The Two Leaders

As one of Enri’s summoned goblins, Kaijali, looking like a bear awakened from its winter hibernation, furrowed his eyebrows and put a concerned expression on his face before saying,

“That's no good, you need to take care of that cleaver. The village doesn't have a blacksmith, so we can't repair our equipment either.”

“Is that so…”

“Well, it's alright. We'll think of a solution when the time comes.”

Kaijali spoke in an earnest, yet cheerful voice while he helped make the breakfast. He drew a smoldering wick from the pot he was holding, and with a practiced manoeuvre, lit the stove. The deft ease with which he turned a faint ember into a roaring blaze was evidence of his skill.

But they can't cook… Why is that?

Goblins could not prepare even the simplest meals. Since they ate raw meat and vegetable without a complaint, she thought they might like raw food more, but it became clear that they preferred cooked meals ― although they could still stomach raw food without trouble.

Is it because summoned beings don’t know how to cook?

A mere village girl like herself had no answer to this question, and with that she threw herself into her work once more. Fortunately, the cleaver's edge was still intact.

Eventually, breakfast was ready.

There were a wider variety of dishes on the table compared to the days when her mother was cooking.

For example, there was meat. Although the local rangers often shared their kills in the past, the amount they could bring back was nothing compared to now. The reason why they had so much more meat now was because the villagers had expanded their area of activity.

The Great Forest of Tob provided its bounty to them in the form of firewood, wild vegetables and fruits to eat, animals for meat and fur, and even medicinal herbs.

Although the forest was rightfully regarded as a treasure trove, it was also home to wild beasts and monsters, which could make their way back to the village. As a result, the forest was not a place where that the villagers could casually enter. Even the experts like professional hunters were forced to skulk like bandits on the edges of the Wise King of the Forest's territory. However, with the disappearance of the Wise King of the Forest and appearance of the goblin troop, the situation had changed radically.

The greatest change was that the villagers could now easily enter the forest and harvest its resources.

The goblins were a key factor in this; meat, which had previously been hard to obtain, could now be easily acquired, and their tables were decked with fresh fruits and vegetables. As a result, the food situation in the village had dramatically improved.

In addition, since the goblins were Enri's subordinates, they delivered the lion's share of their kills to her home.

In addition, one of the newest additions to the village was a ranger who had made contributions to the provisions.

She was a woman who used to be an adventurer in E-Rantel. For various reasons, she moved to this village, and was learning the ways of the hunter from the ranger who was living in the village. As she had been a warrior during her adventuring days, her skills with the bow were excellent, and she could bring down even the biggest game with a few arrows. It was partly because of her efforts that the distribution of meat in the village had improved.

The improved standard of living brought changes, which were reflected in the villagers' bodies.

Enri curled her biceps, flexing her muscles.

Her gains were quite impressive.

Ah, I feel so pumped~ they’re getting even bigger…

The goblins praised Enri at every opportunity with phrases like “Ane-san's totally ripped!” “Yeah, pump it up again!” “She's too swole to control!” “The goal is six-pack!” “Nice cut!”. They most likely meant well, but as a girl, it was difficult to accept such compliments.

If I ended up like how the goblins described, it wouldn't be good…

Enri swept the goblin's idealized, hyper-muscular final form of herself from her mind, and began serving breakfast.

That too was a tedious task. While the goblins wouldn't quibble over a small difference in portion size, the amount of meat in their soup was a huge issue. Enri ensured that everyone's dishes and bowls had a similar amount meat before moving onto the next task.

Sweat was dripping from her forehead by the time breakfast was ready.

“Then, let's call everyone and Nfirea over.”

“Got it~”

“I’ll go! Let me do it! I want to do it!”

As Enri turned around, she saw Nemu standing behind her with eyes alight.

“Have you done your chores?” Her sister nodded by way of reply, and so did Enri. “Really? Then go get Nfi―”

“No! I want to call the goblins!”

Enri had no idea how to answer her little sister's sudden outburst. Kaijali nodded gently to Nemu, presumably indicating that he would entrust her with that task.