The blood drained from Enri’s face.
Could it be that the village would be subject to a dreadful assault like last time?
―However, the circumstances now were different from then.
Enri decided to face it head on.
“We should flee into the forest before the troops reach here!”
“…Ane-san, I’m sorry. We spotted them too late, so if we ran now, we’d have to leave all our things here. In addition, since it’s winter, the chances of monsters appearing in the forest are also very high. If we run from one problem, we end up running right into another instead.”
Jugem’s pained expression made Enri feel dizzy.
They would not be able to survive if the troops burned the village down in winter.
“If that’s the case… ah! That’s right! If we can’t flee with our possessions, then we should prepare for battle and hide food and the other necessities at the same time!”
“Yes! That’s a good plan, Enri! The cellars where Jugem and the ogres hid from the tax collectors shouldn’t have been buried yet. We’ll move everything in there!”
Just as Enri was about to move into action, she remembered a question she hadn’t asked yet.
What were their numbers? The villagers could estimate how much food to hide if they knew how many there were.
“How many are there? It should be about a hundred, right?”
“No…”
As Enri saw Jugem taking a deep breath and slowly answering, she had the sudden urge to stuff her fingers in her ears.
“Not just a hundred… more like thousands.”
Enri blinked. So did Nfirea beside her.
“They have about four thousand people at the very least, I think.”
“But that’s… why would they send so many…”
“I have no idea. Why would they send so many troops to a village like this? …Enri, could it be that word got out about the goblins in the village?”
“No way. It’s impossible.”
Enri’s reply came immediately.
No matter how she thought, she couldn’t think of a reason for a leak. There had been immigrants, but they all felt that the goblins were more trustworthy than humans. Ever since the troll attack the barriers between the original and new residents of the village had all but disappeared.
It might have been because of adventurers ―perhaps Momon and Nabe had spread the word to avenge their fallen comrades― but Nfirea was insistent that that could not be the case.
“Then… while we prepare to flee, we should ask them why they came. Fighting… is a last resort.”
Doing battle with an army of four thousand men was nothing short of suicide.
“Like Ani-san said, that’s all we can do… I guess against these numbers, there’s no other way.”
“Umu. That’s why, we should get ready to flee at any moment, while trying to buy time for our escape. Then, let’s go!”
Several villagers were helping to hide the food along with the ogres. The only ones left were Enri, Jugem, and some of the goblins, along with Britta and several members of the defence force.
The first thing Enri did was to question Britta about the situation, asking about the identity of the interlopers and whose crests they bore. But sadly, Britta couldn’t give her any answers.
According to her, someone else had always handled that sort of thing. In that moment, Enri realised how important it was to be well-informed. Because of that, all they could do was to wait for Nfirea to make his report after coming back from the watch tower.
The sound of hooves came from the other side of the wall, and then a loud voice.
“This one is the envoy of the Crown Prince of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Barbro Andreyan Ield dale Vaiself! Open the gate and let us in!”
Enri doubted her ears again.
Although she had heard many surprising things in a short period of time, this one took the cake.
“T-the Crown Prince?!”
What on earth was someone like that doing here?!
Enri had no idea what was going on. All this was starting to feel like a bad dream.
However, judging by the way Nfirea was scurrying back from the watchtower, the envoy’s words were most likely true.
“The King’s flag is among them. Only the royal family or those related to them would be allowed to bear that flag.”
“Eh? What does that mean?”
“It means that the royal family has brought troops to our village!”
Enri raised her voice, unable to understand what was going on.
“Why, why do you need to send so many troops to a frontier village like this?”
“Peasants like you don’t need to know about that! This land belongs to the King, and obeying the King is all you need to do! Or could it be that you’re defying the King ― raising your flag in revolt?”
Enri’s body shuddered.
As subjects of the King, they should open their doors. However―
―Jugem exchanged a glance with Enri from the side.
Even if they went to open the gate right away, they couldn’t do it instantly. Before that, they had to hide the goblins and the ogres.
“Ah, Ane-san. We’ll hide ourselves as quickly as we can. Until then, please buy us some time.”
Enri nodded. Why did I order them to hide the food first, she thought, but it was too late for regrets now.
“I repeat… Open the gate!”
“My, my apologies! Right now, right now we’re preparing to welcome his Majesty the Prince!
Please, hold on a bit!”
“Repeat yourself, woman! Are you in charge of this village? This delay is unacceptable! Do not waste even a single second in opening the gate!”
“…Why are you so desperate to get in?!”
Under pressure, the already uneasy Enri responded with an angry shout. While she knew it was disrespectful, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that they were soldiers from another country masquerading as Kingdom troops.
Carne Village’s defenses were extremely solid. They had shocked the tax collectors who had seen them.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if another country wanted to use it as a base. After all, the trolls had attacked for precisely that reason.
The other side fell silent for once, and both sides hesitated uneasily.
“Why aren’t you answering! You’re impostors pretending to be Kingdom troops, aren’t you!”
After that panicked shout, she finally got an answer.
“…the magic caster called Ainz Ooal Gown came to this village once, did he not?”
The image of the village’s savior appeared in Enri’s head.
“That magic caster is now an enemy of the Kingdom. As such, we wish to ask you, who are related to Ainz Ooal Gown, about him.”