Galeila was led to what looked like a living room. In the middle stood a long table with several wooden chairs along its sides. There were several people standing at the sides of the room, they must be serving as guards. That being said, they didn’t appear to be in high alert.

Maybe they didn’t think Galeila pose any threat. But she doubted that was it. She felt it was more like they were very accepting and hospitable towards visitors. If that were the case, that would be very fortunate indeed.

Galeila believed they were not bad people. She had an idea of what this village was and who these people were. This was the same village she observed more than a human lifetime ago. She didn’t interact with them however, merely watched at a distance. Assuming they didn’t change, and assuming Galeila’s hunch was right, this should be a safe place to be at.

But that didn’t mean she should lower her guard. Falling at ease and relaxed in a stranger’s territory was foolish. In contrast, she regretted she didn’t make any countermeasures in case everything goes south. However, Lein was around, everything should be alright. She had grown a lot after all, what once a young child had become more reliable.

Galeila sat on one of the chairs pointed out by the one who guided her. Later on, an old woman entered the room. She was terribly old, her supposed to be sky blue hair has turned to white. If she were to guess, she was about over seventy now. Quite interesting though, she was walking fine without anything to support her.

The old woman sat at the head of the table, her eyes met Galeila’s.

“Greetings,” The old woman bowed her head. “It’s a pleasure that someone visited our village. I am the village head, Kera Nubiram.”

“My name is Galeila,” She didn’t have a surname, dragons had no need for one. At first she planned to make a fake one, but immediately turned it down. It was a bother to create a name on the spot.

She did think of several surnames in the past. But for her it all sounded ridiculous. Her naming sense didn’t give her a lot of confidence.

The old woman caught up to her lack of surname. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to mind.

“I’m sorry you have to be brought here. We welcome any guest that may come. However, we must make sure of a few things.”

Galeila smiled softly.

“I fully understand.”

“My thanks. Then I will ask you a few things. How did you learn of this place?”

As expected, that question would come out. She was asked the same question earlier, maybe they didn’t tell this old woman her answer. Or maybe they asked again on purpose. Judging from how things went, it was likely the latter.

Galeila had no intention of saying that she already knew of this place, nor she knew about it a few hundred years ago. At the moment, she was in human form, and no human lives for hundreds of years. It was a bother being honest in this kind of situation, they will ask how that was possible, or they might grow suspicious. There was no way Galeila would just say she was a dragon. Dragons were not welcome in all places, after all. Not only that, they were also feared.

All in all, being fully honest here only brings more troublesome things to worry about.

“I heard from a travelling friend back in the mainland. He was sailing his ship when he saw the floating islands.”

“Oh? Did this friend of yours go to take a closer look?”

“Regrettably, he did not.”

“Why would that be?”

“Those floating islands are one of a kind. It was new to his eyes. He wasn’t intending to come to an unknown place without any appropriate preparations. No one knows what’s in there.”

“But you came here?”

“Yes we did.”

“You must be fully prepared then.”

“Indeed we are.”

“But you certainly did not look like you were having an expedition. No bag of some sorts? You even brought a child with you I heard.”

“Yes. But we are fully prepared.”

“Then how did you get here?”

There was a risk of being honest here. If she said that they teleported, if one was knowledgeable about magic, or to be specific, teleportation, they’ll get seen through. It will come to light that they have been here before, or that the one that used teleportation. Teleportation only works if you have come to the place before. And Galeila came here years ago.

If they get discovered, the lie that they heard it from a friend would be exposed. Now, how to get past this?

“We used Flight Magic.”

As she said those words, it caused some reaction to the old woman, her eyebrows rose. There were also some gasps and sounds of surprise from the other guards in the room.

Huh? Was it a mistake that I mentioned that?

A human lifetime ago, Galeila didn’t really delve deep about this village. It was closer to say she just passed by and left an hour later. Therefore, she didn’t know why they would react this way.

Galeila heaved a sigh in her mind. Galeila kept a straight face, as if never noticing their reaction.

“I see,” The old woman, Kera, inhaled, bringing back her composure. “Have you heard anything about our village I wonder.”

“Unfortunately no, this is the first time I learned that a village exists here.”

“So the mainland doesn’t know of us?”

“I cannot say for sure. There might be others that knew of this land.”

“... Then, I'll ask my final question.”

Galeila intently stared at the old woman. How ironic was the thought of this old woman in front of her who was way younger than her.

I wonder why humans have to have short lifespans…

Demons, Elves, Dragons, Dryads, Nymphs, Angels and so on, could live on for centuries. However, for humans, the most they could live for was for a century or slightly more than that. Perhaps this just proves the unfairness of the world.

“Do you bring harm to our peaceful village?”

The old woman asked with a stern face. Galeila kept a straight face as she answered.

“No.”

“Is that the truth?”

“What reason is there for us to bring harm to this village we never heard about?”

Kera sighed then smiled at Galeila.

