The Heavenly Demon Discovers Ice Cream
“Disciple! What in the world is this?! How can something like this even exist?!”
“Master, please calm down first. No one’s going to steal it from you…”
“Did you bring clouds from the sky? Yes, this must be a cloud! How else could something so white and soft melt away like this?!”
“It’s a little strange to hear you say that when you’ve never actually eaten a cloud before.”
“It’s just a figure of speech! Anyway, this is truly an incredible food!”
This woman is going to lose her mind when she sees cotton candy. She’s already completely entranced by ice cream and doesn’t know what to do with herself.
Pa-pa-pat!!—She’d been the one rushing us to leave earlier, yet now she’s eating with such intense focus. I’ve never seen her look so combative about food before. All I could do was watch in stunned silence.
“…”
“…”
Gerard and Iris seemed just as shocked by their master’s behavior. To my disciples, she had always been the very image of dignity—her majestic tone and presence had left a deep impression on them, and at times even I found her intimidating. Yet here she was, completely undone by ice cream like a child.
“Ah.”
She suddenly let out a sigh. The plate was already empty; there was no more ice cream left. There hadn’t been much to begin with, so it was inevitable. Still, the way she stared at the empty plate made her look heartbreakingly pitiful.
Clack—
At that moment, Iris quietly slid her own portion toward her master. With a gentle smile, she murmured, “Please eat.” For once, the usually clumsy youngest disciple carried the quiet weight of someone who had endured countless hardships and returned to the world once more.
Normally, the master would have refused, insisting it was hers. But having just tasted ice cream for the first time, she couldn’t bring herself to decline. After exactly three seconds of hesitation, she reached out, unable to resist any longer. In the end, even the Heavenly Demon couldn’t stop Iris.
“…Ahem. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing, Grandmaster. If it’s not enough, we can just order more.”
I watched them quietly for a moment before sliding into the seat beside Iris. I gestured for Gerard and Iris to sit as well. There was no urgent matter pressing us, and I figured we could afford a short rest. Saving the world might be the duty of those chosen as Heroes, but in the end, everyone was just trying to live. Shouldn’t we enjoy life a little? It wasn’t much—just resting when we had the chance, eating something delicious, chatting idly. Even that would be the sweetest break my disciples could ask for.
“Ahem. Then I suppose I should have a simple meal as well.”
“Perfect. I was getting hungry. So you’re having that again, Senior? Dog food, right?”
Dog food? What on earth was Iris talking about with that grin?
“Dog food? I just chose the simplest and most convenient option, Junior.”
“Oh really? Or is it that your taste is just weird, Senior? Master, why did you feed him that kind of food and ruin his palate? He’s completely strange now.”
“…Anyone listening would think I fed them actual dog food, Iris.”
Thanks to my long solo life and cooking hobby, my skills weren’t at a chef’s level, but they were good enough to satisfy most people. I’d always made sure my disciples ate proper meals with that ability. Hearing her say that felt deeply unfair. When had I ever served them dog food?
“Oh, don’t you remember that one time? When you said we were simulating a battle situation and mixed together all those ridiculous ingredients into something that wasn’t quite rice or porridge—just some weird thing!”
…Ah. Now that she mentioned it, I did remember. It wasn’t something I made for all the disciples—only when Gerard was around. Calling it a “menu” would be generous. What I’d specially prepared for him was nothing more than rice balls. More accurately, it was just a bunch of random things mixed together.
The reason I made them was, in hindsight, pretty idiotic even to me. I’d been playing along with the setting that Gerard was half-knight, half-soldier. Whenever we went out for training, those plastic-wrapped rice balls would appear at the most forgettable moments. If they came with soybean paste and some bean sprouts mixed in, that was already lucky. If the mess hall cook lost his mind and threw in anchovies and spinach, curses would fly. I’d made those dog-food-like rice balls for Gerard a few times.
“You can’t live on proper meals forever! You have to learn to enjoy even these ridiculous rice balls that show up in impossible situations!” That had been my reasoning. Gerard had eaten them all without complaint. At the time, I assumed he was just following orders because I’d told him to, and because it fit the urgent situation—acting like a proper knight and soldier. But it turned out the guy had actually thought, This is pretty good!
And the result was…
“Wow… Seriously, Senior, don’t sit next to me.”
“Eek. Senior Gerard, there’s no need to go that far, is there?”
“…Get away from me, you fool.”
The moment several dishes arrived, Gerard immediately started mixing them together. They weren’t even meant to be mixed—some were better eaten separately. For flavors to harmonize, you needed at least some thought. But Gerard just dumped everything in first and mixed afterward. Thanks to him, we were treated to a sight of shocking and horrifying bibimbap.
