The Demon King Always Wants to Surrender
Chapter 12
White Bird clutched the black notebook, sitting on the bell tower rooftop, her feathers dancing in the strong wind. Looking down from here, Terminus City resembled an exquisite miniature model, with every detail visible to the eye. She could no longer remember her father’s face, but still remembered her father’s words: We are the kingdom’s watchers, we must remain vigilant from the highest point, keeping all dangers outside the kingdom.
And she had indeed remained vigilant. According to her observations, power still belonged to Seleinu, who handled most matters just as before. Because of this, His Majesty the Demon King had nothing to do and often tended to flowers and plants in the courtyard to pass the time.
White Bird planned to lurk here and catch the Demon King for some big news.
Although Seleinu had indeed warned her, and Oviccollar also greatly respected Seleienu… but what could be more interesting than teasing the Demon King?
She still remembered when she was young, her father had them help incubate those eggs that had lost their parents. Black Bird was a stubborn fellow, sitting rigidly in the warm, smelly nest for three months straight, until the feathers on her bottom wore off in a circle. But White Bird was different—each time she would secretly stuff the eggs into her sister’s nest, then skillfully slip away to find a cool place to read. When they were about to hatch, she would randomly steal a few back to her own nest to hastily complete the task.
Most of the Flying Feather Tribe had limited mathematical abilities and couldn’t tell if there were more or fewer eggs, so she had never failed.
In other words, she was a disobedient bad child. For the Demon Tribe, this was an excellent quality.
Look, wasn’t he coming now? Look at that pale face, not even fully grown, thin and small, just like a human. White Bird smiled behind her mask, casually tossing out the notebook she had caressed for many years, already soaked through with poison, then summoned wind spirits to monitor the courtyard’s movements.
If the Demon King was poisoned to death, that would only prove he was too weak, and weak creatures didn’t deserve to live on their land. Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Seleinu investigated, she was only carrying out the previous Demon King’s orders.
The notebook landed with a THUD on the courtyard path.
The Demon King seemed startled, looking left and right, his gaze falling on the notebook that had fallen from the sky, slowly extending his hand. Yes, just like that, White Bird excitedly leaned forward a bit. Then she saw the Demon King’s hand pass over the notebook and pick up the scattered white flowers beside it.
White Bird: “……”
Didn’t this coward have even the slightest bit of curiosity!
The Demon King was like a diligent gardener, picking up flowers while walking away. White Bird shook her head speechlessly, about to take flight, when she suddenly heard the wind spirits bring back the Demon King’s muttering:
“This sense of déjà vu… Death Note?”
The pupils behind her mask contracted. Oh? He actually discovered the notebook was poisonous?
Not to be underestimated, not to be underestimated. But also more interesting.
Little did she know, the Demon King was only reminded of an old anime. In the anime, a bored Death God, looking for entertainment, deliberately dropped a notebook that could “kill whoever’s name was written in it.” Unfortunately, it was picked up by a rebellious middle schooler with delusions of grandeur, stirring up a storm of bloodshed…
It seemed their new Demon King indeed had some ability. White Bird flew down, picked up the notebook, and dusted it off lovingly. With a turn of thought, she immediately came up with the next surveillance point—the kitchen. This was another detail she had observed: the Demon King would definitely personally select food, personally watch every step from cooking to serving, and wouldn’t even trust others to carry the dishes.
Timid as a mouse, picky as a cat.
White Bird moved quickly, putting a grass-woven cover on the notebook and adding isolating magic, making it look like an ordinary, non-toxic, harmless book. Her method was also simple: place the book on the Demon King’s exclusive plate, so if he wanted to carry the dish, he’d have to first pick up the book and set it aside, then load the food.
The kitchen air was filled with the smell of thick soup, steam, and flame dust. Intermittent conversation drifted over—
“No human meat.”
“But Your Majesty! Human meat is fresh and tender, not like mushroom pigs—that gamey smell can’t be cooked away no matter what…”
“No human meat.”
“Just a little, just a little! We’ll make it special, just add it to your portion alone!”
“Thank you, but please definitely don’t.”
