Chapter 4: The Last Dragonkin and the Demon King Who Wanted a Pet

“Hmph… hmph hmph…”

Joey bounced through the forest.

“Young master, what are you doing?”

Aiki asked, holding a parasol as she looked at the cheerful boy in front of her.

“Ah? Didn’t I already tell you… We’re catching a dragon.”

The shota said expectantly.

“Catching a dragon… Then why are you holding a Catching Net?”

Aiki looked at the small net Joey was holding.

“To catch a dragon, of course, you need a trusty weapon…”

“And this is definitely not a Catching Net! This is for catching dragons.”

Joey shook the net in his hand happily.

Cute…

Aiki muttered in her heart, then complained,

“I don’t think you can catch a dragon with that kind of net.”

“Pa!”

While Aiki was speaking, Joey slapped the Catching Net onto Aiki’s head.

“See, even catching a Vampire is no problem. A mere Magic Dragon is, of course, easy to handle.”

Joey tugged at the Catching Net, making Aiki’s head dizzy from the shaking.

Aiki frowned, then used her thumbnail to slice open a wound, and the blood instantly turned into a blade, severing the Catching Net.

“You are a child… Please stop doing such childish things…”

Aiki removed the broken net from her head.

“Hey! That’s my Catching Net!!!”

“So you do know it’s a Catching Net…”

***

“This is it…”

Joey pointed excitedly at a cave deep in the forest.

“Before, when Seia and I were in the Village, we often heard the Dragon Roar.”

“Dragon Roar…”

Aiki was full of question marks as she looked at the shota beside her.

“Young master, have you ever seen a dragon?”

“No.”

Joey shook his head.

“Didn’t the Previous Demon King almost wipe out dragons? How could I have seen one?”

“You really are shameless…”

Aiki frowned coldly.

“Since you know dragons are almost extinct, how could one appear in this remote little forest…”

“And why are you looking for a dragon in the first place…”

“Hah? Why do you care so much…”

He said.

“Besides, as a lowly servant, you sure ask a lot of questions…”

“You just need to know that your young master told you to do it.”

Of course, Joey wouldn’t reveal his true thoughts.

Obviously, it’s because…

It’s a Magic Dragon!

If I can tame a Magic Dragon, I’ll have even more fun to play with!

The hero fights the evil dragon, then becomes the hero’s dream lover and gets captured by the evil dragon.

“Save me! XX Knight!”

He hummed lightly…

“Ugh! We’re here!”

While Joey was fantasizing, he finally saw a tree ahead marked with an “X.”

“This is it. I saw the Magic Dragon’s footprints here.”

The shota said excitedly, pushing aside the weeds by the tree.

Under the weeds was a huge claw mark with only three toes.

“See! I didn’t lie to you!”

Joey shouted at Aiki, pointing at the claw mark.

This is definitely the claw mark!

In my previous life, I was a veteran Hunter player! It’s exactly the same as in the game.

(Joey’s total playtime in Hunter in his previous life was—five hours, and he refunded it because he couldn’t figure it out.)

“…”

Aiki’s face was expressionless, and there was even a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

“Young master, this is a Lizardman’s claw mark.”

“Eh?”

The shota froze.

“This is just one piece of evidence…”

Joey, still unconvinced, took out another clue in front and showed it to Aiki.

“Look! It’s the super large Dragon Feces left by a Magic Dragon!”

Aiki frowned, covering her nose and speaking coldly.

“Young master, Magic Dragons are intelligent creatures. They wouldn’t relieve themselves anywhere.”

“How could that be…”

The shota’s face showed disappointment.

“Young master, you wouldn’t happen to think there are Magic Dragons here just because of a footprint and some feces…”

Aiki wore a cool, elegant smile on her face.

“How cute.”

Ugh…

This lowly servant is mocking me again…

Joey puffed up his cheeks, face red with embarrassment, just as he was about to retort—

“ROAR!!!!”

A thunderous roar erupted from the cave Joey had pointed at.

The sound was so intense that the ground beneath Aiki and Joey shook as if in an earthquake.

“There! See, I was right!”

Joey pointed toward the cave.

“We couldn’t go before since we were living in the Human World, but now we can check it out!”

