I Became a Demon Who Can Never Be Headpatted in the Academy?!

"From now on, I'm going to make pancakes with Murmur, but please remember just one thing."

"One? Okay, Murmur will try hard to remember."

"Don't come too close to me."

Nikea and Sitri.

Esme, who had watched the two of them from beginning to end, said firmly.

"Can't get close to Murmur?"

"Yes, don't stick too close."

"Esme has become evil again..."

"Wh-what! Why are you suddenly saying strange things?!"

As Murmur lowered her head and spoke, Esme was startled and grabbed her magnificent horns, lifting her face.

"Murmur was wrong... Esme..."

"It's not that I've become evil! I'm about to bake pancakes, and if you stick too close, my arms won't be free, and you could get hurt, right?"

"Ah, I see. That's a relief. Murmur was worried."

"Murmur, really! You say strange things sometimes."

Esme wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

'Ugh...! I'm not going to end up like Nikea and Sitri, am I?'

Esme fanned herself once with her left hand and brought the pre-made batter to the side of the frying pan.

"I made the batter beforehand when I made cookies with Nikea earlier."

"Didn't Esme do other things then?"

"Yes, but it wasn't that hard, and I couldn't ask Murmur to make the batter again."

Esme smiled and lightly dipped her pinky finger into the batter to taste it.

"Hmm, I learned how to taste from Pearl, but it's hard to tell what it's like just by tasting it like this."

"Murmur wants to try too."

"Ah, okay. But Murmur won't know..."

Esme held out her pinky finger, which had dipped into the batter, to Murmur.

It was an unconscious action as she was asked in the middle of a conversation, and Esme belatedly realized that this was quite an embarrassing situation.

"Sorry—"

"Nom..."

Murmur opened her small mouth and took Esme's pinky finger into her mouth, licking the batter with the tip of her tongue.

"Hmm, it's like Esme said. Murmur doesn't really know what it tastes like either. I guess it just shouldn't be too salty or too sweet?"

"Ah... maybe, yes. W-well, I guess so."

Esme answered in a strange tone, like a broken music box, and looked down at her pinky finger.

'D-did Murmur just lick my finger? U-usually, when you stick it out like this... ah, no! When you think about it, you don't usually stick it out like this?!'

Esme's mind started spinning, and Murmur, seeing this, took out a handkerchief that Nikea had given her from her apron.

"Did you not like it?"

"Huh? Oh? No, no! Murmur, really. I was the one who stuck out my pinky finger, right?"

Esme answered, smiling as brightly as she could.

'... ... Murmur is making a face that makes my heart ache. Just like now.'

As a member of the Demon race, it was natural to be hated.

Murmur, who was only in the 5th grade of elementary school, sometimes showed a face as if she had given up on everything in this world.

It was a fact that she hadn't known well before they became close, but after they became so close that they took baths together, she could see it often, and every time, Esme's heart was complicated.

'Surely... it's because she was tormented by people like Aunt Colette. In the first place, Cosmos Academy is a place where heroes are selected.'

The word "hero," which had just felt shiny when she was young, did not feel so mystical to Esme these days.

"Murmur would be embarrassed if I suddenly licked her pinky finger, right?"

"But Esme stuck it out for me to lick."

"It wasn't meant for you to lick! It was just a mistake!"

Esme hurriedly shook her head and lit the stove with magic.

"Ah, anyway! The pancake is more important than the pinky finger story, right?"

"That's right. We have to bake the pancakes deliciously and beautifully."

"I know pancakes well, so I'll teach you well, Murmur. First, step up onto that wooden box over there."

Murmur nodded and jumped onto the wooden box.

"To bake delicious pancakes, it's important to make the amount of batter consistent."

"So they'll be pretty if they're all the same shape?"

"Of course. If the pancakes stacked on top of each other are all different shapes, it'll look strange."

Esme scooped up a ladle of batter.

"Let's use exactly this much for one pancake."

"Okay. Murmur will remember."

"Then like this... after spraying enough oil... that's right. This is important. You have to put on the oil once."

Esme skillfully placed the batter on the frying pan.

"After this, you just do this. From now on, you just have to wait patiently."

"How long do we have to wait?"

"I remember that you flip it when bubbles start to rise from the batter. I can't say exactly how many minutes."

"It's okay. That's enough for Murmur."

Murmur answered, grabbing the spatula that Esme had placed with both hands. She was planning to flip it quickly when the bubbles started to rise.

"By the way, has Murmur ever eaten pancakes before?"

