The Two Leaders

by Kugane Maruyama

  “If ya say so…” He eyed each of the goblins she was looking at in turn. Then he raised his voice. “Well, ya guys probably already know this, but don’t let the boss lady get so much as a scrape!”

  “Aye!” The three goblins going with her—Gokou, Kaijari, and Unrai—gave a lively reply.

  “And boss man, I’m counting on ya, too.”

  Enri noticed Kaijari was doing a front double biceps pose for some reason.

  “So now’s a good time to do something? Ahem! Of course! I’ll protect Enri!”

  Enri hallucinated a sparkle in Nfirea’s teeth as he laughed, brimming with confidence. It was so unlike his usual personality that it kind of creeped her out. He must be tense because we’re headed into the forest.

  How childish. She thought it was sweet and felt like his big sister. “Thanks, Nfi. Glad I can count on you.”

  Huh? Now he’s doing a side chest pose… What’s that about?

  “What? But we’re not even… Uh, I brought a bunch of alchemical items, so yeah, you can leave it to me!”

  Hit with another sparkle, Enri felt his sweetness level drop by about half.

  “Uh, sure…thanks.”

  “Yeah, thanks… Still, I’m not sure we really need to be doing something this dangerous…”

  Jugemu turned around to look at Enri with a sober face. She couldn’t believe he was rehashing the same conversation they had had multiple times in the village, but she knew he was saying it out of concern for her safety, so she couldn’t ignore him.

  “But if we don’t gather the herbs, we can’t make that money…”

  “Couldn’t we use animal skins instead? Those we can get well enough on our own.”

  “They aren’t bad, but those herbs fetch the best price.”

  The values of skins and herbs were completely different—night and day. Of course, an extremely rare animal might be worth a lot, but those were few and far between.

  “Maybe you could have the boss man bring them back to you…”

  “The Baleare household and mine have separate accounts. We’ll work together and split the profits. I can’t just take advantage of everyone all the time.”

  Helping one another out was the village way of life. That was precisely why becoming ostracized left people without options. But relying on everyone else all the time was proof that a household couldn’t make it on their own, and there was no way mooching would be tolerated. Self-sufficiency meant hard work.

  Behind them, Nfirea was saying, “Kaijari, can you read the atmosphere a bit and knock off the poses for now…?” and the pair averted their eyes.

  “Ah, that’s true… Yeah… But that means if you got together, you’d have a single account… Anyway, you won’t cancel the trip, right?”

  Jugemu’s voice was gradually losing energy. He must have realized that she wasn’t going to give up on the plan.

  Enri knew Jugemu was worried about her and she didn’t want to cause him trouble, but her resolve was unshakable.

  The reason she was heading into the forest despite knowing about the dangers was due to that remark Kaijari had made about being unable to repair their gear.

  She might have been able to sharpen a knife, but mending iron gear would require a true blacksmith. In other words, the goblins were having a latent crisis. As their gear degraded, it put them that much more at risk. It was essential to have backup equipment.

  If they put their lives on the line and worshipped her as their master, what could Enri do in return? She couldn’t just hole up in a safe place enjoying the fruits of their devotion. She concluded that she needed to do everything in her power to let them fight to their full potential at a moment’s notice.

  The goblins were Enri’s bodyguards, but they also protected Carne. Following that logic, she could probably tax the villagers to buy weapons for them, but she rejected that idea the moment it came into her head.

  She wanted to pay back her debt to the goblins personally. This foraging trip was, in a way, an expression of her sincerity and pride.

  “We would’ve liked to have scouted the area before ya go…”

  The goblin mage Daino chimed in from behind. She wore the skull of some humanlike creature. In her hand, she held a twisted staff that looked shabby but still taller than she was. Her body was heavily accessorized with peculiar tribal ornaments, and her chest had a slight swell to it. Looking at her face, Enri could distinguish a slight softness compared to the men. Enri was used to it but could still only barely make out the difference; an average human wouldn’t be able to tell at all.

