The Two Leaders

by Kugane Maruyama

  The goblins were riding in the cargo bed, but in one corner was a bag, and every time the wagon bumped, it made metallic noises.

  “Yeah, we’re fine, boss lady. Don’t worry about us. But hey, with this many arrowheads, we’ll be able to hunt up a storm.”

  The goblin’s expression as he looked at the bag was cheerful. Seeing that, Enri forgot to answer and simply smiled.

  They passed through the wheat fields and entered through the one open side of the gate.

  Greeting the villagers along the way, Enri headed first to the meeting hall. She wanted to unload her cargo.

  When she pulled up next to it, a goblin came out, perhaps in response to the noise.

  “Ohh! Welcome back, boss lady! Glad to see yer all right.”

  Enri grinned. The goblins had become family to her, to the point where she didn’t truly feel she had returned home until they greeted her.

  “I’m home!”

  “And is that yer cargo? We’ll put it in here if so.”

  “That’s right, brother. Sorry, but give us a hand.”

  “Aye-aye!”

  The goblins all sprang into action and began efficiently unloading the wagon. The fact that the goblins were cleaning up perfectly without Enri providing any instruction made it clear that they had completely adapted to life in the village.

  “Oh, boss lady, we’ll do the rest, so why don’t ya go see the boss man? He might be busy over with Arg healing the goblins…”

  “Thank you, but first I have to go report to the headman.”

  “Oh? Ah, sorry, guys. I’ll go with her just in case. There are the ogres and whatnot, after all.”

  With that, Gokou hopped into the box seat next to Enri. The goblins who had been with her from E-Rantel eyed him jealously, but no one objected—probably because what he said was right.

  “Okay, boss lady, let’s go!”

  Enri smiled awkwardly. “Thanks! And I appreciate your help!” She thanked the goblins and pulled the wagon away.

  “So did anything happen while I was gone?”

  “Not much. We put up a building so the ogres can live inside the village. We had the stone golems carry the lumber. It’s not fancy, but we made a cabin for them. I wonder if we can do anything about how much they smell? Their stench instantly permeated all the blankets we gave them!”

  “Hmm… But wow, you did all that so fast.”

  “It was thanks to the stone golems! We’ll have to thank the great caster.”

  “And Lupusregina, too.”

  “…Somehow, I just don’t want to thank Lupusregina, or rather, I don’t like her…”

  Enri thought she misheard. She’d never heard Gokou gossip behind someone’s back before.

  “How do I put it…? She’s scary. She’s always watching us, like a magical beast who could attack at any time… It seems like ya don’t feel that way, but…”

  “Well, supposedly she’s a maid of Ainz Ooal Gown’s, so I don’t think she could be such a bad person.”

  “…Well, that’s not very nice.”

  Enri and Gokou both flinched. It was the voice of the woman they had just been talking about.

  When they whirled around, there was the maid sitting very matter-of-factly in the cargo bed like she had been the other day.

  “What’re we gonna do with this guy, En?”

  “Uh, what do you mean?”

  “B-before that, I want you to tell me how ya keep appearing like that.”

  “Hmm? It’s simple. I come out of the sky, that’s all.”

  “I don’t think so. We would notice even if ya were coming from above.”

  “But I got lots of tricks I can use like turning invisible… I’m just doing my best to go unnoticed. How thoughtful of me!”

  The goblin faced forward again, seemingly exasperated.

  “B-but hey, it’s rare that you would visit two days in a row. What happened?”

  Lupusregina squinted at Enri. Even that face is cute when such a pretty lady makes it, she thought without really meaning to.

  “Well, whatever. I was just wonderin’ how things went. Like how’s the mini-goblin?”

  “…He’s good. I think he’s probably at the headman’s house at the moment,” said Gokou.

  “Why at the headman’s?”

  “We saved a bunch of the goblins from his tribe, right? He should be there talking about finding a place for them to live.”

  “Oh, right, he’s the chief’s son, huh? He must have some responsibility when it comes to the survivors. Well, I gotta hand it to him—and he’s just a kid!” She guffawed in a goofy way, but the accompanying smile was charming on a woman as beautiful as her. Enri gazed admiringly at her despite the fact that they were both girls.

  “Oops, better keep an eye on the road!”

  “O-oh, you’re right!”

  Enri turned back around, blushing to her ears.

  She stopped outside the headman’s house, and she and Gokou got off the wagon.

  “Okay, I’ll take the horse back to the stable for ya. Don’t wanna get in your way. Hope you’ll tell me what ya guys talk about later, though!”

  “Understood. I’m sorry to burden you, but thanks for taking the horse.”

  Lupusregina responded to Enri’s bow with a “’Kay, ’kay” and drove the wagon away.

  They knocked, announced their arrival to the voice inside, and opened the door.

  Arg and the headman were sitting immediately inside, facing each other at a table.

  “Oh, welcome back. Take a seat right there. How was the city?”

  Enri sat next to Arg as instructed. He seemed to tense up for a moment, but she must have been imagining things.

  “Uh, I’ll be going now. Thanks for all your help, Chief.”

  For a moment, they didn’t know who he was talking to. Enri, Gokou, and the headman were in the room, so he should have been talking to the headman.

