"Hehe."
Gluttony grinned with satisfaction as she looked at the pile of gold coins.
"That's not for eating."
Raon waved his hand at Gluttony while dismissing the message window.
"I know."
Gluttony nodded and hugged the pile of gold coins like a precious treasure.
"And try not to kill or eat humans if you can help it."
Raon looked at Gluttony as he put down the payment for the ice cream and steel cans on the counter.
"Why?"
"Because if humans die, they can't make ice cream anymore."
"Ah!"
Gluttony nodded as if she understood perfectly.
In truth, Raon said this because he thought things would get complicated in many ways if Gluttony caused trouble, but it seemed to have worked well.
-Aarghhhh!
Wrath groaned, clutching his temples.
-That simple-minded glutton! Why does she fall for such words!
He shook his head, calling her an incomprehensible sucker.
"..."
Raon held back from telling Wrath, 'You're the biggest sucker of all.'
"I'm going now."
Gluttony finally stood up after chewing and swallowing all the steel cans in the ice cream shop.
"Where to?"
"There's a place that smells of bead ice cream, though it's a bit far."
She raised her finger and pointed east.
'Huh....'
Raon turned his head following Gluttony's finger and let out a sigh.
'In that direction... is it the Panic Kingdom?' (E/N: it is a very weird name, but too funny to change.)
There are many villages around the Suphren Kingdom, but the only city likely to have an ice cream shop is the distant Panic Kingdom.
To smell ice cream from the Panic Kingdom from here, it was a sense of smell that even a dog couldn't match. It was befitting of the monarch of Gluttony.
"Gluttony."
He placed his hand on Gluttony's head. It felt like touching soft fur. He might be the first human to touch the Demon King's head.
"Yes?"
She slowly raised her eyes, seemingly unbothered by the hand on her head.
"When you run out of gold coins, come find me. Of course, only after suppressing all your demonic energy, and when no one else is around." (E/N: 'I got isekaied and made the Demon King my ice cream pet ~~' would be a JP title if it was longer)
"Okay."
Gluttony nodded in understanding.
-You, you don't mean...
Wrath's eyes trembled as he looked at Gluttony.
-You're trying to use even Gluttony?
'After receiving a favor, I can't just sit idle, can I?'
Raon smiled as he saw the message about gaining Gluttony's favor.
Right now, Gluttony thinks I'm Wrath. It wouldn't hurt to build a friendship, as I might need to borrow her power someday.
-That's all because of me!
Wrath grabbed Raon's collar and shook him vigorously.
-I'm the one who fed her ice cream and caused this, so why you!
'Who told you to feed her?'
Raon grinned as he looked at Wrath's reddened face.
-Ugh! I'm going mad with rage!
Wrath screamed, yelling that he would never forgive this.
-You glutton! You're being deceived right now! This guy is no different from a heavenly angel! You must never trust him!
'I can't tell if this is praise or a curse....'
Raon shook his head and let out a dry laugh.
"See you again."
Gluttony waved her hand lightly and disappeared into a white shadow.
"Ah...."
Raon lowered his hand that had been touching Gluttony's head and slightly furrowed his brow.
"I still had more to ask."
-What! What else are you trying to squeeze out!
'I wanted to clearly understand the concept of Gluttony.'
-That fool only knows how to eat. Do you think she'd know the exact concept? Besides, it applies differently to each person!
Wrath wrinkled his nose, asking why Raon was inquiring again when he had experienced it several times.
'I guess you're right.'
He nodded calmly. Seeing how Envy had changed into admiration, it was likely that Gluttony's gluttony and the gluttony I would obtain would be different.
"Now, let's check the messages...."
Raon's hand trembled as he tried to check the messages. His legs gave out, and his knees touched the ground involuntarily.
'My head....'
Perhaps it was because the tension he had barely maintained while Gluttony was present had now dissipated. His entire body felt as heavy as water-logged cotton.
-Don't try to endure it, just sleep.
As he tried to force his eyes open, he saw Wrath frowning.
-You've reached your limit.
Hearing those gruff yet warm words, his eyes closed on their own.
* * *
"Ah...."
Rimmer hurriedly sat up as soon as he opened his eyes.
'What happened?'
He had stood in front of the demon spewing enormous demonic energy to save Raon and the Light Wind division, but suddenly lost consciousness.
"Why did I faint?"
It didn't make sense that he would faint unconsciously, given that he had prepared for death and opened his upper dantian to its limit.
There were no signs of being attacked by the demon either, so he couldn't understand the current situation.
"Raon."
Saintess Olga raised her head with difficulty.
"That guy hit the back of your neck."
"Raon?"
"Yes. I lost consciousness after that, so I didn't see what happened next...."
She barely managed to sit up, exhaling a breath mixed with the scent of blood.
"Damn it!"
