"Please, forgive her this once. She's as uncouth as she is clueless. Sarmi. I'm sorry for even asking you that, but is it possible that you could find time to educate this one?"
The relief on Melinda's face got clouded by annoyance and she nodded apologetically at both Kobolds before asking the town's leader.
"Hey!"
"Shut it."
Bjorki called out but got immediately scolded into silence with Melinda's irked voice and a glare.
"Of course. I will do my utmost best to fulfill your wish, Brightness."
The gray-scaled Kobold lowered her head and declared with devotion that honestly took the gold-haired girl by surprise.
"That's… oh… I mean, thank you! This surely won't be an easy task… By any chance is there a way I help you out in return?"
"There is no need for that, Brightness. Being allowed to fulfill your request is the greatest joy and honor anyone could ask for."
"..."
Sarmi assured, lowering her head even more, this time causing Melinda to look at all her companions, taken aback by Kobold's words and actions and seeking confirmation that it wasn't normal.
But Zane merely shrugged his shoulders with an awkward expression…
Catherine and Ross were even worse in that regard as both of them had expressions that clearly showed that the situation was completely normal or at least well within their expectations.
As for Bjorki…
Yeah, no, Melinda didn't care for Bjorki's opinion in the slightest.
Irr who didn't even leave Melinda's side was simply looking up at her all starry-eyed, was even less reliable in that regard too, so…
"No, no. I insist. We show up unannounced, I one-sidedly request stuff from you… There must be something that I can do for you."
As it would not sit well with her to get one-sided favors from the ones she liked, the gold-haired girl shook her head and leaned forward, placing one hand on the gray-scaled Kobod's shoulder.
Sarmi lowered her head a bit more once again, but then she raised it slightly, looking up at Melinda's visage.
"...your presence alone is…"
"Enough with that! Sarmi, I'm going to get angry, you know?"
With all sincerity, the gray-scaled Kobold breathed out, unable to contain her ave, but the gold-haired girl closed her eyes for a moment, sighed deeply, and then pouted.
"...but, if it will ease your mind even a little bit… would it be possible for you to lend us the orb that dropped out of the head monster you slew during our first meeting?"
After a few seconds of hesitation, Sarmi spoke up before lowering her head again as if she didn't consider herself worthy of making any request in the first place.
"Well, that's an interesting coincidence!"
"...?"
Melinda ended up smiling as she chuckled, causing Sarmi to look up at her curiously.
Instead of immediately explaining what she meant, the gold-haired girl simply reached out her hands to the side, palm up, and continued smiling.
Soon enough, pale hands with long, thin fingers that appeared more like the legs of a spider than human flesh showed up from behind her, placing a red orb in the girl's left hand and a green orb in her right.
The one handing her both orbs was none other than Zane, with his limbs extending in a truly unnerving fashion that sent chills down the spine of not just Bjorki, but Catherine and Ross's too.
..Irr and Sarmi on the other hand, were both amazed without even a trace of fear or surprise…
"In the first place, we were going to ask you whether you would be interested in those."
Melinda moved her hands as if she was weighing both objects and pointed out.
"Heath Core can be used as a magic conduit for powerful fire spells, but possibly it can be used as a heater for the entire settlement…"
The gold-haired girl put the red orb a bit higher and explained.
"Silva Core can be used as a conduit for healing magic, but its passive will be far more beneficial. It promotes and enhances the plant life, and that includes the ones producing mana stones~!"
She then lowered the red one and raised the green one with a big smile.
"There also is a third one, Glacier Core, but since the monster dropping it died kind of by accident, we don't have it at the moment. But once we stumble onto it, it will also be given to you~ You see, the Glacier Core helps with ice magic, while its passive produces crystal-clear, mana-rich water indefinitely!"
Melinda exclaimed with excitement while handing both cores to the flabbergasted Sarmi who held onto them purely by reflex as she was far too preoccupied staring at the gold-haired girl to do so consciously.
"And forget borrowing it, they're yours. For the benefit of Koboldia town."
"!!!"
The girl added, causing the Kobold to flinch and shift from her face to the orbs in her grasp and back again several times as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
"B-Brightness…! I.. I can't…! That's too m…!"
"It comes with a potential risk though."
Sarmi managed to speak up, although stuttering, but Melinda shook her head and added.
"Frenzied Deep-Dusk Dullahan is a boss monster that will be drawn to those sooner rather than later. It's Zane's prey. It killed some of his friends. I'll be hanging around to make sure that nothing happens to this town during the encounter.."
Melinda declared while leaning to the side so that Sarmi had a clear view of the disturbingly distorted, grim-faced monstrous human.
"Giving you those isn't too much, Sarmi. Not considering the potential risk involved, at least. Don't you think?"
The girl added with a bit of a mean smirk.
"B-Birghtness…!"
The gray-scaled Kobold's chin trembled and she ended up crying out all teary-eyed, clenching the Hearth and Silva Cores close to her body, overcome with overflowing gratefulness.
It seemed that the risk involved didn't matter to her a single bit, making Melinda that much more determined to assure complete safety for Kobolida Town.