Rume and Lein had almost reached Galeila’s glade. Rume felt the softness of Lein’s smooth hands. She hesitated at first when she was planning to reach out for her hand because she was shy about doing it. But she gathered all her willpower to do so. She hadn’t any trace of regret, and all the way she had a wide smile on her face.

Lein also looked a bit excited for some reason. Rume had no exact idea as to why that was, but she presumed it must for the lessons she will be having later on. Truth be told, Rume was a bit nervous.

She was about to learn after all, she couldn’t help but feel nervous. Like how a child was nervous and scared about going to school for the first time. But Lein’s grasp on her tiny hand brought a sense of comfort.

Just then, a group of Vilicus emerged from the surrounding forest. They immediately surrounded Rume and stood before her feet. They raised their arms as though begging to be carried.

Rume smiled to their adorableness. She let go of Lein’s hand and kneeled before the tiny green beings.

“Ah…”

Lein on the other hand, heaved a sound of surprise and disappointment. Seeing the Vilicus was the cause of Rume separating their hands together, she glared at them.

“You dirty devils. You dare steal my Rume from me?”

She quietly said to one of the Vilicus, her giant figure along with her strong glare should have been intimidating. However, they merely snubbed and shrugged her off. Lein gasped at their presumptuousness.

“H-How dare you?”

Rume was of course oblivious to the clashing forces behind her as she was distracted by the tiny creatures. They began climbing up her shoulders and head.

“Careful,” Rume sweetly said to them.

She turned to Lein after making sure everything was alright. A pouting Lein greeted her eyes.

“Miss Lein?”

“Are you alright carrying them?”

“They’re not heavy, so I think it’s okay.”

“... I see. Alright then, let’s go.”

Rume nodded and followed Lein.

It didn’t take long before they reached a glade with a gigantic tree standing in the middle. Blue orbs revolving high around it. Then right by the tree stood a beautiful woman with her long smooth green hair freely flowing down.

Rume blink several times. There was something that should be said about this. The woman was naked. The woman turned around to face them then smiled.

“You’re finally here,” She said as she walked towards them.

“Hey! What are you doing?! Why are you naked?!”

Lein exclaimed as she frantically covered Rume’s eyes. Rume didn’t think something like this was necessary though. They were the same gender after all.

“My clothes got dirty earlier, so I took them off,” Galeila said surprisingly calmly.

“They’re not your only clothes, is it?”

“Well yes.”

“Then wear them you weirdo nudist!”

Galeila sighed, but she didn’t move.

“Clothes are a bother, they get dirty.”

Lein winced after hearing those words.

“Well, duh! They’re clothes.”

“Why are clothes even necessary? You humans are so self conscious about how you look. You sure love making things more complicated.”

“Yeah well, you can’t just walk around butt naked! It’s shameful. Have you any form of shame?!”

Galeila shrugged.

“I don’t mind doing something like that.”

“My god, you really are a nudist.”

“We dragons don’t mind if we are naked. Well, basically we are naked.”

“Yeah well, that’s in dragon form. What? Are you guys fine with talking in your human form while naked?”

“Of course. We often talk in human form while naked.”

“...... My goodness. You dragon lords are weird. At any rate, you’re in human form, so you should appear like a proper human being.”

“My clothes are dirty.”

“I heard that! Get some other clothes!”

“I don’t like the other ones,” Galeila clapped her hands upon having an idea. “That’s right, use your cleaning magic.”

“Do that yourself!”

“I can’t cast it. We have no need for that anyway because we don’t normally need clothes.”

“No way I’m doing your laundry.”

“Now now, don’t say that when you can clean clothes with a single spell. Which reminds me, when was the last time you cleaned your clothes conventionally? You know, how humans normally do laundry.”

“........” Lein averted her eyes. “I can cast cleaning magic, so I don’t really have to do it, plus I have a spell that makes clothes smell good so…”

“When?”

Lein pursed her lip. As Rume listened, she also took a peek at her.

“I have no obligation to say that.”

“Let me guess. Four years.”

“Hey! Absolutely not that long! I’m a diligent kind, so I occasionally do some traditional laundering.”

“Explain occasionally.”

“Guh.”

Lein bit her lip and averted her eyes away several times. Then she surrendered and drooped her shoulders.

“... Fine! I’ll clean your clothes.”

“Good girl! Hahahaha!”

