DKFTI 117

The room was filled with the cool scent of the forest. The sound of calm breathing echoed softly.

What once seemed within reach yet had felt forever lost had now become reality, because of a single being that connected the distant past and the present. Leviathan quietly stroked Sibel’s cheek as he slept soundly.

When he looked at him, time beyond measure passed before his eyes. The feelings he had repeated and turned over until they lost all meaning rose again. The more he tried not to forget, the more the memory faded like it was fleeing from him.

Actions that strayed from the natural order sometimes brought irreversible results. A soul branded as a sinner sometimes stepped back, afraid of spoiling the chance to return. Greed and fear could not blend and only consumed each other. A soul that had broken somewhere always reached the same conclusion.

That if he stayed by his side, everything would be healed. That even the choices of the past that could never be cleansed would be forgiven, and he would finally be restored.

Even when he struggled in fear like sinking in a swamp, he still ended up holding the hand of desire.

“Even if it’s blame or disgust, that’s fine.”

That was how he felt. No matter what reproach he received, he could only endure it, and even if no one understood him, there was no reason to feel hurt.

“Just your existence has meaning for me.”

It was ridiculous that after deciding to take all the blame, he still desired.

Then Sibel waved his arm as if Leviathan’s hand on his cheek tickled him and murmured.

“Mm… Ai…zen…”

The name of the human who was wandering through his castle came out of his mouth. Leviathan’s soft gaze turned cold.

“Aizen.”

He repeated the name Sibel had spoken.

Aizen, Apostle of the Holy Kingdom. Seeing him often brought back distant memories. The days he had followed Silvaren. Back then he never had any will to save the world. He could only believe that the wish his god sought to fulfill was also his own will. If his god had desired the world’s end, he would have gladly accepted that too.

So he could understand the apostle who clung to Sibel. Because he knew what kind of heart drove such blind devotion, it made him dislike him even more. He saw in Aizen his own past self.

That look, that behavior, that heart so similar felt like they could cause an unexpected tragedy, just as he once did. Maybe that was why Aizen had caught his eye from the start. A mere human who might last only a hundred years, or perhaps not even that, still irritated him like a thorn under his nail.

But things had changed now. Aizen had abandoned being human, and he was no longer a being who would simply drift by within helpless time.

Perhaps for a hundred years, or even longer. [Read on]If his god wished it, Leviathan had no thought of stopping him from staying by his side, but his heart kept churning.

He had believed he never once harbored the thought of monopolizing his god’s love, neither then nor now, but maybe that belief had been an arrogant illusion.

Now that he had dragged his god down with his own hands, why should he restrain his desire? What more corruption could taint a soul already burdened with original sin?

“Mm…”

Leviathan’s hand, which had lingered near Sibel’s cheek as Sibel frowned and turned, withdrew.

“We must return to the Demon King’s castle soon…”

While he savored the distance that could be closed by a single reach of his hand, black chains tightly wrapped around Leviathan’s body showed. When dawn passed and the sun rose bright, the dark restraints slowly faded from sight.

Then Leviathan spoke softly.

“If you wish it, I can go anywhere.”

At Leviathan’s quiet voice, the crease between Sibel’s brows smoothed. Leviathan smiled gently. The only sound filling the still room was that of burning firewood.

***

The next day, Sibel returned to the Demon King’s castle without issue. It felt like he had been in Genzar for a very long time, but when he counted the days after returning, it had only been about four.

When he had left, Genzar had been in full spring. The cold landscape from when he first stepped there was completely gone. It was strange and frightening. How could the scenery of an entire region change so completely in such a short time? Seeing that made him shiver, as if his existence had become something extraordinary.

“Demon King! Are you listening to me?”

The moment he returned, he had to endure the scolding of the castle’s inhabitants, their eyes burning. Since he had disappeared for days without notice, he could only accept it.

“Why did Lord Leviathan keep the Demon King so long when he wasn’t even fully recovered!”

Ruru crossed his arms and glared at him.

