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chapter 11
It was probably because he had been sealed inside a sword for a thousand years, but this demon was somewhat dull and clumsy.
As if he had already expected his annihilation, the demon—his entire body bound by restraining magic—bit his lips furiously.
‘I’m a useless human with no abilities at all, and I’m even known for having no mana because I’m cursed by a dragon.’
I smiled as kindly as possible and said,
“I’m not going to erase you.”
After letting out a short cough, I changed the subject.
“…But how long can this demon stay out here?”
“At most about thirty more minutes. There’s a high chance he won’t be able to come out again.”
Oh dear…
I let out a disappointed sigh at how short that was compared to what I expected.
“Why? If you sealed him inside the sword, I thought you could let him out freely.”
“I only know how to seal demons. Controlling them… probably requires a summoning ritual or some kind of spell. It also seems like mana is needed. I don’t really know the details either.”
Unbelievable. Even Dominic, the walking encyclopedia, had things he didn’t know.
‘It’s like I thought I got an unlimited ice dispenser, but it’s actually a thirty-minute limited edition…’
I sighed deeply and continued gathering information. Even in the original story, there had been no description of the demon sealed with Dominic.
“So who’s inside that sword?”
“Winter Moon, Autumn Mountain, Summer Star, and Spring Flower. Four demons live inside.”
Their names are oddly romantic. Were those nicknames?
I nodded and gave him a sly glance.
“Then shall we try making slushies for the next thirty minutes?”
“Y-you insolent! I’m the weakest among them! Don’t get arrogant thinking you can erase me with slush magic, human. The other demons are far stronger—they’ll avenge me!”
Seeing the Winter Moon demon’s blazing eyes, I smiled gently.
“No, I’m not going to erase you.”
Why would I erase four powerful slaves—no, four beings trapped in that sword?
But right now, the important one was this Winter Moon demon in front of me.
Meeting my gaze, the demon trembled.
“D-Dominic, look at this human’s eyes!”
I hid my faintly glowing eyes and smiled kindly.
“What about my eyes?”
“They’re completely insane!”
Sometime later.
Inside the old stationery shop on the first floor—still not yet renovated—three large glass containers were placed along one wall.
The huge glass jars summoned by the demon emitted a cold aura, like refrigerators.
And inside them, with a grinding sound, endlessly crushed ice poured down.
On top of the ice bins, Dominic poured in grapes, oranges, pineapples, and sugar he had hurriedly procured from somewhere.
Together, they were making grape, orange, and pineapple slushies.
In front of the glass containers, the demon—bound tightly by invisible restraints—let out a long sigh and struggled.
But it was like being caught in a trap he could never escape.
“Please let me rest for just one minute, human!”
More than two-thirds of all the glass containers were already filled with slush.
But since we didn’t know when we’d meet again, we had to make as much as possible.
With shining eyes, I touched the demon’s body.
“Make more ice quickly, Winter Mountain demon. We need lots of slush.”
“I’m the Winter Moon demon! A-anyway, if I regain my power, I’ll kill you for making me do this—”
CLANG!
Dominic picked up a metal plate beside him and lightly struck the demon’s arm.
“Shut up and work faster.”
“H-hey, he still looks like a kid—”
“That’s just his appearance. He’s over a thousand years old.”
The demon yelped and resumed making ice.
“Are you done?”
“Not yet.”
“I want to go back into the sword…”
His face had turned bright red.
I said coldly,
“No. We still don’t have enough slush. You can’t go yet. Work more!”
The Winter Moon demon shouted, fuming.
“You, you human worse than a demon! Even the great lord of the demon realm, Satan himself, would praise someone like you if he saw you!”
…Was that an insult or a compliment?
Grumbling, the demon reluctantly continued creating and crushing ice into the glass containers.
The slush made from ice that would never melt nearly filled them completely.
“Want to try it?”
Dominic handed me a crystal glass, probably brought along when he fetched the fruit.
“Yes!”
I dipped the glass into the giant container and took a sip of the grape slush. It was tangy, refreshing, and sweet—just like the slush I remembered from my past life.
“This ice is enchanted to never melt, but as you requested, it melts when it enters a human body! So let me go now!”
“Not yet.”
