I'll follow whatever Dea-kun-chan-san says!

"And so, Kirigon-san, this is Misha. Please get along with her, okay?"

"Yes ma'am! I'll follow whatever Dea-kun-chan-san says! … Since Dea-kun-chan-san says so, I guess I got no choice but to get along with ya. Be grateful, cat beastkin!"

"Umm, so that means we're getting along, nya? Nice to meet you, nya! Man, Dea-chan really is something else, nya. Totally different from Karina!"

Misha clasped the claw Kirigon extended, giving it a firm shake.

Excuse me? What do you mean "totally different from me"? I told him to get along with you too, you know. I'm rubbing your butt for that.

"So, what's the situation, nya?"

"Ah, yeah. Turns out some merchants were the masterminds behind threatening the village chief? Now I'm trying to figure out what to do about it. What do you think, Misha?"

"First, I think you should stop rubbing my butt, nya… Not in front of everyone, at least."

Fair point. Rejected. I kept rubbing Misha's butt.

"… How about you go massacre those merchants or something, nya?"

"Misha, do you think I'm some kind of murderer?"

"But if you want to protect the village, you need to silence those merchants, right, nyan? And silencing means, well, that, nyan? Or are you gonna sell all the oni to those merchants, nyan?"

"I see, silencing does tend to mean that… Though there's also the option of making them all vanish into thin air."

… Hm? Hold on a second.

"Ah. Now that I think about it, we don't actually have any obligation to protect the oni village."

"Eh? Huh? Is that so, nyan?"

"That's right. Our goal was the dragon, wasn't it?"

Originally, the whole thing was about wanting something done because a dragon was demanding sacrifices. And, well, the dragon situation has been resolved.

"Dealing with a dragon is one thing, but we have absolutely zero obligation to get involved in human affairs, right?"

"Oh, when you put it that way, you're totally right, nya!"

"W-wait a moment, please, Karina-san! After coming this far, you can't just…!?"

Youki-chan piped up, her voice wavering.

"Miko-hime-sama, please save us…!"

"… Eh, well. Now that you mention it, Onee-san's got a point. I'd be willing to lend a hand against a dragon, but from here on, this is between those merchants and the oni… And besides, if it's just human merchants you're dealing with, can't you handle that yourselves somehow? Should be way easier than facing a dragon, right?"

Dea-kun tilted his head slightly as he said this.

The oni villagers seemed to realize it too. Compared to the unreasonable threat of a dragon, human merchants were opponents they could actually deal with.

"B-but we're dealing with merchants from the Empire! If our village's location gets out, the Empire will send soldiers to hunt us all down and enslave us…"

"If everyone's going to be enslaved anyway, it would be more constructive to abandon the village and flee together. So let's all flee."

"… We can't just abandon the village."

"Huh? But if everyone becomes slaves, the village is finished either way, right? In fact, since everyone would survive, running away is clearly the better option. Shouldn't you flee as fast as possible before losing any more villagers?"

Dea-kun sliced through the village chief's argument with cold, hard logic.

The village chief had no response to that.

"Dea-chan's totally right, nya! Okay, first things first, let's oust this incompetent village chief who caved so easily to some merchants, nya! Apologize to everyone, nya!"

"Eh, uh, w-wait, what even are you, cat beastkin!? I-I admit I was wrong. I admit it, but that doesn't mean I have to put up with you doing whatever you want!?"

"Shut up, nya! Hey! Get up! … Your head's still too high, nya! Bow down!"

Misha kicked the village chief over and over. She was having the time of her life over there.

By the way, this village has been getting slowly surrounded by what look like soldiers for a while now. What should I do about that? Should I say something?

"Alright, then for the new village chief, in place of my brother, I, Tenshiki, shall…"

"Shouldn't the new village chief be chosen from among those who were willing to stand up to the dragon? That was you, you, and you, right?"

"This Tenshiki guy was hiding in the back, so he's out."

Hmm, everyone seems pretty busy deciding on a new village chief, so maybe I should stay quiet a bit longer?

If someone throws the first punch, I can claim self-defense… Hehehe.