Creative Staff
Original Story: Inumajin
Character Design: Kochimo
Art: Koikuchi Kiki
Translation: Wesley O’Donnell
What They Say:
“That…wouldn’t be anything like the fun pet life I wanted!!”
Now that Mary’s fallen ill, Routa’s pampered-pooch life is in jeopardy! In order to cure her once and for all, he’ll need to do some actual work for a change! The medicinal flower he seeks, however, is guarded by a fearsome dragon, and he’s got a lot of ground to cover if he wants to make it to its lair. Will he be able to overcome his trauma for the one he loves most, or is Mary doomed to relive this cycle of sickness every year?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Being a pampered pooch is great. You get to eat delicious food. You get to be lazy. An adorable master is always doting on you. And right now, you get to enjoy a bath with all the lovely ladies of the household and gaze upon their beautiful bodies. It’s quite a view. Yup, Routa is living the good life. He even gets to lick wine off of the gorgeous Hecate’s foot. Lucky dog! After sampling some scrumptious ice cream and bath shenanigans, Mary and Routa head back to her room. On their way there, she comments just how much fun she’s been having with Routa around. He really changed her life. That’s adorable. And then she suddenly collapses. Oh no! A few moments later, she awakens in her bed. Apparently, this happens every year. For about a month every year, she gets sick and is bedridden. That sounds like a pain. Routa is very concerned. Mary tells him not to worry though. She’ll get better, eventually. Mary’s father is going crazy. He knows this happens every year but he can’t help but get emotional. I can’t blame him. Hecate assures him that Mary will be fine as long as she takes her medicine. He just has to be patient.
Is there anything Routa can do? Actually, there is. An outside chat with Hecate reveals that if he can obtain wrymnil, then he can save Mary. Hecate has only been able to contain her symptoms. She hasn’t been able to cure her. If she had wrymnil, then she’d be able to. The only problem is that wrymnil is a legendary herb and it can only be found where dragons nest. That sounds like a hassle! Routa doesn’t want to put in that kind of effort. Mary will be fine in a month, right? He doesn’t need to go find the herb. Everything will work out. But it sure will be a lonely and sad month without Mary. And he has to go through this every year? Routa changes his mind. He can’t bear to see Mary in pain. He will find the wrymnil and cure her! It’s not going to be easy though. If only he had some help. By the way, Zenobia was totally listening to the conversation the whole time.
The first order of business is to ask for Garo’s assistance. Does she know if there’s a dragon that lives around here? She does. Well, that was easy! Legend says there’s a blue dragon living in a cave behind the waterfall that flows from the sacred mountain. It should take a few days to get there. A wild Zenobia appears out of nowhere! That timing though, am I right? She immediately picks a fight with Garo. This isn’t the time to be fighting! Routa has more important matters to take care of. That is why he convinces Garo to join him in his ultimate technique – laying on your back and exposing your belly! This stops Zenobia dead in her tracks. See? Works every time. Anywho, she knows that Routa is planning to help Mary. She’s not really sure what he and Hecate are up to but she’s willing to gamble on this. Onward to the dragon’s lair!
Routa and Zenobia don’t really hang out much. This journey is the perfect opportunity for them to learn about each other! Who knows? Maybe they’ll become friends. Routa discovers quickly that Zenobia is a fast runner. Like, really fast. I think she’s even faster than him! After running for a good while, they decide to take a break. This is when Routa learns that Zenobia isn’t a bad cook either. Zenobia is quite talented, huh? She confesses that she knows Routa isn’t a bad guy. After all, if he was, Mary wouldn’t be fond of him. But a monster is still a monster. He may lose control one day and hurt one of the people that took her in. She couldn’t live with herself if that happened. She may resent him but she believes that he isn’t evil. Wow, it’s nice to see Zenobia opening up to Routa. It’s a shame that he fell asleep, haha. Still, this was a nice bonding moment for them.
After a few days, they finally reach their destination. Zenobia busts out a gigantic, magical dragon-slaying sword that has been passed down in her family. And she’s easily able to carry it with ease! Just who is Zenobia? All Routa knows is that he needs to be more careful. He invents a new ultimate technique – dragging his butt across the ground! Oh man, he’s getting too overpowered. But enough jokes, time to explore the cave! Where could the wrymnil be? Oh, it’s right there in front of them. That was a piece of cake! It’s great when things go smoothly. And then the dragon shows up. Of course! Routa is so scared that he wets himself! That actually happens. What does the dragon do? Laugh. Yup, you read that right. The dragon finds it humorous that anyone would be ballsy enough to mark their territory the moment they enter the cave. The dragon has taken a liking to Routa. He is a guest and guests are meant to be entertained. This dragon isn’t so bad at all. The blue dragon, Lenowyrm, proclaims to not threaten or devour indiscriminately. That’s good news! Lenowyrm correctly guesses that they’re here for the herb. The dragon wants to show them something cool. That was the plan but Zenobia randomly attacks the dragon! What is she doing? They were going to talk this out! There was no need for fighting. At first, Lenowyrm thinks it’s cute but then Zenobia starts landing painful blows. Okay, it’s not cute anymore. The dragon proceeds to knock Zenobia out. Oof.
Lenowyrm plans to finish Zenobia off but Routa stands in her way. He dares protect her? Lenowyrm could laugh off the urination. She could let them destroying the entrance slide. Heck, she could even ignore a few cuts here and there due to a misunderstanding. What Lenowyrm can’t accept that she damaged the face of an unsullied maiden. I guess she was a female dragon all along. Why does Routa want to save Zenobia anyway? Is she worth it? He admits he wants to save Zenobia because he wishes to lick the frustrated tears off of her face. Lenowyrm calls Routa a pervert and a tongue terrorist. Honestly, I can’t argue with her. The two exchange blows with Routa coming out on top in the end. After claiming victory, Routa notices a beautiful garden of wrymnil. An embarrassed Lenowyrm admits that she enjoyed taking care of the flowers. You know what? That’s adorable. Routa remarks that she’s a better woman than he thought. And that line just stole her heart. Routa got what he came for. Time to go back home.
Routa gets the medicinal herb to Hecate and she’s able to make a medicine that cures Mary’s sickness. She’s all better now! Yay! Also, Zenobia reluctantly takes all the credit for defeating the dragon and nabbing the wrymnil. Routa’s secret is still safe! It’s cute how Zenobia just helped protect him. All’s well that ends well. The volume ends with Mary promising to be a little more selfish. She wants to try different things. She wants to see more of the world. And she wants to do it all with Routa by her side. That’s why she never wants him to see him leave her alone without permission! Routa promises to protect her and licks the tears off of her face. Ah yes, delicious tears! He is definitely a tongue terrorist.
In Summary:
It’s nice to see Zenobia not trying to kill Routa for a change. They finally had an opportunity to learn more about each other. For the most part, I think it went well. Zenobia opened up to Routa and expressed how she really felt. It was nice that they got a chance to bond. Zenobia could probably learn how to be less trigger-happy though. Things could have gone a lot smoother if she didn’t attack without thinking. And Routa could probably be less of a tongue terrorist but we know that won’t happen. Somehow, he still makes females of different species fall for him. He’s got a weird harem going on. But more importantly, it’s good to see that Mary is healthy again. That’s one less thing Routa has to worry about. He can finally go back to the pampered pooch life. How long will it last though?
Content Grade: B-
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: T+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: May 26th, 2020
MSRP: $13.00 (US), $17.00 (CAN)