DKFTI 66

Sheep and fox, fox and sheep. However you looked at it, the two cute ones were biting each other’s heads off.

“Hey! Let go of my ear! I said let go!”

“You take your hand off my horn first!”

It was a dogfight. It really did seem lacking in dignity. Sibel scratched his cheek and focused on organizing the tribute that had come in.

No use expecting help from them. Tsk tsk.

So Sibel plucked off a ripe banana, peeled it, and popped the white flesh straight into his mouth.

Munch munch.

“Ah! Poking eyes is cheating!”

“Who’s the one who punched my abdomen first!”

Do high-ranking demons usually brawl with their bodies? Munch munch.

Sibel chewed and swallowed the banana, leaned back against the pile of gold coins stacked beside him, and watched the two demons’ dogfight from the front row.

By now he was curious who would win.

Whoever wins, I’ll just side with them.

“Hey, the sun’s going down.”

So the fun time at the tribute altar went by.

***

They say a rich table starts with good ingredients. As a Demon King who had received tribute, Sibel was able to enjoy a satisfying meal.

Shanti, in high spirits for the first time in a while, cooked. The ingredients from human villages were indeed of good quality, and the ingredients from Corteirn were far better than those from villages near Valheim.

Was the soil fertile?

Sibel ate dinner until he was stuffed and strolled through the Demon King’s castle in a good mood. To help digestion, and also as a kind of patrol. He arrived at the library.

“Hm.”

He had once classified this place as an unsuitable facility in the castle since it did not suit his tastes, and so rarely came here.

“Shall I go in?”

For some reason today he felt like smelling books.

He also needed to send a reply to Ron about the tribute, and thought it might be good to practice writing a refined letter like an intellectual by reading ahead.

Drawn by impulse, Sibel moved his feet and entered the library.

“So this is what it looks like.”

He did look for books whenever he needed information, but each time Shanti had taken care of bringing them, so he had never had to come himself.

Even the Demon King self-improvement books he liked all came from here.

“Mm.”

Bookshelves stretched endlessly. Without Shanti, it would not be easy to find what he wanted.

Shelves crammed full up to dizzying heights with food for the mind.

“Hmm.”

The smell of paper, ink, and dust mixed into a natural fragrance. Strangely, the smell of books made him sleepy.

He was crossing the library with half-closed eyelids when something happened.

Why is he there?

He spotted someone who did not suit this place at all.

“Why is the Hero there?”

At Sibel’s voice echoing through the quiet library, Aizen, who was half-lying at a desk, lifted his head. His gaze turned to Sibel.

Their eyes were the same.

‘Why are you here?’

Both thought the same thing as they looked at each other, one standing, one half-lying.

“You know that’s a really unfitting hobby, right?”

Sibel threw the first punch.

“No. I came here often. You wouldn’t know since you never came.”

He jabbed and got hooked back. He came here often?

“For sleep-inducing fragrance?”

“What are you talking about?”

Wrong?

“Then you’re saying you really like books?”

“I just like the atmosphere here.”

Sibel felt relieved at Aizen’s answer. Good. At least it was an answer he could accept.

“It’s quiet.”

“You never seemed like someone who liked quiet.”

“When thoughts get complicated, a place like this is good.”

“So your thoughts are complicated.”

Sibel nodded. It was not good to bother someone and take their time when their mind was complicated. If one had any sense, it was a virtue to step aside after hearing words like that.

“Then.”

Sibel gave a nod and walked past Aizen’s desk. While he strolled past calmly, Aizen only shifted his posture slightly and did not stop or call him.

‘Phew.’

Truly someone with complicated thoughts.

Feeling the situation could be easily passed over, his steps became lighter. Sibel hummed a tune as he turned to the side path.

The library was wide, enough to avoid running into Aizen again. Sibel stretched out his hand, brushing his fingertips across the spines as he walked happily through the library.

As he stepped along briskly, he saw something.

‘What’s this?’

Between the shelves, a suspiciously small door caught his eye and immediately drew his attention. Sibel glanced around.

No one here.

Though it was his own castle, being cautious of others’ eyes was a habit carved into his bones from a past life.