Rimmer bit his lip until it bled as he looked around.
Behind him, the Light Wind division, Holy Knights, priests, and citizens of the kingdom were alive and breathing, but Raon was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is that bastard!"
He forced strength into his shaking legs and stood up. And then he saw it.
The eerie sight of everything on one side of the kingdom being erased to a pure white.
"What is this...?"
He could tell immediately. This phenomenon was created by the manifestation of a single power. It was shocking that there was someone other than Glenn who could achieve such a thing.
Rimmer swallowed hard and walked towards the land where everything had been erased.
'Raon. Please....'
This was where Raon and he had been standing. If demonic energy of this magnitude had been unleashed, even Raon couldn't have survived.
"Damn it!"
Rimmer shouted and began digging at the ground with his bare hands.
"Ugh...."
"W-what happened?"
"Where are we...?"
The Light Wind division members started to get up one by one, hearing Rimmer's terrifying aura and screams.
"W-what is this...?"
"...Shit. What the hell happened!"
"Raon?"
Burren, Martha, and Runaan couldn't close their gaping mouths as they looked at the land and buildings erased by the Snow Flower.
"Right now...."
Rimmer turned around. A chilling red light flashed across his green eyes.
"Find Raon! Search the entire kingdom if you have to, but find him no matter what!"
"Raon...."
"That's right. He's the only one missing right now!"
Burren and Martha's faces turned pale.
"..."
Runaan didn't even answer and ran out first. Her usually dull eyes unusually flashed with urgency.
"We'll go too!"
"That damn human!"
Dorian, Krein, and the rest of the Light Wind division nodded and immediately got up.
"Wait! We'll split directions. Team 1 goes west, Team 2 north, Team 3 south!"
Burren furrowed his brow as he gave directions to the Light Wind division swordsmen.
"I'll check the overall area."
Mark Goetun also let out a long sigh and moved in the opposite direction from Runaan.
"We'll go too."
Hoppen staggered to his feet and raised his hand to the Holy Knights.
"Split into groups and search for the Light Wind Division Leader!"
"The same goes for you. Turn every building upside down if you have to, but find that guy!"
Olga agreed with Hoppen's words and sent out the priests.
The Holy Knights and priests also ran throughout the kingdom despite their injuries, knowing they were alive thanks to Raon.
"Please come out...."
Rimmer continued digging at the same spot even though everyone else had moved.
He thought that if Raon was alive, he was more likely to be buried here than anywhere else.
As he was digging to the point where the back of his hands were raw, he heard what sounded like a whistle from the direction of the royal capital's busy district. It was the signal from Light Wind Team 2.
Rimmer ran without even bothering to dust off his dirt-covered hands and clothes. It wasn't a very long distance, but even running at full speed, he felt unbearably anxious.
Using the Gale Wind Style as he arrived at the source of the signal, he saw an ice cream shop with its sign fallen off.
All members of the Light Wind division were inside.
'He's here?'
Feeling incredulous, he let out a sigh as he entered, and saw Burren, Martha, and Runaan with their heads together.
In the center, Raon was quietly breathing with his eyes closed.
"The wounds from the demonic energy are severe, but not fatal."
Saintess Olga nodded as she put down Raon's wrist that she had been holding.
"We don't need to worry."
She slightly twisted her lips, seeming the most relieved herself.
"Phew...."
"The time spent examining him felt like hell. I'd rather fight the Five Demons."
Burren and Martha let out long sighs as if all their strength had left them.
"Ugh...."
Only then could Runaan lift her head and look at Raon. A faint moisture scattered around her eyes.
"Thank goodness...."
"My hands are still shaking."
"I felt like I couldn't breathe too."
The Light Wind division swordsmen sat down where they were, as if drained of strength.
"But why is this crazy bastard here?"
"It looks like he ate all the ice cream...."
"Did the ghost of someone who died without eating ice cream possess him?" (E/N: cough cough cough. This king is not dead yet!)
Burren and Martha frowned, seemingly unable to understand the situation.
"It's not just ice cream, it looks like he ate the steel plates too...."
Dorian's eyes trembled as he held up a piece of steel that looked like it had been chewed and spat out.
"No way!"
Krein laughed as if to say that couldn't be possible.
"No, really. There's more than just one or two crushed pieces of steel."
Dorian held up another piece of steel, and the Light Wind division swordsmen burst into small laughs.
When they realized Raon was safe, everyone was able to smile despite their tired faces.
"..."
Rimmer realized, looking at the swordsmen gathered around Raon, what meaning Raon Zieghart held for him and the Light Wind division.
'Soon, I won't even be able to call him a little king anymore.'
He patted Raon's head, letting out a quiet laugh.
'I'll have to call him a true king.'
* * *
Raon slowly opened his eyes. A spotlessly clean white ceiling, like that of a hospital room, came into view.
