Chapter 156: Confectionery
Chapter 156: Confectionery
"The Royalist Faction is annihilated, munch. And the Noble Faction is in chaos, chew, chew. You’ve achieved a complete victory, Master."
"You... you know, you can finish what’s in your mouth before you speak..."
Jaejin stared blankly at the serious-faced, green-haired woman sitting across from him. Busy devouring a slice of cake, Nia seemed unable to choose between eating and answering.
"But it’s just so delicious, I can’t help it. You should try some more too, Master."
Jaejin had already finished one plate, but seeing Nia tempt him with the cake made his mouth water again.
The dessert shop that had recently opened on the streets of the capital, Verita, was a byproduct of the trade established through the Anzence affair.
Instead of openly declaring their submission to the Demon Race, Anzence had resumed the trade that had been cut off since the war, exchanging human and material resources.
There were several reasons why they opted for trade rather than direct aid. For one, aid would have made their internal vulnerabilities easier to expose. More importantly, trade was the only way to jumpstart Anzence’s collapsed economy.
The Demon Race, who normally wouldn't care about a human nation like Anzence, had shown this consideration for the sake of the women connected to Jaejin.
Erdia, the Lord of Capia Castle, had been granted direct territory equivalent to that of a Count to manage as a result of this incident. If the nation of Anzence were to collapse entirely, the damage would fall directly upon Erdia, an Anzence noble.
Furthermore, Florence and Hilda were knights born and raised in Anzence, and Jaejin didn't want them to witness the ruin of their homeland.
Establishments like the Shadow of Lilim also benefited from the expansion of trade, as their business thrived alongside commercial development.
The effects of resuming human-demon trade—driven by such purely personal interests—were immediate.
Only two weeks after the subjugation of Anzence, the streets of Verita’s outer castle were crowded with far more human merchants and tourists than before.
While human hatred for the Demon Race remained, merchants were people who moved according to their own interests regardless of such perceptions. Thus, many participated in the officially brokered trade.
Moreover, while the Demon Race was an object of hatred, they were also a mystery to the general public.
The existence of two-meter-tall red-skinned giants, peerless beauties with skin like white jade, and those with the special ability to read minds—when such things were captured in photographs, paintings, and oral traditions—inevitably sparked a curiosity that transcended hatred.
Naturally, most commoners couldn't distinguish between monsters and the Demon Race. Those who had only encountered monsters before but came to know the Demon Race through travel began to lose the hostility they once held.
Commerce and culture. Even without active propaganda, the friendly exchange between the two sides began to take root as they quickly adapted to one another.
As part of that, Jaejin and Nia were currently invited to a trial run of a confectionery shop that had just opened—or rather, was about to open—in Capia Castle, eating the finest cakes in the United Kingdom.
The pâtissier of a bakery called Liberté, who had come to Verita during the first wave of trade, liked the place so much that he rushed to open a branch. For the final inspection before opening for business, he had requested individuals from the Demon Race who enjoyed desserts.
Lena had intended to choose someone at random, but Nia, upon hearing the news, had shown unexpected initiative in volunteering herself.
Considering how much effort it usually took just to get the world-weary Nia to act as a daily commuting portal, this was quite a surprise to Jaejin. However, once he followed her to the shop, he understood why she had been so enthusiastic.
While Jaejin finished one slice of cake and was choosing his next, she had already cleared four plates and was starting on her fifth.
Occasionally, when the pâtissier scanned the hall to gauge the customers' reactions, he would see the stack of plates in front of Nia and return to the kitchen with a satisfied expression.
"Coexistence with humans... might not be so bad..." she murmured quietly after finishing a piece of chocolate cake.
The Demon Race might possess superior individual strength, but it was difficult for them to keep up with the cultural prowess of humanity, which boasted a much larger population.
Even if their royalty had lost the war, perhaps this pâtissier from Anzence had achieved a solo 'cultural victory' through his desserts.
Nia finished her fifth plate with a look of satisfaction, then, perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed, she blushed and glanced at Jaejin.
"Is it... okay...?"
"It’s a tasting, so it should be fine, right? Surely they won't complain about you eating a lot."
Nia, who clearly had a weakness for sweets, was finally feeling self-conscious about the way she had been mindlessly gorging herself.
"Of course. In fact, I’m the one who should be grateful that you enjoyed it so much."
Once they had finished the dessert—which had been more like a full meal—the owner approached them with a genial smile.
To Jaejin, this man was quite fascinating—a human who had set foot in a demon stronghold, and in the densely populated capital at that.
"How was it for you two nobles? Do you think our brand's desserts will suit the palates of the Demon Race?"
