Chapter 8

The villagers didn't say anything when they saw the unfamiliar goblin child. One could say that they weren't nervous, but it could also be said that they trusted Enri.

They went through the village and past Enri's home. Their destination was the goblins' house.

"Excuse me for a bit. I'm going to check out if Hekkeran is back and have him come over listen to what Agu has to say."

"Sounds like a plan, Nfi."

Enri silently watched him get away.

"Although waiting there's fine… maybe I should make drinks."

"Great idea, su! I'm thirsty!"

"…Lupu-nee, aren't you a maid? That means you know how to make delicious drinks, right?"

"Well, I'm the maid of Ainz-sama, and the other Supreme Beings, soooo... I don't want to work for anyone else, su. I just want to laze around, su. Let's not talk about work and all that other stuff."

"Is that so… well, that's a shame."

Although Unlai and Lupusregina's conversation seemed quite normal, Enri could still feel a chill run through her.

As they walked and talked, they reached the goblins' house.

This was a place with a wide courtyard where you could raise and let wolves run around, capable of housing almost twenty people. It was a large building where they could train with and maintain their weapons.

The goblins opened the door, and led the way for Enri and Lupusregina.

"Fueeee- I didn't know there was a place like this~"

"Hmmm? Lupusregina-san, you're not coming in?"

"Yup yup. Can't go in without an invitation. Well, it's just a matter of etiquette, it's not like I can't really go in. I guess the only other one with such a weird legend is Flatchest-san~"

"Flatchest-san…?"

"That's right, En-chan. It's the name of a tragic beauty. Well, it wasn't as though that person couldn't really go in. Legends, myths folklore —Weeeeeeell, let's not talk about that any more… We're here to listen to what this goblin has to say, right?"

"Ah, yes. Then, drinks… ehm, how about herbal juice and fruit juice? There's black grass tea and Hyueri water…"

Agu and Lupusregina looked completely baffled by Unlai's question, so Enri helped explain for them.

"Hyueri are citrus fruits, you cut them open and infuse them into water and it tastes clear and good. Black grass tea is a little bitter."

"I'll have a Hyueri water, then."

"Hyueri juice for me too~"

"Got it. How about Ane-san?"

"I think I'll have the Hyueri water too. And… how about washing hands? Even if our noses are used to it…"

"Ah, that should be all right. Oi, kid— I mean, Agu, you come over here too. Gotta clean yourself up. And bro, sorry about this, but you mind putting away our dirty weapons?"

"Is it alright?"

"Of course it is. Not like he can do anything. Our rules here are very simple."

"If that's the case… let's go."

Kaijali left the room with three sets of weapons.

"Agu, come over here quickly."

"Why do I have to wash? Will it make me pretty?"

Enri noticed that Agu's hands were very dirty; there weren't clean by any definition of the word.

"Your opinion is irrelevant. This is the owner of the house telling you to wash up. Or are you saying you're going to defy the owner in his own house?"

Agu puffed up his cheeks, and plodded over slowly to Enri's side.

Enri poured the water from the large tank into the pails. After preparing four sets, she stuck her hands into the unexpectedly cold water and started to wash up. The green on her hands melted away like snow in the sun. By the time she was done, she brought her hands in front of her face. The stench was gone.

Enri looked around herself. Gokoh and Unlai were washing their hands too, and the water was dyed red by the barghest's blood.

Next, she looked to Agu, but what she saw left her dumbfounded. Even a child would know better than to wash up like this. He stuck his arms into the water, waggled them around a little, and that was that. He didn't even dry himself off. Although Enri had already washed off the plant-scent on her hands, Agu still reeked of dirt and torn leaves. For forest goblins, a scent like this was a form of self-defense against magical beasts with keen sense of smell. As such, they might have never developed the habit of washing themselves thoroughly. Even so—

"You do it like this."

Agu made an annoyed face as Enri tried to teach him. However, he thought of his own position and what the other goblins had said earlier and grudgingly, he started to thoroughly clean himself.

