However, the chief had said that Nfirea — or rather, the Bareares — had approved of her succession. That meant that even if she talked with Nfirea, he would end up pushing her for the position.
He won’t do… and neither will any of the villagers. That leaves Agu and the ogres, but Agu already thinks of me as the chief, and the ogres are just plain dumb.
At this moment, someone called out to the frowning Enri with a cheerful voice.
“Ossu~ Seems like they’re done talking… Oya? What’s wrong, you’ve got a strange look on your face? Problem, Enri?”
That voice made Enri tingle as though electricity were coursing through her skin. That’s right. She was an outsider to the village, a neutral third party who could calmly and logically assess the situation.
Enri ran toward Lupusregina with all her strength.
“Lupusregina-san!”
She tightly clutched the surprised maid’s shoulders.
“What what what what’s this? Oh no~ My heart’s beating so fast. But please don’t confess to me.
I’m not a lesbian, I like the opposite sex. Noooooo~ Let me go~ I’m going to be raped su~”
“Wait! Please, wait a bit!”
Enri’s hands left her shoulders, because she was planning to cover Lupusregina’s mouth. But she nimbly slipped out of Enri’s grasp and smiled to her.
“Ahhhh, sorry, sorry, but you seemed so excited, I thought I needed to cool you down a bit. It was just a joke su~”
“It’s a really bad joke…”
Enri sagged her shoulders. However, she immediately recovered again. Lupusregina was a person who came and went as she pleased, if she didn’t take this opportunity to pin her down she would vanish again.
“Please hear me out. I need some advice on what to do next!”
“I dunno what you’re talking about, but we can talk while we walk right? I don’t want the villagers to look at me strangely~”
Enri’s face turned bright red. Lupusregina had a point there. However—
“Buuuut if you want to violate me again I won’t scream~”
“Ggk!”
Lupusregina stuck her tongue out playfully at Enri.
“Really — really, Lupusregina-san!”
“Come, come, let’s go, let’s go.”
Without waiting for an answer, Lupusregina set off, and Enri followed.
“Well, come lay your problems onto onee-san — from the secrets of H stuff to seducing men~”
“Ah, is that right? Lupusregina-san really is an adult then…”
To Enri, who knew nothing about such matters, she certainly seemed adult enough. There was no obvious change, but for some reason Lupusregina seemed to look more mature now.
“Ahem! I am a mimidoshima after all!”
[TL. mimidoshima is a young woman who is inexperienced but has a lot of knowledge on h-stuff]
“…huh?”
What does “mimidoshima” mean? As Enri pondered the strange term, Lupusregina beckoned her over with a “come hither” gesture. Eager to get the suspicious questions over and done with, Enri began telling her about what had happened in the chief’s house.
“So, what should I do?”
“Hm? Beats me.”
That was all.
“Hey — didn’t you say I could lay my problems on you?”
“Aw, do I have to answer you… hm, well, whatevs. To begin with, if you’re being pushed into this position and you know you’re going to regret it, then you’d better not take it on to begin with. Think about what kind of things you can and can’t handle.”
The usual carefree girl was gone, and in her place was a haunting, bewitching beauty. The usually wide-open eyes were narrowed, and the inviting smile now sent a chill down her spine.
“This is just my opinion anyways; you should probably decide what you want to do on your own. Sit down, chew the cud a little, that sort of thing. For starters, let me put this out here, it doesn’t matter if you’re the chief or someone else is the chief, you’re going to mess up sooner or later. There’s only forty-one people I know who’ll never make a mistake. ‘Cos of that, no point worrying about what happens when you fail. But when you think about it, nobody’s better suited to the job than you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ask the gobs. When the village is attacked by scary monsters and they know they can’t win, what happens? Imagine the situation with yourself as the chief and yourself not being the chief.”
Lupusregina’s expression changed again, back to her cheerful self.
“Welp, that’s about it. Haaa, I don’t want to play counsellor at all. Then again if En-chan didn’t become the chief, the beautiful tragedy would unfold and it would be more fun.”
“—Eh?”
Lupusregina smirked as she patted Enri’s shoulder.
“Personally, I think you’d make a great chief. Also… why don’t you ask that boy?”
After taking her hand off Enri’s shoulder, Lupusregina twirled in place. It was a movement that seemed estranged from any concept of the word “friction”.
“Seeya then.”
Lupusregina strode off, her hands flying freely through the air. In front of her stood Nfirea with Nemu’s hand in his. Lupusregina patted Nfirea on the shoulder, and as though she had flipped a switch, the two came to life.
“Welcome back, onee-san!”
Nemu must have been very worried, because she tackle hugged Enri while running at full speed.
Enri was hit hard enough that she thought she might be knocked down, but her sturdy leg muscles absorbed the impact.
“Welcome back, Enri. You’re earlier than expected. Didn’t spend the night?”
“I’m home. And yes, I camped out last night.”
“Is that so… I’m glad you weren’t attacked by monsters. Still, I can’t approve of that sort of thing.
The goblins are strong. but there’s still monsters stronger than them. Granted, I haven’t seen any of those near the plains…”
“Nee-san, don’t do dangerous things!”
Nemu said this while clinging tightly to Enri’s clothes. Enri was the only family for her little sister.
Her life was no longer solely hers. It seemed like Enri had forgotten that little detail.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Enri smiled and gently ruffled Nemu’s hair.
“Mm! Then I’ll forgive Nee-san!”
Nemu looked up and smiled.
“Thank you. Speaking of which, has Nemu been a good girl? You didn’t bother Enfi, did you?”
“I didn’t! Really~ I’m not a little girl anymore! Right, Enfi-kun?”
“Ahaha… well, I’ve been treating Agu’s tribespeople, so I didn’t look too closely, but I trust Nemu’s behaved herself.”