Chapter 60: Magic Stone Coffee and a Familiar Face

‘What did Lamia like?’ Wade truly couldn’t define it.

Having spent an inordinate amount of time within the Knight Order, Wade found himself completely oblivious to the typical preferences of normal women.

Did she favor flowers? Or perhaps elegant ornaments? Exquisite jewelry? Or even magnificent gowns and delectable pastries?

‘No, no, no.’

‘Absolutely not.’

Mid-thought, Wade shook his head, nearly succumbing to the pitfalls of conventional thinking.

‘A woman?’ he mused. ‘No, Lamia is hardly a woman. Despite her feminine appearance, she’s certainly not one.’

As this thought crossed his mind, Wade couldn’t help but recall Lamia’s image, mentally sketching her exceptional physique.

“Alright, alright,” he muttered, though he wasn’t entirely sure who he was addressing.

He reached out, swatting away the imaginary pink bubbles that had formed around his head, forcibly pulling his thoughts back from their strange tangents.

He might not fully grasp what “Lamia” truly liked, but he did know one thing: as a demon, she was fond of magic stone powder.

Fortunately, magic stones were ubiquitous and posed no threat to ordinary individuals. Perhaps due to his unique constitution, different from that of regular people, Wade possessed innate magical abilities.

Consequently, the flavor of magic stone powder held a peculiar allure for him. He could distinctly feel the powder gritting against his tongue—much like an exotic type of sugar, or perhaps even popping candy.

For someone like him, capable of wielding and naturally breaking down magic, ingesting the magic stone powder could even replenish a small amount of his own magical energy.

However, due to its low concentration, it offered negligible supplementary benefits.

As for ordinary people, if they couldn’t assimilate the magic stone powder’s power, it would simply be expelled from their bodies without any special effects.

At most, they might find it slightly gritty when consumed.

“If it’s magic stone powder, then I should head to a magical artifact shop…”

Wade’s current outing was, in fact, solely dedicated to acquiring magic stone powder for Lamia.

He had previously overheard the servants grumbling that, despite his lady consuming every meal, she always seemed to eat with a sense of “discontent.”

The seasoned chefs in Wade’s household, meticulous about others’ dining pleasure, had naturally discerned that Lamia was far from happy during her meals.

Of course, how could anyone find joy in tasteless food?

Their polite act of finishing every dish on their plates was already a significant courtesy, meant to maintain their human disguise.

Wade had even considered using this very human trait she couldn’t adapt to as a pretext to simply drive her away.

However, upon further reflection, he dismissed the idea. ‘No, she likely wouldn’t leave, and not because of me. As a Demon Lord, she would approach everything with a certain resolve.’

‘She doesn’t strike me as someone who would give up halfway just because the food isn’t to her liking.’

Moreover, Lamia’s inner voice seemed to linger persistently in his mind.

Wade could distinctly sense that weary, reluctant feeling.

Most of those feelings, however, stemmed from his own childhood experiences. After all, he had become a thug at a tender age.

Without his grandfather’s proper guidance back then, he was far from strong. Those desperate, skill-less fights had made him suffer immensely, yet to survive, he had no other choice.

Emerging from the chaotic slums, he hadn’t even considered pursuing a legitimate livelihood. He only knew that someone needed a capable thug, one who would come of age and could take charge—a role that seemed tailor-made for him.

However, Lamia must have endured far greater hardships than he had.

After all, she was likely a Demon Lord of several centuries. If the weariness in her inner thoughts truly enveloped her, then her suffering must far exceed his own arduous life of merely a decade or so.

‘…To think I’m actually worrying about a Demon Lord,’ he mused.

‘We should be mortal enemies, shouldn’t we? Am I some kind of saintly, white-lotus type?’

Just then, Wade abruptly turned his head. As he had been walking forward, his gaze had unconsciously caught a few words.

“Magic Stone Powder Coffee?”