"That's right, you're doing great…"

"Hey, after this, use this to wipe your body. Make sure you get all the blood off."

Agu didn't look happy about it, but he still cleaned himself with the damp towel.

"So we just dump the dirty water outside?"

"Yeah, just like that. Ane-san, go have a seat. We'll take care of the rest."

With that, Enri headed to the nearby table. It was surrounded by chairs, since so many goblins lived here. As she chose a place to sit, she suddenly realized how tired she was. Her arms and legs were like logs, her head was heavy.

Although part of the reason had been gathering herbs, what had really worn her out was the battle against the barghest.

All I did was watchEnfi and the goblins were fighting, but they can still be this activelooks like I'm never going to be a warrioror rather, Enfi's gotten really strong

Even though she knew that her childhood friend could use magic, she hadn't expected that magic to be so powerful.

He's amazing

As she thought of her suddenly-different childhood friend, Enri's heart swelled with an emotion she couldn't put into words. It seemed to be surprise, but then again it seemed like something else entirely.

A clear sound brought Enri back to her senses, and her eyes fell on the ceramic cups on the table. They were filled with a transparent fluid that gave off a citrus smell, and Enri decided to help herself to a cup.

The cool, sweet and sour taste washed over her entire body, and she felt like she was filled with energy. Agu had sat down beside her at some point, and he gulped his down in one shot and immediately asked for another.

Yet, Enri noticed Lupusregina didn't touch hers.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen Lupusregina-san eat or drink…

"…Hm? Something wrong? You've been sneaking glances my way recently. Are you in love with me? Ahhhhh, how troubling… my, how shocking, to think that En-chan is a lesbian-su. Looks like I need to let everyone know-su…"

"What— no! No! It's not like that!"

"Wahahahaha! Just kidding. I know En-chan likes men."

Shortly after, Nfirea and Hekkeran entered the room.

"Ah— it really is a new goblin… no, hm, I keep thinking from a worker's point of view… he's not an enemy."

Hekkeran smiled bitterly.

It wasn't as though Enri didn't understand where she came from. Going by the stories, goblins were the enemies of mankind. Killing them when you saw them was fine, but this village was different.

"Then, since everyone's here, let's listen to what he has to say. Agu, can you tell us why you were running while covered in all those wounds?"

"Well, that's because I was attacked!"

"That's too simple… what kind of monster attacked you?"

"The minions of the Giant of the East."

"The Giant of the East? Who's that?… Has anyone heard of this monster ?"

All but Agu shook their heads.

Hekkeran sighed.

"I'm sorry. I haven't heard anything concerning this Giant of the East. And I don't think Master Latimon knows either. We've ventured into the depths of the Forest only a few times and don't know much about its residents."

"Then, Agu, please tell us about him—"

"—And while you're at it, tells us about other powerful monsters in the Forest too."

"…Well, to me the barghests and the ogres are strong… but if you want to talk about things on the level of the Giant of the East, then in the forest, there are the powerful ones called the Three Monsters. The first is the Beast of the South. They say he's an incredible guy who will slaughter everyone who sets foot in his domain, but he disappeared a while ago and I don't know what has happened to him. So now there's only the Giant of the East, who should be a huge ogre, and the Serpent of the West. I heard it's a disgusting snake that can use magic."

"Strange… how about the north?"

"There's a lake in the north with all kinds of races. As for who rules over there… I don't know. But in the forest that now the Serpent of the West has joined the Giant of the East."

Everyone ― with the exception of Lupusregina ― looked uneasily at each other.

The first thing was the Beast of the South. Since its territory was supposed to be nearby, then it must surely be the Wise King of the Forest, a magical beast tamed by the adventurers who had escorted Nfirea here — or more specifically, the one who wore jet-black plate armor. It certainly had the look of power and strength about it, and so the description fit it perfectly.

And there were two more monstrous creatures out there who could equal it. Nobody could not feel shock and fear at that realisation.

