Everyone was well-geared, but they carried little baggage. That was because the plan was to swiftly complete their work, and not to mount a long expedition in the forest.
Not everyone in the troop was assigned to Enri’s protection. Their objective was to thoroughly scout the surrounding area and further verify the information the goblin wolf riders had collected. That is to say, they were to carefully observe the current situation within the Great Forest. In order to protect the village, the goblins had decided to scout its surroundings and the hinterlands.
Only three goblins would accompany Enri.
Them, and one more person: Nfirea. He had made his preparations too, dressed in suitable clothing for collecting herbs in a forest. With Nfirea around, the herb harvesting trip would definitely be a success.
Perhaps he had sensed Enri looking at him, and turned around, asking “What’s the matter?”
Although Enri had waved her hands as though to say “nothing, nothing,” one of the surrounding goblins took notice and drew closer to Enri’s side.
He was a goblin whose body was so muscular and athletic that it would be hard for bystanders to think that he was a goblin. His torso was protected by a crude, but practical breastplate, and the greatsword he used was sheathed on his back.
This was Jugem, the leader of the goblins, named after a fairytale goblin ranger called ‘Jugem Juugem’ by Enri. As an aside, there were other named knights who did battle alongside the goblin ranger, and their names were also used for the other goblins.
“There shouldn’t be anything wrong… what’s the matter?”
“No, really, it’s fine! I was just looking at him.”
“That’s great, after all, once you’re in the forest, you can lose your life over even a tiny slip. If anything’s wrong, anything at all, you tell me.”
“That’s right, Ane-san. Just like we agreed before, we’re all scouting the forest, so if anything happens and we can’t get there in time… it’ll be okay, right?”
Jugem’s brutish face contorted with what looked like an expression of worry, and he glanced at Enri’s face. Seeing that, Enri smiled and replied to him.
“It’ll be fine. We won’t go too deep, and they’ll protect me.”
“That’s good to hear…”
Jugem followed Enri’s line of sight to the three goblins ahead of them. Then he shouted.
“Oi! You punks! You’d better not let Ane-san take so much as a single scratch, got it?!”
“Got it!”
The three goblins, Gokoh, Kaijali and Unlai, responded with a hearty shout.
“And Ani-san, you’ll be taking care of Ane-san too, right?”
Enri suddenly noticed that Kaijali, for no apparent reason, was flexing his muscles in a front double biceps pose.
“You mean I should take over from here?… kah! Of course! You can count on me to protect Enri!”
For a moment, Enri imagined Nfirea showing his shiny teeth as he radiated self-confidence through his smile. His attitude now was very different from his usual one, and to be honest it felt kind of gross. However, that was probably just his excitement about trekking into the forest.
Just like a little boy, Enri smiled, feeling like she was his big sister.
“Thank you, Enfi. I’ll be in your care.”
Strange, is he doing a side chest pose now…? What’s with that?
“Ahhh, that again… oh, about that, I prepared a bunch of alchemical items that I made myself, so leave it to me!”
After seeing Nfirea’s second sparkly smile, the smile fell off Enri’s face.
“Uh… mm. You go do that.”
“Ah, well, it’s been settled… although. Honestly speaking, even if we weren’t doing this dangerous job, this…”
Jugem turned to look at Enri, showing her a sour expression. Enri was starting to get a little annoyed after hearing this question again after answering it so many times in the village, but because he was only asking out of concern for her, she couldn’t just ignore it.
“That might be true, but the fact remains that without the herbs, we can’t get any money…”
“How about animal skins? We can get those.”
“That’s not a bad idea, but herbs are the most valuable.”
Animal pelts and medicinal herbs were in completely different price categories. The difference was comparable to that between the heavens and the earth. Granted, some especially rare animals had skins that were worth a fortune, but those were few and far between.
“If Ani-san could share his…”
“We’re combining the accounts of the Bareares and ourselves. We work together and split the benefits. We can’t just take it all for ourselves.”
Helping each other in difficult situations was a keystone of village life — as such, it was only expected that eighty percent of their income would be earmarked for the community’s benefit. This was also why greedy and selfish households could not be established, because such behavior would never be permitted. Self-sufficiency was a strict requirement.
The two of them started looking away from Nfirea, who was quietly saying, “Kaijali-san, please read the mood and stop making those weird poses…”
“If that’s the case, then it’s definitely… and like that too… well, if you lived with Ani-san, you could certainly pool the wealth… but… looks like nothing’s stopping that…”
Jugem’s words gradually lost their force. He knew that he couldn’t stop Enri from entering the Great Forest.
Although Enri didn’t want to make things difficult for Jugem and the others who cared for her, she would not be swayed from her course.
After all, she had decided to venture into the forest despite knowing its dangers because she had heard Jugem say, “We can’t repair our gear”.
Whetstones helped, of course, but caring for and repairing metal weapons required the services of a professional blacksmith. Which meant that a subtle danger threatened all the goblins. If their equipment deteriorated, it would mean their lives would be in danger. The maintenance of their battle gear was essential.
What could she do for them, who had pledged their lives to protect hers? She couldn’t just hide in safety and enjoy the fruits of their labour. Just as they had given their all for her, she too had to do everything she could for them. That was Enri’s decision.
The goblins weren’t just Enri’s bodyguards, they were the village’s protectors. If she decided to press that point, she could probably extort the required money to equip the goblins from the villagers. However, Enri decided to give up on that idea.
No matter what, Enri was simply trying to repay the goblins’ service through her own efforts. This expedition was the proof of that.
“Normally, the safest thing to do would be to confirm the area was free of danger before you went in…"
Interrupting from behind was the goblin mage, Dyno.
She was an arcane magic caster who wore a humanoid skull for a helmet.