The Two Leaders

by Kugane Maruyama

  Golems were strangers to exhaustion that silently followed orders—and possessed far more power than humans. Since they were a little clumsy, the golems couldn’t be trusted with detailed work, but their help shortened building times by an unbelievable degree. With golems working without sleep or rest, the construction of the wall advanced rapidly.

  It would have been impossible for the villagers and the goblins to perform such a vast amount of labor on their own, but the golems finished it—felling a huge number of trees, digging the gigantic hole to properly sink the foundation—and the wall that would normally take several years to complete was built in a few days. Moreover, it was longer, taller, and sturdier than originally planned.

  They made progress on not only the wall but the lookout towers as well. Thanks to that, the village had towers in both the east and west.

  “Boss lady, I’m done over here, too.”

  Enri’s thoughts were interrupted when Paipo, the goblin who was weeding with her, called out.

  “Oh! Thank you.”

  “No, no need.”

  Paipo waved her off while his hands were still filthy with dirt and plant juices, but she didn’t feel like she could ever thank him enough.

  It was hard for her to maintain her house’s fields after losing her mother and father. Normally someone from the village would help, but with the dearth of workers, everyone had their hands full with their own fields. But when the goblins started helping her, the problem was solved. And Enri wasn’t the only one getting assistance.

  Enri heard someone calling for her and turned around to find a plump woman standing there. Next to her was a goblin.

  “Enri, dear. Ohh, thanks so much. I finished up my field with the help of Mr. Goblin.”

  “That’s great. Everyone volunteered to cooperate. Please thank them directly.”

  “Ohh, I thanked Mr. Goblin already. He said they’re just underlings and wanted me to thank their boss lady!”

  Enri’s face twinged at the mention of “boss lady,” but she turned it into a grin.

  The goblins had offered to help out households who’d lost workers in the attack. The woman before her was from one such family.

  Who could begrudge such considerate goblins? They were better neighbors than some of the humans in Carne. Naturally, those sorts of stories got around and had resulted in everyone’s current high opinion of the little monsters.

  “By the way, where are the other goblins? I thought I’d treat them to a meal as a thank-you.”

  “The others are either working security or helping out the new arrivals, but I’ll let them know.”

  “Oh. Well then, please pass the message along, Enri, dear. I’ll make something special. I suppose I’ll treat this one now.”

  “Really? Then I humbly accept yer offer. Sorry, boss lady, but I’ll be over at Mrs. Molger’s.”

  When Enri nodded, the woman and the goblin next to her set off walking back toward the village.

  “I just hope all the people who agreed to move here will understand that you’re not evil…”

  “They looked pretty spooked when we first laid eyes on one another. It seems like they’d counted us among their enemies,” replied Paipo.

  “I guess in other frontier villages, it’s normal to consider subhumans enemies…”

  “That’s why we’re offering to help out so much. It’s tricky, though.”

  “B-but they’re coming around, aren’t they? A little while ago I saw someone say hello like normal.”

  “Well, the transplants have memories just like the people here do of being attacked and having their families killed. No, maybe their burdens are even heavier.”

  Carne’s fate was brutal, but even so, about half the villagers survived. Some villages had almost their entire populations killed by the knights.

  The people who had responded to Carne’s call for new settlers were survivors from those villages.

  A silence fell upon the pair.

  Enri gave her back another good stretch and looked up at the sky. The noon bell hadn’t rung yet, but it was almost time, and she was at a good stopping point in her field work.

  “Okay, should we have lunch?”

  She was familiar enough with Paipo’s squashed-looking face to see that he’d put on a cheerful smile.

  “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear! Yer cooking is delicious, boss lady.”

  “No, it’s not.” She laughed, blushing.

  “No, no, really! Competition for the job of helping ya in the field is fierce—’cause we all want to eat yer tasty food.”

  “Ah-ha-ha! Then why don’t I just make food for everyone? Like we do at breakfast.”

  Cooking for two was the same as cooking for twenty…or not. Cutting up the ingredients for that many portions was a job in and of itself. One or two pots would never be enough. It would take quite a lot of work. But when she considered how much she owed the goblins, it didn’t feel like any trouble at all.

  “No, no, that’s okay. Eating yer food is a perk for the one who beats out the competition.”

  Enri smiled at the little grinning subhuman, not sure what to do. She knew the goblins had been playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who got to help her, but she wasn’t sure her cooking was worthy of such a fuss.

  “Okay, shall we head back and eat?”

  “Sounds good…”

  Having said that much, Paipo suddenly shut his mouth and looked into the distance with his keen eyes. Enri gasped at the stark shift from funny little subhuman to seasoned warrior and followed his gaze.

  There was a goblin riding a black wolf, seemingly gliding across the meadow toward the village.

  “It’s Kyuumei.”

  The goblin troop Enri had summoned comprised twelve level-8 goblins, two level-10 goblin archers, one level-10 goblin mage, one level-10 goblin cleric, two level-10 goblin riders, and one level-12 goblin leader for a total of nineteen.

