DKFTI 127

The high priest, clad in ornate sacred robes embroidered with gold thread, possessed a calm air. The soft smile he wore out of habit and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes brought comfort to those who saw him.

“Oh dear, my hands are shaking as I try to open this door so suddenly. Haha.”

The priest they met in the hallway seemed flustered in front of the high priest. But, he soon unlocked the lock.

“The key goes in with difficulty. Haha.”

Why on earth do you keep making that awkward smile? Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

As Sibel quietly observed them, the holy knight they had knocked unconscious suddenly fell to the side. His body slumped to the floor.

“Oh my!”

Startled, Sibel hurried to support him.

“What… why is he like this?”

Numerous eyes in the hallway turned to the fallen holy knight and him. Sibel froze for a moment but quickly came up with an idea.

“Oh, he’s been nodding off for a while now. He said he’s been working long hours lately and is very tired. Are you okay? Are you still sleeping?”

Sibel shook him, secretly hoping the knight would never wake up. Fortunately, he showed no signs of coming to.

“He must have fainted and fallen asleep. What a pitiful person.”

“Enough, let’s go.”

“Yes, yes!”

The high priest’s words drew everyone’s attention. The priests followed him as briskly walked in, swarming inside. Just then, Aizen quietly joined them.

Oh?

Sibel was about to follow him.

“From here on, only I and the holy knights will enter.”

“What? Ah, yes.”

It seemed the priest they met in the hallway only managed the door. The high priest blocked anyone except those from the imperial capital from entering.

“Tsk.”

He was thinking of sneaking in and stealing the holy water, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.

***

There is a problem.

“No wonder things were going too well.”

Sibel and Aizen left the temple without much success. The reason was that a third party had suddenly appeared and taken the item they were after.

The high priest had taken multiple sacred items with him when he left the temple. Among them was the holy water Sibel had been searching for.

“Don’t you think it’s strange?”

“What is?”

“That holy water has always been there, for hundreds of years, maybe even longer.”

“Really?”

“But somehow, exactly when we come to get it, they move it somewhere else?”

Hearing it out loud, it did sound strange.

“He took several things with him… why would he need sacred items? Because of the war with the demon race?”

Thinking about why they would suddenly remove well-kept relics so urgently led to the theory that it was because the war wasn’t going well.

“This is troublesome. Does this mean we have to go to the palace now?”

“Probably.”

“What about stealing it on the way?”

“Not a bad idea, but they’ll be prepared, so it won’t be easy.”

“That seems like the most realistic option.”

“We have to try something.”

The two trudged toward a nearby inn. The first floor had a dining hall, and the second floor had rooms for guests.

They sat across from each other at a table, sharing food and a bottle of alcohol.

“For now, drink.”

When things go wrong like this, you usually just let it all out with a drink. Being discouraged doesn’t bring you a brilliant idea. Drinking and getting your blood flowing can lead to some good ideas.

After about three drinks, Sibel noticed something strange.

“But why is your face… red?”

Sibel was naturally good with alcohol. He was confident he would never get drunk unless it was mixed with some strange substance. But Aizen was even stronger than Sibel. In fact, he possessed a useless but useful talent: he could drive away drunkenness with his holy powers.

“What? Me? No way.”

Aizen shook his head. Sibel’s suspicion turned into certainty.

“You’re drunk.”

It was a strange thing. To think he would see Aizen drunk.

“Ah… that’s strange…”

His pronunciation was slightly slurred. But he also found it cute.

“Since I don’t have divine power… yes.”

The way he nodded mid-sentence was also cute. There was something refreshing about seeing Aizen drunk.

“Heh.”

What kind of situation is this? He’s drunk and I think it’s cute to watch.

“Well, everything already went wrong anyway, so we can think about the next plan later…”

It had only been one day since they arrived, but too much had happened. His eyes were wide from the new surroundings, and on top of that he’d seen the true faces of corrupted holy knights, gone to jail, he approached the holy basin and ended up swallowing water. He didn’t show it, but he had been a little scared.

Maybe Aizen relaxed after drinking, and that’s why the intoxication suddenly hit him.

