"Hey, Fallen Scale, you're still not sleeping? Don't you have guard duty tomorrow?"
At night, in the guards' dormitory, Fallen Scale's roommate asked Fallen Scale, who was staring at her own arm under the candlelight.
At this moment, on that beautiful arm covered in scales, there was a pretty wound wrapped in white cloth.
"Sister Black Horn... What did it feel like when you came of age?"
"Coming of age?"
The older dragon guard sat down beside Fallen Scale, propping her head up with the back of her claw as she recalled.
"Hmm... My whole body was burning hot, and then for some reason, your silly brother-in-law and I took a liking to each other... That's about it."
"T-took a liking to each other?"
"Ah, to put it simply, it's the feeling of wanting to have his babies as soon as you see him."
"..."
"What's wrong?"
"Um, Sister Black Horn, I, I think I might be coming of age soon too."
"Huh? Really? That's great news! Fallen Scale, you're the best female dragon in our tribe. So, do you have anyone you've taken a fancy to? I'll go put in a good word for you, I'll even help you tie him up and bring him back."
"Haha..."
Fallen Scale smiled at her enthusiastic fellow tribeswoman in front of her, but didn't respond.
This sister was always known for her warmth and kindness, and had a good relationship with many dragon people in the Demon Lord's Castle, including herself. She was also an excellent hunter and warrior.
But, Sister Black Horn, this person is someone you really can't tie up and bring back.
Thinking back to what Black Horn had just said, a hint of blush flashed across the face of the young dragon girl whose heart had just begun to stir.
This secret about her coming of age would probably have to be hidden as a secret she would conceal for the rest of her life.
And having babies... Could she really... give birth to them?
No no, Fallen Scale, what are you thinking? This is a desecration of the Demon Lord and the Demon King...
Fallen Scale quickly shook her head, throwing out this unrealistic fantasy.
The Demon King... is human. She already knew this before she saw him today.
At first, she was very puzzled as to why the Demon Lord would choose a human as her mate, but now... she could understand the Demon Lord's feelings a little bit.
"Speaking of which, Fallen Scale, didn't you go see the Demon King today? What's he like?"
"The Demon King..."
At the mention of this, Fallen Scale unconsciously smiled.
"He is a very different person from other humans..."
...
On Lister's side, after receiving the last monster, he stretched lazily and got up from his seat.
Originally, according to Anko and Priscilla's plan for today, it was just to let the people in the castle get to know him, their new master. It was only at his suggestion that it turned into something like a free clinic.
At first, Anko actually didn't agree with his idea. After all, he was the Demon King, the mate of the Demon Lord who ruled the demon realm. Even if he wanted to appear approachable, there was no need to go this far; on the contrary, Priscilla was much more open-minded and quickly agreed to Lister's idea.
After all, she was the one who had stayed with him in that border area.
And judging from the results, today was still quite successful. He could clearly feel that quite a few monsters had goodwill towards him, such as that child named Fallen Scale who was a bit similar to Priscilla.
Conflict will not end because of one person, but reconciliation must start with one person.
This was the same for both humans and monsters.
At this moment, Anko also came over to the side and served Lister a steaming cup of black beverage.
"Good work, Mr. Lister."
"It's alright... Thank you, Anko."
Today there were only a few dozen monsters, and most of them didn't really have any illnesses that needed treatment, just some small issues unique to their race.
You should know that when Lister was a resident physician, he had to see several times more patients in a day, and each one was fierce and impatient. In comparison, these well-behaved and dazed monsters were much cuter.
Of course, this was also thanks to Priscilla's influence.
While thinking, Lister picked up the drink Anko handed him.
He still remembered this. A few days ago, when he was making stew for Priscilla, he also saw Anko prepare this beverage called "Mokanato" for Priscilla.
Lister took a sniff, hmm... a very strong cocoa aroma.
He took a sip, and a rich bitterness exploded on his taste buds. He could also taste quite a bit of unground bean dregs in the liquid. Although there were still some differences in certain aspects, this Mokanato basically had the flavor of coffee.
Just like the red spider lily he saw in the Demon King's garden before, it was another plant very similar to those in his previous world.
"Is it to your liking, Mr. Lister?"
"It's very good, just a bit too bitter... This is called... 'Mokanato', right?"
"Yes, I'm surprised you still remember."
"Is this a beverage brewed from a powder ground from a kind of black bean?"
"...Yes. The demon realm calls these beans Arabica beans. Have you... seen them before?"
After hearing Lister's description, Anko was stunned for a moment, then answered with a bit of surprise.
"Sort of."
Lister smiled at Anko, then put down this cup of "coffee".
Too bitter, bro.
However, he was still very interested in this crop.
"Anko, do you know from which part of the demon realm these beans are produced?"
"The place of production? I'm not very familiar with it... However, this is an annual tribute to the Demon Lord's Castle from the Arachne tribe living in the southern rainforests of the demon realm... If you're interested, I can help you investigate."
"No need, I was just asking casually."
Arachne, huh...
In Lister's mind, the image of a monster with the upper body of a beautiful girl and the lower body of a ferocious spider appeared. The entire Arachne tribe consisted only of females, which was related to their unique way of reproduction...
Just before, he had even treated a young Arachne girl. At that time, she was nervously tapping her eight little feet, going click-clack, which was very cute.
However, since coffee existed, for Lister, it was inseparable from the word sugar.
But he searched his mind countless times and couldn't find the corresponding word "sugar" in the monster language. The closest meaning was the natural "honey".
"Anko, I want to ask... In the demon realm, is there a technique for making 'honey' in an unnatural way?"
"Making honey?"
Anko tilted her head in confusion. This was the first time she had heard this term.
"There isn't... Mr. Lister, honey is a very precious thing in the demon realm. Rather... sweet things are very precious in the demon realm. However, the demon realm is short on resources, and most monsters already have a hard time just filling their stomachs, so it's difficult for them to pursue these flavors."
"That's true."
Lister responded, but he still kept this in mind.
Since there were cocoa-like crops in the demon realm, there should also be sugar crops. It's just that the monster people, who had always been burdened by survival, had not yet developed them.
He would pay a bit of attention to this later.
Seeing that Lister had no more questions to ask, Anko cleared her throat.
Just now, while watching Lister from the side, from a succubus's perspective, she discovered some strange phenomena.
"Mr. Lister, if you don't have anything else to do now, please listen to me tell you some things."
"Go ahead."
Anko stood in front of Lister, her eyes glowing purple, constantly probing Lister's entire body, but the result made her frown.
"I sense something strange about you."
...