With that, Joey activated his magic, ignoring Aiki behind him, and flew straight toward the cave.

“Young master!”

Aiki, unable to stop him, followed suit, using Wind Magic to lift herself into the air with her parasol.

“Seriously reckless…”

Inside the cave…

A red-haired woman was surrounded by a group of Lizardmen.

“Evil dragon! I’ve had enough today. Get out of this cave.”

“This is our territory! If Demon King-sama finds out there’s a Magic Dragon hiding here, we can’t take responsibility!”

The Lizardman Chieftain was a green-skinned, black-haired, middle-aged woman covered in scales, holding a spear pointed at the red-haired woman.

“Your territory?”

The red-haired woman had a Scar on the lower left side of her face.

She was handsome, with short red hair.

Her wrap-around cloth revealed a perfect figure and eight-pack abs, and her strong, muscular thighs nearly split the fabric beneath.

Atop her head were the Dragonkin’s iconic horns, and behind her, a pair of red wings and a thick tail.

“This place… has always been the birthplace of the Dragonkin…”

Her eyes glinted with killing intent.

“Born here, die… also here.”

As she spoke, she activated her magic, both hands transforming into dark red Dragon Claws.

“Arrogant dead dragon…”

The Lizardman Chieftain glared fiercely at the red-haired Dragon Lady.

“No wonder your kind was wiped out by the Previous Demon King—so stubborn!”

She sneered.

“Today, I’ll finish off the last remnant for the Previous Demon King…”

She raised her weapon, aiming it at the red-haired Dragon Lady.

“Lizardmen… Just low-level monsters evolved from Dragonkin, and today you shamelessly claim to exterminate your ancestors?!”

The red-haired Dragon Lady’s expression darkened, her eyes tinged with blood-red.

“You’re courting death!!!”

She unleashed a terrifying magic power, her pupils narrowing from round to slitted.

The force made all the Lizardmen present step back instinctively in fear.

Even a Demon King executive wouldn’t have such overwhelming magic power…

A primal terror made the Lizardman army retreat half a step.

“Everyone, don’t be scared by this bluffing creature!”

The Lizardman Chieftain was sweating inside, but forced herself to remain calm.

“She’s just a defeated remnant, and we have so many…”

“The wound the Previous Demon King gave her probably still hasn’t healed after all these years.”

“Then try me!!!!!!!”

The red-haired Dragon Lady couldn’t hold back her fury any longer.

As the confrontation was about to erupt—

“Lowly servant! Arguing with me again! See, it really is a Dragonkin!!”

A curious shota’s voice echoed from the cave entrance.

“!!!”

The voice drew everyone’s attention, instantly freezing the tense atmosphere.

It was a shota with an innocent and captivating face, wearing a hat and blue denim overalls, pointing at the red-haired Dragon Lady.

“Eh? Where’s Aiki?”

The standoff before him didn’t frighten the shota at all; instead, he looked at the red-haired Dragon Lady with starry eyes like a tourist witnessing a grand scene.

“A… a child?”

The Lizardmen looked at the shota in confusion.

But the Lizardman Chieftain knew that the shota before them was their king…

The Joyful Demon King, Joey Vansel…

He did everything based on his own amusement, regardless of consequences, and would do anything that brought him joy, no matter how much damage it caused.

However…

Before the Lizardman Chieftain could regain her senses—

The red-haired Dragon Lady shot toward Joey like lightning.

Her Dragon Claw, large enough to cover his head, aimed straight for him, moving so fast it left only a blur.

“Demon King!!! Just in time!!!”

“BOOM!!!”

This… this Dragon Lady… can she still unleash such power???

The Lizardman Chieftain was shocked.

She knew that if such a fist struck her, it would leave a massive bloody hole.

“Hey, hey, hey…”

Joey still wore his cheerful expression, raising a finger to stop the red-haired Dragon Lady’s punch completely.

“!!!”

The sight of the small boy halting her charge left the red-haired Dragon Lady’s furious face frozen in disbelief.

“I don’t think I know you… Miss Dragon…”

“Why are you so angry…”

Joey smiled innocently.

“And also…”

“How do you know my identity?”