Chapter CLXVII - Chilling (part 2)

"Maybe if you said someone else other than the demon king, then sure. But, that guy is just too crazy."

Brod muttered as he drank his coffee. The coffee is made with less sugar (which is how every coffee should be made!), and he liked it a lot. That was his third glass, and he will definitely ask for a fourth one soon.

"I heard the arch-mage and the headmaster of the academy from Xyphon lost terribly to them during the battle. You guys heard about that?"

Barett was definitely more informed than the others. Cane then suddenly lifted his hands high, like a student wanting to ask the teacher.

"Why don't we ask the one from Xyphon herself? Rize, if you please?"

"Oh, fuck off, Cane."

Cane suddenly laughed while I turned to Eva and Lyona.

"Is it all right for you two to talk about this topic?"

I asked the two of them specifically, because those two are no longer involved in things like this. And, I'm also not sure if they want to be involved, or even hear anything about it. So, I went and asked.

"Yeah, we have seen our own wars before, remember?"

Lyona said with a grin, and Eva nodded as well.

Right. I cursed myself after forgetting that they were also there during our battles against Veldonia.

"... Right. Me and the headmaster talked multiple times about the upcoming war. Sometimes he came to me, asking for suggestions. Or sometimes he just randomly teleports me inside his Office and asks a couple of questions. He is annoying, but his questions were rather important.

He told me about his battle with the demons, but I'm sure you guys will hear the details soon."

"How soon, exactly?"

Fran asked, and just when I was about to ask, I could feel some presence coming to the house. They weren't sending any enmities, plus I know their pressures familiarly.

The other adventurers also felt the heavy pressures coming from outside. Eva can feel a little, but Lyona looked confused seeing the scary faces of everyone else.

"What is going on?"

She asked confusingly, while I chuckled as I stood up.

"Relax everyone. It's the very people we were talking about."

The two individuals landed just outside my house. They walked to the door and knocked nicely.

I chuckled again as I went to open the door.

"Hey there, Rize. I can see that you are busy with your friends."

Headmaster Veneo said nicely, and I noticed the arch mage standing behind him. Looks like they have some important intentions here.

"Yep. Very busy. Can you come back later?"

I said to them with a grin. The arch-mage laughed really hard back there while the headmaster simply let out a sigh.

"Sadly, we need to borrow the Swordsaint and the Dragon Slayer..."

I turned to Cane and Fran. The two stood up as their faces turned stone serious.

"Looks like your parents are here to rescue you. Go, we won't be clearing up just yet. There will be dessert coming soon."

""R-Really??""

Everyone became excited, but I simply lifted my shoulder while going back to my sofa, where I previously sat. 

Fran and Cane exitted the house and spoke on the front lawn with the two old men. Looks like they are talking about some rather important stuff.

But fuck important stuff, man. I just wanted to have some chill tonight.

"What are they going to talk about?"

Lyona asked worriedly. She recognized the headmaster and the arch-mage because she saw their faces multiple times in the newspaper, but I simply scratched my ears.

"From my super hearing, they are definitely not talking about food."

"W-What?"

I let out a sigh while standing up, and I turned to the kitchen.

"I'm saying, does it matter? Now who wants the dessert?"

Everyone became excited as I called Hod to the kitchen. He asked me what I will be making, but I simply told him the best dessert of all…

Cupcakes.

I formed multiple shadow cups while mixing the ingredients. Hod helped on making them as my co-chef, and he managed to do follow up really well in making the mixture. We poured the mix into the shadow cups and I had to use my stove to heat the cups.

I baked them on the stove, and after baking, Hod cooled it using his ice magic. The two of us are just perfect chef duos, with our ice and fire magic.

After placing the cupcakes on the regular paper cups, we put them on a large platter so we can bring all of them to the others.

"Here you go. Cupcakes, by Hod and Rize!"

I returned to the living room after making the cupcakes super fast. I used chocolate as the main flavour, and I'm not sure if they will like the cream I made. But apparently, any taste not from this world is sweet to their mouth.

"It's so good! And not as cold as ice cream!"

"You need to make this all the time!"

Emily and Lyona were specifically the happiest of them all. Eva ate in silence while everyone else commented on the taste. Most of the comments were praises, though.

"Can I sell these in my restau?"

Hod asked after handing the cups to everyone, and I pondered about it for a while.

