A Demon Lord's Tale: Dungeons, Monster Girls, and Heartwarming Bliss

Chapter 113

Sharing an Evening Drink

That evening, Lefi and I found ourselves doing the usual . We sat cross legged and faced each other in front of a game board as we engaged in a battle of wits . By the usual, I meant the usual . Board games had become one of the dungeon"s staples, and we almost never pa.s.sed on them before bed .

"Hey Lefi . " I called out to the dragon girl as I got ready to enact Operation Help Lefi Relax . It was the perfect time for it . Illuna and s.h.i.+ were asleep, and the maids had already retreated to their room for the night . "Do you drink?"

The game we were playing was shogi, kind of . To be more exact, it was shogi with handicaps . I had chosen not to use either my bishop or my rook in order to even out the playing field . The whole situation made it sound like Lefi was bad at the game . And frankly, she was . But the dragon had come a long way from where she started . The handicap had been a lot more significant at first, as it had also included both my gold and silver generals .

"That is a given . I would be surprised to hear of a dragon that does not . " said Lefi . "However, while I do enjoy the substance, I must admit that I prefer treats of a much sweeter variety . "

"Dragons love booze? That"s a shocker . "

"My race"s thirst for the substance runs so deep that some amongst us have been known to attack cities in order to acquire it and sate their thirst," said Lefi, exasperated . "I believe it should come as no surprise that fools who know so little patience often meet their fate at the hands of those that they had wronged . "

Welp . That"s karma for you . Can"t say you"d really deserve much else for causing a bunch of trouble just "cause you wanted booze .

"I do find this sudden question of yours quite strange, Yuki . " Lefi stopped staring at the board and turned her eyes on me curiously . "I was under the impression that you disliked drinks of an alcoholic nature . "

"Nah . I mean, you"re kinda right . I"m not much of a drinker, but it"s not like I hate the stuff," I said . "So anyway, you remember how I saved that king or whatever? He more or less rewarded me by giving me several bottles of this super high-cla.s.s wine he happened to have . It"s pretty good, so I figured you might like some . "

"You say that the drink is so delicious that even you enjoyed it? Very well . I shall partake . "

I produced a pair of drinking gla.s.ses from my inventory alongside one of the bottles I had gotten from the king . A delicious mellow scent began drifting about the room the moment I popped off the cork .

I poured a bit of wine into each of the two gla.s.ses and handed one to Lefi, who promptly raised it to her face and inhaled its alcoholic fumes .

"It bears quite the fragrant scent," she said .

"Right? Oh yeah, this stuff goes down your throat super easy, so make sure you keep track of how much you drink," I said . "Unless you don"t mind being the first to get wasted . "

"You believe that you would be able to outdrink me? Preposterous!" Lefi"s face twisted into a dauntless grin . "Listen well, Yuki . Dragons are creatures known for their ability to consume copious amounts of alcohol . As the ruler that stands upon the species" apex, I a.s.sure you that no such thing will happen . "

"Heh, bulls.h.i.+t . You know what we call that, Lefi? Overconfidence . " I returned her grin with a fearless smirk of my own . "And overconfidence is a poison . All it does is set you up for someone to turn the tables on you . "

"Hah . Run your mouth as much as you please . Soon, your defiance shall turn into submission," she scoffed . "Very well . I shall tentatively believe your claims and hope to see that you live up to my expectations, Yuki . "

"Bring it on!" I cackled . "I"ll show you just what a demon lord can do . "

The two of us raised our gla.s.ses and clinked them against each other before each taking a sip of the devil"s nectar .

***

"So uhhh…Lefi… you sure you"re okay? I dunno if drinking any more is exactly what I"d call a good idea . "

"Sheashe your pwaddoling . You need not be conshenred!" The dragon replied to my question in an adorable display of drunken rage . Her cheeks were dyed red, and her eyes were glossed over . Yet, she continued to drink . And even that action served to demonstrate just how drunk she was . Wine spilled out from the corners of her mouth . The way the excess liquid dribbled down her neck and ran down her chest was so erotic that I couldn"t deny its appeal .

