Today, I woke up at the same time, in the same place, with the same weight pressing down on my back. But this time, it felt a bit lighter—only a little, though, and it was still annoying.

Today, I had to meet the person who called me yesterday about what was supposedly going to be my new job. But honestly, I had no idea what this was about.

And why did it have to be held in a batting center of all places?

Well, either way, I was determined to check out what kind of job she was offering and bolt out of there if anything seems fishy.

I took the train to Kabukicho early in the morning. Why? Because it gets crowded here if I go later, and crowds and I don’t mix well. After that, I hopped on a bus heading toward the batting facility, which was exhausting—mentally, not physically.

In the first place, I didn’t really want to go out today, nor did I have enough energy to care about what she had to offer. But that odd sensation I felt during our phone call, the way I was basically forced to say yes, had me wondering about numerous things.

One of those things was whether she was a fellow demon or just someone who knew something about me and my condition. But I had no proof to back that up. What made her approach me in the first place? Who was she? What exactly did she want? And what type of work did she have for me?

These questions filled my mind with curiosity and anxiety about what was to come. And my god, it was really annoying having to go there for no reason.

[.... Maybe I.... should just... kill her...]

……Huh?

W-What did I just say?

What in the world was that?!

Well, that was something. Was that a change in my personality? Never mind that; I think the people around me heard me mumble that.

And I think that’s my cue to just walk there now!

That was weird, usually the first thing i would think is how dragging this is not how i want to kill her.

I decided to keep it at the back of my mind for now, but i couldn’t help not to think about it. My mind was clouded walking towards the center.

I stopped at a nearby convenience store to grab something to eat. After all, the batting center opens at 10:00 a.m., and it was only 9:30. I was a little early, but I needed something to ease my demonic hunger!

After a few minutes, I arrived at the batting cage, and to my amazement, it was already open. But there was a notice on the door that read:

(No entry until 3:00 p.m.)

W-What?!

I arrived early only to discover they were closed until 3 p.m.?!

Haaaah... well, I can’t do anything about this, so I’m just going to go home!

As I pouted away from the entrance, I suddenly heard the sound of a bat striking a ball.

I was astonished at how much my hearing had improved. It reminded me of how I could hear everyone’s conversations on the bus. This got me curious, but it also made me nervous about going inside to check it out.

But after hearing those noises, I received a text message, “Come in” she’s practically ordering me to go in.

As hesitant as I was, I didn’t really care anymore, so I went inside. I immediately noticed that there was only one person in the center.

I knew this because my hearing senses had sharpened. I could pick up on breathing, footsteps, the noise of the bat hitting the ball, heartbeats, and even sweat droplets.

If I focused enough, I could hear them all perfectly, but this also made me acutely aware of my surroundings.

I had forgotten that ever since becoming a demon, I could see things in the dark much clearer, like an owl. I could also detect heat signatures—essentially the warmth of an object or body.

All my senses had improved dramatically, but it was hard to get used to them, so I hadn’t really utilized them much since I wasn’t doing anything in particular.

Thanks to these amazing senses of mine, I was able to notice ten people inside the building. Three of them were near the basement, four at another exit, and two on the roof. What they all had in common was that they were near the only person who was not hiding and was playing with the bat.

[Is this a trap? Or is she trying to capture me?]

Either way, I was planning on meeting her to find out what she had in mind, what she knew about me, and how she found out about me.

I did consider the possibility that she didn’t even know I was a demon, but seeing this many people here made me change my mind.

If she attacked me or even threatened me, I was ready to kill her and leave. There were also the people outside, but who cares? At this point, it was do or die.

Not taking this seriously could end in her favor—either capturing me or successfully blackmailing me into doing what she wanted. But I wasn’t going to back down and let her do what she wanted with me.

I’d make sure I survived and left.

I finally stopped overthinking this meeting with a complete stranger who was offering me a job in a situation that could prevent me from becoming homeless and unemployed for the rest of my life.

That’s quite harsh.

I took a step and walked to the side of the batting cage so she would notice me and finally start talking about my job. As expected, she stopped playing with the bat and gestured for me to come in.

“Pang!”

That was a good serve.

I felt nervous, but for some reason, I was letting my guard down around her, and I didn’t know why. She looked like a big sister or the type who would scold you when you did something wrong but also give you great advice.

