Chapter 2: Interrogation, a Warehouse, and a Grimy Boy

The interrogation room was smaller than expected.

Inside, a single light bulb hung from the ceiling, flickering uneasily as though it might go out at any moment. There was only one metal table and two chairs. Eigo sat in one of them wearing nothing but his underwear.

Click.

The door opened, and two men in suits entered. One was expressionless; the other had looked annoyed from the moment he came in.

"Name."

"Eigo."

"Name."

"I said Eigo."

"...Your surname?"

"I don’t have one."

Silence hung in the room for a moment. The annoyed Public Safety officer slammed down his pen and shouted.

"Do you think we’re playing around here?"

"No. Still, it’s not exactly normal to be interrogated in your underwear, is it?"

The light bulb flickered rapidly. The expressionless Public Safety officer opened his mouth.

"Your age?"

"Twenty-one. Born June 20th, 1972."

"Occupation?"

"None. I don’t have a fixed residence, either."

"Where were you during the museum incident, Mr. Eigo?"

"On the break room sofa."

"When the Devil appeared?"

"I told you, I was asleep."

"...Even though the museum was half destroyed?"

"Yes."

"What about the gunfire? The explosions? The screams? You really didn’t hear anything?"

"I’ve been telling you I didn’t hear them. More importantly, lunchtime passed ages ago. Aren’t you going to give me something like katsudon? In detective dramas, they always serve it in scenes like this..."

The air in the room visibly turned cold. The annoyed Public Safety officer ground his teeth.

"You really don’t understand your situation, do you? Right now, you—"

"I get the general idea."

The annoyed officer clenched his fist at Eigo interrupting him. But there was nothing he could do to a civilian who was merely under suspicion...

Telling himself he was only on edge because he had gone several nights without sleep, he barely managed to let it go.

"Hah... the general idea?"

"Yes. The museum building was nearly destroyed, yet I survived completely unharmed. So you suspect that I’m a Devil who transformed into a human, right? Humans know far more about Devils than they don’t, so I think being suspected is unavoidable."

The expressionless Public Safety officer sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"That’s right. To be honest... Public Safety does suspect you."

"Even so... there isn’t really any way for me to prove that I’m not a Devil. So this is pretty troublesome for me too. Haha."

Eigo’s glib attitude finally made the anger the annoyed-looking officer had been holding back explode. He slammed his hand on the table and yelled.

"Are you fucking around right now?!"

Eigo nodded. He showed neither surprise nor indignation. If anything, he looked as though he understood.

"...If I were a Devil."

Eigo glanced down at his underwear.

"Would I really be sitting here quietly like this? Would I obediently submit to interrogation wearing nothing but my underwear? Honestly, I think smashing this place up and escaping would be much easier, since I wouldn’t have to think about anything."

For a moment, the interrogation room fell silent. The annoyed Public Safety officer snorted.

"It could all be an act. This is Public Safety. Countless Devil Hunters are standing by. Maybe you’re pretending to be docile because you know you’d be butchered in an instant if you ran wild here. Even a Devil should have enough judgment to know that much."

"Then what about that?"

Eigo pointed at the cup on the table.

"That cup’s been bothering me for a while now. It looks like it’ll fall if someone so much as brushes it with their hand. I’ve been wondering whether I’d have to clean it up if it breaks."

Both Public Safety officers turned their eyes toward the cup at once. It truly was balanced precariously on the edge of the table.

"So what?"

"I mean... if I were a Devil planning to smash this whole place to pieces, would I keep worrying about that cup? It’s going to break anyway. And besides."

Eigo looked back at them and smiled.

"If I were a Devil, I don’t think I’d be answering your questions this sincerely. I’m getting such openly hateful looks from you... Wouldn’t I be pissed off and decide to tear down the Public Safety building for sure, even if it killed me?"

At those words, the annoyed Public Safety officer’s brow furrowed slightly.

"...It sounds plausible enough."

"And on top of that."

Eigo added.