“It’s a relief to hear that. Thank you for your time. And welcome to our village.”

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

Galeila required information. Therefore, before things progressed, she quickly spoke.”

“Ah, by the way, we were attacked by an aggressive beast on the way here.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

The old woman looked at one of the guards. The guard nodded at her as though ensuring that was indeed the case.

“So it’s still going on…”

“I heard it’s been happening for several days now. Have you investigated the cause?”

“From what we see, they were just beasts acting aggressive. Perhaps because of the change of their habitat, or imbalance in their ecosystem. However…”

“It’s completely not normal.”

“Indeed.”

“Do you have any more ideas as to why it is happening?”

“I’m afraid we have no more.”

“Have you tried dissecting?”

The old woman was taken aback by Galeila’s question.

“No, we bury the beast immediately after killing it. We don’t think we can find anything if it affects the creature’s behavior.”

Makes sense. However, one can never be too sure. There could be another factor influencing this change. Parasite infestation? That was one possibility, or perhaps mind altering techniques.

I might have to open up a beast myself.

If the opportunity arises, Galeila decided to take a look inside a violent beast’s body. Detecting any kind of mind control magic is also a must if she wants to know what was going on. Therefore, she will need the creature alive.

“Mm. Is there any criteria on which creatures turn aggressive? Anything you notice on which one they are happening?”

The old woman contemplated for a moment.

“It seems to only happen on large beasts. We noticed no change in small animals, deers, or rabbits..”

Interesting…

“Do the beasts oftenly assault this village?”

“It happens once or twice a day. But I wouldn’t say they deliberately attacked, it appears more like they were merely strays and only encountered this village by chance.”

They think that, huh… They looked like they were doing fine defending this village. So there’s no need for me to think about helping them.

Not that she was planning to help them from the start. Not when she has someone to protect first. One must have priorities. And that little girl was more important at the moment.

“I see. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity and confusion.”

“You’re welcome. Besides, no one can blame you for being curious after being attacked out of the blue.”

“We were lucky your soldiers saved us.”

“Is that so? Then it was a good decision that we sent people to patrol after everything that happened.”

Just then, a young woman entered the room then whispered something to the old woman.

“Ah, If you’ll excuse me, Miss Galeila. We have to start our preparations for our day’s praying ritual. Feel free to walk around our village.”

Galeila stood up and bowed her head.

“We greatly appreciate it.”

Lein just went away from the house Galeila was taken into with Rume beside her. The little girl has been acting all timid after meeting strangers, and only worsened after entering this unknown village.

Oh no… is she going to grow up being antisocial?

Well, she couldn’t blame her if she was acting like this. Especially when everyone in her home village were a bunch of scumbags, with perhaps only a few exceptions. Helping her overcome that anti-social behaviour would be great. It will definitely be helpful when she grows up.

Though she never acted like that when we first met.

It must be because Lein helped the little girl in the moment of her need of saving. The little girl must have seen Lein differently, someone different from the others, someone who saved her. Thus, she didn’t fear Lein.

I suppose small actions can give massive impressions.

She looked at the little girl beside her, holding her hand with both her tiny adorable hands. All this time, there were other kids staring at their direction. Well, to be precise, they were looking at Rume.

It seems they were not interested at Lein at all. There was nothing thrilling about a bunch of kids liking you anyway. In contrast, now that she noticed it, she also noticed several stares from several young men around her age.

It must be because of her scarlet hair, which was in total contrast to their sky blue. The distinct gets more attention than the common after all. However, that was not the full reason.

It was because of Lein’s illustrious beauty. Her beauty was like a magnificent garden filled with crimson petals flying in the air, with the scarlet sunset in the distance. Countless roses colored the ground. Yes, beautiful red roses, yet had stems with thorns.

Of course, Lein was not dense enough to not notice those gazes that were almost infatuated by her. She couldn’t help but smile wider.

The pair stood by the side at a small shed with a bench. Lein peered around them before urging Rume to sit on the bench.

This village sure is peaceful…

And quite too accepting of visitors. Sure some villages in the mainland don’t think a lot of travellers. However, circumstances differed here to the mainland. Lein thought of this land and this village as isolated from the rest of the world. Therefore, she expected things wouldn’t go this well.

Well, I guess there are already several eyes on us.

She figured some of the stares pointed at them were meant to spy on them. Still, they weren’t acting suspicious that suggests any detrimental motives.

Maybe I’m just overthinking things.

Peace was better than violence after all. There was no point in being hostile to their visitors.

I guess…

Lein turned to look at Rume beside her.

“Are you a bit better now, Rume?”

The little girl's innocent eyes turned to face her.

“... A little bit.”

Rume was so energetic earlier, it felt a bit strange for her to be acting all timid now. Well, she was acting this way when she and Lein went out for a late lunch slash dinner.

“Do you think Miss Galeila is going to be alright?”

Rume asked with concern in her eyes. Lein formed a wide grin.