She had blonde hair, blue diamond-like eyes that were stern yet kind, and a smirk that hinted at mischief. A small dot beneath the left side of her lips seemed like a birthmark, and she appeared to be the strong type—after all, she was wearing a suit.

Her eyes, as blue as diamonds, felt as if they were looking right through me, but they also held a curiosity that gave me that same eerie feeling I had when she first contacted me.

It was unsettling, but I thought I knew why I felt this way—or at least had a clue.

I stepped inside the batting area and immediately noticed two chairs facing each other on the side of the net. As I walked closer, she sat down in one of the chairs, as if inviting me to take a seat as well.

I sat in the expensive-looking chair, and the pressure of the situation intensified.

Once I was seated, she began to stare at me, which felt really unsettling! It was as if she were checking if the deer she was preying on had enough fat and meat to satisfy her!

These kinds of thoughts kept swirling in my head until she finally spoke.

[This should be our first time meeting, yes?] she asked, as if to confirm I knew her. Unfortunately for her, I was terrible at remembering names!

Also, her voice sent shivers up my spine with its sultry, smooth tone.

I better answer her now and fast before anything happens.

I nodded in response to her question, and she continued.

[Is that so? Well, to start this out, an introduction is needed. My name is Claire Everstone, and I must apologize for calling you here unexpectedly, but I assure you it will be worth your while.]

I nodded again in response to her apology, all the while noticing that the four people at the other exit had now split and surrounded the exterior of the building, as if keeping anyone from entering.

Perhaps they were just bodyguards or something.

[I suppose it’s time to get to the point of this meeting. I summoned you here to discuss both the job I offer and your power.]

At that moment, I already knew she was going to say that, but to think that she knew about my power was surprising.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

It was no shock she knew my phone number and address, and the fact that I was unemployed made this meeting even more dangerous than it already was.

I didn’t want to give her any ideas.

But I was curious about what else she knew about me and my abilities.

So, I asked her, [What do you mean by my power?]

As I questioned her, I employed a technique I had learned that I could use in this situation: Demonic Aura.

Having read countless fantasy manga and watched anime for years, I had gained an insane amount of knowledge that I could possibly use since becoming a demon. One of those was my Demonic Aura.

By applying pressure to the air and slightly heating it, and then combining this pressure with my dark mana—the energy within me—I was able to construct something that resembled an aura. I called this technique my Pseudo Aura.

While it was a little late to say it, what I meant by the energy inside me was basically like mana or magic power. I had just managed to do this now.

Before, I could already feel the presence of mana in the atmosphere, and I also felt it inside me. Initially, I thought I could conjure up some magic! After all, I was a fantasy fan.

In which I failed, which got me bummed out.

But just knowing I had magic power inside me already got me excited!

Maybe someday I would be a demon who could use awesome magic like the ones I always saw in anime!

And that’s how I managed to create my aura. Now, let me see her reaction for a bit.

As I exuded my Demonic Aura while staring her dead in the eyes, she eventually responded with an unexpected answer.

[Well, to be honest, I know absolutely nothing about your power.]

Huh?

........... wait

You mean I pulled that type of trick on her when she has no idea what I’m talking about?!

W-w-wait a minute! I need to stay calm; I need to regain my poker face! OMG! That was so embarrassing!

Haaaah hoooh... As I took deep breaths inside my mind, I asked her again, [W-what do you mean by that?]

[It’s exactly as it sounds; I have no idea about your power.]

She didn’t seem to be lying about that, but how did she know about my power?

Well, questioning her about my abilities could lead her to believe that I truly did have supernatural abilities.

But at this point, I was sure she knew about my power. Maybe she just didn’t know I was a demon. Despite the risk, I wanted to ask anyway.

I mean, who knows if there are other people who actually know I have these kinds of abilities?

I had a feeling I would benefit more if I knew her opinion and knowledge, but I also knew she might be lying and had gathered enough information about me, and that she just wanted to use me.

No matter, I needed information about my current state anyway.

And if they had ideas about it, I wanted to know all of it.

[Then can I assume you know something that I don’t?]

[Well, to begin with, your power to me is something unknown, but I have a vague idea as to what you are capable of.]

So, she did have info on me!

That made this way riskier than any online dates I’d had while trying to hide my otaku personality!

