Demon Cat from Hell (Or Not)
Back when I was in the demon realm—right after inheriting a portion of the Demon King's 'divinity,' just before my preparations to cross over to the surface world were nearly complete—I chatted with Chang Yeom and came up with one particular plan.
"An avatar, you mean an incarnation body, can't come over?"
"A Duke of Hell as an incarnation?"
"Yeah."
Just like how countless people in the middle world handled familiars, couldn't I summon someone the same way once I crossed over?
"To do that, you'd need to gather a massive amount of faith first."
"There are plenty of ways. Once you've gathered the faith, the real question is whether you can summon a Duke of Hell or not, right?"
"That's not wrong, but there are two problems with summoning demons from hell."
Regarding the summoning of demons from hell, Chang Yeom raised two issues.
"One is that you need an enormous amount of faith. And faith isn't just about the number of people— the quantity and quality of mana they possess matters too."
"Specifically?"
"People with potential around the level of academy students... about 500 of them? They'd need to send you fervent support, cheers, and belief. The kind where they'd jokingly say, 'He's a god!'"
"And once that's solved?"
"There's an important premise: Are you prepared to be caught by the angels, or do you summon without getting caught?"
The risk of being detected by angels. It was a far more critical issue than merely gathering faith.
"Obviously, we're talking under the premise of not getting caught by angels. So, how does that work?"
"It's random."
"Random?"
"Even if you open a dimensional gate in the middle world and perform a summoning ritual to the demon realm, it's ultimately a 'necessity' born from stacking coincidences upon coincidences."
"Skip the magical explanations—sum it up to the core. What happens?"
"The dimensional gate opens randomly in one of the seven territories. Since you're not just carrying your own mana but descending to the surface with the [Demon King's Divine Core], it's like that."
"Ah."
Sometimes, when your specs are too good, you run into annoyances pinpointing specific situations.
"So, it's because I don't just have fire affinity but all the 'remaining seven' affinities?"
"Of course. Earth, water, fire, wind, darkness, light, illusion—plus that other affinity you have. Well... that one won't react even if summoned now, but the others are different. Spirit summoning ultimately calls a being that matches the caster's mana talents."
If I tried to summon Hell's seven dukes in the form of 'spirit summoning,' it would be heavily influenced by my mana talents. If all talents were at 'level 100,' it'd be exactly a 1/7 chance for each. If the others were 99 and fire alone 100, 99% chance for a fire spirit, with the remaining 1% split among the rest. So, unintentionally, it's completely random summoning.
The seven dukes, no matter who gets summoned first from Hell, would do their utmost for the demon realm's revival and heaven's collapse—they're waiting for the call anytime. But even among people, compatibilities exist, and among Hell's seven dukes, there's one that's utterly incompatible with me in various ways.
"Don't worry. What are the odds of hitting 1/7? And even if you do, it won't be the first one."
In life, whenever you think 'no way,' it somehow always happens.
"Even if it does hit, you can control it easily, right?"
"Easy, yeah, but..."
It's still in the realm of luck, after all.
"If that one gets summoned, I won't make any desserts with ice cream until the next summoning."
* * *
And now.
"Riding the winds, this body makes its entrance. This body hails from Hell, borne on gales—the wind wolf."
Before me stood a beautiful girl in a white magical girl-like dress, her mint-green cat ears perked up.
"My name is Kim Penril!"
"Not a Kim."
"Doesn't matter, nyang."
"Not a cat either."
"I already know through Chang Yeom that you like cat-eared nekomimi maid beauties, so it's fine, nyang."
"Haa..."
This beautiful girl was utterly my-pace, to put it mildly.
"Hehehe, out of the seven, you called this body first. As expected, you—"
"Nope."
"Must love the common folk!"
"No."
Not to that extent. I'm not one of those who call mint chocolate toothpaste or detergent.
As someone walking the path of a master baker—and a patissier to boot—how could I speak ill of flavors or reject them with disgust?
"You hate mint choco, nyang?"
"Of course I like mint chocolate. It's refreshing, sweet, and once you get into that unique scent, it's great in its own way."
"Then it's all good, nyang."
"But you turn everything into mint choco."
