Demon Lord: Erotic Adventure in Another World

Chapter 863: A Dragon in Sailor’s Clothes

’How troublesome.’

With the concrete knowledge given to him by Mei, Asmodeus closed his eyes and slowly felt the connection between himself and the red dragon.

He focused his attention on Valena’s existence.

Countless faint whisps of scarlet red mana danced through the air in curled threads dripping with her scent and warmth.

’I knew she snuck on board.’

No matter how much she tried to hide.

The bond between her and Asmodeus wasn’t something that could be fooled.

He watched as one of the mercenaries strolled across the ship’s hull, glancing at the various cannons and other fixtures with glistening eyes.

There was no doubt in his mind that it was Valena masquerading as a human sailor.

’Though others might fall for her tricks.’

Asmodeus quietly watched her for a little longer.

Valena wore a loose sailor’s shirt, rough trousers and a brown cap pulled low over her forehead. Her hair had been dyed a dull black, and the horns that should have curved from her head were nowhere to be seen. Even the proud scarlet glow in her eyes had been suppressed into a muddy brown.

It was not a poor disguise.

If he were anyone else, he might have missed her.

Unfortunately for Valena, their hearts were bound at the deepest level.

The little dragon crept toward one of the heavy cannons, her eyes shining with obvious greed. She glanced left and right before reaching out, gently stroking the polished metal with the face of a little lizard admiring treasure.

Asmodeus’s lips twitched.

’So she snuck onto a military fleet to play with cannons?’

For a moment, he almost forgot the Empire’s threat.

Then Mei’s words replayed in his mind.

The Emperor wanted dragons.

Coco had reported Velvet, and Valena had been on their target list for years.

The faint amusement in his eyes slowly disappeared.

Valena was dangerous, troublesome and far too curious for her own good, but she was also still too careless. If the Empire carried a relic capable of sensing dragon traces, then her childish disguise meant nothing.

Nerim slowly awoke from her momentary nap when Mei took over, yet he could still feel her familiar weight resting against his left arm.

’This girl is quite hopeless too.’

He could see her lashes fluttering slightly as she pretended to sleep.

"Princess, aren’t you enjoying yourself a little too much?"

Nerim’s breathing suddenly slowed, becoming softer as if to pretend she was sleeping.

Asmodeus pinched her cheek.

"Ow..."

Her blue eyes opened a thin slit, looking up at him with shameless innocence.

"I was asleep."

"You were grinding against me..."

Her lips curled into a smile similar to Mei’s earlier one.

"Hmph, maybe I was enjoying a good dream?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay then."

Asmodeus stared at her before rolling his eyes.

Nerim smiled sweetly, then rubbed her cheek against his arm as though nothing had happened.

"I didn’t want to interrupt you and Mei. She sounded serious near the end."

It was nice that she didn’t hide the fact that she could now see what happened when Mei took over her body, though it was also a little worrying.

"She was."

"Then I was right not to interrupt."

Her voice softened enough that his irritation faded slightly.

"Are you worried about Valena?"

Asmodeus looked back toward the disguised sailor, still admiring the cannons with barely concealed hunger, so badly her tail was poking out of the pants.

"That idiot snuck onto a fleet sailing toward Leviathan while the Human Empire is searching for dragons."

Nerim followed his gaze.

For a moment, her expression went blank.

"That is Valena?"

"Yes."

"...Her disguise is actually good."

"Well, you should be able to sense her if you focus; we’re all joined together after all."

"Oh, shut up~ I don’t care about her!"

Nerim slowly pushed herself upright, no longer pretending to sleep. The playful warmth in her face faded until replaced by the sharper expression she wore when the sea turned dangerous.

"Should we hide her?"

"Do you think that would work with her?"

Nerim blinked.

She looked at the curious dragon.

The back to Asmodeus and shook her head. "Impossible."

"...see?"

He couldn’t help but sigh. "If they have something that can sense dragons, be it a magical tool or person, then everything will be for nought." Asmodeus began walking toward Valena with Nerim gripping his arm. "If I openly drag a suspicious sailor around by the collar, they will assume something is wrong, even our own people will be confused."

Across the deck, Valena finally noticed him approaching.

Her body stiffened.

Then, with the stiff movements of someone pretending not to panic, she turned away from the cannon and began walking in the opposite direction.

Asmodeus smiled.

"Valena."

The disguised sailor froze and slowly turned to face him.

A slow, miserable silence passed.

Then she looked back beneath the brim of her cap, muddy-brown eyes trembling with fake confusion.

"...Who is Valena, sir?"

Asmodeus stared at her.

Nerim copied him.

Several nearby sailors, who had already begun glancing over because their Emperor had called out a random mercenary by name, also stared at her.

Valena held the expression of a perfectly innocent stranger for three whole breaths.

Then her tail moved.

It slipped farther from the back of her trousers, curling slightly around her ankle before she quickly tried to stomp it flat with one heel.

Asmodeus looked down.

Valena also looked down.

There was a moment of silence.

"...Rope," she said.

"That is your tail."

