〆 𝖆 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖑𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖎𝖓 𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖉 〆 ᵗᵖⁿ ⁺ ᵗᵗⁱᵍʳᵃᵃˢ

II. Welcome

"Hey there, ru- I mean children! It's nice to meet you."

Rimuru rolled his eyes. Milim had really made an impression on the evolved lizardman. "Gabiru is a dragonewt. He's friendly," the town leader assured them. "But he's just one of the many types of people living here."

The kids stopped fidgeting and listened, though they still looked ready to bolt, and didn't take their eyes off of the huge lizard-like creature.

"I built this place so that people of all kinds could live here in peace," Rimuru explained. "We have several types of lizardmen, as well as dwarves, hobgoblins, kijin, and orcs. Everyone gets along well. Although we have human friends and allies, you're actually the first human residents we have," He had hesitated over telling them that, but they would have learned it soon enough.

"He's not going to eat us?" a hesitant voice asked. One of the younger kids, Rimuru guessed, based on the voice.

Gabiru looked horrified at the idea, and gagged a little.

"I think that's a 'no' on the eating you thing," Rimuru said drily. The kids stared, apparently not sure what to make of the dragonewt's reaction.

"I don't eat humans!" Gabiru hastily agreed. "Even if eating other intelligent creatures wasn't against the rules here, I've heard humans taste awful." He paused. "That is... I'm sure you'd taste... ah..." He broke off at a loss, and Rimuru fought the urge to facepalm.

The children's caretaker broke the tension and chuckled. "None of us are going to find the idea of tasting bad insulting, considering what we came here to escape."

Gabiru looked almost comically relieved, and some of the children giggled, though some of them looked at their caretaker questioningly. Rimuru suspected that the kids hadn't been told the whole reason for their sudden departure.

"I think we can meet the others now," the caretaker offered.

Rimuru nodded and called out. "You can come out now!"

Several doors opened along the street, and people began to slowly come out into the square. They had been instructed to be careful not to frighten the children, and while many were confused, as there hadn't been a lot of time to prepare, which, he supposed, explained the mix up with Gabiru, they had followed his instructions.

Shion approached the group. Rimuru reasoned that the kijin and dwarves would be the least likely to scare them. "Hi, I'm Shion," she said warmly.

Other townspeople began to approach, and the children relaxed. The dwarves looked the most human, so they were better received than the orcs or the lizardmen, but they still made the kids nervous for a reason that Rimuru didn't understand.

"It will take time, I suspect," Souei appeared at his side, silently and without warning, as was his habit. Rimuru had gotten used to it, so he didn't jump. "I'd suggest talking to the adult human as quickly as possible."

Rimuru nodded. "There are definitely mysteries here," He set that issue aside for the moment to focus on practical matters. He had gone over the town's resources in his mind, and hoped he was remembering everything accurately.

"We need temporary housing for 31 new people. We'll ask for volunteers to take them in, at least until something suitable for them can be built. Maybe, a longhouse?" He shrugged. "I'll leave it to the dwarves to decide what's best. Clothing, as well; talk to the weavers. We're also going to need more food. Some of the things we eat might not agree with a human palate," He thought for a moment. "There's probably a lot more that I'm not aware of. I'll speak to their caretaker about that. Pass instructions to the rest."

"I will see to it, my lord," With that, he was gone.

Rimuru looked out over the crowd again, and saw a potential problem. The direwolves had arrived. Curious about the commotion, Ranga led some of his pack through the crowd that made way for them.

The large canines entered the area where the children were hesitantly greeting the townsfolk, hopefully warming up to them. As Rimuru expected, the kids froze at the sight of the large animals. Seeing that some of them were on the verge of panicking, he prepared to step in and reassure them, but it proved unnecessary.

One of the younger boys approached. He barely came up to Ranga's shoulder, a bit shorter than Gobta. Ranga lowered his head curiously, and the boy petted his nuzzle and stroked his fur. "Soft!" the boy said, giggling. Then he giggled again, as Ranga licked his face.

"Hello, cub," Ranga greeted him kindly. "It's nice to meet you."

This seemed to finally relax the children, as they all began to approach the direwolves, their curiosity overwhelming their nervousness.