I walked along the night road, accompanied by Mastema, who had disguised herself as an ordinary human by hiding her horns and wings.
We ended up getting tangled with some really strange folks.
Though I was walking normally, my entire body ached quite a bit.
“You’re bleeding,” Mastema said as she grabbed my finger and licked the blood from the tip.
Her red tongue slid over my finger, and just like that, the bleeding stopped.
“Your blood tastes good,” she said, licking away every drop of blood.
It reminded me of a snake—a snake that tempts and corrupts humans.
“I thought you didn’t eat people,” I said.
“I don’t. They taste bad. But your blood tastes good. It has the flavor of angels and apples.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
The taste of angels… I have no idea what she’s talking about.
Could it be a side effect of using the Heavenly Sword?
It’s true that since I started using it, my magical power has increased significantly… I thought it was just the result of the strain.
As for the apple part, that makes no sense at all.
When we finally reached home, the house was already lit up inside.
The slaves must have been awake.
As I opened the door, Arnella rushed over with a warm towel in hand.
“Welcome home, Master.”
“Ah, thanks for your hard work.”
I wiped my face with the towel, and it felt like I’d just taken a bath. The unpleasantness faded away.
“Hey, Arnella. I did my job properly.”
“Thank you, Mastema. Here’s what I promised,” Arnella said, handing Mastema three sweet breads.
Mastema clutched them and dove onto the sofa, immediately taking a big bite.
I sighed at the sight of Mastema spilling crumbs everywhere.
Not too long ago, she carried herself with the dignity of a demon, but now…
Arnella quietly cleaned up the crumbs.
“It was getting late, so I asked Mastema to go look for you. She wouldn’t be in any danger.”
“Yeah, if you guys had come, it could’ve been dangerous. Good call.”
Honestly, it saved me a lot of trouble. Things could have gotten messy if I’d stayed there.
While I was praising Arnella for her judgment, Noel brought me a cup of hot soup. It seemed she’d reheated it.
I gratefully took the steaming cup and gulped it down. The sensation of the hot liquid flowing down my throat was unbeatable.
Mastema, seeing me drink, decided she wanted some too and downed hers in one go.
Typical demon—seems she’s resistant to heat.
As my body warmed up, probably due to the leftover alcohol, I started feeling drowsy.
“The bedroom is ready,” Noel said, helping me take off my jacket.
While she did that, Arnella brought a first-aid kit and treated the wounds that had been exposed. As for a bath… I could wait until tomorrow.
I fell asleep like a rock.
Just before I lost consciousness, I thought I saw Mastema standing there.
The next morning, I woke up to find myself locked in a joint hold by Mastema.
Her body was soft and warm, but there was nothing seductive about this situation. I was completely pinned. No amount of my strength could break free.
Her behavior might have changed drastically, but in moments like these, nothing was different. Human strength was useless. At least my bones weren’t broken.
“Wake up! Damn it, wake up!”
I tried to peel Mastema off with my open hand, but she didn’t budge an inch.
Ah, now her drool was about to drip onto my arm.
I pinched her nose shut.
She switched to breathing through her mouth, but since she wasn’t used to doing that while asleep, she squirmed for a bit before finally waking up.
It’s strange—she doesn’t even need to breathe, but here we are.
When Mastema woke up and saw me, she looked a little surprised, then got a mischievous look on her face.
“Oh, is this a midnight visit?”
“How can you say that in this situation?”
I finally managed to peel Mastema off and wiped her mouth with a towel. She let me do it without protest.
After wiping away the drool, I stretched. My joints cracked loudly.
The wounds were already healing thanks to the herbal-infused bandages. I might as well take a bath.
I left the room and headed to the bathroom, with Mastema following behind.
“You’re coming to the bath too?”
“After eating the bread last night, I got sleepy right away.”
“You’re like a child.”
I ran into Noel on the way and had her prepare some clean clothes, then entered the bathroom.
Using magic stones for fire and water, I activated the mechanism to fill the tub.
“It’s pretty convenient. Who came up with this? Wouldn’t it be easier to just use magic to heat the water?”
“Not everyone can use magic, you know. That’s why I’m still attending the magic academy at my age.”
The wide tub gradually filled with hot water, and steam filled the room.
I took off my clothes, washed myself with a bucket of water, and then soaked in the bath.
Bathing every day is apparently quite the luxury, but I can’t imagine life without it.
Mastema entered the bath as well, relaxing with only her face above the water. Her cheeks, warmed by the heat, turned red, making her look like a little round dumpling.
“Ah… I’ll definitely build a bath in Hell.”
“Go ahead.”
“Though I have no plans to return there. Until then, you can keep preparing it for me.”
“As long as you’re alive, I’ll take care of you. I’d be too scared to sleep at night if I left you unattended.”
“Oh, do you like me that much? Let me know if you ever want to extend your life,” Mastema teased as I helped her out of the bath and started washing her long hair.
It was a hassle, but with no one else around, it was my responsibility. Normally Arnella or Noel would do this, but today it was just me.
Mastema remained still, allowing me to wash her.
“You’ve rinsed it with water, isn’t that enough?” she asked.
“With such long, beautiful hair, it’s worth taking proper care of it.”
“Hmm.”
I wasn’t sure if demons had a metabolism, but since she ate food, taking care of her hair probably wasn’t pointless. I think.
Once out of the bath, I got dressed and left the rest of the preparations to the slaves, who would dry her hair.
“The preparations are mostly complete, but how will we travel to the Kingdom of Noareiz?”
“Oh, right. I haven’t mentioned it yet. I’m going to show you something interesting.”
“Interesting? What might that be?”
I pulled out four tickets—tickets for the magical train.
It was the latest creation from the Kingdom of Noareiz, a masterpiece of magical engineering, and what they call their greatest toy.
