At this moment, Kanna came to the entryway as well. Her eyes lit up when she saw Raize, and then she noticed the ingredients in Tohru's hands, causing a bit of drool to slip from the corner of her mouth.
Seeing Kanna's eager expression, Raize smiled and walked over, taking out two grilled fish. Both fish gleamed with a golden sheen—they were Shiny Silky-Fin Fish.
"For you."
"Thank you."
Kanna thanked him politely and immediately took the glittering grilled fish, eagerly biting into them.
Watching this warm, harmonious scene, the dragon maid smiled knowingly. Kanna was very comfortable living in Kobayashi's home, but she dearly missed the food made by Raize.
Entering the living room, Kobayashi, who was sitting on a chair, greeted him.
"Good evening, Raize."
Meanwhile, Takiya, who was sitting on the sofa playing Prototype, also greeted Raize politely when he saw him arrive.
He did not have Kobayashi's close relationship with Raize, and Raize was also his respected boss. As a game enthusiast, Takiya deeply admired Raize's creativity in game development.
"Good evening, President."
Takiya, wearing spiral-patterned glasses, greeted him.
"This isn't the company. No need to call me President. Just call me Raize in private."
Raize replied with a faint smile. He thought highly of Takiya. No matter what Takiya was like in private, his work efficiency was on par with Kobayashi's.
As the company continued to grow, Raize intended to promote people like him.
"Oh, okay, Raize-san."
Takiya was not the type to be overly stiff. He did not take Raize's words as mere politeness. Suddenly remembering something, he spoke seriously.
"Raize-san, thank you for what you did before."
This gratitude was for Raize's protection. During the days when Raize himself was focused on training, several ill-intentioned individuals had tried to target Raiden Games.
Raize knew they were business rivals—people who could not stop Raiden Games' rise and instead turned their attention on how to bring it down.
They attempted to poach or threaten senior employees of Raiden Games, aiming to steal business secrets or secretly control employees to undermine the company.
Having learned from his father's past misfortunes, Raize was naturally on guard against such tactics. If others played dirty, he would play even dirtier.
There was no such thing as too despicable—only more despicable. When dealing with villains, one had to use even more vicious methods.
If you dared to threaten my employees' families in the shadows, then do not blame me for doing the same to yours. There were plenty of places in the bay for bodies to sink.
Takiya himself had also been harassed. Some people tried to bribe him, and when he refused, they resorted to underhanded tactics, threatening his life and his family.
Raize's shadow clones had shown them no mercy. If you confronted him openly, that was one thing. But if you played dirty, he would respond in kind.
Raize utterly despised those who threatened others' families and would never show leniency toward such people.
His shadow clones did not exert much effort, resolving difficulties for Takiya and some other employees. Most of the remaining problems were dealt with by Tohru.
Because of Kobayashi's relationship with Raize and their frequent interactions, some suicidal fools had set their sights on Kobayashi. What happened afterward was self-explanatory.
"You're welcome, Takiya. Protecting my employees is my responsibility. People who only know how to play dirty deserve to disappear from the world."
Raize patted Takiya on the shoulder and sat down on the sofa. Takiya smiled broadly, though with those glasses, his smile looked a bit comical.
Kobayashi glanced at the two of them getting along so well and recalled what had happened a few days earlier. She raised a hand to rub her temples.
She had not expected so much trouble to come with the company's growth. The good mood from receiving her bonus had completely vanished. If she had not restrained Tohru a few days ago, Tohru might have gone on a killing spree.
Those people had actually jumped out to threaten her while she and Tohru were out shopping for ingredients. Kobayashi had no fondness for such despicable tactics, but thinking about what Tohru and Raize had done, she felt a tiny bit of sympathy for those reckless fools.
She had witnessed the changes in Raize after his family's accident. On the surface, he still smiled, but inside…
Forget it. Tonight was supposed to be about having fun together. Why think about such unpleasant things?
Kobayashi looked at Tohru, who was preparing the ingredients.
"Tohru, when will your friend arrive?"
"By my estimate, it should be about now."
As Tohru replied, the doorbell rang the very next second.
Before long, Tohru led a long-haired man dressed in a black butler's outfit into the living room.
He wore glasses, his long hair falling naturally, and his expression looked gloomy, yet he was undeniably handsome.
With his arrival, the atmosphere in the living room instantly grew heavy. A faint pressure lingered around him, refusing to dissipate.
"So you're the ones Tohru mentioned…"
The cold, gloomy man swept his blood-red dragon eyes over everyone in the room, lingering especially on Raize, who carried a strong trace of Tohru's aura and possessed extraordinary power in his perception.
Expressionless, he spoke.
