Chapter 36: My King Will No Longer Be Lonely

Reji admitted his mistake.

He had misspoken, almost leading Shermen to think he meant a funeral home, nearly directing him towards a graveyard.

It should have been called a hotel in this world.

After finding a nearby hotel and checking into a room, Reji, dragging his weary body, lay on the bed and sighed deeply, finally able to rest properly.

Currently, he was just an ordinary human with all attributes at one.

He didn't have the demonic race's abnormal stamina.

Since crossing over, he had been on constant alert, and as soon as his head touched the pillow, waves of sleepiness surged over him. Reji wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right then and there.

But before that, there was one issue he needed to address.

"Shermen."

"Could you come down from the ceiling?"

Lying on the bed, Reji only had to glance up to see Shermen, who was in a corner above, hanging from the ceiling in an angle that defied physics, yet somehow managing to keep her cloak from falling.

Although the comparison might be a bit unkind,

To Reji, it felt like there was a giant bat in the room, making it hard for him to fall asleep.

Thankfully, Shermen's cloak was black.

Had it been white, It would have felt like a giant moth had entered the room.

"Sorry, did I disturb my king's rest?"

Shermen immediately descended from the wall, finding a new way to keep watch over Reji for the night.

Silently standing by the side of Reji's bed.

Staring straight at Reji.

After Reji closed his eyes for a few seconds, he couldn't help but open them again and eventually sat up in bed.

"Come, Shermen, sit here."

Reji patted the space next to him on the bed.

The old routine.

"Shermen, you don't have to do this. Sleeping on the other bed is fine."

Reji gently persuaded, pointing to the bed not far from his side.

Reji didn't book two rooms.

Such considerations are only human concerns; they don't exist among the demonic race. Moreover, Reji indeed needed Shermen's close protection, just in case.

A double room, each sleeping on their own bed, how nice.

But Shermen shook her head.

The Shadow Demon was nothing if not sincere.

"My King, I'm not accustomed to it, nor do I need it."

'Alright then'

'After all, living habits differ'

For a Shadow Demon accustomed to dwelling in caves and crevices, the ceiling was as good as a bed, and a bed, in Shermen's view, might indeed seem like a strange way to sleep.

"My King, please allow me to return to the shadows; that way, I won't disturb my king's rest."

Shermen must have noticed she was making Reji uncomfortable and immediately requested to do so.

However, Reji shook his head right away.

He wasn't deceiving Shermen when he mentioned feeling lonely. After all, his companions from the game were from a millennium ago, and even the past where he was hailed as the savior and the Son of Destiny seemed to have been forgotten by the world.

The anticipation he had for the human world seemed to vanish suddenly, turning from familiarity to strangeness.

Ironically, the ones who most vividly remember him as the "Son of Destiny," constantly mentioning it, were the demons in the game that he had sealed away, nearly leading to their extinction.

Even now, those who care about him the most, considering him of utmost importance—the Wisdom Demon Leo, the Succubus Eileen, and Shermen before him—are all demons.

Reji shook his head.

He actually had a relatively high affinity for this Apostle.

Shermen retreating into the shadows was one thing; her constant expenditure of power without rest was another, although, for Shermen, such consumption might not be significant.

But Reji didn't want that.

Unable to find a better solution for the moment, Reji decided to endure it and let Shermen stay at the head of the bed, watching over him.

However,

Looking at the petite Shadow Demon sitting beside him, Reji suddenly had a mischievous thought.

It was something he had always, always wanted to do in the game.

"Shermen, come a bit closer."

Reji commanded immediately.

As the obedient Shadow Demon moved closer, only a few centimeters away from him, Reji, feeling a rush of excitement, reached for Shermen's cloak.

"May I take it off?" Reji held back his curiosity and chose to get Shermen's approval first.

"My king can do anything he want"

Shermen's tone sounded indifferent.

Seeing this, Reji no longer held back, lifting Shermen's cloak.

He had been curious about this for a long time.

It could be ranked among the top of Reji's list of "The Ten Unsolved Mysteries of Magic Chronicles."

Always cloaked, always hidden in shadows, what did the true form of the Shadow Demon apostle look like?

As the cloak was lifted, the shadows enveloping Shermen's entire body also dissipated under the moonlight streaming through the window.

What was revealed was a... Little loli.

To be precise, a purple-haired little loli with a horn on her head, black pupils, and only as tall as Reji's chest.

Perhaps due to years without exposure to sunlight,

Shermen's skin was exceptionally pale.

Her eyelashes were long, like velvet snow, sweeping across with a gaze that conveyed a strong sense of aloofness, as if she were distancing herself from everything.

Similarly, although Shermen had the youthful face of a loli, the sparse expression on her face seemed as though she had lived for tens of thousands of years.

Well,

Not seemingly—according to the lore, Shadow Demon apostles indeed have lived for over ten thousand years.

A ten-thousand-year-old loli.

Having satisfied his curiosity, Reji was about to put Shermen's cloak back on her when a glance at something unexpected halted his actions—a tattoo that shouldn't have been on Shermen.

A tattoo.

On the inside of Shermen's arm was a light pink, enchanting flower pattern resembling a peach heart.

Reji recognized the pattern instantly.

'That... Wasn't that the Succubus's seductive demon mark?! Why is it now on Shermen?!'

Noticing Reji's gaze,

A rare flutter of panic appeared on Shermen's usually impassive face. She seemed to remember something all of a sudden and quietly turned her arm, trying to cover the mark as if nothing had happened.

But obviously, it was impossible to ignore.

"Shermen, explain"

Under Reji's questioning, Shermen could no longer avoid his gaze and honestly answered:

"My King, this was given to me by Eileen before we departed."

"She hoped that with this, I could better protect my king."

In the silent room late at night, after hearing Shermen's words, Reji fell silent.

He was well aware of the significance of the demon mark for a Succubus—it was almost like giving half of her origin power to Shermen.

Due to the influence of his first life cycle, Reji's subconscious still regarded the demonic race as evil, always on guard.

But in just one day, from the perspective of a Demon King interacting with the demonic race, Reji could feel his inner attitude continually changing.

"Thank you, and also thank Eileen for me. I've accepted your intentions."

"No, My king, it's our duty."

"Alright, rest now. We have important matters tomorrow."

Reji gently draped Shermen's cloak back over her. This time, he didn't impose any restrictions on how Shermen should stay; she could do as she pleased.

He closed his eyes, and perhaps because his mood had shifted, Reji quickly fell asleep in bed.

For the first few minutes, Shermen, as before, silently stood by the side of Reji's bed, watching over and guarding the sleeping king.

But soon, a hint of hesitation appeared on Shermen's face under the cloak.

After a slight struggle,

For the first time, she actively took off her cloak, and then, very quietly, making absolutely no noise to not disturb Reji, she climbed onto Reji's bed.

Afterward, Shermen didn't do anything else. The petite body of the Shadow loli lay quietly beside Reji.

'In this way, my king wouldn't feel so lonely anymore, right?'

Shermen thought silently to herself.