The Demon King's Weak Tail
“W-well? Do you like it?”
“Asking if I like it after you’ve already...”
Ilena had boldly stolen my lips not once but twice, only to ask for my impressions afterward while blushing furiously. But wasn’t my reaction obvious?
“I could die happy.”
“No!”
When I swayed on my feet saying I could die happy, Ilena grabbed my body firmly.
“What are you saying? Don’t die!”
“I mean I’d die happy, not that I want to die. If I did, I couldn’t kiss you again.”
“Kyaaak… How can you say things like that without batting an eye! A-anyway!”
With her face burning red, Ilena pointed back down the path we’d come.
“We can head back now. We’re already here, aren’t we?”
“I don’t want to.”
“You don’t? Then what do you plan to do?”
“What do I plan to do?”
This time I pointed behind her. Ilena followed my finger with her eyes and flinched in surprise.
“M-my house? Why my house?”
“Since we’ve come all this way, let’s go all the way.”
“All the way…? Hyaak!”
When I casually slipped an arm around her waist, Ilena trembled and let out a tiny squeak. Ignoring the sound, I gently pushed her back until we stood before her front door. Then…
“Here.”
I opened the door for her.
“Eh?”
“If I’m walking you home, I should do it properly to the end.”
“Oh… I see. That’s what you meant by the end. Thank you.”
Ilena stepped inside with a faintly regretful note in her voice. She paused at the threshold, glanced back at me, and spoke in a small voice.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? For what?”
“Even though you said you’re mine now, I still don’t know how I should treat you from here on.”
“I’m already happier than I could ever ask for. I really could die happy.”
“D-don’t say that, even as a joke! Not while smiling so contentedly!”
I couldn’t see my own face, but apparently I was grinning like a fool. I waved at her.
“Sleep well. See you tomorrow.”
“Y-yeah. You sleep well too.”
Ilena waved back, then slowly closed the door. I was turning away once it had shut completely when it creaked open again.
“What is it?”
“I have this feeling I won’t get to see your face tomorrow. So I wanted to look at you a little longer while I still can…”
The Demon King who had devoured my lips twice was gone, replaced by nothing but an adorably bashful girl. Still, it was exactly these sides of her that had stolen my heart.
“Don’t worry. If you avoid my eyes tomorrow, I’ll just follow wherever your gaze goes.”
“R-really. You say the most shameless things!”
Ilena narrowed her eyes at me in a glare, yet her lips curved into a sweet smile.
“I’m really going in now. You sleep well too!”
“I’ll try. The second I close my eyes that soft feeling comes rushing back, so it’s definitely going to show up in my dreams.”
“Uwaah… Don’t fall asleep thinking about those kinds of dreams!”
Unable to bear it any longer, Ilena shouted, then mumbled in a voice so faint it was almost lost on the wind.
“I-I can just do it for you again…”
Had I really heard that? If my ears weren’t playing tricks on me…
“Then good night!”
The door slammed shut with a loud bang. Only then did I let out the sigh of relief I’d been holding back.
“Whew. That was close.”
Part of me had wanted to go all the way to the very end… but no. We’d only just begun. If I lost control of my impulses and rushed forward, it would be a disaster. It wasn’t only a question of stages—neither I nor Ilena had any experience. So we had to be extra careful not to make mistakes out of clumsiness. There was no need to hurry. Yes, this was only the beginning.
By the way, the Youth Association gathering I returned to was an absolute disaster. While I’d been walking Ilena home they must have drunk themselves silly; the evidence lay in the empty bottles rolling across the floor.
“Kahaha, this is delicious! So good!”
“Uhaha, you brewed it perfectly! If only we could live on this instead of water!”
The booming laughter of the massive Gebura and Dimitri shook the village hall. In the middle of it all, Hesed and Tiphereth sat facing each other with bright red faces, carrying on a surprisingly profound debate despite the chaos.
“So to improve the meat’s flavor, you really have to make the livestock truly happy. You need good living conditions and delicious feed, right?”
“No, none of that’s necessary. Just give them the minimum food and shelter. For everything else, use magic to trick them into believing they’re happy. As long as they feel happy, that’s enough, isn’t it?”
