DKFTI 35

Aizen and Shanti, who had come after hearing rumors from somewhere, froze when they saw the half-naked muscular human. Their gazes passed over the human and landed on Sibel, who was standing in front of the chair.

“……”

Familiar. A look of contempt and disgust, as if seeing a pervert.

This is really unfair, but he can’t argue back.

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

“…You still haven’t fixed that habit.”

Aizen recalled the first time he had come here.

“It’s not a habit….”

Sibel answered in a small voice and looked resentfully at Ruru.

“Hm~.”

Ruru hummed shamelessly and slowly moved away from Sibel’s side.

“Ruru, sly fox….”

While everyone was dazed, the human in only his underwear spoke in a calm voice.

“Shall we continue?”

“…Put something on.”

In the end, Sibel shed tears.

***

And so, everyone moved inside the Demon King’s castle.

No one wanted to keep talking at the place where that disgrace had happened. Sibel also needed time to secretly wipe away his tears.

When he had composed himself and came to the reception room, Aizen and the human, Ron, were already having a calm conversation.

“I didn’t know the Apostle was here.”

“Well, it’s due to various circumstances.”

Aizen spoke to him in his usual careless tone.

As soon as Sibel entered the reception room, Ruru rushed to his side.

“Lord Demon King, Demon King.”

“Hm?”

“That human, turns out he’s a prince.”

“A prince?”

“A prince of a country called Corteirn on the Eastern Continent.”

“Oh?”

He doesn’t look like the handsome prince he imagined. He’s a prince who worked hard to bulk up. There’s definitely a difference between fairy tails and reality”

“But why is a prince tainted by demonic energy, and why is his betrothed captured?”

“It seems like the country is a complete mess. Tsk tsk.”

“It’s pitiful.”

Sibel had intended to give the Holy Grail anyway. While wiping his tears, he had already decided to end this solemn Demon King act quickly. If it hadn’t been for Ruru, he wouldn’t have had to go through this humiliation.

“Where’s Shanti?”

“He said the Demon King would tell him to fetch the Holy Grail, so he went to get it.”

“Oh. As expected of Shanti.”

Quick to act, sharp-witted.

Ron, who noticed Sibel’s entrance belatedly, jumped up from his seat.

“Please si—hm, sit.”

He almost used polite speech without thinking, but hurriedly corrected himself to at least save some face.

Sibel naturally sat in the seat of honor in the reception room. Then he looked at Aizen sitting diagonally opposite with disbelief.

Is he really part of the Demon King’s castle or what? He fits in everywhere.

“The Holy Grail will be brought soon. You can take it and leave.”

“…I thank you for the Demon King’s grace.”

“It’s useless to me anyway, so I’ll just give it to you… but may I hear the story behind it?”

Sibel was curious about his story. Why would a prince be threatened by the Order.

“Our Corteirn has long lived with minimal exchange with other countries. But at some point, those who preached the doctrine of God began to flock in.”

“The Order.”

“Yes. But they were strange. They used the name of the Seleaum Order, but preached a completely different doctrine.”

“A cult?”

Sibel asked Aizen. Aizen nodded.

“Whether they were real or fake stopped mattering. Once most of the people believed, even an evil god was still a god.”

“Mm.”

“But ever since they appeared, monster outbreaks have become frequent. The more that happened, the more the people sought the god.”

“Oh.”

“In the end, they even threatened the royal authority. What they demanded was the Holy Grail itself.”

“Ohh… Do you know what they plan to use it for?”

“The information the royal family obtained was that they were trying to summon something.”

“Hm.”

Cults. Always such a big problem.

“So then, how do you save the country?”

“The country is already ruined. As a member of the royal family, to even think of saving the country is already… beyond me… because I am dying….”

The man lowered his head.

“So you want to at least save your betrothed.”

“Shameful as it is, yes.”

He had made up his mind to save someone even at the approach of death, it was a noble act, but…the story carried a bitter taste.

“And the Holy Kingdom just lets such heresy be?”

