“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.”

“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.”