Khrx sat up and yawned, rubbing his eyes with the sleeves of his penguin onesie. He had gone shopping with Anaheim yesterday after the incident where his head cracked the Statue of Freedom. Surprisingly, Anaheim had a lot of face—the police dropped the incident once she said she’d take care of it.

The door to the room Khrx was resting in swung open. Anaheim poked her head into the room. “You’re awake, Khrx? You’ve been sleeping for two days. I was almost about to call an ambulance.”

Khrx yawned again in response. Normally, he’d sleep for centuries or millennia without an issue, but since Fufu wasn’t by his side, he couldn’t get a good night’s sleep. “Two days?” Khrx asked, his eyes still bleary. “It should’ve finished charging then?”

“What should’ve finished?” Anaheim asked as she walked into the room, pulling a cart with steaming food on top. The carpet was shaggy, but the cart hovered above the ground; there was no danger of its wheels getting caught. “I made you some breakfast! Well, I say it’s breakfast, but really, it’s every meal I’ve made since you came here but weren’t able to eat because you were asleep.”

Khrx reached for a drumstick, but Anaheim placed a cup of green liquid into his hand. “Wash your teeth first,” she said. “Swish and drink it.”

Khrx complied. The liquid tasted like juice. He wasn’t worried about it being poisoned. Dragons were immune to poison. Unfortunately, that resistance didn’t carry over into the game, and Lorin had accidently killed him. Khrx placed the cup down and grabbed the drumstick he was originally aiming for. A few minutes later, the cart was barren, the dishes licked clean.

Anaheim stared at Khrx with wide eyes. She had brought over ten dishes just in case he was a picky eater, but she didn’t expect him to eat it all. Just where did it go? Wasn’t this a direct violation of some rules of physics? Unless he converted it all into mana, but that wasn’t possible. Anaheim gave the cart a shove, causing it to float out of the room. “How was it?”

“It was tasty,” Khrx said with a nod.

Anaheim giggled and patted his head. “I made it myself!” She shook her head. “These days, too many people rely on golems to do everything for them. But my mom wouldn’t let me do that, saying I’d forget how to take care of myself.”

Khrx tilted his head.

Anaheim sighed and picked him up. She hopped into bed, landing on her side, snuggling Khrx towards her chest. “You know I’m the descendent of the hero, right?”

Khrx nodded. Hundreds of people had greeted her while they were shopping, shouting hero and Anaheim the whole time. Should he hate her? She was the offspring of the monster who killed his friends after all. He wasn’t that close with Sneksnek since she lived in the ocean and all, but Tsorfy had been one of his drinking buddies—on the rare occasions he had left his magma cavern. Anaheim was really nice to him though.

Anaheim sighed while stroking Khrx’s hair. “There’s a lot of responsibilities that come with being the descendent of the hero. When I was little, I was always training while everyone else was having fun. While my classmates attended concerts, movies, and stage productions, I was learning magic. While they held sleepovers and birthday parties, I was hunting monsters with my mom. Well, not really with my mom. She abandoned me in forests with nothing except my clothes and told me to survive until she came back. Whenever I cried or complained, she always told me it was necessary to kill the demon lord.” A wry smile appeared on Anaheim’s face. “Isn’t that funny? The demon lord died over a thousand years ago, but I was training to kill him.”

Khrx didn’t say anything.

Anaheim sighed again and ruffled his ears. “I’m not sure why I’m telling you this,” she said. “Maybe because I feel like you’re similar to me back when I was little? I mean, you’re from Damagascar, but you ended up all alone in South Rokea with nothing but your phone. And I saw your strength. You’re way stronger than normal people. If this situation isn’t your parents forcing you to grow on your own, I’m not sure what it is because trafficking ended over a hundred years ago.” She pinched Khrx’s cheeks when he didn’t respond, causing him to cry out. “So why don’t you tell me the truth now? Why are you here, you adorable little dragon?”

Khrx stopped squirming, his eyes widening. “Eh?”

Anaheim snorted. “You thought you could hide it from me?”

Khrx’s brow furrowed. “You’re … not afraid of me retaliating since you know…?” Should he kill her? Maybe he should kill her. Killing her would be the best thing to do in this situation. Khrx lunged forward and bit Anaheim’s throat, chomping down and tearing out a chunk of flesh while revealing her spine. Surprisingly, there was no blood.

Anaheim snorted and her throat repaired itself instantly. If Khrx wasn’t holding a piece of meat in his mouth, he would’ve thought everything that had just happened was an illusion. Anaheim reached forward and pinched his cheeks even harder, spreading them out like taffy. “You can’t kill a hero,” she said. “It’s just not possible.”

“Hah?”

Anaheim sat up and crossed her legs, placing Khrx in front of herself. “A hero is a cheat existence. If life were a story, the thing protecting me would be called plot armor. Until I kill the demon lord, the universe itself is helping me. Except for the fact that I’ll give birth spontaneously at thirty years old and die fifteen years later when the new hero is ready, I’m basically invincible.” She patted Khrx’s head. “So don’t think you can win against me, okay? I still have 29 years left to live.”

“Isn’t that a bit too fantastical…?”

“You’re a dragon in the shape of a beastkin child wearing a penguin onesie. You don’t get to define what’s outlandish or not.”

“What’s wrong with a penguin onesie? Are you making fun of me?”

Anaheim laughed and hugged Khrx. “This little dragon’s just too adorable. So why don’t you tell me your real aims? I can help you depending on what they are. After all, I’m an existence created to kill something that doesn’t exist. I literally have nothing better to do.”

Khrx scratched his head. Should he tell her? He sighed and lowered his head, his ears and tails drooping. “Someone kidnapped my precious Fufu. Life’s not worth living without her. I want to get her back, but the man who kidnapped her said I have to play a game with him. He wants me to help him form a country through [Resolution], then he’ll give her back to me.”

Anaheim blinked. “Forming a country through [Resolution]? That sounds like fun. Sure, I’ll help you get your, err, Fufu back. What, no, who is Fufu? Another dragon?”

“Fufu is Fufu. She’s the love of my life. She can never be replaced.”

***

Awakening Cycle 1,072,362: Day 14.

Dear Diary,

I met the hero’s descendent, Anaheim. She’s a complete cheat existence. No wonder why everyone lost to the hero, she’s unkillable and that trait was passed on her to offspring. I told her about Fufu because she said she’d help me out (for unknown reasons). I’m a bit suspicious of her motives, but it really does seem like she’s helping me because I’m adorable. So many capable women are throwing themselves at my feet to assist me. Sigh, what are the adorable to do? I thought Luke was tricking me when he told me to assume this form, but it looks like Luke’s intelligence really hasn’t dropped. He knew this was simply the best form to assume. With Anaheim’s help, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be long before I rescue Fufu. The future looks bright.

…

There shouldn’t be any issues if Anaheim meets Luke, right?

Love,

Khrx