Chapter 26 – Kobolds Are Omnivores

“Kuu! Kuon, waoa~n!” (Ah! Big brother, welcome home~!)

“Gurua, waoanh.” (Boss, welcome back.)

“Wafuh, gaoruu.” (Yeah, we’re back.)

As the moon started to illuminate the night sky, I exchanged greetings with Dagger and the other Kobolds of the settlement who were awake and went to the village’s central square to unload the wooden cutlery, cooking tools, and the iron griddle from the two carts we brought home.

As I expected, the presence of numerous twigs and rocks made for a rough road, so we parked the wagons with our loot in an open area not far from the settlement and carried the items from there.

“Gurua, garuooon?” (Chief, where should we put this?)

Buster, who carried the bundle of swords tied with a hemp cord over his shoulder, asked.

“Varua, garuon.” (Place it over there for now.)

After we sorted and secured the necessary weapons, we handed them out to the three to six-year-old Kobolds who were born after us. Meanwhile, I gave instructions to Ax, who carried the armors, and to Lancer, who carried the water flasks, to group the items by type and place them in the village square.

“Gaoou, kuua wooann.” (Sorry, but could you guys help out as well?)

“Wann, gurua.” (Sure thing, Boss.)

“Ao~n.” (I’ll help carry it~)

In response to my call, three 1-year-old Kobolds gathered around us. Because we shared a special bond with those Kobolds who were born around the same time as us, the rest mostly follow when one of us goes first.

By the way, most of the members were trained by Buster and Blazer in combat, so I would occasionally hear them say, “I’ll attack you by surprise!” or “I’ll finish you with one blow!” It was unnecessary to teach them those habits though…

Anyway, including us, there were finally enough members to carry the items to the square.

There’s only one more trip left. Let’s work hard so we can have a late dinner after this!

I left my sister to go hunting for dinner when we left for Viel village, but she seemed to have exceeded my expectations and brought down a boar-type monster!

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Kobolds eat almost anything, and most of the plants and fruits that grow in the forest were not a problem for us. During our biological evolution, our digestive organs developed, and we acquired resistance, thanks to the sacrifices that were made along the way. Strictly speaking, we could even eat vegetables and other foods that normal dogs could not eat, and it seemed alcohol was okay too.

The grilled meat also had a different taste to it than usual. Most wild animals who did not have any custom of eating grilled food would not be able to tolerate this, but Kobolds can eat hot food without any problem.

We did not have a custom of eating food cooked with fire in our settlement, but as I remember from my past life, in other packs where there were higher variations of the Kobold Mage, they had a culture of using fire magic to make a fire and cook their food over it. However, a while back, when we roasted the meat over a fire so Muriel could eat too, I burned my tongue because I was not used to hot food, so I learned to cool the meat a bit first or it would be too hot.

“Gurua~n, kuuauu?” (Boss, can we eat yet?)

“Gau, waon, wauuh.” (Well, wait just a bit more, Ax.)

To my Kobold palate, it’s best when it’s rare and lightly grilled on the surface. And it cools down fast too.

“Fuuh, fuuh, wauuh woruwaoon.” (Fuuh, fuuh, this has already cooled down, so you can have this, Ax.)

“Nn, woann!” (Mm, thanks!)

Lancer blew on the wild boar meat she placed on the wooden plate and handed it to Ax after it cooled down.

“Wauh, kyua~n♪” (Meat, delicious meat♪)

“Gurua, garuuuh.” (Leader, please give me some too.)

“Vuruah!” (Here you go!)

As Dagger silently carved the boar’s meat with her dagger, I continuously grilled the meat on the iron plate in the public square and tossed it into everyone’s wooden plates.

“… Wau, kuon, guruo garuofaan?” (Hey, Big brother, I do not think we can still eat at this rate, you know?)

“Ah…” (Ah…)

By the time we realized it, most of the wild boar’s meat had been eaten by everyone present. And like this, we welcomed the end of the day after a lot of things had happened.

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Meanwhile, Muriel and Maril waited for some guests to arrive, a day after Viel village was attacked by the bandits. It was said that the village was originally established when the hunters who lived in the town of Zelgra prepared a base to rest when they went on hunts near Easteria Forest. Because of these circumstances, the court office in the town of Zelgra usually handled the cases when something major such as a bandit raid occurs in Viel village.

“If it is something minor, then I can judge them as the Village Chief’s representative, but… I’m sorry, Miss Mage.”

“It’s fine. I also have some things to do at the Adventurer’s Guild in the town of Zelgra, and you let me stay the night anyway.”

Yesterday, after I sadly parted ways with the Kobolds, Maril suggested I stay at their house, so I was in the care of the village chief’s household during my stay. At that time, they asked me to explain the circumstances to the judicial court in the town of Zelgra.

Well, it’s going to be hard to explain a lot of things…

The liaison officer left for the town of Zelgra yesterday, so he should be arriving with the guards assigned to the village soon. I casually used my distance vision magic to look at the path ahead, and what I saw was a uniformed group of about 30 or so armored soldiers from the Ferias territory.