That ratio wasn’t because of an event.

Sir Dominic thought this while looking at Princess Teu Le Vante, Demon Lord of Evil Eyes.

The Demon Lord was not only small in proportion, but her height only reached Sir Dominic’s knees.

Inevitably forced to look down at the top of the Demon Lord’s head, Sir Dominic observed the purple cloth wrapped around her horns.

It seemed the horns were covered because their pointed tips might injure passersby.

“…!”

The Demon Lord, either aware or unaware that Sir Dominic was staring at the top of her head, simply gazed at something beyond the glass window with sparkling eyes.

With each movement of her gaze, she pressed closer to the window, almost as if she might merge with the glass.

What could possibly have filled the Demon Lord with such desire and greed?

Sir Dominic followed her gaze to look beyond the window.

There, he saw a transparent glass container filled with green candies beneath a sign that read “Popular! Melon Flavored Candy Restocked!”

Around it were various candies, jellies, and other sweet treats of all colors.

Sir Dominic’s expression became subtle.

Looking up at the store sign, he saw the phrase “ButterBitter’s World of Sweetness!”

He didn’t understand what the phrase “since AD 103 on New Terra” written below meant, but he could tell it was a shop selling sweet things.

Sir Dominic could have ignored it and walked past, but feeling confident in his new clothes, he unconsciously spoke to the Demon Lord.

“Do you… want that candy?”

“!”

The Demon Lord hastily pulled her rice-cake-like cheeks away from the glass and looked at Sir Dominic.

However, her cheeks were red from being pressed against the glass for so long.

The Demon Lord stretched her arms to make the largest circle possible while lifting one foot.

Sir Dominic wondered what on earth the Demon Lord was doing.

In reality, the Demon Lord thought Sir Dominic had deceived her senses and approached her, so she was trying to appear threatening.

After raising both arms high and starting to kick with the toes of her raised foot, the Demon Lord soon realized she recognized this face.

Though unsure where she had seen him before, this small Demon Lord began looking at Sir Dominic with the demeanor of a rabbit or squirrel.

Since her Chief of Staff always called her a good Demon Lord, her childishly innocent logic activated—assuming that everyone she knew must also be good.

“?”

The Demon Lord raised her rice-cake-like hand and kneaded her soft cheeks.

It was a gesture asking: Is this a good person, but one I don’t know?

Of course, Sir Dominic couldn’t understand what the Demon Lord’s actions meant, but he could infer what she wanted to say.

“Do you want candy?”

“!”

The Demon Lord looked at Sir Dominic with surprised eyes. Actually, she was startled by his completely different interpretation, wondering if he might be a strange person.

Until now, everyone around the Demon Lord had accurately understood her actions and responded accordingly.

But the person before her was saying something completely different.

However, since it was exactly what the Demon Lord wanted to hear, she simply nodded.

After all, she did want candy.

“Hmm, if you’re a Demon Lord, you must have plenty of money. Why were you just looking from outside instead of going in to buy some?”

“…!”

Sir Dominic had asked out of genuine curiosity, but for the Demon Lord—who was not yet an adult and whose allowance was entirely managed by the Chief of Staff—this was shocking.

She could see that Sir Dominic was taller than her, but she hadn’t realized he was adult enough to spend his allowance freely.

Goodness! Spending allowance freely!

The Demon Lord began to see Sir Dominic as a prince from a fairy tale.

Sir Dominic’s new clothes and the confidence they gave him overlapped, inspiring admiration in this young Demon Lord.

“Perhaps… no, never mind.”

Sir Dominic wondered if the Demon Lord had no money, but that seemed unlikely.

He thought that if the Chief of Staff, who was close to the Demon Lord, were here, he would surely buy her anything.

However, this was Sir Dominic’s misjudgment.

The Chief of Staff knew that restraint was necessary to maintain the Demon Lord’s fearsome image.

Thus, he controlled the Demon Lord’s beloved candies and jellies to maintain her intimidating presence.

Such evil organization-like cruelty!

The Demon Lord became somewhat dejected as soon as she thought of the Chief of Staff.

And following the flow of her emotions, she suddenly became sorrowful and began to shed tears.

Sir Dominic was flustered seeing this small creature suddenly become dejected.

What could possibly have made her mood change so suddenly?

Though well-versed in combat but not in understanding people’s hearts, Sir Dominic couldn’t comprehend why the Demon Lord was crying, but instinctively knowing how to comfort her, he said:

“Don’t cry, Demon Lord. I’ll buy you candy. Please stop crying.”

“!”

The Demon Lord’s expression brightened at Sir Dominic’s words.

