Children ran after each other, quite so delightfully, with a smile on their faces. It was a common scene at this time of the day of every park, flushed with the green of carefully maintained plants, if not for one of the children to has horns sticking out of his small head. Surely, he was a vile demon going for his prey, who ran with their lives, while the adults froze on dread.

Such was not the case. Far from it.

A distance away a group of mothers was gossiping about someone’s husband affair, glancing at their dear children from time to time. The color of fear was not present, for they too were smiling at the heating topic.

But surely, they were worried deep down, no?

Nevertheless, either they hid it so well, or there were none, their behaviors showed no sign of it. They children too played with the horned child like a good brother and sister. From how they called each other with a strange nickname, which could stick to the poor person until adulthood, their favorable relation was plain to the eyes.

Children and their guardian were not the only one present. There were also elderlies who sat on the bench, bathing themselves in sunlight, doing nothing else as the warm, breeze gently stroke their old cheeks affectionately. Don't forget the pairs of a child and their father who took it upon themselves the chance to deepen their bond on this perfect day.

Selv felt the urge to lie somewhere free and just closed his eyes. But, he resisted. He was now looking for someone with the name of Erstho. Only after that, he would allow himself to indulge himself to the pleasure.

Inspecting the place, he moved his legs on the grass, which covered all of the ground this point onward. He had thought it would serve great trouble finding the right person among these people. Luckily for him, he found him quite easily because only he seemed not enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Not to mention his outfit that stuck out like sore thumbs. He was sitting on a bench, looking at the scene with something on his mind and a curl on his eyebrows.

Selv approached him with a smile.

“May I?” He asked, pointing at the empty space beside him.

The man who presumed to be Erstho gave him nothing but a glance before losing interest, returning his glance back.

Selv took it upon himself the honor to sit. He received no voice of complaint from his mate beside. So, he made himself comfortable there, crossing his leg and all.

“The weather today is just great for relaxing. Don’t you agree?”

Selv threw him a topic, but no bite.

“I’ve never seen you before. Being a friendly person I am, why don’t I give you a brief explanation about this town? That sounds like a good idea, no?”

He did not receive the response he was waiting for, so he started giving him information about the town like a guide even though no one asked for it.

“If you came from outside, you should be surprised by how green the place is. It’s to be expected. This town places great importance on preserving nature, especially this district. It’s a different story when talking about the industrial and entertainment districts because those are the necessary needs. But, you can see the same scenery from hundreds of years ago from other than those two.”

Look, he exclaimed.

“This very park is one of the most prominent when talking about preserving. We made sure to build and maintain it using the same method from the past down to the very detail. The placement, of course, we also carved the same engravement things like the metal handle on this bench. Everything is the same,” he said, proudly as if talking about himself.

“...”

He finally earned another response other than the first glance. This time was a sharp stare. He was not intimidated and was still all smile as he returned the stare with his own. Finally, Erstho spoke for the first time since his visit.

“You sure talk a lot like women. Is it just you or there’s a custom here that says to open your mouth when no one asking?”

Words of insult flew at high speed at him, which caught him by surprise.

“Well, I don’t know whether I speak like women or not, but there are quiet women and talkative men in the world, you know? There’s no custom as far as I know. Although, they might just make it while I was not around. Who knows.”

He managed to answer back the first one, but the second came right after.

“That part proved my point even more. Furthermore, quiet women are nothing but social defect and talkative men are swindlers at action,” he spoke his mind clearly, not minding the conflict that might sprout when someone hears his problematic statement.

To not let this problematic topic from growing even further, he decided to change it.

“You might think so, but the world-”

“Oh, so you, a human, claims to know about the world more than me, a demon? Let us hear the reason, shall we?”

He tried and got himself further into the mess. Granted, he had lived for hundreds of years, which even longer than some demon race, but there was always someone greater. He had heard a certain race could theoretically live for eternity like jellyfishes or lobsters. His would be nothing but a speck to them.

So, he could just dismiss his words, can’t he?

”No, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m well aware that the world is much bigger than the word itself. I too know of my lack of understanding, for I’m just a human full of ignorance.”

“I see that you’re also fond of lowering yourself. Quite a match for a woman, no?” He said with a smirk.

Oh, god! Does he have any chance against this man’s silver tongue that seemed to die unless throwing words of insult? Trying to play it nicely with him was a mistake since the start. He did not deserve any of his warm hospitality.

Was this the harshness of intercultural communication, or the man just being an ass?

No. Calm down, Selv. He told himself. This degree of animosity shouldn’t do much to him because things were harsher when the demon immigrants came. So, he had gone through the true intercultural communication way before.

And that meant he was just being an ass.

He brushed that thought away with a shake of his head. The person might be an ass, but he was a useful ass. To get the information about the current land of demon, he will lick this ass’ ass if he had to.

So, he decided to swallow it down.

“My gender aside, are you Erstho?”

“Finally down to business, I see. That took you long enough. Yes, I’m Erstho himself,” he said with a daring smile, implying he had known Selv was looking for him.

He knew and yet ignored him and did all those stuff.

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

“Finally sounding like a man. Aren’t that great to know you’re not fully a woman?”

Selv did the wisest thing and ignore his provocation. There was absolutely no meaning in continuing this exchange. It was meaningless and a waste of time. If he won’t stop then he will, even if resulted in him being stuck as a woman.

