DKFTI 145

At those words, the room, which had been filled with weeping, was instantly engulfed in silence. Shanti lifted his tear-stained face and asked,

“I can’t sense any magic. How could you…”

“Soul bond. Have you all forgotten? I’m bound to him by a very close contract.”

Karhan sat up from where he had been reclining and smirked. His red eyes emitted a menacing light.

“One day in 300 years. It’s the contract where I get to claim one whole day of him. It’s like a brand etched into each other’s souls.”

Only then did Ruru and Shanti remember that absurd and terrifying contract Karhan had made with Sibel long ago!

“Ah, right! That’s it!”

“So what can we do with that? Can we find our Demon King?”

Ruru bristled his tail and scurried over to Karhan’s feet. Karhan fiddled with his fingernails and replied lazily.

“Since our souls are connected, I can summon him no matter where he is. I guess.”

“Then summon him right now! Please! We’ll die without our Demon King!”

“That’s right! Do something, hurry!”

Shanti and Ruru began clinging to Karhan’s limbs. Shanti rubbed his snot on Karhan’s silk pants, while Ruru bit down on his arm and wouldn’t let go.

“Are you two crazy? Get off me?! Hey, aren’t you going to let go?!”

Karhan recoiled in disgust and kicked his legs, but the two demons’ stubbornness was beyond imagination.

“We won’t let go! We’ll never let go until you bring our Demon King back!”

“Summon him! Give our Demon King back!”

Karhan shuddered and glanced at Aizen. He silently pleaded for help, but instead of answering, Aizen was already fumbling to draw his sword again. His gaze said he’d cut off Karhan’s head if he didn’t summon Sibel right now.

Karhan was baffled by these troublemakers’ behavior.

“Are you armed robbers or something? You stole someone else’s thing, and now you’re trying to take my contract too? Why do I have to waste a precious day because of you?”

“Please! We’ll beg you on our knees! Help us! You’re our only savior, Lord Karhan!”

“Great Demon King, Lord Karhan!”

Ruru and Shanti spouted a string of unprecedented, earnest pleas.

“…Ugh, alright. I get it! You crazy bastards! Let go! Let me go!”

In the end, Karhan declared his surrender. He roughly straightened his clothes and stood up.

“You owe me for this. Mark my words, I’ll collect every last penny, with interest, later on.”

Karhan reached out toward the air. As he slowly closed his eyes and muttered incantations, the atmosphere in the reception room began to twist. Red magical energy rippled around Aizen like a storm, and space and time undulated in waves.

Pop!

With a sound that was almost cheerful, something fell down in the middle of the room.

“…Sniff, waaah!”

A familiar cry. A silver-haired young man, clutching a half-eaten kimbap, was lying face-down on the floor. It was Sibel.

“Huh?”

Feeling something odd, Sibel lifted his head. In this unfamiliar room, he saw Ruru and Shanti looking at him.

“…What’s going on?”

Sibel looked around to figure out the situation.

“Aizen! Ruru! Shanti! I was so scared!”

Sibel screamed, his face was streaked with tears and snot. Seeing his pitiful yet joyful expression, Ruru and Shanti immediately ran over and hugged him.

“My Lord! You’re alive!”

“I didn’t expect you to be crying so shamelessly…but anyway, I’m so relieved!”

Sibel, completely clueless as to what was going on, clung to his family and wept. Karhan clicked his tongue and scratched the back of his head.

“It’s so noisy I could die. If you’re done here, get out of my house right now.”

Karhan waved his hand dismissively.

While the family clung to one another and wept for a long time, there was one person who was frozen in place. It was Aizen. He was as stiff as a clock that had stopped the moment Sibel appeared.

“…Sibel.”

When he heard the low, hoarse voice, Sibel looked up. The moment his eyes met Aizen’s, he dropped his kimbap and ran into his arms.

As Sibel ran toward him, Aizen spread his arms and pulled him into his embrace. Sibel had thrown himself at him so forcefully that both of them stumbled backward, and he fell on the floor right where he stood.

“Aizen… I really thought I wouldn’t be able to come back…! I couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality, my mind was all over the place, and I even thought I might need to see a psychiatrist!… I was so scared!”