“Hm.”

He knocked on the door. A hollow sound came from inside. There was definitely space.

Sibel ran his hand over the door to find the handle. His fingers caught on a groove at the right edge. A sliding door?

Without much thought, Sibel pushed the door to the side.

Creeeak.

The door opened.

“Ohh.”

Inside the small door was a room. There were shelves of books there too. They even gleamed strangely more brightly than the wooden shelves outside.

‘Gold?’

What kind of books were so great that they used shelves made of gold? Maybe some extraordinary magic books? Or a treasure vault?

“Mm, only books.”

Hoping for treasure was a bit shameless. But Sibel checked the books on the shelves without disappointment.

“Why are they red. Scary?”

It’s not like the covers were dyed with someone’s blood, right?

Sibel grabbed one at random. A thin book came into his hand.

Flip, the pages turned.

‘Gulp.’

As he flipped through, Sibel’s body stiffened rapidly.

‘This is…’

They were 19+ books. With illustrations too! Sibel’s mouth hung open as he read through the obscene text.

‘The succubus recognized the Hero at first sight. She immediately seduced the human Hero…’

Wow, succubus. Seduction right away?

‘She led him to the bathtub.’

A bathtub, right from the start.

‘Her lips pressed against the Hero’s lips, and her hand went down to grab his huge cock.’

So fast! Already kissing and then straight down with her hand?

‘Uhnn~ Hero-nim~ you’re hard♡’

Shameless! What’s with the heart! Of course he got hard if she touched him! And the heart, seriously… was this really from this world? The source was suspicious.

Bold and intense development. No unnecessary buildup. Just page after page filled with 19+ scenes… it was simply porn.

“And then she climbed on top of the Hero… moving her smooth waist as she rubbed her hips…”

For some reason, Sibel couldn’t put down the ridiculous book. No wonder it was thin. They had cut all the introduction and gone straight to the main part.

“She grabbed the Hero’s wrist as he shouted no. Fufu, resisting is cute, cu, cute…”

Calling a thirty-centimeter musclebound Hero cute? This succubus had strange tastes.

As Sibel narrowed his eyes and focused on reading.

“Hm. The Demon King’s taste is refined.”

“Ugh! Ah, damn!”

Startled by the sudden breath and low voice at his ear, Sibel jumped. The book flew from his hands.

“Got it.”

The falling book landed in Aizen’s grip.

“Wh-what! Why are you taking someone else’s book!”

“Oh. I guess it really is yours?”

Aizen flipped through the pages with a quick rustle and began reading the next part Sibel had not yet reached.

“Her sharp nails scratched the Hero’s side. Blood welled up and spread in the bathwater… Sure enough, your taste is on the hard side.”

“W-wait. Just. Wait. A. Second.”

Sibel waved his hands frantically, then clenched his teeth and enunciated each word.

“It is not my taste.”

“Not your taste in what. The nails? The woman? The Hero?”

“No, I mean 19+ stuff is not my taste! Why are you breaking it down in detail?!”

“Hm. No, it suits you perfectly.”

Aizen flipped quickly to the next page, skimming.

Sibel swallowed dryly, strangely nervous.

He could not let himself be branded a pervert. Memories of being treated like one in the past, of the persecution and the secret grief he had swallowed, faintly surfaced.

“Just give it back.”

“You think very poorly of your own belonging.”

“It’s not mine, I came here for the first time today, and I had no idea there were 19+ novels here…”

“How does someone find their way so precisely in a place they’ve never been.”

“That’s a very plausible guess, but it’s not even remotely true.”

Sibel thought he was refuting Aizen’s words with reason and logic.

“Maybe it was the previous Demon King’s taste, but in any case, I’m putting this book back and leaving this place.”

Sibel lifted his chin, snatched the red-covered book from Aizen’s hand, and shoved it back on the shelf. If he walked out coolly now, it would be over.

That’s what he thought as he turned his body.

Thud.

Suddenly there was the sound of the door closing, followed by the grinding of stone.

“Wh-what is this?”

Flustered, Sibel hurriedly looked around.

Thud, thump.

The walls… were closing in.