Inside the fifth cave, where Raon and the scouts spent the night.

On the icy ground where the shark moles' blood had frozen solid, two men were standing, one wearing a black and the other a blue one.

“Hmm…”

The man in black robe’s height and bulkiness were comparable to that of a monster. Looking at the bloodstains around the cave, he licked his lips.

“They were killed by a fast and simple killing technique. I can’t tell what kind of swordsmanship the perpetrator used from the marks on the corpses and the ground.”

He scratched his chin, looking at the hole created by Raon’s Blade of Requiem.

“How was this hole created? I don’t think it was made by a sword, was it a spear? No, this is…”

“Why are you so curious about that?”

The man wearing the blue robe snorted, kicking the shark moles corpses that had been buried by the scouts.

“They are all going to die anyway.”

“It’s because of you. You should’ve made sure to kill them, or at least get some information. We only ended up giving them information this time.”

The man in the black robe turned around. It was difficult to see because of the robe, but it seemed like he was scowling.

“I didn’t do that on purpose. It couldn’t be helped, they were out of control.”

“Stop your nonsense.”

“Haa, why are you so worried? Nothing can possibly go wrong as long as we proceed as planned.”

“You are underestimating them too much.”

“I’m not underestimating them. They are simply inferior.”

The man wearing the blue robe grinned, looking in the direction of Habun Castle. The dozens of teeth in his mouth glowed like those of a shark.

“They won’t be able to do anything if we proceed according to the plan. That’s why we are working hard on the preparations right now.”

“Then don’t do anything, please. The plan goes awry whenever you act. It looks like your head is even becoming fishlike.”

“Keep talking. You are like a beast.”

“……”

“Haaah. Alright, alright. I won’t do anything, I’ll be as quiet as a mouse.”

The man in the black robe glared at him silently. The man in the blue robe nodded, grating on his nerves.

“So, what are we going to do now?”

“Habun Castle’s commander isn’t stupid. He will send troops to confirm the fact that shark moles came up near Stallin Mountain, and to exterminate the gathering trolls.”

“So, we are going to attack those guys? Let me do that!”

“It is not yet your turn.”

The man in the black robe shook his head.

“The Six Kings will probably send reinforcements as soon as we act, so we need to be the last ones to wield our blades.”

“So, what then?”

“I’ve already made my preparations.”

Huge shadows appeared from behind him. They had white fur as thin and long as feathers covering their entire bodies, ears as pointy as elves, and arms long enough to reach the ground. Ice trolls. Two of those monsters, infamous throughout the frozen northern land, stood behind the man in the black robe.

“Oh, they aren’t just average monsters.”

The man in the blue robe crossed his arms and grinned. Just as he said, the two ice trolls didn’t look normal. They were at least one head taller than an average ice troll, and one held a red club while the other held a blue staff.

“A warrior and a shaman sounds like a good combination for experimentation. I should also look for some decent ones.”

He headed towards the northern sea while giggling, and the man in the black robe silently walked towards Stallin Mountain.

Rumble.

The ice troll warrior and shaman followed the man in the black robe like well-trained dogs.

* * *

The Next Day.

Raon left his lodgings and went to the Branch of Frost before noon.

“It’s unusual of you to ask me to go to the pub.”

Dorian rubbed his sleepy eyes with a big yawn.

“I’m missing the food I couldn’t eat yesterday.”

“Ah, I know. The food looked pretty delicious.”

Actually, he didn’t really feel hungry or miss the food, but he felt ever-so-slightly bad about Wrath, who lost his stats without eating pizza in the end. Because of that, he decided to spend some time eating pizza.

Don’t pretend you are being considerate to the King of Essence. The promise was supposed to be for yesterday in the first place.

Wrath complained, sticking to his wrist like a cicada on a tree. He’d become significantly smaller compared to the day before because he’d spent a lot of his power.

As he nodded and kept walking, he could feel probing gazes form the surroundings.

“That’s him. The sword demon that killed six shark moles on his own and even defeated the Wolf Mercenary Corps—including their vice-captain, Cliff.”

“Are you sure? But he is just a pretty boy.”

“I can only feel a weak pressure from him…”

“I lost all my salary from betting against him yesterday. There’s no way I would forget!”

“How did he become strong enough to defeat that terrible mantis at such a young age?”

The swordsmen and the knights swallowed harshly upon seeing Raon pass them by.

“Hey, sword demon! You were awesome yesterday!”

“It has been a long time since the last time our mercenary corps was defeated that badly!”

“Thank you for beating up Turka, who’s been playing the goat.”

“I felt so happy when the vice-captain got beaten up!”

