It wasn’t just the walls either; even the construction of the watchtowers had been sped up. Their current task was to complete the watchtowers on the eastern and western flanks of the village.

“Ane-san, I’m done here.”

Enri’s thoughts were interrupted by the goblin assisting her in the weeding, a goblin called Paipo.

“Ah, thank you.”

“No, no, it’s nothing Ane-san should thank me for.”

Although Paipo waved his dirt and grass-stained hands to ward off Enri’s thanks, Enri still felt that she owed the goblins a debt that could never be repaid.

After losing her parents, Enri was in a dire situation, where tending her family’s plot by herself would be impossible. She wanted to ask the other villagers for help, but given the overall lack of manpower in the village, it was already hard enough for every household to take care of their own crops. With the help of the goblins, that problem was easily resolved. In addition, she was hardly the only one the goblins had helped.

Turning to the direction from which her name was called, Enri saw a busty woman standing by a field. Beside her was a goblin.

“Thank you so much, Enri-chan. Because of Goblin-san’s help, the field work’s almost done.”

“Really? That’s wonderful. It was their idea to help out with the village chores, so if you want to thank someone, you should thank them.”

“Ah, I’ve already thanked Goblin-san. He said that he was only your subordinate, so he hoped that I would thank Ane-san as well.”

Hearing the word “Ane-san” made Enri furrow her brows, which was quickly followed by faked laughter to drive it off.

The goblins themselves had suggested that they should help the households who had lost farmhands in the attack, and the woman before her was one of those people.

There was no way the villagers would shun the contributions of the goblins. In Carne Village, the opinion of the goblins was so good that statements like “goblins are even better neighbors than humans” were commonly heard.

“Speaking of which, are there any other goblin-sans around? I wanted to treat everyone to a meal as thanks.”

“The others should be patrolling the village or helping the people who just moved into the village. But since obaa-san asked, then I’ll make sure to tell them.”

“Then I’ll leave that to you, Enri-chan. When the time comes, I’ll make sure everyone gets to enjoy a feast made with all my skill. In the meantime, I think I’ll make lunch for Goblin-san first.”

“Really? Then, since I’ve been invited, it would be rude to refuse. Ane-san, though I’m sorry that I can’t join you, I’ll be having lunch at Morga-san’s place.”

Enri nodded, and the woman headed back to the village with the goblin in tow.

“If the newly-arrived people realised that you guys are not bad people, that would be great.”

“Well, a lot of them didn’t look happy to see us. After all, in their hearts we should be the enemy.”

“Apart from our village, treating demihumans as the enemy is the norm, right…”

“That’s why we’re sending so many people to help the villagers with their work. It’s not easy.”

“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.