Thinking about the trouble between the King of the Night and Eu, Raize felt a slight headache. If only the King of the Night were not Eu's friend—then even if he couldn't kill him, he could at least imprison him forever as he had just done.
But the King of the Night had once been one of Eu's protectors. Now, seeking release through death, he would stop at nothing. He wanted Eu to reclaim the emotion of "anger," so that he himself could finally be freed completely.
Raize wanted to help Eu resolve this matter, but he could not treat the King of the Night like a mortal enemy and simply kill him.
Although he did not copy the King of the Night's power, after swallowing him, Raize could freely browse his memories.
This walking corpse with a rotted soul would still protect Eu outside of his own plans. Seeing her suffer and feel sorrow would make him blame himself and question whether what he was doing was right.
To achieve his goal, the King of the Night's decayed heart was filled with contradictions.
Looking up at the night sky, Raize's mood was no better. He had anticipated that a day like this would come ever since he took Eu in. But problems could not be avoided forever.
"Tch. Human nations are such a hassle. I really want to wipe them out outright…"
As Raize returned home in a complicated state of mind, he suddenly heard a very familiar voice, sounding annoyed at something.
Following the sound, he immediately spotted a gloomy man wearing a distinctive butler outfit. Those crimson eyes were filled with displeasure, causing passersby to instinctively steer clear of him.
"Mr. Fafnir?"
Raize walked over and greeted him.
"Hm? It's you."
Fafnir paused, turning his head to fix Raize with those red dragon eyes.
Among humans, Raize left a particularly strong impression on Fafnir—one of the few worth remembering, given that he had received protective dragon scales from Tohru as well as Fafnir himself.
For someone who despised humans to such an extreme degree, giving a human a dragon scale was utterly unthinkable. Anyone who knew Fafnir would be shocked speechless upon hearing of it.
"Mr. Fafnir, you look quite upset. Did something troublesome happen?"
Raize really hoped there wouldn't be some dragon-level conflict in this area. With Fafnir's power, it couldn't be ignored. If this cursed dragon wanted to do something, Raize didn't mind lending a hand.
After all, Fafnir was also a long-term trading partner.
"..."
Fafnir glanced coldly at Raize but did not reject conversation. Among humans, Raize was one of the few he was willing to talk to.
The two walked into an empty park nearby, chatting as they went, and eventually sat down on a park bench.
"So, you've decided to settle in the human world, Mr. Fafnir, but don't have a place to stay yet?"
Raize handed him a glowing rainbow fruit. He now understood Fafnir's situation. Settling in the human world was fine with him—after all, Fafnir was Tohru's friend.
The more dragons gathered in this area, the fewer reckless fools would dare approach.
"Hmph. There are far more humans in this world than in ours. They're everywhere. And I hate humans…"
Fafnir snorted. After taking the rainbow fruit and sniffing it, he took a fierce bite. Even the supreme delicacy of the rainbow fruit only made this cursed dragon glance at it with mild approval. Still, it tasted quite good.
He could have easily chosen a nearby mountain forest to live in, but weak humans kept wandering around and disturbing him. Just as he said, this world had even more humans than his own.
With Fafnir's pride, he would never avoid humans. In his original world, he would have exterminated all humans near him without hesitation.
But slaughtering people here would bring him no benefit, nor would it benefit Tohru.
"If you don't mind, Mr. Fafnir, I can find you a very suitable place to stay."
Raize thought of one of his company employees—Takiya. Fafnir seemed to enjoy games quite a bit, and he would definitely get along well with Takiya.
Takiya also had a surprisingly strong heart and a gentle personality, much like Kobayashi.
"Oh? That saves me some trouble. Lead the way, human."
Fafnir glanced at Raize's smiling face, swallowed the rainbow fruit whole, and stood up. His tone remained cold and arrogant, but Raize, familiar with his temperament, didn't mind.
At least it was no longer the hostility-filled attitude of their first meeting. Being able to converse smoothly with someone as aloof as Fafnir was already a rare achievement.
"Just call me Raize. The place I'm taking you to has a human you've met before—the one who teamed up with me to utterly crush you in that game."
Raize said with a smile as he led the way.
"Tch!"
At the mention of being crushed in a game, Fafnir's expression turned sour, but he didn't lose his temper. A loss was a loss.
One human and one dragon, chatting in what could be called a fairly pleasant manner, soon arrived at Takiya's residence.
Ding dong!
"Coming. Who is it?"
As the door opened, Takiya's puzzled voice rang out. He wore casual home clothes and those comical spiral glasses.
"President? And Fafnir-san?"
Seeing Raize and the expressionless Fafnir beside him, Takiya was both surprised and confused, unsure why this human and dragon had come to see him.
"What's the matter, President?"
"Well, it's like this, Takiya…"
After Raize's brief explanation, Takiya understood their purpose.
He had no intention of refusing. Smiling, he looked at Fafnir, whose gaze was fixed on the interior of the house.
Though the dragon looked difficult to get along with, Takiya could tell that he was interested in games. In that regard, they could probably talk easily—perhaps even become friends with shared hobbies.
Since he was a potential friend, Takiya naturally wouldn't refuse.
"You're welcome to stay here, Fafnir-san. Though my place is a bit small…"
Speaking politely, Takiya looked at Fafnir, wondering whether this proud dragon would find his home inadequate.
Despite the concern, Fafnir showed no resistance and calmly asked:
"About that earlier…"
"The game? Come in first."
Though Fafnir didn't finish his sentence, Takiya understood exactly what he wanted to ask. He hadn't been wrong at all.
Interested in games—or more precisely, wanting to wash away the shame of defeat—Fafnir wanted to try other games as well.
That was all. No other motive.
Inside Takiya's warm little home, Raize watched as the human and dragon sat together quietly playing games. He was slightly surprised, but also relieved.
It was best if they could get along.