DKFTI 71

He wrote a reply to Ron.

Human Ron,

Are you doing well? The Demon King’s castle is peaceful as always.

After writing the word peaceful, Sibel thought for a long time. Is this truly peaceful?

Anyway.

I received the tribute you sent. I was moved by your sincerity.

If there is a next time, when you send me tribute, send food instead of gold and jewels. Ah, and do not send whole meat. It would be good if you prepare it by parts… do that.

I know well how difficult it is to rule a country, so I send you encouragement. For reference, I boast that I rule the Demon King castle very well.

I heard it became cold there, so be careful of colds. Ah, and according to Ruru’s fortune telling, you are in your ninth cycle. Be careful.

Then someday I will visit Corteirn. Take care.

“Hm. Is this dignified enough?”

“There, you made a spelling mistake.”

“Where?”

Sibel corrected the misspelling as Ruru pointed out and completed the reply to send to Ron.

“Here. Send this.”

“Yes sir! I’ll entrust it to the fastest flyer!”

Ruru proudly received the letter and saluted.

Sibel looked at that sight with satisfaction. It felt like finishing a bothersome homework assignment.

“Phew, that feels refreshing.”

Sibel dropped onto the sofa and pulled the cookie plate on the table closer.

After using his head, he needed sugar.

Crunch!

The sweet butter cookie crumbled in his mouth. It had been made with ingredients Ron had sent among his tribute.

‘Demon Kings with a dozen countries like Corteirn must be happy.’

With the sweet cookie in his mouth, he felt he could understand why Demon Kings conquered human nations.

“Hm~ hm~. Then let’s see, who should I call… huh?”

At that moment, Ruru’s eyes lit up as he looked at the crystal communicator to pick a courier.

“Why?”

Ruru’s tail began to swing. For reference, his tail only swayed like that when something good happened or when he was plotting something sneaky.

“This is insane!”

“Huh?”

Ruru shouted, raising the communicator high. The sudden cry almost made Sibel drop his cookie.

“Why, what? What trouble did you cause this time?”

Sibel frowned as he asked. Ruru shook his head violently. Behind him, his splendid fox tail trembled with excitement.

“Lord Demon King! It’s a huge event!”

“What huge event?”

“The demonfolk Gaji Market!”

The secondhand trade site popular among demonfolk these days. What was Gaji Market?

Selling leather pants worn 62 times, almost like new. Humans would flip if they saw this.

Selling a portable steam iron made with hellfire. Works well. Absolutely no returns for clothing damage. No bargaining.

Selling decorative skulls. From A-grade to B-grade. Contact first.

Giving away an old land seizure contract from 1700 years ago. First come, first served. The country collapsed and the name changed, but the contract is bound by blood, so it still works with the dynasty. It’s too much for me, so I’m passing it on.

Adopting out cute Cerberus puppies! (photo)

We perform curses. Everyday curses like losing a sock, finding hair in food, and so on. Success rate 85%, 3+1 event ongoing.

It was a place to sell, share, or advertise such things secondhand.

“I got an alert for the item I registered for!”

“What is it?”

“Ah, that… ah! I just got a reply! Just a moment, Demon King!”

Ruru hurriedly typed a message into the crystal communicator and ran outside.

“He must be in a real hurry…”

Sibel was curious what kind of great item could make Ruru’s eyes burn like that.

“I hope it’s something funny.”

Ruru had always been good at finding bizarre items. He liked collecting fun and new things.

Thinking about it, the torture tools from before were the same. He had no use for them, but he had once looked through Ruru’s collection.

Through the window, he saw Ruru running off into the distance. Was he meeting the seller in front of the castle?

Anyway, he was diligent.

“Demon King! I finally got something amazing!”

Ruru’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Sibel sprawled on the sofa and answered carelessly.

“What is it? Another weird torture tool?”

“No way! This is a totally new invention!”

What Ruru pulled from the box was a large machine made of shining metal. Noisy decorations and strange magic symbols were engraved on it.

“Tada! A mana slot machine!”

“Mana… slot machine?”

Sibel narrowed his eyes at the unfamiliar object.

