The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 316: Lunch For Two

Chapter 316: Lunch For Two

The restaurant they arrived at was a bustling outdoor affair named Mountain Grub. The outdoor nature was partly out of necessity since it was run by giants, who had been given a portion of the 5th District, outside the new wall. A giant could stand up to four meters tall, and their needs for space meant that stacking apartments was unreasonable with current construction materials, which was why Kir was keen to get the steel mill expanded.

If he could make structural steel readily available, then Norneau wouldn’t rise, it would soar.

"You’re thinking about the city again, aren’t you," Kordia said as they sat and waited for a server.

"How can you tell?" He turned the light smile on his face into a broader one for her.

"You always look up when you’re off in your daydreams... like you see something that none of us can," she said. "Honestly... where do you get all these ideas?"

Kir shrugged. "I had a very isolated childhood."

That much was true, he’d largely stayed in the area around his house and was often sent away when visitors came by. Being a demonkin in a town of humans would have been a far more uncomfortable experience for him had he not had knowledge from his past life, and once his parents married, Darlae, being the only elf in town, often kept him company. Over the last two years, however, he made sure Darlbridge received some of Norneau’s prosperity, and the town was providing a lot of lumber in exchange.

"You know I see right through you, right?" Kordia said. "A quarter of the Academy are shut-ins and nerds. That means I have a large sample size when it comes to comparing your eccentricities to others, and the results-"

"Paint me as an outlier amongst outliers?" Kir interrupted. "I love it when you get all scientific with me."

"That’s your fault!" Kordia said.

From above them both, a giant cleared his throat. "Whatcha having?"

"I’ll have the spice mountain," Kir said. The menu indicated it was a mountain of deep fried bits, mostly potato, pepper, and onion, with cubes of charred meat, sitting atop a hill of fried bread. "Full size."

"Haha! I’d like to see you finish, little giant. You’re tall, but you’re skinny," the giant said good-humoredly.

It was still rude, which was why Kordia addressed him in more clipped tones. "I’ll have the fried artichoke salad. The small plate."

"I’ll put our small-chef on it," the giant said, leaving them their menus.

As soon as he left, Kordia frowned as she kept browsing. "Why is everything here fried?"

"Fried food is delicious," Kir shrugged. "Mosh likes them for something called the ’Meat Palace.’ But I don’t see it here..."

"It’s on the back," Kordia pointed out as she flipped the menu. "Oh gods, I think I’m having a heart attack just looking at it."

The sketch on the back of the menu was of a four-sided castle made of meat. Ribs from cows, aurochs, lesser dragons, and a type of creature called borlos - which Kir thought of as something like a cross between a camel and a bear - formed the walls. And fried cuts from each of the creatures were piled behind the matching ribs and crowned with the choicest ones - like cheeks, tail, and in the case of the dragon, the fire sac - resting in the middle.

"I guess Mosh is just a sucker for good food construction..."

"You lost me at ’sucker.’ Remember when I tried to hook her up with that one boy from the magical artifice class?"

"I told you she isn’t the romantic type," Kir said.

"I should have believed you. He quit the Academy to work under her instead... I guess technically under you."

"I’m not sure I’ve met the lad," Kir replied. Moshui was officially commissioned by the Mayor to be Kir’s assistant. As soon as Kir notified her that she could have as many assistants as she wanted, she went on a bit of a hiring spree.

Outside of teaching at the Academy, which Kir could now only do three days a week, he was constantly busy filtering ideas into the heart of Norneau’s Guilds, checking on the progress of construction projects, and staying alert for news of both the Heavenswar and trouble in the city. All why trying to keep hidden the fact that he was the proverbial golden goose for Norneau’s explosion of innovation over the last two years.

Enumasam shared Kir’s dislike for the spotlight, but fortunately, his husband was a bit of a show-pony, and had been more than willing to cover for his husband, and by extension Kir, but becoming the face of the Norneau Industrial Commission, side by side with Moshui, who was happy to do most work as long as she got to do it her way... which involved a lot of on-site tinkering.

Mostly that involved running the precision crafts shop, overseeing the mills, and crunching numbers for the city when it came to projects - all of which he had a remarkable head for. It was no wonder he was the true reason Enumasam stayed in business, since the latter just wanted to spend all day - and all the money he could - making fine swords.

"Mosh put him to improving the steel mill. He had to be retrained when he had problems with the workers..."

"Oh," Kir replied. With their natural heat tolerance, the steel mill had wound up employing the most demonkin of any industry in the city. It was tough labor, and the city compensated well for it. But discovering this had the city’s blacksmiths outraged, despite their profits increasing as the price of steel plummeted. Prejudice against demonkin was growing fiercer as the ravages of the Heavenswar continued. But the real danger to their businesses were the sub-factories that were being created downstream from the mill, turning stock steel into everyday needs like nails and tools.

They were still talking about Kir’s staff when their food arrived.

"One spice mountain and one artichoke salad. Anything