As I watched the spear-wielding Kobold apply healing magic over Buster, I dispersed the magic circulating inside me.

“Fuuuu… uh.”

But as soon as my bulging muscles returned to their normal state, the muscle pains hit me!

(It was mentioned that the muscle pain would go away once I get used to this, but… this Adamantine Body sure takes a lot out of me.)

When I tried to call out to Buster while enduring the muscle pain and maintaining my composure after my victory…

“Kuonn, kuruaan♪” (Just as expected of big brother♪)

“Gua, garuh!” [H-hey, what the heck!?]

With a light hop, I dodged my sister as she dove at me with her excellent leaping power.

“Wafi? Kyuauh!!” (Huh? Hey!!)

“Vann!” [What the heck do you want!]

I dodged Dagger as she tried to hug me again and her gaze narrowed as if she were eyeing some prey while she suspiciously wriggled her fingers. 

“Uuuh, kuroau woauaaan!!” (Ooh, you know I’ll just get more worked up the more you try to avoid me!!)

“Ga, gaouh, wofuh!” [W-wait, sister, please!]

“Gaoann, kyan!?” (I’m not gonna wai– KYAN!?)

As my sister was about to pounce, Lancer’s white paw grabbed onto the end of her furry tail and scolded her.

“Garuouu.” (That’s enough.)

“Waoon, kuoruaan.” (She’s right, cut it out.)

“U~” (Eeeeh~)

When Lancer and Ax both stopped her, my sister slumped away. Her back looked a little lonely… I guess I’ll give her a little play-bite later and then ask her to go fishing together. 

Lancer then walked up to me and placed her paws on my chest as she talked.

“Gurua garuouua, kyuoaaan…” (Boss, you shouldn’t try to act though too, I’ll heal you…)

“Gauooan…” [So you noticed, huh…]

“Guruu garuguoru kuruaaou… guoruaoou, woru?” (It’s because I can also feel the flow of magic… That thing earlier put some burden on your body, didn’t it?)

Warm, holy light poured out from her palm and my overworked muscles were healed.

“Waoan, ruou vaaruou.” [Thank you, that helped a lot.]

After I gave her my thanks, my gaze moved to Buster.

“Voruaaan, guruaao.” [You’ve gotten better, Buster.]

I was not trying to flatter him.

In the past, Buster would focus on making big swinging attacks and finishing his attack in a single strike, so the gaps in his defenses were equally huge. This time, however, he was the first one to attack with a series of jabs and straight cuts, and he was also able to smoothly deal with the feint attacks which I mixed in with some middle and high kicks.

“… Woguruuaonn, garuouuu, gurua.” (… I’m going to win next time, so don’t go losing to anyone, Chief.)

“Wauh.” [Sure.]

And with that, we grinned at each other, fangs peeking out.

Seeing the full-toothed grins, the tall, skinny Kobold merely shrugged and said, “Oh boy,” as he looked on.

By the way, Blazer doesn’t actively fight for pecking order within the pack, and no males were quick to challenge either of us six, but… there was one instance where a male had challenged Blazer to show his good points to a female he was trying to impress.

Perhaps he purposefully avoided the muscular Ax, Buster, and I, who was slated to be the next Pack Leader.

And so, by process of elimination, he decided to fight against Blazer, but… As he carelessly approached Blazer who pretended to be afraid, the poor guy was knocked down with the sand and pebbles that Blazer had waiting for him.

Well, after that, it seems everything worked out with the female that guy was aiming for anyway…

“Garuuoau guuan, gurua garuuaan?” (By the way, is that long-eared girl Chief’s new woman?)

As I was engrossed in reminiscing our first memories of spring, Buster eyed me suspiciously. Apparently, this guy seems to see me as a pervert in his mind…

“Wau, guruau kuua kuruaan♪” (Yes, I’ve just recently become his ♪)

“Gaouh, vurua!” [Now, wait a minute here!]

The Elf girl bashfully hid her face in her hands while her bamboo leaf-shaped ears twitched as if to say, “Oh no~”. The hulking, black-armed Kobold was momentarily confused when she spoke the Kobo language, but he took the attack in stride, and…

“W-waon, gurua wuaaaon…” (I-I see, then, please take care of Chief from now on…)

“Woann!? Wooon!” (Is that so!? Congratulations!)

“… Kyuou!?” (… I have a big sister now!?)

I had to admonish Ax, who got really excited and calm down Dagger who was equally confused, and by the time I had cleared up the misunderstanding Buster created, a sense of exhaustion surged through me.

Kuh, that guy was sniggering while he watched me get flustered… and then, I turned to the fair-skinned Elf and glared.

“I was only joking, Archer. I’m sorry if I offended you.”

As she said this, Stia turned in my direction and briefly bowed.

The other Kobolds didn’t know about her circumstances, but perhaps she was a bit cheery because she was freed both from the daily pressures of her queenhood and her days of captivity. 

“… Wau, oon.” (…Yeah, it’s fine.)

I can’t wait to get back to the pack and rest… Mentally and physically tired, I dragged my sluggish body to the cave which was a short distance away.

Additionally, it seems that a few more of Knuckle’s floppy-eared packmates have joined our settlement, and our pack members wanted to hear about the Royal Capital, so it took me a few more hours before I could finally rest in the lair…