"Renji! I was right, wasn't I? It's the Gun Devil! It's the Gun Devil, right?!"
Hayakawa Aki became excited. It was hard for her not to connect the great demon king Renji spoke of with her own obsession—the Gun Devil, which brought immense destruction and heavy casualties every time it appeared.
Renji noticed the abnormal emotion in Hayakawa Aki's eyes and slowly nodded. After all, if he thought about it carefully, he could say that the Gun Devil was something they would have to deal with sooner or later.
Renji looked out the window and saw that it was late. He then looked at the clock on the wall inside the room—it was almost 8 o'clock. He pulled the needle out of his hand and got out of bed.
"Hey, Renji, where are you going? The restroom?" Himeno asked.
"No, I need to go out for a bit. There's something I haven't done today."
"Ah? Is it personal business? If it's official business, you don't have to worry about it at all. You can rest well these two days. According to custom, when we Public Safety Devil Hunters encounter such a serious emergency and get injured, we get a few days of paid leave."
Renji shook his head and walked into the small partition inside the room. His voice came from within.
"It's not official business; it's personal. I'm going to a coffee shop to drink coffee."
"Drink… coffee?"
"It should be a coffee shop. Renji goes to that place every day. I heard he has some kind of arrangement with someone there?" Hayakawa Aki explained.
"Oh…~ I see… So Renji has this habit…" Himeno was greatly puzzled.
Renji didn't drink alcohol or smoke, but he liked coffee.
"Why do Renji's preferences feel like… those stubborn old women… Renji doesn't also have a habit of going to the park on Saturdays and Sundays in the afternoon to practice tai chi and do evening exercises, does he?"
"He doesn't do that. On Saturdays and Sundays, if there's nothing to do, Renji usually sleeps."
As the two chatted, Renji—now in the partition—had already changed into his usual casual clothes. Finally, he said goodbye to Himeno and Hayakawa Aki, then opened the door and left.
He exited the hospital gate and hailed a taxi.
"Hello there, customer~ Where is your destination~?"
After entering the taxi, Renji leaned back in the seat to rest. Listening to the driver's playful voice, he felt it must be a very young girl, so he told the driver the address of the coffee shop.
"Alright~ The taxi is starting now~"
"I'll sleep for a bit. Just wake me when we arrive."
"Alright~ Customer, please rest assured~"
The taxi started, and Renji closed his eyes, intending to take a short nap.
After a short while, the taxi turned a few corners and stopped.
"Customer~ You've arrived at your destination~"
The driver honked the horn.
"Hmm? Ah? Ha… Th-this… so fast? We're already here?"
Renji rubbed his eyes and looked out the window. Upon seeing it, his heart suddenly constricted, and he almost died of fright.
A girl—a girl whose head was only normal on the left side—was pressing her hands against the car window, staring at Renji with her curious left eye.
This girl's left eye was the only normal one, with a heart-shaped pupil.
The eyeball in her right eye socket hung out, dangling on her face like a bouncy ball, swinging back and forth with the girl's movements.
The right half of her head was a mess, as if her brain had been squeezed out by some force, forming a lump exposed on top of her pink hair.
One of her brain nerves even hung down like a noodle, long and tied into a bow. It swayed gently in the breeze.
"Halloween~? Halloween~? Halloween!"
The girl examined Renji, her left eye filled with curiosity, repeating the word Halloween over and over.
It took Renji a long time to realize who this girl was.
Cosmo, the Cosmos Devil—one of Quanxi's concubines.
[Ding~ Detected Host's first encounter with a major plot character, Cosmo. System rewards three points.]
"Alright, alright, Hal… Halloween, Halloween. So that means the driver is also one?"
Renji said, looking at the taxi driver's seat.
The taxi driver was also leaning forward, observing Renji. When she saw that Renji noticed her, she smiled awkwardly and stuck out her tongue.
[Ding~ Detected Host's first encounter with a major plot character, Cosmo. System rewards three points.]
"—Beep~—"
Cosmo, the Foresight Devil, also known as the Contract Devil, looked like a very talkative and lively beautiful girl. She wore her dark gray hair in a ponytail, but Cosmo's ponytail was unusual—its end was a mouth and eyes, very much like an eel.
"Quanxi Master told us to try to stay away from this person no matter what… So this is what he looks like… What's the big deal~ He's nothing special~ I feel like Quanxi Master was really overthinking it~"
Cosmo saw that Renji's face was still pale from the fright, looked at the girl outside the car window, clasped her hands together, and quickly apologized.
"I'm so sorry I scared you~ But we completed your request perfectly~ No Special Division Against Devils members were injured~ So please don't mind this little thing~ If it's really not okay, if we get a chance to meet again in the future~ I'll treat you to donuts~"
"Halloween, Halloween! Halloween!!"
"Cosmo, don't say such things. We will never see him again in the future."
Quanxi's voice rang out from the other side of the taxi. She tapped on the car window, and Renji was about to get out.
But after seeing the girl outside staring intently at him through the window, Renji still shifted his butt, intending to get out from Quanxi's side.
[Ding~ Detected Quanxi's disdainful emotion. System rewards 10 points.]
Hearing the prompt in his mind about Quanxi's disdain, Renji couldn't help but feel a little sad. After all, in the original work, he really liked Quanxi's character as an expressionless, cold-blooded killer.
"Don't get out. You can stay in the car. Cosmo, you come down too."
"Okay~"
Cosmo's coquettish tone was very cute. She opened the car door and got out of the taxi.
"Halloween! Halloween!"
The girl outside the car window said "Halloween" twice more. Renji looked at her and found she was still staring intently at him—her dangling eyeballs swaying back and forth, her eyebrows slightly raised, her expression thoughtful.
"Halloween…?"
She said it again, but Renji couldn't understand what she was saying at all, so he ignored her and poked his head out of the window to look at Quanxi outside.
Quanxi's clothes were back on her, still the classic vest and jeans, with knives hanging on her back. However, there were two other women behind her.
One of them was a beautiful woman with red twin horns on her head and deep red hair. Her hands were still handcuffed. She was also a Devil—the Dragon Devil, named Dragon.
[Ding~ Detected host's first acquaintance with a major plot character, Dragon. System rewards three points.]
Noticing Renji looking at her, she raised both hands and made a V-sign, with a puzzled expression.
"Blood?"
The other was a woman with short dark green hair, black and white eyes, stitches all over her body, and a dark complexion—like a doll. She was tightly hugging Quanxi's arm, and like Dragon, she was also a Devil.
[Ding~ Detected host's first acquaintance with a major plot character, Stitched Girl. System rewards three points.]
A total of four people: Cosmo, the Halloween Girl, Dragon, and Stitched Girl. Quanxi's harem was all here.
"Halloween?"
The Halloween Girl circled the taxi and came to Quanxi's side. Standing next to the taxi, she bent over, her eyes fixed on Renji, muttering incessantly.
"Halloween… Halloween…"
Quanxi pulled her back, making her hide behind her. She looked at Renji again, expressionless.
"Renji, your commission officially ends here. From now on, there will be no more entanglements between us. Don't come looking for me if you have anything."
"Hmm… Is it necessary to bring me to a place like this for something like this?"
As Renji spoke, he looked around and realized that Cosmo had driven the taxi and brought him into a dark alley.
"It is very necessary."
Quanxi looked at her harem.
"You four, take this last chance to get a good look at this person's face. Also, remember, her name is Renji. From now on, all commissions related to her, no matter how slightly involved, are to be rejected without exception."
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