(Attendance… plz…)
….
Felt and Reinhard took up Enri's offer for a tour of the village, with her acting as their guide as she had termed it.
However, after five minutes, the tour was already over. There simply wasn't much to see in a frontier settlement of this size. A few rows of simple wooden houses, a small square, some storage sheds, and the newly constructed palisade fence. That was it.
"Sorry," Enri said, rubbing the back of her head with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Our village is small, so there really isn't much to see."
Even she didn't know why she had extended the offer to begin with, knowing a tour would end like this if they accepted. Perhaps she had just wanted an excuse to talk to someone new who wasn't treating her like a boss and many more expectations or maybe she just did it on a whim.
Reinhard shook his head gently. "There is no need to apologize. It is a peaceful and sturdy village."
"Well, it is bigger and somewhat better than where I used to live," Felt chimed in, stretching her arms above her head.
She meant the slums of the capital, where she had to steal just to feed herself and survive the biting cold. Though that wasn't really a problem anymore since she became a Royal Candidate. Even old man Rom had come to live with her in the luxurious mansion where Reinhard had essentially forced her to stay against her will. She had warmed up to the arrangement considerably after Rom came along.
What was truly surprising about Carne Village, however, wasn't the buildings. It was the sight of monsters helping the human villagers.
Goblins were assisting them with basic chores, carrying heavy logs, and even helping them practice with weapons like spears and bows. Of course, the "spears" weren't really proper weapons, but crude implements made from sharpened wood and whatever else they could scavenge.
The village didn't have the money to buy real weapons from the city. So, the ones who had helped them build these makeshift weapons, and the ones currently helping them get used to holding them, were none other than the Goblins.
Enri noticed Reinhard and Felt looking toward the makeshift shooting range. Children, young men, and even a few older folks were practicing with the bows, repeating the same drawing and aiming motions continuously under the watchful eyes of the armed Goblins.
Enri already knew what the adventurers were thinking.
"I know what you guys are thinking," Enri said, her voice dropping slightly. "Like, why are monsters helping humans? And Goblins at that, when they usually kill and eat humans. I was terrified of them too at first... or confused, to say the least."
Enri's smile vanished entirely as she recalled the events that brought them here. She looked down at the dirt. "We were attacked by people wearing Imperial Knight uniforms."
She still got nightmares about them at night. The screams of her parents, the blood, the sheer terror of the moment she had literally almost lost her little sister... if not for their saviour, her sister, and the entire village, they would all be dead.
Reinhard nodded, his blue eyes filling with a profound sadness. Even though he hadn't been here at that time, probably not even in this world yet, and had no connection to these people, he still somehow blamed himself for not being there to save them.
"I apologize for that..." Reinhard said softly, his voice carrying genuine sorrow. "For you and the others to have experienced that at the hands of those knights... no one should go through something like this, ever. I cannot even imagine what happened to all of you... but I am truly sorry."
And here was what Felt hated about her knight, or at least, a part of it. Even though Reinhard said it with a composed face, as if he wasn't overly affected, Felt could see the guilt in his eyes. He actually blamed himself.
She absolutely hated this self-blaming complex of his to her core. What were these people to him for him to blame himself? He wasn't even in this world when it happened, much less nearby, yet he still carried the weight of their suffering on his shoulders.
Enri had somewhat similar thoughts, though not exactly like Felt's. She was mostly just confused as to why this stranger was apologizing to her at all.
"Why are you apologizing?" Enri asked, genuinely perplexed. It felt somewhat similar to how Nfirea had been apologizing to her earlier, saying that he was sorry for not being there, for not being able to protect them.
But that was the confusing part. Enri and the villagers didn't even know these adventurers, and Reinhard didn't know them.
Enri managed a small smile. "You don't have to apologize for something you didn't do or have any fault in it."
Felt, eager to change the depressing subject, jumped in. "So, how did you tame these Goblin monsters? Is this some sort of different breed from the others? The ones we fought and saw previously in the forest couldn't even speak the human language... but these ones do. And not only that, they call you 'Boss'."
