Chapter 18 : Purpure and the Black Desire

One day, when pure white snow was falling heavily.

The village chief of Moonlit Pier swallowed hard with a very nervous expression.

“Can you really eat those damn things?”

“No matter how I think about it, I think that demon is scamming the village chief.”

“Oh my… How can you believe that evil demon.”

Behind her, the villagers, covering their mouths with their hands, were expressing their worries.

They kept grumbling, but their complexions were not good, and they were clutching their stomachs in pain.

“The cooking is done, so eat comfortably.”

The village chief looked down at the dish on the plate she held out, sweating profusely.

‘I can’t believe that the Wave-Throated Sparrow is in it, the smell of soy sauce is so good…’

The leg meat of the Wave-Throated Sparrow deeply infused with soy sauce, and well-simmered potatoes and carrots.

The village chief held the chopsticks and stared at the incredibly deliciously made 『Wave-Steamed Chicken』 for a long time.

In front of her was a demon from a far away land, and the Wave-Steamed Chicken was the solution she had offered.

‘Ancestors! Give me strength!’

The village chief of Moonlit Pier looked up at the moon in the sky once, closed her eyes tightly, and put the leg meat in her mouth.

“Oh… Oh, oh!”

“She ate it! She ate it! She ate it!”

“Is it okay? Did you eat it? Can you eat it?!”

The village chief closed her eyes tightly and moved her jaw.

Chewy chewy! The leg meat, which was still plump, was crushed by her teeth and emitted the deep soy sauce flavor it was holding, flooding her tongue.

“……Far from smelling bad, it’s very delicious.”

The village chief covered her mouth with her right hand and took another bite of the Wave-Steamed Chicken.

“The deep flavor of the soy sauce is well infused into the Wave-Throated Sparrow, so it feels like I’m just eating chicken.”

“Didn’t this body tell you? There is a way to eat the Wave-Throated Sparrow deliciously.”

When the demon smiled and spoke, the village chief nodded and moved her chopsticks once more.

“Slurp…! The soy sauce is not just soy sauce, it has the spiciness of chili and green onion, so it’s a taste you won’t get tired of no matter how much you eat!”

“Is… is it really okay? Village chief?”

“Yes, come here everyone. I’m not just saying this for no reason.”

The village chief smiled and handed the bowl in her hand to the man who quickly showed his face.

“This is really strange… They smelled so rotten that I couldn’t even eat them.”

“Is it really Wave-Throated Sparrow? It looks like chicken no matter how I look at it…”

“I saw it from the beginning! That, that demon prepared it very diligently!”

The villagers fussed over the Wave-Steamed Chicken that the village chief handed them.

“What… The  smell really doesn’t come out?”

“Oh my! This tastes better than chicken! Then even children can eat it?”

“The meat that even animals wouldn’t eat can be this delicious! Ha, hahaha!”

The gift of the evil and terrifying demon was incredibly delicious.

“To think that these troublesome creatures can be eaten so deliciously… Thank you very much.”

“This body will give you a recipe that I wrote down in detail from the preparation stage, so be sure to follow it as written.”

“Thank you. But… It’s embarrassing to say this while eating such delicious food.”

The village chief glanced at the demon for a moment.

The people of Moonlit Pier were not fools, so they did not eat the Wave-Throated Sparrow.

It could be eaten deliciously by removing the terrible stench and off-flavor, but there was another problem.

“…Will there be no problems?”

“If you follow this body’s recipe, you will never get an upset stomach or get sick, so don’t worry.”

“Thank you. These guys not only smelled bad, but there was always a problem after eating them.”

The village chief became relaxed and looked at the villagers who were sticking to the large pot and devouring the Wave-Steamed Chicken.

“Oh, dear! It’s amazing! How does the demon from far away know the taste of soy sauce so well!”

“Oh my, is it delicious? My dear? Let’s eat more. Yes! Let’s eat more!”

“Wouldn’t it be okay to just catch Wave-Throated Sparrows for a while?”

The village chief smiled and bowed her head once more to the demon to show her gratitude.

“Thank you for your great help.”

Behind the demon, a house-sized Wave-Throated Sparrow was lying dead with its wings cut off.

“Since the most ferocious and terrifying one is dead, their momentum will be dampened.”

“We also know how to eat it deliciously, so we might eat them all in one day.”

“There’s nothing more terrifying than a person’s appetite. The terrifying momentum of the Wave-Throated Sparrow will end today.”

The village chief felt gratitude and hurriedly brought out the bottle of alcohol she had prepared.

She didn’t think she would give this gift to a demon, but the story was different.

The ferocious Wave-Throated Sparrow was driving Moonlit Pier to ruin.

The mother bird, which was turning into a monster that was impossible to even think of hunting, easily pecked people to death.