“You put mana in here and pull the lever, then the pictures spin. If the pictures match, an incredible reward comes out!”

“Hm.”

Was this like a casino, pachinko, something like that? Why did he suddenly buy an item that encouraged gambling.

Something felt fishy.

When Sibel scanned the machine suspiciously, Ruru excitedly poured mana into it.

Ttirorong, ttirorong–.

With a loud racket, the machine lit up in rainbow colors and started to work.

“Wow!”

Ruru shouted in excitement. With a charrreuk sound, the screen of the machine spun. Bell, cherry, cherry.

“You saw that? You just have to match three of the same pictures!”

“Hm.”

It was simple… but it looked fun.

“You bought another useless thing. Do you plan to turn the castle into a dump?”

Shanti looked at Ruru’s purchase with disapproval. Shanti wanted the Demon King’s castle clean, but Ruru always bought strange things.

“Sit down. What’s the point of storing all that mana? Aren’t you curious what the prizes are?”

“It’ll be something ridiculous anyway.”

“Hehehe.”

Ruru kicked Shanti on the backside, and before he knew it, Shanti landed on the slot machine chair.

“Try it once before you say anything.”

In the end Shanti pouted and pressed down on the big shiny red lever with his front paw.

Ttororong, ttiliring–.

Again a stimulating sound echoed, and the screen of the machine spun.

Bbamppara, bbambbambbam! Peng peng–!

Three bananas lined up neatly on Shanti’s screen, and fireworks exploded on the display.

“Oh. Looks like it worked.”

The three pictures matched. Sibel found himself looking forward to what the prize would be.

Congratulations!

A mechanical voice but not sounding like congratulations at all, rang out, and soon something poured out from the slot at the bottom of the machine.

“Hm?”

“What’s that? Money? Gold?”

Sibel craned his neck beside Shanti, curious about the contents. Shanti jumped down from the chair and pulled out what had come from the slot.

“What is this. Candy?”

“It’s not candy, it’s chocolate!”

Ruru spoke triumphantly.

“You wasted mana just for chocolate?”

Shanti’s face crumpled.

“Exactly. This isn’t even a kids’ game. Well, it’s just a small toy.”

Shanti shared one of the chocolates wrapped in golden foil with Sibel. Sibel and Shanti put the chocolates in their mouths.

“…Oh!”

Sibel’s eyes widened. Shanti’s face also showed clear surprise.

“Why is this so good?”

Sibel and Shanti both looked at Ruru.

“See, I told you it’s something special. Sometimes when you hit the jackpot, random dolls come out too. Those are traded at incredible prices among collectors.”

The corners of Ruru’s mouth twitched up.

“So that’s how it is.”

Sibel quietly unwrapped a second chocolate. The taste of the chocolate was truly unique. Sweet and bitter, with a flavor like wine. And after eating one, he wanted more.

“You didn’t lace this with something, did you?”

“How can you say something so hurtful!”

Ruru’s tail swayed gently. Meanwhile, Shanti was already busy eating more chocolates.

“Hm. But it’s a bit few.”

The prize was only about ten chocolates. It felt lacking.

“Then should I try a little. How do you do it?”

“Sit down, hurry, hurry.”

Ruru sat Sibel in the chair and kindly placed his hand on the lever.

Ttororong, ttiliring!

That was how Sibel first experienced Ruru’s so-called new invention.

“Hey, Ruru! Bring me a drink!”

“Yes! Coming!”

The largest hall in the Demon King’s castle. It had been built for banquets, but now it was a gambling hall with blackout curtains covering the windows.

The slot machine Ruru had first brought to the castle had grown to over ten, and other machines had also been brought in.

Bbamppara, bbambbambbam! Peng peng–!

“Damn it, how many jackpots has that raccoon hit today!”

Sibel could not hide his frustration as he saw Raccoon across from him hit another jackpot.

“Yahoo! Another jackpot! At this rate, I’ll take all the chocolate for myself!”

“Hey, keep it down and play properly! Grrr!”

Far away, a dark-eyed orc shouted at Raccoon.

A gambling craze had swept through the Demon King’s castle.