Lein furrowed her brows as though in annoyance. However with another positive emotion mixed within. Galeila turned her eyes towards Rume with a proud smile. She moved in front of her and spoke a calming tender voice.

“Are you alright now, Rume?”

She must have been recalling what happened yesterday. The moment where Rume cried with sorrow and her trauma resurfacing once again. However, the little time she spent with Esmon earlier brought a pleasant feeling.

“Yes… Also, thank you for what you said yesterday.”

Galeila slightly tilted her head.

“Yesterday?”

Rume’s pure and innocent gaze met Galeila’s jaden eyes.

“Yes.”

Those words shone brightly in her mind. She will never forget it.

Galeila had realized what she was referring to. She patted Rume’s head. It was warm and comforting, prompting Rume to smile in satisfaction. She loved it. She wished she would be patted by the head more often. It reminded her of family.

“I see. That is good.”

Lein then spoke to Galeila with a grimace.

“Don’t you ever feel that it’s weird talking to her while naked?”

“Why would I?”

Lein furrowed her brows in disbelief. Rume on the other hand, as a child, didn’t mind it a lot though.

“You're shameless. Never mind, where’s your clothes?”

“It’s by the world tree’s root.”

They walked towards the tree with Rume behind the two adults. The little girl was all smiles as the Vilicus played around her.  Some tried to reach out for her, and some playfully ran around in front of her.

They were entertaining and cute to watch. They were so friendly towards her that it made Rume happy. Came with it a sense of friendship. It must definitely be the case. Otherwise, they may not have been that friendly with Rume in the first place.

With it, Rume remembered the other kids from the large island from yesterday. She had a great time even if it was just a short time. But she was happy that she made friends.

I wonder how they are…

She hoped they were okay.

“Oh my…what have you done with your clothes?”

Lein expressed her surprise after lifting Galeila’s top clothing with her fingers. Her sky blue and brown top clothing were stained with something in the color of browny yellow. They were sticky substances so they clung to the fabric, rubbing them won’t do anything.

They went over the side of her chest and a few on the front shoulders. Thus, people would easily notice them at a single glance.

“You see. I was carrying some fruits, and I took a bunch in a single stem. I made a mistake and the tips of the fruits touched my clothes. The tips are sticky, so they can result in that.”

Galeila explained what happened with a shrug. Well, as the one not doing the laundry, there was nothing to be troubled about. Lein meanwhile, narrowed her eyes.

“Uhuh. Then why did you also remove your trousers and lower garments? Don’t tell me you figured that you don’t have a top, so you also removed the lowers.”

“Mm. I might have done that if I feel like it.”

“You don’t have to mention that.”

“Actually, as I was gently cutting the tree, some tree saps were splashing to my clothes, upper and lower. So I might as well have it also cleaned.”

“Wait, why were you even gently cutting the tree when you can cut it in an instant?”

Galeila placed her hands on her hips.

“Listen. You can’t just cut the tree in an instant. Otherwise, the fruits at the top will be damaged if it crashes down. So you have to make it slowly go down.”

“... Is that so?”

Rume listened in. She imagined how it would be cutting the tree that way. Indeed, fruits, especially if they were bundled in one, crashing the tree down with no care will damage the goods. 

So to make the tree go down slowly, one could chop off the trunk only up to before half of it. If it won’t budge, you should push it from the other side towards the part where you chopped off a part of the trunk. That way, the other half of the trunk that was still intact can slow down its descent.

“Now, will you please, Lein?”

“...Right.”

Lein placed the clothes back to where she picked them up. With a single wave of her hand, a gust of wind came forth, flowing around the clothes. The stains then slowly came off and vanished into the air.

Rume noticed something. Lein didn’t say some words when she used magic. She uttered some words before a magic of flames came. She wondered why this time it was different every time she uses this magic.

Perhaps the reason will be mentioned later on. If not, then she ought to ask. In the meantime, Rume was feeling patient.

“Why were you even going your way to collect fruits?”

Lein turned to Galeila with a question. Galeila raised her eyebrow as though puzzled by her question.

“Have you forgotten? It’s for our feast.”

Lein’s face brightened in realization.

“Oh, that’s right.”

Rume was also reminded. Galeila said they would have some sort of feast today. This caused Rume to become bashful.

“But, as you are having your first lessons. I figured the best time for us to conduct that feast will be by noon later?”

Galeila glanced at Rume. The little girl smiled.

“That’s perfect,” Lein said with a wave of a hand. “Alright, Rume. Let’s begin the first steps.”