"What I mean is..." Arata gestured wildly as he explained, "Look, as your master, I'm taking you to eat the best food, soak in hot springs, and kill devils. In the future, you have to be able to stand on your own and protect your master. You must become the most resolute pawn standing in front of me."
Listening to Arata's explanation, Denji scratched his head. "Master? I don't think I ever agreed to let you be my master."
"Are you sure you don't want to be my apprentice?" Arata grinned, raising his right hand and counting on his fingers. "Staying at the hotel for one night is 15,000 yen, the hot spring was 2,000 yen, gas is 1,000 yen, the jam toast fed by top-tier beauties at the restaurant is 20,000 yen, and then there's..."
"Wait, stop, don't mention money! I'll agree, alright?!" Hearing the numbers gave Denji an instant headache. He quickly cut Arata off before the tab got any higher.
"Glad you know what's good for you, otherwise you'd just have more debt to pay." Arata put his hands on his hips, completely unfazed. He had hundreds of ways to keep Denji in check.
"Didn't you say you were going to the casino earlier? Can you take me to see it?"
"You're not tired anymore?"
"I don't know why, but I'm suddenly not tired. Maybe it was just boring sitting in the car, so I got sleepy."
"Look at you, you better just go to sleep. I'm going to the casino to settle a score, not to play."
The moment the words left his mouth, a wave of exhaustion crashed over Denji's brain. His eyes snapped shut, and he collapsed onto the bed, instantly fast asleep.
...
The next day. A blink of an eye, and the night was over.
Upon waking up, Denji patted Pochita, who was drooling next to him. "Pochita, wake up. Where are we?"
Looking at the presidential suite and its massive bathroom, it was several times more luxurious than anything Denji had ever seen in a dream.
Pochita slowly opened his exhausted eyes. He had just spent twelve hours dreaming about soaking in a hot spring with a poodle. He woke up completely drained of energy. But he was also shocked by the sight in front of him. Only, instead of shock, it was pleasant surprise.
He scrambled excitedly out of bed, running back and forth across the carpet.
"Could it be... that wasn't a dream? It was real?!"
"Your master has returned." The room door opened, and Arata walked in carrying a bag of breakfast.
"You..."
"Yesterday!!"
"Stop thinking about it. Everything that happened yesterday was 100% real, not a dream."
"Hurry up and come eat breakfast. We've got honey toast this morning."
"Honey toast?!"
There was nothing better than a good meal to wake Denji up. If there was, it would have to be oppai.
"Oh yeah, I still don't know your name."
"My name is Arata. Didn't I tell you yesterday? Just call me Master."
"M-Master," Denji repeated stiffly.
"Hurry up and eat. I'll take you back after we're done."
They wolfed down their food. After finishing breakfast, the two of them drove back to the countryside.
"By the way, Master, what's your contracted devil?" sitting in the back seat, Denji suddenly asked on the way back. "Since I'm your apprentice, I should be allowed to know, right?"
"Whatever, I might as well tell you, save you from endlessly pestering me."
"It's only right we understand each other. I don't have parents, and the Pochita in my hands is the Chainsaw Devil."
"My situation is the same as yours. But my devil is the Dream Devil, or you could call it the Nightmare Devil, or even the Incubus Devil."
"..."
"Why does your devil have so many names?"
"Names are just things humans come up with. It's like asking why a mosquito is called a mosquito. Stop asking meaningless questions."
"Alright then. But the Dream Devil definitely makes sense to exist. I have nightmares all the time, sometimes they even wake me up in a cold sweat."
"Got it," Arata replied dismissively, clearly not interested in discussing the topic further.
"What kind of powers does the Dream Devil have?"
"The Dream Devil naturally controls dreams. For example, Pochita's dream last night was specially arranged by me."
"Woof!!" Pochita barked in displeasure, seemingly unsatisfied with his female lead from last night.
"You can control dreams!! Then can you make me dream about hugging a girl tonight?"
"Look at how pathetic you are. You don't want to hug a real girl, but you want to hug one in a dream."
"It's easier to make it happen in a dream!!" Denji laughed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Alright, we're here."
Along the way, Arata had intentionally sped up to stop Denji from asking any more questions.
As the car drove up the slope, Denji's wooden shack gradually came into view.
Only, the sight before them made both man and dog freeze for a second. They even wondered if Arata had driven to the wrong place. It wasn't until they recognized the surrounding environment that they confirmed they were in the right spot.