"Murmur has never eaten pancakes."

"...Really? You've never eaten them at all?"

"Yeah, there aren't any pancakes at the restaurant."

Esme swallowed hard.

"I've been wondering since last time... has Murmur never eaten any desserts?"

"Yeah, they're not at the restaurant, right?"

"Murmur, maybe... you've never eaten any food that's not at the restaurant?"

"Yeah, Murmur doesn't have any money."

"You did say something like that last time. Oh my goodness..."

Why did she hate and bully Murmur so much in the past?

Esme suddenly remembered the incident when she grabbed Murmur's horns and shook them wildly when she was in the 3rd grade of elementary school.

'You...! Foolish Esme! Why did you do that! Why did you do that! Why did Murmur look bad to me!?'

Murmur, who had no idea about those feelings, flipped the pancake over with the spatula in one go.

"Ah... well done! Murmur! That's the most difficult part, and you did it in one go?"

"It was a little hard, but I did it."

"When I used to make pancakes with my mom, I couldn't wait and ruined them all."

Esme said, looking at the pancakes cooking with a sweet smell.

"Back then, I... when you think about it, that's right. Before I met Murmur, I was always hasty. I always made mistakes. I made mistakes with Murmur too."

"Murmur doesn't think so."

"No, I ruined them all when I made pancakes with my mom? If I had made them a little better back then, my mom would have remembered me as a smarter kid."

"That's not true."

Murmur gently stroked Esme's hand.

"Esme definitely made the pancakes well back then."

"Phee, Murmur~ You don't have to comfort me like that."

"It's not forced. Esme knows how to bake pancakes accurately now. Pearl didn't teach you that, did she?"

Murmur picked up a recipe book nearby and showed it to Esme.

There was no pancake recipe in this recipe book.

"The pancake recipe that Esme remembers now is the recipe that your mom taught you. How to make the batter, how to put oil on the frying pan, and that you have to flip it when bubbles come up. You learned how to put whipped cream and syrup on it all back then, right?"

"Th-that's right. My mom taught me then."

"Murmur thinks. Esme didn't fail back then. You learned from your mom. Everyone makes mistakes when they learn, and that's why you can teach Murmur like this."

Esme naturally fell into a thought that she had never had before.

"Did my mom... not get disappointed in me? For being a fool who can't even make pancakes."

"No, absolutely not. Murmur will promise you. She would have thought you were amazing for remembering it all at once."

"What's with that? Really. Murmur sometimes talks too much like an adult, which doesn't suit you."

Esme smiled happily. Small, tiny Murmur.

The Demon race that she had really hated before was now close enough to decorate her only memory with her mother with beautiful flowers.

"I think I know what my mom meant by a one-of-a-kind friend in this world."

"Yeah, Murmur will keep being Esme's friend."

"Just a friend?"

Esme said playfully, but Murmur skillfully placed the pancake on a plate and put on new batter, answering.

"Murmur can be more than a friend anytime Esme wants."

Small, tiny Murmur had said it thinking about 'best friend', but it was different for Esme.

"M-more than a friend..."

"Yeah, Murmur is going to get along with Esme really, really well."

Esme's cheeks flushed, and she turned her head without realizing it.

'U-usually, more than a friend means something else, doesn't it? I'm not misunderstanding, am I? It's like that, right? Right?!'

Esme closed her eyes tightly and thought.

'I-I need to read the novel on my desk quickly...'

* * *

『New knowledge has been acquired!』

【Cooking Lv. 1】

Because of the influence of the DLC, I got 【Cooking Lv. 1】 instead of 【Cooking Skill】, but it feels clearer and better.

That cooking skill was a bit over the top later, like 'Intermediate Cooking Skill', 'Advanced Cooking Skill', and 'Super Advanced Cooking Skill'. Anyway, things are going well as I planned.

Making pudding with Sitri, cookies with Nikea, and pancakes with Esme, it feels like I've seen all the event scenes that I could only see one at a time, so it feels like I've gained three times the benefit.

"Murmur, will it really be okay?"

Nikea, who had just finished plating, looked at me with a very nervous expression.

"Yeah, it's okay. Sitri told her earlier, so Madame Zepar will definitely come."

"It's a relief that Madame is coming... but will she really listen to us?"

"She'll definitely listen."

Everyone is looking at me with anxious eyes, but I can't help but smile because I know the result.

"Madame Zepar, please come this way."

"Oh my, you really prepared desserts. Haha, you should share them with your friends..."

