Reinhild kicked off his “Find What’s Blocking My Mana Recovery Project” the very next day.
When does mana recover best even without deliberate channeling?
First, when you’re immersed in nature.
And second…
When you sleep.
A Demon King spends mana not only when casting magic, but even while speaking, eating, walking—simply moving.
In truth, that’s true of all living things, not just Demon Kings.
Conversely, while asleep, mana naturally seeps into the body through breathing.
It’s slower than training-based mana work, but compared to putting in no effort, you can accumulate more than you’d think.
That doesn’t mean the answer is to sleep endlessly.
There are studies showing that, on average, the amount of mana the heart gathers during sleep roughly matches what you expended the previous day. In other words, you can’t expect to grow stronger solely through sleep-breathing.
Your “container” for mana has a fundamentally fixed size; hoping for more just by sleeping is wishful thinking.
But Reinhild’s case was a little different. The amount of mana he could metabolize was enormous, beyond comparison to a mere human.
It was simply… empty.
Which meant that with long sleep he could gather more than he currently had.
It was mana in the literal sense of “recovery.”
If something had gone wrong with Reinhild’s recovery, the likeliest time for the problem to occur was while he slept.
And I’m always glued to Xion when I sleep, aren’t I?
This was serious.
He couldn’t possibly sleep apart from Xion just to restore mana.
They only had one bed, too. What was he supposed to do?
He needed a solution fast.
I have to check what changes when Xion falls asleep.
Reinhild silently snickered, impressed with his own judgment.
And from beginning to end, Xion watched him doing exactly that.
Xion had no idea what he was plotting, but the grave look he’d worn a moment ago had brightened, so that was a relief.
That Reinhild was up to something sneaky was certain, but as long as it didn’t put him in danger, Xion didn’t care what mischief he caused.
Even if he destroyed the entire house, it didn’t matter.
So long as Reinhild didn’t get hurt.
“Sleep well, Xion.”
All excited, Reinhild went to bed an hour earlier than usual.
Then he pretended to be asleep and waited for Xion.
All the way until Xion finished tidying the house, prepping breakfast for tomorrow, washed up, and came into the room.
“…”
The first thing Xion did upon returning, ready for bed, was stand and gaze down at Reinhild.
Reinhild apparently thought he hadn’t been found out, but Xion had realized long ago that he wasn’t asleep.
For one thing, Reinhild never sleeps flat on his back with both hands neatly folded over his belly.
And with those twitching mouth corners, anyone—not just Xion—would know he was awake.
Smiling at the sight, Xion carefully leaned in and brushed a kiss over his lips.
The tips of Reinhild’s neatly stacked fingers gave a tiny twitch.
He squeezed his eyes even tighter.
If he opened them now, he’d be caught.
He didn’t notice, right?
Nervous, he wiggled his fingers for no reason—and then felt something else touch his lips again.
What is—what is that?!
Not quite the same as lips.
Something—probably Xion’s thumb—pressed his lower lip, and Reinhild’s mouth opened on its own.
Before he could make sense of it, something warm and soft slid between his parted lips.
This time he knew exactly what it was without much thought.
What a shameless…!
He couldn’t even speak. He just clutched the blanket.
Has he been doing this every time I’m asleep!
He couldn’t drop the act.
He had plenty to say, but with his eyes shut he could only scream inwardly.
“Rein.”
As he pressed chaste little kisses onto the “sleeping” Demon King’s lips, Xion murmured his name.
He still couldn’t see with his eyes closed, but he could feel Xion’s breath on his skin.
If he opened his eyes, he’d be staring straight into Xion’s from point-blank range.
This was clearly an attempt to bait him into answering.
Call his name so he’d reply, then confirm whether he was truly asleep—that was the plan.
Like a man accepting a duel no one had challenged him to, Reinhild clung to his act with all his might.
“…”
When Reinhild didn’t answer, Xion said nothing more.
After a little rustling, Reinhild felt Xion lie down beside him.
As always, Xion drew him gently into his arms.
Stiff with tension, Reinhild finally relaxed and settled against Xion’s chest.
