Fiend!" she declared proudly. "A Blood Fiend, you idiots!"
"Yes, fiend is right," Cael said with calm amusement. "Power, don't you remember me?"
Power squinted, trying to place his face.
"Oh!" her eyes lit up. "It's you! Human pretty boy!"
"You're the guy who saved my life during that death match with a devil!"
"What?" Cael blinked.
Power was apparently mixing memories like laundry on wash day.
"Did you come just to thank me, and even bring a woman as an offering?"
"Hahaha, thank you so much!"
Cael: "?"
"Power, don't you remember? Didn't I save you?" he asked.
"Bullshit!" Power shouted back without hesitation. "It was me who pulled you out of that devil's stomach! If not for me, you'd have been digested and turned into a shitty pile of goo long ago!"
Cael just stood there.
Damn, this woman was a certified psycho liar. She could spin some reality that would make the Tooth Fairy jealous.
But why get pissed? She was already that way, might as well just roll with it.
They were here for Nyako, not to solve Power's memory mess.
"Fine, fine, thanks for saving me," Cael said with casual courtesy.
"Power, my friend and I want to see Gurambun. Can I hold her?"
Power narrowed her eyes, teeth showing.
Dammit!
They really did come for Nyako.
Those evil humans might even be planning some kind of cat hotpot or something.
She hid Nyako behind her back.
"No. There's no Gurambun here."
"Nyako is mine."
____
If you'd like to read advance chapters, they're available on my Patreon with a 40% Discount, and 7-days trial before getting charged.
Code: RAMADANPASS
Patreon.com/Zphyr