Unlike the swordsmen that were probing him, the Wolf Mercenaries waved their hands with cheers.

They are seriously crazy.

Yellow madness could still be seen in their eyes. It was truly behavior befitting the demons of battlefields that went looking for fights.

Whatever, just go faster.

Raon snickered and opened the pub’s door. The inside was completely empty, since it was an awkward time for a meal.

“Welcome!”

They sat at the table in the center and a cheerful voice could be heard from the kitchen. A girl in her early teens wearing her rosy hair in two braids walked out soon enough. She was someone they hadn’t seen the day before.

“Are you going to eat? Huh?”

After putting the menu down on the table, the girl tilted her head as she looked at Raon.

“You are the swordsman that fought against the Wolf uncles yesterday, right?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, the girls said your appearance was more attractive than your swordsmanship, but it was true!”

The waitress stared at Raon with a broad smile.

What are you doing? Stop making me wait and open the menu. The King of Essence will order everything.

First, is pizza. I even saw the pizza from yesterday in my dream.

He looked at the pizza on the menu. As he was pondering over which one to order since there were five different kinds, the girl came up next to him.

“Do you want my recommendation? This beef pizza and the chicken pizza are the most popular ones, and this spicy pepper pizza is a delicacy. And…”

The waitress also recommended the grilled meats, chickens, and stews. The way she was increasing the sales after approaching him and telling him he was handsome showed that she was a proper merchant.

Order this chicken pizza and the pineapple pizza down there for now.

It doesn’t matter. The King of Essence wants that pineapple pizza.

Pineapple was a tropical fruit from the southern regions. Since it had a sweet and sour taste, Raon didn’t feel like it would harmonize with pizza, which had cheese.

Silence. You said you would do what the King of Essence desires for today. Keep your promise, Raon Zieghart.

Wrath’s voice was dignified, as if he were pledging an oath or something when he was just ordering a pizza. The demon king seemed pettier the more he learned about him.

“Give me the chicken pizza and pineapple pizza, and a beef stew…”

“Ah, I’m sorry. We don’t have the ingredients for the pineapple right now.”

The waitress shook his head, saying that some food on the menu was unavailable because of the lack of ingredients.

Keuh, I was looking forward to it the most…

“Pineapple?”

As Raon was breathing a sigh of relief because he didn’t have to eat the pineapple pizza, Dorian—who’d been blankly staring at the menu—stood up.

“W-Wait…”

Raon had an awful premonition and tried to stop him, but Dorian’s hand was as fast as lightning. He took out a pineapple from his belly pocket in the blink of an eye.

“Here you go.”

“Huh?”

The waitress' eyes widened.

“H-How did you…”

“It’s pretty common to carry around a pineapple or two.”

Dorian shrugged, saying it was nothing special.

Raon barely managed to suppress the impulse to smack the back of his head.

Ooh! As expected of the King of Essence’s first subordinate!

Wrath murmured, saying that he did a great job of making him his subordinate, and patted Dorian’s head with his frost.

“Thank you! Then, we will buy this pineapple and use it.”

“That’s fine, I have more.”

Dorian grinned, taking out another pineapple.

“Isn’t it great, young master? You can eat the pineapple pizza you wanted.”

“Yes, this is great.”

“Uhh.”

Raon scowled and ordered the other food that was recommended to him.

“Thank you, we will prepare a tasty meal!”

* * *

* * *

With a refreshing smile, the waitress brought the pineapple to the kitchen.

While Raon was chatting with Dorian, who looked hateful for some reason, the waitress and a fiery-looking old man with silver hair came out of the kitchen with the food.

They displayed the steaming food on the table.

“This is the leftover pineapple after cooking.”

The old man placed the remaining half of the pineapple on the table. Despite the impression that he gave that suggested he had experience killing several people, his voice was soft.

“Eeh…”

The waitress had half of her tongue sticking out because of the fragrance coming from the sliced pineapple.

“Dorian.”

“Yes?”

“Can I give her this pineapple?”

“Yes, of course!”

Dorian immediately nodded, as if he were telling him he didn’t have to ask something like that.

“Take this, this is for you.”

“Th-Thank you!”

The waitress bowed, her cheeks turning as red as her hair.

“Thank you.”

The old man also bowed slightly and went back to the kitchen. His attitude was also nice, unlike his appearance.

Stop pretending to be kind and start eating already! Eat it when it’s still hot!

Raon sighed lightly and picked up the pineapple pizza. He closed his eyes and took a big bite.

“Hmm…”

There wasn’t really a sour taste like he was expecting. On the other hand, the strong, sweet taste stimulated his tongue. It felt like the salty and sweet taste were discordant as they poked his tongue.

