"..."
Aki sighed. There was nothing more he could do.
He was just a junior, a newcomer—there was no way to go against a senior like Himeno.
"Well then, I'll take you both to a pretty good restaurant tonight. Let's give Otonashi-kun a proper reward."
Himeno had already decided which restaurant to go to.
"Thank you very much, Senpai." Chiya smiled faintly.
"See you tonight, then. Aki-kun and I won't bother you any longer—after all, a vice-captain is very busy." Himeno said with a chuckle.
"But I might only be free after 7 p.m."
Chiya wanted to have dinner with Denji first before heading out.
"That's totally fine, as long as you're home by ten."
Himeno figured being home and in bed by ten wouldn't interfere with the next day's patrol.
She wouldn't ask Aki-kun to drink either, since he was still underage. If worst came to worst, Aki could always help wake her up.
...
At that moment, Chiya had already arrived at the Division 1 rest area, located on the third floor of Public Safety's Tokyo headquarters.
The rest area was huge, even equipped with lots of recreational and training facilities. After all, Division 1 had dozens of members.
The team members were already sitting inside, taking a break. Not just the few who'd gone on missions with him—other Division 1 members were also waiting for him.
"Vice-Captain, we've already explained the situation to everyone. All members of Division 1 are willing to chip in for the surgery costs for that father and daughter. Let's do a quick fundraiser."
One of them spoke to Chiya.
He glanced around and saw that no one looked unwilling.
That meant there was no issue. If anyone had shown reluctance, he definitely wouldn't have forced it.
With dozens of people contributing, it averaged out to about 20,000 yen per person. For Public Safety devil hunters, that was pocket change…
Of course, their compassion and sense of moral duty were undeniable.
Soon after, thanks to the group fundraiser, they gathered over a million yen, which Chiya took custody of.
He planned to deliver it to the father and daughter right away.
...
After leaving Tokyo Public Safety, Chiya headed straight to Tokyo General Hospital.
Rinka Ishii should've already handled all the admission procedures for the father and daughter.
"I'm a devil hunter from Tokyo Public Safety. A devil hunter named Ishii Rinka should've come here recently, right?"
Chiya presented his credentials to speed up the process.
"Yes, let me check…"
The staff quickly looked up the information in the system and provided him with the floor and room number.
A few minutes later, Chiya found the hospital room.
Both the father and daughter were in the same room. Ishii Rinka was sitting by their side, keeping watch.
"Vice-Captain!"
Ishii Rinka immediately stood up and greeted him respectfully.
"How's the situation?" Chiya asked.
"They're both out of danger and are being prepped for limb reattachment surgery."
Ishii Rinka replied.
"Did the hospital mention how much the two surgeries will cost?"
Chiya continued, "Also, do they have any other family?"
"The hospital said it'll cost over a million yen. As for relatives, the wife of the family just happened to be visiting her parents, and she's on her way now." Rinka answered.
"Alright, understood."
Chiya turned to head out. "I'll go handle the payment. I'll leave this to you for now."
"No trouble at all!" Rinka smiled brightly.
Because she understood—Vice-Captain Otonashi had already raised enough money for the surgeries.
Otherwise, for a family that could only afford to rent a normal apartment, a surgery costing over a million yen would be far too much to bear.
Since his arrival in this world, Chiya had observed some peculiar things—namely, Japan in this world didn't seem to have experienced the economic bubble or its subsequent collapse. It was like the Soviet Union still standing, never having dissolved.
It was likely due to the "World War II Devil" having been devoured by the Chainsaw Devil. Humanity had completely forgotten WWII, fundamentally altering the global order.
The reason the Gun Devil hadn't shown up for a long time was probably because it had already been taken down by Pochita, and its main body was now held by various countries.
The current global order could basically be deduced from each country's possession rate of the Gun Devil's body…
The Soviet Union was the strongest. Next was the U.S. And third—China. After that, there was a massive gap.
Japan and the EU countries were mediocre at best, having been completely outpaced by China.
It was probably because WWII no longer existed. Japan wasn't America's "pet dog" anymore, and the U.S. had never supported Japan's rise—so Japan's national power never took off, nor did its economy boom. Naturally, there was no bubble and no burst.
Otherwise, 1993 would've been the lowest point after the bubble burst—but Chiya didn't feel that at all.
In short, Japan's economy hadn't taken off nor collapsed. Ordinary salaries were just that—ordinary. In a high-cost-of-living city like Tokyo, they barely supported daily life. Many people simply couldn't afford medical treatment.
By the time Chiya finished the payment and returned to the hospital room, the family of the injured had arrived as well.
Faced with endless bowing and heartfelt thanks, he felt a bit awkward. "It was just a small effort."
Then he handed over another 100,000 yen. "Please take this too—to help your husband and daughter recover faster with good nutrition."
Chiya couldn't take being showered with gratitude any longer. He found an excuse and left quickly.
...
Tokyo Public Safety — Assembly Hall.
Several high-ranking officials of Public Safety, including Takashi Yoshimura, were holding a meeting. And this meeting was specifically about one person: Otonashi Chiya.
"The police report is in. Aside from the clones that died on their own after the main Worm Devil was killed, nearly all the wounds were caused by a single person—Otonashi Chiya."
"So you're saying… Otonashi Chiya killed all the devils by himself?"
"Seems that way. His performance was outrageous—completely on par with Kishibe back in the day. We no longer need to worry about Tokyo Public Safety lacking strong successors."
"It looks like even the Cabinet was shaken by Otonashi-kun's spectacular performance. They're considering using him to boost Japan's international presence and influence, just like how Kishibe once did with Guangxi from China."
"Oh? Any word on which country they're planning to cooperate with?"
"Nothing official yet, but it's likely to be either the Soviet Union or the U.S., since we've already partnered with China before."