"Come here."
Raon grabbed Gluttony's listless arm and sat her down on a small rock. She followed without resistance, trusting him.
"What exactly happened to you?"
Though he had learned the general situation from Wrath, he wanted to hear the exact circumstances from Gluttony herself.
"I don't really know either..."
Gluttony sat on the rock, swinging her legs as if splashing water.
"Everything was just food to me. Trees, rocks, earth, sky, demons, and humans too."
She let out a short sigh, saying she had only put everything in her mouth and swallowed.
"Things like taste weren't important. Just this hunger..."
Gluttony rubbed her stomach with her small hand.
"I only wanted it gone. I just swallowed whatever entered my mouth."
She slowly closed and opened her eyes, as if recalling her past hunger.
"I know that."
Raon nodded with his arms crossed.
"Tell me about what happened after you met me in the Human World."
He tilted his chin while pretending to be Wrath.
'This next part is important.'
He wanted to know exactly what changes had occurred in Gluttony after meeting him.
"You showed me bead ice cream and taught me how to eat it."
Gluttony stared at Raon and tilted her head.
"That's right."
Raon nodded and slightly turned his eyes toward Wrath.
'Wait! Come to think of it, you were the one who taught Gluttony about bead ice cream, not me.'
-Uh...?
Wrath let out a bewildered breath.
'After chasing away Greed, you personally took Gluttony to the collapsed bead ice cream shop. Don't you remember?'
After driving away Greed, Wrath had taken Gluttony, who had been eating dirt, and fed her bead ice cream.
-Ah!
Wrath's eyes widened as if finally remembering.
-That's right? I was the one who fed her!
'And when she tried to swallow it whole like everything else, you even hit the back of her head to teach her to taste it!'
Gluttony had tried to swallow the bead ice cream whole like she did with dirt, but thanks to Wrath's instruction, she tasted something for the first time and exclaimed how wonderful it was.
-T-then Gluttony became like this because...
Wrath's jaw trembled as he looked at the depressed Gluttony.
'Yes. It wasn't because of me, but because of you.'
Raon nodded matter-of-factly.
-Damn it all!
Wrath grabbed his head, realizing this was no time to laugh.
"At first, it was wonderful. Because I could keep eating ice cream. Because it was so delicious."
Gluttony nodded while looking at him. It seemed to be her way of expressing gratitude.
"But gradually, I started feeling thirsty." (E/N: just give her some apple juice or something)
Gluttony raised her small hand and touched her snow-white throat.
"The more ice cream I ate, the worse the thirst became. I don't understand why. Why am I getting thirsty when I keep eating delicious things?"
She nodded, indicating she couldn't understand her own emotions.
"You never felt this thirst before?"
Raon narrowed his eyes and tilted his chin.
"Never. Not when eating trees, rocks, earth, sky, Demons. Not even when eating humans."
Gluttony nodded, saying this was the first time she had felt thirst.
"I ignored the crushing thirst in my chest and kept eating bead ice cream, but eventually I couldn't even bring myself to touch it. That's when I finally understood. Why I felt thirsty." (E/N: ...I guess drinking something is out of the question?)
She put a bead ice cream topped with weeds into her mouth.
"I wanted to eat new flavors, more delicious ice cream."
Gluttony let out a long breath, saying something new had been born from the gluttony she'd had since birth.
"And with the flavors I wanted."
She ate the bead ice cream that obviously looked unappetizing with a bitter smile.
"As I thought..."
Raon nodded after hearing Gluttony's words.
'The spirit of a gourmet was being added to gluttony.'
Bead ice cream had so many varieties that casual consumers rarely got tired of it. However, new flavors came out very rarely, and Gluttony, who bought and ate large quantities daily, had finally grown accustomed to all the flavors and seemed to be seeking new ones out of boredom.
"Help me. To make new bead ice cream."
Gluttony bowed her head, saying she wanted to try making bead ice cream herself.
"Hmm..."
Raon frowned, unable to answer immediately.
'Can I do this?'
Though he was good at basic cooking, making something that required professional skill like bead ice cream would be difficult. Moreover, he couldn't answer right away knowing it would be even harder to match Gluttony's taste.