Were they so drunk they’d forgotten who was sitting right in front of them? They were debating magic, of all things!
But my worry was pointless. Dimitri was completely absorbed in drinking with Gebura, while Malcolm and Kana—true to their sibling nature—had their arms slung around each other’s shoulders and were nodding off in unison. Their heads still bobbed occasionally, so some consciousness remained, but it was only a matter of time.
“Mmm… If that Roen bastard tries anything funny with Miss Ilena, I won’t let him get away with it.”
“Just try not letting him. I won’t let you get away with it…”
“Since when do you call your older brother ‘you’?”
“Aish…”
The two siblings were having a bizarre conversation in their half-asleep state. It seemed to involve me somehow, but I had no desire to jump into a stream-of-consciousness dialogue like that.
“You’re back.”
The only one who noticed my return was Malkuth. Unlike the others, she wasn’t gulping down drink after drink. She sat alone, quietly refilling her own glass and sipping in silence.
“Why are you drinking by yourself?”
“I was waiting for you.”
Even though she’d been drinking slowly, the alcohol had clearly taken effect—her gaze as she looked up at me was rather seductive. It didn’t stir me much, though. The old me might have faltered, but not anymore.
“Stop joking. You think I don’t know that’s your hobby?”
“Hehe, I’ve been caught. You know me too well.”
Besides, I already knew her real hobby was quietly observing other people.
“Roen, even you must find this sight interesting, right?”
“In what sense?”
“Humans and demons mixing together, getting along like this.”
When she put it that way, it really did feel special. The two races that had once fought so fiercely to wipe each other from existence were now tangled up in a raucous drinking party.
Watching the chaotic scene, Malkuth’s slightly unfocused eyes sparkled as she asked,
“What if we demons revealed our true forms right here? What do you think would happen?”
“True forms… They’d be shocked at first.”
Ilena and Malkuth hid their horns, wings, and tails. Tiphereth concealed her spirit wings as well. Gebura had compressed his far larger body with magic, and Hesed had never possessed a fixed physical form to begin with.
“They might be surprised at first. But once they realize you have no intention of harming them, they’d have no reason to be afraid, wouldn’t they?”
“Hoo, that’s true. By the way…”
Malkuth nudged me with her elbow.
“What exactly were you two doing out there?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“Oh my, look at you stuttering. How cute.”
Malkuth gave a sly grin and leaned in, sniffing close to my body.
“What are you doing?”
“I can smell it. You reek of the Demon King.”
“W-what…”
I couldn’t deny the sharp gaze fixed on me. After all, we hadn’t just hugged tightly—we’d shared a long, deep kiss.
“Don’t even think about lying. I’m actually very happy about it.”
“Well, now that I think about it, you were plotting to draw me over to your side.”
“That’s right. If the Demon King couldn’t manage it, I was prepared to seduce you myself. Fortunately it looks like I won’t need to. What a shame.”
When Malkuth reached for the bottle to refill her empty glass, I picked it up and poured for her.
“What’s a shame?”
“If you had come to me instead of the Demon King…”
Malkuth’s eyes flashed.
“I might have become the Demon King myself.”
“You’re quite drunk, Malkuth.”
“This much doesn’t even count. Everyone’s allowed to have dreams. Just like how men dream of possessing every woman in the world.”
“Dreaming and revealing ambition are two different things.”
“Hehe…”
Malkuth laughed pleasantly and drained her glass.
“Why do you want to become the Demon King?”
“Because then I could do whatever I wanted. Even if there’s nothing I desire right now, who knows what I might want later?”
“For such a simple reason…”
“Simple reasons are often the strongest and most stubborn. More?”
“Of course.”
I filled the glass she held out once again.
“Haa, this really is nice. Having a handsome man pour drinks for me.”
“You’re hardly ordinary yourself. A demon calling a human handsome.”
“What? If that’s the case, then our Demon King who fell for you is the real oddity.”
Malkuth emptied her glass in one gulp again, then leaned in and whispered softly into my ear.
“Since that handsome face made the drinks taste even better, I’ll give you a special secret.”
“A special secret…?”
Malkuth added in a hushed voice,
“Our Demon King has a weak tail.”