It wasn’t exactly disgusting, but he felt like there was no reason to heat up the fruit like that.

“Ugh, this isn’t too good.”

Dorian scowled after eating the pineapple pizza.

On the other hand—

Huh! How could this taste even exist?! The King of Essence has been so ignorant of the world!

A demon king was moved by the pineapple pizza.

This golden ratio between the sweet and salty taste is softly surrounding the King of Essence’s tongue, like silk. This is gastronomy, and this is happiness!

The monarch of Devildom felt like he was in heaven from eating a single piece of pineapple pizza, and he was on the verge of tears.

Keep eating! You shall never stop!“Argh…”

Raon frowned, but still kept eating the pineapple pizza. It was certainly not too bad, but he still didn’t know why… He would’ve preferred eating a cold pineapple separately.

Wow, I’ll never get bored of this taste, no matter how much I eat it. The King of Essence is naming this pizza the salty-sweet pizza.

Wrath kept telling him to only eat the pineapple pizza, falling completely in love with it.

“The young master really has a peculiar taste.”

Dorian wrinkled his nose, looking at Raon as he picked up the fourth pineapple pizza.

“…That’s not the case.”

“What are you talking about? You can’t hide your taste. You are part of the mint chocolate squad, and you even like the pineapple pizza. You are the most peculiar person I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m telling you I’m not.”

He barely managed to suppress the urge to smack the back of his head once again.

I’m satisfied. A forest of pineapple shall be created in Devildom in the future.

The guy looked so happy.

Raon realized it was the time for him to put his plan into action. Eating another piece of pineapple pizza, he looked at Wrath.

What?

His voice was cheerful, to the point that it was difficult to believe he’d exploded the day before.

Oh, did you actually notice that? You are right.

Wrath nodded in satisfaction.

It is similar to the cultivation techniques that humans use. Glacier is the method of using frost with the utmost efficiency and the highest amount of output.

Of course.

Indeed! It’s truly an incredible ability that even your inferior self managed to notice.

Wrath’s voice became even louder. It seemed he was feeling like a worshiped demon king once again, all thanks to the sweet taste of the pineapple pizza and Raon’s blatant flattery.

What a pathetic guy. Remember what the King of Essence told you before. It’s all about image! Nothing is impossible as long as you can picture the image.

Of course. Flaws don’t exist in an ability created by the King of Essence. Chant the spell the King of Essence taught you and draw the image you need. The same goes when attacking.

Wrath completely forgot about the bet and the fact that his main way of attacking was frost, giving Raon advice on the image.

Raon slightly lowered his head, putting the last piece of pineapple pizza in his mouth.

It was an expression of gratitude to the monarch of Wrath, giving him his daily bread.

* * *

The pineapple pizza was awkward and obscure, but the other food was certainly delicious. Even Wrath. who was a fussy eater, was murmuring about making him his personal cook or something.

“This place is great! I didn’t expect the northern land to have such a restaurant.”

Dorian smiled in satisfaction, patting his swollen belly.

“I agree.”

Raon smiled widely and stood up. He went to the kitchen to pay, and the waitress came out with something in her hand.

“Please, take this.”

They were nicely baked, steaming brown cookies. They were made with the pineapple she took with her earlier in the center.

“I made them because you seemed to like pineapples.”

“Uh…”

It was a misunderstanding. A complete misunderstanding.

Another worshiper of the King of Essence has appeared in such a place. That girl shall be appointed as the King of Essence’s pineapple girl from today onward.

Raon pushed away Wrath, who was spreading ice, and accepted the cookies.

“Thank you, erm…”

“I’m Yua!”

“I see, Yua. Thank you.”

Raon accepted the cookies with a smile. The old man bowed at him from the kitchen. Raon bowed back and finished paying.

“Have a nice day! Please come again!”

Yua kept waving her hand until Raon and Dorian left the pub.

“This is pretty good.”

Eating the pineapple cookie, Dorian murmured that it was different from the pineapple pizza.

“Let’s see…”

Raon licked his lips and took a bite. The taste of gooey pineapple inside the crunchy cookie wasn’t bad at all.

Oh, it’s gooey. This is also a delicacy. The King of Essence’s pineapple girl is so talented. Today was a great harvest.

Raon grinned, putting the rest of the cookies in his mouth as he thought that part separately.

“Raon! Dorian!”

As he was thinking about the image he would make, Radin was running up to them while waving his hand.

“Leader?”

“What’s up?”

“Huff, there’s an urgent matter.”

Radin grabbed his knees with his hands to catch his breath, before standing up.

“We’ve got a mission for the third scouting party.”

His nervous eyes subsided into darkness.

“It’s your first mission!”