Max woke up with a jolt.

  He had been hearing strange noises in the room all night.

  “…Rats?” he muttered.

  Then he remembered.

  The chest.

  He slowly turned his head toward the side of the room.

  The huge reinforced chest—the same one where he had stored the egg—was shaking. Just a little. But enough to wake him.

  crrk

  Max swallowed.

  “Ah… right.”

  He carefully got up and walked over to the chest. He crouched in front of it, resting one hand on the lid.

  “Well…” he murmured. “I guess this was bound to happen sooner or ter.”

  He took a breath.

  And opened the chest.

  Light exploded into his face.

  A white, intense, almost silvery light hit him head-on, forcing him to cover his eyes instantly.

  “W-What—?!”

  He staggered back a step, completely blinded.

  The glow filled the room, reflecting off the walls, the ceiling, the floor.

  Little by little, the intensity faded.

  Max slowly parted his fingers.

  And he saw her.

  Inside the chest, sitting among the remains of a broken shell, was a small girl.

  She had white scales on her arms and legs, violet hair that fell down her back, a thin tail swaying behind her, small curved horns on her head… and tiny wings folded against her back.

  And, to top it all off…

  She was dressed like a maid.

  Max blinked.

  Twice.

  “…What?”

  The girl looked at him.

  Her eyes widened with curiosity… then lit up.

  “Father.”

  “—FATHER?!”

  Max stumbled backward, bumping into the bed.

  “No, no, no, no—wait, hold on—” he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m way too young to be a father! Definitely too young!”

  The girl tilted her head, confused.

  “Father… not father?”

  “No! I mean—maybe—I don’t know—this is too fast!”

  Before he could truly panic, a translucent window appeared in front of his eyes.

  [ New entity detected ] [ Link avaible ] [ Insert a name for your new party companion ]

  Max looked back at the girl.

  The white scales. The soft light still emanating from her body. The calm feeling filling the room.

  “…Moonlight…” he murmured without thinking.

  He looked at her again.

  “Moonlight fits.”

  He confirmed.

  [ Name registered: Moonlight ] [ Link completed ]

  The girl immediately smiled.

  “Moon.”

  She clumsily stood up inside the chest and took a small step toward him.

  “Father.”

  “So we’re sticking with that, huh…?”

  Max sighed, resigned, and opened the next window that appeared before him.

  [ Name: Moonlight ] [ Race: Semi-Draconian ] [ Rarity: Uncalcuble ]

  [ Level: 1 ]

  [ HP: 12 ] [ Strength: 20 ] [ Endurance: 10 ] [ Agility: 15 ] [ Magic: 10 ] [ Luck: 8 ]

  Max read it.

  Read it again.

  Then froze completely.

  “…Twenty Strength?” he muttered. “At level one?”

  He swallowed.

  “That’s… completely broken.”

  Before he could fully process it, another window appeared, this one taking up almost his entire field of vision.

  [ New main quest ]

  [ Quest: Train the Dragon Maid ] [ Objective: Ensure the girl survives her first day of life. ] [ Reward: Frostfire Sword ]

  Max slowly lowered his gaze to the little dragon girl, who was now looking at him with an innocent smile… while her tail gently smacked one of the bed’s legs, leaving a mark.

  “…That sounds like a pretty easy quest,” he murmured.

  Moon tilted her head.

  “Father?”

  Max smiled nervously.

  “What’s the worst that could happen?”

  ***

  The sound of water from the fountain filled the courtyard.

  Enor was sitting on the edge with a cup of tea in her hands, accompanied by Sophie and Abby. The morning was calm—almost too calm.

  “This is… weird,” Abby commented, looking around. “Way too quiet.”

  Sophie nodded as she adjusted her posture.

  “After yesterday, I was expecting some kind of disaster.”

  Enor took a small sip of tea, trying to rex.

  “Max said today would be a normal day…” she murmured.

  At that exact moment, shouting came from the window of the royal pet’s room.

  Enor looked up.

  And saw Max.

  Or rather… she saw Max flying out of his room’s window, arms stretched forward.

  “MAX?!” Enor shouted, jumping to her feet.

  A second ter, they saw the reason.

  A small figure was falling ahead of him.

  White. With tiny fpping wings. And a tail.

  “WHAT IS THAT?!” Sophie excimed.

  Max caught the girl in midair just in time, wrapping her in both arms. The moment he held her, his boots activated and the fall slowed.

  They both descended gently toward the courtyard.

  Enor clutched her chest, heart pounding.

  Abby leaned forward, fascinated.

  “…Is that the same trick as yesterday?”

  Max nded carefully, protecting the small girl against his chest.

  The instant his feet touched the ground—

  Smack!

  The sound echoed sharply.

  Max’s head snapped to the side from the impact.

  “…Huh?”

  Sophie slowly lowered her hand, gring at him.

  “Would you mind expining WHAT you were doing?!” she demanded.

  Max brought a hand to his cheek, completely baffled.

  “Why was that for?!” he protested. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

  Abby couldn’t hold back her ughter.

  “I thought that—! Forget it,” she said between ughs. “But from below it looked like you were kidnapping a little dragon.”

  Max sighed.

  “Great.”

  He cleared his throat and lifted the girl slightly so everyone could see her clearly.

  “Everyone, this is Moonlight,” he said casually. “She was just born.”

  Absolute silence.

  Enor took a step forward.

  Her eyes widened as she looked at the little dragon girl, who was staring at everything with curiosity while clutching Max’s clothes.

  “She’s…” Enor brought both hands to her mouth. “…adorable.”

  Max blinked.

  “Huh?”

  Moonlight turned her head at the sound of Enor’s voice. Her eyes sparkled.

  She stared at her.

  And smiled.

  “Mommy?”

  Enor froze.

  Her face turned completely red.

  “—W-WHAT?”

  Abby let out a shriek.

  “SHE SAID MOMMY!”

  Sophie opened her mouth, but no words came out.

  Enor reacted purely on instinct.

  She stepped forward, carefully took Moonlight, and hugged her to her chest.

  “I-I…” she murmured, awkwardly stroking her hair. “Hello…”

  Moonlight settled against her, clearly satisfied.

  Max watched the scene with a mix of relief and confusion.

  “…I think she likes you.”

  Enor looked up at him, still blushing, but with a soft smile.

  “Max…” she said quietly. “You were amazing. You saved her without hesitation.”

  Max scratched the back of his neck.

  “Well… I wasn’t about to let her fall.”

  He fell silent for a second.

  “Oh—by the way.” He looked at her. “Would you be okay with Moonlight joining us on the walk ter?”

  Enor smiled brightly.

  “Of course.” She looked down at the girl. “Do you want to come with us?”

  Moonlight nodded energetically.

  “Yes.”

  Enor ughed softly.

  “Then…” she looked at Abby and Sophie. “Could you bring breakfast? For Max—and for her.”

  Abby was already on her feet.

  “I’m on it!”

  Sophie sighed, resigned. “Me too.”

  They walked off, talking between themselves.

  Enor looked back at Max, still holding the little dragon girl.

  “…I don’t think today is going to be a normal day.”

  Max watched as Moonlight distractedly nibbled on the edge of Enor’s dress.

  He smiled nervously.

  “Yeah. Definitely not normal.”