It was awkward talking to my brethren while holding a struggling fish, so I released it into the river.

“Woah.” (Off you go!)

I stood from the rock as the fish I released swam away and with a light boost of power to my legs, I jumped and landed beside the silver High Kobold and met the gaze of the long-tailed Kobold with the unruly white fur.

“… Guruu, gaua varuuoau?” (… Hey, are you really an Elder Kobold?)

I didn’t sense any hostility from him, but it didn’t feel good to get that doubtful look directed at me…

“N~, woaan… gaonn, guoruuaauh!” (Hmm, I’m certain he is, but… Oh that’s it, he isn’t big enough!)

“Uu, kyua, garuvao woruuaan…” (I’m sorry, I only confirmed through the silver coloring of his fur…)

One of the light-brown, prick-eared Kobolds flattened its ears and apologized to the large, light brown Kobold leading them. It seems one of these prick-eared Kobolds spotted me while on their way to fetch water from the river.

“Wafuu, guoruau… kua, guruouaru worua garuo voruou?” (Huh, so it was the size… This child seems to be holding back, but I could feel that he’s packing a lot of power, though.)

(… So they think I’m a kid.)

The aura surrounding the silver female Kobold is calm as she releases a sigh. Compared to the people in my pack, she seemed to be somewhere around 4 to 5 years old. If that’s the case, she’s almost twice as old as I am, so I can’t blame her for treating me that way…

(The only one who acts like that in front of me is my mother, so it feels a bit weird… On second thought, I guess this is just like the older members of the pack looking out for the younger ones.)

I appreciated the gesture, but I was annoyed that they were just saying whatever they wanted, so I decided to change the topic.

“Guoagauru garuguoruwo aau… guruoafu?” (I noticed that there are different Kobold groups in your pack, but… who are you?)

As a general rule, the strongest Kobolds are given names by the members of the pack, so these Kobolds who lead their respective packs will have a name.

“Waruowa, guruu woru gaauaruou arva.” (That was rude of me, my name is Silva, a blood relative of the Sage Gavi.”

“Guruu aruon~, kuuoru.” (The name’s Shiro~ Nice ta meet ya, young Sage!)

So the female Kobold with the dull silver fur is Silva, and the petite Kobold with the white, fluffy fur is Shiro… By the way, I learned from Aristia that they use the term “Sage” as a title of honor towards Elder Kobolds. 

“Garuvoruaaon, woruguaau… gauan, guruu vurua.” (With your well-trained physique, it’s hard to believe you’re a Sage… Oh well, the name’s Hasta.)

For a moment, the perfectly posed manly figure of the Steel Sage flashed through my mind. By the way, there is also a description of how beautiful a body is in the grimoire he wrote called “Herculean Crushing”, but… I skipped that part.

“U, guruagau. Woa uo varuuoaan?” (And my name’s Blau. So are you an Elder Kobold?)

“Wafu, arufaruo woruoaau.” (Yeah, that’s what the Elves told me.)

I watched the four Kobolds look at each other when they heard my response, so I repeated my question about why their packs were together to dispel the awkward atmosphere. 

“Wau, kuruuwofu guruoaaan~” (Well that’s certainly strange to someone like you, isn’t it?)

“… Wuo, gurugauru gaofa guruoaau, kuuugaoau.” (… My pack was attacked by the Goblins the other day and nine were killed in the encounter.)

According to what I heard, the Goblins living in the northeastern part of the Ancient forest seem to have been active lately, and at that time, they crossed into the territory of Hasta’s pack.

At first, it was only a small skirmish that didn’t seem like anyone would die, but a week later, the village suffered an attack by the Goblins. And so, the black and white Kobolds who were tough but few were outnumbered by the Goblins, were forced to evacuate and abandon their village.

In the process, nine of them, including their Chieftain, lost their lives so they could let the females and their young escape. After that, Shiro’s pack, who frequently interacted with Hasta’s group, took in the weak and wounded evacuees into their settlement.

“Gurua kuorukyua~n, urugauru kuruaaan!” (We are small and weak, so our pack has to get along with our other brethren!)

Although they originally lost a turf war and were expelled from their territory, the smiling fluffy white Kobold’s pack seemed to live a dignified yet quiet life, focusing on small-scale farming and gathering.

However, because they were adept at healing magic, they were able to secure some territory in exchange for cooperation with other packs, so the wounded black and white Kobolds fled to the white fluffy Kobolds’ pack.

Later on, due to the white, fluffy Kobolds’ sphere of influence, news of the Goblin attack reached the ears of Sage Gavi, the leader of the largest pack in the northeastern part of the Ancient forest, and Brau, the leader of the pack of prick-eared Kobolds.

According to Hasta’s group, the number of Goblins who attacked their village at that time was around 80, but after some reconnaissance work, it was found out that their numbers surpassed 120…

“Wuru woarufa gaofa woaguoru voruuu…” (It seems the horde from the northern forest joined forces with the ones from here…)

Speaking of the northern forest, the place they were referring to seemed to be the Easteria forest…

(… I’m sorry, I may have an idea why those guys are here.)

The Goblin’s numbers had grown so rapidly that it was difficult to deal with them individually. But if nobody did something about them, it was possible that the Kobold packs and the forest’s other inhabitants could be wiped out, so at the call of Sage Gavi, a joint task force was formed to push the Goblins back…

“Woa garuaoooonn! Woruguruo kuruau gaoruauh!!” (And that’s who we are! Our other brethren are camped out a bit further down the road!!)

And with this, I was able to generally grasp their situation, but…

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Translator’s Notes:

It has been brought to our attention that there was an error in posting the chapter order (chapter 112 was posted as ch 111) last Tuesday. The chapter order has been corrected. Apologies for the mistake, and please enjoy our double release!

Additionally, I will be on TPK hiatus from 3/22 to 4/19 due to health and personal issues. But not to worry! Updates will continue while chapter stocks last.