"Ugh...."
His head and chest ached as if stabbed by a burning sword.
'It hurts, but at least I'm alive.'
He had been worried about what would happen after fainting in the ice cream shop, but fortunately, it seemed he had been rescued.
'Come to think of it, it's embarrassing.'
The thought of the Light Wind division frantically searching for him and finding him in an ice cream shop made his face burn hot.
The embarrassment felt more painful than the physical pain.
-You understand well.
Wrath flew in front of his eyes and nodded.
-Everyone called you a crazy bastard!
He giggled as he laughed.
'It's because of you!'
-You're always using my name, can't I do the same!
'Hmm....'
Put that way, he had nothing to say.
-Seeing you shut your mouth makes me feel better. From now on....
Just as Wrath was mockingly flicking his tongue.
[The trait
A bright light burst from the white flower bracelet Gluttony had given him, and a message appeared saying that Gluttony had bloomed.
-Uh....
Wrath, who had been sticking out his tongue, froze in that very position.
'I think your real nemesis isn't Greed, but the system, isn't it?
-S-shut up!
Wrath shook his head as if telling him to stop talking nonsense.
'Shall we check it out then?'
Raon called up the Gluttony ability.
Every time you fill your stomach with food you consider delicious, all ability scores, realm of the soul, and natural recovery rate increase. The efficiency is greatly amplified when consuming elixirs.
As soon as he read the description of Gluttony, his eyes widened.
'I had a feeling, but....'
Is this really correct?
To think that ability scores and the realm of the soul would increase every time he filled his stomach with delicious food, it was an absurd trait. He couldn't help but laugh.
'On top of that....'
There's even an elixir amplification effect.
Perhaps because elixirs are also ultimately consumed, there was an amplification effect due to Gluttony. Honestly, it was an ability that shouldn't exist in this world.
'I should treat her even better next time we meet.'
As he lifted his head, resolving to give Gluttony more gold coins the next time she came, Wrath was surprisingly calm.
'You're calm?'
-Ugh....
Wrath slightly furrowed his brow.
-I-I expected this much.
'I suppose.'
Since he had seen Raon receive Gluttony's power, it seemed Wrath had expected such a trait to develop.
'Shall we continue then?'
-Continue what?
'We didn't check the previous messages.'
Raon grinned as he called up all the messages that had appeared earlier.
[You have received the favor of
[You have received the acknowledgment of
[You have made
[You have achieved an impossible feat.]
[All ability scores increase by 30 points.]
Even for achieving an impossible feat, to increase all ability scores by 30 points when they were already at such a high level was an enormous reward.
-Th-thirty?
Wrath's eyes widened in disbelief.
-This damn...
'You anticipated this too, right?'
-O-of course!
He stopped himself from cursing and awkwardly nodded.
Having shown that he made Greed retreat, it seemed he was trying to maintain his dignity.
'Then let's continue.'
Raon smirked as he called up the subsequent messages.
[The rank of trait
[The rank of trait
[The rank of trait
[The rank of trait
[The rank of trait
[The rank of trait
This time, the messages were about trait ranks increasing.
There were more than usual, but it made sense as they were all related to this battle.
'Six of them. You knew about this too, right?'
-O-o-of course!
Wrath's eyes swung back and forth like a pendulum.
-With my predictive abilities, this much is....
Despite his words about prediction, his cheeks trembled like wind-blown cotton candy.
[You have felt the sensation of directly handling
[All ability scores increase by 15 points.]
[The realm of the soul greatly increases.]
[The rank of trait
This seemed to be the reward for feeling the sensation of directly engaging in battle while being immersed in Wrath's body during the demon king's descent.
'Wrath, this is....'
-That's enough! You bastards!
Wrath finally couldn't hold back and turned into strawberry-flavored cotton candy.
-Cough! Just because I'm quiet. They don't know when to stop! I'll really smash them! Huh?
He threw a tantrum while coughing dryly, but the system disappeared without a word, as if it had done its job.
-I'm boiling with rage! Cough! As soon as I return, I'll smash that thing first!
'I gained a lot.'
All ability scores, traits, and even the realm of the soul increased. Of course, the best among them was Gluttony.
-Ugh....
Wrath sat down and sniffled.
-I've been ignored by that merchant bastard, and it seems it'll only get worse from now on.
He shook his head, saying it was too much.
'Wrath.'
Raon quietly looked at the crumpled Wrath and slightly lowered his head.
-What!
'Thank you.'
-Huh?
Wrath's eyes widened as if wondering what Raon was suddenly saying.
'I really didn't know you'd take on the burden of the demon king's descent.'
Despite achieving the demon king's descent, the void in the upper dantian and physical damage weren't as severe as before.
