Chapter 58: The Demon King Miss’s Demon Realm Cuisine

“Lunch is ready, Lady Witch!”

Iris ran out of the kitchen, carrying the prepared meal.

“This is my special Extreme Cold Cold Noodles, just like those in the Abyss!”

Iris placed the cold noodles in front of Celia.

Celia rose from her lounge chair and glanced at the so-called Abyss noodles Iris had mentioned.

Compared to the noodles Elent made, there was no familiar aroma of chopped green onions or the enticing red glow of chili oil.

In the bowl sat a tangled mess of black noodles that looked somewhat like spaghetti.

A purple-black chill radiated from them, and occasionally, bubbles could be seen rising from the gaps between the strands.

‘Is the color a bit off?’

‘Can noodles really be black?’

The corner of Celia’s mouth twitched slightly.

“Did you use squid ink? The color of the noodles looks strange.”

“No, they were soaked in Shadow Elements!” Iris puffed out her chest proudly.

“To ensure the texture of the cold noodles, I even gave them a special frozen treatment!”

“Aren’t you afraid of the heat, Lady Witch? This bowl of noodles will definitely cool you from the inside out!”

It certainly looked cold.

Just looking at that mess—which resembled a pile of dead snakes—made Celia feel a chill in her stomach.

“I’ll give it a try then.”

Out of respect for her new employee’s hard work, and because she was truly hungry, Celia picked up a fork and tried to stab a noodle.

clink!

The fork struck the noodles, but they didn’t budge at all. Not even a mark was left behind.

Refusing to give up, Celia stabbed down with force.

The fork snapped.

“…”

Celia held the broken half of the fork, staring at the “noodles” that were as hard as iron, then looked at Iris’s expectant face.

“This is the texture you were talking about?”

“Ah, was it frozen for too long?” Iris explained in a panic. “Maybe… maybe it needs to be defrosted a bit? I have a way!”

The young girl reached out, and a ball of purple fire ignited in her palm.

“Wait, stop!”

Before Celia could intervene, the flames were tossed into the bowl.

Under the roasting heat of the fire, the originally hard noodles softened instantly.

Then, they turned into a puddle of indescribable black sludge, emitting a nauseating, strange odor.

“It should be edible now!” Iris offered the smoking mush toward her.

Celia covered her nose and took several steps back.

Could this thing in front of her really be eaten?

Eating this would be a one-way ticket to seeing her ancestors.

“Dump it out immediately.”

“Eh?”

“Hurry up, dump it out right now! I’m afraid this stuff would poison the rats if I poured it down the drain!”

“Ugh, why are you like this…”

……

Lunch was ruined.

Celia flopped back onto her lounge chair on an empty stomach. Her first proper meal without Elent had ended in failure.

She really didn’t dare to eat the Abyss noodles Iris had created.

Even if that idiot Hero sometimes messed up his cooking, at least the things he made allowed one to feel happiness.

It wasn’t like Iris’s Dark Cuisine, which seemed to come straight from hell.

Furthermore, it was still so hot.

Celia tugged at her collar. The temperature had been high for the past few days.

The midday sun was incredibly brutal, so much so that even the cicadas had stopped chirping.

“Lady Witch, are you hot?”

Iris, who had just returned from disposing of the “biochemical weapon,” approached again.

Although she had failed at cooking, she felt she still had a chance to redeem herself.

“Since I’m no good at cooking, I’m a professional at cooling things down!”

Iris extended one finger with full confidence.

“As a demi-human born in the lands of extreme cold—controlling temperature is my natural instinct!”

“Watch closely, Lady Witch!”

As Iris chanted, the light in the Church Hall suddenly dimmed.

A bleak, cold wind rose from the ground, but this wind did not bring the coolness of summer.

Instead, it carried a chill that felt as though it could seep into one’s very marrow.

whooooooo—

It sounded like countless restless spirits whispering in her ear.

Celia shuddered, and a layer of goosebumps broke out across her skin.

“This is Iris’s Exclusive Air Conditioning!”

Iris waved her hand triumphantly. Several translucent ghosts emerged from the floor and began circling Celia, huffing cold air from their mouths.

‘Is this the so-called exclusive air conditioning?’

‘Since physical cooling didn’t work, she’s jumping straight to magic attacks?’

Celia watched the hideous ghosts with their long, dragging tongues swaying in front of her.

She felt like she had just rolled a critical failure on her Sanity Check.

“Get lost!”

Celia couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed the bottle of Happy Water beside her and threw it.

“Get these filthy things away from me, right now! Or else there will be consequences!”

“Wah! Please calm down, Lady Witch!”

Iris flinched in fright and quickly dispersed the magic. The ghosts vanished with a wail.

“Why didn’t it work again… ugh…”

Iris shrunk into a corner of the wall, dejectedly drawing circles on the floor.

She was doing her best to please the terrifying Witch, but why was she still being rejected?

In the Demon Realm, this was a top-tier service that only powerful Demons could enjoy.

Celia rubbed her forehead, feeling the irritation in her heart nearing its breaking point.

No food.

No air conditioning.

Only Iris’s noisy voice and the commotion of her messing everything up.

“That idiot… when exactly is he coming back?”

Celia looked at the wall clock.

It was already 3:00 PM.

It had been three hours since the time Elent promised to return for lunch.

‘Did he get lost?’

Celia looked out the door. At some point, the brutal sunlight had vanished, replaced by thick dark clouds appearing on the horizon.

The air had become even more muggy and humid, making it difficult to breathe.

It was a precursor to a torrential downpour.

Rumble!!!

Thunder rolled over the distant Black Forest, and Celia’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

The terrain deep within the Black Forest was complex.

Once the heavy rain started, not only would the paths become difficult to travel, but the Magical Beasts lurking in the shadows would also become more violent.

“He’s just going to gather some herbs. He should be fine, right?”

Celia stood up and walked to the door.

The wind picked up, swirling fallen leaves from the ground and tossing them against her face. It stung a little.

“Lady Witch, it’s about to rain. Should we close the door?”

Iris approached and asked.

“No.”

Celia stared at the small path leading to the Black Forest and gave Iris an instruction.

“Remember to leave the door open tonight as well.”

“But bugs will fly in.”

“I said leave it open, so leave it open!”

Celia suddenly turned her head and spoke to Iris coldly, her gaze carrying a sharpness Iris had never seen before.

Startled, Iris obediently shut her mouth and shrunk back into the corner.

Celia turned back around, looking at the empty path.

Unease spread through her heart like the dark clouds above.

That idiot Hero who insisted on bringing back the herbs even if it cost him his life…

Could something have really happened to him?