“Woon, wuuh kuuau uoruau?” (By the way, how are Ax and Lancer?)

I had been anxious to see our comrades who remained behind ever since we left the settlement 10 days ago, so I asked Blazer about their whereabouts and thought that things would go smoother if I introduced Muriel to them first.

“Oauu, woruwoaru kuanoouu woaruou” (Those two are accompanying the pups to the river to bathe.)

It was an apt place to play in the water as the currents were slow and the waters shallow. During my childhood, my mother used to take us there a lot.

Hmmm, the three of us and Muriel had been walking in the forest for some time now, so our bodies have gotten dirty. Maybe we should take a dip in the river before returning to the settlement…

“Gao, guruo woaruoonn” (Alright, let’s also head to the river first.)”

“Wokuaon, gurua” (That’s a great idea, Chief)

“Won, kuon, kuau uaorua aoon!” (Yes, big brother, It has been a while since I last saw Lancer too!)

Seemingly in an uncharacteristically good mood, Dagger wagged her tail from side to side.

My sister and Lancer were the only females out of the six Kobolds who were born at the same time. The two shared a good relationship, and to my innocent sister, Lancer was like a caring older sister.

And then there was Buster, who was strangely fidgety. He was glancing at his arms that had changed color, and his tail that had gotten longer.

I knew. 

I knew that Buster had started to become aware of Lancer at some point…

But from what Dagger and I could see, Ax was the one more likely to appeal to her maternal instincts. Well, I did not really understand what was going on, but even I had moments where I wanted to fuss over him…

As we were all about to move to the riverside, Muriel grabbed the fur on my arm.

“Huh, Archer, isn’t the settlement on the other way?”

She seemed to be confused when we suddenly changed course because she had a map that told her where the settlement is. I answered her question by gesturing.

It’s fine. We’re dropping by the river.

On the journey back here, I had taught her all the gestures we used when we hunted, and she fully demonstrated her skills as a mage who graduated from the Magic Academy by mastering them, so we now had another means of communication aside from writing.

The riverside was slightly south of the village.

In general, since neither humans nor Kobolds could live without a water source, every race would inevitably build their villages near a river or a water source… as a result, disputes would naturally arise because of overlapping territories.

Wars were waged daily between humankind or demi-humankind, or between humans and demi-humans, with the Kobold’s arch-enemies being the orcs and goblins who belong to the same demi-human race.

The neighborhood of the goblins in this vicinity was located just South of the Steele River (I learned its name from the map), which is the same water source for the settlement we were heading to now, so we could not carelessly wander in the area.

We did not know what lied ahead of that river… because none of our Kobold brethren have explored the land beyond it. Frankly speaking, the range of our living is so limited that we never even noticed the existence of Viel village that could be reached within half a day on foot.

Oh, we’ve arrived at the riverfront…

“Kyuu, kyuann”

“Kukyuuh!”

“Kuun”

There, we found several month-old Kobold pups happily jumping and splashing about in the river’s shallow waters, with Ax and Lancer standing guard to keep the little ones from venturing into more dangerous depths. 

The two of them cast wary glances at us, failing to recognize us at first with the changes in our physical features.

“Kuuau, guruu” (Lancer, it’s me.)

As I said it, I raised my bow and arrows.

“Aavaa? Wafa kuouruaan…” (Archer? Your fur color changed…)

“Guruuoau, guuoruauu?” (Now that you’ve mentioned it, hasn’t he too?)

I pointed at Ax whose fur had turned to a splendid blue.

“Kuaan, guruau” (Welcome back, Boss~!)

Ax walked over to us, water splashing around him with each step.

I was just thinking that he’d grown bigger again when my sister suddenly bellowed to Lancer while wildly wagging her tail! As I watched them, I also took off my gear and washed out the grime that had accumulated on it during our journey.

“Gaoruu, kuaruaaan!” (Lancer, I’m back!)

“Wafuh!? Kua…” (Eh!? Wai…)

*Splash*

Lancer, who was vigorously embraced, fell butt-first into the river, and the two began to play together.

“H-hey, Archer, is everyone in your settlement like this? Amazing, this could be a great discovery, I wonder if it’s alright to call you a new species of Kobold…”

I’d hate to rain on Muriel’s parade when she’s this excited, but there are only six of us who have such strong bodies.

No, that is not the case.

“Hnn, then that just leaves you as the cause of this, Archer!!”

The red-haired mage suddenly thrusts her finger at me.

“Wafi?”

“Do you get it? When there is a single isolated entity belonging to a limited group, then that existence will bring about change in his generation, and that entity is you!!”

I gesture to her, who was speaking with a growing passion in her voice.

Go cool your head in the river.

“Eh? Hey, geez!!”

Telling her that, I left and leisurely waded into the river…

“….Wafu, kuaruaau” (…Ah, you’re back.)”

I sat next to Buster, who had all but laid his huge body into the water and listened to him ramble.

“Won, kuaruoo…” (It’s certainly become peaceful…)

Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted Ax, who was watching over the little ones by himself as Lancer frolicked with my sister. Blazer was also standing by the river a moment ago, but…he already disappeared before we even noticed.

He’s probably concerned about us being defenseless in the water and went to stand guard. But thankfully, I’m sure he’s just too vigilant because we’ve gone through hard times. I was chuckling to myself when I heard the red-haired mage’s mumbling. 

“Aaahh, this looks nice, I want to clean myself, so it’s okay since there are only Kobolds here, right?”

I don’t know who she’s confirming with, but after hearing her voice and the rustling of clothes being removed from behind me, Muriel entered the water in nothing but her underclothes. Wetting the washcloth in her hand, she began wiping her body.

I understood my attraction when I saw the daringly exposed chest and her blindingly white thighs. Perhaps because I was a former human, I found myself being attracted to the female humans more than the female Kobolds who occasionally approached me.

One Kobold looked at me from the side with a shocked expression.

“!?! (Wha, no way, Chief. Are you attracted to the human girl!?)”

Needless to say, I had to go through a lot of trouble just to fool Buster.