(Isn’t that… the person Leader likes?)

With that thought in mind, Blazer looked at Lancer to see if she noticed. Lancer nodded and sent him a hand sign. 

We’ve met her, haven’t we?

Yes, we have.

The two younger Kobolds also nodded at the exchange.

During the time that the human girl first visited their settlement, the black-armed, hulking Kobold who was second in command came and told everyone that she was the “Chief’s woman,” and the red-haired girl made a strong impression on them ever since.

As he observed her in secret, the tall, skinny Kobold who was very keen on details narrowed his eyes.

(… I believe she was called Muriel.)

As I remember, the human female that Leader and the others brought over had a name.

And just like that time when we worked with Ernesta, all of the humans also had a name, so I couldn’t determine how strong she was or what her standing among the humans was, but…

As Blazer pondered with his hand on his chin, a small hand patted his arm.

“Uuuuh~, can’t breathe.”

“R-ruauu.” (Oh, sorry.)

He apologized to her in a hushed tone and removed the paw he used to cover the mouth of the suffocating child. As soon as the paw covering the girl’s mouth was taken off, Lancer placed a finger in front of her mouth to tell the child to keep quiet.

This gesture was always used by the silver Kobold since they were kids to tell his noisy sister to quiet down, and the action had been unconsciously adopted by the pack ever since.

The little girl seemed to understand the gesture and quietly nodded, and Blazer returned to observing the adventurers who were feasting on rat meat.

(Now, should we hand over the cub to them or not…?)

They needed to be wary of humans since some of them had kidnapped Werecats, children, and an Elf before, but the young one in their custody no doubt belonged to Viel village.

Lancer sighed as she looked at Blazer who began to meditate.

(Being careful is a good thing, but…)

Since they cannot communicate with humans, they cannot gather new information either and they would just end up going in circles.

If that’s the case then it might be better to entrust the child to Muriel whom their brethren had previously brought to the settlement after days of traveling and accompanied to Viel village after.

(Hnn~, if Archer knows this person, then it should be fine, I guess♪)

.Lancer makes a small nod and sends Blazer another hand sign.

Why don’t we leave it with them?

I guess that’s the safest option…

It seems Lancer also came to the same conclusion as her tall, skinny childhood friend. After Blazer sends another hand sign to the others to get ready to move, he reached for the small pouch on his waist.

The pouch, which Kobold Smith’s workshop had developed, had more capacity than the ordinary leather bag that they used… And the object that Blazer took out of it was an acorn, which could be found anywhere during the current season and is gathered by the Kobolds as emergency food during the winter.

The acorns are inedible if they are untreated, as they may be infested with insects.

In treating acorns, the first thing to do is to throw them in water, sort out the ones that have floated as those that have been eaten by insects and are hollow, and select the ones that are in good condition.

After that, the acorns would be rinsed again so they could be eaten, but currently, the floppy-eared Kobolds in the settlement would start a fire with their homemade flint, so they boiled them, removed the scum, and dried them again as a way to preserve the nuts.

But this time, Blazer did not take the acorn out to snack on. Adjusting his aim, he prepared to throw the acorn in the midpoint between him and Muriel who was eating meat while unaware of her surroundings.

(Alright, I think I have a grasp of the distance. Here goes nothing!)

He threw the acorn and it sailed into the air, hitting Muriel in the head with just the right amount of force.

“Hnn? An acorn?”

As the red-haired mage picked up the acorn, she looked in the direction she thought the acorn had been thrown from and…

“Uwah, m-mister doggy!?”

A little girl appeared from the bushes as if she were being pushed by something from behind. 

“A-Ares, wait!!”

“Hnn? What’s the matter, Muriel?”

“I found Sophie!”

“… She does fit the description Maril gave us.”

Mirea, with her hunter’s eyes, looks at the little girl staring at her from the forest boundaries and takes the lead in approaching the child while telling her companions that it was the person they were looking for.

“Ah, wait.”

“Riberto, just eat later.”

The rest of the group hurriedly postponed their lunch and followed Mirea with a short jog. They surrounded the little girl they were looking for.

“Uu, uwah… Wh-who are you?”

Muriel crouched in front of the child, who became wary when four adventurers suddenly surrounded her and talked to her gently at eye level.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Muriel. Um, can I call you Sophie?”

“Yes…”

After hearing the child’s response, Ares and Riberto clenched their fists in joy, but Mirea also crouched down and lowered her gaze as she asked Sophie,

“Sophie, where were you?”

“Hmm, I was in a place with lots of doggies♪”

“Dogs? She must mean the wild dogs in the forest… But I wonder how she’s safe?”

Beside Mirea, who focused on the word “doggies” and muttered something in a small voice, the red-haired mage smiled stiffly at the child and let out a dry chuckle. 

(Wh-what should I do, I think I know who she’s talking about… Ah, but the area surrounding their settlement has already been declared as sacred ground, so they’ll probably be okay.)

A little while back, Muriel was told by her close friend Ernesta about what happened at the royal capital, but she didn’t tell anyone about it and only lamented the fact that the sanctuary declaration kept her from contacting Archer or the other Kobolds.

(But still, for him to be called the Holy Beast of Selkram…)

She was unaware that the silver Kobold had cooperated with Ernesta in taking down one of the Seven Plagues in the royal capital. When she heard about the incident after it was over, she couldn’t help but feel a little sad.

However, as a result of the collaboration, the central area of Easteria forest became a sanctuary, and only the Cardinals, Priests, or the residents of Viel village, who had been granted access to the area due to their circumstances, were allowed to enter the territory.

Moreover, the residents of the village didn’t have a bad impression of the Kobolds because of the incident with the bandits a few months ago, so it was unlikely that the Kobold settlement would have any problems with the humans any time soon.

(Hnn, I guess they’re going to be fine)

Muriel let out a sigh of relief, but her fears were unfounded as the tall, skinny Kobold had taken a rather complicated route to deliver the child to the forest borders and the little girl had no recollection of the exact location of the Kobold settlement either.

Still, Blazer’s meticulousness was on full display as he continued to observe the Adventurers resume their lunch after securing the little girl. He also followed the group closely until they reached Viel village before returning to the settlement with his companions…

Meanwhile, during that time, Maril’s group had split into 2 groups and was searching the shallow part of the forest… Unaware that the missing child had already been found, they continued the search only to lose their way due to the thick fog that had obscured their vision and ended up missing themselves, and the hunters in the forest had become the hunted instead.