  Kaijari, who she had seen that morning, and Paipo, who had been helping her in the field, were level-8 goblins, while a level-10 goblin rider, Kyuumei, was coming toward them now in furry leather armor mounted on a pitch-black wolf.

  The goblin riders were tasked with riding around the meadow and acting as an early warning system. It was common to see them return to the village for regular reports.

  “…Yeah.”

  But Paipo’s voice was tense. Something wasn’t sitting right with him. That was the feeling she got.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “…It’s a little early. He was supposed to be on watch out toward the woodlands… Did something happen?”

  Hearing Paipo’s explanation, Enri felt worry well up inside her—fear that another bloody attack was nearing.

  As the pair watched in silence, the large wolf carrying Kyuumei raced toward them.

  The wolf’s ragged breaths spoke volumes about how hard they must have rushed over.

  “What is it?”

  In response to Paipo’s question, Kyuumei, still on his wolf, bobbed his head to Enri and answered, “Something seems to have happened out near the woodlands.”

  “…Something?”

  “I don’t really know. It’s not like before when a big bunch of guys were heading north—”

  “Do you mean knights?” Enri interrupted without thinking. Even though she knew she couldn’t be of any use in this situation, she had to ask. She couldn’t shake the fear from the day the village was attacked.

  The other group the goblins mentioned had numbered in the thousands, leaving tracks behind as they headed north. The footprints were human size, but since they had apparently been barefoot, the goblins concluded they weren’t human.

  “I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s knights. It seems more like something’s happened deep in the woods.”

  “Oh.” She sighed in relief without really meaning to.

  “…Well, for now I’ll report in to our leader.”

  “All right. Nice work.”


  “Thank you.”

  They waved, and Kyuumei ran off astride his wolf. They watched him go until they saw him slip through the slowly opened village gate.

  “Well, shall we go back?”

  “Yeah.”

  After washing up at the well, Enri and Paipo arrived home and a young girl’s voice called out to them.

  “Welcome back, Enri!”

  Along with the greeting, they heard the scraping noise of two rocks grinding together. When they looked, it was Nemu using the stone mill in the shade of the house.

  The pungent smell that prickled Enri’s nose was wafting from the mill. It resembled the aroma that had been clinging to her hands earlier but was twice as strong—enough to pick up even from a distance.

  Nemu was already used to it, so it must not have been a problem for her, but when it hit Enri, tears sprang into the corners of her eyes. Nothing in particular happened to Paipo’s expression behind her, although it wasn’t clear if a racial trait had spared him or whether he simply thought it would be rude to make a strange face in front of his master’s younger sister.

  “We’re back. How’d it go? Did you get them crushed properly?”

  “Yep, perfect. Look!” Nemu eyed her results with a satisfied smile. Of the mound of herbs that had been there when Enri went out, only a tiny few were left. “Amazing, right? I’m practically done!”

  Nemu had been turning the herbs into a paste and stuffing them into a jar the way Enri had requested. Most herbs were stored by either drying or grinding them up, depending on the type.

  “Wow, you worked hard, Nemu!”

  In response to Enri’s unreserved praise, Nemu looked a bit proud but also blushed. At some point, she had either been trained by Nfirea, or perhaps she had simply decided she wanted to help her sister out, but her work had improved, becoming both thorough and swift.

  Herbs were an important source of revenue for Carne. It took a lot of work to live in a frontier village, and this was arguably their home’s only specialty product.

  It was an indispensable way of acquiring money, so the villagers knew where to find abundant clusters of all different sorts of herbs.

  Enri thought to herself quietly. This herb boasted one of the best profits out of all the various types that the villagers foraged. But because the plants developed medicinal properties only right before they flowered, they could be relied on for only supplemental income. The villagers had already picked clean all the clusters they knew about, but it was possible that if they pushed a little farther into the forest, there were still untouched clusters.

  But of course, monsters stalked the woodlands. Enri couldn’t just stroll in as if she was going on a picnic. But now she had the goblins alongside her, plus Nfirea, who had a wealth of experience gathering herbs. If she asked for their help, they would probably be able to earn a nice bit of money.

  After hesitating for a moment, Enri broached the topic with Paipo. “I’d like to go gather herbs in a new spot. Would you come with me?”

  Really, there was no reason Enri herself needed to go; she could have theoretically sent the more confident goblins of their ranks into the dangerous woodlands on their own, if only the goblins she summoned hadn’t come with a peculiar shortcoming.

  They were bad at looking for herbs and butchering animals they had hunted.

  It was similar to how none of them could cook. Enri could show them an herb, but they couldn’t find another of the same variety even if it was right in front of their noses. It puzzled her, but they simply lacked those abilities. Moreover, there was no sign that they had the ability to learn or acquire those skills. It was almost as if they were erased from their memories.

  As a result, when it came to gathering herbs, someone had to go with the goblins.

  “I don’t mind going, but it might be a little tricky to have ya come along.”

  “What? Really?”

  “Yeah, wasn’t Kyuumei just talking about how something might have happened deep in the forest? During times like that, the woods get agitated.”