"Until recently, the three of them held each other in check. If two fought, no matter who won, there was always the chance that in their moment of victory, they would be finished off by the the third in their weakened state. As such, none of the three powers actually engaged in battle. But now, with the Beast of the South gone, the Serpent of the West joined the Giant of the East."

Hekkeran frowned. "All right, I can accept that. However, if the East and West are cooperating and the Beast of the South left, they are probably planning to do something together… the village might be in trouble soon..."

While the humans were in turmoil, Agu kept talking. "The Giant of the East forced us to be his followers in battle. Though that's a bad joke. We goblins are worthless to them. They use us as emergency food! Because of that, we ran away. However…"

"It was useless, right?"

"Yes. Barghests and ogres came after us. We couldn't fight them, so we scattered. I fled in this direction with a few people into the Beast of the South's territory, but we didn't expect them to come in after us without hesitation."

He said there had been a few people, but there had been no sign of anyone other than Agu.

A pained expression drew across Enri's face, and Gokoh spoke. "…We have people scouting out the Forest, if anyone's still alive, we can bring them back here as long as they don't resist."

"Yes, there's that. Wolves' noses are very sensitive. Then… the question is, besides the barghest, what else is out there? Did they have friends that came over too? If it goes badly, the pursuers might end up coming all the way here. Oi, Agu, what other monsters are there?"

"There's barghests, ogres, boggarts, bugbears, and some kind of wolf thing…"

"They're fairly common monsters. I'd like to hear more about the Giant of the East and the Serpent of the West, specifically, their looks, their abilities, that sort of thing. Do you know anything?"

Agu shook his head.

"I don't know details, only rumours. Only that the Giant of the East carries a big sword and is very strong. The Serpent of the West is a wizard, but what kind of magic he uses, I don't know."

Everyone sighed. There was simply too little information to work with.

"The question now is what are we going to do? If two somethings that can fight evenly with the Beast show up, frankly speaking, we're done for. The most the self-defence force can do is take the women and children to safety."

"Indeed. If all we needed was a sturdy defense then it would be fine, or maybe we should think about some other methods. If the disturbance in the forest blew over by itself, it would be great."

To the people who lived outside the forest, if the matters in the forest settled themselves, they wouldn't need to move. However, if they were completely unable to enter the forest, that would cause a lot of problems in its own right. In the worst case, they would have to make painful sacrifices to keep going.

"…However, if the enemy can easily take out a goblin tribe, that means they must have gathered a lot of fighting power."

As Hekkeran spoke, Nfirea tilted his head, as though thinking about something.

"… although this is a completely different topic, could I ask you about something that's bothering me, Agu? Do you speak the same way that other goblins do?"

"… What do you mean?"

"Ah, you don't know? In the past, I've met goblins myself, and don't take it the wrong way, but they spoke like morons. In the village though, Jugem-san and the others speak normally. The same goes for you — as in you both speak fluently. Because of that, I was wondering if the ones I saw were savage goblin tribes or something."

"No, it's just that I'm particularly smart for a goblin. Most goblins speak in single syllables or even just gestures. That made conversation in the tribe really troublesome, I can tell you that. I was seriously wondering if I was from another tribe instead, keh."

"Hmm, you kid…Could it be… Ane-san, Ani-san, could you come over here for a bit?"

Nfirea and Enri followed Kaijali to the corner of the room.

"That Agu brat, could it be he's not a goblin, but a hobgoblin?

Hobgoblins were offshoots of the goblin race, and they were superior to goblins in every way. Goblins were about as big as human children when they were adults, but hobgoblins could reach the height of an adult human.

They were similar to humans in terms of physical abilities and intellect. In order to mate with other goblins, many tribes tended to live in the same region. However, in order not to let the population increase too much, many were left behind as bodyguards or team leaders within the tribe.

"That's certainly possible. Well, in that case, we don't have to worry too much about it."

The three of them returned to the table, and as they did, the hitherto silent Lupusregina opened her mouth to speak.