  “But you have no idea what it’s like, right?”

  “Yeah, unfortunately we don’t know if it’s safe or not. Even if we did go first, all we would be able to find out is whether the forest had calmed down or not, but that would still take time. If we wanted to know the new layout of territories within the forest, it would take longer.”

  By then, the herbs they wanted to collect would be out of season. Hearing Daino’s comments, Enri’s strong will shone in her eyes. “It’s all right. I won’t go in too deep,” she said decisively.

  After repeating the same argument several times, Jugemu understood that Enri wasn’t going to change her mind. He gave up and turned to the three goblins who would be accompanying her. As expected, he said the same thing as before. “We can’t guard her, so ya guys gotta protect her as our representatives. You too, boss man!”

  “Aye!”

  “Really, it would be safest for everyone to go together. Dividing our force is awfully foolish,” grumbled Daino.

  “But that would take too long otherwise, right?”

  “Yeah. If we don’t shoo away the monsters heading toward the village and the creatures trying to establish territory nearby, there’ll be trouble. Once they’ve built a nest, they won’t leave, and even if they do leave temporarily, it’s very likely they’d come back.”

  With the changes in how the spheres of influence mapped across the woodlands, it was essential that they perform a search, especially in the areas near the village.

  They were readying for round one of this reconnaissance. As the first, it was the most dangerous. That’s why they could spare only three goblins to escort Enri.

  “Okay, then. Let’s go! We gotta get this search over with and meet up with our boss lady!” Jugemu barked orders, and the goblin troop responded with a ferocious roar.

  Inside the woodlands…

  About a hundred and fifty yards in, the temperature had dropped more than a couple of degrees simply because the sun’s rays didn’t reach the forest floor. That said, it wasn’t completely dark; even Enri could see their surroundings fine. Wading through the crisp air as they went, the party of five advanced into the forest.

  For now, silence reigned over the woodlands. There were almost no sounds besides the swaying of the treetops and the occasional echoing call of a bird or beast. Enri and her companions’ footsteps felt loud in that quiet. The other party, headed by Jugemu, must have gone far ahead, because they couldn’t hear them anymore.

  Enri’s group advanced in a wedge formation with Enri and Nfirea in the center.

  It was difficult to stay spread out in the forest, so a single-file line would have been standard, but they insisted on the formation in order to protect the two humans. That slowed down their group, but they decided there was nothing they could do about that.

  When they got farther in and began heading north, Nfirea started glancing around.

  He was searching for treasures sleeping among the trees—herbs.

  Enri was no amateur when it came to herbs, either. She knew quite a lot for a girl her age—which ones could be simply ingested orally, which ones were more suited for topical application, and which ones could be made into potions. But she didn’t even come close to Nfirea. He had a profound knowledge of not only medicinal herbs but also the ones that could be used for alchemy.

  “Did you find a rare herb?”

  When Enri aske
d, all the goblins started posing as if on cue.

  More double biceps poses… It must be the hip thing to do… Enri cocked her head. She didn’t notice Nfirea’s fed-up expression.

  “Why didn’t I tell them those signals were a bad idea…? Being a chicken is the worst. Uh, so do you see that brownish moss over there?”

  Sure enough, there was moss in the direction he was pointing.

  “That’s bebeyamoku moss. If you mix a bit of that into a potion, it makes the effects a little stronger.”

  “Wow, really? Looks like normal moss to me. Even now that you’ve pointed it out, I probably won’t be able to spot it. You’re amazing, Nfi!”

  “Ya really are something, boss man. Is that a valuable herb?”

  “It’s worth a fair amount, but… Ah, wait. We don’t need to get that one. The herb Enri and I are after is worth a lot more. If we don’t find much, we can always pick this one on the way back.”

