“But, but we’ve cleared up a fair bit of their suspicions. I just saw how they can greet you normally.”
“About that, well, quite a few of these people are like the villagers and have memories of family members who were attacked and died. Or rather, the memories they bear might be even heavier than that.
Although Carne Village had been devastated by the attack, about half of the villagers managed to survive. On the other hand, a lot of the other villages which had been attacked by knights had lost a large portion of their people.
When Carne Village began taking in immigrants, many of the ones who came were survivors of those villages.
The two of them fell into silence.
Enri stretched her waist once more and looked to the sky. Although the lunch bell hadn’t rung yet, it seemed like it was about time. They had worked enough of the field to take a break as well.
“Then, shall we have lunch?”
Despite his scary looks, Paipo managed what was instantly recognizable as a smile.
“That would be great, Ane-san’s meals are always delicious.”
“Oh, they’re not that great,” Enri replied, slightly embarrassed.
“No, no, I’m serious. Helping Ane-san in the fields is one of the most hotly contested positions among us. That’s because we get to eat your delicious lunches.”
“Ahaha, then should I make lunch for everyone as well? Like breakfast?”
There were quite a few reasons why it would be hard to. For instance, there was a difference between lunch for three and lunch for twenty. Just slicing the vegetables would become a chore in itself. In addition, she had to make sure everyone had sufficient portions, which would be a tiring task. That said, in comparison to the amount of hard work the goblins had put in and the praise they had received in turn, it was nothing at all.
“Oh, no, we couldn’t impose on you for that. Plus, enjoying Ane-san’s handmade lunch is something like a special privilege for the one who wins the right to help you.”
Enri could only smile back in response to the diminutive demihuman. Although she knew the goblins decided who would take the job via rock-scissors-paper, Enri didn’t know if she was cooking something that actually deserved all the praise.
“Then, shall we break for lunch?”
“Ah, it’s wonderful…”
Paipo’s words were interrupted halfway as he looked to the distance with his keen eyes. With a deep breath, the formerly relaxed and cheerful little demihuman became a veteran warrior in an instant.
Enri followed Paipo’s eyesight into the distance.
What they were looking at was a goblin riding a black wolf. They seemed to glide across the plain as they approached the village at high speed.
“It’s Kiumei…”
Of the goblin troop that Enri had summoned, twelve were level 9 goblins, two were level 10 goblin archers, one was a level 10 goblin mage, one was a level 10 goblin priest, two were level 10 goblin wolf riders and one was a level 12 goblin leader. In total, there were 19 goblins.
Kaijali from this morning and Paipo who had helped with the chores were level 8, while Kiumei, who was wearing leather armor and carrying a lance, was a level 10 goblin wolf rider.
The goblin riders’ job was to patrol the plains and act as scouts. The riders periodically returning to the village to deliver reports was a common sight.
”…Looks like it.”
However, Paipo’s tone was very somber. It made her think that something bad had happened.
“What’s wrong?”
“…He’s back a little early. He should have been prowling the forest today… did something happen?”
After hearing Paipo’s explanation, a surge of unease rose in Enri’s heart, and she feared that some bloody disaster awaited them.
While the two of them waited in silence, the large wolf Kiumei rode on arrived in front of Enri.
From its rapid breathing, she could guess how much of a hurry he had been to get back here.
“What’s the matter?”
Hearing Paipo’s question, Kiumei bowed to Enri from on top of his wolf while replying,
“Something’s happened in the forest.”
“…what?”
“I’m not too sure, but I think it’s like before. A whole bunch of unknown guys are moving towards the north.”
“Are they knights?”
Enri unwittingly interrupted the two of them. Even though she was powerless to change anything, she still could not ignore the conversation. She still could not forget her fear when the village had been attacked.
The “whole lot of unknown guys heading north” they talked about was referring to the tracks they found of thousands of people on the march to the north. Although the prints were similar in size to those of humans, they were made by bare feet, so in the end they had concluded that those people were not humans.
“I don’t have any conclusive evidence, but I think it’s different from that time. If you ask me, I’d say something’s happening deep inside the forest.”
“Is that so.”
Hearing that, Enri couldn’t help but sigh in relief.
“…Then, I’d better go report to the boss.”
“All right. Thanks for your hard work.”
“It’s a pleasure to serve.”
After waving to the two of them, Kiumei spurred his wolf on and departed. Enri and Paipo watched him enter the slowly-opening village doors.
“Then, shall we go back, too?”
“Yes, let’s.”
After washing their hands beside the well, Enri and Paipo had just reached home when they heard a young girl’s voice.
“Welcome back, onee-chan.”
Along with the voice came the sound of rock grinding against rock. Following the sound to its source, Enri saw Nemu turning a millstone behind the house.
A pungent smell came from the millstone. Although it was similar to the smell that had clung to Enri’s hands just before, it was several times more intense, enough that one could smell it from some distance away.
Nemu was used to the smell, which was all well and good, but Enri’s eyes almost teared up as the odor assaulted her. Paipo, standing behind her, seemed unaffected in comparison. It remained to be seen whether that was because the smell only had an effect on certain species, or because it would be terribly rude to make a face like that to his mistress’ little sister.
“I’m home. How’s things? Did you grind it up like I told you?”
“Mm, I did. Have a look.”
Following Nemu’s line of sight, she saw that the herbs that she had piled up before she had left the house had been reduced to a small handful.
“Aren’t I great? There’s not much more left.”
Before she had left the house, Enri had asked Nemu to help her grind the herbs into a paste. That was because some herbs had to be dried to be preserved, but others needed to be shredded to be preserved.