After finishing his visit to the CCG to thank his lifesaving benefactors, Raize returned to his company to check on work progress, then began adjusting and modifying his game.
If he was going to make a game, he would make it the best—he wanted to establish the brand that games produced by Raiden Company were guaranteed quality.
The day passed amidst work. His company got off work much earlier than most, and there was absolutely no concept of mandatory overtime.
Even when some motivated employees offered to keep working, Raize simply shook his head expressionlessly, saying that staying out too late made it easy for accidents to happen.
The employees felt his concern and were deeply moved. They all knew that Raize's family had been attacked by ghouls at night, leaving him as the sole survivor of what was once a happy family of four.
Perhaps because of this, he did not want them working late at night.
Compared to other companies that forced endless overtime, working at Raiden Company was already extremely good. On top of that, they had a boss who genuinely cared about employee safety.
After everyone had left, only Raize remained in the company.
He sat in his father's former office, now writing code alone, his speed astonishingly fast.
The only one working overtime was the boss himself—something that was hard to comment on.
At around nine in the evening, Raize finally stopped, took a deep breath, and glanced at the family photo of four that his father had placed on the desk.
"You worked hard, Father…"
Looking at the handsome, mature man in the photo—black hair, blue eyes, resembling Raize by six or seven parts—Raize softly spoke those words.
Thinking back, when he was younger, he had often been dissatisfied with his father for missing birthdays or school events due to overtime work.
Now that he stood in his father's position, he understood that his father had simply been doing what the head of a household should do for the sake of a happy family.
Those words of thanks were long overdue—yet sadly, the person he wanted to say them to was no longer there.
After leaving the company, Raize even tried to fish for a few ghouls on the way home, but only caught two who could not even use kagune.
He casually killed them with a bolt of lightning and then took the train home.
On the nearly empty train, Raize noticed a familiar face boarding.
"Ahahaha, I can still drink more!!"
Kobayashi, flushed red and reeking of alcohol, clutched an unfinished bottle, rambling drunken nonsense.
Raize twitched at the corner of his eye as he watched Kobayashi, sitting not far away, lifting a bottle with one hand and gulping it down. Because of the distance and her drunken state, she failed to notice Raize at all.
Judging by Raize's guess, Kobayashi—who had gotten off work early—had probably gone drinking.
"Kobayashi-san, honestly… letting you get off early was for your safety, and you still went drinking alone this late…"
Raize sighed helplessly, feeling that his father had never pressured employees much either, and that he himself was even more lenient.
Had Kobayashi been drowning her stress in alcohol all this time?
"Ahahaha~ that's my stop~~~"
"Where was I going again?"
Kobayashi pointed at the station sign outside with a drunken grin. The train stopped and departed again, yet she did not get off.
That was the station where she should have disembarked to go home.
She was truly completely drunk.
"Sigh… looks like I'll be getting home a bit late today."
Raize stood up, checked the next terminal station, and walked straight toward the drunken Kobayashi.
If things continued like this and no one intervened, who knew where this woman would wake up tomorrow morning.
After reaching the next station, Raize helped Kobayashi off the train, only to find that the two of them seemed to have arrived at some rural station in the countryside.
"Kobayashi-san, when you're drunk like this you really need someone to take care of you. I honestly don't know how you usually take care of yourself!"
Raize looked at the dark surroundings and the distant rural mountains in the night. Supporting the drunken Kobayashi, he walked toward the station exit, planning to call a taxi and send this drunkard home.
"Ah~ the air in the mountains out in the countryside feels so good!"
Kobayashi gazed hazily at the dim scenery around them, took a deep breath, and sighed with emotion.
Just as she was about to take another drink, Raize snatched the bottle away in one swift motion. She stared blankly at her now empty hand, then turned to look at Raize holding her bottle with a flat expression.
In Kobayashi's eyes, Raize's face seemed to blur into afterimages, overlapping back and forth with the face of her former boss, making it hard for her to tell them apart.
"Mmm… Boss? Ah, no, my boss now is Raize, right? Then who are you? Do you want to drink too?"
"A kind boss who actually worries about his employees!"
Raize snapped irritably, nimbly dodging Kobayashi's probing hands while holding the bottle.
Waiting helplessly for a taxi, he couldn't help feeling that Japan far less convenient. Even getting a car took this long.
{ Aize… in the woods to the left, I sense the aura of a giant dragon. Be careful. }
Sei's warning suddenly echoed in his mind, and with that reminder, Raize immediately thought of something.
He carefully looked at the drunken Kobayashi beside him, then toward the patch of forest Sei had mentioned.
He knew the Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid storyline, but in his memory, Kobayashi hadn't met Tohru yet. With Sei's reminder, he instantly connected it to this situation.
Thinking of the cross-species bond between Kobayashi and Tohru—whether it was friendship or family—
I can't let you lose your Tohru, Kobayashi-san…
Raize glanced at the drunken Kobayashi with an amused look and decided to connect the two of them properly.
He had no intention of replacing Kobayashi and meeting Tohru himself. He simply wanted a powerful dragon to keep an eye on this worry-inducing woman.
That happiness belonged to Kobayashi, and Raize would never steal her future just because he had foreknowledge.
{ Looks like you want to go take a look at that dragon over there? }
Sei spoke up from within Raize's body as she sensed him supporting Kobayashi and heading toward the forest.
She was capable of protecting Raize, but she very much did not want to reveal that she was still alive in front of certain forces, because the time was not right.
If the powers of this world learned that the Biblical God who once suppressed an entire era was still alive, the world would fall into chaos.