  “Aha. Gotcha. Wow, but for someone like you, this mountain is a pile of treasure. It’d be easy for you to make a fortune with it. Anyone who chooses to be with ya would be able to rest easy.”

  “I dunno about—”

  The goblins changed poses.

  “Uhh, er, maybe you’re right. I’m pretty confident that I won’t let my partner have a hard time in life.”

  “Yeah. You seem capable of that much, Nfi.”

  The atmosphere of the quiet forest grew awkward.

  “Uh, is that all, boss lady?”

  “Huh? What do you mean, Kaijari?”

  “Huh? Nah, I mean, nothing… Oh… I meant to ask you earlier: What herb are ya looking for?”

  “Oh, we didn’t tell you? It’s called enkaishi. Nemu crushed up the rest of our supply.”

  “I see, I see. Gotcha—not that us goblins can help spot it, though. All right, let’s keep moving.”

  With each step, they wandered deeper into the woods where the heady scent of the forest tickled their noses.

  Once they were fully enveloped in this world devoid of people, a place where the humans realized how small and fragile they were, Nfirea spoke. “Let’s try looking around here. There’s lots of shade, and the air is damp… There might be water nearby as well. This is where that type of herb normally grows. This spot doesn’t seem to have been trampled by monsters, either, so it’s exactly what we’re looking for.”

  “Gotcha, boss man.”

  Nfirea was an apothecary with lots of herb-gathering experience, so anything he said was probably correct. Both Enri and the goblins agreed.

  Everyone put down their packs to lighten their load.

  “Oh, boss lady, would ya give boss man a hand?”

  “Oh yeah. He’s carrying a lot for one person.”

  She went over to Nfirea and capably assisted him as he set down his bags.

  “Thanks, Enri.”

  “No worries, Nfi. But wow, as a specialist, you sure have a lot of stuff to carry. You need so many things.”

  She noticed the goblins nodding in satisfaction out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t know what they were so happy about, but she decided to ignore it for the time being.

  “Okay, let’s start searching!”

  With a slightly subdued “Yeah!” the goblins set about guarding the area, and Enri and Nfirea began combing the area for herbs.

  Enri hadn’t expected things to go very smoothly, but it was almost disappointingly easy to find enkaishi. The herb grew so densely between the trees that it practically jumped out at them.

  “Over there. I can’t believe we found a bunch on our first try. It was definitely the right choice to have you come along.”

  “Nah, it had nothing to do with me. We’re just lucky we found a spot that wasn’t all messed up. It can be awful after a monster passes through.”

  The large amount of herbs growing there wasn’t exactly worth a fortune, but it would still net them a considerable sum. Enri frantically suppressed the greed flaring up inside her. They were in a dangerous place, so they needed to finish their work quickly without overreaching.

  She crouched down and picked the plants carefully at the base.

  The parts of the enkaishi herb that had medicinal properties were near the roots, but that didn’t mean Enri could simply pull up the entire plant. This herb had a lot of life energy, so if she left the roots alone, it would grow back over time. It took a little longer to pick the herbs carefully, but it would have been a shame to gather every last bit and ruin the cluster they’d only just located.

  The pungent smell that drifted up each time they plucked a plant didn’t bother them once they got used to it. It was heaven compared to Nfirea’s house.

  They foraged each herb one at a time and carefully packed them in the bags on their hips in a way that kept them from being crushed. It would have gone faster with the goblins’ help, but they were keeping a vigilant watch. Enri wasn’t foolish enough to ask them to pick herbs.

  Next to her, the motions of Nfirea’s hands were superb. He moved so quickly but still picked the plants in a way that perfectly preserved the medicinal components. It was clear he had skills only a specialized professional could have.

  Enri watched him from the side in silence as he concentrated. He almost looked like someone else.

  He’s really grown up…

  “Is something wrong?” Nfirea suddenly looked up. He must have sensed something was off because her hands had stopped moving.

  Enri looked down bashfully for no particular reason. “Nah, I just was thinking how amazing you are.”