"No, sir."

"It is red."

"Painted rope."

"It moved."

"That’s just the sea breeze..."

"There shouldn’t be any wind inside your pants."

Nerim pressed a hand over her mouth, shoulders trembling.

Valena’s face flushed beneath the cap.

"W-Well, perhaps your sailors keep strange ropes!"

"My sailors do not keep living dragon tails in their trousers."

"You don’t know that!"

A few sailors immediately looked away, pretending they had heard nothing.

Asmodeus walked closer.

Valena took one step back.

Then another.

Her heel touched the base of the cannon, and she froze like a thief caught inside a treasury.

Asmodeus reached out, grabbing at her neck.

She quickly dodged aside.

Yet his hand still caught the back of her collar with no effort at all.

"Ah!"

He lifted her just enough for her boots to scrape against the deck.

"Release me! You are interfering with official mercenary duties!"

"You are not a mercenary."

"I signed up."

"With what name?"

"...Valen."

Asmodeus narrowed his eyes.

Valena quickly added, "A very common human name."

Nerim finally failed to hold in her laugh.

The dragon glared at her, "Don’t laugh at me, fish woman!"

Nerim’s smile vanished instantly as she began to gather water around her body, shaping it into blades.

"What did you call me?"

Asmodeus sighed and pulled Valena closer before Nerim could do something troublesome.

"Enough."

He couldn’t deal with these two women clashing and grabbed both of them before hugging them closer to his body and hiding them from the view of others.

Valena crossed her arms despite still hanging from his grip.

"I only came because you were going somewhere fun... Ahem! Dangerous! I could feel the intense emotions inside you and thought something might happen."

"You seemed about ready to steal this cannon to me, though...."

"Partly."

"Valena."

"Fine! Mostly." Her eyes darted toward the cannon again. "But also because of danger."

Asmodeus lowered her until her boots touched the deck, but he did not release her collar.

The moment she landed, Valena tried to twist free. Of course, he tightly grabbed her shirt and yanked her towards him. She fell into his chest before two muscular arms wrapped around her back and squeezed tightly.

"Don’t try to run!"

"Gweeeh!"

She stopped.

"Listen carefully."

The coldness in his voice made her rebellious expression shrink by a fraction.

"The Human Empire knows about dragons, and their biggest target might just be you... Did you forget the reason why you came with me?"

Valena’s garnet red eyes lifted to meet his.

She snorted through her nose, creating a hot mist that brushed against his cheeks.

"I promised to keep you safe, Valena."

"Ah..." The dragon’s scales darkened, the blood red hue growing stronger as she blushed.

"...How much?"

"Enough to send Coco the emperor’s eyes, and Albrecht with Caelith, that crazy knight."

The name made Valena’s lips curl.

"The cat?"

"You know her?"

"Yeah, she used to try and catch me back when I was a mere wyvern... she destroyed many of my nests with her troublesome group." Alena’s eyes narrowed, suddenly far less childish as she tilted her head. "Though I thought she was just a spy."

Asmodeus sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"She is, but that’s just how important dragons are to that fucked up Emperor."

"Why?"

"To break a curse and seal placed on his body by another dragon."

The moment he finished speaking, Valena’s eyes widened, then slowly shrank as she rubbed her chin. "But there hasn’t been any since mother and me....oh....that means..."

The deck around them continued to move with ordinary life, but the three of them seemed separated from it as Valena’s body became weak, lying limp against Asmodeus as she muttered to herself.

"That curse... was it caused by my mother?"

Her question was a sore spot because he didn’t know for sure, but he also doubted it could be anyone else.

"Ah."

There was an immediate shift in her aura.

Asmodeus clenched his teeth as the seething heat bubbled in his throat like heartburn.

Valena no longer looked at the weapons.

She looked across the water.

Toward the white sails.

Toward the golden scripture.

Toward the Empire that had apparently been hunting her long before she ever reached Lumeria.

"Those insects..." she whispered.

Her tail slowly curled behind her, pressing against Asmodeus’s thigh, rubbing aggressively like an angry cat.

"Don’t let your mana explode here, Val."

He lowered his face beside hers, while hugging her tightly, trying to squeeze the emotions from the strange dragon. Asmodeus hadn’t seen her this way and truly started to worry, as the seething rage grew each second she watched the Imperial fleet.

Valena bared her teeth.

The faint glimpse of fangs beneath her disguise made two nearby sailors suddenly decide that the other side of the deck required urgent inspection.

Asmodeus glanced at them.

"Forget what you saw."

The men stiffened as a dark red magical mist flowed into their ears, nose and mouth.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

There was a moment of silence as Valena glanced back at him, silently observing him with a few dull huffs.

"You... You’re really worried about me?"

"Of course I am!"

Asmodeus snapped back.

The dragon suddenly buried her face in his chest, the heat from her skin much higher than a normal woman’s... yet it wasn’t too bad.

He just wanted to keep her there until the battle ended.

While the dragon just seemed happy from the words he’d spoken.

"H-Hmph.... I see.... ehe.... eheheh....."