DKFTI 60

“…Demon King, you must have a trauma about the hero. Maybe what you saw was an illusion?”

“I wasn’t the only one who saw him. Ruru and Ramiel saw him too! And Ruru’s eyesight is 5.0, 5.0.”

“Mm. Then that has credibility.”

Shanti packed away the feather duster as he spoke.

“The tribute altar was piled with dust. Do you want to come clean it with me?”

“Do you think this is the time for us to be cleaning? And who tells a king to do chores?”

“Since when has anyone in our castle cared about that?”

Shameless. Too shameless. So shameless it made him tremble.

“If you’re going to sit around imagining strange things, at least move your body.”

“Strange things…? Like revenge, blood revenge, revenge of conviction, things like that?”

“Oh my. Seems you’re quite scared.”

Wouldn’t you be scared if it were you?

Honestly, his farewell with Aizen hadn’t been beautiful. And it hadn’t been clean either.

If it was going to be heartless, it should at least have been clean. Instead, the ending had gotten tangled in every way.

Until two years ago, Sibel had even dreamed nightmares now and then of Aizen appearing and cutting off his head.

“If you were going to be that scared, why did you act that way then?”

“All I did was give him an antidote.”

“Ah. That’s right. I don’t know why my memory keeps telling me Lord Demon King attempted to assassinate the hero.”

“Aizen probably thinks that too.”

Sibel rubbed his face with his hands.

Even if Aizen had forgotten everything and was living well, he might think, “Since I’m passing by this village anyway, maybe I’ll kill that detestable Demon King on the way.”

With his personality, that was entirely possible. And since Aizen was very impulsive, all the more so.

“Come to think of it, there’s a rumor that the Holy Kingdom recently started a large-scale demon extermination.”

“What? There’s such a rumor?”

“Yes. I went to the fish market and met a demon from the village two towns over, and he talked my ear off. Most of it was about territories near the Holy Kingdom, but who knows.”

While shanti continued explaining, Sibel opened up the crystal communicator.

#DemonKingCommunity#

-Rules of Use

-Announcements

-No fraternization, good deeds, or religious solicitation!

(Daily) How long are we going to just sit here watching humans run rampant?

Those yellow-skinned bastards are going around swinging swords in broad daylight now, so why are Demon Kings so quiet?

The general assembly got postponed twice already, and there’s even a rumor that someone at executive level got taken down, though honestly that seems unlikely. If it were true, everyone would know by now.

But isn’t it a fact that the situation is turning strange? Humans openly look down on demons now. Is it okay for demon rights to fall this low?

Seriously, I can’t even sleep worrying about the Demon Realm.

Comments

└Why is this guy making such a fuss, anyone know?

└It’s not fussing, isn’t that a natural reaction?

└The lack of danger awareness is seriously bad. They won’t realize until they get wiped out

└Danger awareness? Hahaha humans running wild isn’t new, it’s always been like this

└Three years ago everyone was screaming demons killing demons and then it got quiet. This place always stirs up crisis when it’s bored

└Come to think of it, how did that incident even end?

└I don’t know?

└Since it’s been quiet, maybe they got killed somewhere while messing around?

└By the way, isn’t the Holy Kingdom overdue to pick a Saintess?

└Saintess? lol how old-fashioned, that’s ancient stuff

└Then what, a Saint-man?

└Open-minded;

└(Original poster) I’m telling you, this isn’t the time for jokes…

└The one who can laugh in hard times is first-class

└(Original poster) I can’t believe I have to discuss the future of the Demon Realm with these idiots

└lol you just write junk posts, stop acting like you made some great discovery

└But really, people do need to stay alert. Human resentment has risen, and the Holy Kingdom is obsessed with bulking up, so the odds of them taking action are high. Being cautious won’t hurt.

.

.

.

Yeah. He had to be cautious. Act relaxed and he’d lose his head.

“It’s true then.”

Shanti’s words were true.

“That’s what I’m saying. Let’s not draw attention and stay quiet.”

“What about me would draw attention?”

“I mean don’t go sneaking into villages trying to catch a glimpse of the Hero or anything.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Well, it’s not like a cowardly Demon King like you would ever do that.”

It was unclear if that was praise or insult. It was hard to even get angry at it.

“Okay. Our Demon King’s castle will stay silent, holding its breath, until all threats disappear.”

Sibel gripped the armrest of his chair tightly and spoke with a solemn expression.

“You say such a cowardly resolution with such dignity.”

Tsk. It really did sound pathetic.

“How do you manage to hold onto your beginner’s mindset so well.”

