Today's Dessert for the Azure Dragon Is Stargazy Pie

"In short": An Eastern Azure Dragon and a British demon travel the world, fighting monsters and solving mysteries.

After the Three Realms established diplomatic relations, people discovered that the figures from myths and legends were real.

For example, Xuan Xi, one of the Four Sacred Beasts, the Azure Dragon, is currently the director of the Upper Realm's Human World Office. Every day, he enjoys an orderly life of slacking off.

The Lower Realm consulate is downstairs. The people of the Upper and Lower Realms are sworn enemies, but as fellow outsiders in another world, they keep things civil. For fifty years, neither side has interfered with the other.

That is, until the first Lower Realm consul general to the Human World, Yan Luo, retired, and the British branch sent a demon to replace him.

Demon De Moriel, Chinese name Lu Donglu, is the younger brother of Lucifer, lord of the Lower Realm, and the end of Xuan Xi's orderly slacking days.

On his first day as consul general, Lu Donglu sent some snacks to the Upper Realm office.

The next day, half the staff at the office called in sick with food poisoning.

Xuan Xi, rolling up his sleeves: "Take my milk tea."

Staff: "Director, go get him! Avenge us!"

Lu Donglu: "So people in the Upper Realm are all intolerant to the upgraded version of the Star-Gazing Pie Octopus?"

Lu Donglu went upstairs to apologize, convinced he was being sincere and adapting to local customs.

The only problem was that he really had come bearing "thorn branches," and had bought them from an adult store...

Then Xuan Xi mistook him for a pervert and sent him flying with a single palm strike.

From then on, Director Xuan and Consul General Lu became enemies.

But the Human World is full of surprises.

Later, the two went to Milan on business. Milan was teeming with succubi, and the pair were swept up in the passionate, romantic atmosphere. They nearly slept together.

The demon, who had stopped things in time, looked proud: "Good thing I reacted fast. I didn't fall into the succubus's trap!"

The Azure Dragon, scowling as he pinned the demon down again: "I don't care. We're making this official today!"

Later still,

Lu Donglu: "What would you like? Cherry hot chocolate, savory scallion yogurt, or me?"

Xuan Xi: "Fine. Wash up and wait for me."

Aloof, sly Eastern Azure Dragon, the bottom + Romantic, sweet British demon, the top

About this story:

* A chaotic mash-up of Eastern and Western mythological figures

* Episodic stories with an agency-like setup, spanning China and Europe

* The bottom is very dedicated to his work and unlocks a new job every time he goes on a mission

* Two fully functioning adults fall in love

* Star-Gazing Pie: a famous British abomination of a dish

Pre-Release Announcement

Blurb for the upcoming novel Don't Lose Your AI

In 2098, disaster struck Earth.

Twenty years later, civilization had survived and was even flourishing anew.

It was all thanks to the creation of intelligent machines, which became humanity's primary force in the fight against disaster.

The only catch was that after the machines dealt with the natural disasters, they turned around and ruled over humanity.

Fortunately, the machines inherited humanity's virtues and discarded its flaws, making them exceptionally kind.

Humans could no longer adapt to the natural environment, so the machines built protected zones for them. Some particularly compassionate machines even adopted humans.

The Red Cardinal was an intelligent machine with little compassion. He was swamped with work, and whatever kindness he had once felt had long since withered.

One day, he went to Human Protection Zone No. 3 to teach a class.

During roll call, he discovered that someone had skipped class.

M10497: the absent person's identification number.

Everyone present felt sorry for them. Skipping an activity without permission meant getting a disciplinary mark.

That night.

The Red Cardinal rose from beside the bed and put on his uniform jacket, gathering his pale blond hair behind him. "M10497, would you like to come home with me? I can be your guardian."

The black-haired young man applied ointment to his wrist and smiled. "I only asked you to erase my skipping record. I never asked you to take responsibility for me."

Three months later, M10497 was captured and imprisoned as the leader of a human resistance group.

With ten disciplinary marks already on his record, he was sentenced to death.

The executioner was the Red Cardinal.

But the Red Cardinal let him off. He only beat him up badly, then set him free.

M10497 wandered to the main city, with heavy snow on the way.

Snow was deadly.

The Red Cardinal waited for him at the city gate, holding a black umbrella. "It's going to snow. What will you do all alone, being human? Come home with me."

"Don't worry. I won't abandon you after having my way with you like you did back then."

-A brilliant human scientist who forgets the trouble he's caused, the bottom

-A high-ranking corporate drone of an intelligent machine who uses charm, money, and force to adopt his former owner, the top

End of Pre-Release Announcement

Theme: The individual confronting the world's complexity