"So they're just humans. I really want to wipe them out."
Kobayashi and Takiya shuddered. Raize merely twitched the corner of his eye. He could tell the man's hostility was simply his inherent disgust toward humans.
The dragon maid acted as though she noticed none of the tension. Smiling, she pulled the stiff Kobayashi forward and introduced him.
"Kobayashi-sama, this is Fafnir-san."
"Ah… h-hello there…"
Kobayashi greeted Fafnir with stiff, formulaic politeness.
Before she could finish, Fafnir cut her off.
"I'm not interested in you."
Speaking in a cold, utterly unsympathetic tone, Fafnir stepped past Kobayashi and Tohru and walked toward the sofa where Raize and Takiya were sitting—no, more precisely, toward Raize.
"…Mr. Fafnir, do you need something?"
Raize sat on the sofa, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Fafnir standing in front of him. The other party maintained that same gloomy, indifferent expression from start to finish.
After realizing Fafnir was not here for him, Takiya pushed up his glasses and resumed playing his game, deliberately leaving the conversational space to those two.
"Human, I heard from Tohru that you possess a treasure capable of instantly healing a giant dragon's near-fatal injuries. I wish to make a trade with you."
Fafnir sat down on the sofa as he spoke, no longer looking at Raize but instead focusing on the game playing on the television, his voice calm and detached.
Hearing that unmistakable voice and those words, Raize turned his head to glance at Tohru. Tohru smiled awkwardly and used telepathic communication to explain things clearly to Raize.
Normally, she would not casually talk about such matters, but when discussing her own condition with Fafnir, she had ended up mentioning it.
Tohru trusted Fafnir. The reason Fafnir showed more interest in Raize than in Kobayashi was precisely because of this.
Fafnir had a strong obsession with collecting treasures. Naturally, he was very interested in the kind of item Tohru described—something capable of instantly healing injuries.
An item that could instantly heal someone at Tohru's level—if that was not a treasure, then what was?
He would not snatch Raize's belongings. Out of respect for Tohru's friendship with Raize, he chose to trade instead.
"…A trade is possible, but I have a limited quantity of that healing item. Every one used means one less remaining. How does Mr. Fafnir intend to trade?"
After thinking it over, Raize agreed. He took three small green mushrooms out of his inventory space and placed them before Fafnir.
Fafnir took the three little green mushrooms and examined them carefully in his hand. A strange glimmer appeared in his dragon pupils as he attempted to discern their true nature.
However, he soon gave up. Just like Tohru back then, he could not tell anything special from either the appearance or the inner composition of these unassuming little mushrooms.
"Fafnir, this thing did indeed instantly heal the injuries inflicted on me by a god back then. I can personally vouch for it."
Seeing Fafnir frown as he examined the three green mushrooms, Tohru could not help but speak up in reassurance.
She herself had not been able to see anything special about them at first. Only after eating one did she experience their miraculous effects.
Fafnir trusted Tohru. If she was willing to personally guarantee it, then there had to be something extraordinary about these plain-looking mushrooms.
"Hmph. I don't believe this human would dare give me fake goods either."
With a cold snort, Fafnir put away the mushrooms. He trusted Tohru's words. If they turned out to be fake, he would simply settle the account with Raize later—he would make this human understand the price of deceiving a dragon.
Fafnir suddenly looked at Raize. Though his hands had been empty a moment ago, a gemstone the size of an adult's fist and a thick book covered in pitch-black patterns abruptly appeared in them.
"This is a crystallized core of an adult dragon's power, as well as a complete compendium of curse magic personally written by me. Accept them with gratitude, human."
Raize looked at the dragon crystal in Fafnir's hand—like the sea compressed into a single crystal, radiating terrifying power—as well as the heavy tome that exuded an ominous aura in his perception.
If he was not mistaken, the cover of that book appeared to be inlaid with black dragon scales, emitting the same aura as Fafnir himself.
As for the dragon crystal, it was an energy crystal condensed within the bodies of adult dragons in Fafnir and Tohru's world. Only after a dragon's death, using special methods, could such a crystal be formed. Whether used for absorption, refinement, or as a core material for special equipment, it was an exceptionally rare treasure.
"Uh…"
"Fafnir-san." Before Raize could speak, Tohru spoke up on his behalf. "Raize gave you three mushrooms, each equivalent to an extra dragon's life. You know how precious a healing treasure that can work on dragons at our level is. Isn't trading two items for three a bit unfair?"
"And you're even giving Raize your curse magic compendium. Those curses of yours have enormous side effects if humans try to use them!"
Fafnir was an immensely powerful Curse Dragon, highly proficient in curse arts, and he himself bore a god's curse.
