Chapter 147: Making Peace

[ What the hell is wrong with these undisciplined brats?! Should I eat them?! ]

Long bared his fangs with a threatening growl. Several of the younger children immediately began crying in fear.

No, no, if Long scares you that much, you shouldn’t have started this in the first place.

Even the children who were not crying looked frightened, but they stubbornly glared at them anyway. Qiu Nuoya had no idea what he was supposed to do.

"Don’t, Long. You’re scaring them."

[ They’re the ones who attacked first. ]

"That’s true, but you shouldn’t act like that toward children!"

[ Are you telling me to simply endure it in silence while your master is needlessly hurt?! It is true that my scales are tough enough that stones like those cannot leave so much as a scratch on me. But I am not some monster. I am a noble dragon, a descendant of the venerable dragon race! Normally, human children should bow before me and worship me! ]

Hmm... Is that really any better?

Long was indeed incredibly powerful, one of the strongest creatures among monsters, and dragons were said to be among the mightiest of all. But that attitude was a little too arrogant. Qiu Nuoya knew that Long was kind at heart, but the way he spoke was still unacceptable.

I’ll have to do something about Long’s arrogant way of thinking eventually.

For now, though, the crying children in front of him seemed more important.

Qiu Nuoya turned his attention toward them, deciding that dealing with the children should come first.

"Hey, kids, why do you call Long a monster?"

"B-Because demi-humans are monsters! Monsters attack people, and they’re bad guys, right?!"

"Why do you think that? Have we done anything to you?"

"N-No, but..."

Qiu Nuoya crouched down and looked the children in the face.

"Long does look a little different from humans, that’s true, but he’s definitely not a monster. In fact, being called a monster has really hurt him. If someone called you something like that when you hadn’t done anything wrong, you’d get angry and you’d be hurt too, wouldn’t you?"

"Don’t lie! Dad said monsters and demi-humans can’t understand what humans say!"

"You haven’t even tried talking to him, so why did you decide that?"

The boy who had called Qiu Nuoya a liar looked slightly surprised by his words.

"Long can’t speak human language, that’s true, but he understands what we say. Even monsters can be hurt when someone says cruel things to them."

"R-Really?" This time, the little girl beside the boy timidly glanced at Long. Qiu Nuoya’s words seemed to have reached her, at least a little.

"Yes. Long really does understand what we say. Of course, there are some monsters that you can never get along with no matter what you do, but it’s the same between people. At the very least, he isn’t trying to attack you, so let’s stop attacking him for no reason, okay?"

Qiu Nuoya calmly reasoned with the children, and they exchanged glances before timidly nodding.

"Long, hold out your hand for a moment."

[ Huh? Why? ]

"Just do it. Give me your hand."

Long reluctantly held out one hand. Qiu Nuoya took it and called out to the children.

"Who wants to touch it?"

The children exchanged glances again. After a while, the oldest-looking boy seemed to make up his mind and held out his hand. Qiu Nuoya took the boy’s hand and guided it into a handshake with Long’s.

"It’s really rough and bumpy, just like Dad’s hand. Dad says rough hands are the hands of someone who works hard!"

"Yeah, that’s right. He’s a really hard worker."

[ Hey, you’re making things up again... ]

Long still looked displeased, but Qiu Nuoya simply ignored him.

Once one child had touched Long, the others began crowding around as well, eager to have their turn. Before long, they were all patting and touching Long’s hand.

[ W-Wait! What is this?! Stop them! ]

"Hey, big brother, are those horns real? Can I touch them?"

[ Wha... ]

"Long."

Qiu Nuoya silently urged him with his eyes, Just let them touch you.

Long looked like he had bitten into something bitter, but he eventually knelt down and allowed the children to touch his horns. The children’s faces immediately lit up with excitement.

"Big brother, your eyes are such a strange color. They’re really pretty!"

The little girl peered into Long’s face as she said it.

[ O-Oh... ]

Long replied awkwardly. To the children, it probably sounded like nothing more than a low growl. Even so, they must have realized that they could communicate with him, because the little girl broke into a huge smile.

"Big brother, we’re sorry for throwing stones at you. Does it hurt?"

[ It was nothing. Something like that could never hurt me. ]

The children could not understand Long’s words, so Qiu Nuoya smiled and told them, "He says he’s fine."

"That’s good!" The children began apologizing to Long one after another.

Kids really are so honest and adorable.

Qiu Nuoya had been worried about how this sudden incident would turn out, but he was glad they had managed to make peace properly.

After making peace with the children and saying goodbye, Qiu Nuoya and the others once again headed toward the Tamer’s Guild.

[ Children are the same whether they are monsters or humans. They may be thoughtless, but they are honest and hard to hate. ]

"Yeah, that’s true."

[ Perhaps I should learn human language as the Elder did... ]

Long said this with an unusually serious expression.

Qiu Nuoya nodded and said, "If you really want to, I’ll teach you."

The Tamer’s Guild was not nearly as crowded as the Adventurer’s Guild. However, the moment Qiu Nuoya and the others stepped inside, he felt people watching him. The looks were different from those he had received at the Adventurer’s Guild.

Actually, perhaps they were not looking at Qiu Nuoya at all. Their attention seemed to be focused on Long standing beside him.

"Ahhh! It’s the Slime King!"