episode_0009

A dungeon like any other!

The heart of a dungeon like any other!

“C-c-cooold~~!!”

Ellis shivered, clutching her clothes tightly.

“Achooo!”

This time, even a cute sound.

The former Demon Lord-nim’s adorable sneeze echoed clearly inside the ice cave.

“Mm-hmm~ Cute, isn’t it, Lillien?”

“Beyond cute, she’s lovable. Isn’t that right, Arte?”

“Yes, she is definitely cute. I have saved it in my memory item ‘This moment is cute’.”

“You made something like that, Arte? I’ll ask you to share later~”

“Yes. For your reference, Yuan’s data is 95 percent, Ellis is 4 percent, and Lillien is 1 percent.”

“Hey! Tin can! Delete it! Delete it alreadyyy!!”

Ellis jumped up and stomped her feet, causing the transparent ice walls to shimmer and shake.

“Deletion is not possible. It has already been uploaded to cloud data.”

“Gnyu nyu nyu nyu!!”

Ellis’s screams sound like a hamster’s too. Cute!

“But you two aren’t cold?”

In contrast to the shivering Ellis, Lillien and Arte were completely unfazed.

Ah, I dressed warmly from the start, so I’m fine.

Lillien rested her chin lightly on her hand and spoke as if it were nothing.

“Well, when I was in the Knights, I used to take off my top and roll in the snow during blizzards.”

Beside her, Arte also slightly tilted her head and chimed in.

“I am an automaton, a culmination of technology.”

She raised one hand lightly and continued speaking calmly, as she always did.

“Heating and cooling functions are fully equipped. For your reference, when Lillien said she ‘took off her top’, Yuan’s heart rate significantly increased.”

“……”

“Oh my, Yuan~”

What is it? Why are you leaning your body towards me so slowly? And what’s with that playful smile?

“Perhaps… you imagined it?”

“Hold on, why would it turn into that!?”

“Kya~ Pervert~ For a little kid who’s so obvious… Hey!”

*Thump.*

“…Ugh!!”

Lillien suddenly came close to me and pushed me with her chest.

*Soft.*

*Thump.*

*Soft.*

*Warm squeeze.*

“H-h-h-h-h-h-h!!”

“What’s wrong~? I was just talking about Knights training, why are you so flustered~?”

“You’re supposed to be shy and cover up! What is this crazy knight!? Why are you pushing it towards me!?”

I was flustered and struggled, but Lillien smiled slyly and came even closer.

“Hehe, a knight needs an aggressive stance too, you know?”

“Why are you performing that here!!”

I tried desperately to escape, but Lillien lightly grabbed my wrist and softly breathed into my ear.

“Yuan~ Do you think you can escape from me~?”

In the middle of the cold ice cave, her warm breath tickled my skin.

“Ugh!! Stop it!!”

Pulling my body away quickly, I changed the subject to escape this dangerous atmosphere.

“Th-that aside!! Is it true that the ice spirit ‘Glacies’ lives here?”

Then, Ellis, who had somehow gotten on my back, gently put her arms around my shoulders and replied.

“Yup! This is also a place I used to come to train when I was a prospective Demon Lord candidate!”

“No, in such a harsh environment?”

“Demonkind train in places like this originally~ If you go to the center of the snowfield, the spirit will appear.”

“I seeee.”

As I nodded, I suddenly realized something strange.

“Wait a minute. Something doesn’t add up?”

I glanced back at Ellis on my back.

“But you trained here a long time ago, so why are you so cold now?”

“……”

At those words, Ellis froze for a moment.

“Ehehe~?”

As if nothing had happened, she shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

“Well~ Back then I was a prospective Demon Lord candidate, and now I just want to lean on Yuan~?”

“…What?”

Saying that, she leisurely rested her head on my shoulder.

She even naturally wrapped her arms around my arm and whispered.

“As expected, Yuan~ You’re warm~ Humans’ body temperature is the best after all~”

“Hey hey hey, I told you not to stick to me again? You were just whining because you wanted to be held, weren’t you!”

“Then me too~”

Lillien slyly grabbed my opposite arm and linked hers.

“What is this? Why is everyone sticking to me!”

“Because Yuan is the warmest among us~ And a knight must find the heat that burns brightly.”

“Why is that me!”

Just then, Arte spoke up with a poker face.

“Based on body temperature measurements, Yuan’s body temperature was found to be the warmest. A rational choice.”

“Don’t you do it too, Arte! At this rate, all my body heat will be drained!”

Lillien and Ellis linked arms, enjoying the warmth.

And even Arte, who logically explained it and then slyly came close beside me.

There’s no way to escape them!

“Seriously… We must be the only party that came here to make and eat ‘ice cream’ with ice made by a spirit.”

“There’s a saying that humans are driven by romance, Yuan. Isn’t this situation perfectly in line with that?”

“Arte is right~ Huh? It’s the snowfield area, everyone! If we go a little further, we might meet the spirit?”

