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Fortunately, the demons seemed to like drinking tea, and even the servants in the castle enjoyed teatime in the afternoon.\n

So, I’ll divide the snacks for teatime into small portions and sell them for a smaller price, I guess?\n

I thought, wouldn’t that be a way to get rid of the image of being a self-indulgent hero who is kept by the Demon Lord, and at the same time, establish myself in the demon realm?\n

The reason for lowering the price was to make it easier for others to get familiar with it through affordability and avoid any suspicions that I might be raising funds for wicked schemes.\n

I was already very excited on the day I thought about it.\n

I was so excited that I immediately left my room in high spirits to get permission to use the kitchen.\n

However, my capability of understanding the map was weak, so I got a bit lost. I somehow managed to arrive at the kitchen… but I had the door slammed in my face.\n

The top chef of the kitchen who was in charge of all the meals in the demon lord’s castle, Mr. Raglan the lizardman, hated humans.\n

“Don’t get close to me, you filthy, defeated hero…! Even if you’re the Demon Lord’s livestock, I really hate the idea of feeding humans! Lowly humans with no scales are prohibited from entering the kitchen!”\n

Mr. Raglan was a blue-scaled bipedal lizard who yelled angrily with a sullen old man’s voice.\n

Following his words, the other lizardmen chefs also hissed and threatened, saying ‘That’s right! That’s right!’ in unison with a rich vocabulary of cussing.\n

When I looked closely, there were also some chefs beating their ladles on frying pans. Are you a mother?\n

“Well, I like reptiles, so they were cute.”\n

When I thought of the scene from the previous days, for some reason, my mouth had slightly loosened into a smile.\n

But while cooling the baked cookies, I made a sullen expression at the thought of what followed.\n

Rejection of the lizardmen.\n

I was used to being slandered and ridiculed from afar in the castles of the human realm, so I decided to back off, quickly bowing my head as I apologized and left the kitchen obediently.\n

I wasn’t hurt, by the way. It’s not that I wasn’t shaken, but I didn’t mind it at all.\n

I’m a hero with high mental strength.\n

But I was at a loss. I was so stumped that I got a bit lost on my way back.\n

I spent the next three days worrying about it.\n

Naturally, the first one who noticed my worries was Azel. We had been seeing each other every day after all.\n

I had never consulted anyone about my problems, so I didn’t know how to talk to him. It seemed that we struggled together for three days. He was a really nice guy.\n

When I took him up on his offer and told him what happened, Azel nodded and said, ‘Ah, that’s right.’\n

According to him, it seemed that the lizardmen was one of the groups who lost at the one-on-one fight with regards to keeping me, and unwillingly let it go.\n

I guess they wouldn’t allow me to come into their territory.\n

I would have to get permission from the demons there to get in, so at any rate, it was impossible for me to borrow the kitchen.\n

My wonderful idea had failed.\n

Aah—Speaking of which, this is an unrelated story but after that, he told me to tell him everything I was told.\n

I didn’t really care much about it, so I told him about Mr. Raglan and the other abusive content, but an aura of gloom and darkness had gone out around Azel. It was scary.\n

At a later date, Gard seemed to have laughed about the fact that all of the lizardmen’s tails were gone.\n

Hmm…? Azel might not be fond of reptiles. But I want to hear the story first-hand.\n

I still didn’t understand the switch between Azel’s good and bad moods.\n

“Should I try pressing his cheeks next time?”\n

As I wrapped the warm cookies, I remembered a game my friend played with me when I was still a student and decided to try it sometime.\n\n

Let’s return to the main subject. So, going back to the story about my plans.\n

I had given up on the job of making sweets and decided to look for another place to work.\n

But, Azel growled when I mentioned it and ran out of the room at a demonic pace.\n

“I told you, you don’t have to work, you workaholic! You’re not allowed to look for jobs. I’ll build a kitchen for you, so until then, just shut up and don’t do anything!”\n

It was a terrible parting threat.\n

That day, I was so taken aback by his words that I didn’t have time to stop him.\n

So, for that reason.\n

Where I’m currently working on was indeed my own private kitchen which was completed two weeks ago.\n

…Even though I had something to say.\n

Even though I told him to stop. Even though I also said that I’d look for a job that wouldn’t cost him a lot of money. Even though I told him several times that I’d do the same work as the servants if not that.\n

But the more I said it, the more he started howling and barking, and told me a lot of things like, “Feeble humans can’t work with demons. Do you want to die?”\n

Before I knew it, Azel’s bloodkins, the Kudrakion demons—were commanding the cupbats and others. Then, after three days of construction, a private kitchen was built in the courtyard of the Demon Lord’s castle!\n

Well, uhm… the bloodkins who worship the Demon Lord really made a serious effort, that was why…\n

It didn’t even take Azel more than five seconds to make a clearing in the courtyard…\n

And if I refused, Azel would probably cry again.\n

Moreover, he thought of it as an important thing, so he might weep again all by himself.\n

For some reason, when it came to me, Azel always took things seriously with all he’s got.\n

On top of that, when he had a self-satisfied look on his face, saying “Fufun, how’s that? Are you happy?”—I didn’t have any choice but to accept it…!\n

Urgh. With a heavy heart, I had mass-produced small portions of cookies in small paper bags.\n

A private kitchen. I was grateful. And my work was progressing.\n

But just how many years will I have to use it to make a return on investment?Aren’t I livestock and not a prisoner?\n

I was delighted with Azel, whose scale of everything was demon lord class, but I trembled at the thought of his limits.\n

To give my thanks at least, I served the sweets I made for the first time to Azel and his bloodkins.\n

Then surprisingly, it became very popular.\n

Fufufu, I was very happy about it. I ended up getting embarrassed.\n

After the teatime with everyone, for some reason, the bloodsucking monsters and demons seemed to like me, so I decided to pet all the black wolves.\n

I didn’t really get why, but since I was able to replenish my fluff needs, it all worked out better than I expected.\n

I smiled and petted them to my heart’s content.\n

Oh. Come to think of it, the large black dog from some time ago appeared out of nowhere and stood in line waiting to be petted.\n

I guess it was Azel’s bloodkin, after all. I was so happy to see it again, so I especially gave it a fluff. It was a nostalgic memory.\n

“Its fur was kind of fluffy and shiny… It’s strange that it didn’t shed any fur when I stroked it, but I guess it’s because it was a demon…”\n

While wrapping the last small portion of cookies, I remembered the time before I started this job and let out a smile.\n

It was a lot of work, but the preparations for the opening were generally fun.\n

However, Azel was troubling. Even though it was small, I didn’t think it was good to build kitchens out of impulse.\n

If Azel’s pocket money runs out because of me, I would have to support him somehow…\n

I silently made up my mind.\n

“Alright, I’ll sell again today one way or another.”\n

The total number of cookies divided into small portions were in dozens. It also included the prior reservations.\n

It was a system where you can make a reservation in advance, and I would deliver it from noon to snack time.\n

Without this kind of option for delivery, the sales and recognition wouldn’t increase. This mindset was being a corporate warrior to the core. I packed everything into a basket and began to walk out from the kitchen to make my delivery and sales.\n

I had a nostalgic sales experience when I first started. Sometimes, it reminded me of my salaryman days.