"Well, made a decision? If anything happens, you can always ask Ainz-sama for help. Ask him to help solve the problem and all that."

That would be a godsend. If the hero who saved the village decided to make a move, not even the greatest monsters could hope to stand against him. However—

"That's too naive."

Enri mumbled to herself, and the goblins agreed. Nfirea and Hekkeran had a complex expression on his face.

"This is our village. That means we should do as much as we can by ourselves. Although some people will think that I shouldn't be babbling pretty words since I can't fight and have no battle experience…"

"No, I agree with your opinion. This village is Ane-san's—"

"—Kaijali?"

"Hm?"

He tilted his head to correct himself.

"Ane-san and us… no, that's not right either."

"You're trying to say that the village belongs to everyone who lives here, right?"

"That's right, Ani-san. You're getting it! Well, even so, I think borrowing the power of that magic caster should wait until we're completely out of options."

"But if we do that, everyone might die-su… Getting hacked up hurts, you know~su"

"Ha! Lupusregina-san, we won't let that happen. We'll sacrifice ourselves so everyone has time to run first."

A disappointed look appeared on Lupusregina's face.

"Is that so? You'd better work hard, then-su."

"I would ask help to the Adventurer's Guild in E-Rantel, but we don't have enough money..."

Hekkeran followed on after Enri's suggestion.

"Indeed, although I don't want to speak ill of adventurers, but during emergencies, the request payments will go through the roof. It's probably better to spend the little money we have on new equipment to defend the village by ourselves."

"Then we'll go ahead with this plan for the time being. We'll tell Jugem-san and the chief about it later. Can you do that, Enri?"

She nodded.

"Then, I guess I'll be leaving the village for a bit-su… You really won't ask Ainz-sama for help?"

"Yes. We'd like to do as much as possible by ourselves. If possible, we'd like you to tell Gown-sama that much."

"Got it-su…"

As Agu looked at Enri and Nfirea, who were moving off, a hard-to-describe feeling welled up within him.

"Just what's so great about that woman?"

"Hah?!"

There was danger in the adult goblin's voice, and it made Agu's body tremble.

Agu felt that the adult goblins were stronger than anyone else in his village. It was only natural for him to break out in goosebumps when threatened by them.

Yet, this still could not overcome his childish curiosity.

"Is Enri really that powerful?"

From Agu's point of view, Enri didn't seem particularly strong. Although she had some muscle on her arms and legs, it wasn't enough at all. She didn't need to be as big as an ogre, but if she was stronger than goblins, she needed way more than that.

If she were a magic caster he could understand it. The female leaders of the goblin tribes often used that mysterious power. However, that woman didn't look like a magic caster.

Frankly speaking, Agu didn't understand why Enri was placed above the goblins.

"And then, what about that woman who suddenly appeared from behind us? Scared me to death."

The adult goblin suddenly clammed up, and stared at Agu.

Unsure of what he was feeling inside, Agu nervously asked his question.

"W-what? What's with that woman?"

"That woman who suddenly appeared, her name is Lupusregina, and she… she's very dangerous. If you want to live in this village, do not ever go near her or speak to her. It's for your own good."

"Ah. Ahhhh. I get it."

"And I have to say this up front. Although it should be blindingly obvious, if you do anything to the people in the village… let's be honest here, you won't just get away with a scolding, you'd better be prepared to die."

"I, I got it. So that's like with a defeated tribe, right? I promise that I will not harm anyone from Carne Tribe."

"All right, that's good… stay away from Lupusregina, okay?"

Agu understood the mix of caution and dread in the adult goblin's heart, and he engraved the warning into his heart. With that done, he realised he hadn't gotten an answer to his first question, and he asked again.

"Why is Enri-san so great?"

Agu had learned to behave. Or rather, it was easy for him to learn, since he was the smartest in the tribe and couldn't talk much with other goblins.

"Ha! Enri'svery strong!"

"Eh?!"