"My house!!!" Denji's eyes went blank as he stumbled out of the car and walked up to the shack.
"You can't really use the word 'house' to describe its current state."
The wooden shack in front of them was emitting faint wisps of white smoke; most of it had already been reduced to ash. Even though it was dilapidated, it was Denji's only home. His only memento. A place he would never forget, no matter how far he traveled.
Arata walked over and patted Denji's shoulder. "Since the house is gone, it's time to put an end to the yakuza."
"Who burned down my house?"
"Do you even have to ask? It's definitely those yakuza guys. This shack might be garbage, but it's practically an antique. We'll just make them pay tens of millions in compensation."
Just as the two were staring at the ruined shack and discussing compensation, the sudden honking of car horns echoed from behind.
One Honda and two Toyotas sped toward them. The three cars surrounded them and stopped. The doors opened, and the old yakuza boss slowly stepped out. His first words were, "Denji, where is my money?"
Seeing the yakuza boss suddenly arrive, Denji was furious, but still wanted to demand answers. "Didn't I say I'd help you hunt devils and pay off the debt slowly?"
"Not that money. The money the employer gave you for killing the Cucumber Devil yesterday."
The underlings poured out of the cars, their mouths constantly yapping about money.
"Yesterday's money!!" Denji finally understood.
"That's right. That was a job we got for you. Otherwise, why would a kid like you get to handle it?"
"So you're just looking for a finder's fee," Arata said.
"Denji, you're starting to act like a disobedient dog."
"Who are you calling a dog? He's my apprentice. If you call him a dog, what does that make me?"
"So what do you want?" the old yakuza boss yelled coldly.
The surrounding underlings immediately understood, pulling out their guns and aiming them at Arata.
Looking at the gun barrels surrounding him, Arata scoffed disdainfully, "You actually have guns!"
"But what you just said is true. Denji really does act like a dog sometimes."
"I was wondering what you were trying to pull. Turns out you're just putting on a fake tough guy act," one of the underlings sneered.
"Denji, we only spared you a beating before because you were a relatively obedient dog. But your actions yesterday seriously disappointed me."
"Boss, Denji is usually pretty obedient. Do you think that guy next to him put him up to it?" Ino chimed in.
Even though Ino looked down on Denji, he definitely held a grudge. Arata had dumped him on the side of the road yesterday, and today Ino was planning to use the boss to get his revenge.
"Is that true, Denji? Did the guy next to you teach you to go bad?"
Denji glanced at Arata, then looked back with determined eyes. "No. I took the money yesterday myself. He's just a helper I hired."
"This has nothing to do with him. You can let him go, and I'll give you the money."
"Denji, hearing you say that makes me feel ashamed as your master. Just a second ago, I agreed you were a dog so I wouldn't get shot."
"Whatever, just leave," Denji said.
"Hold on. You think he can just leave because you say so? Regardless of whether he's involved, neither of you are leaving," Ino suddenly barked.
"If you don't let him go, I won't tell you where the money is hidden."
"Oh? The dog is learning how to negotiate?"
"If you don't want the money, you can kill me right now. I owe you so much money anyway, I've been tired of living for a long time."
Saying that, Denji looked at Arata again. "Thank you for taking me to the city yesterday. Even if I die today, I don't feel like I have any regrets."
Being stared at so affectionately by Denji, Arata smiled slightly, looking very satisfied. "You haven't even dated anyone yet, and you're fine with dying?"
"I already hugged one in my dream last night."
"A dream isn't real enough. Your master will definitely let you hug a real woman. Like that old man's young wife." Arata intentionally shot a glance at the yakuza boss.
This instantly ignited the boss's fury. "Keep Denji alive, but kill him first."
Gunfire suddenly erupted. Arata threw his hands out, his bladed claws flashing rapidly as he swung them.
Clang clang clang!!! Arata blocked the bullets with his claws. It wasn't until the gunfire stopped that he retracted his claws and slowly asked, "Is that it?"
The surrounding yakuza members tilted their heads, looking incredibly confused.
"You're pretty tough," Ino was the first to speak.
"Since you know how tough I am, shouldn't you be on your knees?"
"I meant it's impressive that you're still standing after taking over ten bullets."
"I got shot?" Arata looked down. Fresh blood was pouring from bullet holes all over his body. "Motherfucker, I didn't block a single one!"
With those final words, he tilted backward and collapsed onto the ground.