"I came to eat ramen, and the owner ended up getting eaten instead."
"This shop's ramen tastes great. I didn't expect the owner to die such a gruesome death just a few days after opening."
"A devil definitely ate him. Maybe the owner of that unpopular ramen shop across the street made a contract with a devil and killed the new owner."
"Businessmen will do anything for profit."
The diners gathered outside the ramen shop gossiped amongst themselves. At that moment, Arata and the others squeezed into the crowd.
"Excuse me."
"Stop pushing!"
"Step aside. We are Public Safety Devil Hunters." Aki Hayakawa pulled out his Public Safety badge.
"Public Safety Devil Hunters!!" A random bystander's eyes instantly went wide.
"Hurry up and go look inside the ramen shop. The owner died a horrible death."
"Everyone step back and clear the area. The devil might still be inside."
"The devil is still inside!!"
Hearing Aki's words, the crowd of onlookers quickly scattered. The crowded entrance instantly cleared up.
Aki drew his katana and took the lead, but Arata grabbed his shoulder. "Don't be reckless. Let Denji go first. Even if there's a devil inside, it'll attack Denji first."
"Huh???" Denji's head was full of question marks.
"Aki is just a mortal with a human body, he can't revive. You're a devil, you can't die, so you're the most suitable for the vanguard."
Aki froze, not expecting Arata to be so considerate.
"No problem then. You guys just follow behind me," Denji said boldly. He then swaggered into the ramen shop.
The moment he lifted the door curtain, three corpses appeared before him, hanging upside down with ropes tied around their ankles from the ceiling beams.
Two male corpses, one female corpse. Aside from perfectly preserved heads, the rest of their bodies were entirely bare bone without a shred of flesh.
And the strangest part was that there were no bloodstains beneath the corpses. The bones were clean and shiny, without a single scrap of meat attached to them. They looked like anatomical specimens.
"Is... is this real or fake?" Denji stared, a bit dazed.
"Definitely real. Mannequins can't replicate the look of someone dying with their eyes wide open." Arata stepped forward to examine them. "It's processed too perfectly. The bones look like they've been polished. Smooth and shiny."
"Devils usually swallow people whole without leaving bones. How could one do something like this?" Denji stood three steps back watching, terrified the skeletons might suddenly come alive. "Could it be a human doing this again, trying to frame a devil?"
"Impossible. A human couldn't possibly possess this kind of corpse-processing technique, even if they were a chef with incredible knife skills."
"You guys, come in and look at this."
Aki hadn't stayed to observe the corpses; instead, he had walked further into the shop. Arata and Denji heard him and followed.
"What is it? More bodies?" Denji asked.
"No. It's a line of words."
"Can't read it." Denji glanced at the sentence written in blood on the dining table.
"Thanks for the meal," Arata read aloud.
"The ramen is still slightly warm. It left no more than fifteen minutes ago." Aki placed his hand on the side of the ramen bowl.
A handful of cilantro was scattered on top of the ramen in the bowl. The noodles were piled quite a bit higher than the broth.
"If there were surveillance cameras nearby, it would be easy to find the killer. Right now, it's basically a needle in a haystack."
"Master, what's a surveillance camera?"
"You'll find out what a surveillance camera is sooner or later."
"Hey, anyone here?"
"I'd like a bowl of ramen."
A man's voice suddenly called out from outside the ramen shop. It was immediately followed by a scream. Arata quickly ran outside.
"What happened??"
"Halloween props?"
"Yeah, Halloween props. Are you here to eat?" Arata walked out from the back room and responded.
Seeing Arata's completely unfazed expression, the man subconsciously accepted the three hanging corpses inside as props.
"I'm the owner of the ramen shop across the street. I heard from my customers that something happened at this shop, so I came to check it out."
"Something definitely happened. The owner died."
"He died? He didn't run away?"
"Run away? How did you know he ran away instead of dying?"
"Uh... I heard customers in my shop talking about it, so I came to see if he ran away or died."
"The customers told you the owner of this shop ran away, not that he died?"
The man froze for a second, then said, "Right, exactly. So did he run away or die?"
"He died. But you aren't running anywhere." Arata grabbed the ramen shop owner.
"What are you doing! Let me go."
"Master, what's going on?" Denji and Aki heard the commotion and ran out from the back room.
"This guy isn't the killer, but he's definitely connected to them."
"I'm not the killer! Don't grab me. Who are you people?"
"We are Public Safety Devil Hunters," Aki said flatly, pulling out his badge.
"Public Safety Devil Hunters!!" The ramen guy instantly calmed down quite a bit. "Stop grabbing me, I really didn't kill anyone. If I had killed someone, I definitely wouldn't have just walked over here."
"I know you're not the killer, but you definitely know something."
"Excuse the intrusion!!" Just then, a group of people walked in.
"Yo, you guys came to eat ramen too." Noriyuki Natsume greeted Arata and the others enthusiastically, but a second later he was startled by the hanging corpses. "What's this? A new style for a ramen shop?"
"It's not a style. Those are real human corpses hanging there."
"Real humans?" Natsume was shocked. He walked up to the corpses to inspect them. A look of sheer joy quickly surfaced in his eyes. "Holy shit, this is practically a work of art."
"I know you're a necrophiliac, but try not to show it in front of so many people."
"Did you find the devil that killed them?"
"No, but it's definitely connected to this guy."
"No, it wasn't me! I didn't want to kill him." The ramen guy looked panicked, waving his hands frantically.
"Didn't want to kill him? Then what did you want to do?"
Seeing everyone's eyes staring him down, the ramen guy let out a long sigh. "Actually, I made a contract with the Cilantro Devil. I just wanted it to secretly keep adding disgusting cilantro to this shop's ramen. I never thought it would kill anyone."
"Master is amazing. You solved the case so quickly." Denji shot him an admiring look.
"Cilantro Devil?" Natsume repeated the name. "I've encountered the Cilantro Devil before. It's a massive cancer in the restaurant industry. Usually, when one side gets jealous of another's good business, they contract the Cilantro Devil to ruin the taste of their rival's food."
"Right, exactly! That's exactly what I was thinking," the ramen guy said hurriedly, desperately trying to shake off the label of a murderer.
"If you only contracted the Cilantro Devil, then you definitely aren't the killer."
"Then let me go."
"We can't let you go. Natsume will take you back for detailed questioning shortly."
"You got it." Natsume signaled his subordinates with a look.
The ramen guy instantly received a pair of silver bracelets.
"I told you, I didn't kill anyone!"
"Shut up!" Natsume barked, and the ramen guy immediately went quiet.
"If there's nothing else, you guys can head out. Leave the rest to us. I'll pass the report along to Miss Makima," Natsume smiled.
After finishing the handover, Arata led the two out of the ramen shop.
"Where are we eating now?" Denji clutched his growling stomach.
"Why don't we go check out that guy's ramen shop?"
"Are you still suspecting that man?" Aki asked.
"I just feel like something is weird about him."
"Hurry up, I can't wait to taste some ramen." Denji ran ahead toward the ramen shop across the street.
However, he had only been inside for a few seconds. The very next moment, he dashed out screaming. "They're dead! There are a ton of people hanging inside!!!"