"If I really were a Devil, I wouldn’t have let myself get dragged here from the museum in the first place. Wearing nothing but my underwear. It was seriously embarrassing..."

*

Other than the fact that he had been in the break room during the museum attack, Public Safety could find nothing suspicious about Eigo.

Eigo, who had been taken into Public Safety around lunchtime, was not released until the sun was nearly setting. Kicking an empty can that had rolled under his foot, he grumbled to himself.

"Seriously... They drag a guy in wearing nothing but his underwear, and they don’t even feed him..."

The can bounced along like a frog before vanishing into the grass. Eigo stared blankly after it, then started walking again.

"Not even katsudon—just one glass of cold water... I thought I could at least get a free lunch out of this. Are interrogations normally this inhumane...?"

The sun was sinking behind the mountains. Looking up at the reddened sky, Eigo stretched his neck.

"And they suspect someone just because he only has a given name and no surname. It’s not like I’m the only person in the world without a surname... Haaah... Well, I guess it can’t be helped. The Public Safety officers are people too. Looking at it objectively... even I think I seem pretty suspicious. No proper job, no place to live..."

He stopped for a moment, rummaged through his clothes, and pulled out a pocket watch. When he opened the cover, its second hand moved steadily as though nothing had happened.

Time really is diligent.

Eigo gave a small snort of laughter.

"You had a hard day too, sitting in an interrogation room with some guy in his underwear."

He put the watch away and began walking with both hands clasped behind his head.

"Dinner’s a hassle, so a convenience store sandwich, a rice ball, and a cola... Ah, should I buy a little extra? A lot happened, but I did get paid properly. Enough to last until tomorrow morning."

As he rummaged through his clothes as if searching for something, Eigo sighed.

"Right, I quit smoking. More importantly, where am I supposed to sleep tonight...?"

After thinking for a moment, he shrugged.

"Well, I’m sure it’ll work out somehow."

After walking along the mountain path for some time, Eigo spotted an old warehouse standing awkwardly in the darkness at the edge of his vision.

"Ohh, looks like I’ve got some luck with lodging tonight."

When he approached, the door was half detached, letting out a low creak whenever the wind blew. Eigo opened it and peered inside.

"Doesn’t look like it leaks... If the floor’s intact, it’ll do."

He pressed lightly on the floor with his foot. It creaked, but it did not seem ready to collapse just yet. He nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. This is where I’m staying tonight."

Several old wooden crates and rusty oil drums lay scattered in the back of the warehouse. There was even a worn-out mattress and a blanket riddled with holes...

"This is great! Perfect! I’m having some good luck today!"

The quiet chirring of insects echoed outside the warehouse. Using his backpack as a pillow, Eigo clasped both hands behind his head.

"Hah... I got paid, so until I find my next part-time job, I should stay here for a while."

A few minutes passed as he closed his eyes and listened to the insects’ song. Then he heard the warehouse door opening.

"What the... Who are you...? A debt collector...?"

When he turned his head toward the entrance, a grimy-looking child with bleached blond hair was staring at Eigo.

"Grrrrrrr..."

There was also a bizarre creature that looked like a chainsaw attached to a pink sausage. Eigo blankly stared at the sight for a moment, then raised his upper body as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

"A debt collector...? Me?"

The child narrowed his eyes.

"Who else is here besides you?"

"I don’t know what’s going on with you, kid... but I’m not a debt collector, so don’t worry."

Eigo spoke while raising his open palms.

"I just came in because I didn’t have anywhere to sleep. Anyway, the sun’s already down, so a good kid should head home with his sausage friend, right?"

"This is our home. And he’s Pochita, not a sausage... And I’m not a kid either. I have a name. Denji."

Eigo looked between the child and the strange creature in his arms, then nodded once. That chainsaw sausage was probably a Devil.

"I see... Sorry, Denji. Pochita."

With smiling eyes, Eigo carefully stroked Pochita. Pochita still growled lowly, but the sound was a little quieter than before.

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