Please Don’t Come To The Villainess’ Stationery Store!

The devil seemed somewhat deficient and clumsy, probably because it had been inside a sword for a thousand years.

It seemed like the demon, whose entire body was restrained by magic thinking it would be extinguished, bit its lips fiercely.

‘I have no abilities, and I am famously inept, even cursed by a dragon so I don’t have mana.’

I smiled as kindly as possible.

“I won’t extinguish you.”

After a short cough, I changed the subject.

“But how long can this devil stay out here with me?”

“At most, it can only stay for about thirty more minutes. It’s highly likely it can’t come out again.”

Oh no.

I let out a dismayed sigh, shorter than expected.

“Why? I thought if you sealed it in the sword, you could freely let it out.”

“I only know how to seal demons. Commanding a demon… probably requires a separate summoning or spell. I think it needs mana too, well, I don’t know exactly.”

Unbelievable. Even know-it-all Dominic doesn’t know something.

‘I thought we got an unlimited ice machine, but it turns out it’s a thirty-minute limited edition….’

I sighed deeply and dug for more information. The original work didn’t mention the demon sealed along with Dominic.

“Then, who’s inside that sword?”

“Winter Moon, Autumn Mountain, Summer Star, Spring Flower, four demons live there.”

The names of the demons are so romantic. Are those nicknames?

I nodded and gave him a sly wink.

“Then, shall we make slushies for the next thirty minutes?”

“Hey, hey! I’m the weakest among us! Don’t you ever get cocky just because you’ve managed to obliterate me with your slushy magic, human. The other demons are much stronger, they will avenge me!”

As I looked into the fiery eyes of the winter moon demon, I smiled kindly.

“No, I’m not going to annihilate you.”

Why would I obliterate them when there are four, no, four powerful slaves trapped inside that sword?

However, what’s important now is this winter moon demon in front of me.

The demon, locking eyes with me, shivered and said.

“Do, Dominic, look at this human’s eyes!”

I concealed my gleaming eyes and smiled kindly.

“What’s wrong with my eyes?”

“They’re the eyes of a complete madman!”

***

After a while.

Inside the old convenience store on the first floor that hasn’t been remodeled yet, three large glass jars were placed, filling one side of the wall.

Inside the large glass jar summoned by the devil, it felt like a cold breeze was emanating, much like a refrigerator.

And from within, with a clinking sound, endless shards of ice poured out.

Over the ice jar, Dominic hastily poured grapes, oranges, pineapples, sugar, and other ingredients he had quickly gathered from somewhere.

And the two of them gathered together to make grape, orange, and pineapple flavored slushies.

In front of the glass jar, the devil, bound by invisible restraints, twisted his body with a long sigh.

But he was trapped in a snare he could never escape from.

“Please, let’s take a break for just a minute, human!”

The slushies in each glass jar were already filled beyond three minutes.

But since they didn’t know when they would meet again, they had to make as many as possible.

With a gleam in my eye, I spoke to the devil as I stroked his body with a flickering gaze.

“Quickly make more ice, devil of the Winter Mountain. We need to make plenty of slushies.”

“Devil of the Winter Moon! Ah, anyhow, when I regain my powers, I’ll kill you for making me do this-.”

Thwack!

Dominic raised the iron plate beside him and lightly struck the devil’s arm to prevent him from feeling pain.

“Be quiet and hurry up.”

“But still, he’s just a kid-.”

“He only looks like a kid, that thing is a monster that’s over a thousand years old.”

The devil grumbled as he started making ice again.

“Is it all done?”

“Not yet.”

“I want to go back to being a sword again…”

The devil’s face turned red with rage.

I spoke to him calmly.

“No, you can’t. The slushy isn’t finished yet. You can’t leave. Work more!”

The winter month devil shouted with a grimace.

“You, you human devil! Even the great leader of the demon world, Lord Satan, would highly praise a human like you!”

…I can’t tell if that’s a curse or a compliment.

The devil, begrudgingly, was making ice with his hands, crushing it, and placing it into a glass container.

The slushy made from eternal ice was almost filling up the container.

“Want to try it?”

Whether he brought it when getting the grapes or not, Dominic offered me a crystal glass.

“Yes!”

I dipped the glass into the large container and took a sip of the grape slushy. It was sour, cool, and sweet, exactly like the slushies I had before.

“Though it’s made from eternal ice, I’ve done as you asked, and made it so it melts once inside a human body! So, let me go now!”

“Not yet.”

I looked at the winter month devil with satisfaction and shook my head.

This taste, it was a combination I quite liked.

“To think a slushy would be made already.”

