I Was Supposed to Be Feeding the Pigeons, But Somehow I Ended Up Feeding a Beautiful Demon Lord Instead - 02 (Part 2)

Chapter 2 (Part 2)

“…Hot.

Something is surging up from deep in my stomach…”

“The caffeine is kicking in.”

“Caffeine…?

Never heard of it.

Is it some kind of forbidden spell?”

“Just the name of an ingredient.

It blows away sleepiness.”

Bel’s complexion improved dramatically.

Color returned to her pale skin.

A fierce, glittering light filled her once-dead eyes.

She gulped down the rest of the coffee in one go.

The way she exhaled with a satisfied “Whew” looked like an old guy enjoying a drink after work.

“…This is amazing.”

Bel gripped the empty cup and muttered as if shuddering.

“My magic circuits… no, I feel activation strong enough to burn out every blood vessel in my body.

The fatigue is gone, and my thoughts are spinning three times faster than usual.”

“Three times is an exaggeration, but it’s fresh-brewed, and the aroma helps refresh you, right?”

“Kazuya.

You called this ‘essential for men who fight,’ yes?”

“Yeah.

When I pulled all-nighters for work, I drank cup after cup.”

“…Terrifying.”

Bel looked at me as if truly horrified.

“Humans drink this intense drug regularly to keep fighting.

Forcing soldiers to move with doping—it’s the work of devils.”

“Ahaha.

Well, for working people, it’s kind of like a devil’s contract.

Borrowing from your lifespan, you could say.”

Bel solemnly repeated “Borrowing from your lifespan…” and stroked the cup fondly.

“But right now, I need this.

Thank you, Kazuya.

I quite like this ‘coffee’—this ‘black bitter water.'”

The air around her changed.

She was no longer half-dead.

I felt overwhelming pressure that made the surrounding space tremble.

Her body must be very responsive—one cup of caffeine and she recovered this much.

“Good to hear you’re energized.

…Heading back to the front?”

“Yes.

There are still pending matters to settle.”

Bel stood and glared not toward the royal palace but at the northern sky.

Her gaze was sharp and cold.

In work mode, she really gave off the vibe of a capable woman.

“By the way, about those white things that keep popping up yesterday.”

“…Ah, the white ones lurking in the northern forest.”

“Yeah.

If their nest is deep in the forest and hard to reach… smoking them out might work.”

“Smoking them out?”

“Smoke attack.

Send smoke from upwind, make it unbearable so they come out, then take them down.

Or pump hot water… no, hot air into the nest holes.”

As I shared basic pest control knowledge, Bel narrowed her eyes behind her glasses.

After a few seconds of silence, a vicious smile appeared on her lips.

“…Smoke attack.

Not burning the whole forest, but roasting them out.”

“Yeah.

It’s more efficient, and it protects the forest environment.”

“Ku ku…

Efficient.

Such a sweetly beautiful word.

I will adopt your plan.”

“It’s not that big a plan.

Just old grandma wisdom.”

“Your grandmother must have been a once-in-a-generation military strategist.”

Bel flicked her robe.

There was no trace of fatigue left on her back.

She turned, held up the empty cup, and showed it to me.

“Kazuya.

Can I count on this ‘black water’ next time too?”

“Sure, of course.

Next there’s a sweet version with sugar and milk.

It’s called café au lait.”

“Oh…

Sweet poison.

That sounds intriguing.

See you.”

Her figure wavered like a heat haze and vanished.

All that remained was the faint scent of coffee and the lingering warmth on the bench where she had sat.

While feeding the pigeons the leftover bread crusts, I thought vaguely.

I hope I helped a little.

If the pest control goes well with her advice and her overtime decreases, that would be good.

◆

“Demon Lord-sama!

Report from the northern forest!

The Holy Knights—wiped out!

Zero survivors.

Our army suffered minor losses.

Complete victory!”

In the Demon Lord’s castle, the strategy command room.

On the huge monitor crystal, footage of the northern forest stained dark red.

Bel sat elegantly on the throne with legs crossed, looking down at the excited staff.

She held the cup from earlier.

“…Hmph.

Child’s play.”

There was no usual laziness in Bel’s voice.

Her eyes blazed.

The overflowing magic power was so intense it made the entire castle vibrate.

The caffeine-induced wakefulness had created a terrifying synergy with a demon’s body.

“Demon Lord-sama, this ‘poison mist smoke-out operation’…

Truly divine calculation and demonic ingenuity.

To execute it so perfectly.”

The orc general, one of her close aides, bowed his head in awe.

“Burning the forest would create escape routes.

But cornering them with inescapable poison mist, driving them into panic, then hunting them…

What a merciless, flawless plan.”

Bel flicked the paper cup’s lid with her sharp claw—click, click.

“It is not my plan.

…Advice from a friend.”

“A friend…?

I was unaware the Demon Lord-sama had such a strategist.”

“Yes.

…A terrifying man who wields ‘black secret medicine’ and serves sweet poison.”

Bel curved her lips into a crescent moon and pressed a kiss to the cup’s sipping hole.

“Caffeine…

That mere humans developed such a demonic drug.

They cannot be underestimated.”

Kazuya’s image in her mind was starting to twist in a strange direction—from “healing presence” to “dangerous mad scientist with forbidden knowledge.”

Kazuya himself would never notice.

“What will he bring next…? Sweet black water… He he, the anticipation makes me tremble.”

It was actually the jitters from too much caffeine, but her subordinates mistook it for “the Demon Lord-sama eagerly awaiting the next massacre” and renewed their fear and loyalty.