Extra: News! We Have Been Deceived!

Niku had gone to the underground prison of the Beddhist Church.

She was there to see Dolche, the wraith sent by Haku, who was leisurely… or rather, eerily, spending her time. Her footsteps were a bit loud and she seemed restless.

Dolche, sensing the presence of trouble, appeared before Niku with a weary look.

"Oyah—…? What do you need, Puppy-chan?"

"Dolche-sama, I need to consult you on—rather, I need your cooperation. It's… Goshujin-sama won't wake up."

The consultation was about her master, who was sleeping soundly.

Dolche would have ignored it if it were just about Kehma, but upon hearing that Rokuko was also involved, she sighed.

"If it involves Rokuko-sama, I have no choice but to check… Alright, let me see."

"Thank you."

As they went to Kehma's room with the humanized Dolche, they found Kehma sleeping comfortably in his bed with Rokuko snuggling up to him in a loving embrace.

"… You suspect some kind of curse… is that it? Not waking up does sound like a curse."

"Yes, I have heard there are curses to prevent, one from waking up from sleep."

"Well, with me in this village, even the Curse God would have a hard time with that… After all, I'm a curse expert and I've set up curse defenses… But let me see…"

Dolche placed her hands on the foreheads of the sleeping pair.

She couldn't feel any impurities at all. Rather, they were too clean, as if they were not cursed at all.

Wondering if this was strange, Dolche recalled that she had heard from Haku that Kehma had obtained the [Divine Alarm Clock], the ultimate anti-curse weapon.

The sound of it was a miraculous use of the Dark God's power that could repel all evil. It was said that even the Creation God was afraid of its overwhelming effects and destroyed it, it was the bedding of the old gods.

If Kehma was the owner of that, Dolche reasoned, this excessively clean situation could be possible.

"Yep, there's no curse. They're just sleeping, I think…"

"Um, are they alright?"

"Yeah, they're fine, it's fine. It happens a lot… I mean, Rokuko-sama is a Dungeon Core, and Kehma-san is the founder of the Beddhist Church, yes? They've used the Divine Bedding many times, they might already be demi-gods."

"Demi-god… oh."

Dungeon Cores didn't need food or sleep, but they could indulge in as much sleep as they wished if they ever had the urge to. This was because Dungeon Cores were children of the Dark God—meaning they were demi-gods—and similarly, given that Keima had become a demi-god, it wouldn't be strange for them to sleep as much as they wished as long as they received faith.

"So, it should be fine… probably."

"I see, thank you, Dolche-sama."

"Mm, no problem~, no problem~. I have some work to do, myself…"

And so, Niku, who had always thought her Goshujin-sama was a being beyond humans, was brilliantly deceived by the words of Dolche, the curse expert.

Furthermore, Dolche had judged there was no problem and reported as such during the regular report. The report was mainly about how they were sleeping together, so the whole part about them not waking up was entirely forgotten about.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"Goshujin-sama and Rokuko-sama aren't gettin' up."

"Maybe they're just getting along well?"

Meanwhile, Ichika had also come to consult at the Beddhist Church separately from Niku. Her consultation partner was the Head Succubus Sister, Suira.

Through various circumstances, Suira, the Succubus, and Ichika, the Dungeon Associate, had become close enough to have open conversations. Of course, they had permission from Kehma to do so.

"No, no, even so, not waking up for a whole day's impossible. Could ya take a look? Dreams are yer specialty, yeah? They've gotta be eating somethin' incredibly delicious in their dreams."

"Hah… Well, alright."

So, Ichika brought Suira to Keima's bedroom. Inside, Keima was sleeping comfortably in the middle of his bed with Rokuko snuggling close to him.

"Ah, please make sure not to wake 'em up."

"… Don't you want them to wake up?"

"If they're dreaming of eating somethin' delicious, and they woke up they'd miss out on eatin' it in their dreams, ya'know? That's unforgivable. I'd be just punch the crap outa whoever did it if it was me."

"I… see…?"

With that said, Suira carefully used her power as a Succubus—as a ream demon, diving into their dreams.

Ichika saw Suira turn into black particles and disappear along with her clothes.

While gazing at Kehma's carefree sleeping face, Ichika waited for a while. Suira soon returned, gathering from the shadows.

"How'd it go?"

"Um, both of them were dancing and eating a giant kraken the size of this inn."

"A giant kraken."

Squids and octopuses were relatively common to eat in their world thanks to Ishidaka's teachings (of course, that was limited to non-poisonous species). However, it was rare to eat such a big catch. Even if you tried to catch one, your ship would be sunk instead.

"So they're not havin' a nightmare of being attacked?"

"Kuro-chan sliced off the tentacles and Founder-sama used magic to cook them. Rokuko-sama and Founder-sama were enjoying the meal together. The kraken would quietly regenerate its tentacles and the cycle continued. It seemed like they were eating endlessly."

"An all-you-can-eat buffet, huh?"

"Indeed, they were eating voraciously without even glancing away. Just watching them made me feel full."

Ichika nodded, understanding.

"So, should we wake them up?"

"No, let's not wake them. If they're eatin' in their dreams, won't they wake up soon as they're done eating?"

"Can you actually finish a feast or become full in a dream?"

"Happens to me. When I wake up, my stomach is ready and growls all at once."

"That's a high-quality dream."

With that, Ichika decided to let Kehma and the others sleep until they woke up on their own.

"Well, we'll check on 'em again if they don't wake up for another day."

"Understood."

And thus was how even Ichika, who had decided that she would never want to wake up from that herself, was deceived.