So I'm up, and I'm pretty sure I'm alive, so that's great!

[Yeah, you're alive, congratulations!] Stolidus is back, sounding ever so slightly relieved.

Oh, you do care!

[Shut up! I just don't want to be reassigned so soon!] He denies fervently, as he shakes his little illusionary head. Very cute

Speaking of little heads, how's Ore doing?

"Good!" Ore shoots out and cheerfully responds, no longer looking nearly as tired as before.

Thud

Oh, there's also an elf healer here, currently conked out.

I think she checked out when ore popped out of my side.

Oops. My apologies ma'am.

Well, I think I'm going to check out and head outside.

I'm grateful for the help, but I'm also sure that I don't want to intrude, being a turtle monster, with some sign of sapience, but most definitely not something I'd want prowling around in my village.

I apologize to the fainted lady as I leave the medical room and exit into the elven village.

I mean, I leave a branch first, filled with cherries, out of politeness of course.

And the elven village is... an elven village.

Kind of.

Yeah, despite being on the outskirts it's still a village bordering more on the human side than the elven side.

Normal houses, which are admittedly constructed with wood in the form of log houses, unlike the house constructs usually built within trees or even tree houses in more traditional elven villages. It's not like elves don't build houses, but one finds that houses that require one to actively disrupt the forest is not a residence that more traditional elves would approve of.

There are some elven house constructs, but this village is an example of a village influenced by the outside influence of retired adventurer elves who have come back, bringing what they've learned with them.

Oh, and most of the elves are avoiding me. They seem to be whispering and keeping a wide berth from me.

I'm more surprised they're not attacking me currently.

Do they think I'm a familiar?

No, if that were the case, they wouldn't be that wary of me. I'm the size of a small child to them, and a form of low rank turtle in their eyes. If I were a familiar to them, the tension wouldn't be this thick.

[The 2 guards brought you in, but confirmed you weren't their familiar, so you can figure the rest from there, no?]

Yeah, I can do the math from there. They aren't attacking since the guards brought me in, but they're still very much wary. A monster wandering their village?

Familiars already cause some discomfort in society, and wild monsters more so.

Yeah, I'll be out of their hair soon.

Just have to find the entrance...

Thud

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Hmm?

Thud

A rock skitters by following the thud, leading Earl to look at the aggressor.

A child.

An elven child.

A young boy, dressed in a simple tunic, with a little red bandana wrapped around his neck.

The boy seems to have used his hand to throw the rocks. Well, pebbles.

A rather cute little child were it not for his angry little face.

No...

He's actually still pretty cute even with the little pout on his face.

Is it considered courageous, bold or stupid that such a little boy would choose to confront a wild monster like this?

Is he confident because he's in the village? No, that requires the child to be thinking ahead. He doesn't seem the type to plan things out, more like the bold reckless type.

Those rocks were infused with mana, but ultimately just bounced off because I'm a defense C-rank monster.

I suspect under different circumstances he could hurt maybe an F-rank monster like a slime. Maybe

He's been shouting at me for a bit, but I've been mostly ignoring it.

"Monster! Get out of our town you bug ugly!"

Yeah, stuff like that.

I think it's reasonable he's upset, since this town has been under siege this whole time.

Who knows what the child has been through this entire time?

That doesn't mean I don't want to tease him though.

No, I definitely do...

Alright, one little cherry and...

Toss!

The tiny little cherry flies and boops the child in the face.

bop

Pause.

His face reddens.

"You!" he shouted, getting riled up rather easily, grabbing another pebble to throw at me.

After that I got dragged into a pebble fight with a little child, and soon it became a fight with the children of the village, and I ended up humoring them.

My family always said I was a bit of a pushover when it came to kids

----------------------------------------

After a good hour of playing, the turtle as well as the children were all done playing, with the pebble fight devolving into a game of tag(?) and at some point the kids started treating the turtle like a miniature playground.

The turtle even played along, creating little attachments for them to play on.

Otherwise, it would have been fairly comical since the turtle itself was barely the size of a child.

This obviously had the adults fairly worried.

Fairly may be an understatement, as many were practically waiting for an outburst, and it was only by the personal assurance of the guild master that no adults came forward.

This only worked because as an A-rank he could move and react faster than anyone else, so his personal guarantee was a better insurer of safety.

"It is rather cute isn't it. Shame that Willow's asleep right now." Commented Lenore.

Willow had been conked out after the last few weeks of excitement and was spending the last few days napping a great deal.

She was still a child after all.

Tiel, the guild master, was watching from a distance just as they were, and he was smiling fondly at the children. Had the turtle even tried anything, it would likely have been killed

Servante pushes up his glasses as he continues writing down observations.

"... humors kids..."

"... actively protects them..."

"... handles children well..."

"Knows the concept of a slide..."

Servante murmurs, as he fervently scribbles down observations.

Lenore did have to wonder how a turtle knew what a slide was, but she could scratch that up to understanding the basic concept of sliding down a smooth curving surface.

Still, considering the turtle's temperament, it might just work.

Lenore walked over to the turtle confidently, deciding to talk to them personally.

Servante had thought that while the turtle might be smart, sapient even, it may be unlikely to understand the common tongue, so perhaps bribery would be more appropriate.

And yet Lenore just felt instinctually that there was something special about the turtle. The way it treated the children, the way it seemed to understand some form of cultural norm as it simply ignored the nearby threats and headed for the exit, and even the way it had made a slide and vines for kids to enjoy themselves on.

So why not give it a try?

Lenore got on a knee in front of the turtle.

The weird secondary silver head gave her a curious look and sniff, before being given a light prod by the main head, causing it to reluctantly pull back.

"...Fascinating. Dominant mind..."

"Hey, you can understand me right?" she asked softly, doing her best to not aggravate the turtle, in case she was wrong. And of course not wake the children.

The turtle gave her a curious tilt of the head.

"Looks like you're wrong" came muttering in the back, but she ignored it, merely waiting for the turtle's response.

And for a good moment, nothing happened.

But when it happened, it exploded.

A mature voice rang through her head, and clearly Servante's head, considering she could sense him tensing up from the distance.

"Indeed, I can understand you."

Lenore's eyes widened slightly in shock.

This low-rank turtle...

was capable of telepathy?

----------------------------------------

[You just love taking risks don't you?]

Hey, it got me places.

[It got you killed]

Fair, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Besides, if they think me not sapient, or some lower lifeform, than they will not treat me as an equal, and that's important when talking to those who I cannot outpace or escape. They must see me as worth treating like an equal.

[... Fair]

So, let's see how this plays out...