Proportionally, Jaejin had been introduced as a demon noble. The primary reason was that he couldn't go around announcing himself as the Demon Lord, and calling himself Lena's slave was too embarrassing to put forward.
Through an agreement with Lena to minimize exposure, Jaejin was known to the pâtissier as 'Ginger,' a noble of the Lust Demon Race—a title he rarely used.
"It was very delicious. I’m sure it will sell well," Jaejin said.
"I, I... the chocolate and the bread were fine, but the fruit was a bit disappointing..."
Despite having eaten five plates, Nia was the type to speak her mind, and she didn't hold back on what she felt was lacking.
"The fruit, you say? We were actually discussing that ourselves. No matter how fast we transport ingredients from the homeland, it inevitably takes time."
Even with a distribution system designed for speed, it took at least a week, making it impossible to fully utilize the advantages of seasonal produce.
Furthermore, if fruits grown indoors at great expense using magic suffered from such drawbacks, it would inevitably hurt long-term profits.
Yet, finding a clear solution to this problem wasn't easy. The Demon Race had a vast territory relative to their population, so they didn't use expensive cultivation methods like indoor farming as they did in the United Kingdom.
"So we were trying to shorten the distribution time further... but it seems it's difficult to satisfy those with sensitive palates."
The man spoke indirectly about her being a picky eater while unable to hide his disappointment. He thought he had found the perfect blue ocean for his business, but now it seemed he would have to adjust by being more selective with the menu.
It was Nia who provided the answer in that moment of worry.
"Oh? Have you tried contacting the Fairy Tribe? You can get all of that in Gloriana."
"Pardon? Is that true? That’s strange. There was no mention of that when I did my research..."
The pâtissier expressed his doubt at Nia’s simple answer. He had thoroughly investigated the lands around the capital, Verita, and yet he had found no choice but to source out-of-season fruit from his homeland.
"Ah, the Demon Race is divided into factions internally. It’ll be easier to understand if you think of it as being split like the current United Kingdom. Besides, the Fairy Tribe is quite reclusive."
"There probably weren't any fairies wandering around Verita, so it’s not strange that you didn't know, Boss."
"I see..."
Fairies rarely left Gloriana. Part of it was their racial trait of preferring to stay in one place, but the influence of the 'Blessing of Love' bestowed upon them by the Fairy King and Queen was significant.
They were people who had become slaves to pleasure due to a blessing that amplified sensitivity and made conception easy. Had they possessed an open culture, the issue would have quickly become a public scandal.
Unfortunately, the Fairies had little interaction with the outside world, and because the Council of Elders exercised direct control at the request of the Fairy King and Queen, the problem never spread beyond their borders.
"Thank you. I will try to proceed as you suggested. Please, do stop by again next time. I’d like to provide you with proper service."
The owner, a man named Hans, bowed deeply to the two who had provided both a taste evaluation and a solution.
Jaejin’s steps were light, feeling as though he had unintentionally done a good deed, but Nia’s expression remained dark despite having eaten so much delicious cake.
"Um, Master Jaejin... do you think we could help with this matter?"
"There’s no reason we couldn't... but why so suddenly?"
There really was no reason they couldn't. Since resolving the Capia Castle incident, the administrative staff like Lena had been busy, but Jaejin had plenty of free time.
However, it was clear from Nia’s face that she hadn't brought it up for a simple reason.
"I’ve been waiting ever since I chose to support you. Waiting for when we might be able to solve the problems of my fellow fairies."
When they first became intimate, he had indeed made such a promise—that one day, he would devote his strength to solving the problems of the Fairy Kingdom. That promise remained unchanged.
It was just that the difficulty of the matter far exceeded what they had done at Capia Castle, so it had been pushed aside.
Like many of the Demon Race, fairies were beings that lived for hundreds of years. The strength derived from that accumulation of time was the driving force that allowed them to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jaun and the Demonic Dragon Tribe.
In other words, even if the remaining three and a half months were fully utilized, it was highly likely that the forces under Jaejin’s command would struggle. Nia knew this reality, which was why she hadn't pestered him and had instead chosen to steadily build her strength through Jaejin.
The fact that she was bringing it up now meant she had made a firm decision within herself.
"I know I might be being selfish..."
She swallowed her words and looked at Jaejin, her eyes filled with seriousness rather than their usual vacant daze.
"I want to save my friends from that pain. Even if I can't save everyone, if I could just save a few..."
Jaejin patted and hugged Nia’s back as she struggled to suppress her emotions. Ignoring the stray thoughts that arose from her soft, plump figure, Jaejin turned his steps toward the office in the main castle where Lena would be working.