“Really, Enfi-kun! Say, how about this, Nee-san. Enfi-kun stinks!”
“Nemu-chan! That’s the smell of herbs! When you grind them up, didn’t you say your hands stank as well?”
“That colorful stuff is from herbs?”
“…No, it’s different. That’s from making alchemical items, so please don’t say I stink…”
“But you do stink!”
Nfirea’s face froze.
“Mm, It’s all over Enfi’s clothes. So maybe he should take them off when he’s not working?”
Enri frantically tried to explain her little sister’s actual meaning, and Nfirea’s face softened as he heard it.
“I don’t have any other clothes, though… in E-Rantel I pretty much wore those all the time.”
“Then, what if I made a set for you afterwards?”
“Eh? You can do that?”
“Enfi, who do you think I am? I can still make simple clothes on my own.”
“Is that it? I bought all my clothes, so being able to make your own sounds awesome.”
“Well, thanks for that. But everyone in the village can… Nemu, you’d better start learning.”
“Kay~”
“Then, Nemu, do you mind heading back first? I need to discuss something with Enfi.”
Nemu covered her mouth with her hands, but the smile was already making her eyes sparkle.
“Mm! Got it! Then, I’ll be going first. Good luck, Enfi-kun!”
Nemu waved to them, then headed back home with a spring in her step.
Enri watched her as she left, mumbling to herself.
“She’s so obedient. Nevermind, are you hiding anything from me?”
“No, I don’t think… ah, you mean that? Is that it? Although I can roughly guess, since I was at the town council meeting yesterday.”
With that, they’d skipped over a lot of pointless exposition. Enri told Nfirea what she and the chief had discussed.
It didn’t stop there either. She also told him about her discussion with Lupusregina, and Nfirea took it all in without a single word. After she finished, Nfirea looked Enri straight in the eye. and spoke.
“I think Enri can do it and no matter what your answer is, I’ll always support you… ugh, that line is so cheesy. I hope you’ll become the new chief.”
“Why? I’m just—”
“No. You’re not just a simple village girl. You’re the leader of the goblins, Enri Emmot. You probably want to say that the goblins aren’t your strength, right? But in the end, the goblins really are your strength. Lupusregina asked you to ask the goblins, but I’ll explain. If you’re not the chief, and if the village is in danger, the goblins will fight a holding action until you can escape by yourself.”
“No way! They would never do such a thing!”
“They might say that in peacetimes. However, during a crisis they’ll do just that. I heard it from them myself.”
“No way…”
Enri looked incredulously at Nfirea. Was he lying? But there wasn’t even a shred of deception in the air around him.
“The most important thing to them isn’t the village, it’s you. But if you become the chief, then the village becomes your property, and the goblins will stay and fight for the village to the bitter end. It may not seem like a big difference, but it is a difference. As an aside, they’ve told me that if an emergency like that happens, they’re hoping I can take Nemu and flee behind you. Enri… if you want to check with them it’s fine. But I hope that if you do, you’ll keep the fact that I told you about it a secret.”
“I won’t ask them.”
Nfirea lifted his hair up as he heard the straight, direct reply, revealing his wide eyes.
“Is that okay? I might be ly—”
“—That’s not possible. Nfirea wouldn’t lie to me. I trust you. However, is the master really that important to her summons?”
“Well, wouldn’t that be because you’re their master? You bought weapons for the goblins, right?
Don’t you think they’d make you their top priority because of that? It may sound bad, but the goblins have never gotten anything from the villagers, who treat them as nothing more than your summoned monsters. Who do you think they’d prioritize, the people who barely acknowledge them, or the person who feeds them and arms them?”
Of course, none of the villagers would actually say that sort of thing out loud. However, it was true that she couldn’t remember any of the villagers thanking them in any concrete way.
“…But, the villagers are grateful to the goblins.”
“They’re grateful to you. It’s like paying you back for expenses incurred and time spent. Have you ever seen anyone in the village call the goblins by name?”
There were none. At first she thought it was simply because they couldn’t tell them apart, but when you thought about it, it was because they didn’t want to tell them apart.
The thought of that filled Enri with an indescribable loneliness.
“Is that so.”
Yet, in her voice was not simply dejection, but her eyes shone with the light of revelation.
“That’s right. That’s why I, personally, feel that you’ll be a good chief. If nothing else, when you’re chief, you’ll change things for the goblins.”
“…Everyone’s going to help me, right?”
“Of course. You might as well say nobody will hold back in rendering their aid.”
“I understand. Then, I’ll head over to the chief’s place. I’d better do it before I change my mind!”
Enfi smiled as he heard Enri’s declaration.
He understood the storm of emotions behind Enri’s decision. It was a stern, yet kind frame of mind.
“All right! Good luck, Enri!”
She nodded in reply, and then without looking back, set foot on the path to becoming the new chief.
From the sky, Lupusregina could see that almost everyone in the village was gathered in the village square. Enri was at their head, addressing them, but she couldn’t hear what Enri was saying.
After Enri appeared to finish, the villagers were applauding.
“Ha… so it did turn out like this after all. Ahhhh, I can’t take it, uhihihi.”
“—What’s so funny?”
The voice from behind made Lupusregina turn around to face it.
“Oya~ isn’t that Yuri-nee? Are you flying because of a magic item?”
“That’s right. Ainz-sama bestowed it upon me himself. This would be… Carne Village, right? That would be why you were scolded.”
“That’s right. Ahhh, now the fun’s about to begin~”
“What do you mean?”
“A new leader has just arisen within the village. To the villagers, they’re about to turn to a new page in their history. However, I wonder what would happen if, at this glorious moment, the village was attacked and everything set ablaze. I wonder what kind of faces those villagers would make?”