'Mother, Helen, or Judiel might be able to do it. However...'
Gluttony seemed to want to make it herself. She wanted to create and eat bead ice cream with her own hands. That's why she was now putting weeds, dirt, and stones on top of the ice cream.
-These demon kings are all such troublesome creatures.
Wrath didn't sneer as before, knowing he had influenced this situation.
-And now I know why that one got stronger.
'Got stronger? Ah, now that you mention it, you said that earlier too.'
He remembered how Wrath had said something about why she had gotten stronger when they found Gluttony.
-Even for a pathetic demon king like Gluttony, who had already reached the ranks of the absolute, getting even stronger from there isn't easy.
Wrath frowned while pointing at the crumpled Gluttony.
-That one has clearly grown stronger by adding the spirit of a gourmet to her cursed gluttony instinct!
He let out a hollow laugh, saying he'd seen all sorts of things in his long life.
'Then could Gluttony become even stronger than she is now?'
Raon looked at Wrath thoughtfully.
-It might be possible if that glutton can make new delicious bead ice cream as she wants.
Wrath nodded, saying it would work if she could satisfy her desires.
'Isn't that a good thing?'
As the current situation showed, Gluttony had great affection for him. If he helped her, she would definitely participate in the war against the Archangels, and she would clearly be a great help in that war.
'I absolutely have to do this.'
It would be even more beneficial if Gluttony became happy enough to pass on her gluttony to a suitable person, so he had to do it no matter what.
"Alright."
Raon extended his hand to the depressed Gluttony.
"Let's make it together. New bead ice cream."
***
-Nadine bread...?
Wrath screamed in disbelief.
-What kind of madman puts Nadine bread on bead ice cream! (E/N: ...Raon? But, Rubber Ice Cream? Hmm...Never tasted this one.)
He tore at his hair, asking if he had truly lost his mind.
'We have no choice.'
Raon scratched his cheek while looking at the Nadine bread placed on the ice cream.
'Nadine bread is the only food I have right now.'
Since eating just one Nadine bread kept you full for a day, there was no reason to carry other food.
"Hmm..."
Gluttony tilted her head before putting the Nadine bread-topped bead ice cream in her mouth.
"...It's strange."
She chewed the Nadine bread ice cream a few times before shaking her head.
"The bread flavor completely overwhelms the ice cream..."
Gluttony frowned, saying the rubber-like taste of the Nadine bread was so strong that she couldn't taste the ice cream at all.
-Oh! That glutton is finally saying something I like!
Wrath nodded, seemingly moved by Gluttony's words.
-She's truly awakened to the way of a gourmet!
He patted Gluttony's head with a satisfied smile.
"I want to eat something newer and more delicious."
Gluttony started combining ingredients with ice cream again, seemingly wanting to create and experience new flavors herself. However, although she had developed a sense of taste, she still used strange ingredients due to her lack of knowledge about flavors. It was especially hard to watch her mix tree bark and stones with ice cream.
-That, that precious thing...
Wrath's jaw trembled as he watched the bead ice cream being ruined by Gluttony's hands.
-Stop her quickly! I can't stand this anymore!
He ground his teeth, saying he wanted to manifest and beat Gluttony.
"Don't tell me you came out here to find ingredients that would go well with ice cream?"
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Gluttony.
"That's right. I came out to find ingredients to make new bead ice cream. Since there are many things in the forest."
Gluttony nodded calmly, confirming that was correct.
"How about this?"
She reached out to put what appeared to be animal droppings on the ice cream.
"Stop!"
Raon rushed over and grabbed Gluttony's wrist.
"This place won't work."
He shook his head, thinking of the only person who could help this new Gluttony.
"Come with me."
Raon lifted his chin as he grabbed Gluttony's wrist and pulled her up.
"Because there's someone who has everything you want."
***
"It's peaceful and nice..."
Dorian let out an excited breath as he lay down on the soft bed. (E/N: Dorian is not Gluttony, Dorian is Greed...was my first thought...but in a way he is more gluttonous than greedy)
"I don't know what we'll do here, but it must be better than Sepia or Habun Castle."
