As the Demon Lord retrieved the meat from the refrigerator, he noticed a child crouching near the roots of the Keyaki tree. The child had short, curly red hair and appeared to be around ten years old. She had fair skin with freckles around her nose, giving her a delicate appearance.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” the Demon Lord asked.
The girl glared at the Demon Lord. His impatience flared, but as previously mentioned, he couldn’t act on it.
“Because the Hero said you’d give me food if I came here,” the girl replied.
“Oh, I’m making it now. It’s curry rice. Come back at 5 PM when we open,” the Demon Lord said.
“What? I can’t wait that long! You slow, useless person! Give me something now!” the girl demanded.
Though the Demon Lord felt the urge to act on his rising anger, he refrained.
He was scolded by the old woman and insulted by the girl, and his pride was shattered into pieces.
“…That girl’s father was killed by you,” the Hero explained.
“What?” the Demon Lord questioned.
“I think many challengers have come to face you until now. One of them was her father. Those who couldn’t defeat you met their end. But the most tragic part is what happened to their families. She lost her mother, and her father died, leaving her with a young brother struggling to survive in the slums of the capital,” the Hero continued.
“I was unaware of such things,” the Demon Lord replied.
“Of course, you wouldn’t know. Her father chose to challenge you willingly, so he brought it upon himself. However, the children are not at fault,” the Hero added.
“Even so, it has nothing to do with me,” the Demon Lord retorted.
“Well, you’re right about that…” the Hero said with a sigh.
The Hero patted the Demon Lord’s shoulder and said, “Let’s continue.”
Although the Demon Lord claimed not to care, he couldn’t help but be bothered by thoughts of the girl.
Under the strict guidance of the old woman, they managed to prepare the curry rice. The Demon Lord, though thinking throughout that he wanted to quit, was surprised by the delicious taste when he tasted the finished product.
“It’s delicious!” he exclaimed.
“Haha, isn’t it? Silvia’s curry can rival even the five-star restaurants in the capital!” the old woman boasted.
“But it’s too sweet. Let me add more spice—”
The old woman stopped the Demon Lord from adding chili pepper to the curry.
“It’s not for you! It’s for the children. It needs to be this mild!” she scolded.
“Can’t I have a portion of this offering?” the Demon Lord asked.
“Adults who want to eat will have to pay a high price!” the old woman replied.
Even though he had worked hard to make it, the Demon Lord didn’t want to give it to others. He couldn’t remember ever working hard before, which made him even more upset.
At that moment, a cuckoo clock in the kitchen indicated that it was five minutes before opening time.
“Lord Demon,” the old woman handed him a cloth.
The blue cloth was a noren (curtain) with “Keyaki Children’s Cafeteria” written in beautiful calligraphy.
“You will hang this up at the entrance. It’s a sign that we’re open,” the old woman instructed.
The Demon Lord went to the entrance and opened the sliding door. To his surprise, many children were waiting outside. They ranged in age from about 3 to almost adults, all with disheveled appearances.
When the Demon Lord appeared, the younger children excitedly welcomed him with cries of joy. He was pushed aside by a bigger child, and he fell.
Once again, he felt the urge to act on his murderous intent, but he couldn’t. Instead, he saw a small hand in front of him. It belonged to a boy about 4 or 5 years old, with round eyes and short curly red hair, much like the girl’s.
“Big brother, are you okay?” the boy asked.
The hand offered to him was frail like a twig. Afraid of breaking it, the Demon Lord got up on his own. Behind the boy, he saw the girl from earlier, who looked rather displeased.
They seemed to resemble each other greatly. The boy must be her younger brother. Unlike his sister, he appeared obedient.
The boy, named Taro, pulled his sister, Tsuyu, and they both entered the cafeteria together. Following them, the older children rushed inside.
The Demon Lord once again found himself working tirelessly – serving salad, curry, replenishing drinks, taking away empty dishes, and even tending to a child who had eaten too quickly and vomited. It was a whirlwind of activity.
As the first group of children finished eating, a second group arrived, and the process repeated. By the time the third group arrived, the Demon Lord had become somewhat accustomed to the routine and could observe the children more closely.
They all looked incredibly happy. The noisy and troublesome children from earlier became silent and ate the curry rice in front of them without a word. Some even repeatedly exclaimed, “It’s delicious!”
After finishing their meal, they left happily, saying, “It was incredibly tasty! Big brother, let’s come again!”
Being praised made the Demon Lord feel surprisingly content.
When all the food had been served and the first day was over, the Demon Lord was filled with a sense of exhaustion and satisfaction. As he went outside to remove the curtain, he found Taro, Tsuyu’s brother, sitting by the Keyaki tree. When he saw the Demon Lord, he ran over.
“Big brother!”
Taro held out his hand, and the Demon Lord complied, extending his own. In Taro’s hand was a small, round stone.
“It’s round, right? It’s my ‘treasure’! I’ll give it to you!”
“What is this ‘treasure’ you speak of?” the Demon Lord asked.
“It’s a ‘treasure’!” Taro insisted.
Although the well-educated Demon Lord had no idea what it meant, he decided to accept it gracefully.
Afterward, Taro said, “I hope this cafeteria will continue forever.”
At that moment, Tsuyu emerged from the Keyaki tree’s entrance.
“Taro, what are you doing here?! Hurry, the master is angry!” she scolded him.
“Oh… Big brother, bye!” Taro said.
The siblings disappeared into the tree.
Suddenly, the Hero appeared next to the Demon Lord.
“Those siblings work as servants for Viscount Pudding. Their father owed a debt to the viscount before he passed away,” the Hero explained.
The Demon Lord couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding upon hearing this.
“Did you see the boy’s arm? It’s not from receiving proper meals,” the Hero continued.
“I want to help, too. But all I can do is wield a sword and make minor adjustments to the children’s cafeteria to ensure they have enough to eat occasionally. If I defeat you, my position and authority might change, I thought. But in the end, even if I defeat you… I can’t save more than one child, and I’m just a powerless human,” the Hero said.
“You chose the wrong opponent,” the Demon Lord replied.
“Haha, I never expected to hear that from you,” the Hero chuckled.
The Hero patted the Demon Lord’s shoulder and said, “Thank you for indulging my ego, Demon Lord. I’ll count on you from tomorrow.”
The Demon Lord couldn’t refuse and found himself wanting to do something for those children.
This was a feeling he had never experienced before, and he couldn’t quite understand it.
