The reception was over. Where the crowd had left like an ebb and flow, only I, Dominic, and Cassian remained. Isaac had left to investigate the holy water and holy relics first, but decided to rejoin me at the stationery store at night.
"Now I have to implement my plan."
I thought about Sheria and the Duke of Hesmann. Now that he had suffered such humiliation in front of people, he would probably prepare to fight back. In order to defend against them in advance…
"I have something to say, Your Highness."
I looked at Cassian and whispered softly. In the meantime, he had been hanging out with me because of Axion, but in fact, he was always busy and difficult to meet as he was the Emperor's favorite. I was thinking about what to do if he left because it was difficult to talk, but Cassian nodded and replied.
"I was still going to talk to the Marquis."
Dominic, who had not left his seat and was still eating the remaining soufflé on the long dining table, sent me a message.
'I need to eat a soufflé too.'
"Okay, then let's move to the closed room for a while?"
"…Yes."
He was brief and resolute, but I was genuinely surprised. Cassian's two balls (referring to his eyes, or perhaps his composure) were recalled. I was a little confused because it was an unfamiliar part that was different from Cassian's personality described in the original work.
We sat at another table with no one there. I began to explain to Cassian the plan I was thinking of.
"First of all, I want to deliver teaching aids for children to the Imperial Academy."
"I heard that you have already been in contact with the president."
"Yes, but I want to do an exclusive deal with the Academy. I plan to grow the business gradually."
In other words, it was an offer of an exclusive contract. Delivering teaching aids and school supplies directly to the school was the final destination for school stationery owners.
If you become the only trading company of the academy, you will be able to easily enter and exit the academy, which outsiders cannot enter.
If that happens, we will be able to see in advance the insidious touch that will be on the academy. If you remain the owner of a stationery store outside the academy as you are now, you will not be able to protect the children.
I looked at Prince Cassian with eagerness.
"In the name of the Marquis of Kinnoa's 'Mel's Stationery'?"
"Yes, I would like to directly request and exhibit school supplies used by children and and tools used for education at the academy."
"There is a hero of the empire, and the quality of the goods you deliver must be certified."
"Yes, that's right."
As I continued to speak, I felt strange.
…I thought I should be persuaded more because he is a thorough person?
Cassian just nodded obediently, without asking for a specific business plan.
"The Imperial Palace will also help you."
"…Really?"
"Yes, I will arrange a separate meeting with the president of the academy. After that, you will need the Marquis's speech."
"…Thank you."
It was a very neat ending. I was about to leave because I was done with the main topic, but Cassian's gaze was on me. And for some reason, he pursed his lips with a hint of restlessness…
What do you have to say?
But no matter how long he waited, he never spoke.
I'm worried because Dominic said earlier that Prince Cassian is interested in me.
I felt a little awkward. However, the Prince Cassian I knew was never a person who intervened in public situations with private emotions.
Maybe it's because something is questionable in my words.
Just as he thought so, Cassian spoke quietly.
"Today…"
"Yes?"
"…It was wonderful, seriously."
Cassian's words made me burst into laughter.
I kept noticing you to say that.
I thought there was a cute side about this man who was known to be cold-hearted.
"Thank you. Then, after discussing a little more about the project with the president, I will contact you again when a specific plan comes out."
If this plan succeeded, it might be possible to put a perfect end to revenge. I smiled happily and bowed my head briefly to him.
Cassian nodded, his eyes down. His earlobe was as red as a mountain milk on a summer day. He avoided looking at me strangely from earlier… Was there anything wrong with me secretly, this man?
After finishing my conversation with Prince Cassian, I returned to the stationery store. Inside the stationery store, Isaac and Dominic were facing each other.
I sat down in front of him and told Isaac about the demons that Dominic had sealed. And now it was time to take out the holy sword that had been hidden in the sword.
What the hell is hidden in this sword?
I closed my eyes tightly and put my hand over the magic sword. Then, the holy sword popped up from inside the demonic sword.
"There is a demon in the sword who knows how to discern the ability hidden in objects. You can summon him too." Dominic added with his arms crossed.
