“Wafuh, kyuuun♪” (Waaaah, I’m so happy♪)

“Thanks for the food.”

And so, after dinner, everybody spent their time relaxing. Except for one guy, who single-mindedly practiced with his Great Sword…

“Guou, guruuauoh!” (I shall master the one-hit-kill attack!)

Well, Buster’s been like that ever since he got his Great Sword. As we watched him, I picked up a suitable twig and wrote on the ground.

“Hnn? What’s up, Archer?”

“I would like to ask about magic. How do you increase magic capacity?”

The Kobold’s magic capacity is low after all… if I could increase it somehow with training, then there’s nothing better than that.

“Hmm let’s see, generally speaking, you have to use magic to empty your magic power. When you repeat this process, then your magic capacity will gradually increase.”

I see, then, once we get back to the settlement, I would not mind the trouble it would cause around me and let my magic-infused battle cry echo with a roar!

“Hey, I also just wanted to ask, but… What does non-human magic look like?”

Non-human magic? Ah, basically, the magic used by humans and monsters is partly different. Excluding the magic commonly used by Demon kin, magic used exclusively by monsters is called non-human magic. 

“Well, rather than theoretically, it feels like I understand how to use my magic instinctively. Perhaps it’s just not limited to non-human magic, but there might also be some self-determined magic that only we could use.”

“Archer, would you like to test it out? I use fire and water magic, so I can teach you that strain, you know?”

“No, my affinities are wind and earth.” 

“I see, that’s unfortunate. It would have been a great opportunity to test the Kobold’s magic aptitude…”

Muriel showed a truly disheartened expression, but she regained her composure after and reached into her leather bag.

“By the way, I’d like to confirm something.”

As she said so, she spread a map that she had been secretly making for a while.

“Guuoan, garuo guruuao” (Muriel, give this to me.)

“What, what’s wrong?”

The map that Muriel spread out was a fairly detailed map for adventurers, which clearly showed the topography of the river and the forest where our settlement was located, along with the relative position of the surrounding villages, towns, and cities.

The amount of information we have would be completely different with it. I could not help but roar in excitement earlier, but I once again wrote on the ground.

“Give that to me.”

“Eh, no way. I won’t be able to go back to Warren.”

Suddenly, she held the map close to her. 

Tsk, no choice. I have to memorize what’s on that map as much as possible.

“Ruau, woouan” (Sorry, let’s continue.)

Judging that I had calmed down, the red-haired Muriel once again spread the map on the ground.

“Right now, we’re around this area, but… where are you guys heading to?”

“…”

I was speechless and hesitant for a moment because that would be tantamount to giving away the position of our settlement, but after this, we would be bringing her along after all. I would not feel good abandoning her in the forest and letting her die a dog’s death.

Steeling my resolve, I pointed to a point on the map.

“…Waon” (… Here.)

At this time, I roughly decided to invite her to the settlement.

“Ah, so you’re close to Viel village.”

Aah, that is close… it was the first time I was hearing about a village this close to our place. Maybe I should go and scout it with Blazer… that guy loves to hide, after all.

I wrote the letters on the ground as I reminisced about my childhood friend who was so good at playing hide-and-seek that we could never find him and he would become livid if we gave up and played something else.

“So Muriel is headed to this Viel Village?”

The silver Kobold, Archer, skilfully wrote letters on the ground and asked me… It still fascinates me no matter how many times I’ve seen him do this.

“Well, since my base is in Warren City, I wanted to drop by Grau village first…Uh, once I finally reach Viel village, then I guess I could somehow manage?”

In the beginning, I was interested in the unique ecology of “Balberra Forest”, and thought of gaining experience as an adventurer in the nearby city, but now I am extremely interested in this eccentric Kobold.

“Hnn, maybe I can move my base of operations in the Town of Zelgra that’s near Viel Village?”

Yes, that might be a good idea!

Viel Village’s territory is small so it does not have an adventurer’s guild, but the Town of Zelgra has a guild branch. If I make that my base, then their settlement will also be close by.

As I was thinking about getting involved with the cheeky and peculiar Kobolds, the huge Buster approached us, his Great Sword tucked away.

“Gurua, varuo guooon?” (Chief, what shall we do with the night watch?)

“Ruo, kuuao guaoonn” (I’d like you and Dagger to go on the first watch.)

“Wonn, gurua garuuaan?” (Understood. Then, Chief will go with the redhead?)

Well, in terms of understanding each other, then I guess that’s the only pairing possible.

“Wafu” (Yes.)

“What are you two talking about?”

With excessively keen eyes, the red-haired mage drew close, so I wrote on the ground again.

“Nothing, we were just talking about the order of taking the night watch. First is Buster and Dagger, then it’s you and me.”

I leaned against the tree while listening to her rambling and ignored her frequent glances and tried to sleep shallowly while hugging my short sword, but…

“…ei!”

With a poof, Muriel let out a cute voice and jumped at me.

“Nnn, so fluffy♪”

Well, it does get quite cold in the forest…It would be bad if she gets sick, so I’ll just leave it be.

We remained asleep until such a time when Dagger woke us up to take our turn at being the lookouts.