Puki lounged leisurely atop the cloud, its body limp and softly curled, head drooping, completely at peace.
On the tip of its little nose, a huge bubble kept swelling and shrinking in rhythm with its steady, even breathing.
The cloud beneath it trembled lightly.
What had once been soft and relaxed white fluff now looked tight under Puki's weight, no longer as fluffy as before.
The red crocodile beside it suddenly slammed the table hard, a thunderous "bang" tearing through the still air.
It pierced through Puki's drowsiness and reached its ears even in deep sleep.
"Sleep, sleep!"
"Sleep your ass!"
It lifted its head in confusion, looking left and right.
In the end, those innocent eyes landed on Viktor's calm face straight ahead, and it gave a vague, gentle smile in return.
But right after that, its eyelids started fighting again.
In less than three seconds, its head drooped, and it sank back into dreams.
Leighton turned around, looked at Viktor, spread his hands, and let out a sigh.
"Boss, you see? Can't wake it up."
"This lazy mutt just won't listen to anything. We've got no way to deal with it."
Viktor sat across from Puki, one leg crossed over the other.
His gaze stayed fixed on the sleeping little dog.
The demon of Sloth, Puki.
Its method might be the mildest among the Seven Deadly Sins.
Its very presence would keep stimulating the laziness in others, until even walking or eating felt like too much trouble, and in the end, they would sleep themselves to death.
Compared to the tricks of other demons, Puki could indeed be called gentle.
But a demon was still a demon, never anything good.
When Viktor recited this demon's true name, it was the same as holding control over it.
A simple deal was enough to expose this demon's secret.
It didn't matter who had attracted it here.
What mattered was that after arriving at the Cravenna estate, it went straight to Cocotte.
That was something that didn't make sense.
Normally, the Sloth demon wouldn't even bother to look for a host. It only needed to lie around lazily and wait for prey to come to it.
Yet unexpectedly, it was drawn to Cocotte's cloud, white as cotton and soft and adorable.
This kind of soft, fluffy white cloud was obviously perfect for sleeping.
So Puki made a deal with Cocotte. Puki promised to make Cocotte's sleep exceptionally peaceful, so that none of the noise of the world could disturb her dreams.
In exchange, before Cocotte woke up, the cloud would be lent to it for sleeping.
After hearing that, Cocotte agreed without hesitation.
Next, the demon merged Cocotte's consciousness with the garden, letting her sink into endless dreams.
Since plants themselves have no consciousness, having no consciousness is the same as eternal sleep.
So Cocotte, who couldn't wake up no matter what, had clearly been cunningly used by Puki.
As long as she didn't wake up, the cloud wouldn't need to be returned.
For that, one could only say Cocotte had brought it on herself.
Henny looked at the peaceful figures of the elf and the dog in their dreams, worry flickering in her eyes. She asked Viktor uneasily, "Then… how do we wake Cocotte up?"
Viktor answered calmly, "Each demon has its own method, but in the end, they all touch the deepest desires in the heart."
If the desire in Cocotte's heart that had been endlessly magnified could be removed, she naturally wouldn't keep sleeping.
After thinking for a moment, Viktor added, "To prevent it from harming others at will, Henny, let it stay by your side for now, just like Leighton."
Something like a demon, even without possessing anyone, just existing in a space was enough to affect the people around it.
Those with weak willpower were easily drawn in by the demon's invisible temptations, and their emotions would be affected over time.
So keeping it by Henny's side... at least there was Leighton, this veteran demon employee, to keep an eye on it.
Hearing Viktor's calm decision, Henny nodded slightly and replied softly, "I understand."
With practiced ease, she grabbed the little dog by the scruff with one hand, lifted it gently, and placed it on her other shoulder.
The already chubby little dog continued sleeping soundly, looking completely at ease.
After that, Henny looked back at Viktor.
She saw that Viktor's gaze had been fixed on Cocotte, who lay asleep on the bed, and couldn't help thinking to herself, the professor must be figuring out how to wake Cocotte.
'Better not disturb him.'
With that thought, Henny spoke softly to Viktor, "Then, Professor, I'll head out first."
Viktor gave a slight nod in response.
Holding the crocodile in her left hand and carrying the little dog on her right shoulder, Henny moved quietly, taking Cocotte's cloud with her as she left the room.
She carefully closed the door behind her.
Inside the room, Vega, perched on Viktor's shoulder, muttered with slight displeasure, "I didn't expect you to take in another demon."
