Chapter 32: A Fortunate Turn in the Demon King's Castle

"Compared to this, what we are about to do next is the matter of utmost importance... Are you ready, Artotai?"

Mino’s voice was kept very low in the dark of night, sounding extremely solemn.

Artotai rolled over lazily. "Isn't it just a prison break? It's not your first time."

"That’s different. This time, we possess all the necessary conditions to escape the Demon King's Castle!"

Mino produced two keys from his pocket. He used the first to gently unlock the prison door.

"Next, we just need to find the main gate of the Demon King's Castle and open it with the other key, and we’ll be out! Do you know what this means?"

"What does it mean?"

"It means we’ve already succeeded halfway!"

Artotai fell silent for a moment, deciding not to engage further with Mino on the subject of mathematics.

Mino stepped out of the cell. Silent darkness enveloped the entire Demon King's Castle. He gulped. "Artotai... we won't run into any ghosts, will we?"

Artotai couldn't help but roll his eyes. "If you want to think of the worst-case scenario, you might even run into a demon! You're a grown man, how can you still be afraid of—ah!"

Suddenly, Artotai’s blade began to tremble, pointing in a certain direction. "M-my master, there’s a ghost..."

Mino’s hair stood on end as he looked in the direction Artotai indicated. Under the moonlight, a white-furred monster shimmering with luminescence emerged from the shadows. It looked like a small sphere, covered in messy hair that resembled tangled seaweed.

The next moment, that fur-ball lunged straight at Mino!

"Ah, damn it! Stay away from me!!!!"

Mino’s scalp tingled as he took off running. As the distance grew and the white fur-ball faded into the distance, Mino grinned triumphantly. "This is the speed that no one can stop!!!"

"...Have you noticed that you're running in the wrong direction?" Artotai said in a muffled voice.

Mino turned his head to find a wall looming before him, as if it had accelerated to block his path.

"A dead end? You’ve got to be kidding me!" Mino stopped, his eyes wide, belatedly realizing that this floor had no side paths; the only way to run was to go downstairs.

In an instant, the fur-ball from behind caught up.

*Thump!*

A soft, weightless impact landed on his calf. Before Mino could even turn around, he felt a furry weight clinging to his right leg, constantly nuzzling against him.

"Ah... woo..."

Mino froze upon hearing the familiar sound. He slowly turned around and brushed aside the messy white hair near his feet. The damp hair parted to reveal a delicate, soft-looking face.

"Mia?!"

Mino exclaimed in surprise. He picked up the white-haired little girl who was clinging tightly to his leg and rubbed her messy hair with a speechless expression. "You ran out before even drying your hair...?"

Mia blinked her large, sparkling eyes. Whether she understood Mino or not, she simply wrapped her small, tender arms tightly around his back, flashing an angelic, childlike smile.

"Woo!"

Mino didn't ask how Mia had appeared so silently; after all, she couldn't answer in human language... He was already accustomed to this little ghost’s habit of appearing and disappearing throughout the Demon King's Castle.

"You’ve come at the perfect time. Today, I’m going to take you out of the Demon King's Castle! Oh!" Mino waved his arm.

Mia’s eyes brightened, and she waved her chubby little arms too.

"Oh!"

Holding Mia in one arm, Mino’s earlier nervousness vanished. For some reason, his state of mind became incredibly calm and composed, as if the entire Demon King's Castle were his to roam at will. His steps felt light as air.

"Anyway, let’s just push open a random room and see."

The drawback of carrying the Demon King's Castle key was that the rooms entered were completely randomized. Although Mino considered his luck to be near zero, he figured that as long as he kept trying, he would eventually find the main gate.

He strode down to the next floor with an air of bravado, aimed at a door, turned the handle, and pushed it open.

The room was sparse. Aside from a simple wooden wardrobe and a desk, there was only... a familiar coffin placed alone in the center.

At the desk, a zombie girl wearing simple cloth pajamas stared blankly at the intruder, tilting her head.

"Mino?"

Fim looked at Mino with confusion, then her gaze drifted strangely toward Mia in his arms, her brain seemingly experiencing a system hang: "Demon... Lady Mia?"

Recalling the instructions Kretina had given them not long ago, Fim slowly corrected herself. She thought for a moment, then turned to look at a comic book resting in the coffin, seemingly associating the scene with the tropes within.

"Open the door, pervert."

"That’s not it at all!!!"

Mino’s eyes widened instantly. "Don’t look at me with that perverted gaze! I’m not some manga protagonist with max luck who accidentally stumbles into a fan-service scene every time he opens a door!"

"Wait... let me think. Right, this was something I did intentionally!"

He thought for a moment, and then, with pride, he produced the "irrefutable proof" from his heart.

"Your explanation makes it even worse!" Artotai retorted loudly.

Mia, lying in Mino’s arms, giggled. Her hands reached out toward Fim, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. "Fi... Fi..."

Only then did Mino notice that under the dim candlelight, Fim was holding the silver needle and thread he had seen on the table earlier, meticulously stitching a jagged tear in her body.

The wound extended from her left shoulder to her armpit, nearly separating her left arm from her shoulder. Fim had to pull down the strap of her clothing slightly to reveal her fair, rounded shoulder, using the needle and thread to stitch the wound gap shut bit by bit.

Noticing Mino’s gaze fixed on the needle and thread in her hand, Fim’s movements stiffened for a moment. Then she lowered her head, a faint blush spreading across her grey-white cheeks.

"Mino, if you want to look, you can..."

"What is going on?! For a zombie demon, is stitching a wound equivalent to showing off undergarments?!" Mino was shocked.

While gently rocking Mia in his right arm, he watched Fim’s sewing in silence. There were three or four visible wounds on Fim’s body that required stitching to maintain her structural integrity.

"No need, to worry. Battle wounds, Fim, can heal."

Seeing that Mino hadn't looked away, Fim simply blushed deeper and buried her head further, not stopping her work. She explained while sewing: "These, are natural. After all, Fim, is just a demon."

"Do not use, human perspective, to feel, surprised."

Fim spoke as concisely as possible. Due to her physical construction, it was difficult for her to speak human language fluently, so she always expressed herself with extreme brevity to avoid making her interlocutor impatient.

However, she soon realized that Mino, who was listening quietly, had a focused and earnest expression on his face, showing not a hint of impatience.

And so, Mino rarely heard Fim say even more.