Madame Zepar, who had been having fun with the children outside Piglet House, said as she came inside with Sitri.

"Murmur and her friends worked hard to prepare them."

"Thank you, Murmur. You must have had so little time to make good memories with your friends..."

Madame Zepar was talking as she walked to the table, but when she looked at the prepared desserts, her lips trembled subtly.

"Murmur prepared them. Today is a day for everyone to make happy memories. I made them hoping that Grandma Zepar would enjoy it too."

gulp*, the sound of Nikea swallowing nervously echoed through Piglet House.

"Pacakes, pudding, and cookies."

Madame Zepar nodded and sat down.

"You have prepared quite a lot."

"Please eat them one by one, Grandma Zepar."

"Haha, I understand. Then where... they're crooked and ugly pancakes. They're soggy with syrup, and there's lots of whipped cream and butter on them..."

Madame Zepar rubbed the syrup, which was thickly spread on the pancakes, with the knife she was holding.

"...I-it's okay, right? Murmur? Like I said before, there's too much syrup."

It's okay. This is the right answer.

Madame Zepar silently picked up a pancake soaked in syrup with a fork and brought it to her mouth.

"They're pancakes that a child would really like, Murmur."

"Yes, they're pancakes that children unconditionally like. There's a lot of sweet maple syrup on them."

"An adult would never put this much syrup on them. But children don't know."

"Yeah, my mom always says that you shouldn't put too much on, so children want to put even more syrup on them."

It's Madame Zepar and her daughter's first memory.

"This one is... pudding."

"Yes, it's pudding made in pudding bottles. There's strawberry syrup on top and caramel on the bottom."

Madame Zepar deeply scooped up the pudding with a spoon.

"I believe it will be okay."

Usually, strawberry syrup and caramel are not used together.

Even If they are used, they are precisely measured to make a beautiful pudding with 3 or 5 layers that is pleasing to the eye.

But this pudding is different. It's a greedy pudding that's filled with the flavors that children like.

"...It's overflowing with sweetness."

"Murmur thinks that if you eat this pudding, you'll feel better no matter what kind of illness you have."

"Ah... ah, yes. That's right. If you have pudding that overflows with such sweetness, you'll get healthy soon."

It's the second memory of Madame Zepar and her daughter.

A messy pudding prepared by her daughter for her sick mother.

A small child cannot make medicine. She remembered the pudding that made her feel better when she ate it herself, and she added the strawberry syrup that she thought was even more delicious.

"To feel better no matter what kind of illness..."

"I just realized that Murmur is surprisingly good at saying nice things."

"Both the pancakes and the pudding... Murmur is a master of packaging!"

Hey guys, even if you're whispering in small voices, I can hear you too well?

Honestly, I'm a little embarrassed too, but it can't be helped. Please cooperate!

"The last one is cookies."

"S-snowman cookies, Madame Zepar..."

Nikea said in a faltering voice.

Yeah, I understand that feeling too. These snowman cookies are so overly decorated that anyone who knows even a little bit about cookies would be disgusted.

When I said that we had to make them like this, it's not for nothing that Nikea was horrified and said that no one would be able to eat them.

"They're quite... cute snowmen."

Madame Zepar picked up one of the snowman cookies.

"What kind of heart did Murmur make these cookies with?"

I remembered this choice.

"Since they're snowman-shaped cookies, I wanted to decorate them nicely and beautifully."

"Hee, hee... you say the same thing as my daughter."

Madame Zepar pushed the messily decorated cookie into her mouth.

"Phenex... liked to make snowmen like this."

Madame Zepar said, looking at the cookies with a wistful look.

"Who is Phenex... ouch!"

"That's the name of Madame Zepar's daughter!"

Sitri whispered, poking Esme with her elbow.

"No matter how much I scolded her for not eating like that, she always ate her pancakes soaked in syrup... and she was a child who always wanted to choose both caramel pudding and strawberry pudding."

Madame Zepar stroked the cookie with her finger.

"The only snowmen that Phenex could make... were cookies like this. Even if I said they wouldn't taste good, she didn't give up."

Phenex had been unwell since she was young.

The symptoms of her incurable disease were so severe that at some point, she couldn't go outside on cold days.

"She was a really cute child. She was good with her hands, enough to make lots of cookies in the shape of snowmen."

Madame Zepar wiped away the tears that were running down her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Thanks to you, I was able to recall my memories with Phenex. It feels like I'm with my beloved daughter, Phenex, even if it's just for a little bit."