With this reward, it was enough to fully recover before the life-and-death battle.
Even though he had become stronger, the reduced damage to his upper dantian clearly showed that Wrath had taken on that burden.
-Don't say such pathetic things.
Wrath frowned as if wondering what Raon was saying.
-I always keep my word... Cough!
He coughed mid-sentence.
'When I'm better, I'll eat all the food you want.'
Raon smiled faintly as he watched Wrath coughing repeatedly.
-What do you mean when you're better! Eat right now! You have Gluttony, don't you!
'Ah, that's right.'
He nodded. Since Gluttony also had healing abilities, eating food would probably make him recover even faster.
'This is not like being a zombie....'
The thought of automatically recovering aura, physical strength, and mental strength just by eating and sleeping made him feel like he had become a monster beyond human.
As Raon was chuckling, the hospital room door opened and Saintess Olga entered.
"Hmm?"
"Oh?"
She made eye contact with the awakened Raon and then shouted towards the outside.
"Your master is awake."
Before Olga's words were even finished, a sound like the corridor collapsing was heard, and the Light Wind division rushed into the hospital room.
"Raon."
"You bastard! Are you okay?"
"What the hell did you do!"
Runaan, Martha, and Burren approached first and stood in front of the bed.
"Division Leader!"
"Young Master! We were worried!"
Dorian and Yua sniffled, their shoulders trembling. The eyes of the other Light Wind division swordsmen also showed a lot of concern. (E/N: Yua's little friend has been forgotten. Poor him.)
"Raon."
As Raon was telling everyone he was fine, Rimmer, who entered last, nodded slightly.
"What happened after we fainted? Where did that monster go?"
"It disappeared after fighting with another demon."
Raon nodded as he looked at Rimmer.
"Another monster?"
"Yes. Two demons were fighting like mad, but they fled when a dragon appeared. It seemed they were enemies."
He gave the brief answer he had prepared in advance.
"Do demons fight each other too?"
"Humans fight each other with swords, so of course they would."
"Then we were lucky."
The Light Wind division smiled as if relieved, but Rimmer stroked his chin with a somewhat unconvinced expression.
"..."
Saintess Olga seemed to be thinking about something, then slightly moved her hand.
"How's your body? Can you move?"
"There's pain, but I can move without difficulty."
Raon nodded as he slowly rotated his shoulders.
"Then get ready. There's somewhere we need to go."
Olga said only that and left the hospital room.
"Where do we need to go?"
Raon blinked as he looked up at Rimmer.
"Well..."
Unlike his uncertain answer, Rimmer smiled softly as if he knew everything.
* * *
Raon entered the royal palace, wearing the white robe Olga had sent and guided by the Holy Knights.
Since the palace was behind Wrath, only the outer walls had collapsed, leaving the interior largely undamaged.
'That's fortunate.'
If this had collapsed too, the kingdom itself would have been at a standstill for a while, so this was at least fortunate.
-Cough! It's all thanks to me.
Wrath nodded as he coughed dryly.
-I deliberately moved towards the outside because there were many humans here.
'Well done.'
Raon smiled faintly as he lightly patted Wrath's head.
As he moved his hand, his chest ached sharply. He felt he would need to rest a bit after this was over.
-Instead of touching my head, bring some. Cough! Delicious food!
'I will... Huh?'
Raon tilted his head as he was about to answer Wrath.
He had thought they would enter the palace interior, but the Holy Knight walked towards the royal garden.
'Why?'
As he wondered why they were heading there, he saw numerous people lined up in the garden that spread out as wide as the Grand Training Hall.
Saintess Olga, Paladin Kinier, high-ranking priests, the Holy Knight leaders, and numerous priests and knights stood with their hands clasped.
White cloths were layered on the garden's pillars and trees as if preparing for a big event, and people's attire was as splendid as during a Holy Assembly.
Hoppen stood up in the center of the priests who seemed to be imbued with a noble light. His long robe, blending the white and gold of the Suphren Royal Palace, fluttered beautifully.
"You've come."
Hoppen smiled with eyes full of intense emotion, as if he might cry at any moment.
"What is this about?"
"I wanted to greet you first, Lord Raon."
"Greet?"
As Raon tilted his head in confusion, Hoppen knelt on one knee with a faint smile.
"We greet the benefactor of the Suphren Kingdom."
As if responding to his cry, the people standing in the garden assumed the same posture as Hoppen.
"We greet the benefactor of the Suphren Kingdom!"
The resonance filled with people's sincerity, not holy power, erased the pain in his chest.
"I have a request for our benefactor."
Hoppen raised his head with a subtle smile.
"A request?"
As if answering Raon's question, Hoppen's gaze turned to the right. A platinum crown that seemed to melt sunlight revealed a dazzling light.
"Would you be willing to crown me at today's coronation ceremony?"