DKFTI 142

The fact that the Demon King’s castle remained peaceful and trouble-free was largely due to the hard work of the housekeeper, Shanti.

“No, I said throw out the trash!”

“Hmm, that’s not trash. It’s my precious collection.”

Sibel spoke while looking at the piles of–or rather, objects rolling around haphazardly–that were stacked in one corner of the room.

“It’s trash.”

Shanti, who was wearing a white apron, tapped the feather duster and kicked away the junk with his foot. Meanwhile, Sibel rolled around on the bed, holding his crystal communication device.

#Demon King Community#

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(Other) The doorbell pranks seem to be getting out of hand lately.

The Demon King’s castle isn’t exactly a punching bag, but ever since the Human-Demon Treaty was established, they’ve just treated us like a joke. They show up at the drop of a hat to ring the doorbell. Do I need to turn the human world into a sea of ​​fire just to make them come to their senses?

Comments

└Just buy a hologram and play it in front of the door. They’ll just wet their pants and disappear.

└No, it doesn’t work on mages.

└If a mage is coming there, doesn’t that mean they have no intention of keeping the treaty?

└Ah, I’d rather have an army of mages or holy knights. Damn, for me, it’s just village kids coming.

└Don’t stir up trouble with humans for no reason and just live your life.

└The world has gotten so much better~ It feels like just yesterday we were getting absolutely destroyed by the Apostles~

└Yes, next up, elder.

The community was peaceful again today.

“But isn’t it nice that it’s quiet at night since there are no monsters in front of the Demon King’s castle?”

“Well, I do feel a bit empty. I wonder if the Orc tribe is doing well.”

“I do miss them. It seems like everyone is doing well in their new home.”

“If you liked them so much, why did you send them away?”

“I saw it somewhere that parents are there to help their children become independent. Therefore, for their happiness, I sent them out into the big world.”

Sibel put a cookie placed beside him into his mouth as he scrolled down the community page. Cookie crumbs fell.

“Ugh, I just tidied up the bedding! Don’t just laze around; go out and do something productive! If you have nothing to do, at least clean up this clutter!”

“…Shanti, you’ve been nagging more lately.”

Only then did Sibel sit up and look around the room. It was definitely more messier than usual. But there was a reason for all of this. It was Aizen’s absence.

It was the second day since Aizen had been away on business in the Holy Kingdom.

“Hmm. I miss Aizen.”

“It’s only been a few days.”

“He’s always around, so it feels empty without him.”

The stories of heroes in fairy tales usually end with “and they lived happily ever after with the princess,” but the hero here was different. These days, the hero was living out the “and they lived happily ever after with the Demon King” scenario.

For about ten years, Aizen had rarely left the castle for long. Is that what you call a homebody? Maybe he got sick of wandering everywhere during his time as an apostle, or maybe it was just his true nature after letting go of his mission, but staying at home suited him well.

It was only because of the earnest plea of ​​Brivan that he had no choice but to go see him. Although Aizen had no interest in worldly affairs, especially those of the Holy Kingdom, it was admirable to see him overcome his own laziness for the sake of world peace every once in a while.

“Well, shall I clean up some of this clutter?”

Sibel stretched and got out of bed. He had earned a fierce look from Shanti, and he also wanted to show a slightly cleaner appearance before Aizen returned.

He opened a box piled up in the corner. It was filled with magical items he had collected while traveling or whenever he was bored.

“What is this? Ah, a crystal ball that changes color if you lie. And this… a magic potion that makes hair grow? Why did I buy this?”

As Sibel took them out one by one to examine them, a round object the size of a melon caught his hand.

It was made of smooth metal, and its surface was engraved with unknown ancient characters. A dim blue light shimmered on the surface.

“Hmm? Where did I get this? Shanti, do you know this?”

“Well, I don’t know. The Demon King picks up so many useless things, so how could I possibly remember them all?”

Shanti answered indifferently while dusting. Sibel rolled the spherical object this way and that as he tried to recall. It felt heavy, and the waves of magical energy were extraordinary.

Then something happened.

Bang!

The door flew open as Ruru barged in. In one hand, he clutched a black mass. He had acquired the name ‘Inky,’ but Sibel sometimes called him Levi.

“That was stolen from Lord Karhan’s Demon Castle!”

“Huh? Stolen? Did I have a kleptomania?”¹

Sibel asked in shock. He was, after all, the pacifist Demon King of Valheim; he wouldn’t think of stealing someone else’s belongings.

“You didn’t steal it! I stole it! No, I brought it here!”

“You?”

