Heron was now a certified cow-napper.

  Not only was he guilty of such a crime, the immense guilt weighed in his chest as he heard the bemoaning moo’s of the small cow they had just snatched into the air.

  The dragon beat its wings, gusts of wind blew as they ascended with the small cow remaining in the clutches of the dragon. Heron clung onto the dragon’s spine mid-flight as he glanced down and witnessed the herd of cattle that had paused their hay munching and was now mooing belligerently at the cow-napping. They still wore the same, strange smiles on their face but now their expressions were a lot less friendly and a lot more unfriendly. Probably a good idea if Heron and his pals continued on their flight.

  If they descended, the bovines would not be so kind.

  “Maybe we should give it back.” Heron couldn’t believe what he was saying, but taking a cow from its family seemed too heartless.

  Nonsense, your cow has been fetched as promised. This is a vital step towards conquering the universe. I expect to be fed with the finest bread and soup.

  The cows below became visibly smaller and smaller as Heron and his companions flew higher and higher. Past the clouds, past the skies, and into the upper atmosphere of the planet. Soon, they were reentering space and into the orbit of the universe.

  Unbeknown to the three of them, an alarm rang in the far distance.

  Heron was never going to get used to flying through outer space.

  It was unimaginable; he’d seen photos of outer space from his previous life. But this? It looked like space, but it sure didn’t feel like anything he would’ve imagined. It was like flying through the sky, but if the sky was an endless abyss of the night. He dared not look below the dragon as they flew—he wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out if there was anything below them or nothing at all, and that if he fell he would fall endlessly into the darkness.

  Heron was pretty sure the little cow felt the same way as him as it had quieted down since they had flown out of the atmosphere of its original planet.

  “Lord GOAT?”

  The dragon didn’t answer him, just continued to flap its wings through space.

  “You said you wanted to conquer the universe.” Heron paused as he leaned against the dragon’s back to hold on for dear life. “What does that entail?”

  Silence.

  The cow mooed, as if to answer Heron.

  Foolish human, of course it means conquering the universe.

  Heron stifled a laugh. Of course that was the answer. To conquer the universe was to conquer the universe.

  And you—Heron of another world—shall be my faithful devotee. You agreed to the terms and conditions and I have provided the service of fetching you this so-called ‘cow’. Our contract will be everlasting.

  “Uh, what?” Heron blinked once, his hands tightening on the dragon's scales.

  Everlasting? Contract? Terms and conditions and services? Maybe he shouldn’t argue with Lord GOAT while they were flying through outer space in case the dragon decided to toss off its only riding passenger, but Heron still didn’t know the terms and conditions that he had somehow agreed to (?) nor was he aware of a contract he had signed.

  We are now bound by the magical essence of the universe, and until death do us part, we shall remain in a pact as familiar and human.

  Oh great, Heron was bound to a dragon that was a Chūnibyō with a splash of delulu. This was going phenomenal; his second life was a lot more than he had signed up for. It was one thing to be stuck on a tiny planet; it was another to be a farmer and now the unpaid servant of a dragon.

  His fingers flexed as he held back a sigh as his eyes drooped from drowsiness. It’d been a long day; he had spent the entire day farming so that when they had arrived at the new planet to catch a cow, it was probably when he would normally be asleep on his own planet.

  Heron didn’t know what magical essence was and he wasn’t about to ask. Yet.

  “Sure, Lord GOAT.”

  While Heron didn’t know if the comment he made was him being serious or sarcastic, one thing was certain—he was stuck in this strange arrangement and was still only in his underpants.

  Swooping in at full force, Heron rode Lord GOAT as they carried the small cow as they approached a familiar planet. Heron was pleasantly surprised that he could recognize the planet while they arrived steadily. He hadn’t set up any lighting near his cabin and the fire from the stone pit earlier today was long gone. But with the moonlight and stars, as they flew in from the sky, he could see the lake and the shape of his cabin from the far distance.

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  Flying closer, Heron prepared for impact as they were less than a hundred meters away. The boulder, trees, and clearing came into view along with his cabin and fields. And then he heard the small cow moo a complaint as it was dropped. And they were still flying. What the hell.

  “Did you just drop our cow?!”

  Can it not fly?

  “NO!!!”

  Heron’s heart stopped as his palms slicked. His mind flashed to the stack of hay he had summoned earlier, summoning it right below where the cow was going to land.

  “Please no cow guts in my field—“

  Heron passed out.

  The sound of chirping and warmth beating down on his bare chest woke Heron up as he sneezed like his soul was being ejected from his lungs. Sniffling as he sat up, one hand clutching the dirt and the other held his forehead from the dizziness and leftover residual symptoms from passing out. With his memory hazy and his vision blurry, he blinked as he tried to remember what had caused him to faint. An incredulous laugh escaped him—goodness, had everything been a dream?

  Because there was no dragon or cow around, not from what Heron could see.

  Glancing around his surroundings, Heron’s eyes traced the clearing and the trees just beyond him. He was sitting in his potato field, chilled from the lack of clothes overnight but his skin warm from the invisible sun. It was probably the middle of the day and he had slept in the field all night. Had he somehow passed out yesterday while working in the fields?