"You're not really trying to collect all the demons, are you?"
Vega felt confused. It couldn't understand Viktor's collector's habit.
Especially since the Sloth demon had just appeared and easily controlled a fifth-tier mage.
If it had been given a bit more time, maybe a second Yerm could have appeared in the royal city and caused chaos.
Even if the demon grew stronger, Viktor could still deal with it.
But it really couldn't figure out where Viktor had gotten all those demons' true names.
Viktor stood up from his chair and walked to Cocotte's bedside.
Looking at the peacefully sleeping elf queen, Viktor said faintly, "Aren't you curious how Puki showed up?"
Vega blinked in confusion.
"What else could it be? Didn't you say demons attract each other?"
"They do."
Viktor nodded, and at the same time, lightly waved his hand.
A large mirror suddenly appeared beside him.
The mirror reflected him and Vega, and also Cocotte lying on the bed.
At the same time, he continued, "But if no one deliberately draws them in, demons don't just appear."
Back then, Leighton appeared because Jess had been deliberately provoked into anger.
The emergence of Wrath kept pushing Jess's emotions higher, until he couldn't even control his own anger.
And Cocotte now was the same.
Because her laziness had been deliberately triggered, it brought about the appearance of the Sloth demon.
"So…"
Viktor stared at his reflection in the mirror.
The reflection began to distort, and Vega on his shoulder twisted along with it.
The two distorted shadows quickly turned into two swirling vortices, gradually drawing closer and merging into one.
When the chaos finally settled, the 'Viktor' in the mirror had a head that had turned into a pitch-black crow's head.
A deep, single eye flickered with dark light, and it bowed deeply to Viktor outside the mirror.
"You called for me."
The phantom in the mirror was called... Marey Dim.
Viktor looked at Marey.
This mirror demon, once hidden in the mines of the Cravenna territory... had been extremely busy lately.
Although Viktor had gone on a trip and left the empire, he hadn't neglected the students' lessons at the academy.
With Marey Dim taking his place and teaching among the students, everyone naturally treated Marey Dim as his clone.
There were also the 'instances' within the academy. Those 'instance' worlds were all created from Marey Dim's mirror world, and the results were significant.
At least for now, the outcome was very good, and the students' evaluations were high.
However, calling Marey here wasn't for that.
Viktor looked at it and asked calmly, "Now, I need to know exactly what happened."
Marey gave a slight bow and responded in a solemn voice, "As you wish."
Its figure quickly blurred, and faint ripples appeared across the surface of the slightly ancient mirror, like a thin veil of water stirred by the wind.
The veil swept over Cocotte on the bed, deeply imprinting her figure into the mirror.
Soon, the mirror began to expand, growing larger and larger, like a massive viewing window.
Viktor watched the flickering scenes in the mirror, various lights reflecting in his eyes.
He seemed drawn into the images, one hand lightly stroking his chin, a faint smile of satisfaction and appreciation appearing on his face.
"Mm, so that's how it is…"
———
Under a deep blue sky drifted lazy white clouds, and the courtyard was quiet and peaceful.
Henny sat gently on a chair in the middle of the courtyard. A lazy little puppy and a brightly colored little crocodile lay on the cloud.
The pure white cloud spread wide, and little Leighton bounced around on it, completely opposite to the drooping-headed puppy in front of him.
Puki opened its mouth wide and let out a long yawn.
"So, you admit it now?"
Leighton's distinctive loud voice rang beside its ear.
Puki slowly opened its eyes a little and spoke at an unhurried pace, "Before this, I never imagined that in this era, there would still be someone who could call out a demon's true name."
Puki always spoke lazily, just like its nature, its casual tone carrying a strange kind of charm.
Facing Puki, Leighton was full of anger, like it could erupt into flames at any moment.
"Can you stop being so sluggish? I really want to beat you up.", Leighton shouted angrily.
Even though they represented different emotions, this pair felt especially mismatched.
They were like natural enemies, one burning with restless fury, the other so lazy it didn't even want to say a word.
But now, it had to speak.
"You win."
Puki lifted its soft little head and looked at Henny beside it, continuing, "According to the contract between us, the moment you learned my true name counts as your Viktory."
"I will help you accomplish your goal."
Henny sat elegantly on the chair, smiling, her eyes shining with Viktory and confidence.
At some point, a fourth fox tail had quietly grown behind her.
It swayed gently with the wind.