  “…Oh? I don’t think I’m all that. I’m barely an apothecary. Pretty sure this is normal.”

  “……I wonder.”

  “I’m pretty sure.”

  The conversation broke off there, and the herbs in their bags gradually piled up as time slowly passed.

  Their bags were a little more than half full when the goblins abruptly crouched down around the two of them as if to hide.

  Enri was startled, but Kaijari gestured to her to be quiet. It’s some kind of emergency. Once she realized the situation, she finally stopped moving and strained her ears. From very far away, she could hear the sound of something moving through the undergrowth.

  “What is it?”

  “Something’s coming this way. It could be aiming for us…but most likely, it just happens to be headed in this direction. First, let’s pull back a little from this place.”

  “…Would an item that could make a loud noise work as a decoy?”

  “Hmm. No, boss man, I think we’d better not. Seems like it could backfire. Okay, let’s go.”

  The five of them moved away from the noise into the shadow of a nearby tree. The reason they didn’t go farther was to avoid making too much noise tramping through the plants. If the incoming creature only happened to be traveling in their direction, they didn’t need to risk being discovered.

  It wasn’t a huge tree, so they weren’t completely hidden, but they could at least flatten themselves against its roots so they didn’t stick out too much.

  The five of them lay there waiting, holding their breath and praying that the creature would go in a different direction. Unfortunately, their wish didn’t come true, and the creature appeared in the party’s line of sight.

  “…Huh?!” Enri let a small yelp of surprise slip.

  It was a little beat-up goblin.

  There were small, bloody wounds all over its body. It was breathing heavily, covered in sweat and blood.

  Goblins were smaller than humans to begin with, but even taking that into account, this one was tiny. Her insights from living with goblins in her daily life told her she was looking at a child.

  The goblin child threw a fearful glance over its shoulder back in the direction it had run from. Without even straining her ears, she could hear something else coming through the brush. If the goblin she saw was being hunted, the other had to be the hunter.

  The goblin frantically worked its cramping leg
s to hide in the shade of a different tree from Enri and her companions.

  “Wha—?”

  “Please be quiet.”

  Gokou interrupted her, but his eyes never moved. He was keeping close watch on the direction the goblin child had fled from.

  Less than a minute later, the hunter appeared.

  It was a magical beast that resembled a huge black wolf. They could tell it was a magical beast because of the chains wrapped around it. The boa constrictor–like chains didn’t inhibit the beast at all; they practically seemed like an illusion. The creature also had two horns jutting out of its head.

  Nfirea whispered the beast’s name. “It’s a barghest…”

  There was no way it was answering, but it snorted just like a dog would—and then sneered. The expression was sinister—impossible for a normal animal to make. The beast’s eyes slowly scanned the area until they were looking in the direction of the tree where the goblin child had hidden.

  If the barghest had a good nose to match its canine appearance, there was no way it would miss the scent of that much blood.

  It didn’t seem like the goblin child had made it this far because of any ability to fend off the pursuer. The beast was either sadistic or hunting purely for sport.

  Suddenly the barghest stopped, scrunched up its face in suspicion, then stared at the place where the herbs were growing thickly.

  Ah…

  Enri shrank back. The others did the same.

  Behind the tree, Enri opened her hands. Her skin was flecked with green. Nfirea was next to her looking at his hands, too.

  The sap from when we were picking herbs…

  Yes, the same intense odor as when Nemu had been crushing them. They had gotten used to it, so their noses didn’t notice it anymore, but the intense smell must have been hanging in the air. Her racing heartbeat felt noisy.

  “It’s on the move… Looks like it’s heading away from here. I guess it didn’t notice him because of the stink.”

  Listening with an ear against the tree, Unrai seemed to have a question mark over his head. “…I guess it couldn’t pinpoint him because of the smell?”

  “What do you mean, boss man? I’m pretty sure magical beasts have good noses…”