“There’s no need to worry about her. She’ll be perfectly fine.”

“Okay…”

Then they saw a group of children slowly approaching them. They seemed to be a bit hesitant for they occasionally stopped, only to be pushed by some other children forward. Lein noticed Rume’s grip stiffened as her eyes went their way.

As they stood before the two, the children pushed a boy forward. He acted all embarrassed as he opened his mouth.

“U-Uh. Hi.”

Lein’s eyes squinted as she observed where the boy’s eyes were traversing most of the time. Well, he barely looked at Lein, but rather at the little girl.

“I’m Reto. And um…”

Lein then surmised something after shortly observing the boy.

Kids and their crushes. Ugh, aren’t they a bit young? Honestly, kids these days. Also, didn’t they just see Rume just now? Is this love at first sight? The heck? Well, my Rume is cute and all...

The boy appeared to be doing his best, so Lein left him be and waited for him to continue.

Just ignore me.

“What’s your name?” The boy, Reto, asked.

Rume however, didn’t immediately reply. She was maybe a bit reluctant and a bit surprised at this sudden turn of events. She looked up at Lein as though asking for help. This may be a good development for Rume. She may get new friends and perhaps soften up on interacting with new people.

Lein smiled warmly and gently nodded at Rume.

“Go ahead. Talk to them.”

For a moment, Rume had a troubled expression before she worked her resolve.

“... I… My name is Rume…”

“Nice name. Can we ask you to hang out with us?”

The other children also nodded together with smiles on their faces. Rume was dumbfounded upon hearing their offer, she didn’t know what to say.

“... But…”

Then a girl about her age stepped forward.

“We never met someone from outside before. Please? It’s nice to have a new friend.”

The girl said with a wide smile.

Lein patted Rume’s head in an attempt to break the little girl’s stiffness.

“What do you say, Rume? I see no problem.”

“B-But…”

“It’s not everyday you get to meet new friends. Having friends is a great thing, Rume. Go ahead, I’ll just watch you from here. Have fun, talk with them, play with them.”

Rume’s eyes went from Lein to the other children several times before slowly nodding. Seeing this, the other children smiled. The girl which stepped forward held out her hand to Rume.

“Nice to meet you, Rume. I’m Kariya.”

Rume slowly accepted Kariya’s extended hand.

“Come.”

The kids led Rume away to an open area. Rume often turned to look at Lein as she went. Lein smiled brightly at the little girl in hopes to put her at ease.

A familiar man approached Lein as she sat on the bench.

“I didn’t think those kids would easily talk to another kid from the outside.”

Lein slightly smiled at Tohu who stood straightly with a spear in hand. In addition to that, he also had a sword by his waist.

“Sorry if my young boy bothered you.”

He must be referring to the boy which spoke first.

“Not at all. So that was your son, huh.”

“Yup! Still, I gotta say, he’s got guts for speaking to a girl he never knew. I’m scared he might grow up to be a man who plays with a woman’s heart. Hahahaha!”

Tohu laughed as he stared at the children playing in the distance.

“Maybe he’s gonna take after his father, after all! Hahahaha.”

Tohu continued, seemingly feeling good about himself and his son.

“Uhuh.”

Lein was a bit unenthusiastic, but forced herself to smile to not seem rude. She didn’t want any trouble with any villagers after all.

“Say, Miss Lein.”

“Hm?”

“That little girl of yours, is she your little sister?”

“Nope. We met in her home village.”

“Is that right… She is surprisingly very meek, isn’t she?”

“Of course she is. After going through a terrible experience, no one can blame her if she acts that way to people she doesn’t know. Perhaps it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe it as close to hell.”

She said so in a rough tone mixed with anger.

Tohu raised both his eyebrows.

“How terrible?”

“I’ll give you a bit of an idea then. Imagine having to see your mother burned in front of you.”

Lein didn’t know exactly why she shared those. But she just felt like she wanted to vent out her frustrations and irritation through words.

Both Tohu’s eyes widened, taken aback by what he learned.

“That’s just the surface of it?”

“What do you think?”

“...... I suppose with her with you, she doesn’t have a father.”

That’s right… I never heard anything about her father. He wasn’t even mentioned when Rume told her story. Maybe he was already gone before she was born or while she was still a baby.

“It appears so.”

“What a poor girl. But, the sight of her smiling isn't bad, is it?”

Lein returned her gaze at the little girl playing with other children. They were shooting tiny pebbles to a hole on the ground. She seemed to be having fun. And what caught Lein’s eyes the most was the sight of Rume smiling, not that broad, but at least, she was smiling. A tint of happiness in her eyes.

Lein couldn’t help but smile. A black haired girl, playing with children all with sky blue hair. They were different, belonged to different places, but were still able to get along.

“Yes. Not bad at all.”

Lein thought of it as a beautiful scene. Like a painting which expresses happiness. A lonely girl going along with others, it was very pleasant and heartwarming to see.