  But Arg was looking straight at Enri. She peered intently into his eyes but couldn’t find any hint of a joke in his sincere look.

  “Wait… What?!”

  Why did he say that to me?

  Arg bowed and left the headman’s house before Enri could figure it out.

  “What?!? Wait—!”

  “So, Enri, will you tell me what happened?”

  “Huh? No, I mean…but…uh, yes. Okay.”

  It bothered her, but she could get her question answered later. Her report was more important.

  Having decided that, she gave a concise account to the headman of what had transpired in the city. The most critical item was probably that there hadn’t been anyone wanting to move there, but it was almost as if the headman had expected that. He didn’t look disappointed at all.

  “I see. Well, that makes sense. Not many people want to move to a frontier settlement where monsters are likely to appear.” He gave voice to exactly what Enri had been thinking. Surely everyone in the village thought the same thing.

  “Thanks for going.”

  In response to his bow, she said, “It was no problem.” There had been various issues, but on the whole, it was a good experience.

  “And then…” He looked at the goblin for a split second. “…There’s something I’d like to ask of you, Enri Emmott.”

  “O-okay. What might that be? You’re being so formal, sir…”

  “…I want you to take over my job.”

  Her expression warped in such a way she seemed to be pulling a face.

  “Ehhhhhhh?! What does that even mean? Huh? Is that what Arg meant…? What?!”

  “I understand you’re confused…”

  “I’m a bit more than confused! Are you going senile, sir? Why would you say that?”

  “Senile? Now that’s just cruel. You seem a bit bewildered…and I understand that, but I want you to calm down and listen to me.”

  “Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down?! Why would you want a village girl like me to take on such a huge responsibility?! Be
sides, what’s this ‘chief’ thing about?”

  “Would you just relax?!”

  He probably meant to sound commanding, but to Enri it only sounded loud. Still, she managed to regain some composure. Perhaps a corner of her mind had whispered to her that she wouldn’t understand what he was saying if she didn’t listen.

  “I know you’re not following. But please listen calmly to what I have to say. Who is the central figure in the village right now?”

  “That’s you, isn’t it? You’re the headman.”

  “No. I think it’s safe to say that you are the center of the village at the moment. The goblins and the new ogres all acknowledge you as their leader as well, right?”

  “That’s right. We think of the boss lady as the central figure.”

  “And the goblins you saved, including Arg, all think of you as their chief, too.”

  Enri curled her mouth into a frown. It’s true that was what the goblins thought. But what about the villagers who had been here since long before that? There was no way they would accept this.

  “I pretty much know what you’re thinking. You think the villagers would be against it, right? I already checked with everyone. Last night I held a meeting with just the villagers to hear their opinion. The result was that everyone agrees to recognize you as the new headwoman.”

  “But…why?!”

  “…That’s what a huge shock the attack was, Enri. Everyone wants a strong leader.”

  “What’s so strong about me?! I’m just a village girl!”

  She had the feeling she’d put a little muscle on her arms, but she was still nothing but a peasant who couldn’t wield a weapon to save her life. If they wanted someone strong, one of the self-defense squad members like Brita would have been better.

  “Strong doesn’t necessarily mean that individual is courageous. Being able to command goblins—isn’t that another kind of strength? The Baleare family also thinks you’re fit for the job.”

  “Nfi!” Enri squawked like a chicken getting its neck wrung.

  “Besides, I’m getting on in years. It wouldn’t be so strange for me to hand over the reins sometime soon.”

  “What do you mean ‘getting on in years’? You’re not that old! I thought you were acting bizarrely grandfatherly—is this what that was about?”

  It seemed a bit too early to declare someone in their midforties a senior citizen. Some would even call it the prime of their lives.

  “Setting aside whether I seem grandfatherly or not, the village is changing. Now that the Wise King of the Forest is gone, there’s a higher likelihood that monsters will come out of the woods. At times like that, my making decisions based on our experience when times were safer won’t cut it.”

  “Sir, I realize this is a rude thing to ask, but aren’t you just running away?”

  “…I’ll be honest. I can’t deny that.”

  The eyes that met Enri’s gaze were those of a man baring his heart.

  “I still think about that horrific day, when villagers who were like family to me were killed… I knew your parents well. If we hadn’t been living idly but had built a sturdy wall like we have now, if we had been more on guard, maybe things wouldn’t have ended so badly… Maybe we could have bought the time until Sir Gown arrived to save us.”

  Enri felt it would have still been difficult. Survivors who moved to Carne originally came from other villages that the knights had razed. It was possible the walls surrounding their homes hadn’t been as solid as the one protecting Carne now, but regardless, they had still been attacked and slaughtered. Even so, she did agree that if they could have bought even a little bit of time, they could have saved more lives.

  “The old way of thinking is no good. We need to create a new system and keep this village safe with our own hands. The only ones who can do that are…the open-minded young people. And of them, it has to be someone with power.”

  The headman finished saying his piece. He gazed at Enri with a gentle expression.