“You know, was it five years ago? The day we were betting on who had the bravest heart, and I got caught trying to pluck Lord Karhan’s nose hairs while he was sleeping and got kicked out!”

Ah.

The shameful memory flashed through Sibel’s mind.

It was an incident that occurred when they suddenly engaged in a test of courage while visiting Karhan’s castle.

“Ah, I remember now. You actually pulled his nose hair back then, and we ran away like crazy.”

“Because of that, I–Ruru–became the King of Courage in our castle!”

“But what is this used for? It was in the deepest part of Lord Karhan’s room.”

“Isn’t it expensive? Let’s sell it and buy some meat!”

“Idiot, you shouldn’t carelessly sell such mysterious magical tools. What if it explodes?”

Sibel stroked the sphere. It was smooth. He tapped it and squinted to try and read the characters engraved on the surface.

Ruru, also curious, approached Sibel and examined the sphere.

“Is there a button or something? Press here!”

“It won’t budge. It feels like just a lump of metal.”

“Then shall we blow on it? Huuuu.”

Ruru stuck out his snout and blew air into it, but the sphere didn’t react. The two of them rubbed it, shook it, and even put it to their ears to listen to the sound. Shanti shook his head in disdain as he watched them.

“What are a grown Demon King and a demon doing? Just hand it over to a junk dealer.”

“Come on, it is Lord Karhan’s treasure, after all. If we activate it, something incredible might come out.”

“That’s right! Gold and treasures might pour out!”

Ruru’s eyes sparkled like coins. He stared at the sphere for a moment, then suddenly lifted it up high.

“Whatever! I don’t care! Let’s just throw it and break it! Just to take the contents!”

“Uh… that might actually… work?”

Sibel almost stopped him, then changed his mind.

“No! I just finished cleaning, and if shards fly, the room will get dirty! If you can’t handle this properly, put it down right now!”

Shanti was growing anxious. Ruru flinched and carefully placed the sphere back into Sibel’s hand.

“Tch. You always spoil things just when I’m about to have some fun.”

Ruru pouted.

“I need to study this a bit more. If Lord Karhan cherished this so much, it certainly isn’t an ordinary object…”

Sibel once again moved his finger along the characters.

Swoosh.

It was the moment his fingertip passed over a specific pattern.

“Huh?”

A blue spark shot from Sibel’s fingertip. At the same time, the sphere suddenly began to vibrate at a terrifying speed.

Dong-! Dong!

A ringing sound filled the air.

A blue light so intense that he could not open his eyes emanated from the ancient characters engraved on the surface of the sphere. The air in the room turned heavy, and the dust particles floating in the air froze in an instant.

“D-Demon King? What is wrong with this?!”

“I don’t know! It won’t come off!”

Sibel tried to throw the sphere away, but it stuck to his palms as if it were coated with super glue.

That was not all.

“Ugh…! My magic power!”

The sphere began to suck up the magic power residing within Sibel’s body. It was like a giant vacuum cleaner. It felt like being sucked into an endless abyss. A chill started from his fingertips and instantly enveloped his entire body.

“Demon King!!”

Shanti and Ruru rushed toward Sibel. But before they could even touch it, the blue light emanating from the sphere engulfed the entire room.

Pow!

A light so intense it blurred their vision flashed.

And instead of an explosion, a tearing sound rang out.

“Aaaargh!”

“Aghh!”

The space warped. Everything in the room crumpled up and mixed up in a chaotic mess, until, at a certain moment, everything returned to its place.

“Cough, cough.”

“Oh my god. What happened?”

“I told you not to touch just anything!”

After the light disappeared, Shanti and Ruru regained their senses, shook themselves off, and stood up. Ruru picked up the black mass he had been holding. However, only Shanti and Ruru were left sprawled in the middle of the silent room.

“Huh? Demon King?”

Sibel, who had been with them just moments ago, had vanished along with the unidentified sphere.

“D-Demon King?”

Ruru looked around the room.

The wind blowing through the open window merely fluttered the curtains; there was no trace of Sibel anywhere. Not even a trace of his magical power could be felt.

No matter how far he traveled, or how he moved using magic, Sibel’s magical power was bound to leave a trace.

“What is going on?”

Both of them were shocked. Whether it was a demon or a human, they were bound to leave some kind of energy behind, yet Sibel had vanished as if he had never existed here in the first place.

“Demon King!”

The greatest crisis in the history of the castle had arrived.

1. Mental health disorder that involves repeatedly being unable to resist urges to steal items that you generally don’t really need. ↩︎