Dusk fell as Cael took Denji on the last train toward the city outskirts. The trip could have started two hours earlier, but the roads were blocked for reasons no one could explain. Compared to the massive cash they'd made, being late was nothing. After this journey, Cael had not only earned fifty million yen and a tentative position with the Public Safety Devil Extermination Special Division, he had also secured a real solution for Denji's education. Makima had said Cael could freely choose whether to accept devil-hunting jobs going forward. Usually his answer would be, "Hell no." Who the fuck transmigrates to another world just to fight devils full-time? That sounds like something only high school kids should do.
But this was Japan, so Cael felt perfectly justified in slacking the fuck off. Forget saving everyone. Living his own life well was priority number one.
Denji knelt on the seat staring out the window.
Suddenly Cael remembered he hadn't yet allocated the attribute points he'd earned from killing Katana Man. With a thought, the data panel blinked into existence:
[Constitution: 114]
[Agility: 12]
[Luck: 28]
[Charm: 11]
[Unallocated attribute points: 182]
154 points came from killing Katana Man multiple times, and the Fox Devil had thrown in another 28 for free. That was some serious stat income. If he was optimizing for devil form, he definitely would dump into Constitution and Agility. But the other stats had proven useful too. Without a boost to Luck early on, he might never have met Pochita, let alone made it this far.
Cael made a decision.
[Ding! host allocates 72 attribute points to Luck]
[Ding! host allocates 63 attribute points to Constitution]
[Ding! host allocates 38 attribute points to Agility]
[Ding! host allocates 9 attribute points to Charm]
The numbers updated instantly:
[Constitution: 177]
[Agility: 50]
[Luck: 100]
[Charm: 20]
As soon as the points were set, Cael felt more eyes on him inside the train. Damn charm stat.
Then it hit him:
[Ding! host's Luck value has reached 100, and the Dark-Dark Fruit ability has evolved!]
[The 'Dark Water' skill is now upgraded. Any devil touching your body has its abilities nullified. This is a permanent effect until turned off.]
What?!
Cael gawked. Luck actually had a hidden power. This was basically like carrying Sea-Stones. If his Constitution was high enough, and devils couldn't use their abilities around him… close combat would be fucking unstoppable.
Right then Denji poked Cael's leg.
"Cael, look! I found this."
Denji held up a small black notebook. On the cover were three big gold-embossed letters: Student ID.
"Oh, lemme see that," Cael said, taking it.
"Tokyo Fourth Higher Academy?" Cael read the name near the logo.
He tried to open it, but the ID card inside was glued shut. A sticky red blotch peeked out from the edges.
Denji sniffed it and frowned. "It's chewing gum. Gross…"
"Looks like a lot of it too."
Cael tried prying it apart, but it was stuck tight. He didn't want the ID to break, so he formed tiny dark swirls to absorb the gum from the edges.
Click — it popped open.
Inside was a face and name:
"Asa Mitaka?"
Far from the funeral home, Asa Mitaka sat outside, knees pulled up against her chest. She had her fresh sneakers in hand, still clean and dry.
"Asa," grumbled someone beside her.
"Yoru, I'm not doing anything weird, okay? I'm just gonna return the shoes," Asa protested, bright red face buried in embarrassment.
Yoru, the War Devil possessing her body, quipped back lazily. Calling herself Yoru was something the War Devil chose after reviving in Asa's corpse, keeping Asa alive while using the body to pursue Chainsaw Man. That's how she operated — half devil, half human consciousness sharing one body.
Yoru wasn't thrilled, but she indulged Asa's wish for a moment.
"Fine, whatever makes you feel better."
Asa sniffed, mortified, and wished she could disappear into the ground.
"Trust me, if someone finds them first, I'll look like a total idiot," she muttered.
Because if she lost Cael's personal stuff — and never got his contact info — that connection she barely understood yet already clung to would vanish. And that possibility? Straight up crushing.
Her mind sprinted into fantasies of eating together, walking dates… hell, maybe something more. Her cheeks burned hotter just imagining it.
"You're exhausted," Yoru said, sounding totally unfazed. "I'll give you fifteen more minutes, tops."
"Thanks, Yoru," Asa said meekly.
Just then a chubby tabby strolled by, followed by an elderly woman with a vegetable basket.
Meow~
Asa went to tease the cat, but noticed the old lady behind it so she stopped, awkward.
"Don't mind me, don't mind me…"
She chanted that like a mantra.
But of course…
The old lady, slow but steady, stopped right in front of her. Kind eyes, tiny legs, and a voice that pried instantly.
"You look unfamiliar, little girl."
"Mm," Asa grunted without lifting her head.
"Did someone in your family pass away?" the woman asked.
Always the nosy type.
"Mm."
Asa didn't feel like explaining. Being an orphan, this answer worked just fine.
"Oh dear, that's unfortunate," the woman said, lifting the tabby into her basket. "I heard that the young owner of this Funeral Home got taken away by Public Safety two days ago. Folks 'round here say he isn't coming back."
Asa froze, as if struck by lightning.
"Gunshots? Devils?" Yoru wondered aloud. No, not the Gun Devil but regular firearms — the Funeral Home incident had been chaotic.
"Let's head back, it'll get dark soon," the old woman urged, shuffling off.
Caw—
A crow flapped its wings and took off against the blood-red sunset.
As the old woman vanished, her eyes briefly flickered with cloudy presbyopia, the orange rings fading…
"What? Why did I walk all the way here? Oh dear, I must be getting senile…" she muttered to herself.
Back in Makima's office, she woke from a light nap.
"This should be enough, War," she murmured, eyes sharpening, "Chainsaw Man isn't something for you to be grasping at."
___
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