Isaac handed me a small pill. It was a medicine that controlled the unstable flow of mana that Basil had created. I let out a short sigh and poured the medicine into my mouth.
Isaac grabbed one of my hands tightly, as if trying to grasp the flow of mana in his body. I took a long, deep breath, feeling the warmth coming from his fingertips.
Fang!
With a small fanfare sound, a small child demon appeared.
"Huh."
It was not a strange discriminator demon, but a familiar Winter Moon Demon.
"What are you!" The Winter Moon Demon skimmed inside the stationery store and found Isaac and scolded him. "Ugh, we've got a new and strong human!"
It seemed that Isaac had recognized that he was the owner of the Mage Tower.
Can you grasp the power of the other person when you look at them?
The Winter Moon Demon swelled up like a frightened cat and said, "Listen. Finally, I, the Winter Moon Devil, have entered the human world…"
"You said that line a long time ago."
"Oh, really? Chet." The devil's horns of the Winter Moon Demon hung down like marshmallows melted in chocolate. "No, human! Come to think of it, I have something to say to you!"
"What is it?" I looked at the devil with a puzzled expression. The devil stomped his feet and continued speaking.
"What the hell did you put some bizarre ideology in me? I'm going to die of fright!"
"…Ideology?"
The only thing we had in that sword was the Holy Sword.
So, does it mean that the Holy Sword is an ideological body?
Our eyes met in the middle. Maybe he could uncover the identity of the Holy Sword without summoning the Discriminator Demon.
"Yes! Don't pretend you don't know! You put that strange and bizarre ideology in it! It's really disgusting! All kinds of thoughts are attached to a rusty sword! It's because you're an excellent demon like me, so you're going to move on, and the other demons…!"
"Wasn't this a sword with divine power?" I cut off the Winter Moon Demon and asked about the holy sword.
"Hi—!" Then the Winter Moon Demon hesitated and bit back. "You ignorant! I thought divine power was such a dirty power, no, divine power is dirty power. But what is that…" The Winter Moon Demon frowned a lot. "Huh… Beats me. I don't know exactly. But the demon who discerns was like that. There are more than a hundred terrible vengeful souls in it."
"…A hundred original souls, right?"
"Yes. The demon of discernment touched it out of curiosity, but his hand was severely burned and he was chipped. Very terrible!" The Winter Moon Demon clicked his tongue. "Ugh, ordinary humans become vengeful souls when they are stabbed by that sword. Well, how many people did they kill with that sword?"
I tapped the melted horns of the Winter Moon Demon and continued my questioning. "But the person who had that sword said that it was a holy sword given to him by the Pope himself? Didn't you make a mistake?"
"Then the Pope is trash! The Pope is the one who put the ideological body in, so there are too many humans in the world who are worse than demons. Ugh." The Winter Moon Demon hesitated, then stomped and fell face down on the table, smiling.
I looked at the back of the devil's head and pondered in thought.
What the hell are you up to?
Sheria, Lennox. I knew for sure that these two were not as flawless as the main characters in the original work. What were they going to do with this sword? The devil seemed to be as curious as I was.
The Winter Moon Demon sighed. "Anyway, we demons need to investigate the sword that threatened us and the child who made it!"
I opened my mouth by touching the soft horns of the Winter Moon Demon. "Yes. I'll put the holy sword inside, so ask the demon of discernment to distinguish it accurately."
"Okay, uh. I'm going to die of fright!" The Winter Moon Demon shook his head and walked back into his sword.
"I'm going to make some more slushies once they come out before that." Of course, I didn't forget his usefulness. Normally, he would have been angry about what he thought of himself, but the Winter Moon Demon, who was immersed in slush, was loud and just nodded vigorously.
"Yes! I have to make it quickly! Instead, I'll take a lot of slush."
"Let's make a lot of it and then share it." I smiled contentedly and nodded.
In a few days, we would find out what the bizarre ideological body the devil was talking about, what was the real way to destroy the Holy Sword, and why the sword was created. We decided to summon the devil once a day and listen to the story of the demon of discernment.