As if to confirm he hadn’t misread, he took two steps back, scrutinizing the colorful words on the small promotional blackboard.

‘Is that even a shop sign?’ Wade squinted in confusion.

Magic stone powder and coffee, together? Was this something a normal human could possibly conceive?

Wade had deliberately donned casual attire today, intending to visit the black market. While most people there recognized him, the impression he gave in knight’s uniform versus plain clothes was distinctly different.

One implied official knightly business, the other, a commoner simply browsing for goods.

He had initially considered acquiring some high-grade magic stone powder for Lamia from the black market. There, magic stone powder purchases left no traceable records, eliminating the need to explain large-scale acquisitions of high-grade magic stones should he ever be investigated.

He certainly couldn’t tell them he had a demon teacher at home who required such sustenance.

Crucially, Wade had some connections in the black market. This not only saved him money but also allowed him to gather intelligence and gossip from various sources.

For a man who considered himself a “superhero,” such information proved invaluable.

However, now that a place selling coffee brewed with magic stone powder had suddenly appeared, he naturally had to investigate.

Furthermore, this was unequivocally not a human coffee shop; any normal person would deduce it must be run by demons.

Judging by the facade, it wasn’t a new establishment; it seemed to have been there for several years. He typically paid no mind to coffee shops with cringe-inducing names like “Full of Love,” and this area wasn’t within his jurisdiction.

Being more of a commoner’s district, it was quite a distance from the royal city where he resided.

Therefore, he truly hadn’t noticed when this magic stone coffee shop had opened.

Driven by a desire to investigate, Wade decided to postpone his black market errands. He turned and stepped into the overly saccharine, pink-fronted coffee shop.

“Welcome, how many are in your party?”

Upon entering the cafe, a man dressed in a white undershirt with light pink accents approached to greet him. His voice sounded somewhat lethargic, as if he were quite reluctant to perform his job.

“…Hm?”

Initially, Wade hadn’t paid much attention to the man greeting him, his gaze captivated instead by the overly sweet ambiance of the place.

However, when he heard the man beside him suddenly pause and utter a sound of confusion, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him. He turned to look at the short, reddish-brown haired man.

“…Kaze?”

“Isn’t this Lamia’s younger brother? Roughly speaking… my brother-in-law?”

“…”

Upon seeing Wade, Kaze’s brow visibly furrowed.

‘You are not welcome here.’

‘Ha, he’s completely throwing a tantrum,’ Wade thought. ‘He truly acts like a protective younger brother.’

“Yaaah—!!!!!”

“—?!”

Kaze was a relatively quiet man, which only amplified how startling the sudden scream next to Wade’s ear was.

A prolonged, feminine shriek pierced Wade’s ears, and a black blur instantly darted to his side.

“Isn’t this my~ brother-in-law~?”

Wade took half a step back, looking at the black-haired woman also clad in a pink and white uniform. Indeed, it was Lilith, the grand succubus who constantly offered Lamia terrible advice.

“Welcome, welcome~!”

Before Wade could even speak, Lilith stepped half a pace forward, intending to give him a close-up welcome, only for Wade to deftly evade her.

‘If you don’t want to be thrown over my wife’s shoulder, please keep your distance from me…’

Presumably, the previous incident had left too deep an impression. To prevent her from constantly clinging to him, Wade deliberately brought it up as a warning.

“Oh, my~ ❤️”

Hearing Wade’s words, Lilith immediately clapped her hands, emitting a rather nuanced sound.

“So loving~ So delicious~”

“…You’re disgusting, Lilith.”

Kaze, standing nearby, could no longer bear it, casting a look of utter disdain at Lilith.

“How annoying. I thought spending a few days with me might make you a bit more tasteful.”

‘That’s impossible.’

Wade watched the two of them, focusing particularly on Lilith.

‘A coffee shop run by succubi…?’ he wondered.

‘Could the upstairs be some kind of “service” area? Is this place even legitimate? Perhaps it should be shut down…’