After the meal, Shunji invited her to the terrace, where he explained how he started his business.
"You may not believe me, but initially I didn't intend to create so many businesses. The main reason why I started was that I quickly learned the importance of money in the human world. When I was born, the demons were a race in decline. Fewer and fewer children were being born, and those who were born had less demonic blood and more human blood. The world was changing. The human race was constantly growing, and the demons who failed to adapt to this change were destined to perish. My mentor and the person who raised me was against that idea. He thought it was stupid to maintain the pride of demons when they were on the verge of extinction, especially since practically all those who remained had human blood inside them. So he decided to integrate with the human race, to live among humans, to work, to have an identity as any normal person.
It was then that he realized the difficulties he faced due to his isolation: he had no education, no identity, and no money. For this reason, integrating into human society was extremely difficult. He also realized that demons couldn't continue like this. For the moment, it was fine for them, but what would happen to their children? There were more and more children with human blood who should be living ordinary lives with humans. What would they do if their parents didn't even have an identity in the new era?
For this reason, my mentor forced all the remaining demons to create identities in the human world. Some accepted the change well and formed families with humans. Others did not accept it and simply left. My mentor didn't care because at that time he also formed a family. He met a human woman with whom he fell in love, and they got married.
The woman knew my mentor's true identity and wasn't afraid of him. Despite her frail health, she was a woman of strong character. However, because of her frail health, she couldn't have children. My mentor didn't mind and stayed by her side. Since she had no children of her own, my mentor took almost complete responsibility for me after I was born. He and his wife cared for me as if I were their own son.
He taught me all about demons, and his wife taught me about humans. I know my mentor's intention was for me to learn about humans so I wouldn't do anything foolish against them. He knew the immense power a full demon could possess and how dangerous it could be. Hoping that I could live together and start a new life in this era, I wanted to reciprocate his wishes even though it wasn't necessary.
My mentor paid for him to learn all the knowledge of the human school up to high school. He wouldn't let me go to a human school, and I didn't feel the need to go either, so I began to learn other things about human life. Seeing how hard my mentor worked for just a little money, I realized the importance of his mentor and the difficulty demons face in integrating into ordinary jobs.
So, with some money I made selling antiques that the other demons were guarding, I bought two small businesses. I created one exclusively for the demons to work in. I simply created a small bodyguard company and put them all to work there. It was the perfect job for them to vent their frustration and earn money.
In the second, I continued with the bakery business, which it originally was, and put to work those who were almost completely human. Of course, things didn't always go smoothly for me. At first, we ran into several problems and almost went bankrupt, but in the end, everything worked out. As the children with human blood became more integrated into society, my burden lessened. Even those with higher education helped me manage some things.
Over time, everything fell into place, and as there were more children with human blood who wanted to explore other fields and jobs, the number of businesses increased until the present day."
Akari initially wanted to make fun of the so-called god of wealth, but upon hearing it, although she still wanted to say it, she decided to say something else.
"But it was fun, wasn't it? Living with humans taught you to enjoy the little things, right?" Shunji laughed.
"Yeah, it wasn't so bad."
"Your mentor is probably proud of you." Akari said.
Shunji paused for a moment before saying.
"Mmm, he was. Before leaving to accompany his beloved to the other world, he told me that he felt at peace leaving me in charge." Akari kept silent for a second and asked.
"Did he leave a long time ago?" Shunji nodded
"Yes, his wife was human and frail, and although he cared for her as much as he could, she died very soon compared to the vitality of someone with demonic blood. My mentor withered away without her by his side and quickly followed her." Akari sighed. It was a beautiful but tragic story. Humans have an ephemeral life compared to demons.
"And what about the chef from earlier?"
"Him? His story was kind of peculiar. He decided to renounce his demonic origins in order to pursue his dream
He was born with a condition that prevented him from controlling the small amount of demonic power within him, so he often went into fits of madness and hurt people. Fortunately, his power was minimal, so it wasn't anything serious. However, he longed to integrate into human life because he loved human culture and food. He knew that if he continued like this, he couldn't fulfill his dream of becoming a chef.
For this reason, he asked me to remove all his demonic power, turning him into a normal human. Normally, I wouldn't agree to such a request since there's a certain risk of killing the person, but he insisted so much that I had no other choice.
His family threatened to kill him if he dared to do that, but he didn't care. Fortunately, since his power was minimal, it didn't affect his life. He escaped his family's pursuit to the south, and since he was in bad shape, I helped him, giving him a place to live and cook. He did the rest on his own." Akari was impressed.
"So that's why he respects you so much?" Shunji chuckled.
"Probably, although it's also perhaps because I'm his first customer and also their most demanding." Akari raised a brow.
"The most demanding?" Shunji laughed and said.
"Yes, I don't know if you know, but we demons don't really like human food. When I saw that he wanted to become a chef simply on a whim, I had him cook for me, and I made him improve again and again until I found a flavor that satisfied me." Akari laughed. He really did encounter a picky diner.