The Peerless Kobold - Chapter 184
The next morning, in the kobold settlement in the central part of Easteria forest, the little girl was enveloped in fluffy fur. She seemed quite warm and comfortable.
Even though they did not speak the same language, the 6 month old kobold pups and the little girl were both brimming with curiosity and got along almost immediately. They played in the village square and slept huddled together in the pavilion that Smith and his team built.
However, looking on at the charming spectacle before him, the tall, skinny kobold boorishly grumbled,
“Gau, gaoaawouru kuooruauuoou, guruua kuorufa.” (Tsk, they’re sleeping comfortably with the human cub. Those kids aren’t wary enough.)
“Varuvo woaou…” (There you go again, this early in the morning…)
Amazed by the usual rudeness of her childhood friend, Lancer, who was standing next to Blazer, gently reached out and plucked out the little girl from the sea of fluff without waking any of the pups.
“Au? Doggy…nnn… zzz”
The sun had just started to rise and the little girl was still sleepy, so Lancer held the little girl tightly against her chest and lulled her back to sleep…
“Gau, wooan.” (We should get going.)
“Gaoua kuan oufauu kuruuaauu.” (The humans must be worried about the disappearance of this cub.)
After their short exchange, Blazer and Lancer turned on their heels and were accompanied by two other young kobolds as they left the settlement. Since Viel village was a few hours away from their settlement, the little girl’s adventure would come to an end by the time they arrived in the morning.
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Meanwhile, a few hours before the kobolds of the sanctuary left their settlement, people had gathered at the plaza in Viel village.
Three hunters were carrying an arrow on their back and a quiver and a sword hatchet on their belts, while the rest of the 5 other people present were roughly equipped with leather armor and short swords. This is the village’s guard unit that is tasked with keeping peace and order within the village.
While most cities are protected by soldiers employed by the feudal lord, it is economically difficult for small towns and villages to ask for the same treatment, so security is usually maintained by the volunteers that live there.
Furthermore, in exchange for allowing the residents of Viel village to freely enter and leave the forest that was designated as a sanctuary, the Lord of Ferias also imposed an order for them to capture those who would violate the ban.
But this time, their goal was not to apprehend an outsider who entered the forest despite the restriction but to search for Sophie, the young girl from their village…
Maril, the village chief’s daughter who took over as the acting chief while her father Sergio was still ill, headed the search operation. Stepping forward, she spoke to the village’s vigilante unit who had responded to her early morning call.
“Good morning. I’m sorry for calling you this early in the morning.”
“Please forgive us…”
Following Maril’s brief bow, Sophie’s parents who had become haggard from worrying also bowed their heads low.
“It’s alright. It’s times like these that the guard unit is most needed after all.”
The guard who was injured during the last scuffle with the bandits, Reebus, softly responded, and the awkward-looking hunters behind him also muttered out responses while scratching their heads.
“…I was scared and hid when the bandits came at that time, so I’ll do my best this time.”
“I was hunting in the forest at that time, but… well, I was in the same situation.”
The hunters had a big role in this operation since the search range included the Easteria forest. Maril looked at them expectantly as she once again explained the situation to them.
“As I’ve told you yesterday, there are multiple testimonies that little Sophie entered the Easteria forest alone. That’s why the adventurers will be in charge of searching the grasslands on the eastern part of the village, while we will be going inside the forest sanctuary to search for her there.”
As she talked, she turned to the 4 “Black Iron” adventurers who were standing just outside the village square.
“I’ll be counting on you, Mr. Ares and Ms. Muriel.”
“Don’t worry, it’s all in a day’s work.”
“Just leave it to us, we can cover for each other when the situation gets tricky.”