"That..." Enri hesitated. "I didn't tame them... and I don't know about their breed. When they suddenly appeared, they just started calling me Boss. Maybe it was because I was the one who blew the whistle."
Felt furrowed her brow in confusion. "Whistle?"
"Well, it was kind of a whistle..." Enri corrected herself, gesturing with her hands. "But it looked more like a small horn. When I used it, nothing happened at first, but then suddenly, the Goblins came running out of nowhere."
"I see," Felt nodded, putting the pieces together. "And then they saved you."
"No, it wasn't the Goblins that saved us..." Enri corrected her quickly, her eyes lighting up with profound reverence. "The Goblins came later. The one who saved our village gave me that horn whistle."
She suddenly became much happier, her voice rising with excitement as she recalled the memory. "When me and my sister were about to get killed, he came out of nowhere and saved us... he healed my wounds and then gave me that horn whistle. After that, he saved everyone in the village. He completely overpowered the knights that were attacking us an…"
She suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing she was speaking too freely and telling strangers too much about their savior.
Reinhard, sensing her sudden apprehension, nodded gently. "And I suppose that person isn't here anymore?"
"Yes," Enri answered quickly through her fingers.
She didn't elaborate honestly, nor did she correct them on anything else she knew about Ainz or anything else too much as someone had instructed her.
Felt sensed she was hiding something. Always inquisitive, she pressed, "Why did you stop? Tell us more."
Reinhard placed a gentle hand on Felt's shoulder. "I think that is quite enough, Lady Felt. No one wants to remember the details of a day such as that." He looked back at Enri with a reassuring smile. "Please do not hesitate to tell us if you need help with anything while we are here."
Felt didn't push it. It wasn't like she had any personal stake in the matter to be deeply interested; she was just curious why the girl had suddenly stopped talking. That was all.
"Thank you for the offer," Enri said, lowering her hand. "But there isn't really anything we have that requires an adventurer, not to mention we don't have anything for compensation."
"There is no need for compensation," Reinhard stated firmly.
"I see..." Enri looked down, thinking. Then she looked back up, a hesitant light in her eyes. "But still, there isn't anything... actually... if, if you don't mind, can you help them with the bows?"
Reinhard and Felt followed Enri's gaze toward the makeshift archery range.
The villagers and children were using spears and bows. Even though they had improved somewhat over the last few days, they were still making fundamental mistakes, movements that wasted energy, improper stances that reduced their drawing strength, and grips that threw off their accuracy.
Reinhard could already see their flaws without even trying, just by glancing at them. His Divine Protection of Archery gave him absolute mastery over the archery, allowing him to diagnose their errors instantly.
He watched in silence for a few moments before answering.
"...Of course," his reply came without hesitation. "If teaching them the proper fundamentals will help them protect themselves, I would be glad to assist in any way I can."
Enri's tense shoulders relaxed slightly. She really hadn't been expecting a 'yes' for free help and that too from adventurers. But surprises seemed to come in many forms for her in recent times.
"Really?" she asked, her eyes brightening.
Reinhard nodded. "It will not make them too much good in the short time I'm here, but proper posture and technique will allow them to use what little they have more effectively and efficiently. It will save their stamina and strength too."
Felt leaned over and poked Reinhard in the ribs. "You do know that we ourselves are in trouble in this world, and we aren't running a charity... right?"
Reinhard didn't nod or reject what Felt said. He simply answered, "It isn't that, Lady Felt. I am just making use of the free time we have before Nfirea's one hour is up and we have to go into the forest."
Felt crossed her arms. "What do you think I am... a kid?!"
Reinhard simply looked down at her, not saying anything, his silence speaking volumes.
"I mean, I am a kid, but..." Felt grumbled, kicking the dirt. "Ehhhh, just do whatever you want."
Reinhard looked back at Enri and smiled. "We will let ourselves get busy, then, before Nfirea comes back."
"Oh, okay!" Enri smiled brightly. "And thank you, once again."
"There is no need for that."
….
A/N: ahem ahem sorey for the late update but hoped u enjoyed it.
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