Chapter 257: The Door to the Heart

Asu was being looked after by Sheila, while I quickly prepared some sweets in the kitchen.

This time, I decided to make grilled bananas.

The recipe was incredibly simple: just grill the bananas in a pan.

Flavor them with butter, cinnamon, and sugar, then serve with chilled vanilla ice cream and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Done.

Even plain chocolate-covered bananas are delicious, so there was no way these grilled, flavored bananas could taste bad.

Confident, I returned to Asu and Sheila and served them immediately.

“This dessert looks amazing! Bananas and ice cream?”

“Yes. The bananas are grilled, so they go perfectly with the cold ice cream.”

“…Wow, it looks really delicious! Can I eat it all?”

“Of course. Eat as much as you like.”

As he clasped his hands together, he eagerly took a bite.

Grilling brought out the bananas’ sweetness, and the cinnamon flavor with the slightly crisped edges was perfect.

The chocolate complemented it, and with a bite of cold vanilla ice cream—ah, pure bliss.

“It’s delicious! Sato-san, this is really good!”

“Really delicious! I never knew bananas could taste this good—you’re a genius, Sato-san!”

“I’m glad you like it. No one else is taking it, so take your time and enjoy.”

“Yum! I’m really glad I came here!”

Asu, who had been sulking earlier, now beamed from ear to ear.

It was worth the effort, and I felt confident this would help him relax.

If he stayed tense until Miragros arrived, he would wear himself out. I hoped this would give him at least a little chance to unwind.

Next, I wanted to prepare something he could play with. At his age, lending him a Switch would do the trick.

Three days had passed since Asu wandered into our place.

As planned, I had lent him the Switch, and he spent the afternoons holed up in the recreation room playing games.

After finishing farm work in the evenings, he apparently competed in matches of Super Smash Bros. with Sheila and the others.

He had grown completely comfortable here, showing no signs of homesickness, which relieved me.

Then came the night of the third day.

While preparing dinner with Norman, I saw a brilliant light outside the window.

It was probably the warp gate opening, meaning Milagros had arrived.

I left the cooking to Norman and hurried to the warp gate.

“Milagros-san, long time no see. Asu has come over here.”

“Sato-san, it’s been a while. So he really did come here… When his stored magic ran out, I thought he must have wandered over here… I’m just glad we found him.”

Milagros exhaled a relieved breath.

Asu was a demon child, so it would have been dangerous if anyone else found him.

Thanks to Sheila and me waking up early, things were fine—but had we not noticed, he could have gone somewhere dangerous.

Thinking about it, we had barely caught him in time.

“I’m really glad we could keep him safe. He’s in the recreation room, so come on in.”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

We went to the recreation room with Milagros.

Inside, Asu and Joel were in the middle of a heated match, completely unaware of Milagros’s arrival.

“Asu, you went into the place I told you not to, didn’t you?”

“—Eh! Milagros-oneechan! How are you here!?”

“I came from the same place. Everyone’s worried, so let’s go home immediately.”

“Ehh… I don’t want to go yet.”

Asu muttered, still holding his Switch controller.

It was nice that he liked this place, but he really needed to go home.

“Asu, let’s go home for now. Your family is worried too. You can come back here anytime.”

“Eh! I can come back? …Then, I don’t want to go, but I will.”

“Thank you, Sato-san. I’ll report everything and come again soon. Okay, even though we just arrived, let’s go home now.”

Milagros held Asu’s hand, and they left the recreation room.

Asu waved to us with a smile, and we waved back, seeing them off.