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Chapter 48. Antique Arrives — A Meeting with Manager Yoshimura
🕑 Added 2025-04-24 08:35:41 +0000 UTCHayashi’s words left everyone utterly speechless.
At first, they had all assumed that when Hayashi said Pochita was his, he meant it was a partner devil or a summoned contract devil. At the very least, it had to be a cooperative relationship.
After all—it was a devil.
And they were from Division 4. Aki Hayakawa and Himeno had both formed contracts with devils.
They knew perfectly well what devils were like.
Every time they used a devil’s power, there was a price to pay.
Unless the devil willingly resonated with you—
A contract was still a contract.
So when Hayashi casually said from afar that “Pochita will take care of it,”
Everyone had assumed he meant he had formed some kind of deal.
No one expected…
Hayashi had complete control over a devil!!!
And not just any devil.
Everyone else could only form contracts—often being rejected.
But he was commanding one.
And Power, as a devil herself, understood what that truly meant.
Would she ever obey an ordinary human?
Of course not. The only one she feared was Makima.
Which meant Power knew exactly what kind of strength and authority were needed to completely control a devil.
That was also why, when Power first found Pochita a little strange—
She didn’t immediately think it was Hayashi’s doing.
That was normal. No one would’ve thought that.
But now—everything had changed.
“R-Really impressive…” Power stammered. “I-I officially acknowledge you, Manager Hayashi.”
Even as she said it, she backed away a few steps.
She believed—
If Hayashi could completely control Pochita,
He could probably control her too.
That was terrifying!
He was like Makima—
A devil among devils!
A gourmet devil. A devourer devil!
Aki Hayakawa and Himeno stared at Hayashi, just as stunned.
Kobeni, still curled behind the car, peeked out and looked at Hayashi with admiration now.
After hearing everything—
Aki instinctively tightened his grip on his sword, tension rising in his body.
Hayashi noticed and laughed.
“You don’t think I’m a devil too, do you? Or someone like Makima?”
“Uh…” Aki flinched, suddenly realizing—
This guy really was just the manager of a diner.
He had never shown any malice.
The only thing was… he was too strong, and Aki got nervous.
Realizing that, Aki folded his arms and bowed.
“Apologies. I got too tense.”
Hayashi waved it off.
“No problem.”
Next to him, Himeno, who had been smoking with Hayashi, had just noticed her hand trembling.
She didn’t know whether to walk away or stay.
Only when the cigarette burned her fingers did she snap out of it.
She pulled it from her mouth, saw there was only one left in the pack, and smiled as she handed it to Hayashi.
“Want another?”
“No thanks,” Hayashi waved it off. “One’s enough for me. You take it.”
“Mm.”
Himeno smoked it herself, hand still shaking slightly.
At that moment, across the street—
A nearby café opened its doors, and a group of people walked out.
“Hayashi!” “Manager!”
Hayashi looked over.
It turned out to be the crew from Anteiku.
And among them was an old man—Manager Yoshimura himself, the legendary non-killing Owl.
Hayashi raised his hand and greeted them.
“Over here.”
Touka Kirishima jogged up to him, glanced back at the devil battle behind them, and gave Hayashi a questioning look.
“Don’t worry,” Hayashi said. “That’s Pochita—the one you saw the other day.”
Touka’s eyes widened instantly.
That little Pochita… had S-rank, maybe even SS-rank ghoul power!?
That was insane.
The other Anteiku staff looked surprised too.
Enji Koma and Kaya Irimi turned to observe carefully.
They quickly realized that Pochita’s combat strength was easily on par with theirs—and they were both SS-rank ghouls.
After the initial shock, Touka turned back to introduce the man beside her.
“Hayashi-kun, this is our manager at Anteiku—Yoshimura.”
Yoshimura, with white hair and half-closed eyes, walked up with a gentle demeanor.
“I wasn’t in the shop the day you visited. Forgive my rudeness.”
“No problem at all,” Hayashi replied. “Just meeting you is more than enough. Manager Yoshimura, I think our philosophies are actually quite similar.”
That sentence made Yoshimura’s eyes open noticeably wider.
Philosophy…
Yoshimura’s philosophy had always been a peaceful retirement life in a corner of the world.
Otherwise, why else would they call him the non-killing Owl?
And just like that, Yoshimura grasped a piece of Hayashi’s nature.
He nodded and smiled warmly, offering a sincere handshake.
“That’s good. Very good. To understand the meaning of life at your age—far better than I ever did when I was young.”
He extended his hand.
“Thank you for the food you brought us. It’s been very helpful.”
Hayashi shook it firmly.
“No need to thank me. Just a small shop doing business, that’s all.”
Their brief exchange—on the surface—seemed to say very little, but actually said everything.
Division 4 didn’t understand a thing.
Aki Hayakawa tried to memorize every word so he could report back to Makima later.
Himeno seemed to get a vague idea—and her respect for Hayashi deepened.
Power didn’t care in the slightest.
She was watching the devils fight and just wanted it to be over so she could eat Hayashi’s golden fried rice.
After that, Hayashi chatted casually with the group.
Tohru ended up chatting with Touka and the Anteiku staff, swapping employee stories and experiences.
They actually got along quite well. Lots of shared topics.
Only Division 4 looked at each other awkwardly.
Himeno exhaled a long puff of smoke.
After going through six teams, watching people die again and again, she felt like it was time for another round of replacements.
What kind of teammates were these?
She might be next on the chopping block.
…
Meanwhile—
The battle between Pochita and the Leech Devil was nearing its end.
The Leech Devil was completely outmatched, being torn apart piece by piece by Pochita’s roaring chainsaw.
What the devil didn’t know—
Was that Pochita had been granted Hayashi’s special power.
Everything it cut—
It devoured.
That was why Pochita grew stronger the more it fought!
It was already evolving toward its full Black Chainsaw form!
At this point, the Leech Devil was scared. It tried to flee while shouting angrily at Pochita.
“Why!? Why are you helping the humans!? We could’ve devoured them together! Let them fear us!”