The moment I summoned [Penril of the Tempest], my dessert life was over.
"I was hoping for strawberry at least."
"What? You wanted Chang Yeom? Way too obvious. And here I am, a cute beauty offering to help right beside you. This Kim Penril might not know much else, but I can assist with every mint chocolate dish imaginable."
Penril grabbed the sword at her waist—scabbard and all. Longer than her body, she extended the greatsword with intense focus, manifesting something.
"Hah!"
"Ah, damn."
My mana got drained. Sure, others do this too, but not as brazenly as Penril. And the 'item' she manifested using my mana and memories...
"Ta-da!"
"Haa..."
"Behold the miracle of the Mint Choco Love Squad! The ultimate 6 Mint Choco!"
"Wasn't supposed to order it as punishment."
Using my mana and memories, Penril had conjured a food item before me. A massive tub overflowing with mint chocolate. Like ordering six scoops from a 31-flavor shop, but someone picking mint choco for all six.
"Ah, you hate this, nyang? How about this one then, nyang?"
"Stop draining my mana."
"It'll refill once you eat anyway."
Penril laid her sword horizontal, and atop the opposite side, another ice cream tub appeared. The kind you hear about when someone brags about money—like cheekily asking for a whole "OO-daz."
Vanilla, strawberry, even pistachio? Nope—mint choco.
"Hehehe, want your mana back? Eat the mint choco nicely, nyang!"
Yes. Penril was a mint chocolate enthusiast who manifested only mint-choco-related items from my vast memories of flavors and foods.
Was she always like that? 'How would I know.'
As one of Hell's dukes appearing on the surface, she was just a rampaging wind wolf shredding everything around. But as an avatar and spirit fragment—the raid boss [Penril of the Absolute Gale]—she turned out to be a mint choco gale-bringer. If Breadcademy players learned this, they'd start chowing down real-life mint choco tubs to recruit her somehow.
"Don't worry too much, nyang. Even this body won't cover every ice cream in mint choco when manifesting mana."
"Really?"
"If we agree that out of three flavors you pick, one must be mint choco!"
"Knew it."
In life, you inevitably run into them once or twice. The type who, when sharing a multi-flavor tub, stubbornly shoves in mint choco.
"Anyway, nice to meet you, nyang."
Penril snapped her fingers at the mint choco on her sword, turning it into wind.
Whoosh.
Breathe through your nose, and mint scent stings; inhale through your mouth, and your whole tongue refreshes like tasting mint choco. Not bad. Just a side effect where, unless it's this world's real ice cream, my brain will register everything as mint choco for a while.
If not for that minor drawback, as the Demon King's vanguard infiltrating the academy and dreaming of heaven's fall, she was the perfect pick.
"Penril."
"Yeah?"
"Just so you know, the first semester isn't even over yet."
"Eh, really?"
Especially not at this point.
"When? Finals? Earlier than expected. I figured first-years summon maybe one after they're done."
"Before finals."
"Then... midterms? No way, you gathered enough faith for one of us already?"
Penril waved her hand, laughing.
"Even you couldn't have. Unless you revived mint choco in this world, no way you'd amass faith for one of us in months."
"......"
"......When exactly?"
"Continental Year 997, March, second week—weekend."
"Eh?!"
Penril dropped her sword.
"Evande."
"Thanks to things flowing my way, I gathered enough faith to summon one of the seven already."
"Th-then...!"
Penril rushed me, grabbing my clothes.
"Revive mint choco in this world once more! Make mint choco great again!!"
"...We'll see. Will it make money?"
"Absolutely! Steady seller always in the top three of 31 flavors! It's not just boosting my faith...!"
Penril swept her hand up her chest, gazing up at me earnestly.
"When mint choco faith grows, this body gets even puffier...!"
"Dunno if Silverstar folks like mint choco. Hah."
Well. That's how it is.
One of Penril's faiths is mint chocolate, and the more fans it gains, the stronger she gets—fact. And the heavenly host wiped mint choco from this world.
"Even if I stick around, ice cream will only taste mint choco, nyang!"
"You damn mint choco fiend."
"Kyaaah!!"
Kim Penril has descended.
Hear ye.
Mint chocolate shall rise again in this world.