WebNovels

Chapter 44 - Chapter 42

Mittelt nodded in understanding, "Well, lets get this crap off of you. After that, you can get some food. I bought some stuff for lunch and dinner from a nearby convenience store."

She didn't mention that she'd only done so because Azazel had told her to. The pair of them remained silent as she stripped off the electrodes for the EEG and removed the needle for the nutrient drip from his left arm. It was only the work of moments to slap a small bandage on the needle wound. With all of that done, she fetched a yukata out of his closet, and helped him put it on. It would take some time for Junichiro to get used to missing his primary arm. Also, Azazel's orders were clear, she was to help him out until he could take care of himself again. If the pay wasn't above the average for this job, she'd have quit already.

The pair made their way out to the dining room where Azazel was still doing his paperwork. Junichiro registered his presence but didn't dwell on it further. He was just going with the flow at the moment as he wallowed in self-pity and depression. At the moment he just felt like nothing mattered at all. It likely wouldn't last forever, but it was all he could do for the time being.

Azazel glanced up from his work to examine Junichiro but said nothing to him. Instead he returned to his work while the pair of them sat in silence. It didn't take long for Mittelt to fetch the food she'd bought. She was an excellent cook as, unlike Azazel, she didn't have minions to do her cooking for her. A thousand years of experience would be enough for even the most incompetent person to become a five star chef. However, she didn't feel like cooking for him so pre-made food reheated in the microwave is what Junichiro received.

Junichiro glanced at the chopsticks and automatically reached for them with his right arm. His shoulder and stump moved, quickly reminding him that he didn't have the proper limb to eat with. Worse, the chopsticks were the extra cheap kind that needed to be slit in half to be used. With a completely dead look on his face, he decided to forgo any form of manners and just started picking up his food with his left hand. Luckily the platter only consisted of sushi rolls, nigiri, and sashimi, all of which could easily be picked up and eaten.

The room remained devoid of conversation as he robotically ate every last piece on the platter. Only when he'd finished eating did Azazel speak up, "I owe you an apology Arai-san." Given the situation, Azazel felt formality was necessary, "It was my oversight that led to you having to leave the house last night to fall prey to the stray devil. I wont make any excuses. Rather, I apologize unreservedly for your loss and the oversight of my workers."

Junichiro slowly looked up at Azazel as the fallen's words trickled through his brain. His current depression and grief almost instantly transformed into anger. The anger he'd vented before came back with a vengeance as he shouted in Azazel's face, "THEN GIVE ME MY ARM BACK!"

To his credit, Azazel did not get angry at Junichiro for his outburst. Given his personal power and status it wasn't impossible that he could have taken offence to being yelled at by Junichiro. However, being as ancient as he was and given how young Junichiro was, he chose to let it slide. Aside from that, he did feel just a tiny bit guilty about forgetting to stock the kitchen in the house. Calmly, and with as much care as he could convey, Azazel addressed Junichiro, "I'm sorry, but we don't have anything capable of replacing a missing limb. Even the best healing Sacred Gear I know of, Twilight Healing, can't replace missing limbs. Maybe one could as a subspecies balance breaker, but I've never heard of it happening."

Junichiro deflated at that, "Please, there has to be something you can do. I'd do almost anything to have my arm back."

Azazel gave a sympathetic sigh, "I really am sorry kid, but there's nothing I can do."

Junichiro knew that. He had nothing that could be offered to make Azazel help him. His mind spiraled down into depression as he tried to think of any magical ways to recover his arm. The Phenex clan had amazing regeneration, maybe if he stole some of their DNA and magically made himself into a Phenex devil somehow? But would that regenerate his arm, or would that be considered his default state at that point?

It wasn't until he remembered that in the canon story, Azazel had lost one of his arms in a fight. He also knew Azazel replaced it with a prosthetic made using his Sacred Gear research. However, it wasn't likely that Azazel just had the arm laying around. He probably only even thought of a prosthetic made like a Sacred Gear after losing his own arm. He recalled how cool the rocket punch of the arm was. Remembering that gave him inspiration. It would be hard and he would need a lot of help, but he could do it!

Light returned to his eyes as he glared across the table at Azazel, "If you can't help me then I'll help myself. I'll make a new goddamn arm from scratch!"

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