  Enri mulled over his words and gave it serious thought. The reason she refused at first was because the responsibility was so great. She couldn’t be responsible for the villagers’ lives if they were attacked again. But isn’t that just running away, like what I accused him of doing earlier?

  “I don’t know if I can do such a big job.”

  “That’s only natural. You’ll have me to assist with administrative duties and the goblins supporting you for security issues, but it’s still terrifying to be the one making the final decision.”

  “What about a system of representation where all the villagers participate?”

  “I did consider that, but opinions tend to diverge more sharply the more important an issue is. We’d end up getting nowhere. I really do think that if we don’t have someone leading the way, we won’t even be able to come to a consensus on things we already agree on.”

  “What if we had one system for peaceful times and one system for emergencies?”

  “That won’t work. We can’t cultivate leaders that way. It’s precisely because you show leadership during times of peace that you can put people to work efficiently during emergencies—they acknowledge your authority.” The headman’s conviction was strong, and his argument was sound.

  With a distressed look on her face, Enri asked the only question she had left. “…When should I let you know by?”

  “I won’t say you have to tell me now. Take your time and think it over.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  With that, Enri stood from her seat.

  As they left the headman’s house, Enri turned around to look at Gokou. “Hey, I want to think things over for a bit, so do you mind giving me some time to myself?”

  “Ya got it, boss lady. Take yer time. We’re on yer side, ya know. Please tell us if ya ever need anything.”

  “Yes, I will. Thanks.”

  After watching Gokou go, she headed for her own house.

  Can I do the headman’s job?

  Personally, she felt it was out of the question.

  It was possible a time would come when she would have to give unimaginable orders, like sacrificing a minority to save the majority.

  I wouldn’t be able to do that…

  The villagers all think too highly of me. For starters, everyone valued her for the goblins, but it wasn’t as if she had negotiated to get them on the village’s side. They just came out of the horn given to her by the great caster Ainz Ooal Gown.

  And the item came only after the good fortune of being saved…

  Wait. I did get saved first, right? Sir Gown was wearing a mask and he…hmm? He was wearing a mask, right?

  She suddenly felt like her memory of those events was fuzzy, but it was probably because the whole situation was so extreme and chaotic.

  She shook her head and cleared her mind of those doubts.

  Anyhow…

  If someone else had received the horn, the proposal of being the next head of the village would have gone to that person, not her. In other words, it had nothing to do with Enri’s ability; the wheel of fortune simply spun in her favor.

  I should talk to someone…

  The first person she thought of was Nfirea. She had the feeling that since he used to live in the big city and had met lots of different kinds of people, he would be able to tell if she was right for the position or not. Plus, he knew a lot of things. She could probably get a precise answer from him.

  But the headman had told her that the Baleare family—which included Nfirea—was in favor. So there was a good chance that if she asked him, he would simply tell her she should be headwoman.

  This is no good… I can’t ask anyone from the village. That would mean Arg or the ogres, but Arg was calling me chief so he’s out, and the ogres don’t seem too smart…

  As Enri was furrowing her brow, a bright voice called out to her. “Yo. Looks like you’re done talkin’. Hmm? What a serious face. Something botherin’ ya?”

  The voice hit h
er like a bolt of lightning. Right. Someone from outside the village. Here was a neutral third party who could calmly assess the situation.

  Enri ran over to Lupusregina at full speed. “Lupusregina!” She clutched the surprised woman’s shoulders.

  “What? What? What’s wrong?! I got butterflies in my stomach, but spare me the confession. I’m not into girls! Ahh, stop! Don’t rape me!”

  “Wh-whoa, hold on!” Enri released her shoulders and tried to cover her mouth.

  Lupusregina nimbly dodged her and grinned. “Nah, sorry. Anyhow, it seems you’re a little riled up, so maybe just calm down a bit. I was only jokin’.”

  “That’s a horrible joke…”

  Enri’s shoulders slumped. But she recovered immediately. Lupusregina usually disappeared as suddenly as she appeared, so if Enri didn’t ask her now, the maid might be gone before another chance came. “Please listen and tell me what I should do!”

  “I dunno what this is about, but it’d be great if you could tell me while we walk. I don’t want the villagers givin’ us weird looks.”

  Enri blushed. Lupusregina had a point. But… “Then don’t scream about rape…”

  “Tee-hee!” Lupusregina made a cute face with her tongue sticking out.

  “Arrrgh, Lupusregina!”

  “Okay, okay, let’s go. Let’s go!”

  Without waiting for a reply, Lupusregina set off, and Enri followed her.

  “Now, now, tell big sister Lupusregina what’s on your mind. I can teach ya everything from sex tips to how to trick boys!”

  “Really? You’re so mature…”

  To Enri, who had no experience in such matters, Lupusregina seemed extremely experienced. Although nothing had changed, the maid suddenly appeared more grown-up.

  “Eh-heh! I may not look it, but I’ve been around, ya know.”

  “Huh?”

  Been around? As she wondered what that could mean, Lupusregina gestured at her to bring on the questions. For the time being, she set aside the ones that didn’t matter and told her about what happened at the headman’s house.

  “So what should I do?”

  “Huh? Like I know!”

  That was all she said.

  “What? But, Lupusregina, you said I could talk to you.”