Cleanup

I found myself at the heart of reconstruction, able to carry heavy materials easily because of my size.

The villagers started coming closer after they started accepting that I was still the same person even if I looked different.

There's nothing I can do to make the other kids like me again though.

They were still hiding from what they perceived as the big scary monster that was there to eat them.

Not like I can't still see them though.

They made Ria angry and she was going over to drag them out screaming and forced them to touch me.

I really didn't need more Ria's, maybe I'm better off if they keep hiding.

My faint hope didn't come to fruition since at least a few of them came out when they saw the others Ria forced to touch me didn't get eaten.

Ria was teaching them to play with my tail and wings, I'm never going to be able to leave human transformation again if this spreads.

At least it was possible for them to like me, but just petting is enough, I don't need everyone pulling on my tail!

"Ow. Don't pull on that!" I try to growl weakly.

They don't seem convinced and Ria seems to have also taught them that I don't get angry...

"You're a good dragon!" The boy pulling the hardest states obviously.

"I'll let you ride me if you stop." I promise, somewhat desperate for a better solution.

"Really?!" He squeaks.

"I'm almost done with moving these, so I guess I can let you on."

I've already sealed my fate, I had to let them on now...

They were already climbing my legs before I even lowered to let them up.

They aren't very heavy, but they wiggle around on my back like crazy.

The only benefit is that the villagers get more comfortable dropping the honorifics when they see I'm just a stupid dragon letting a couple kids ride me.

"Let's fly!" They demand.

"I can't. I don't know how to fly yet." I respond.

"Oh. So you're a boring dragon then?" The boy complains disappointedly.

'You brat! Calling me boring when I'm letting you ride around on me!'

At least Ria appreciates riding on me.

It's going to feel awkward to go back to human form after letting all of them ride me like this.

The ones that were still hiding start getting jealous and trying to buy me with food.

I was already weak to food, but seeing them all being adorable and shoving things into my nose was impossible to ignore, so I had to let them on too.

They scream and shout in excitement on top of me, which is very loud in my ears.

When it's time for them to get off they don't want to leave, staying glued to my back.

Ria was the only one to get off, and I can't even reach back there to take them off.

So I just have to sit there defeated until their parents get brave enough to come pull them away.

They get really agitated when their fun is interrupted, but I can't spend all day keeping them from falling off.

Most of the adults have already come to terms with this, though with some hushed whispering.

"I never thought I'd see the day when our kids treat a dragon like a pet," One of the parents remarked.

"It's unnatural. What if they start thinking all dragons are harmless? We can't have them getting too comfortable," Another added.

I can tell why they would be worried, I don't want them to try this with any other dragon either.

Concerns lingered, but I was focused on a different problem.

Even though I was able to deal with the attack this time, I might not be here to save them if it happens again.

I need some way to prevent monsters from forming around the village again.

Or more precisely, I need to get rid of all the environmental Mana left behind by my former mother.

Trying to absorb and move it manually wouldn't really work since there's a limit to how much extra Mana you can handle, and we need somewhere to put it.

That's when I got an idea revolving around how Magisteel formed.

Maybe if there was some kind of metal that quickly absorbed a lot of Mana, we could soak it all up like a sponge.

I'll have to ask at a shop selling magic tools.

There wasn't much about them in my dragon memory, most dragons probably didn't care about what humans were doing with magic.

Who needs to get creative when you can just overpower anything, right?

The villagers could handle the rest of the repairs, so I had time to return to the city with Ria and Aya.

Aya took the whole dragon thing much better than I expected, and I wasn't sure why.

My best guess is that she's just a shallow judge of character.

Even the villagers were considering that I was only pretending to be nice.

The only reason that went nowhere is because I was here for a whole year already.

Regardless, Gramps still had a lot of explaining to do.

With the immediate danger taken care of, we returned to the city to look for a permanent solution.