Xion placed a short kiss on his forehead, then set his palm over Reinhild’s chest.
There was nothing impure in the gesture. He only meant to check the state of the mana pooled in Reinhild’s heart.
But Reinhild, not knowing that, froze all over again.
He was so startled he almost opened his eyes.
Through the thin nightshirt, Xion could feel Reinhild’s heart racing under his palm.
Thump, thump, thump.
“Rein.”
Xion spoke his name once more.
Very softly.
And at the same moment, the “pretending to sleep” Reinhild suddenly felt a wave of drowsiness crash over him.
Huh?
His eyes closed against his will.
Ah. They had been closed already.
To be precise, it felt like his consciousness was dropping into darkness—sleep rolling in to swallow him.
No… I can’t… if I sleep… I can’t…
With that final thought, Reinhild sank into deep sleep.
“…”
Xion looked down at him in silence.
Why had Rein pretended to sleep?
At first Xion thought it was a joke and waited for him to open his eyes, but watching him, it seemed like he was trying not to get caught being awake.
Was he waiting for me to fall asleep?
So he could slip away somewhere?
At that thought, Xion’s hands tightened. He nearly gripped his precious Rein too hard.
He quickly relaxed his fingers and, as if handling a fragile glasswork, carefully enclosed Reinhild in his arms.
“Mm…”
Reinhild gave a small squirm, as if stifled.
Xion watched him for a while.
The mana in the stone at his neck began to trickle into the deeply sleeping Reinhild’s body.
Perhaps because of its foreign nature, Reinhild couldn’t absorb even a quarter of the stone’s mana properly.
The invasive feel of that special mana seemed to unsettle him; he tossed and turned more.
Each time, Xion wordlessly hugged him close.
The movement of mana sped up when Xion pressed nearer.
Most of it dispersed into the air, but some of it settled inside him, centering on his heart.
“Haaah…”
Once the stone was more than half drained, the flow slowed.
Reinhild seemed more at ease, let out a long breath, and rested his head against Xion’s chest.
It was probably only a sleeping reflex, but Xion found it so endearing he couldn’t look away.
Without hesitation, he detached the stone which still held plenty of mana from Reinhild’s necklace and took out a fresh one he’d prepared.
As always, it held a portion of his own mana mixed in.
He tied the new stone back onto the necklace, then placed a final light kiss on Reinhild’s forehead.
“Sleep well, Rein.”
And he fell asleep himself, feeling the faint pulse of mana emanating from Reinhild… so like his own.
❖ ❖ ❖
Failure.
He’d fallen asleep.
A perfect plan, perfectly wrecked!
“This won’t do.”
Reinhild clutched his head and groaned.
The plan had been perfect.
Yet he hadn’t achieved a single goal.
All he’d discovered was that Xion was a shameless human who eagerly nibbled a sleeping Demon King.
It wasn’t that this made him dislike Xion, but couldn’t he do that while he was awake?
Not that he was saying it had to be while he was awake… Anyway, the scheme to observe Xion while he slept was scrapped.
Night won’t work—I need my sleep, too. I’ll check in the daytime.
When had the Demon King, once the paragon of living irregularly by going to bed late and rising late, ended up like this?
Still, at night, sleep it was.
Having decided to move during the day, Reinhild proceeded to shadow Xion everywhere.
It had been ages since he’d studied Xion so intently.
Back then he’d observed him out of suspicion. Now he did it to make their time together last longer.
Xion then and now hadn’t changed much.
If he’d once led a life so full of work it was dull, now he was simply always at Reinhild’s side—perhaps that was the big difference?
He repeated the same days as ever, but Reinhild much preferred this version.
“Something pleasant on your mind, Rein?”
“Huh? Me?”
“You were smiling very happily.”
When Xion cupped his cheek, Reinhild reflexively closed his eyes.
He had probably puckered his lips like a duck without realizing it.
Instead of the feeling he’d anticipated, a small laugh reached his ears, and he opened his eyes again.
Xion was beaming, delighted by something.
From the look of it, he was the one who seemed happiest. So who was picking at whom for smiling, Reinhild truly didn’t know.
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