  NOOOOOO!

  Jolting from the shout in his head, Heron whipped his head to search for the source of the sound. Okay, definitely not a dream. That was the dragon’s voice, except it was shrill and panicked. The memories of the previous day rushed back into Heron’s mind, forcing him to accept his current status as the unwillingly bounded human of an non-consensual pact to an almighty dragon—

  Human, I demand punitive damages for this crime! Slay the beast!

  Heron blinked, once, twice. His eyes followed the scuffling of dirt as he witnessed the white rabbit scurry like its life depended on it across the clearing with a trail of dust flying behind. Meanwhile, the small cow was mooing as it chased after the rabbit, the cow’s little legs carrying it as it galloped across the clearing.

  Can you hear me, mortal? The foul creature has been after me since it devoured the fortress you summoned. I demand retribution!

  Heron held back a chuckle as he stood up, brushing the dirt off of him. “Alright, Lord Bun. As you command.”

  The chase continued between the rabbit and cow as Heron watched thoughtfully, his eyes following the two as they ran around the campsite. In his mind, the dragon-rabbit was now making incoherent noises and demands, clearly overwhelmed from the situation. That didn’t stop the small cow from grinning a big grin as it continued to chase after the rabbit. If Heron didn’t know better, he would’ve assumed the cow was trying to eat the rabbit.

  “Alright, hold on. I’ll come save you.” Heron cleared his throat as he prepared to summon a simple but thick hemp rope.

  With a sorry looking lasso created, Heron tested the knot and a practice throw. Seemed legit. He didn’t have a single cowboy bone in his body but at least he had the heart of the wild West from playing video games. Not that it was going to translate into lassoing skills. But it was better than nothing as the rabbit was now making very unhappy rabbit noises in Heron’s head.

  Dragon-rabbit rescue mission—commence!

  Except the concept and idea seemed a lot better and easier when it only lived in Heron’s mind. Now he was the one chasing the cow as it mooed in defiance while it continued to chase after the dragon-rabbit with its white fur puffed in distress. Unlike the two spirited animals, Heron quickly found himself short of breath with zero successful lasso attempts. Each attempt he made was more pathetic than the last, as the dragon-rabbit continued to make incoherent noises in his mind.

  I will have your head when I return to my normal form, treacherous cow. Mark my words, you shall regret angering Lord Greatest of All Time.

  Heron was tired, sweaty, and hungry as he panted with sweat dripping down his forehead, his hands gripping on his middle-aged kneecaps. He was built more like a flimsy piece of paper that would fly away at the gust of wind—an office worker wasn’t exactly designed to chase after a cow with a lasso. Catching his breath, he wiped away his sweat as he watched the two chase in a circle around him.

  As he watched, an idea came to mind. Eyes widening, Heron patted on the top of his thighs, making a clapping sound as he beckoned the dragon-rabbit.

  “Lord Bun, jump into my arms!”

  Now why would I do that?!

  “Just trust me.” Heron opened his arms as he squatted down for the rabbit.

  Over my dead body—

  “Yes, exactly. It will be your dead body if you don’t come to me.”

  Oh for heaven’s sake.

  The rabbit jumped into Heron’s arms as he scooped the fluffy furry creature into his arms. Standing up straight, he braced himself as the rabbit burrowed its head into the crevice of his arm. The cow was coming right for them now, and if Heron just timed it right…

  Except holding a rabbit while trying to lasso a cow was proving to be more difficult than he had expected. As the cow charged at him, Heron stepped to the side as he threw the rope in hopes of catching the cow as it passed them.

  It missed.

  Of course it did, it wasn’t real lasso rope. It was just normal, flimsy rope that wasn’t designed to catch a charging cow, no matter how small or little it was. It wasn’t a baby after all, it was still an adult cow—just smol.

  The cow mooed indignantly as it galloped by, now running away towards the edge of the clearing. Oh crap, if it got away then it was going to be much more trouble later on to find it. The planet was small but not small enough. Besides, what if it tripped and died or couldn’t swim in the lake and drowned? Heron didn’t know much about cows. All he knew was that now was the best chance to keep it around before it wandered off on this tiny planet.

  With another idea sparking in his mind, Heron turned his attention towards an open space in the clearing to summon…

  A stack of carrots.

  Oh, that’s very kind of you but no thanks, I don’t eat carrots. I’m a dragon after all.

  Heron didn’t respond—he was too focused on the small cow as it turned its attention back to them as it trotted around the camp. It eyed the carrots suspiciously, evidently showing the distrust that Heron had distilled in it when he had baited him with a carrot earlier. But alas, not even a cow could resist the temptation of a carrot, let alone a stack of them.

  As the cow began to approach apprehensively at Heron and Lord Bun, Heron began to inch closer as he and the cow faced one another off like a game of chicken. Except the only loser would be Heron if he didn’t manage to catch the cow while it was munching on carrots.

  He was going to catch this cow and milk it with concentration, dedication, and sheer determination.