"It's because you're too weak that you can't tell. If Ane-san got serious, she could take care of a barghest with just one hand and squeeze the blood out into a cup to drink, you know?"

"Really?!"

"Oh yes, yes, of course it's true."

Agu thought of Enri. Looking at it calmly, she'd been able to give forceful, effective orders. Maybe that was just the tip of the iceberg?

"Ane-san just pretends to be weak. If she hears anything funny about you, she'll crush you to death with one hand. After that, cleanup will be a pain. There'll be blood everywhere."

"Is, is that so… then why, why does she have to pretend to be weak?"

"Only a fool shows off his strength!"

Agu had thought that strength was the solution to all problems, but that was not the case.

Locked in a labyrinth of self-reflection, he didn't realise that the adult goblin in front of him had a playful expression on his face.


In the middle of the night, Enri suddenly woke from sleep. Though there didn't seem to be anything around, Enri remained still while she moved her eyes to check around her. The world before her was pitch black, lit only by a slim ray of moonlight from between the window shutters. She couldn't see anything strange in this weak light.

But Enri's ears could hear just fine.

There were no sounds of horses neighing, armored knights clanking, or people screaming. It was just a normal night.

Enri sighed softly, and closed her eyes. She'd been fast asleep, so she was still groggy and couldn't get up right away.

A lot had happened today. And Jugem was still in the forest.

It'll be all right, right?

It was true that the goblins were strong, but that was only in comparison to Enri. Like the Beast, many creatures in the forest were stronger than the goblins.

A sense of dread and loss fell over Enri, making her twitch, and because of that, her little sister moaned in her sleep, scooting closer to Enri's body.

Enri half-opened her eyes, and peeked at her little sister.

Looks like it hadn't woken her up. She could even hear her gentle snoring.

"Hehe…"

Just as Enri chuckled in her throat, the sound of soft knocking resounded on the door. This was definitely not a trick of the wind.

Enri frowned. What could there be so late at night? Then again, it was precisely because it was so late at night that meant it had to be important.

She carefully separated herself from Nemu and the blanket and slowly got off the bed, moving carefully so as not to wake her little sister.

The boards creaked as she got out of bed, making Enri's heart beat faster as she worried about waking Nemu.

After that incident, Nemu had to sleep with Enri at night, so severe was the trauma she suffered.

Enri had no intention of scolding her for it. If pressed for the reason why, it would be because Enri felt safer when she slept with her sister. In the end, the same thing could be said about Arche and her sisters.

But she knew, even when the two of them were together, Nemu would sometimes be awoken by her nightmares. Because of that, Enri insisted on being with Nemu even when she was sound asleep.

Quietly, and therefore slowly, she inched toward the threshold, but the knocking didn't stop.

Enri nervously peeked out the window, and Jugem's silhouette was illuminated by the moonlight. She sighed in relief.

In order not to wake Nemu, Enri quietly spoke outside the window.

"Jugem-san, you're safe."

"Yeah, Ane-san. In the end, it was all right. I'm sorry I woke you up, but some things I think you should know early."

Enri opened the door slightly, and squeezed her body out through the gap. She was worried that the moonlight coming in would wake Nemu. Understanding from her movements, Jugem lowered his voice and spoke.

"There's something we need Ane-san for."

"Now?" Enri smiled.

"I'm really sorry about this."

Enri followed in Jugem's footsteps while telling him not to apologize. It might have been better for Nemu to be awake for this, and she'd considered it, but Jugem had come for her knowing that everyone else was asleep. There had to be a reason for it.

"I'll explain as we move along."

Maybe he was more tired than usual, but this was work ― after Jugem made up his mind, his words took on an edge.

Although Enri felt that it was okay to be more casual with a simple village girl like herself, Jugem had never let himself relax up till now, so Enri gave up on that idea.

"Firstly, we found some members of Agu's tribe..."

"That's wonderful!"

"… But they're exhausted and emotionally fragile, I think they'll need to rest for a few days. We'll need to borrow Ani-san for this."

