DKFTI 137

Many days have passed since the world nearly collapsed. As long as we’re alive, life goes on.

“Ow, my back.”

Sibel sank to the ground in a furrow and wailed. The hero who saved the world ends up farming sweet potatoes. Is this true?

“Demon King! Lift your butt! That’s where we planted green onions!”

Ruru, wearing a straw hat, came running over and scolded him. Ice cream in one hand, a hoe held like a baton in the other. He was living the good life now.

“Hey, Ruru. Aren’t you working?”

“Hey, I’m a supervisor. Demons who use their brains don’t use their bodies.”

Should I yank that mean mouth? Sibel licked his lips, but Shanti’s scream, coming from the other direction, shook the Demon King’s castle.

“Aaaaah! Hey! Spit it out! Spit it out!”

Turning his head, he saw a spectacle. The black lump Sibel had picked up, “Inky,” was devouring the bellflower that Shanti had cherished so assiduously.

Shanti hit the floor and wailed. The majesty of a dragon? He’d long since given up on that.

“Oh, oh, my Inky. Was big brother Shanti’s grass yucky? Ptoey, there. Ptoey.”

As Sibel approached and picked Inky up. As if to show off, the little guy turned toward Shanti and went “Ptoey,” spitting right at him.

“How on earth do you educate him! He has no sense of hierarchy!”

“Kids grow up through trouble. Why are you acting like an old fart?”

“O-old fart?!”

Shanti clutched the back of his neck and pretended to collapse.

The daily routine of the Demon King’s castle returned. As always, it was a chaotic mess.

“Dinner’s ready!”

A loud shout. Aizen, clad in an apron, stood there, holding a ladle. The majesty of the Holy Kingdom’s apostle was nowhere to be seen.

“What’s on the menu today?”

“Meat! Meat!”

Raccoon and orcs swarmed in, drooling. The meerkats also ran. Shanti and Ruru, fearing they might be late, threw down their hoes and started running. They simply needed an excuse to stop working.

As everyone else began to run, sweating profusely, Aizen approached Sibel.

“The sun is shining brightly.”

Aizen cast a small shadow over Sibel, who was rolling around in the mud in the shadeless field.

“I don’t even have the strength to run…”

When Sibel groaned, Aizen looked at him with affectionate eyes, finding him cute.

“If anyone touch my meat!”

Sibel chuckled at the greedy voice coming from afar.

“Who do they take after to be such gluttons?”

“Well, they take after their master.”

Aizen looked around the modestly tended garden. Sibel, he had learned, loved growing everything. He planted seeds, harvested what grew, and even treated animals and beasts.

Since he was so loving, it would be exhausting to feel jealous every time he showered something else with affection.

He always harbored the desire to monopolize this existence for himself, but he knew that wouldn’t make anyone happy. Understanding and respecting others is a fundamental part of love.

“Help me up.”

“Get that black thing out of the way.”

Strangely, Aizen felt a chill when he touched the black mass. He didn’t know what trick the rascal was up to, but somehow, like oil and water, they couldn’t mix.

“Hurry up, hurry up.”

Sibel waved his outstretched hand, and Aizen grabbed it.

“Hup!”

Sibel grabbed Aizen’s hand, pretending to stand up, then used the momentum to pull him toward him. Aizen, caught off guard, was thrown helplessly forward.

“Huh, what? Hey!”

Splat!

With a dull thud, Aizen face-planted into the furrow. His once-clean apron and shirt were instantly covered in mud. His face was splattered with mud, and he blinked in bewilderment.

“Puhahahaha!”

Sibel clutched his stomach and fell over. He laughed so hard he almost choked.

“How do you fall for it every single time?!”

“…Ha. What should I do with this ungrateful Demon King?”

Aizen chuckled and wiped the mud off his face. But he didn’t look angry. Rather, he lifted his muddy hand and rubbed Sibel’s cheek.

“It’s only fair that you be buried with me.”

“Aww! I spread fertilizer!”

“We are even now.”

The two giggled at each other, covered in dirt. Childish, noisy, and perfectly ordinary happiness. Aizen thought, ruffling Sibel’s hair with his muddy hand.

I wish this tumultuous peace could last forever.

That was the moment.

“…I think we have a guest.”

Aizen’s hand stopped. His gaze turned to the entrance of the Demon King’s castle. Sibel, too, withdrew his smile and turned his head.

The rusty iron gate opened, and a dazzling white carriage entered the garden. The carriage, adorned with ornate gold decorations, glided gracefully across the dirt floor. The carriage door was engraved with the sun symbol of the Holy Kingdom.

“What is it?”

“No idea.”

The two men stared at the unexpected guest.

The carriage stopped. A servant disembarked from the coach’s seat and politely opened the door. An old man slowly stepped out.

A man in pure white robes, holding a heavy cane in his hand. His wrinkled face was adorned with a gentle smile, as deep as his years.

“…Old man?”

A dazed voice escaped Aizen’s lips.

It was Brivan, a high priest of the Holy Kingdom. No, that title had to change.

“Uh, now we should call him Holy King.”

He’d heard that Brivan had ascended to the vacant throne after Leviathan’s death, but he never dreamed he would personally visit the Demon King’s castle.

Brivan walked toward him, seemingly oblivious to the dirt staining his white robes. He stopped in front of the dirt-covered Aizen. His eyes were moist as he gazed at the man who had once been his pride and his pain, and was now a different race entirely.

“You look awful. Are you eating well?”

“…You’re past the age to worry about food. And what are you wearing, old man? All that ostentatious finery? That huge mantle doesn’t suit you at all.”

Aizen grumbled, but Brivan simply chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. Despite sensing Aizen’s darkened aura, he accepted him without resistance.

“As one rises in rank, one’s shoulders naturally become heavier.”

Brivan’s gaze shifted to Sibel, standing behind Aizen. Sibel bowed awkwardly.

“Hello?”

Brivan adjusted his grip on his staff and bowed to Sibel. It was an embarrassed, formal greeting.

“I greet you, the Demon King of Valheim.”

His voice was polite and dignified.

“Thank you for saving our Holy Kingdom.”

“Oh, no, that’s….”

He wasn’t specifically trying to save the Holy Kibgdom. But is it really okay for the Holy King to be so kind to a Demon King? How does this world work?

“I should have come and thanked you earlier, but as you know, things have been so chaotic in the Holy Kingdom that I’m late.”

Brivan still had a friendly smile on his face. He put everyone at ease. However, he seemed worn and tired, as if he’d been through a lot in that short time.

“Thank you for saving the world. And… thank you for taking this foolish boy in.”

He added, looking at Aizen. Sibel’s face flushed. More embarrassed to say he took Aizen in than to say something grandiose like “saved the world.”

“I didn’t take him in… he just refused to leave…”

If he had to explain, that was it. Aizen’s eyes narrowed at Sibel’s words.

“Hahaha.”

Brivan laughed heartily. The tension in his voice eased.

“I’m here today for a personal visit.”

Brivan glanced around. He took in the peaceful, simple scenery of the Demon King’s castle.

“Could we talk for a moment?”

Brivan extended a hand to Sibel. It was a wrinkled, rough, yet warm hand, that of an old man.

“About how humans and demons, no, we, should live together from now on.”

Sibel stared at Aizen for a moment. Aizen crossed his arms and shrugged, as if to say, “Do what you want.”

“Would you like to go in? The Demon King’s castle isn’t completely repaired yet, so it’s a bit hectic…”

“This is enough. It’s a very beautiful and wonderful place.”

Brivan’s gaze swept across the Demon King’s castle.