Jokes aside, this was bad. How bad, you ask? To put it simply, she claimed to know what I was capable of, which implied that she had been watching me from who knows where.

Since when?!

I had never even noticed somebody looking at me from a distance!

And just so you know, as I was attempting to figure out how to use my mana, I was simultaneously keeping my senses sharpened.

I usually relied on my hearing and sense of smell, but I had also been keeping an eye on my surroundings. So, whatever she was employing was invisible to me.

That suggested she was either an Esper or someone with access to highly valued technology.

This also meant I was dealing with an organization!

As I was thinking about how this whole meeting was just a huge pain in the ass, she started explaining things in more detail.

[As I was saying, I have no idea about your true capabilities—whether it is strength, speed, or mental capacity. However, I can tell that you have at least one of the three I listed, if not more. Now, I have a proposal in mind, and this is in regards to the job offer I mentioned over the phone. Will you at least hear me out?]

Her composure was remarkable.

Plus, she had been smiling the entire time she discussed her proposal. But now I was positive she had some kind of ability or two.

What I wasn’t sure about was whether she was currently using it or not. For the time being, I decided to listen to her explanation of her offer.

Perhaps I would learn more about her and myself.

So, I nodded in response. Just hearing about what she had to offer made me forget about killing her! I had a bad feeling that if I actually tried to harm her, I would end up dead or something.

[I'd like you to work with us as a type of agent.]

What did she mean by a type of agent? As if I were an assassin or something?

I knew I was strong, but I didn’t believe I could go on a mission where I needed to knock someone out and bring them back to base.

I mean, with my strength, I’d simply murder them.

First and foremost, I still needed to manage my talents, so I wasn’t sure. I was interested, so I asked, [An agent?]

[Yes, you see, I work for an organization called HeCaTe, whose main mission is to either destroy or control persons with supernatural abilities. This organization has different divisions in charge of managing various locations across the world. I am the supreme commander of Japan, and I oversee Shibuya.]

I see. By “organization,” she implied that this group was worldwide, and that she located me so quickly since her group monitored Shibuya and the entire country of Japan.

That explained everything.

And it also implied that whatever reaction I gave her when she explained her proposal could make me either their ally or their enemy, which didn’t sound good in any way. I wanted to ask more questions about the group, but I was afraid that if I did, it would imply that if I refused her offer, I’d be imprisoned for knowing too much, which caused me tummy aches.

[When you say agent, you mean a person who eliminates and captures certain targets that are either on the run or newly found, is that it?]

I didn’t know if it was too lengthy, but I just had to confirm whether I was going to be the sort who harmed others or collected information instead.

[Yes, you are correct. Your job is to use your abilities and fulfill your orders of either capturing the target or getting rid of them. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?]

[.........]

I understood what she meant by “fun.”

When you are meant to eliminate someone bad, the feeling of doing so is bliss—not that I’d ever felt it myself.

I’ve just been able to tell whenever a character I despised was suffering and later died, which made me feel great, even though killing other people is bad.

But this was different.

We were talking about killing strangers who had tipped off the organization’s radar, which meant that secret agents and the like would come after them to either take information or shut them down completely.

Well, did I really have a choice here?

I mean, I had no idea what had happened to my body, and I had an organization keeping an eye on me.

That meant that even if I refused and they let me go by some miracle, they would still monitor me and keep an eye on everything I did, ultimately sealing my freedom.

And I didn’t think I could take on an organization that had individuals with talents comparable to mine.

I mean, I may be a demon, but what if they had an angel?

Or do they have a relic, a weapon, or something else in their hands to deal with me? That would be like going into battle without any armor and just charging ahead blindly.

I’d read enough novels to know what happens when you fight something you can’t defeat, and I’m not the type of person who fights anyone in the first place.

[.............] [sigh]

You know what? Let’s just take her offer.

Why?

Because I can’t do anything, and this is becoming a pain, so let’s just go with the flow for now.

I mean, as I said, I can’t do anything in the first place, and even if I killed her, that would just mean my bounty and the fact that I was dangerous would be revealed and increased!

So, I can’t do anything.

Not right now, anyway.

I need information and power to erase a whole organization on my own, so for now, I’ll work for her until I can do something about HeCaTe myself.

[I accept your offer and look forward to working with you.] I bowed as I accepted her proposal.

