“Enri-san, the appraisal is complete.”
Enri rose and headed for the sound of the merchant’s voice.
“Thank, thank you very much!”
“The fee is—”
At this moment, Enri heard the sound of someone striding, no, practically sprinting over to her. As she turned, she saw the receptionist from earlier in front of her.
“Haaa— haaa— Enri-san of Carne Village. No, I mean, Enri-sama. About the matter from earlier, could I discuss the details to you?”
This was the same receptionist from just now, but her attitude was completely different. Even her eyes were bloodshot.
“Ah, I’m sorry, but I was just about to tell her about the results of the appraisal—”
“You shut up, I’m talking here.”
The receptionist’s reply made the merchant’s face twitch.
“If it’s alright with you, would you like to discuss this over a drink in the receiving room?”
She was smiling, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Instead, there was a desperate, struggling feeling in them.
Perhaps she had sensed something from the confused Enri. The receptionist’s eyes were moist, and her hands were clasped together as though in prayer.
“Please, I’m begging you, you have to let me hear you out! If not, I’ll be done for!”
After hearing that desperate, almost pathetic plea, Enri didn’t want to talk to her at all, but it seemed too cruel not to give her a chance. She glanced back to the merchant, who seemed to pick up on her intentions, because he nodded slightly to her.
“Got, got it. Then, could you show me the way?”
The receptionist’s body visibly relaxed as she heard the reply.
“Thank you very much! Really, thank you very much! Come, come, let me show you the way.”
Enri followed after her, bathed in the curious stares of everyone around. The receptionist was tightly gripping her right hand, as though she didn’t want Enri to escape.
Was I too rash?
She entered the waiting room with traces of unease in her heart.
Enri silently looked around the inside of the room. It was unoccupied except for herself and intricately decorated, filled with furniture that looked so expensive she wondered if it was even meant to be sat on.
“Come, come, please, have a seat.”
Part of her wondered if she would be arrested or bound or confined the moment she sat down.
However, nothing happened when she sat on the sofa. All she felt was the comfortable furniture taking her body weight.
“Would you like something to drink? How about some liquor? Too early? Yes, kind of… how about fruits… no, sweets and desserts, maybe?”
“Ah, there’s no need to go to that extent…”
The dramatic change in the receptionist’s attitude was starting to scare Enri. In the first place, she hadn’t felt that the receptionist was treating her coldly. She had reacted naturally, without such extreme emotions. At the very least, it seemed much more normal than she did now.
But why had this leopard changed its spots? Was it because of the horn again?
“No, no, what are you saying? Anything is possible for you. We can provide liquor, brandy, and the snacks to go with them too.”
“No, there’s really no need… and besides, I’m running out of time. Can we start discussing the matter?”
“Certainly! You’re absolutely right! Then please, by all means, do continue!”
The receptionist whipped out a pad of pure white paper. All the paper she had seen before had been much coarser and had other colors mixed in. This must be some high-class stuff here. Was it really all right to use it?
Enri began speaking. Although the preamble had been easy enough to talk about, this was the annoying part — the details.
Finally, just as Enri’s throat was starting to dry out, the conversation finally came to an end.
“Thank you for your help! There’s some drinks here, please help yourself before you leave! It’s fine to leave the cups here, but thank you for coming to us today!”
The receptionist suddenly stood up, and left the room as though she had been chased from it.
“Really… what happened?”
Of course, there was nobody here to answer her rhetorical question.
♦ ♦ ♦
In the end, Enri didn’t spend the night in E-Rantel and headed back home to Carne Village.
She would be sleeping on the plains, but she didn’t feel worried. On the contrary, she had a very good night’s sleep. That was because of the goblins, who were riding shotgun on her cargo-laden wagon.
“Ahh~ I see it at last.”
Ahead of them was the wall of Carne Village. Although the neatly-arranged logs looked impressive in their own right, Enri couldn’t help but think they looked shabby compared to E-Rantel’s fortifications.
“Indeed. I need to report to the chief quickly.”
Enri was saying this to one of the goblins in the bed of the wagon. Five goblins had gone to E-Rantel with Enri as her protection, including Cona the priest and a goblin wolfrider, who was currently keeping a distance to spot any potential threats.
“Well, most of the problems have been dealt with, but how about the chief’s request, Ane-san?”
“Yes, about that… according to the priests, almost nobody wants to move to the village.”
“That’s strange. I mean, there’s already other immigrants from other villages here. Why doesn’t the number of residents increase? Was the priest lying?”
“No, a priest would never lie,” Enri smiled faintly. “To be honest, frontier villages are pretty dangerous, so they’re keeping their distance. Although some people look forward to it, like those third sons who’ll immediately abandon the city if they get a chance for a plot of land… but not many people will come here without an order. And the people who moved here in the beginning had lived in frontier villages like us. There’s a difference.”
“Is that so…”
“That’s how it is. But actually, that kind of relieves me.”
It would probably be very difficult for normal people to form a good relationship with goblins and live with them in the same village. Any immigrants from the city would probably blanch at the sight and do their best to stay away.
And frankly speaking, if Enri were forced to choose between the city-dwellers and the goblins, she would choose the goblins without hesitation.