Shanti dragged a tray piled with cleaning tools as he opened the office door.

“So are you going to clean the altar or not?”

“Let’s go. I was bored anyway.”

So Sibel set aside his troubled thoughts and followed after Shanti.

For the past three years, the only things that had fallen on the tribute altar were bird droppings, but preparation was always important.

***

After a hard day’s work, Sibel had fallen into a deep sleep.

“Ugh….”

In the middle of his sleep, groans came out of his lips. His forehead and neck were drenched in cold sweat.

A vague memory.

A green meadow and blood.

A dream that had begun with overwhelming excitement turned before long into a nightmare.

Everything was burning.

It’s hot. It’s toohot. Save me.

Each time the land burned, pain tore through him as if his body itself was being scorched. The heat felt almost real.

‘…We… can… not… allow….’

The voice broke in pieces, and he couldn’t tell whose it was. But every time that wavering voice reached him, tears almost poured from his eyes.

All he could think was that he had to stop it.

Why? Weren’t they supposed to save me?

It was confusing.

It felt like bleeding in the middle of a puzzle where everything was twisted wrong.

‘…Don’t… fight….’

Suddenly, it felt like everything inside his body was pouring out.

And then, a cold chill swept over his whole body.

The world that had been so hot cooled in an instant. The chill was so biting that Sibel’s jaw trembled in his sleep.

No matter how much he curled his body, he couldn’t escape. Tears welled up in his eyes. Not because his body was in pain. It felt like his heart was being torn apart.

If I endure, it will pass. If I endure. When I wake from this nightmare.

When this terrible dream of unknown origin passes.

***

“Let’s play ‘the floor is lava!’ I’ll set the floor on fire!”

“Then it really will burn, you idiot!”

“Ehh, Raccoon is mad at me!”

The Demon King’s castle was peaceful again today.

Sibel was making guesses about why Kairin kept coming to the Demon King’s castle to play.

Click.

He slowly lifted a teacup with a rose pattern, and the lukewarm tea rippled inside the cup.

“He must not have any friends.”

He never said things like this in front of the child, in case it discouraged him, but looking at all the circumstances, it was clear the boy had no friends.

That was why he came so often to this castle, full of bustling summoned beasts.

“Seems so. Dragons usually live independently in their own lairs.”

“Oh? Really?”

“Their race itself has a deeply solitary nature.”

“Then why is he like that?”

Sibel pointed with his chin at Kairin, who was rolling on the ground with Racoon and Gomdori, bodies tangled together.

“Because he’s young, I guess.”

“Hm.”

That one felt more like a puppy than a reptile.

The tea table in the garden was Sibel’s favorite spot. Sitting at that table under the giant tree, even the midday sun wasn’t bothersome.

Tea time in the shade was Sibel’s favorite moment.

“Lord Sibel.”

Just then, Ramiel approached him. Since living in the Demon King’s castle, Ramiel’s looks had grown more radiant day by day.

Why did he look so much better than when he had first come here? Was life in the castle like a resort?

“You’ve got crumbs all over your mouth again.”

Ramiel wiped away the cookie crumbs at the corner of Sibel’s lips with his finger.

“Ah.”

Sibel finally brushed his mouth clean with his own hand.

“The weather is really nice.”

“It’s the calm before the storm. They say the rainy season is coming soon.”

Sibel had already gone through the rainy season twice. Each time he had lost his memory, but luckily there hadn’t been any disasters like destructive tendencies breaking out.

There were only reports that he had summoned all kinds of strange creatures and laughed madly.

Because of that, after the rainy season ended, there were always strange monsters in the area around the Demon King’s castle.

By now, he couldn’t even remember who was who.

“I wonder what form you’ll take this time.”

“Maybe I should start wearing a raincoat to bed every night from now on. Last time I caught a cold and suffered for weeks.”

“Haha. True, searching outside the castle for you took quite a while. But now you’re pretty good at flying magic, aren’t you?”

“I’m pretty good at flying.”

Sibel could manage flying well enough these days. He lifted his hand and mimed the motion of flying with his fingers.

The bracelet on his wrist caught the beam of light filtering through the leaves and sparkled.

Ramiel, noticing it, looked at the bracelet.

“Does that bracelet have any meaning?”

At his words, Sibel also glanced at his arm.

That bracelet…

In truth, it no longer had meaning. After Aizen had removed the electric shock collar with his own hands, it had been nothing more than a bracelet left as decoration.

But even though it had lost its use, Sibel still couldn’t take it off.