Chapter 20: Teasing and Truths in the Library

“Hmm?”

Luo Jia stood up and walked to the girl’s side. The black-haired girl was on tiptoes, trying to take a book from the shelf.

Despite her diligent efforts, Allyrose found it difficult to reach the pink book on the very top shelf.

Seeing this, the Demon Lord chuckled softly. He then extended a hand, imbued with a boyfriend’s easy strength, and effortlessly retrieved the book from above.

He offered it to the girl. “Here, for you~”

He had expected his gesture to be well-received, even anticipating that the ‘worthless woman’ before him would blush. He imagined her lowering her head and shyly murmuring, “Thank you~”

Instead, Allyrose gazed at the offered book, her eyes narrowing. A mischievous smirk played on her lips.

The very next second, she dramatically feigned disgust, swiftly turning away to tease him.

“Oh my~——! Wh-what are you doing?! Little White Hair, you’re… you’re such a pervert! Why would you show a girl something like this? Ugh… speechless, gross, you dirty worm, you pervert! That’s just… too lewd, ugh~”

‘Wait, huh?!’

The Demon Lord, stunned by her rapid-fire accusations, blankly flipped the book over. He opened its cover.

There, emblazoned on the title page, were the words…

*Big Butts and Busty Boobs*.

‘N-no… wait, huh?!’

A corner of the Demon Lord’s mouth twitched violently. He then frantically looked down at Allyrose.

The moment he saw the black-haired girl’s cunning, mischievous grin, Luo Jia understood everything.

‘Well, well, well, this woman…’

‘She’s playing tricks on me!’

“Wh-what are you talking about!” he retorted. “Didn’t you, Allyrose, keep trying to reach this book yourself? That’s why I got it for you! If… if anyone’s a pervert, it’s you!”

“No, no, no, no~” Allyrose chirped. She watched the exasperated Little White Hair, feigning an innocent, ‘green tea’ expression.

Tears welled in her eyes as she spoke softly. “How could *I* possibly look at such things? Little White Hair, there’s no need to rush to cover up your inner shame with anger.”

“It’s… it’s alright, Master understands you~ Teenage boys, after all, are bound to have some fantasies about unique, attractive female features. I just never expected… *pfft pfft pfft*~ Little White Hair’s preferences were like that, big breasts and all…”

As she spoke, Allyrose subtly cupped her own chest with both hands. Then, with a blush coloring her cheeks, she smiled softly at Luo Jia.

‘Tsk…’

‘Alright, I get it, I get it, you’re well-endowed! But could you please remember you have a fiancé?’

Luo Jia took a deep breath. After a moment, this round of teasing had left him utterly out of sorts.

The gloomy, pig-headed teenage Demon Lord silently lowered his head and began to flip through the book in his hands.

‘Since I’m already a pervert,’ he thought, ‘I might as well study just how perverse this book truly is today! Once I’ve mastered it, this worthless woman… she’ll regret ever putting this ‘textbook’ into my hands!’

Ahem—!

Just a few minutes later, before Luo Jia’s grand, diligent studies could truly commence, Allyrose stopped him. The girl snatched the book from his hands.

She closed its cover and spoke to Luo Jia with a helpless expression. “Oh, alright, alright, I’m not teasing you anymore. Stop looking, it doesn’t have what you think it does~”

“What were you even thinking? How could a school library have such strange books? Don’t mind the odd title; the content is actually a very proper literary classic.”

“Hmm… why the name is so strange, I don’t know. Maybe it sells better that way?”

Allyrose tilted her head. ‘Ah… if you think about it that way, this must be clickbait from another world, right? The UC Shock Department’s Otherworld Branch?’

‘Your Fake Saintess editor brings you today… *cough cough*, no, no, no more rambling~’

With that, Allyrose cleared her throat twice. She then steered the conversation back to the main topic.

She waved her hand and addressed Luo Jia. “Alright, it’s time to get serious! So, Little White Hair, help me get the one on the eighth shelf from the top, this one on the sixth shelf, and… hmm, let me check the index.”

“Oh… the fourth shelf, the third shelf, the eleventh shelf, and also…”

Following the girl’s flurry of directives, the stack of books in Luo Jia’s arms grew taller and taller.

Fortunately, the Demon Lord possessed ample magical power and immense strength. Finally, when the books piled up from his chest, completely obscuring Luo Jia’s head, Allyrose decisively stopped.

She patted Luo Jia’s shoulder. “Alright, that’s enough. Put them on that desk over there…”

“Ugh… *gasp*—!”

Only after managing to prop the thick stack of books onto the desk did Luo Jia finally let out a sigh of relief. Wiping sweat from his brow, he asked.

“All… all these books,” he questioned, “can you even finish reading them? What exactly are you trying to… do?”

“Well, whether I finish them or not, more is always better~”

Allyrose sat opposite Luo Jia. She picked up a book, flipping open its flyleaf.

As she did, she began to explain the reason for all this: Arius had stopped her earlier and challenged her to a bet.

After she finished recounting the entire sequence of events, Luo Jia listened, nodding thoughtfully. He then sighed and spoke.

“It’s certainly urgent…” he began. “Yet you still had the presence of mind to joke around earlier!”

“Phew… thankfully, the bet’s content is… well, it might still be a bit difficult for you to complete, Allyrose. Sigh… if worse comes to worst, maybe talk to Arius again and try to prove it in a different way; that might be safer.”

“So, right, Allyrose, how exactly did you fake a hundred-level Holy Light ranking?”

****

“Huh?!”

Allyrose’s mouth twitched as she looked at Luo Jia’s curious face. A moment later, she delivered a swift hand chop directly to Little White Hair’s head, intending to teach him a lesson.

She then grumbled with annoyance. “I absolutely did not cheat! Hmph… my Holy Light level *is* one hundred, what about it~? Do you stinky demons want to be purified by your Master, huh?!”

“Hmph… I… I didn’t fake anything. The reason I came here is simply because… I’m not entirely sure how to convert pure Holy Light energy into more destructive magic.”

“Isn’t that why I wanted to study up? You, boy, shut up! Don’t you dare question me again! Quietly help me flip through these books and find any ‘miraculous power’ spells that don’t require incantations or connections! Hurry up! No talking! Focus on flipping!”

‘Hmm?’

‘No, she wasn’t faking it?’

Luo Jia found her words quite astonishing. He hadn’t expected the girl to be so confident; he had been genuinely surprised earlier when he saw her display.

Yet, it also seemed perfectly reasonable. As a Demon Lord, Luo Jia had never heard of any magic capable of faking Holy Light levels.

So…

“Hey, wife, what are you doing here?”