43 Greenwood Town (3)

Etienne took the microphone from its stand and walked across the stage to stand in front of the first of the three, who debatable looked the most nervous. "This is Draco, a Lesser Thunder Dragon." Hearing of the first new guardian beast being descended from the extinct Dragon Race, pure enough to be a Lesser Dragon, already astounded the crowd. On the entire Western Continent, there were only 2 known Lesser Dragons, each of which was capable of flattening a quarter of the continent. Just to handle one of them would require mobilizing every S-rank adventurer on the continent. For a new third one to appear in a small town and become its protector was ridiculous. Of course, it was hard to take Draco too seriously when he looked as stiff as a board.

Moving to the next one, Etienne said, "This is Leo, a Sun Lion." While most people didn't know of the species at all, someone whispered and spread the word around the crowd that any species with the words related to celestial objects were close to being Divine Beasts. From that, it was discovered that a Sun Lion was indefinitely powerful, despite the only one known looking like a frightened kitten trying to look brave.

"And this is Ophiuchus, a Quake Python," continued Etienne as he stood in front of the giant snake that had coiled up like a ball out of anxiety. Compared to Sun Lions, which most likely had never appeared on the Western Continent, Quake Pythons had appeared before. Records spoke of them being able to stand toe-to-toe with a Lesser Dragon. Currently, there was one living in the same mountain range that one of the Lesser Dragons did. On rare occasions, the two would fight, and a magic recording showed them flattening mountains and tearing ravines open. Thankfully, they hadn't fought in the last two decades. Even though Ophiuchus was very small compared to the 1600-some-meter python, nobody doubted that he would be capable of similar things once he grew older.

Moving back to the Podium, Etienne spoke, "All 3 of these boys are very young, and, as you can see, are very nervous. Still, my son has told me what they are capable of in battle, and they are very trustworthy. With time, they will open up to us, of course. There is no need to be afraid of them, they are no older than a child. Lady Khloe and Storm have already welcomed them, and they assure me that the three of them will be taken care of. After this gathering, they will be going back up the Spirit Hill, but you can meet them later on." With a smile, he walked over and gave the three anxious Chimera siblings a hug, telling them they did well before sending them back up the hill. Their nerves still got the better of them, and Draco's stiffness caused him to trip and slip off the stage, knocking Leo down in the process. Poor Ophiuchus got the short end of the stick and had both land on top of him.

As the trio nearly dashed up the hill in embarrassment, the crowd laughed at both their clumsiness and their cute behaviors. Even a fool would know that the three were just like kids having to perform in front of an audience for the first time, making mistakes and trying to leave immediately upon messing up.

Etienne stifled a laugh as he cleared his throat again to quiet the crowd. "The next announcement isn't really an announcement, but another introduction. This time, it's of someone that everyone should know, but mostly don't. He's been away for several months and was only present for the founding of Greenwood Town. Recently, he managed to finish most of the jobs he had to do, so he's finally returned." He then walked towards the center of the stage as a white-haired boy came up from the back.

Several people in the crowd that weren't original residents recognized the boy for several reasons: one, he was riding into town on the three new guardian beasts while playing music; two, the policemen and soldiers all treated him with great respect; three, all of the Golden Crows seemed to love him, especially Storm; four, he was involved in a bit of trouble at a store near the north gate. It was hard to forget such unique features, or the interesting things that he was related to. Seran simply stood in the center of the stage with a casual smile as his father walked over, stood to the left behind him and put a hand on his son's shoulder. "This is my oldest son, Seran Greenwood, the King of Greenwood and the World's Strongest Demigod," introduced Etienne with great pride.

A collective explosion went off in the crowds minds as they discovered Seran's identity. So many things made sense all of a sudden: why he was treated with such great respect, why he was able to be so calm while riding S-rank creatures, why he could sing and play music that seemed otherworldly, and why he wasn't offended in the slightest earlier during the minor incident in the store. The man involved paled so quickly that he looked just like Seran's hair color. The shock was so intense to him that he forgot how to breathe, and subsequently fainted from holding his breath too long.

With a simple wave of his hand, his Adventurer Card flew out from the man's pockets and into his hand, which then placed it into his inventory. His smile was ever-present as he spoke to the crowd, using his magic instead of the microphone, "Hello, everyone. My apologies for my extended absence, but I had to fulfill a promise with the Elf Queen. Then I got side-tracked by increasing my guild rank and didn't return home for an extra day or two." Shrugging, he continued, "Now, I am back home for a while before I have to finish my third quest, so I will be around town for quite some time."

As he let the crowd digest his words for a moment, Seran asked some of the policemen to take the fainted man to the small hospital for treatment. "I must tell all of you this now, so you don't misunderstand me. I may be king, but I am not any different from you. Even I am not exempt from the laws that I, my father, the Elders and Khloe made. I am only king as a formality, and it is a title only important during important affairs. Other than those times, I am just another citizen of Greenwood Town. Please, don't treat me like a king. I'm just a regular person." He looked to his father and asked, "Do you want me to do the last announcement, dad?"

Chuckling, Etienne agreed, "As long as you don't do anything reckless, go right ahead."

Nodding, Seran turned back to the crowd and said, "The final announcement today is pretty cut-and-dry, and it won't take much time to explain. Within the next day or two, confirmation will be sent from the headquarters of the Adventurers Guild on my rank-up to S-rank. Because of this, a branch of the guild will be built in town down the road from the courthouse. Thanks to this, we will be able to start distributing quests for the town, and more people will come to know of our town and want to move here. I want to remind everyone here that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law, and that you should help those who need it. Anyone who wants to become residents, please help them to the city hall so they can be registered. Thank you very much." He bowed to the crowd before giving his dad a hug and walking offstage and up the hill.

The crowd vividly remembered the scene of a white-haired boy walking up the hill, a trio of nervous-looking heads sticking out of the bushes.