“Erstho, did you come from the land of demon?”

“Before that, I’ve to say something.”

It seemed he had no intention of obediently answering him. Left with no choice, he let the man continue.

“You claimed that I can see the same scenery as it was in the past. I strongly disagree. After all, in the past, we wouldn’t bother playing around with our enemy in this farce.”

This was a simple provocation. So simple and straightforward that a child’s clumsy lie would be harder to see.

Selv had sworn to not jump at his provocation again because it was meaningless and a waste of time. It was just a few minutes ago he thought of it. But, the burning sensation swelling up from the pit of his stomach foretell him the coming of the second round.

This time, he was determined to fight back because he had insulted the thing he shouldn’t have.

He undid her relaxed stance and returned Erstho’s stare with his own.

“I let you run your mind and this is what you use it for? Is angering someone a hobby of yours or something?”

Selv said with a harsh voice he didn’t know was still there within him. He had raised his voice when shouting or scolding but never filled it with hostility like now. The thing Erstho said was that unacceptable to him.

“What? Did I touch your nerve? You’re quite fickle to get angry when someone just stating the fact.”

“I don’t mind how much you insult, or ridicule me. If it’s only about that, I would have kept my mouth shut and swallow your words silently. But, not about this harmony. Definitely not!”

“Harmony, you say? That’s one big word you chose there. Not coexisting but harmony. It seems you think this state is something both sides are in consent with each other and it results in something good.”

Selv did not deny his claim for it was true. The state where people living in peace regardless of their differences was not something at the level of coexisting. There ought to be something greater in it. Thus, it was harmony.

Erstho couldn’t care less about Selv’s thoughts as he pointed out the children who were playing tag.

“Do you see those children over there? Have you ever wonder why, despite the unnaturally greater number on humans, the demon child got the role to chase the other?”

Selv thought over on what he was trying to say. Why the child got that role? Well, it was that sort of game. They first decided on the role to run and chase. They then would run away while the chaser runs after them. Once all were caught, they would divide the role once again and repeat with different people. So, his answer was it was by pure chance the demon’s child was chosen.

Upon hearing it, Erstho snorted.

“What so funny?” Selv asked, almost threatening for his answer.

“Your naive thoughts, that’s what,” he said, not affected by Selv’s threatening, putting his leg above another. “You’re a fine adult. Surely, you have a child or two already. So, children’s honest nature shouldn’t be anything foreign to you.”

He locked his sight on the playing children, not giving Selv a look as if saying he didn’t worth his attention. He saw how the demon child was giving other children a chase. The child was all smile, but he wouldn’t miss the sign of fatigue on him, or the sight of other children having fun with each other as the demon child was being left behind because of the appointed role. Surely, this was not the first or second time this had happened because there was an acceptance of how the acts.

“They're so true to themselves, so true they don’t even need to think or realize for it to show on their actions. Without being taught, they naturally ‘divided’ the role. They, who are the same, and them, who are not.”

Selv opened his mouth in disbelief. How could he think of something so terrible? There was something disagreeable from how he perceives the world. Children were honest. That point he agreed. But, they did not so wicked like the adults to divide themselves based on physical appearance. At most, they would find the demon child to be strange at first, only to disregard it as they play together.

Yes, he believed in their good nature. He trusted that part of them. He did. Yet, the word of rebuttal didn’t get out from his mouth.

There was him, who despite talking big about harmony, that agrees with him. He found himself unable to completely deny his claim.

In the first place, it was not him who first proposed this idea. He was asked to help and so he did. Granted, he gave permission to accept them as immigrants. But, he actually couldn’t care less because at that time he was asked too.

His initial thoughts were not that much different than Erstho. After all, he had seen and experienced their bad sides when they were at war with each other. Forgetting and forgiving them when it was coming from personal experience was easier to say than done. But, along the way, he had a change of heart. That was true!

“I- I don’t think the children would do that! I’ve watched how humans and demons could get along. Look, they’re happily playing with each other. They must be a great friend to each other. I’m sure that it's just you being pessimistic because you came from the outside and have never seen where humans and demons get along like good neighbor.”

He managed to fight back with a muddy doubt clinging on to him like a bad stain. Unaware that he did not make a good argument and rejected Erstho’s claim with no supporting idea. It was weak and empty.

Erstho got up from his seat, thinking there was no point in continuing the already meaningless exchange. Not that he ever thought it had any meaning from the start.

“That’s just you pushing your ideal on me. I don’t care what you think about this farce here. But, if it hurts my fellows, I will protect them even if I have to destroy this false paradise you made,” he said, making his intention clear.

Selv finally understood Pierre’s words. He didn’t know how much of a power he held within him. But, his determination alone was apparent enough to not be dismissed as a joke. He felt the man would really do it when the time comes.

“I’ll be going since someone’s expecting me. I’m looking forward to our next meeting, Mr idealist.”

Leaving one last remark, Erstho turned his back on him, walking away toward a group of old demons who were waiting for him. Selv rarely saw them, but he recognized the faces as someone belonging to this town.

He watched their back until they disappeared beyond his vision. Only then he realized he had done the rude act of not introducing himself. No wonder Erstho insulted him one last time. He had taken it for granted for people to know him.

With the lingering bitterness in his mouth, Selv tasted the unsavory flavor of frustration to the very last lick.