One girl was sitting on another girl's shoulder, reaching for the window to Chartlet Sweets.
"Hmph…! Just a little more and sweet heaven will be mine…!!"
"D-Demon King, let's just smash the wall! I can blast it open in one—"
"NO! I told you a hundred times—no harming humans or damaging anything!"
"E-eh, but—"
The blonde loli and the green-haired girl were still stacked on each other's shoulders, bickering at full volume.
Even I could hear every word from across the street.
For burglars, they were impressively terrible at stealth.
I walked up casually.
"Hey, you two."
"—!? I-it's not burglary or anything! …Hiii!? A demon!?"
The tiny blonde startled so hard she toppled off her friend's shoulders and scrambled backward.
Why am I suddenly a demon!?
"D-Demon King, calm down! His hair isn't black! It's red. It's not him. Totally different person! Probably!!"
"True… the hair's red now… but those dead fisheyes are exactly the same…"
"Excuse me!? My eyes are not dead fisheyes!"
I'm being bullied by children on my first day out. I'm gonna cry.
"More importantly," I pointed at the half-open window, "care to explain the break-in attempt?"
"W-we just noticed the window was open! We were gonna close it for you—"
"Wow, such kind employees. You work here, right?"
"That's right! I'm totally an employee, so—"
"Huh. Weird. I know the owner pretty well, and I've never seen you before."
I tilted my head, oozing fake confusion.
"Grrr…! I got tricked…!!"
The loli gnashed her teeth and glared like I were her mortal enemy.
Girl, you walked right into that one.
The green-haired one—Yuri—exploded.
"Hey, human! Know your place! The great Demon King here will one day rule the world and trample everything underfoot! Weaklings like you will be livestock—"
"YURIIII! Shut up! And stop calling me Demon King! It's Luna!"
Luna frantically jumped to cover Yuri's mouth.
Poor kid. Life must be tough with that loudmouth around.
I glanced at them again.
Short golden-blonde hair with curled ends.
Long, deep jade-green hair that looked silky even from here.
Both wore cheap, slightly oversized clothes you'd find at a second-hand stall.
Didn't match their refined faces at all.
"Now, who are you two?" I asked, honestly, not really caring.
"We tried many times to get the famous Chartlet sweets. Eventually, time passed, and we wouldn't get our hands on the lottery tickets for the grand showing. Then we lost our money and had to sell our fancy clothes..." Luna was crying.
Slum kids? Runaway nobles?
Or… desperate sweets addicts who lined up for limited cakes and lost the lottery?
Either way, theft is theft.
"—Wait here a sec."
"Um… okay?"
I left the confused duo and slipped around to Charlet Sweets' back door. I grabbed two boxes of sweets and handed one to each girl.
"Here you go on me."
They looked like I just handed the moon or something. Just go already. "Wait, we can really have this, free?" I nodded. "Yes, of course. I got plenty of the stuff."
"Thank you, some humans are so kind!" They slowly opened the box, as if it were some fragile treasures lost in Atlantis. I swear, it looked like their eyes gleamed as they showcased the box to each other.
Then I stood there, racking my brain.
I need money fast.
The Magic Tournament is coming up—a perfect chance for gambling on winners.
But participants can't bet on themselves, and I don't trust anyone enough to place bets for me… In fact, all the people I knew, aside from Eve, would be bad. I used my power again to see different outcomes.
Reti's voice, "Master, you're finally joining the Hero's party, with you here, victory is assured." Nope, this is a bad outcome. Let's try again.
Rafine's voice, "Betting? Don't worry your pretty head on such trivial matters. Our love is transcendent. We shall become the best husband and wife, have ten kids, and--" Omg, please show me a different outcome!
Cain's voice, "Master, you come to train the Houses' third son, Cain, so I become like Master?" No, this one is NO GOOD either.… Wait.
A bolt of genius struck.
I almost applauded myself.
I dashed back to the two girls, who were still standing exactly where I left them.
"Hey! You two owe me for those sweets earlier, right?"
"Time to pay up—with a little job."
Luna looked confused. After I explained what I needed, Luna finally gave in.
Plan success.
Money problem solved.
Yay me!