“You’re showing me a lot of new sides. Very unpredictable.”

Sibel smiled brightly. Aizen stared intently at him. He always stared at people with that insistent gaze. There were times when his persistent gaze felt burdensome, but he seemed to have gotten used to it now. No, he felt it would be a shame if that gaze were to blur.

“I don’t like things changing.”

Then Aizen answered. Sibel suddenly wanted to hear Aizen talk more. Well, he always said a lot… but people say drunk words reveal the truth. Aizen had been going through a lot of turmoil recently. And all of those things were events a normal human would never experience in their entire life, not even imagine.

Aizen had lived an extraordinary life from the beginning, but even for him it must have been difficult and confusing.

“Why? You’re a really daring person by nature.”

At Sibel’s response, Aizen shook his head. Then he took another sip of alcohol. He seemed to be in a good mood.

“I don’t like it anymore.”

“Oh ho. Your personality changed.”

“I said I don’t like change.”

Talking about change to someone who kept saying he hated it seemed to annoy him. Aizen had a habit of furrowing his brows when things didn’t go the way he wanted. He didn’t look ugly because of his handsome features, but his expression did grow intimidating.

“You’re acting cute.”

Sibel muttered. Maybe because of the noisy dining hall or the drunkenness, Aizen didn’t seem to hear clearly and asked, “What?”

“Nothing. Never mind.”

Sibel smiled again. Aizen rested his chin on his hand and held Sibel’s gaze.

“Don’t you miss the past? Since you came back to the temple after a long time, I thought you might’ve been reminded of things you missed.”

Sibel asked. He expected an immediate answer, but Aizen quietly fell into thought. Maybe his head was reacting slowly because of the intoxication.

“There are a lot of things I miss.”

“Like what?”

Sibel asked, wanting to add Aizen’s nostalgic things to the welfare list of the Demon King’s castle if possible.

“My innocent youth when I thought I could save the world?”

“…Why are you suddenly so cynical?”

“The real problem isn’t the demons.”

“……”

“But it’s not the humans’ fault either. This is all… maybe just because this world came into existence.”

Aizen had lived barely twenty years. It was surprising that he reached a thought that resembled something from Sibel’s old memories. Sibel fully agreed with him.

“You’re still a baby.”

Sibel felt strangely pained, as if watching a young child grow up too fast. Maybe it was Silvaren’s memories reacting.

“But honestly, I want to finish everything quickly and roll around in bed with you. That’s what I miss the most.”

“Yes. You’re not really any different from usual.”

Sibel immediately retracted his worry and and pity the moment Aizen said that. Good. This human, no, Aizen was that kind of person. Very good resilience. Very good.

Sibel shook his head and crossed his arms while looking at Aizen.

“Well, maybe I’m no different either.”

Maybe they understood each other more than expected. Either way, Sibel also wanted all this complicated, headache inducing business to end quickly so he could laze around comfortably in the castle. Though Aizen’s “rolling around” and Sibel’s “lazing around” probably had very different meanings.

But thinking about it… maybe that time wasn’t so bad either…

Suddenly he felt his lower body heating up. Why was he imagining things like that! Was he hitting puberty?

His wandering gaze returned to Aizen, who was still staring at him.

“Hmm…”

Did people not fall in love even during war? Satisfying desires in moderation might be good for morale.

At that moment, Aizen’s fingers intertwined with his.

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Inside the closed room, Aizen and Sibel were entangled, their lips locked. A red, hot tongue slid past their moist lips.

“Ah, mh…”

When Sibel’s arms wrapped around Aizen’s neck, Aizen hurried to tear his own top open. A few buttons popped off under his rough hands, and Sibel grabbed his wrist. Aizen froze the moment Sibel touched him.

Sibel tapped Aizen’s chest, then slowly unbuttoned the rest. Why was he so desperate just to get one button undone? A laugh escaped between their joined lips.

A groan escaped Eizen as their sticky tongues tangled and fell. A sense of urgency permeated his lips. Where had the drunken, slow-witted person gone?