When Sibel touched him, Aizen’s cold facade quickly melted away.

“…I’m glad.”

The hero’s steel-like shoulders were trembling slightly. The sounds of the Valheim Demon King’s household embracing each other and weeping filled Karhan’s reception room.

“…So why is everyone making such a fuss here?”

Amidst the Valheim family members overcome with emotion, Karhan scratched his brow. Why are they acting like this here?

“Haaam. Everyone, go away.”

Karhan yawned and rubbed his eyes.

“Deeeeemon King!”

“Ruru!”

“I will no longer pick up random junk! That rotten little trinket!”

“Yeah, yeah!”

Knowing full well that the “rotten little trinket” they were talking about was his treasure, Karhan shook his head. Why are they treating a sacred artifact like this? But he decided not to mention it to those who were reunited. He was just too lazy to get involved in the conversation.

Watching the uninvited guests from Valheim embrace each other stirred a strange emotion within him.

“By the way….”

Suddenly, Aizen, who was holding Sibel tightly, glared at Karhan.

“Do you have to keep up that ‘one day in 300 years’ thing?”

What the hell?

Karhan was speechless. He’d helped them, and now that was bothering him?

“You’re crazy.”

He was shameless.

“Well, it is a bit suspicious. What were you planning to do with that one day?”

Ruru added.

“Maybe something perverted…”

Watching these heartless, ill-mannered, ungrateful creatures made the back of his neck tighten. Karhan’s patience had reached its limit.

“Get out, all of you!”

And so, the residents of the Valheim Demon King’s castle were kicked out of Karhan’s castle.

On their way back, they were relieved that Karhan hadn’t mentioned any compensation because he was so angry.

***

Peace had returned to the castle.

Sibel was in a good mood today. There was no reason for him not to be. He had realized just how precious it was to exist in this land, in this castle. There was no reason not to be happy, not even for a single second.

“What are you doing?”

As soon as Aizen opened the door, he narrowed his eyes. Sibel was sitting cross-legged on the floor, calmly opening dusty boxes one by one.

“I’m trying to finish the cleaning I didn’t get to last time. Just in case, I’m putting away anything dangerous ahead of time.”

“You’re going to mess with something again.”

Aizen said in a low voice as he leaned against the doorframe. Since the sphere incident, Aizen’s reflexes had reached a whole new level. Suspicious objects, suspicious lights, suspicious vibrations. He had trained himself to react immediately the moment he sensed even one of these three.

“No, this time I’m really just tidying up. Throwing away what needs to go and keeping what’s worth keeping.”

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

Aizen stepped into the room and crouched down next to Sibel. Then, without a word, he took the object he was holding.

“Uh, that’s–”

“What is this?”

“It’s a crystal ball that changes color when you lie.”

“Throw it away.”

“But that one is really expensive!”

“Throw it away.”

Without another word, Aizen placed it on top of the pile next to him. Sibel looked aggrieved but didn’t put up much of a fight.

An hour later.

Half of the junk in the room had vanished into Aizen’s “to-be-disposed-of” pile, and the other half had been organized under Aizen’s approval. Sibel tried to hold out here and there, claiming this was precious or that held memories, but Aizen’s criteria was decisive.

“This too? This is really precious.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a potion that makes your hair grow.”

“…Why would you need that?”

“You never know what might happen, I mean, with demons, you never know.”

Aizen stared at Sibel.

“You already have plenty.”

“No, I’m not keeping it for myself, I’m saving it for you. I don’t know about anything else, but I definitely don’t want to live with a bald guy…”

“Do I look like I’m going to go bald?”

Aizen’s expression darkened.

“Who said that….”

“Throw it away.”

Sibel shut his mouth.

Aizen picked up the potion and placed it on top of the pile, then pulled the next box toward him. Sibel didn’t put up much of a fight as he took it from him. Actually, it wasn’t so bad having Aizen sit right next to him and help him tidy up.

“You’re really putting a lot of effort into this.”

“Thanks to the person who causes trouble every single day.”

“You’re being sarcastic.”

“There’s no other way to interpret it.”

“That’s really mean.”

Sibel pouted. As Aizen sorted through the odds and ends one by one, he suddenly picked up something from the corner.