"This..."
The shop owner was stunned.
This cafe barely made 500,000 Yen in a busy month. Now, someone was offering 800,000 just to book it for a month—and they only needed service for two people. A shop owner would have to be a fool to turn down such an offer: drastically reduced costs with guaranteed high revenue.
"Customer, are you serious?"
"The money is right there. Come and take it."
Arata didn't care about a measly 800,000 Yen. Even if he threw it on the street, it wouldn't hurt his feelings—he was currently sitting on a fortune of billions of dollars, and a massive deal was waiting for him later.
"Yes, yes! Thank you!" The owner slid across the floor, quickly arriving at Table 4. He performed a sincere 90-degree bow before finally daring to pick up the money with both hands. His hands were trembling; he never imagined he'd suddenly become wealthy overnight.
"Reze, you watch the shop today. Take good care of our two most distinguished guests. I'm heading out."
"Goodbye, Boss!" Reze shouted at the retreating owner.
"Master, you're too cool, booking the whole place for a month just like that," Denji said, his eyes filled with envy.
"Now you see the benefits of being rich, don't you?"
"Your Master is so rich. Denji, you must be pretty wealthy too, right?" Reze asked.
"I'm someone who never even finished school—how could I have money?"
"Denji-kun, you never went to school?" Reze looked surprised.
"Yeah, what's so weird about that?" Denji could sense the tone in her question.
"Not even elementary school?" Reze looked at him with strange eyes.
"Nope. Never."
"Have you ever read a book?"
"Of course I have! I usually read them at night, and I never skip a single illustration."
"That is strange. Being this old and never having gone to school."
"I haven't gone to school, but I have a job, alright? Besides, where's my ice cream?"
"I'm sorry, my 'never-went-to-school' guest, wait a moment, I'll go get it for you."
"Hey, why did you have to add that phrase?!" Denji shouted, his expression turning a bit dejected.
Arata patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll sponsor both of you to go to school."
"Ah, why do I have to go to school with her?"
"You're going to sponsor both of us?" Reze, who was holding three ice creams, overheard Arata's comment from the counter. She hurried over, handed each of them an ice cream, and sat down next to Denji to eat hers.
"What do you think? Do you want to go to school?"
"I want to, but I have to work."
"Denji-kun, what kind of work do you do?"
When work was mentioned, Denji couldn't help but feel a hint of pride. "Public Safety Devil Hunter!"
"What!! You actually do that kind of work?"
"Even though I never went to school, I'm very capable." Denji patted his chest, his confidence soaring the moment his hand brushed against the starter cord on his heart.
Ding-a-ling~
Right in the middle of their conversation, Arata's phone rang. It was Himeno.
"Hello, Himeno-senpai. Are you calling to ask when we're reporting back?"
"No, Arata, get over here fast. The ramen shop owner has appeared!" Himeno's voice on the other end was urgent.
"The ramen shop owner?"
"The same owner of that ramen shop where you first discovered the headless skeleton!"
"Where is he?"
"Tokyo Subway, Ginza Line."
"Got it. On my way."
Arata hung up immediately and stood up.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"Let's go. A mission just came in. It'll be a good chance for you to practice your chainsaw."
"Are you leaving? Denji-kun, you haven't finished your ice cream yet."
"You eat it. I have to go to work now." Denji straightened his collar, looking like a man about to do something important.
The two rushed out of the cafe. Reze, ice cream in hand, followed them to the door and waved at the departing car. Once they were gone, she went back inside, took out a textbook, and began studying while eating her ice cream.
"Master, what's the mission this time?"
"The 'Apple Case' that's been cold for a while."
"Apples again? How many people died?"
"No one died this time, but a key figure in the case has appeared. Don't kill him later—just knock him unconscious."
"Got it."
They quickly arrived at the subway station. Many people were rushing out, running in the opposite direction of the danger. They pushed through the crowd and found Himeno lying not far away.
"Himeno-senpai, why are you sleeping here?"
"Arata, stop joking. That ramen shop owner suddenly turned into a devil and attacked Aki and me." Himeno gritted her teeth. Her arms and chest were pierced with leaves; if it weren't for the sturdy armor on her chest, they would have pierced her heart.
"Why didn't you call me when you moved in? What if you'd been sliced?" Arata said, annoyed.
"We thought it was just a fugitive. We didn't expect his strength to exceed what Aki and I could handle."
"Where's Aki?"
"Up ahead. Hurry up and get over there."
"I'll take care of Himeno. Denji, go help Aki. A 'Coriander Devil' should be easy to deal with."
"No problem. I'm off!" Denji turned and left.
Arata stayed behind to bandage Himeno's wounds before running ahead. Not far away, he saw a green monster using several vine-like whips to lash at Aki Hayakawa. It looked remarkably like a giant, oversized Bulbasaur.
Aki, currently fighting the Coriander Devil, possessed the ability of the Future Devil. He could predict all of the Coriander Devil's attacks in advance, which meant not a single vine had managed to land a hit on him.
Seeing the whips were ineffective, the green monster launched a "Razor Leaf" attack from its body. Although Aki could predict the trajectory of every leaf, there were simply too many, and his body couldn't react fast enough. He was struck by several coriander leaves.
"Aki, I'm here!" Denji ran forward, pulling his starter cord. Accompanied by the roar of the chainsaw, he dove in front of Aki.
"Be careful, Denji! The Coriander Devil is very strong right now!" Aki pulled the leaves out of his body.
"Isn't the Coriander Devil supposed to be weak?"
"Himeno and I thought so too, but after it ate several apples, its size suddenly surged."
"Then leave this guy to me."
Denji sprinted toward the Coriander Devil.
Vroom vroom vroom!!
The roaring chainsaw plunged into the Coriander Devil's body. Huge piles of coriander leaves fell to the ground.
"GET AWAY!!!"
"IT HURTS!!"
The Coriander Devil roared. More Razor Leaves burst out from its body. Even though they were just leaves, they were as sharp as blades and as hard as iron. They even pierced the ground and stone pillars. Nearby trash cans were shredded into scraps of iron.
Blocking the Razor Leaves at close range, Denji's body was already covered in a dozen bloody gashes, with several leaves embedded in his torso.
"GET AWAY!!"
After using its Razor Leaf attack to force Denji back, the Coriander Devil swung seven or eight vines in an attack. It was the movement of those vines that suddenly gave Denji an idea.
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