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chapter 10
From somewhere, a crunching, krk—krk sound echoed as pitch-black masses of smoke began firing shards of ice.
Crack, crack-crack!
Sharpened icicles started stabbing into the garden floor.
If they hit properly, they looked like they could cause at least serious injury—those chunks of ice began flying wildly toward Dominic, and even toward me.
“Dodge it, Mel!”
Dominic raised one hand and smashed the incoming ice shards to pieces.
‘I can’t possibly dodge that!’
I quickly covered my face and hid behind Dominic.
In situations like this, to avoid becoming a burden, the best strategy is to not act smart and just hide!
But that grotesque black smoke seemed to get even more irritated by Dominic’s resistance.
Sharper ice began raining down faster than Dominic could destroy it.
[So it’s you, isn’t it? Contractor.]
A loud, grating voice like a chalkboard being scratched echoed throughout the entire garden.
At the same time, as the “contracted one,” my vision went dark and my breath began to tighten.
“Hah… haah…”
The moment my airway was blocked and breathing became difficult—
I barely managed to pull in a thread of air through my nose.
But even that disappeared after a few seconds.
“Ugh…”
The black smoke in front of me writhed and screamed.
[Kill this human!]
A voice like a scream rang out. It was the voice of a chilling evil spirit.
‘What the hell is this crazy thing now?!’
As goosebumps rose all over my body, a voice like a savior reached my ears.
“Who said you could?”
Dominic strode over and violently tore at the black smoke that was choking my neck.
[I will kill! I will kill and take revenge!]
But even as Dominic exerted force, the cursed spirit tightened its grip on my neck even harder.
“Kh—kgh!”
My vision blurred rapidly. The smoke constricting my throat spread into my chest, pressing against my heart.
I was truly dying.
Pak!
At that moment, Dominic finally ripped the smoke away.
“…Hah… haah…”
I coughed desperately, rubbing my neck where I had been strangled.
It stung—like it would leave a mark.
Dominic, who had helped me up, gritted his teeth.
“Come out.”
Boom!
The massive cloud of smoke transformed into the shape of a child—around seven years old.
Jet-black hair darker than ebony, black skin, sharp fangs peeking between its teeth, and even small horns protruding from its head.
Dominic grabbed the oddly formed child by the collar and asked darkly,
“You really want to be destroyed?”
His piercing gaze fixed on the strangely tall child.
“I absolutely do NOT want to be destroyed!”
The child—once a mass of black smoke—pouted and touched its own face, fascinated by its physical form.
‘What even is this thing?’
I looked around.
The already half-ruined stationery store garden was now covered in frozen ice shards and icicles, turning the place into a complete mess.
Still rubbing my throat, I coughed and tried to regain composure.
‘First, let’s sort out the situation.’
A short while later.
Me, Dominic, and the child who had been black smoke were now inside the first floor of the stationery store for a three-way confrontation.
The child was restrained by binding magic, yet the so-called thousand-year-old demon frowned.
“This is the demon I sealed long ago, Mel. The one who was trapped in my sword with me…”
“I, the Great Winter Moon Demon, have finally descended into the human world!”
The demon—now manifested as a child—looked at its own body with delight.
Watching it excitedly, I whispered to Dominic,
“You sealed that thing? Then there should’ve been a sealing spell on it. How did it get out?”
“I don’t know either.”
“I also do not clearly know how I came to this mortal world. But I must say—it is quite pleasing here! Hey, you there!”
…The demon was so old-fashioned it spoke in archaic language, making it hard to understand.
Dominic sighed while watching the cheerful shouting “Winter Moon Demon.”
“Maybe I overused my power after hundreds of years… I’m not sure why, but it seems it broke free naturally. Still, it’ll go back. The sealing spell is solid.”
Dominic shook his head and re-applied restraints to the demon.
“You, apologize to Mel.”
“…O ignorant human, receive my apology.”
Is that even an apology?
Still, I had something I wanted to ask the Winter Moon Demon.
“Those ice shards outside—were those your doing?”
“Indeed.”
I looked at the still-unmelted ice that had been brought inside.
“Does it not melt? That’s amazing.”
I wasn’t sure what a “Winter Moon Demon” really was, but the ice it created was clearly real—it hadn’t melted even when I touched it.
‘And it’s ice.’
In Korea, ice is common. But in this world without refrigerators, ice was generally rare.
“I thought almost no one could create unmeltable ice in this world…”
“Yes! Only I, born under the Winter Moon, can create eternal, unmeltable ice!”
“Even Dominic can’t do it?”
The hero specialized in combat—Dominic—awkwardly avoided my gaze.
That confirmed it.
Even the great House of Babelroa and House of Hessman couldn’t easily obtain ice.
Especially ice like this—eternally unmeltable—was extremely rare.
‘This demon might actually be useful.’
A plan began forming in my head.
I smirked and gently touched the demon’s horn.
“Alright, demon. I’ve got a job for you.”
“A job?”
“Yes. I want you to make slushies.”
The demon’s eyes widened.
Of course, it was bound by restraint magic, so it could only widen its eyes.
But it was so shocked that the veins in its eyes looked like they might burst.
“What?! You mean to tear me apart with some slushie magic?! You heavenly-angel-like human!”
What even is “slushie magic”? And what does angel mean?
“Are you complimenting me right now?”
“No! I am cursing you most severely!”
Dominic chuckled and added,
“Yes, Winter Moon Demon. You’ll soon be torn apart by slushie magic.”
“…?”
I looked at Dominic in confusion.
“Mel is a terrifying human. Even I was tricked by her into a fraudulent contract.”
I stared blankly at Dominic, who was proudly nodding.
‘Why is he bragging about that?’
But the demon only made things worse.
“Ohhh… so you are a truly great human.”
Its horns, once hard like ivory, drooped like marshmallows. Even its tone suddenly changed.
“Right. So a lowly demon like you will naturally be destroyed. Goodbye, Winter Moon Demon.”
“Nooo…!”
At Dominic’s cold words, the demon trembled in despair.
‘…I haven’t even said anything yet.’
Things were escalating very smoothly.