Sibel asked Aizen. Honestly, what would Aizen know while holed up in the Demon King’s castle, but still, a matter like this was something the Apostle would know better.

“If the Holy Kingdom went chasing every heresy, would they even remain standing?”

“Hm.”

So in the end, they were drawing a line, treating the Kingdom of Corteirn’s problem as a personal matter.

Aizen, who had been listening silently, spoke to the man.

“You said monster outbreaks began after they appeared.”

“Yes.”

“Reeks of rot.”

Aizen stroked his chin. Watching him, Sibel suddenly thought this was a chance.

“Hero Aizen!”

“What now.”

Sibel suddenly shouted, making Aizen look at him in surprise.

“Shouldn’t an Apostle step up at times like this?”

But Aizen soon caught on to Sibel’s petty trick and let out a dry laugh.

“You’re telling me to just follow him and leave here?”

Sibel’s eyes sparkled.

“You sure wrapped up ‘get lost’ in a nice package.”

“Ah, how can you talk like that, Hero.”

Sibel flapped his hands and laughed. Ron, the human watching the two banter, had no idea what was going on.

Just then, Shanti opened the door and came in.

“I brought the Holy Grail!”

“Good. Give it to Ron.”

Shanti handed the Holy Grail to the human with a glare.

This human was causing trouble.

Feeling the sudden murderous intent, Ron shrank back.

“Th-thank you.”

Ron was bewildered at having obtained the Holy Grail so easily.

“Our Demon King’s castle isn’t that stingy.”

“Yes….”

“But there’s one promise you have to make.”

“A promise, you say?”

Sibel nodded. In truth, he already had an idea. A way to make up for today’s disgrace.

“Forget what happened in the audience chamber. When you return, spread the word that the Demon King here was very, very, very terrifying and solemn.”

“Yes?”

“The Demon King didn’t help a human. Say you stole the Holy Grail.”

“St… stole it.”

“Mm. Yes.”

If they arranged it like this, the rumor that the Demon King of Valheim was a pushover wouldn’t spread.

“Promise?”

“Yes, yes.”

Ron nodded, but Sibel couldn’t trust him one hundred percent.

“If you break the promise, I’ll send the ferocious monsters of the Demon King’s castle to Corteirn and turn it into a hellfire.”

At Sibel’s warning, Aizen covered his mouth with his hand. He didn’t even need to look to know Aizen’s lips were curled up in amusement.

Forcing himself to ignore Aizen, Sibel glared and tested Ron.

“…I will keep it in mind.”

Ron bowed his head repeatedly, thanking them. He was a human who understood words. Living as a Demon King wasn’t so bad after all.

[If your business is done, then begone.]

Suddenly, Shanti’s transmitted voice flowed into Ron’s head. Startled, Ron quickly stood up.

“Then….”

“Mm, go, go. Return safely. Oh right, Shanti, if there’s any antidote or something, give it to Ron on the way.”

“…Tch.”

When Shanti pouted his lips, Sibel shot him a glare.

“Understood.”

And so the sudden visit from a human was successfully dealt with.

Phew.

Sibel felt proud, thinking that once again he had kept the Demon King’s castle safe and sound today. When the human left the reception room, Shanti followed him out, and Ruru too, saying he wanted to watch.

Only Sibel and Aizen remained in the reception room. It was quiet.

Normally, Aizen would have found some nitpick, but since he stayed silent, Sibel spoke first.

“What are you thinking about?”

Perhaps he was having some grand thought, like whether an Apostle shouldn’t be helping the weak.

“Dinner menu.”

Sibel fell silent for a moment at Aizen’s answer.

They said the Demon King’s castle was a mess, but maybe the Holy Kingdom was just as much a cesspit. Seeing the state of this so-called Apostle, that seemed likely. How could he be worrying about dinner in a situation like this?

Really, one shouldn’t have illusions about anything. Wherever people lived, it was all the same. That included places where demons lived too.

So Sibel let go of any expectations about the Apostle and took time to go over the day’s events. Confusion, humiliation, a little surprise, things like that.

The two of them stayed together in the reception room for quite a long time.