A pure white snowfield spread out before our eyes.

Looking at the place that seemed like an endless sea of ice, my heart strangely pounded with excitement.

Now, would we really be able to meet the ice spirit?

And… could we really make ice cream with the spirit’s ice?

We trudged through the endless snowfield.

The snow sinking deep with each step, the feeling of the biting wind scraping against my skin.

“Ugh… so cooold…”

Ellis on my back shivered and whined.

“But you’re the Demon Lord, aren’t you? Can’t you handle this much?”

“Even if I’m the Demon Lord, I’m still cold~! Humans are originally warm, so let me lean on you a little more~”

“No, burying your face in my neck while saying that is a bit…”

“Hehe, what can I do, it’s warm. Yuan is the best~”

Ellis rubbed her face against my neck and smiled contentedly.

“Aren’t I heavy, Yuan?”

Lillien, who was walking ahead, asked with a worried look.

“It would have been difficult if you were also carrying the bag.”

“Ah, it’s okay because Arte is carrying it.”

Looking beside me, Arte was silently following along, carrying my bag with a poker face.

“There is no problem. Rather, this amount of weight helps with appropriate load adjustment.”

“Ah, thanks anyway. It would have been a bit tough without Arte.”

“Then please carry me on your back as well, Yuan.”

“What kind of nonsense is that!?”

I quickly shook my head and looked at Arte.

She was staring at my back very naturally, making an expression that said, “Treat me fairly.”

“Sorry, Arte. If I carried you, I think I’d fall over.”

“Is that a refusal? …Sniffle sniffle.”

Our tin can pretended to sob stiffly in a monotone voice.

“This is… the emotion called sadness. Sniff. Sniffle sniffle.”

“It’s not convincing at all if you read it like a textbook….”

“Oh my Yuan, then what about me? I’m much lighter and more beautiful than the bag~”

Lillien smiled brightly and approached.

“Yeah, yeah, I guess so. But…”

Lillien’s heart is wider than Ellis’s.

And she’s much softer and more violent.

Yeah, it’s tough.

Yeah, yeah.

“Hmm?”

Lillien peeked at me and then suddenly gave a sly smile.

And, she *poked* my cheek—

“You’re so obvious.”

“No, what are you talking about!?”

I waved my hands to deny it, but Lillien seemed to enjoy my reaction, smiling playfully.

Then, this time from the opposite side— *Whoosh*

My cheek was grabbed.

“…Huh?”

*Stretchhhhh—!*

“Uwaaaaaa!?”

A sudden pull on both my cheeks.

I instinctively turned my head.

The culprit was Ellis.

She puffed up her cheeks slightly and wore a dissatisfied expression.

“Yuan is a fool. Idiot. Baldy. Ri-seon-jok.”

“Why are you like this too!?”

However, Ellis just complained while pinching my cheeks harder with both hands.

“Hmph. I’m still growing! Demonkind live for a veeeeery long time! I’ll become veeeeery big, even bigger than Lillien!”

“Hehe, I’ll be waiting, Ellis?”

“Yuan, for your information, I just need to swap parts. Wouldn’t the final victory be mine?”

It’s really hard to keep up with these three’s pace!

As we argued and walked, my steps gradually became heavier.

The snow became thicker, and I felt the chill, beyond mere coldness, penetrating my skin.

And—

“…We’ve arrived.”

A vast pond covered in ice.

This was the heart of the snowfield dungeon that Ellis had mentioned.

The ice pillars surrounding the pond sparkled transparently like glass, and the bottom shone clearly like a mirror.

But before I could admire the beauty, a strong blizzard suddenly swept in.

“Whoa, what’s this!?”

I instinctively held Ellis tighter.

In the swirling blizzard, frost flew on the wind, obstructing our view.

Eventually, within the blizzard, a silhouette slowly appeared.

Skin as blue as the sky, a translucent armor of ice covering its body.

Along with the scattered frost, long hair fluttered in the wind.

The being looked at us and murmured softly.

“Those who trespass here. Who are you?”

The ice spirit, Glacies, revealed herself before us.

[Eyecatch!]

Ice Spirit, Glacies

The heart of the snowfield, a land where eternal coldness permeates.

A being formed by the powerful magic power of the Ice Queen who governs that place.

The Ice Queen’s loyal servant and the master who taught freezing magic to Ellis, who was a prospective Demon Lord candidate in the past.

The cold she emits is powerful enough to cover the entire snowfield!

They say eternal frost settles on the land just by her presence.

Her personality is strict and cold.

Her demeanor is majestic and noble.

But once she gives affection, is she unexpectedly a tsundere?

Her strength, as a spirit who received the Queen’s magic power directly, is about that of the 4 Great Dragons.

For your information, Ellis set fires to find the spirit, so their first meeting was apparently quite intense.

“It’s too hard to find the spirit! I’ll have to set fire! Gehenna!!”

“You crazy demonkind!! Don’t set fire in my sacred domain!!!”