Sensing Enri's surprised expression, Jugem followed up with an explanation.

"When we found the survivors of Agu's tribe, they were being held by the Giant of the East's ogres and used as food. Although Cona healed the wounds of their bodies, their minds are still scarred. Ani-san has some medicine to calm them down, and we want him to help treat them. After that, there's a somewhat more troublesome matter."

Jugem watched Enri's expression before continuing.

"When we rescued them, we captured five ogres. Although we only did it to question them… it seems ogres sometimes normally coexist with goblins, and while the ogres fight, the goblins provide food, shelter, and so on, in a mutually beneficial relationship. Because of that, they said they're willing to fight for our tribe. According to Agu, this isn't uncommon… so, what should we do?"

"Can we trust them?"

"Agu says we can since we captured them. The ogres only respect strength."

"Mm. Ogres sound kind of scary…"

"Once they accept the people in the village as part of their tribe, all you need to do is feed them and it'll be fine. You can give them just about any kind of food too. The ogres' tendency to eat anything is quite helpful here."

Honestly speaking, this decision was very difficult for a simple village girl to make.

"How about killing them?"

"Frankly speaking, I have no problems with killing them outright. It would save us a big stack of problems. In the first place, people like them who betray others might turn on us if things start to go bad.

Still, if they could fight for us, it would be great. We don't know what might come from the forest, a few extra meat shields would help a lot."

"Then, one more question, will they eat people?"

"…Ane-san. Although ogres have a reputation for eating humans, they're just monsters who eat meat. The only thing is that it's often easier to catch humans to eat than wild animals."

For ogres, it was better to eat humans than say, rabbits. It was only natural when you considered humans were easier to capture and gave more meat too.

"Well, if you give them something to eat, they won't attack the villagers. In the first place, they only attack people to fill their stomachs. You have my word that we'll hunt enough animals to fill their bellies. Of course, they'll still need to be supervised and we'll have to see how things go. I promise we won't let anyone in the village be hurt."

"… In that case, it would be good if we could trust them enough to make them subordinates. Not just for now, but for the future as well."

"I'm glad you understand. Only thing is, there's a small difference with what I said earlier. If they fail next time, we'll wipe them out. Truthfully speaking, I've been thinking of how to impress on those ogres that Ane-san is the strongest."

"Eh?!"

Enri let out a noise that sounded like she'd been flipped turned upside down. This was too much of a leap for her. Why did a simple village girl like herself have to become the leader of a band of ogres? Wouldn't it be enough if Jugem was their boss?

"This is planning for the future. It'll be troublesome if the ogres think of Ane-san as just another human being. Although we listen to you, the ogres won't listen to anyone except us, and that's potentially very dangerous. If anything happens to us at the frontline, I hope there'll be someone in the rear who can command the ogres. We've already shown them how strong Hekkeran is, but he also fights on the frontline. Besides, you're our leader."

Enri racked her village girl head as she pondered the problem.

"Which means you need me to command them?"

Jugem nodded.

"In that case, Enfi could—"

"Ani-san might end up being on the frontline too."

"I see…"

Enri understood, and nodded. Someone in a safe place like herself ought to be useful too. That was what she wanted as well. However―

"But… can I control the ogres?"

"That's what we're about to do, Ane-san. How good are you at acting?"

Jugem brought them to the village gate and then to a side door. Beyond it were five ogres kneeling on the ground before Hekkeran and his friends.

Surrounding them were also the goblin troops, all of whom were present and unhurt.

On one side of the door was an observation platform, which would normally have been manned by villagers or goblins, but not now. The goblins had temporarily left it.

Nfirea was there too, along with the somewhat distant Agu.

"Yo, Enri. Nice night?"

"Yeah, Enfi. The moon's really pretty."

"Indeed. It's so clear—"

"—Well, excuse the interruption. We're a little early, but let's begin."

Jugem yelled out as he heard Enri's words.

"Oi! You lot! Our Ane-san is here! She holds your lives in her hands!"

