“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?”

A sadistic grin spread over her beautiful face, and anyone who saw her would immediately conclude that something evil and horrible had been unleashed.

“And I thought you got along with these people. Is this coming from the bottom of your heart?”

“That’s right, Yuri-nee~ I mean every word of it. Every time I think of the people I get along with getting trampled like ants and exterminated with brute force, I can’t help but laugh.”

“You’re terrible. You’re as bad as Solution. Why are my little sisters like this? Really, the only good one is Shizu… although I suppose Entoma isn't a bad girl.”

Lupusregina laughed as her older sister grumbled.

“Ah~ will the village be destroyed after all?”

Part 4

“Ah, I’m so tired.”

Enri dumped the small slate she was holding on the table and flopped down, devoid of energy. She turned to look at the source of the quiet laughter and saw Nfirea there with a smile that said ‘just as planned’ on his face.

“You’ve worked hard, Enri.”

“It’s soooo haaaaard~ I’m not good at using my head…”

“You need to learn how to read and write, you know.”

Enri’s reply was a mournful whine.

As the village chief she needed a basic level of education, which was why Nfirea was personally instructing her, but Enri’s head felt like it was splitting apart.

“These stupid words, they were made up just to give me trouble…”

“Don’t say that. You’ve already learned how to write your own name, haven’t you? And Nemu-chan’s as well.”

“Mm… well, that is a good thing… can’t I get by with just that much?”

“Alas! These are merely the basics. Look at it this way, you’ve only started learning for five days, we haven’t even reached the important parts yet.”

An ‘are you kidding me’ expression appeared on Enri’s face.

“Ahhh, don’t make a face like that. Once you learn the basics, they’ll serve you well. That’s why they’re so important.”

“Hmph.”

“You look really tired. Then, we’ll stop here for today.”

As though she’d been waiting for this word, Enri sprang up from her seat.

“That’s wonderful! Let’s end early tomorrow too! Thank you, Enfi!”

Nfirea smiled thinly before wiping the chicken scratch-like letters off the slate.

“Then you’d best get a good rest. Tomorrow we’ll start again at the same time.”

“I’m really happy that you’re using your experiment time to teach me all this. But I don’t want to be grateful at all…”

“Mm. Well, that’s how it is. They say it’s better for a teacher to be hated by their students than to be thanked by them.”

“That’s a lie! It’s a total lie!”