"I need to go to the town now, so I'd like you to take your hand off me."
"If that's the case, I'll guide you."
Even though he never asked for it, the man casually said he would guide him, but that did not mean Qiong Xing was about to say, Oh, sure, thank you.
"No, thank you. The people I helped earlier said they would guide me."
"If you mean those guys, they already ran away."
"…What?"
Why?
The question must have shown clearly on his face, because the man immediately explained.
"They were chasing after you, right? With this mess and a snake that big, anyone would run away after seeing something like that."
It seemed the fear had been too much and all of them had fled.
That was a perfectly normal reaction.
If anything, Qiong Xing was the strange one for approaching the snake despite being scared.
This was Qiong Xing's own lack of consideration.
"Then why didn't you run away?"
He was grateful for the help with translating earlier, but the man could have escaped if he wanted to.
So why hadn't he run away with the others?
Why had he stayed and helped him?
"Ah, I guess it's hard to tell with these clothes on. How about this?"
As soon as the man removed what looked like a hooded cloak, what appeared was a body packed with tight muscles, easily several times larger than Qiong Xing's.
His dark skin made those muscles stand out even more.
He had a wild yet well shaped face and his blue eyes gave the impression of a man of the sea.
And then...
"…Ears?"
On the man's head were slightly small, but clearly animal-like fluffy golden ears like a lion's. It's obviously different from anything Qiong Xing knew as human.
At first, Qiong Xing wondered if it was just some strange bedhead, but they were clearly moving.
As if they were alive.
"Is this your first time seeing a beastman?"
Unable to take his eyes off the twitching ears, Qiong Xing nodded his head slightly.
The man let out a sigh and looked at him as if trying to read his reaction.
"…You don't find it disgusting?"
What?
He did not understand what the man meant.
Disgusting? What was?
"I don't really understand what you're talking about, but right now, the only thing here that I find disgusting is the horribly dead bodies."
When Qiong Xing said that clearly, the man first looked shocked, then suddenly smiled happily and pulled Qiong Xing into a tight hug.
"Gah!?"
"Ah, sorry."
He was suddenly hugged with a lot of strength and he almost felt like something might come out of his mouth.
He really did not want his cause of death to be crushed to death by a hug.
The man apologized and loosened his grip a little, but he did not let go the arm around Qiong Xing's back and Qiong Xing was honestly getting exhausted.
"Please, seriously, let me go already. I won't have the strength left to go to the town."