"Don't worry, Sei. I can protect myself. I'm only going over there because of this troublesome person beside me."
Raize knew he couldn't casually let the biblical loli god inside him act. While he wasn't confident he could defeat the dragon Tohru, he was certain he could escape if necessary.
[…As long as you're confident…]
Sei's tone sounded a little hesitant, as if she were avoiding something—perhaps because Raize had unconsciously but affectionately called her Sei earlier.
That made the Biblical loli God recall something from the past.
Although they hadn't been together long, the trust between Raize and the god he had contracted with had risen astonishingly fast, to the point where even he himself didn't know why he trusted her so much.
Perhaps the contract deepened their bond, or perhaps it was simply the inexplicable sense of security that came from her presence.
Raize could also sense Sei's unexplained goodwill toward him, so he gradually opened his heart to the second "resident" living inside his body.
Upon entering the wild forest, there should have been sounds of beasts, birds, or insects—but instead, the place was eerily silent.
As Raize walked straight ahead, he felt a heavy pressure in his chest and quietly heightened his vigilance.
Roar!
A strange roar suddenly came from not far ahead. To Raize, it sounded more like a warning.
Given a dragon's power, it was highly likely that it had already discovered him and Kobayashi.
"Mmm, is it a wild bear? Bears are tasty!"
Hearing the roar, Kobayashi showed no fear at all. Instead, fueled by alcohol, she started drunkenly boasting again, clamoring about eating bear meat.
Speechless at this thick-nerved woman, Raize supported her and walked forward several dozen steps. After pushing through a patch of bushes, they finally witnessed a terrifying sight.
Ahead lay a massive dark-green dragon. What Raize had thought were two small caves turned out to be its nostrils. Thick, bizarre horns rose from its head, a pair of vertical pupils faintly glowing gold, and two rows of sharp, vicious fangs.
Its emerald scales glinted with a cold sheen, and a massive sword was embedded in its back.
Blood continuously flowed from the dragon's wound as it breathed painfully, each breath sounding like the rumble of a massive engine.
The moment Raize and Kobayashi emerged from the bushes, the dragon's enormous, icy eyes locked onto them.
Kobayashi, being drunk, felt little reaction, but Raize felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen as he stared in shock at the colossal creature before him.
"Humans, so you really did come in."
The dragon's voice was unfriendly and icy, its ferocious eyes fixed on Raize and Kobayashi.
"Don't misunderstand. We were just curious about the strange roar. We have no hostile intentions, and I don't think we pose any threat to you."
"Strange humans… are you not afraid of me?"
"To be honest, I am a bit scared. Your size alone is terrifying. But this drunk tomboy beside me isn't afraid of you at all…"
Raize forced down his discomfort and spoke to the dragon. Saying he wasn't afraid would be a lie.
The dragon was far stronger than him, and someone who respected power as much as he did naturally felt fear.
"She's only fearless because she's drunk. But I don't see fear on your face."
I look calm on the surface, but I'm panicking inside!
Drunken Kobayashi wasn't affected by any negative pressure at all. After squinting her hazy eyes and sizing up the green dragon from head to toe, she took a deep breath.
"Ooh~ it's a dragon! Let me hug you!"
She broke free from Raize's support and charged straight toward the dragon's mouth, fearlessly leaping forward to hug its nose and rubbing against it with a silly grin.
Raize broke out in a cold sweat at Kobayashi's actions and felt nothing but respect. Truly worthy of Kobayashi—doing things others never could. In some ways, she was terrifyingly strong.
The green dragon glanced at the foolish human and lightly shook its head, flinging her off.
"Hurry up and take this rude human away and leave this place, or I'll eat you both!"
Roar!
The dragon opened its mouth slightly and roared. The force and presence were like a passing typhoon, and Raize immediately stepped in front of Kobayashi to keep her from being blown away.
"Hey, hey, you're injured. Stop bluffing. We're not a threat to you at all."
Raize helped Kobayashi up from the ground and pointed at the wound and the giant sword in the dragon's back.
"You!"
Exposed so bluntly, the massive creature glared fiercely at Raize, but the movement seemed to aggravate its injury. Pain flashed in its huge eyes, and when it looked back at the two humans, there was an indescribable sense of regret and loss.
"Forget it… perhaps this is simply my fate. To meet two extremely rude lower-class humans at the end of my life… how pitiful."
The dragon's deep voice carried a hint of self-mockery. After muttering this, it seemed to exhaust its remaining strength and collapsed weakly onto the ground.
"Hey! Green lizard! We may be weak compared to you, but calling us lower-class humans is going too far!"
A vein popped on Raize's forehead. No matter how strong the dragon was, being called lower-class humans was still infuriating.
Kobayashi didn't seem angry. She looked somewhat speechless at the green dragon and added, "Yeah, that's really rude. And don't you get tired talking like that? It must be exhausting."
"Who are you calling a green lizard?! I am a noble dragon, you two rude fools!"
The moment it heard the word "lizard," the dragon completely lost its temper.
"Tch, what a blustering fake. Kobayashi, want to help this dragon? Pull the sword out for it?"
"Sure. Even though this guy talks in an exhausting way, let's help anyway. It looks kind of pitiful."
Raize led Kobayashi to the dragon's side and helped her climb up onto its massive body.
Pulling out this god's sword might grant Kobayashi some kind of opportunity. He vaguely remembered something like that from the original manga.
He thought such an opportunity would be perfect for protecting Kobayashi.
Fueled by alcohol, Kobayashi seemed to gain endless strength and grabbed the massive sword, taller than her own body.