‘How grateful I am…’

The Wave-Throated Sparrow, which was hard to hunt, was not even eaten by animals, and if you forced yourself to grill it and eat it, you would get sick and have to lie down for a week.

If the corpses of the creatures were piled up and abandoned, the stench would attract other monsters and torment people more.

The people of Moonlit Pier were exhausted to the point where it could be called a war.

“The village chief of Moonlit Pier, the descendant of the collapsed tower, expresses her gratitude.”

“This body also sees that it is good alcohol. I will accept it gratefully.”

The demon smiled and took the glass I offered with both hands.

“Since I have received such great grace, I would be grateful if you could tell me how to repay you.”

“How to repay this body…”

The demon took a small sip of the alcohol with a small smile.

“Then make one promise with this body.”

“Please feel free to tell me anything.”

“If you hear ominous news from the west, show your bravery.”

The village chief could only nod at the absurd request of the small demon, who she had to kneel to meet her eyes.

“Purpure~! Are you still mad? Huh?”

“Purpure was never mad!”

“Really? You’ve had a sulky expression since yesterday.”

Maeve poked my cheek and laughed, not knowing what was going on inside me.

I’ve been scammed in an absurd way!

I thought it was a power-up event, but only the memory of eating delicious Wave-Steamed Chicken came to mind, and nothing else!

Where did the lost great demon lord power go?

The black magic that made countless demons tremble?!

The secret power to summon demons?!

“Purpure is frustrated!!! I only remembered a lot of memories of eating delicious Wave-Steamed Chicken!”

“You didn’t remember any of your old memories?”

I nodded hard.

I’ve been scammed.

Black Desire was a false listing!

It’s incredibly plump, but it’s full of live broadcasts of eating, what is it?!

“Still, I’m glad you seem to have remembered a lot of pleasant memories.”

It was a word from Dominicus, who had finished preparing for the trip.

It was yesterday that I realized that I had been scammed after eating Black Desire.

I couldn’t stay at Village Chief Rian’s house and be frustrated forever, so I was planning to start the pilgrimage today.

“I’m glad you seem to have finished preparing.”

“It would be nice if you could stay a little longer…”

Village Chief Rian and Grandma Mae appeared with large bundles.

“No. Since I decided to start the pilgrimage, I have to start properly.”

“There are also things I already bought.”

Grandma Mae nodded and took out a bottle from the bundle and held it out.

“I prepared this to give to the thankful and cute great demon lord, but I don’t know if you’ll like it.”

“Is this soy sauce?”

Beyond the transparent bottle, there was soy sauce.

Seasoning is always welcome to me.

Soy sauce is basically a fermented food, so it’s better to keep it refrigerated.

“It’s soy sauce in a special bottle.”

“Awawa…?!”

The bottle was surprisingly slightly cold.

I was surprised and touched the glass bottle, and I could see the runes engraved on it.

It’s also full of magic! This level of precision, you could say that the gift is not the soy sauce, but this glass bottle!

“Purpure knows. This is a very precious bottle.”

“Haha, no matter how precious it is, it’s a necessary item for our demon lord who is going on a pilgrimage.”

“Is Purpure really going to take it…?”

I really didn’t want to just return this precious glass bottle, so I hugged it with both hands.

“What is that! It’s so cute, Purpure!”

“Maeve doesn’t know! This glass bottle is incredibly difficult to make!”

Do you know how hard it is to engrave runes this precisely?!

“Oh… Really? How precious is it?”

“It’s as precious as 10 Solvenusians!”

“…10?!”

Maeve was startled and bowed 90 degrees.

“Th, thank you for giving me something so precious!”

“Haha! You restored the old lady’s health, this isn’t even a reward.”

“Our precious demon lord came, but I’m giving this because I’m sorry I couldn’t even hold a feast for you.”

You’re under a strange misunderstanding, but it’s already been given, so I’ll accept it and use it carefully!

A bottle that always stays cold is really, really precious.

“Pu, Purpure gave it to me for real, so I won’t give it back.”

“Oh my… How cute. Our great demon lord.”

In the end, Grandma Mae also ended up stroking my head a lot.

“I hope you have a good pilgrimage.”

Village Chief Rian bowed, holding the large bundle that Maeve had put down.

“When you arrive at Moonrise Castle, be sure to send a letter! Rian!”

When I came to my senses, I had also received a bundle full of various foods, a magic soy sauce bottle, and a letter of recommendation.

With this much, even if something happens at Moonrise Castle, I can start the pilgrimage leisurely, right!

“Purpure is a little excited!”

Maybe I’ll meet another trigger when I arrive at Moonrise Castle.

Then maybe this time I’ll really find my lost power.

Then I can make Maeve and Dominicus my subordinates more easily!