“Fine… no human meat…”
The rat-person chef standing on a high stool rubbed her plump pink palms, then rubbed her cheeks and whiskers, a hint of unwillingness showing in her beady little eyes. There’s a kind of hunger called your mom thinks you’re hungry. She suddenly thought of a good idea:
“We just had a brother die today, trampled flat by a Dragon-person, still fresh! Would Your Majesty like to try some?”
“Chi Chi, listen to me.”
His Majesty the Demon King solemnly pressed the rat-person’s shoulder.
“The situation is tense now, we need to save every grain of food. Leave the meat for the Dragon-people, today please definitely only give me staple foods and vegetables.”
A heartfelt request that caught White Bird, who was eavesdropping outside the door, completely off guard. She unconsciously stroked her feathers, her mood somewhat complex. Could it be that the Demon King was picky only to leave the precious human meat for others? He would rather endure those sticky, mushy, flavorless stews?
The cooking pot boiled with a sharp whistle. The plump rat-person moved the pot aside and put on another wok. Seeing the Demon King about to carry it, she couldn’t help but remind:
“Careful, that pot’s hot!”
“Hm? It’s fine, isn’t there a grass mat here? Just put it on this.”
Grass mat? White Bird’s heart skipped a beat.
When the Demon King walked out of the kitchen carrying the tray, she let out a silent scream. That precious relic of the Demon King was now lying under the scalding hot pot, and she could practically hear its wailing!
Through the mask, the Demon King couldn’t see her breakdown.
“Want to eat lunch together?”
“…Yes.”
She had to quickly find an excuse to get it back!!
However, with Seleinu joining lunch, White Bird’s hope was completely shattered.
A long dining table, with the Demon King and the Grand Duke sitting at one end, White Bird sitting at the far other end. She slightly lifted her mask but still wouldn’t expose her face, absentmindedly poking at a section of fried sausage with her fork, eating without tasting. If she took back the notebook now, she would definitely be discovered by Seleinu.
“Do we have an Agriculture Minister?”
the Demon King took this opportunity to ask.
“What’s an Agriculture Minister?”
Seleinu hesitated.
“……”
“Just kidding.”
Seleinu showed an imperceptible smile.
“We used to have one.”
“Used to?”
Had they died in the war?
“I remember that should have been when I was in my eighties… Our last Agriculture Minister was a rat-person from the mountain valleys. Rat-people are good at everything related to food—sowing, gathering, storing, cooking, and they also patrol territories to count harvests and collect grain in the Demon King’s name. Unfortunately, when patrolling the Dragon-people’s territory, he was accidentally trampled flat.”
Anomis: Dragon-people, you’re constantly causing trouble! …Wait, wait, just how old is Seleinu?
“So, there’s been no Agriculture Minister ever since?”
Anomis couldn’t believe it.
“If you want one, we can appoint one now.”
Seleinu didn’t think this was a problem at all.
Although not holding much hope, Anomis still asked:
“Then how is the Demon King’s territory usually managed? Are there other ministers? Like finance, justice, foreign affairs, military, and such?”
Seleniu was very patient, happy for the human to understand them better.
“Usually, these matters are left to various tribes, and they resolve internal affairs themselves. The tribes’ obligation to the Demon King is to pay taxes regularly, send people to serve when called upon, and respond to war summons.”
Anomis: “……”
So it wasn’t even feudalism… The Holy Empire had already gone through an industrial revolution, and the Demon Tribe was still stuck in tribalism!
At this point, Anomis didn’t know how to continue. He had originally wanted to find the Agriculture Minister first to understand the Demon King’s territory’s land resources and crop varieties, but there wasn’t one now, and he couldn’t just conjure one up. Seleinu was still waiting for him to speak. He was actually still a bit afraid of this demon—he had seen him smile cruelly while snapping human necks, just like wringing a quail. One wrong word and that would be his fate too.
Then Anomis remembered the gray chick’s crying, sobbing and begging not to eat daddy, saying it didn’t matter if they ate her instead.
The Demon King gripped his fork tightly.
“I want to inspect the territory.”
