Paimon’s gaze inadvertently swept across Nahida’s shoulder, and then—
“Waaaaah!”
Paimon let out a scream and zipped behind Aether, sticking out only half of his head, looking terrified.
“W-what is that thing?!”
Tighnari and Aether both looked at Nahida’s shoulder at the same time.
A small, green creature was poking half its head out of the bamboo basket, its big blue eyes blinking, and the two antennae on its head swaying back and forth.
Tighnari recognized it at a glance.
That “mysterious creature” on the wanted poster.
He raised his eyebrows slightly, but did not make any overreaction.
He just watched the little thing quietly, his eyes filled with curiosity and scrutiny.
He never fully trusted the Akademiya’s wanted posters.
Furthermore, this little thing was following a young child.
That child looked to be less than ten years old, barefoot, carrying a bamboo basket; no matter how you looked at it, he didn’t look like a bad person.
Aether was different.
Although he was kind, he would not lower his guard against strange creatures, especially wanted ones.
He was already prepared to strike at any moment.
Seeing their reaction, Amid knew he couldn’t hide anymore.
He looked around—there was no one else here.
Fine, if I can’t hide, I won’t.
He spread his wings and flew directly out of the bamboo basket.
He even deliberately did a flip in the air, spun around twice, and finally hovered beside Nahida, waving his little claws at everyone.
“Bee~!”
‘Hello everyone~’
His Growl was crisp and cheerful, and there was a smile on his little face.
Paimon poked his head out from behind Aether, staring at him with wide eyes. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“It, it’s saying hello?” Paimon said in disbelief, “That strange little thing is saying hello to us?!”
Amid’s smile stiffened for a moment.
‘Strange little thing?’
‘Paimon, who are you calling strange?’
‘You’re the strange little thing yourself, okay!
You emergency food!’
He was complaining wildly in his heart, but still kept a smile on his face.
Aether looked at him, and the tension in his hand loosened slightly.
This creature…
really didn’t seem to have any malicious intent.
But he still hadn’t completely let his guard down.
Tighnari, on the other hand, smiled directly.
He stepped forward, crouched down, and looked levelly at Amid, who was hovering in mid-air.
“Hello, little guy.” He said gently, “My name is Tighnari, and I am a Forest Ranger here.
How about you?
Do you have a name?”
Amid nodded, then pointed at himself with his little claw.
“Bee~”
‘My name is Amid.’
Then he pointed at Nahida.
“Bee~ Bee~”
Tighnari naturally couldn’t understand what he was saying, but he could feel that this creature truly possessed wisdom and was trying to express something.
He raised his head and looked at Nahida.
“Little child, is it your…
companion?”
Nahida nodded and then shook his head.
“He is my child.” He said, his tone very natural and serious.
Tighnari was stunned for a moment.
A child?
He looked at Nahida, then at that small green creature.
This combination…
was a bit strange.
But he didn’t ask any more questions.
Paimon finally flew out from behind Aether at this moment, but still kept a bit of distance, curiously sizing up Amid.
“It’s so small…” He muttered, “Even smaller than me.”
Amid complained silently in his heart:
‘You’re not that big either, okay, emergency food.’
But he didn’t show it; instead, he waved his little claw at Paimon, smiling even more brightly.
Paimon was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously waved back.
“H-hello…” He said softly.
Aether finally spoke at this moment.
He looked at Nahida, his gaze gentle but with a hint of scrutiny.
“Have you encountered any trouble?”