When the five ogres heard this, they raised their heads to look at Enri. It felt like there was a palpable pressure crushing her, but Enri forced herself not to take a step backward. If she gave in, the plan would fail, and the goblins would nip potential problems in the bud by killing the ogres on the spot.

Enri could already see the goblins' hands going to their weapons. Enfi was calmly taking out a potion bottle himself.

An eternity seemed to pass under the withering pressure.

Enri endured the stares of the ogres and returned it with one of her own. Her gaze was steady and unyielding.

In her eyes, the ogres overlapped with the image of the knights from back then. Enri clenched her fists, recalling the violent urges she had back then, of wanting to rip off the knight's helmet so she could beat him to death with it.

Don't look down on me. Everyone else guards the village, so I have to protect this place too!

After a second ― a second which seemed to stretch out forever to Enri ― the ogres wavered.

They peeked at each other, then at Jugem and Hekkeran.

"Told you, didn't I. Our boss is the strongest."

"Faces down, all of you!"

The forcefulness of Enri's voice surprised even herself, and Agu at the edge of her vision twitched violently, but that was fine. What was important was that the ogres had lowered their heads to her.

"Little boss scary! We submit!"

For the time being, the ogres had acknowledged Enri's superiority.

The strength had visibly ebbed from the ogres' bodies. Given that they could be killed at any moment, that was a natural reaction.

One ogre looked at Enri and spoke.

"Boss, we, what do?"

That, she hadn't thought about. Still, what she didn't know, she could entrust to someone else.

"Jugem, I'll let you take care of them. Use them as you see fit."

"Got it, Ane-san."

The goblin leader bowed to Enri, then turned back to the ogres.

"Well then. First of all, we're going to pitch tents outside the village. You lot will be shacking up there. And you too, help them with the tents."

The ogres left, accompanied by the goblins.

"Pitching tents outside the village will be a problem; we'll need to find them a place to live in the village. Even so, we need to wait till they learn not to attack the villagers first."

"I'll need to go around to talk with a lot of people to make them accept it."

"Yup. Although, I think as long as you're the one doing it, it'll be fine. And, about tomorrow…"

According to the plan, Enri and Nfirea would be setting out to E-Rantel, with the members of Foresight as guards.

"… I'm sorry. I still need to help treat the survivors from Agu's tribe, so I can't go. And with the ogres having just arrived, it'd be better if Hekkeran and the others keep an eye on them."

"Really? I don't feel so good about this…"

Enri didn't have any experience with visiting a big city like E-Rantel, so from her point of view the burden seemed quite weighty.

"Then, how about getting the village chief to go with you?"

"I think that could be difficult…"

The chief would be busy whipping the village into shape, and helping out the newcomers to the village, so he wouldn't be able to travel abroad.

"… How about the chief's wife?"

"Mm. Well, frankly speaking, there's not enough hands in the village. It used to be that way and now it's even more so."

Carne Village was a village with a very small population. As a result, when their numbers decreased, their ability to do anything decreased with it. This was why the villagers had suppressed their opposition to inviting more residents to stay with them.

"I'll just take a few goblins as bodyguards. Bue in E-Rantel, I need to go to the shrine and confirm if there's anyone who wants to move to the village… Really, this is too much for a village girl to be doing…"

"All the best, Chief."

"Enri pouted as she heard Jugem's words. Part of her was thinking, The nerve of you. After all, they were one of the reasons why Enri was so busy.

"I really wanted to come along…"

Nfirea mumbled in a depressed tone, and then covered it up in a flustered flurry of desperate handwaving.

"I-it'll be fine, I'll take care of Nemu-chan. So you can go without worries."

"… All right, I get it, am I the only one in the world who has to go through this? One moment people worship me and make me out to be someone great, the next I have to go somewhere I've never been to before and do things I've never done before…"

Somewhere not too far, a skeletal figure suddenly felt an itch out of nowhere.

AN: Sorry for the long break, guys, now I'm back