Chapter 81: An Angel Came Looking for Us with Demons!
Why does Pekola have to be the one to lead demons around? (╯︵╰)
It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, with a gentle breeze rustling the leaves on the trees. It was a wonderful day, but Pekola's mood was anything but.
She had been in the old apartment, watching TV and wondering when Ryohei would call her to come to work. It had been several days. Living in someone else's house and spending the salary she'd been advanced without having done any actual work was making her feel very uneasy.
Then, the doorbell rang.
When she opened the door and saw two demons standing outside, she had jumped in fright, thinking her loss of power and her hiding place had been discovered. She thought they had come to take her life. Her first instinct was to run, which in turn startled the two ice demon sisters who had come to visit Yurine.
Seeing a creature with a heavenly aura suddenly burst out of their friend's apartment and flee in a panic, Yusa had found the situation highly suspicious and had instinctively frozen Pekola in place. After some questioning, Yusa was still skeptical, but after examining Pekola, she confirmed that the angel had indeed lost her powers. After a moment's thought, Yusa had decided to have Pekola lead them to Yurine.
Which brought them to the current situation.
If my colleagues from Heaven see me now, they'll definitely get the wrong idea, Pekola prayed silently. Oh Lord, please trust in Pekola! Pekola has not fallen to the side of demons! This was a situation of force majeure!
She looked down at the hand-drawn map she was holding, then back up at the surrounding houses, and turned to the two sisters. "It should be right around here…"
Ding-dong—!
He thought he heard a doorbell, but he wasn't sure. He was in that hazy state between sleep and wakefulness. Then he heard it again, twice this time, clear and sharp. Ryohei slowly opened his eyes. The curtains were drawn, and the bedroom was dim, the air thick with a lazy atmosphere. He turned his head and saw Yurine quietly getting dressed by the side of the bed.
Noticing his gaze, her movements paused. "I'll get the door," she said, a little shyly. "You can sleep a little longer, Heian-kun." She then turned her back to him as she continued to dress, as if that would make her invisible.
"I'll get up too. I've slept enough," Ryohei said, rubbing his eyes. He grabbed his phone; the screen showed it was 3:05 PM. He had slept for about an hour. It had been a… productive nap.
"Okay. I'll head down first, then," Yurine said. She finished dressing, glanced back at him, and then padded out of the room.
I wonder if Minos and Jashin-chan are awake yet? he thought. It's almost time to head to the stall. Should I wait for them, or just go with Yurine? Or maybe call Pekola? But Pekola didn't have a phone, which meant a trip to the old apartment. Too much trouble.
He got dressed, and his eyes happened to fall on the black thigh-high socks Yurine had left by the bed. He picked them up, then put them back down. Better let her put them on herself. She would definitely be coming back upstairs to wash up anyway.
After washing up, Ryohei went downstairs at a leisurely pace. He could already hear conversation coming from the living room. When he entered, he saw the new arrivals and grinned.
Well, well. Looks like my staffing problem is solving itself. His new restaurant currently had a staff of five, which was still a little short for a place that size. He had been considering trying to recruit some of the Anteiku Ghouls, but now…
"Do we have guests?" he asked, walking over and unabashedly sizing up the two snow sisters.
The older sister, Yusa, had long, ice-blue hair that was as clear as a glacier, and eyes to match. Her features were delicate, her skin a pale white that seemed to glow. She wore an elegant white kimono with faint snowflake patterns embroidered on the sleeves and hem, and a blue obi that cinched her slender waist. She looked like the very picture of a Yamato Nadeshiko.
The younger sister was much smaller. She wore a matching kimono and had the same ice-blue hair, but she had a cute, mole-like face and black eyes. Apparently, all young members of the ice tribe looked like this before they matured. A true testament to the phrase "a girl changes seven times by the time she's a woman."
"Pekola, you're here too," Ryohei said, his gaze shifting to the little angel, who was looking much healthier than when he had first met her and was happily eating a bowl of ice cream. "Perfect timing. Jashin-chan and Minos are… indisposed. You can help out at the stall tonight. I'll pay you, of course."
"O-Okay!" Pekola replied, her eyes wide with surprise as she shot to her feet. Finally, she could work! A wave of relief washed over her.
"Heian-kun, have some ice cream. It's really good~," Yurine said, holding out a spoonful of the milky-white treat.
"Ahhh~." Ryohei leaned in and obediently accepted the bite. A cool, sweet, milky, and indescribably unique flavor spread across his tongue.
Yusa, who had just been about to get a bowl of ice cream for herself from the cooler they had brought, paused, her eyes widening slightly as she saw the intimate scene. Koji, who was a little shy, had shrunk behind her sister when Ryohei appeared, but she also peeked out, her big black eyes full of curiosity.
"How is it?" Yurine asked with a smile.
"...It's delicious," Ryohei replied, savoring the flavor. "The texture is amazing, so creamy and smooth, it just melts in your mouth. And the flavor is very unique. It's rich and milky, but there's another note in there I can't quite place…" Come to think of it, I remember a scene like this from the anime, where the ice sisters bring ice cream to Yurine's place…
"That would be the Cockatrice venom," Yusa said calmly, revealing the secret ingredient. She then offered Ryohei a pre-packaged cup of the ice cream with a sweet smile. "Here, please have one."
"Pfft—!" Pekola, who was sitting nearby, spat out her ice cream, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Cockatrice venom?! You made ice cream with that?!" Are you insane?! She knew what a Cockatrice was. It was a monster from the Demon World with the head and wings of a rooster and the tail of a serpent. Its venom could kill any living creature instantly. Are they trying to poison the witch? And am I just collateral damage?
"Don't worry, I've processed it. It's perfectly safe," Yusa said with a reassuring smile, knowing what Pekola was worried about. "Since making this ice cream requires a great deal of labor and expense, I was hoping to sell one for about a million yen. Do you think it would sell in the human world?"
"No," Yurine replied without a moment's hesitation.
"Absolutely not," Ryohei added, accepting the cup of ice cream. "With a famous brand name, you might be able to sell it for a high price. But without one, you'd be lucky to get 1,000 yen for it."
"Eh? No way!" Yusa looked shocked. She turned to Yurine for confirmation, who just nodded. Yusa deflated like a popped balloon, slumping onto the table. "Is business in the human world this difficult?" Her dream of getting rich quick was shattered.
"If you really want to make money," Yurine suggested, eating her ice cream, "I'd recommend a shaved ice stall. You could go for a high-volume, low-profit margin model. You can make your own ice, and you can even produce some of the syrups yourselves, so your costs would be practically zero."
The ice tribe's blood is strawberry syrup, and their urine is lemon syrup, Ryohei suddenly remembered. He suddenly felt like he could never look at anything lemon-flavored the same way again.
"Hmm…" Yusa sat up, seriously considering Yurine's proposal.
"Or…" Yurine continued, taking another spoonful of ice cream, her gaze flicking from Ryohei to Yusa. "You could come work at my boyfriend's restaurant."
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