Madame Zepar, immersed in her memories with her daughter, bowed to me, lowering her waist. I held Madame Zepar's hand tightly.

"Grandma Zepar, can you eat more desserts?"

"Haha... how kind. Is there a hidden dessert? It seems there is nothing more on this table..."

"Murmur said that today, Murmur and 'her friends' prepared desserts."

Following my signal, Sitri and Nikea opened the door of Piglet House.

"Madame Zepar...!"

"Please eat what we made too!"

"Me first! Me first!"

The children who had been chatting outside had already brought the desserts they had worked hard to make today on white plates and handed them to Madame Zepar.

The messily made pancakes are not the only ones today.

The cookies that were made as if playing with clay are not the only ones.

The cute pudding that looks like steamed eggs is not unique.

It's not something that only Murmur can do.

"Ah..."

Madame Zepar, surrounded by the children, trembled.

Her beloved daughter, Phenex, is no longer here. It's not something that can be reversed even if she wants to.

But there are many children who are full of the desire to repay the love that Madame Zepar has given them.

They may not be as good as her own daughter.

They may not be able to give as much love as her own child could.

But we can also give Madame Zepar memories that have a similar smell and scent.

"Grandma Zepar."

I said, gently stroking Madame Zepar's hand as she looked at the children with a touched expression.

"Murmur wants to make desserts with her friends here next year too."

"You will be able to do so."

"I want to play with my friends a lot! I want to give Madame Zepar desserts next year too!"

"Of course... of course you will be able to do so."

"Did you promise Murmur? If you break it, you might become a piglet!!"

Madame Zepar smiled and hooked her pinky finger with mine.

"I shouldn't become a piglet if I want to receive gifts from lovely children."

* * *

"Thank you for your hard work, Madame Zepar."

"Thank you for your leniency, Your Highness Nikea."

Madame Zepar bowed and apologized to us above the cleanly erased magic circle.

"As expected, Murmur knew everything."

"Murmur only saw a few things. I didn't want Grandma Zepar to make a bad choice."

Madame Zepar had talked to Nikea according to the proper procedure and surrendered without causing any problems.

In the first place, Madame Zepar, who has a good heart, must have felt that Nikea's offer to give her a chance, since she was aware of the whole situation from beginning to end, was an irresistible last chance.

"But are you okay? Your Highness Nikea."

"I'm fine. No one was hurt, and if you don't smuggle Lunarine from now on, there won't be any accidents at the Academy."

Nikea smiled.

"No one is executed for smuggling Lunarine. Madame Zepar will receive the same punishment."

Sitri covered her mouth with her hand and said that she would have to pay an 'enormous fine', so the punishment itself seemed quite heavy.

"What that old demon said was..."

"The magic circle? I don't know. No such evil plot was carried out as far as I can see."

Madame Zepar gave a bitter smile and bowed her head once more.

"Nikea, are you really okay?"

"Yes, my father would have done this. In fact, no one was hurt or killed."

Nikea smiled.

"Also, since you have provided information, even if you actually go to Hollimpia to be judged, you will receive the same verdict as now. It's not my judgment alone."

That's certainly how it will be. Even in the hero route, you can arrest Madame Zepar at this point and have her judged by law.

At that time, as Nikea said, various factors are taken into consideration, and it is briefly mentioned that she receives a good verdict in the ending.

"The problem is that most of the descendants of Nectar take 10 or 20 years to receive that verdict."

"That's not Nikea's fault."

"Thank you, Murmur, but I still think it's wrong."

Madame Zepar bowed to Nikea once again.

"If Your Highness needs any help in the future, I will help you with anything."

"No, please act as usual. However, there may be one or two people coming from the Imperial Palace, but please talk to them comfortably."

Madame Zepar thanked Nikea until the end, and she thanked me with respect.

Anyway, the Madame's plot is over with this.

Since it was even resolved softly and smoothly, there shouldn't be any big problems in the future.

"Uuuu...!"

While Madame Zepar and Nikea were having their remaining conversation, I stretched my small body here and there.

Except for the 'Moonlight Choir Festival' in 4 days, there are no events that I need to worry about.

Even the choir festival has no story to tell, except for the Madame Zepar issue that we just resolved?

"I have to meet Monica this time."

She'll definitely come to the 'Moonlight Choir Festival', right? It would be really great if Lachesis, who appears randomly, would come too!

《Stopping Madame Zepar's Plot》

《Remaining Time: 4 Days》