"Two to three months."

"H-Huh?"

I turned to him with a grin.

"You just added a new dessert like a few days ago. Are you sure you want to add a new one so early?"

"... Right. I didn't think about that. So, I can?"

"Of course. Why do you think I taught you how to make it just now?"

"Heh. I mean, you could've easily opened a new shop for those cupcakes specifically."

"Nope. No time."

"R-Right…"

Cane and Fran returned right after that conversation, and they looked rather tired. The two were having heavy faces, and I can tell they just heard some really bad news. 

But, cupcakes first.

Priorities, god damn it.

"Here you go. This is probably the best dessert I can come up with right now."

I gave the two their cupcakes placed on the small plates, and they grabbed it along with the small forks. They sat on the sofa together and started tasting it.

"Woah!! It's so good!!"

"This is holy! Holy, I say!"

Fran and Cane always had the best reaction, better than Emily and Lyona. The two finished their cupcakes, and then lifted their plates up at me.

""More!!""

"That's it, I'm out of ingredients. If you want, go to the market and buy some."

""We can do that!!""

"N-No, don't… The market is closed at this time."

It's nearly midnight, guys…

I picked their plates and placed them in the dishwasher. Seeing that there are no more things to be eaten, I began cleaning the dishes.

And whilst I was doing that, everyone listened to Fran and Cane.

"The demons have... Fully declared war on us."

Cane said to everyone, and they all became worried immediately. Fran continued with telling what the headmaster and the arch-mage told them.

"Basically, me and Cane are hired to a special squad to kill the demon king, along with other special individuals from all around the kingdoms. But, the rest of you will be fighting their army."

"And I am worried, since I know that demons are stronger than humans..."

So that's what they are worrying about. Fran and Cane were worrying that we couldn't handle the weak demons.

While they are going out to fight the demon king, everyone else on this side might have troubles fighting the demons. After all, demons are practically a superior race in terms of magic.

While thinking and listening, I continued washing the dishes as Fran and Cane explained from the living room.

"Rize! Are you listening!?"

"I can hear, no need to shout!!"

Cane shouted and nearly busted my super ears, and I barked a little louder than him.

"Ookay, she is pissed."

Fran continued with the story while Cane was silenced from pissing me off. She told everyone that the war will most likely begin next month, during the harshest days of the winter. And there will be a lot of people drafted, mainly from both Xyphon and Mazino.

Eva also told everyone that her knight friends are already preparing for the war. Every knight will be drafted, though she herself doubts if the knights can do anything against the demons.

Some adventurers will also be sent, but only if they accept. Unlike doing missions, they have a choice to not endanger their lives. 

But, every adventurer in the room will be joining, without a doubt. Including Barett, who has already quit being an adventurer for nearly one and a half years already.

Everyone here is a high ranking adventurer, and they will not back down from this war.

"Welp, if anything bad happens, I will be there to do something about it."

I said as I brought more tea to everyone. I also made Brod yet another cup of coffee and told him this is the final one by using my death glare. He nodded super quickly.

"Right, we have the devil with us, don't we?"

Fran said as she chuckled while I gave everyone a tea. I picked a glass myself and lifted it up for a cheer.

"To... Whatever future lies during the war."

I said while lifting the glass of tea to the sky. People usually do this with beers, but I don't drink alcohols.

"To us winning the war."

Fran said as she lifted her glass. Cane also lifted and placed his hand next to Fran's.

"To kill the demon king."

We all cheered at the same time and drank the tea. One by one, they all coughed and spat the tea out, except for Brod.

"Salty!!"

"Wait, what?"

I drank my tea, and realized it was indeed salty.

I must have used salt instead of sugar. 

God damn it, they were ridiculously similar…

I apologized to everyone and they laughed... Like, hard. 

Dude, sorry…

After removing the salted tea, I made another tea and we did another cheer with a sweet tea. Everyone else was still laughing.

After that everyone returned home, and I had to clean things up. 

Alone.

Damn, not a single one of them even stayed to clean the after party? What friends, huh!?

I half-heartedly picked up the leftovers from the floor and removed the carpet from the ground. After cleaning everything up, I went to the bedroom. 

Knowing that this bedroom will be mine for a very long time, I suddenly fell in love with it.

I jumped to the bed and went to sleep immediately.

Tomorrow will be another mission day.