The Supreme Dragon was drunk . Dead drunk . Her head tottered to and fro as she spoke with a distorted lisp . Despite her claims, she had turned out to be a total lightweight . Er, actually that"s not quite right . I guess it"s more like she was more of a lightweight than I"d imagined, "cause she did technically have a lot .

Lefi drank much less than Nell, but she did still have a bit more than what the average person would be able to handle . Wasn"t I supposed to be the one not living up to her expectations? Why"s it the other way around? What happened to dragons being heavy drinkers?

I smiled wryly as I headed over to the kitchen and got her a gla.s.s of water .

"Here, you might want to have some of this . "

She took the gla.s.s from me and immediately drained its contents . She moved both it and the shogi board out of the way once she was done and then laid her head down in my lap . She was warm; I could feel the heat of her body through her thin nightgown .

"What, giving up already?" I taunted .

"Of course not . What a ridiculous proposition," said Lefi . "I am merely in the midst of a brief respite . I shall resume shortly . "

Apparently, the water I gave her had caused her to sober up a bit . She no longer sounded like someone that had too much to drink .

Truth be told, this same process had already happened several times already . She had repeated a cycle of getting hammered and sobering up, with both processes taking only a relatively short period of time . I mean, I guess the whole copious amounts of alcohol claim wasn"t all that wrong after all . She can technically drink a h.e.l.luva a lot of booze in one night if she keeps this up . Just… maybe not all at once .

I smiled at her, placed a hand on her head, and started running my fingers through her beautiful silver hair .

“Hey, Lefi . ”

“Mmn?” She responded to me with a groan as she adjusted herself to be a bit more comfortable .

"You"ve been pus.h.i.+ng yourself pretty hard lately, huh?"

"I-I have not," she turned her eyes upwards towards me as she answered . "W-Whatever are you talking about?"

“Come on . We’ve known each other for almost half a year now . You can"t fool me," I said . "You"ve been acting h.e.l.la different ever since I got back . "

"…"

She kept silent, I kept talking .

"I don"t know what you heard from Lyuu, Leila, or whoever, but you don"t really need to keep pus.h.i.+ng yourself out of your comfort zone . Messing around with you is fun, and so is watching you do the things you enjoy . So you don"t have to try to act a certain way . You can just, you know, be you . "

"I am not… pus.h.i.+ng myself outside my zone of comfort…" She averted her gaze and started to speak in a bit of a bashful tone . "I admit that I have done many things that even I may find peculiar as of late . They are things that I am not accustomed to, but they do not bring me discomfort . "

Her face started to turn red .

"I-I am frequently initiating physical contact, touching you, b-because discomfort is precisely the opposite of the emotion it dredges from within me," she said . "I-I find myself longing for the comfort of your touch, Yuki . "

Lefi"s skin, which was usually as white as a clean sheet of snow, had turned as red as a tomato . The look on her face was so adorable that it felt like my eyes were glued to her . I couldn"t take them off her face even if I tried .

And as I stared, I could feel my heartrate begin to quicken .

"The time for respite has ended . " Lefi got off my lap and crawled back over to her seat . "Cease with the silly expressions and provide me another bottle of wine . This one is empty . "

"S-Sure…" I realized that I had been enchanted by her charm and that I probably looked like an idiot, so I quickly tried to cover it up with a sigh of exasperation . "Wait . You want to drink more!?"

"Of course . And it follows without question that we shall also resume our game of Shogi . "

"Alright, alright . " I turned towards the board as I spoke, only to find that something was wrong . "Wait a second! You totally spun the board around! And you"ve definitely moved a bunch of s.h.i.+t too!"

"I see not why you are accusing me of such foul play despite lacking the evidence to back your claim," she said . "Or is this perhaps just another childish way for you to acknowledge your defeat?"

Lefi"s face, which was still tinged in a slight shade of red, was covered by a triumphant grin .

"Son of a…" I sighed as I grabbed another bottle of wine from my inventory . "Alright, you know what, fine . You"re on . We can call all this just another part of the handicap . I am thatmuch better than you at this, after all . "

And so, the two of us continued to hang out throughout the night, stopping to pa.s.s out only once we were both too drunk to function .