Chapter 61: Longyu

“I told you, I just forgot my wallet! It’s not like I’m trying to cheat you!”

The little dragon girl’s tail swished around angrily as she stomped her foot on the ground, clearly flustered.

That voice, along with those red dragon horns and red tail, Yuriko could be certain that this was the red dragon from her class—Tiamat·Longyu.

The stall vendor arguing with her looked like an honest man. Being stared at by so many onlookers was embarrassing, but for the sake of money, he stood his ground.

“Little miss, I want to believe you, but you don’t have a phone to contact anyone, and you don’t have anything to use as collateral. How can I trust that you’ll come back and pay?”

“Then come home with me! I’ll get the money from my house!”

“Your house is in the South District. That’s way too far. If I go there, what happens to my business at the Night Market?”

“Ugh, you’re so annoying! I’m done talking to you!”

Longyu flicked her tail and tried to leave, but the vendor grabbed her arm.

“You haven’t paid yet! You can’t leave!”

“Don’t touch me!”

The vendor was just an ordinary middle-aged man. Though he looked much stronger than Longyu, she was a dragon. With a simple shake of her arm, she sent the man tumbling backward, landing hard on his backside.

“Ouch! My back!”

The vendor clutched his waist and groaned. It looked like he had taken quite a fall.

Longyu hadn’t expected that casually swinging her arm would send the vendor flying. Hearing his pained cries, she instinctively clenched her small hands.

“Th-this isn’t my fault! You came at me!”

It took the vendor several seconds to push himself up, holding his back. Not only had he been stiffed on payment, but he’d also been knocked to the ground. He lost face, lost money, and if he was injured, he’d have to spend money on medicine too. Now he was furious.

“And you dare to hit me! I’m calling the authorities to have you arrested!” The vendor reached for his phone.

Seeing the situation escalate, the crowd that had been quietly watching the drama began murmuring.

“I can’t believe that little girl is so strong. She sent that man flying.”

“She doesn’t seem like she has any ill intentions, but it looks like she’s in trouble now.”

“Not necessarily. Look at those horns on her head. She might be a noble from the Dragon God Kingdom with connections.”

The comments didn’t directly attack Longyu or carry any malice, but they added to her mental burden.

Longyu looked around, then back at the vendor who was pulling out his phone to call the authorities. She just stood there, frozen.

Should she run away? But that wouldn’t be right. Longyu had never run from anything before.

Besides, after arguing with the vendor, her temper had flared. Even though she knew she was wrong, she refused to apologize. She just stood there, stunned.

She felt wronged. She was trying to find a solution, but the vendor wouldn’t cooperate. At home, everyone always went along with what she wanted.

‘Jerk. Humans are all jerks!’

Longyu thought miserably, lowering her head as tears of frustration welled up in her eyes.

“Sir, I’ll pay what she owes you.”

A pleasant voice reached Longyu’s ears. She looked up to see Yuriko stepping out from the crowd.

The vendor was about to call the authorities and had almost dialed the number. Hearing that someone was willing to pay, his finger froze mid-air.

“Hmph! This girl ate forty skewers of grilled meat, two whole roasted chickens, and seven bottles of soda from me. That’s three hundred forty yuan total.”

Hearing the string of numbers from the vendor, Yuriko’s eyes went wide in shock.

How much?!

Forty skewers of grilled meat—and not the small kind, but big meaty skewers—plus two whole roasted chickens and seven bottles of soda. How did this little loli body pack all that in?

Despite her shock, Yuriko pulled out her phone and scanned the code to pay five hundred yuan.

“Consider the extra as compensation for your trouble and medical fees. Can I take her now?”

The vendor looked down at his phone to see five hundred yuan deposited. That was as much as he made in a day. His anger evaporated instantly, his back no longer hurt, and he smiled at Yuriko.

“Well now, miss, you’re too kind. Since the bill’s paid, you can leave whenever you like.”

Yuriko walked up to Longyu and said, “Tiamat, let’s get out of here.”

Longyu nodded and followed Yuriko away from the crowd.

When they reached a quieter spot, Yuriko stopped and turned to face Longyu.

Longyu looked up at her. She was short—easily a full head shorter than Yuriko, probably around 4’7″.

“Thanks, um, Ryu… Ryuu… Ryu-sulfur?”

“It’s Ruri!”

Yuriko was speechless. They’d been classmates for over a month, and this little loli still couldn’t remember her name.

She answered questions in front of the whole class every day. How Longyu managed to forget her name was almost impressive.

“Oh, Ruri!” Longyu clapped her small hands together and nodded in realization.

“Sigh. We’re classmates. You could at least try to remember people’s names.”

“Hmm, I know now. I’ll remember from now on.”

This little dragon girl seemed so ditzy. How did she get into Shengxiu Academy and make it to Fifth Grade without being weeded out?

Yuriko had always been curious about the only dragon in her class, but they rarely had opportunities to talk. Now that they’d run into each other on the street, Yuriko wanted to satisfy her curiosity.

“From what you said to that vendor earlier, you didn’t bring your phone or wallet. How did you get here?” Yuriko asked.

Longyu hopped up and down on the spot, then stuck out her right leg proudly. “I walked!”

“Walked… The North District and South District are at least six miles apart?”

“Hehe, I’m amazing, right? That distance is nothing to me!”

You sure seem proud of yourself.

But seeing this little dragon girl standing with her hands on her hips and chin held high was kind of cute. She just seemed a bit simple.

“So, did you lose your phone? Do you need me to lend you mine to make a call?”

“No need, ’cause I don’t have a phone.”

No phone?

To Yuriko, who had been glued to her phone in both lives, this was incomprehensible.

“If you don’t have a phone, how do you contact people?”

“That’s what servants are for! I always have Raine handle that for me.”

Is that how it works? What kind of rich girl are you, having servants do even that!

“Just out of curiosity, what does your family do, Tiamat?”

“Hmm, I’m not really sure. But my father is the King, and I’m the Princess of the family.”

Princess?!