I looked at the Winter Moon demon with satisfaction and shook my head.
I really liked this taste.
“Slushies already exist…”
And we hadn’t even finished renovating the building, yet!
‘This feels like a good omen.’
I smiled happily and patted the demon’s shoulder.
“Perfect taste.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But your arms are idle, Winter Moon demon.”
“…Even in the demon world, we don’t get exploited like this… We’re supposed to work one minute and rest ten minutes!”
“One minute work, ten minutes rest? That sounds less like hell and more like heaven.”
“No! This place is worse than the demon realm!”
So the demon realm, despite its name, was surprisingly weak.
‘We’ll need carrots and sticks.’
Watching the Winter Moon demon frowning while endlessly making and crushing ice, I held out a glass.
“Fine, I’ll reward you. Try what you made.”
The demon snorted and shook his head.
“Hmph! I don’t eat human food. I prefer nectar and things like that.”
I held the glass under his chin.
“I wonder how a demon would feel about it.”
“Ugh, such a bothersome huma—”
Grumbling reluctantly, the Winter Moon demon took a sip—and his eyes widened.
“Huh. Wh-what is this?”
He rapidly drank more, eyes darting around in shock.
“Was I put under a mind-control spell?”
“What, is it bad?”
The demon shook his head violently so fast his black hair whipped around.
“T-this… is a revolution!”
I nodded.
It seemed this taste worked pretty well on demon children at least.
“More!”
“Drink more.”
The demon nodded and gulped down more.
‘It’s a shame it’s limited edition…’
I looked at him in admiration.
“You’re really good labor. I’d want to make you work every day.”
“I’m not working every day!”
Clutching the crystal glass tightly, he took another sip and widened his rabbit-like eyes.
“But this is just too delici—”
And then he vanished back into the sword with a faint whoosh.
‘Well, I didn’t expect him to disappear while making that expression.’
I puffed out my cheeks and looked at Dominic.
“Has it been thirty minutes?”
“Yes.”
As he said, it seemed exactly thirty minutes was the limit.
I looked at the slush containers and muttered,
“Is there really no way to control demons…”
Next time I meet him, I’m definitely not letting him go, Winter Moon demon.
I smiled slyly in my mind while looking at the fully filled slush containers.
While drinking the sweet grape slush the demon had worked so hard to make, I reviewed my work plan again.
“Thanks to the demon, we even got slushies.”
I smiled in satisfaction. Everything was going so smoothly it felt unreal.
“We should probably give a free cup to each visitor.”
“Right. I’ve never tasted a drink like this before either. It’ll leave a strong impression.”
Dominic sipped from his cup.
“The demon liked it, but will human children too?”
“Good question.”
“Is there a way to test it?”
But there wasn’t really a way to meet academy children in advance…
“There is one academy student. Up there.”
Dominic glanced toward the stairs.
‘Come to think of it, there was a cute child upstairs.’
A sleeping injured child who had been dozing peacefully.
Dominic and I went upstairs together. We approached the child sleeping softly and presented the drink.
“Hey kid, want to try this?”
The child slowly sat up, rubbed his eyes, and nodded.
“Y-yeah, gimme!”
I placed the crystal glass in his hands.
The boy narrowed his eyes, gathered strength, and began gulping the slush.
After a sip, he lowered the glass and looked at me with wide, round eyes.
“How is it?”
“Uuuhh…”
“Hmm?”
“It’s coooold…”
“You need to chew it properly.”
The child nodded vigorously, then suddenly widened his eyes again.
“Ah?”
His eyes sparkled brightly, like he had discovered a new world.
He opened his mouth wide, breathing rapidly.
“It’s… so, so delicious!”
He happily chewed the crunchy slush.
“Because of this, I… I…”
He blew out cold breath, then bit his slightly bluish lips.
“It feels like my heart is pounding.”
“…Isn’t that just because you’re cold?”
He had said it was cold earlier. The slush really was quite cold…
“It’s not because it’s cold!”
He placed a hand over his chilled lips.
“You… you found me injured, treated me, and even gave me something so amazing…”
He placed the glass down and grabbed my hand tightly.
“I think I’ve fallen in love!”
At the unexpected adorable compliment, I burst out laughing.
