If you didnt believe Laios was autistic before todays episode i hope it clears that up for you
we were first shown his special interest, a very autistic trait to have. We get to see him indulge in his interest, we get to see him happy.
but this episode contains the scene that makes it clear Laios cannot understand social cues, tone of voice, sarcasm, or subtlety. He actively suffers socially with other humans.
Shuro is pissed Laios didnt pick up on the fact that he hated Laios, because he was being passive aggressive (at best, Shuro bottled up a lot of feelings), and said verbally he was Laios' friend. Laios takes things at face value, if someone says "im your friend" that's what he believes is true.
He hates that Laios "gets to be genuine". I hate the way he says that "gets" as if its a privilege for Laios. It's a privilege for Shuro who is nobility and has his behavior and emotions stifled. Laios doesnt understand that others are NOT genuine. he's not from that world.
that's why Laios asks "why didnt you TELL me?" and Shuro says it should have been obvious.
it was NOT obvious to Laios, not at all.
And also, that was who Laios thought was his FIRST friend on the island. he thought he made a friend, something actively difficult for him to do.
it devastated him to learn that he was wrong the entire time.
the fact that kobolds seem to be this more "animalistic" race, with kuro talking in broken language and like improper grammar. this, coupled with the fact that he seems unaware of the fact that he's being exploited by mick, makes kobolds appear to be less intelligent than other races.
but we actually find out that the simple speech patterns are in fact due to common being kuro's second language. and in a scene where kabru talks to kuro in his native language, it's actually kabru with the simple speech patterns.
we even learn that kuro seems to actually have a much better understanding of his situation with mick than we first imagine. merely wanting to stay with them so they can have someone who they can feel relaxed around.
this, coupled with a bunch of other things, really makes dungeon meshi stand out from other fantasy media. there are no "dumb" or "evil" races, they're all just people.
I hope everyone is aware Dev Patel has a movie in theaters right now where he guts a bunch of Hindutva fascists with an army of hijra to a heavy metal soundtrack about killing rapists ok good thanks