Though tears still flowed from the momentum of her crying, the Demon Lord expressed her joy by raising both hands high and hopping up and down.

“Let’s go inside. I’ll buy you as much as you want, just don’t cry.”

Some might ask why Sir Dominic, who had fought demons his entire life, was being so friendly to a Demon Lord.

In truth, Sir Dominic wasn’t seeing her as a demon.

Not only was she different from the demons he knew, but seeing the Demon Lord with the appearance and behavior of a child, his chivalry rose up rather than any hatred toward demons.

The Demon Lord was truly terribly evil.

She possessed charm that could bewitch even Sir Dominic, the warrior of reversals!

Though to be fair, the Demon Lord wasn’t trying to be that way.

Sir Dominic and the Demon Lord opened the door to the utopia filled with candies and jellies and entered.

And there was a woman watching them…

“Who is that girl? Perhaps his daughter?”

“Strange… they do look similar…”

“Huh?”

“Um… who are you?”

No, there were two women.

One was someone you all know well.

Unryu Hime.

This woman in exotic attire was using her specialty, stealth, to follow Sir Dominic.

She had been hiding in the shadow of a utility pole, then followed Sir Dominic while pretending to be a part-timer putting up flyers.

Why? What was her purpose?

We can only speculate; we don’t know anything for certain yet.

And on the opposite side of the utility pole was a woman with light brown hair and vacant eyes.

This woman with knee-length, voluminous, sheep-wool-like curly hair was tilting her head and following Sir Dominic.

Why were these women following Sir Dominic?

…

The Demon Lord was so overwhelmed by the colorful and sweet world that she felt like she was in heaven.

My goodness, could this be utopia?

The Demon Lord was so absorbed in admiring the colorful candies and jellies that she forgot she had come to buy candy.

“Well, buy as much as you want.”

“!”

Sir Dominic regretted his words immediately after speaking, but he reassured himself by wondering how much this small child could possibly eat.

Moreover, the candy was sold by weight rather than quantity, and surprisingly, the price was reasonable.

So reasonable that even Sir Dominic considered buying an armful to take home.

At Sir Dominic’s words, the Demon Lord hopped around with light steps, selecting all the colors she liked.

Since she couldn’t reach, the Demon Lord filled a bag with candies and jellies with Sir Dominic’s help, and she was so happy that she began to hum.

“♬”

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

Sir Dominic filled a separate bag with cinnamon and peanut butter flavored candies for himself, then stood at the counter.

A balding middle-aged man with a belly as full as his kind smile adjusted his mustache and placed both bags into a sealing machine.

“That’ll be 340 Credits. By the way, the child next to you is cute. Is she your daughter?”

“Ah, no, she’s not.”

“Is that so? Then you must be looking after a relative. You’re a rare kind knight these days, taking care of your niece.”

Sir Dominic wanted to deny it, but the shop owner had already made up his mind and handed the sealed bags to Sir Dominic.

“Here’s a service item for the cute little miss.”

The shop owner placed a large cotton candy that had been displayed on the counter into the Demon Lord’s hand.

The Demon Lord couldn’t hide her excitement, her cheeks flushing red as she waved her arms.

Seeing this, Sir Dominic’s desire to correct the shop owner melted away like cotton candy.

The Demon Lord was truly a terrifying being.

The door opened with a jingle.

The Demon Lord came outside, tearing off small pieces of cotton candy to eat as if it was too precious to consume quickly, while Sir Dominic opened the sealed bag and popped a cinnamon candy into his mouth.

Very sweet things weren’t to Sir Dominic’s taste, but this candy suited his palate perfectly.

“So, are you satisfied?”

When Sir Dominic spoke, the Demon Lord nodded vigorously.

The Chief of Staff had told her not to follow strangers who offered candy, but she thought it wouldn’t be a problem since she had seen Sir Dominic somewhere before, and he had bought her candy, jelly, and cotton candy.

However, this was merely the Demon Lord’s wishful thinking.

“My Lord! There you are!”

The Chief of Staff had gone out for a walk with the Demon Lord on this nice day, only to suddenly realize she had disappeared.

A loyal servant’s mistake! But the Chief of Staff had done everything possible to find the Demon Lord, even if he would be reprimanded later.

He had contacted the lost child center and instantly created missing person flyers to post on utility poles.

Those flyers were even posted next to the two women who were watching Sir Dominic from afar.

“You, you’re the one who infiltrated our secret base that time!”

The Chief of Staff was so desperate that he jumped to the wrong conclusion.

“You, you’re the kidnapper!”

To Sir Dominic, who valued honor, the Chief of Staff’s words were absurd.