  Enri looked confused, so Paipo explained in detail. “Cautious monsters will sometimes shift their territory. When that happens, neighboring territories get jumbled up temporarily, and it causes all sorts of confusion. To put it simply, yer more likely to run into a monster, and the forest becomes more dangerous. If yer unlucky, ya might even come across monsters outside the woods. No matter how daring ya are, there’s no need to leap directly into danger, is there?”

  “I see…” Enri wondered if she was actually “daring,” but she chalked it up as more of the goblins’ usual flattery and let it go. “It seemed like there was a big migration before, too. Something must be going on, huh?”

  “I don’t know. I really don’t. I’d like to send some guys into the woods to do a detailed investigation…but if we leave, there won’t be as many people to protect the village… Oh! How about sending adventurers?”

  “That would be tough.” Enri frowned. “Nfi told me it costs a lot of money to hire adventurers. Supposedly, the lord in E-Rantel would cover part of the cost, but it’d be hard for us to cover even just our share.”

  “Ah…”

  “Maybe if we were able to forage and sell a lot of herbs, it would work out, but our only other option would be to sell that item Sir Gown gave us…”

  Ainz Ooal Gown had given her two horns. She had used one, but the other she still had hidden in her house.

  “Don’t do that, boss lady. If it came to that, it’d be better to blow it.”

  “No, of course I won’t sell it.”

  She didn’t want to be the low sort of person who would pawn off a generous gift. Even if it reached the point where they were in trouble if she didn’t sell it, she would still be against it. She especially didn’t want to do anything so ungrateful when Ainz Ooal Gown continued to be so concerned for the village that he had sent over a maid with golems.

  “But what a dilemma. We can only gather these herbs during this time, so even if it’s a bit dangerous, I’d really like to go if possible…”

  Enri smiled at Nemu, who seemed nervous. She wanted to avoid doing anything that would upset her last remaining family member, but she would hate missing out on a chance to earn some precious cash. Maybe her priorities were a little out of order, but she needed to pay her debt to the people who put their lives on the line for the village—the ones who considered her their master.

  I need to make a pile of money and see what I can do to buy the goblins new gear. Full plate or whatever seemed like it had good defense. That black-armor person…what was her name again?

  She had no idea how much weapons and armor cost, but it had to be quite a hefty sum. That was precisely why Paipo held out a steadying hand when she looked so determined to rush ahead.

  “Well, it’s just my opinion. I’ll ask our leader about it, so don’t make any hasty decisions. I don’t want to get scolded for claiming some half-baked idea, and I bet the boss man would also like to get his hands on all sorts of herbs.”

  Just as Enri was wondering what to do, she heard a cute little rumbling noise. When she looked up, Nemu was shooting her a dissatisfied look.

  “I’m hungry, Enri. Let’s eat!”

  “Yeah, sorry. Clean this up and wash your hands. I’ll make lunch.”

  “Okay!”

  With a cheerful reply, Nemu took apart the mill and used a spatula to transfer the green goop inside to a little pot. Enri headed for the entrance to the house, thinking, I wonder what I should make…

  2

  Enri stood just outside the Tove Woodlands. Of course, she wasn’t alone. She was surrounded by all the members of her loyal goblin troop.

  The goblins had donned mail shirts and round shields, while thick machetes hung at their hips. On the other side were slung pochettes to carry small items. They also wore brown shorts and sturdy shoes fashioned from furry animal pelts. They weren’t missing anything in terms of gear.

  The fully outfi
tted goblins were going over their kit one final time. They checked that their waterskins were full and their machetes sharp.

  The reason they were so well equipped but packed lightly was that they planned to finish their business quickly rather than spend hours exploring the forest.

  They weren’t all there as escorts for Enri. Their main objective was to do a detailed investigation on the news the rider had brought. They wanted to find out what had occurred in the woodlands. Still, all they needed to do was protect the village, so they decided to explore more broadly in the settlement’s vicinity rather than plunge into the forest depths.

  Only three goblins would go gathering with Enri.

  Nfirea was also with her. He was all ready to go, wearing clothes suitable for picking herbs in the forest. With him along, they would certainly be able to collect what they needed.

  He must have sensed her gaze. He cocked his head as if to ask, What? She waved her hands to show that she had nothing particular in mind, but he still must have been worried, because he walked over accompanied by a large goblin.

  The goblin had such a hulking physique that it was hard to believe he was the same race. He wore a heavy-duty, roughly fashioned breastplate and carried a well-used great sword on his back.

  This was Jugemu, the goblin leader whom Enri had named after the goblin hero Jugemu Juugemu. Incidentally, all the knights who fought alongside that hero had special names, and she had given those names to the rest of the goblins.

  “You don’t seem…worried, but is something wrong?”

  “No, I’m fine, really! I just happened to look at you.”

  “That’s all right, then, but remember that even a little thing can get you killed in the woods. If anything seems off, let me know.”

  “He’s right, boss lady. Like I said before, we’re gonna be checking out the forest, so we won’t be able to come to yer rescue so quick… Will ya be all right?” Jugemu twisted his craggy face into a worried look and peered at Enri.

  In response, Enri smiled. “I’ll be fine. I’m not going that far in, and these guys will protect me.”