At Habun Castle, he had been scared of the monsters' transformations and the demon king about to explode, and at Sepia, he had been terrified of the mysterious clouds and fog. But House Arianne was peaceful, and Raon had gone out alone saying he would handle things.
He was just happy that it meant he wouldn't have to meet any demon kings or face any dangers.
"Today I'll get a good rest, and tomorrow I'll look around for some decent supplies..."
Just as Dorian was slowly closing his eyes and about to fall asleep, knock knock. A dull knocking sound came from the window next to the bed.
"W-what..."
Dorian's jaw trembled as he sat up.
"But this is the ninth floor?"
His heart felt like it would fall out when he heard someone knocking on the ninth-floor window.
What's more, he couldn't sense any presence at all, which made it even more confusing.
"A g-ghost..."
"Shut up and open the window."
Just as he was about to scream, a familiar voice came from outside the window.
"Huh...?"
Dorian blinked, got off the bed, and pulled back the thick curtain covering the window.
"Lord Raon? Why are you here..."
The person outside the window was Raon, who had said he was going to look for the demon king. He was holding onto the railing, looking at him.
"Too lazy to walk up."
He tilted his chin as if saying to open the window first, talking nonsense as usual.
"I-I see."
Dorian swallowed dryly and opened the window.
'He's really a strange person.'
Even after more than ten years, he still hadn't gotten used to this person's peculiarities.
"Take this first."
Raon raised his previously hidden left arm and held out a white-haired, red-eyed child.
"Ah, yes!"
Dorian blinked blankly before taking the child with both hands.
"Huh? This child. I've seen her before..."
"That's the demon king. Gluttony, the Demon King of Gluttony."
Raon softly spoke the demon king's title as if naming a kitten.
"Aaaaaaah!"
Dorian finally realized that the white-haired, red-eyed child Raon had been looking for was Gluttony and threw her onto the bed.
"W-why are you doing this to me!"
He shook his head frantically, begging to be spared.
"Hmm."
Despite being suddenly thrown onto the bed, Gluttony looked at Dorian with clear eyes as if nothing had happened.
"This human is going to teach me about new flavors?"
"That's right."
Raon nodded as he sat down on Dorian's bed.
"N-new flavors? I really don't taste good!"
Dorian waved his hands frantically, begging not to be eaten.
"I thought things would be easier this time, but what's this now!"
He teared up, lamenting that he never got an easy day.
"Who said anything about eating you?"
Raon gave Dorian a light knock on the head, telling him to stop talking nonsense.
"Oof, then what?"
Dorian sniffled while holding his head.
"Take out the bead ice cream you have right now."
Raon wiggled his finger at Dorian.
"Ah, yes!"
Dorian nodded and took out ten boxes of bead ice cream from his pouch.
"Oh...?"
Gluttony's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden appearance of bead ice cream.
"Gluttony. What flavor would you like your ice cream to have?"
Raon tilted his chin at Gluttony.
"Hmm..."
Gluttony fiddled with her fingers thoughtfully before raising her head.
"I'd like it salty."
She blinked, saying she wanted salty ice cream.
"Dorian. Take out all the ingredients that can make salty flavors."
Raon gestured to Dorian.
"Ah, yes!"
As soon as he thought about supplies, Dorian's fear seemed to vanish and he immediately reached into his pouch. Whoosh! Within seconds, he had taken out dozens of types of salt, salty vegetables, and even fruits.
"This is sea salt. It's made from the ocean and has large grains, so it's often used for pickling. It has a slightly bitter taste besides being salty. This is rock salt, formed when seawater evaporates and leaves mineral deposits. It has larger grains and is saltier. And that one comes from the mountains..."
Dorian took out the salt, placed it on the ice cream, and even provided explanations about it.
"Aah..."
Unable to resist during Dorian's explanation, Gluttony took bites of the salted ice cream. Her eyes began to sparkle faintly.
"You..."
Gluttony nodded while grabbing Dorian's wrist.
"I like you."
"What? I-I really don't taste good! I'm all fat, no meat!"
Dorian's face turned pale and stiff.
"Hmm?"
Meanwhile, Raon watched this scene with interest.
'Could this be...'