Brief silence. Honestly speaking, Seleinu didn’t want to let him go out—the Demon King’s territory was too dangerous for humans. He said slowly:
“Your Majesty, such matters can just be left to subordinates…”
“I want to understand you better.”
Anomis finally mustered the courage to look directly at the demon. Because he also remembered that Seleinu killed humans to protect his people.
“Not what others say about you, not what’s recorded in books, but you who are standing alive before me.”
After a moment of standoff, Seleinu conceded defeat.
“We’ll need to prepare a Griffin for you first.”
Right at that moment, White Bird suddenly realized something.
Night fell, and White Bird wandered the deep, quiet corridors, gently knocking on the Demon King’s bedroom door. The rigid sister, the weak brother, and the utterly foolish Seleinu—the entire Terminal City had been completely conquered. But she was different, she was the bad child, the highest watcher and the final shield. She did whatever she wanted.
When the door opened, she gently presented the black notebook, speaking sweet words laced with arsenic:
“Your Majesty, this was left by the previous Demon King. I think only you are qualified to possess it.”
Come on, such tempting secrets are right before you—what do you plan to do?
The Demon King made an “Ah” sound and asked the soul-piercing question:
“Why give me something so important? Why not give it to Seleinu?”
“……”
“Does it need the Demon King’s authorization to give it? Fine, I permit it, quickly go return someone else’s father’s relic to them.”
“……”
The firelight flickered, and the bird-beak mask gleamed with mysterious light. For some reason, White Bird suddenly felt this scene was incredibly foolish. She couldn’t just turn around and walk back—that would be even more foolishly beyond measure. No, she didn’t believe it, this fellow of unknown origin must have ulterior motives.
“I have completed my mission.”
She put down the notebook and slowly retreated into the darkness.
“What happens next is your business.”
The Demon King, who had been dragged up from sleep halfway through and was still confused:
“?”
Confused as he was, he didn’t want to hold such a hot potato. Without even touching it, he packaged it up overnight and passed it to Seleinu, embodying the principle of not letting even a leaf touch him. Seleinu was also baffled, but eventually showed a nostalgic expression, lovingly stroking the leather cover. Anomis could only sigh—this guy definitely had high poison resistance.
As if not wanting to awaken something sleeping, Seleinu kept his voice very low:
“March 12th. Mimir said that after becoming Demon King, I can’t act recklessly like before, told me to write more diary entries, to summarize and reflect… What’s there to reflect on! Enemies oppose me, which means I’m doing right—good, eat them all! Friends oppose me, which means friends are also enemies—eat them too! Haha! Awesome!”
“March 20th. Why are there fewer and fewer people around me…”
Seleinu immediately closed the notebook.
After settling for a while, nostalgia for his father still won out, and he opened the diary again.
“April 3rd. Mimir told me to reflect on why there are fewer people. Need to think of ways to increase population. Right, I can create people! I’m such a genius. The weather’s perfect, good for picking up girls…”
“April 4th. Picking up girls.”
“April 5th. Picking up girls.”
“April 6th. Accidentally ate the girl.”
This time, after closing the notebook, Seleinu also cleaned off the remaining poison. He only did this to return the notebook as quickly as possible.
“I respect his wishes. This diary belongs to you.”
Anomis: ’ I get it, I get it, idol disillusionment is like that…’
And White Bird, who had eavesdropped on all of this, thought to herself: ‘Could it be that he really isn’t here to break us apart, but to join this family?’
Anomis, who inexplicably found himself with a hot potato of a Demon King’s diary, really didn’t know how to handle it and could only casually toss it onto his bedroom desk—he’d deal with it later.
He didn’t notice that the diary had fallen open from the impact, opening exactly to the middle page. But even if he had noticed, he wouldn’t have been able to read it anyway.
What was written there was:
“That old fool Mimir, can’t he prophesy something good? I’ll be killed by my son? Hmph, when I have sons in the future, I’ll eat all of them… Wait, I heard that children born with dragons are definitely girls… Good, I’ll go seduce dragon folk right now. There’s conveniently a Frost Giant Dragon up north!!”.
There’s a lot to unpack…