“Shouldn’t you ask him that?”

He probably couldn’t say a word to Leviathan. Ruru had always been meek as a lamb in front of him.

“I’m sure he had his reasons!”

“Why is it that whatever he does has a reason, but when it’s me, I’m the stolen content only one treated harshly?”

“Because I was worried! I was worried!”

“Yeah… worried…”

No matter how he saw it, that was nothing but bullying the weak.

“And! Look at the Hero! He’s neither human nor demon now, he is a mess, and you have to stand by his side! That’s loyalty!”

“A mess?”

Aizen, who had been listening from a distance, answered instead of Sibel.

“A complete mess! Look at me! Do I look like a person to you?”

Aizen’s condition had improved far more than before. Most of his bones and muscles had already regenerated two days ago, and color had returned to his face. The pale, lifeless look had changed to one full of vitality.

“I’m glad.”

Sibel really thought it was a relief that Aizen’s condition had improved. He had stolen content not been in his right mind during the past few days because of the flood of memories, yet even between those gaps, he was worried about Aizen.

“Why did you disappear so completely?”

“Well, I had some aftereffects from all that too…”

So something like realizing his past life. From what he had heard, drinking something like a river’s water was supposed to wash away memories completely. But no matter how much he searched his memories, there was no such river. It was all nonsense.

“So you’re fine now?”

At Aizen’s question, Sibel nodded. There was no pain. It was troublesome that whenever he tried to recall something, the memories of his past life and his present life mixed without any boundary, but at least he had not changed after regaining those memories.

If anything, maybe because he was trying so hard to keep his current self, he became more absorbed in what made up “me.” His memories, his emotions, his own way of living. For Sibel, this was an important matter.

“You’re not in pain, right?”

Sibel nodded again at Aizen’s question.

“Then that’s good.”

But now Sibel had more things he wanted to ask.

“How’s your condition?”

“Good.”

“Your heart doesn’t hurt or anything like that?”

“No.”

“Your magic power? Can you use the power inside you?”

Aizen had now become not only Sibel’s curiosity but a topic everyone wondered about.

“Can you use holy power too?”

Sibel’s eyes sparkled. Ruru also looked at Aizen with curiosity.

Then a thumping sound came from far away. Sibel turned his head toward the noise, and Kairin and Raccoon turned the corner and walked toward them.

“Found you!”

“Oh, really here.”

Sibel naturally thought they were looking for him.

“Hero!”

But they were looking for Aizen.

“Ah, those annoying ones again.”

Aizen clicked his tongue as if he was used to it.

“Why are they acting like that?”

“Perhaps they find me interesting.”

Now that he looked closely, they really did seem excited, like children who had found a fun toy.

“If they stick around, they’ll be a bother.”

“Huh? What?”

When Kairin and Raccoon came closer, Aizen suddenly turned away. He turned his body and began to move, little by little. It looked exactly like he was running away.

“Hey, he’s running!”

“Catch him!”

As the two demons started running, Aizen quickly ran too.

“What’s with them?”

“They’re just curious. It’s rare for a human to become a demon, and none of them have actually seen it. Besides, he’s not just an ordinary human.”

“What do you mean not ordinary?”

“He was an apostle. Even I find it strange every time I see him. Sometimes I get startled by an aura that feels completely different.”

Aizen ran down the corridor with a whoosh, and Kairin and Raccoon chased him.

How could they not even greet the master of the castle?

“Is it really that fascinating…?”

To Sibel’s eyes, Aizen didn’t look all that different from before. Just like a patient who had been sick and then recovered.

“Am I just too dull?”

It was interesting, but he wanted to check somewhere to make sure Aizen’s body was really healing well.

“Is there anywhere we could check Aizen’s condition?”

“It’d be nice if it was something a doctor could fix… Oh, what about him?”

“Who?”

“Lord Leviathan?”

That made him hesitate. Their last Read on parting had been calm, but facing him again felt different because of his past memories. He wanted to avoid it.

“If not him, then how about Lady Lilianthes?”