We set out from the village and moved in a large group. With the northern werewolves in the middle, we migrated through the forest.

We had goblins, slimes, and werewolves with us. There was a reason for brining them along. Originally the northern werewolves borrowed power from the vampires in order to unite the northern area, or in other words, all of our groups.

Having goblins, slimes, and werewolves in their village would clear proof of this to them.

Moving through the forest was a lot harder than you would expect. There was a slight upward slope on the path to the northern werewolves’ village.

Walking this unfamiliar path caused a good number of us to feel burdened. Thinking back on the battle last time, I’m really glad we didn’t decide to attack the northern werewolves’ village. If I had to say, their village is positioned in a strategically difficult position to attack.

As I walked while analyzing the terrain, Orphe entered my field of view, still wearing an unhappy expression. When our eyes met, Orphe took a step towards me.

“Hey Crest. Will this really be alright though? You know I’m not really too great at acting right?” Our strategy this time relied primarily on Orphe. He seemed pretty unsure as to whether or not he could sufficiently become Veld.

“In that case, we should practice your acting when we get to the village.” I’d given Orphe some acting lessons for the past few days. Although I’m not a great actor myself, I could at least tell what’s good or bad acting.

“…Guh. A, alright.” Said Orphe as his head drooped down and he let out a sigh. Orphe isn’t that great at lying. That didn’t mean I hated his honest nature.

I’d like for things to go well, but Orphe has certain things he can’t do. All I can ask is that he does his best.

Of course I’m trying to lighten Orphe’s burden before the actual performance.

For example, I’m trying to give him an idea as to what sort of questions the vampire might ask.

That being said, the opponent might still ask things outside of our expectations. In the first place, I couldn’t figure out from asking the werewolves what the reason was for the vampires cooperating with Veld was in the first place.

I have no clue what their aim is.

Our goal this time is to draw that intel out from them and hear about the body strengthening magic stones.

While I thought about all of that, “This is our village.” I raised my head after hearing the northern werewolf in the lead call out. Certainly, there was a village there. It would be easy to attack from the outside. There was nothing like a wall or even a gate.

I could vaguely tell where the village borders were based on something like a line encircling it. Inside the village stood houses I couldn’t even say I’d like to live in as flattery.

Although it couldn’t be helped, the buildings were not the spectacular. Objectively they weren’t very good, but perhaps just in shape they were fine.

When I passed by Orphe who stopped in front of me, I could see his expression appeared to be quite moved.

“You alright Orphe?”

“…Ah, yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. This is your hometown after all.” Of course he would be happy coming back to the place he used to live. I wonder how it would be for me?

Would I be happy if I went back to the upper world? No, of course not. Even if I went back I’d just be put to work.

It’s too late for me to even say I want to go back after all that’s happened. I went to the village centre and checked things out. The village wasn’t it too bad of shape. It looks good enough that we could start living here right away.

I’d just personally want to rebuild the houses to be a bit more normal.

“After all, the houses Crest makes are amazing.” I heard whispered from someone walking around the village centre. Certainly looking at all the houses around here, every single one had something holding it together. That’s why many of them looked frail enough that a storm would destroy them.

It wasn’t just one person whispering about this. The other werewolves were also talking.

“Seriously though. This is how houses look in a normal village”

“Back to life in a village where the wind seeps in everywhere…”

“No no, Crest is here this time, and other monsters with construction technique came too! It’ll be fine!” They decided. Another reason we were here was to renovate this village. From now on, we plan on having this village be our second base.

I can’t relax yet. If we want to spend the evening in nice houses, we have to get to work right away.

“Alright everyone, let’s get to work. I’ll leave gathering wood to you.”

“Understood!” Their voices resounded in unison, then the werewolves got to work.