“It’s actually edible. I feel wronged, Iris.”
“If you want some, eat it yourself, Senior. The moment you try to force it on me, it’s war.”
“What is that? Why do you eat grass like that?”
“Mind your own business. Whether I eat grass or fish is none of your concern!”
Despite her rough personality that made her seem like she’d eat anything, Iris actually had surprisingly refined tastes. She looked like the type to tear into meat by a campfire, yet here she was daintily munching on salad.
“Master, aren’t you going to eat?”
“This should be enough for me, Iris.”
I pointed at my coffee and a few cookies. I wasn’t particularly hungry, and more importantly, one side of the table was eating dog food, the other was eating grass, and across from me was an ice cream eating show. It was too chaotic—I couldn’t tell if food was going into my mouth or my nose.
“…This place really looks so peaceful.”
Iris, having finished her meal, was the first to speak. Everything she’d seen in the Royal Capital had been nothing but collapsed ruins and people drowning in despair. It had been too late—there was no one left to save, nothing left to salvage.
“It’s nice to see.”
Now there were so many people laughing and living their lives. No one here worried about the world slowly being dyed black. The Royal Capital was simply filled with people living each day to the fullest.
“Disciple. Are you certain something will happen here?”
“I think it’s likely.”
“The kind of people I know always operated in the shadows, in places with almost no one around. Are there really people who would cause trouble in such a large, open place?”
“Normally that would be the case, but our opponents are completely insane.”
Right after falling into the game world, I’d nearly been captured and killed by Demon God Worshippers. They’d said something about how, since I’d fallen from the sky, I’d make an excellent sacrifice. Thanks to that, I’d felt it with absolute clarity—this wasn’t a dream or a game. It was a real world. If you didn’t want to die, you had to kill. If you wanted to live, you had to do something. Monsters, demonic beasts, and Demon God Worshippers. I had to kill them all, one by one, until I finally summoned the Fragment of the Demon God. Only then could I move forward. Whether I stayed here until I died or found a way to escape, none of it was possible until I survived first.
“…”
The master silently surveyed the interior of the Royal Capital in response to my words. She paid no attention to the distant Royal Palace, her gaze fixed only on the ordinary people right in front of her—laughing, chatting, and living their lives.
After finishing our meal and taking a short rest, we headed toward Daisy’s residence on the outskirts of the Royal Capital. Even though she rarely went out, she was still a Hero. I’d expected many people to be gathered around her place, but surprisingly, almost no one came or went nearby. When I asked why, I was told the royal palace deliberately kept people away from the Magic Hero’s residence. They claimed it would interfere with her research or that it was a matter of courtesy to the Hero. Whatever the reason, the restrictions seemed to be working well. Thanks to that, I no longer needed to wear my hood either.
“…She lives here?”
“Yes, Master.”
“If we’re joking, it looks like it could house a hundred people.”
“She said a wide space was necessary for magic research.”
“Daisy said that?”
“No. The royal family said so. And they gave her this enormous building.”
“…”
I’d imagined her residence as a modest house—comfortable for one person, with enough space for magic research. Not this five-story building that was larger than most villas.
Bang bang bang!!—
“Daisy, Junior! Open the door! Open it! Master is here! Open this door right now!!”
“Iris. If you make that much noise…”
“If I don’t make this much noise, she’ll just keep researching magic without a care in the world. Last time I had to break the door down and she still didn’t notice!”
I would normally have scolded Iris for talking nonsense. But since the person in question was Daisy, it was entirely plausible. So I left her alone. A moment later—
“What?! What is it… Oh, oh! Ah! Waaah!!”
Fortunately, a reaction came before Iris could break the door down.
“Master! Master!? Is Master really here?!”
A window flew open and a woman began shouting. Then she disappeared inside, followed by a series of crashes and thuds. It sounded like countless things were toppling, spilling, and breaking. I wondered if everything inside was all right.
“It really is Master?! You got here so fast!! I thought it would take longer!”
The noisy figure who came sprinting from the entrance toward us was none other than the Magic Hero, Daisy Blossom of the Magic Tower. Her light-brown hair, usually tied back, had come completely undone as she ran, repeatedly crying out, “Master!!”
“Kyaaak!”
Thud!—
She tripped over her own feet and fell. The impact was so strong that she rolled straight toward us.
“Owww…”
“…”
Watching her whimper, a thought suddenly occurred to me. Maybe the royal family had given her this massive building because even they couldn’t handle Daisy.