And the building hasn’t even been remodeled yet, but already!

‘This bodes well.’

I tapped the devil on the shoulder with a happy smile.

“It’s perfect in taste.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but your arms are not moving, winter month devil.”

“……Even in our demon world, we don’t make them work this hard… The rule is one minute of work, ten minutes of rest!”

“One minute of work, ten minutes of rest? Isn’t that heaven, not the underworld?”

“No! This place is worse than the underworld!”

The underworld, not as tough as its name suggests.

‘I need a carrot.’

I handed a glass to the winter month devil, who was constantly making and crushing ice with a scowling face.

“Fine, I’ll give you an award. Try what you’ve made.”

The devil snorted with disdain and shook his head.

“Hmph! I don’t eat human food. I crave nectar, things like that.”

I held the glass near his chin.

“I’m curious how a devil would feel.”

“Oh, such an annoying human……”

Reluctantly grumbling, the winter month devil took a sip of the slushie, and his eyes widened in surprise.

“Wow. What is this?”

He repeatedly drank the slushie, his eyes wide and scanning the surroundings.

“Am I under some kind of brainwashing magic?”

“Why, doesn’t it taste good?”

The winter month’s devil shook his head rapidly, black hair flailing above his forehead.

“This, this is a revolution!”

I nodded.

Firstly, it seems that the taste somewhat works for the demon child of another world.

“Give me more!”

“Drink more.”

The winter month demon nodded and continuously gulped down the beverage they were holding.

“It’s a shame it’s limited edition…”

I looked at the demon with admiration.

“Such a great talent. I’d want to make you work every day.”

“I won’t work every day!”

The demon, holding a crystal glass tightly, took another sip of the slushie and opened their eyes wide like a rabbit.

“But this is too delicious-.”

Then they disappeared back into the blade again.

“Ah, I didn’t expect them to vanish with their eyes wide open like a rabbit.”

I puffed my cheeks and looked at Dominic.

“Has it been thirty minutes?”

“Yes.”

As Dominic said, it seems thirty minutes is the limit.

I murmured to myself while looking at the slushie container.

“Is there really no way to summon a demon…”

Next time we meet, I’ll make sure not to let the winter month demon go.

I looked at the full slushie container and smiled mischievously to myself.

***

As I drank the sweet grape slushy that the devil had produced through arduous labor, I reviewed the work plan again.

“Thanks to the devil, we have slushies too.”

I smiled contentedly. How the work was going smoothly like this.

“Why don’t we give out a cup of slushy to each guest for free?”

“Right. This is such a unique drink, it’s my first time trying it too. It seems like it will make a proper impression on people.”

Dominic sipped the slushy from his cup.

“The devil liked it, but I wonder if human children would like it too?”

“Exactly.”

“Is there no way to test whether they like it or not?”

But there was a way to meet Academy children in advance…

“There’s a student from the Academy, up there.”

Dominic cast his gaze beyond the staircase.

‘Come to think of it, there was a cute child up there?’

The child who was deep asleep, with an injured leg.

Together, Dominic and I went upstairs. Then, towards the child who was lying down and breathing softly, we held out the cup saying, “Ta-da.”

“Sir, would you like to try this?”

Rubbing his eyes and gently massaging his hurt leg, the child nodded his head.

“Uh-huh, give it here!”

I handed the crystal glass over to the child’s hand.

Narrowing his eyes, then with a shout, the child started to drink the slushy, gulp by gulp.

After taking a sip, the boy detached his mouth from the cup and looked at me. His round, sparkling eyes stared straight at me.

“How is it?”

“Ugh….”

“Hmm?”

“It’s cold….”

“You have to chew it well.”

After vigorously nodding, the child wriggled before opening their eyes wide again.

“Huh?”

The boy’s eyes began to sparkle as if he had made a discovery no less surprising than Columbus discovering the New World.

With a gaping mouth and gasping for breath, the child then said with his mouth wide open,

“You, it’s so, so delicious!”

The child was happy feeling the crunchy texture of the slushie.

“Eating this makes me, me….”

The child blew a cold breath and then bit their slightly blue lips with wide eyes.

“It feels like my heart is pounding and racing.”

“Maybe it’s because it’s cold?”

Since it was mentioned earlier that it was cold. And the slushie is cold too….

“It’s not racing because it’s cold!”

The child covered their cold and tingling lips with a hand after drinking the slushie.

“You, you picked me up when I was hurt, treated me, and gave me something as magical as this….”

Then, placing the slushie cup on the ground, they firmly held my hand.

“I must be in love!”

Caught off guard by such an adorable compliment, I burst out laughing.