As I sat up, I noticed that her eyes had significantly brightened, and she was smiling warmly.

Her mouth wasn’t actually open; she was simply smiling.

She then stood up, grabbed both of my hands, and thanked me for accepting.

[I thank you for accepting my offer, and you don’t have to worry about keeping our meeting discreet. Now that you’re one of us, we’ll keep both your gifts and your relationship to us hidden. You can rely on us!]

Well now!

This came as a surprise; the sense of authority and severity emanating from her quickly vanished, replaced with enthusiasm and excitement.

Although I say that, her excitement aside, she was able to keep her cool and do things in moderation.

The reason I say that is that she may appear enthusiastic, but in fact, she was still on guard but also relaxed at the same time.

What a terrifying individual.

This is why I pick and choose who I interact with.

After all of that, one of the guards brought a phone, which she instantly let go of me when she received a call from someone. My guess was that it was one of the higher-ups, if not a scout who happened to be in the area.

As she was taking the phone call, I became aware of a disturbing presence coming from a few blocks away.

Is it somebody on the loose? But this feeling—I could definitely tell it wasn’t a normal person.

Plus, I hadn’t addressed it before, but the guards surrounding the batting cages shared the same sense of abnormality, suggesting they weren’t just ordinary people. However, this one was different; it was much more twisted in terms of energy.

To put it another way, it was similar to an adventurer’s ranking, where they are ranked from G to S rank.

This thing was essentially a B rank, while the guards here were all C ranks—aside from Claire, whose rank I didn’t know.

My rank in terms of energy was basically that of an S rank! Muahahahaha!

Well, as I was thinking so highly of myself, Miss Claire asked me a very specific question.

[Now that I think about it, I’m not sure what to call you. in our organization, we enable our agents to use an alias. To be more specific, what do you want to be known as?]

[?!]

I had considered several titles and nicknames for myself, but I never imagined any of them would become permanent, so I didn’t really care.

I also considered the possibility of becoming a hero or something, and as for the name, I wasn’t sure.

Well, I couldn’t just call myself “Devil Girl” or “Demon Lord” or anything else that was too obvious. I needed something unique, something that hadn’t been used before, and all that.

........................

{Eri...} ....... [Lit]

A whisper in my head,

I’m not sure why, but a name popped into my head at that very moment.

Like a bird suddenly pooping on you or something.

Oh wait, that’s a bad example.

But in any case, I had found the appropriate name for someone like myself! It was far from ideal, but it would do for now.

[Erilith—that’s my name.]

It was a mix between Ereshkigal and Lilith, both of whom were queens and maybe demons.

I understood that stealing and merging the names of such big leagues might seem like a bad idea, but hey, it happened, and I couldn’t really alter it now.

My new identity would be Erilith, the Demon Queen of the Skies, because I could fly.

So why not?

After I told her that, she hesitated for a moment while continuing to talk to the person on the phone. Then she glanced at me with a glint in her eyes that shone brightly, giving me chills and discomfort. I had a bad feeling about this.

Don’t tell me!

[Well, Erilith, your first mission is to take care of the stray anomaly that is currently rampaging here on the streets. You don’t mind taking care of some simple chores, do you?]

I knew it!

You sly blue-eyed devil!

Well, I expected this, but I didn’t expect her to send a newbie recruit instead of these nine guards! Hahaha, what a pain!

But wait, aren’t civilians going to notice the “abnormality” that’s currently rampaging on the streets?

Won’t they get caught up?

[Oh, and don’t worry about the people; we’ve already constructed a type of barrier around the area where the target is, making it invisible to human eyes. However, if it kills or even wounds someone, that person will appear to have been slain by an unseen force. So, before that occurs, we must first apprehend our target at all costs.]

That makes sense.

So, all I had to do now was knock it out and take it back without injuring any civilians in the process.

Piece of cake!

Well, it would be if I just had to kill it and all, but I had to go to the trouble of capturing it for some reason.

She also handed me a tie clip that apparently rendered me invisible to regular people while confronting the target.

Pretty high-tech, if I do say so myself.

Well, no time like the present! As I got ready to leave, Claire and her guards got into a car to head to the spot themselves.

[By the way, please don’t kill our target, okay?]

Well, that’s great advice.

Whelp, off I go to my first mission!