His curses were fine when used by himself, but if humans used them, the price would be enormous.
For example, a curse that consumed only "a little" of Fafnir's magic would drastically shorten a human's lifespan if they cast it.
Attentive as she was, Tohru did not want to see Raize get hurt, which was why she spoke up.
"Tch. My curse compendium is a treasure in its own right."
Fafnir clicked his tongue in irritation, then took out yet another item—a special apple. Unlike an ordinary red apple, this one gleamed with a golden hue, like pure gold.
He did not replace the curse book, however. He could tell that Raize seemed interested in it. Since Raize was still interested even after hearing Tohru's warning, then whatever consequences followed would be on him.
Raize looked curiously at the golden apple in Fafnir's hand and asked in a subtle tone, "May I ask, Mr. Fafnir, what is that golden apple?"
"A Golden Apple. Your world's myths should have records of it, though this one originates from our world and is a precious treasure there."
Fafnir explained without impatience.
It was not the Golden Apple from Greek mythology, but a rare treasure from Tohru's world. It was originally meant for gods. If an ordinary mortal ate it without possessing special power, they would only meet death.
However, if one could withstand the Golden Apple's immense power, it would remodel their physical aptitude and talent, elevate their life level, and naturally extend their lifespan by tens of thousands of years.
"I didn't expect you to bring out a Golden Apple, Fafnir-san." Tohru was genuinely surprised. Even for a wealthy hoarder of treasures like Fafnir, this was remarkable.
"Golden Apple? Tohru, is it the same Golden Apple as the one I know?" Kobayashi asked in surprise. Golden Apples were fairly famous among Western mythical treasures, so she was familiar with the concept.
Having studied this world's information, Tohru explained while pointing at the apple in Fafnir's hand.
"Kobayashi-san, this Golden Apple isn't the one from your myths. It's a once-in-a-lifetime treasure from our world. Anyone who can withstand its power will gain tremendous benefits."
"As for descriptions of Golden Apples, some myths in your world aren't entirely wrong. In our world, powerful humans and gods have indeed fought wars over Golden Apples."
"So myths aren't completely false after all…" Kobayashi said with a sigh. She felt no envy toward Raize for acquiring such a treasure—it was obtained through fair exchange.
Raize accepted the traded items from Fafnir. He had not expected that three bean-like mushrooms would yield such extraordinary treasures.
He was quite interested in Fafnir's curse compendium. If he could master it, it would give him another insidious method to deal with enemies. As for the side effects, he believed he could bear them—after all, he would only continue growing stronger.
"Raize, since you've decided to accept Fafnir's curse compendium, I won't say more. But please, be extremely cautious when using it."
Tohru knew of Raize's interest and could only offer a solemn warning. Interfering further would be disrespectful to both Fafnir and Raize.
"Thank you for your concern, Tohru. I'll use it carefully. Mr. Fafnir, may I trade with you again in the future?"
Raize smiled, acknowledged Tohru's warning, then looked at Fafnir, who was watching the game.
After all, he wanted to maintain contact and trade more with this treasure-rich Curse Dragon.
"Oh? I won't need more of these mushrooms. Do you have other precious items to trade with me?"
Fafnir raised an eyebrow, intrigued. If Raize possessed treasures of similar value, he would not mind exchanging them.
As an ancient Curse Dragon who once guarded countless treasures, Fafnir's obsession with hoarding was obvious. He despised beings who coveted his treasures and had destroyed human nations in the past that tried to seize them under the banner of righteousness.
If Raize wanted to acquire Fafnir's treasures through trade, Fafnir had no objection—as long as the items were of equal value.
Raize was confident in this regard. Future game rewards alone would surely include items that interested Fafnir.
"There will be many in the future. I have a certain channel. I hope we can trade treasures for treasures going forward. Would that be acceptable?"
Hearing this, Fafnir studied Raize carefully. After a moment of silence, he nodded and took out a black dragon scale marked with purple patterns.
"Bring me treasures that interest me. You can use this to contact or summon me. Tohru will teach you how."
Though he detested humans, if this human—someone Tohru trusted and who had real ability—possessed interesting treasures to trade, he was willing.
Raize took the dragon scale and examined it curiously, then used a special method to attach it to the Seven-Star Guard around his neck, placing it alongside Tohru's dragon scale.
Seeing that Raize already possessed Tohru's special dragon scale, a glint flashed through Fafnir's blood-red pupils. He looked deeply at the human before glancing at Tohru, who was being affectionate with Kobayashi.
It seemed this human's relationship with Tohru was far closer than ordinary. Hopefully, you won't do anything to hurt Tohru… otherwise—