NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81: Pain, So Much Pain!
Denji limped along the road.
Bruised, battered, and covered in mud and blood.
Passersby avoided him like a mangy dog.
He clutched a wad of crumpled yen. But the money that would have once thrilled him did nothing to alleviate his despair.
Shoko was dead.
In front of his eyes, she was torn to pieces.
She had smiled even as she died.
He could do nothing. Helplessly watching her die, unable even to bury her body.
When he'd woken up, he found nothing but dried blood and scattered cash.
Maybe the money was the price of Shoko's life?
… What a joke.
All a joke!
She'd surrendered to protect him. It was all his fault.
Denji clutched the money tightly.
Shit.
Those who killed Shoko and the useless Denji, who'd taken the money and ran…
Both were shit.
"Yo, isn't that Doggy?" A car screeched to a halt behind him. A heavy hand slapped Denji's head, sending him reeling.
"Deadbeat didn't work today? Got the money?" A cheap blonde thug grabbed his hair.
A henchman from Denji's yakuza debt collectors.
His head was pulled back, forced to stare at the thug's ugly face. Denji felt strangely calm.
Another beating awaited.
But the thug suddenly released his grip, letting Denji fall to the ground.
"Hey, he has money." The thug snatched the yen, grinning. "Woah! Did you hit the lottery or what, Deadbeat!"
"Alright, this will cover your debts for the past two days. I'll let you off without a beating. Get lost."
Without asking, the thug pocketed the cash.
"...Give it back." Denji's head was lowered, his voice flat.
"Huh?" The thug blinked, looking at Denji. "What did you say?"
"Give it back." Denji's voice remained toneless.
Such insolence was an insult, a provocation to a low-life like him.
"Looks like your skin is itching. You want another beating?" The thug balled his fists and approached Denji. "You want a beating? Then you'll get—"
Before he finished, Denji threw a punch into the thug's face!
Only to be kicked down, beaten brutally.
Weak and injured, Denji was no match for the thug.
It was nothing but a one-sided assault.
...
Denji limped back to his shack, arriving late at night.
The door was gone. The formerly tidy room was trashed, nothing but garbage.
Perhaps the people who killed Shoko had done it, Denji didn't know.
He went inside and collapsed on the debris, staring at the ceiling.
"Pochita...!"
His orange companion emerged from the ruins, tail wagging.
"Pochita, you're still here." He hugged the Devil. The warmth sparked something inside of him. A sad smile appeared on his face. "Thank god they didn't take you…"
"Woof!" Pochita, remembering something, left his arms and went back to the ruins, returning with a dirty candle and a lighter.
She was buying a lighter to light the candle for my wish.
"Woof?" Pochita's tail was still wagging.
Denji knew what he meant.
He picked up the lighter, about to light the candle, but Pochita stopped him.
"Woof!"
They needed to light it together, Pochita seemed to say.
"...Pochita, Shoko's not coming back."
"Woof...?"
Faced with Pochita's questioning gaze, Denji forced himself to say. "She's dead."
Ah, I finally said it!
It's just death, like mom and dad, I'm used to it.
I'm used to it, so why am I crying?
"...Pochita, Shoko's gone…"
"No one will wait for us at home anymore…!"
Tears streamed down Denji's face as he sobbed, clutching Pochita. "What am I supposed to do…?"
He couldn't save Shoko. He couldn't even keep the money she gave him.
He was powerless to seek revenge. He didn't even know who to blame.
He'd never felt so helpless—not with debt, devils, or underground surgery.
Denji hated his weakness for the first time.
[Energy +100000]
"?" Shoko paused her game. "Who's the next big scorer?"
Whatever. Won't stop me from swinging my sword.