There might be hope for that one

By far, the most interesting discovery after already spending one week in Koboldia Town, was how musically-inclined Kobolds were.

Each morning a group composed of Kobolds with dual-colored scales - dim white with blush tint creating patterns all over their bodies, although that was mostly covered by their clothes - would play various songs on the instruments they crafted themselves. All the other members of their community, woken up bright and early, would gather up to listen and cheer for the performance before going to their respective activities.

For Kobolds, there seemed to be no better way to start a day, although it wasn't the case for their visitors, not all of them at least.

As the performance for that morning was over and all the Kobolds were going their own way, Bjorki, still blocking her ears with a pillow, approached Melinda from behind.

The gold-haired girl would always stay in the front row, and was the most generous with ovations and often stayed behind to chat with the musicians.

"Hey…"

As she was about to do the latter part, Bjoki reached out and tapped her shoulder before calling out in a pained voice.

"Hmm?"

Melinda raised her brow and turned around, facing the disguised girl, especially confused about the makeshift pillow-mufflers.

"How can you listen to that infernal noise?! What in the world are those instruments in the first place?! They sound like screeches of a dying bird-type monster!"

Bjorki complained, finally taking off the pillow and checking it out as if expecting to find traces of blood from the burst eardrums.

"Oh! You're interested in Bagad Koboldia?! Effie! Bjorki wants to hear about the band!"

Whether by a misunderstanding or on purpose, Melida ignored the complaint and interpreted it her own way, waving her hand towards one of the band members to beckon her.

"Brightness~! Oh…"

The summoned Kobold gasped with excitement and hurriedly trotted over only to flinch and grimace upon realizing who was beside the gold-haired girl.

"Effie, do you mind telling Bjorki about your band? She's interested in the instruments you're using~"

"Of course, Brightness~!"

Melinda asked, tilting her head to the side while asking in a cutesy way, causing the only Kobold slightly taller than her to cheer out proudly.

"Tsk."

"..."

…but then she immediately clicked her tongue the moment her eyes shifted towards Bjorki, making the girl respond with a grumpy glare.

"Oh, there's nothing much to say, ay? We got drrrums, boombards, and pipebags."

She explained while pointing her clawed finger at each of the three groups of instruments.

"The what…?"

Bjorki's eyes widened and she shook her head as if expecting her ears were playing tricks on her.

"Drrrums."

Effie patiently explained, pointing her finger at the instruments that were drums with Kobold's flair.

"Boombards."

She then pointed at wooden instruments similar to a pipe with holes and a metal bell at one end.

"And pipebags."

The Kobold finished by pointing at the last, most numerous, and by far the loudest and ear-piercing instrument.

"Pipebags? Why in the world are they called that!?|

"They are bags made out of monster skin with metal pipes sticking out of them, ay? Pipebags. What else are they supposed to be called?"

The disguised girl called out, causing the confused Kobold to lean away and stare at her in bewilderment.

"Drrrums, boombards, and pipebags, Bjorki…! Pipebags~!"

Melinda seemed to be having the best time of her life, she even grabbed Bojki's shoulders and lightly shook her while blushing and mumbling as if the names were the cutest thing she ever heard in her life.

"It looks like most of us don't remember it, but we all here know that the demons hate the sound of those. They fear it, ay? With that in mind…"

Effie added, before staring down at Bjorki, and squinting her eyes spotting the pillow in the human girl's hand.

"Do you have something to say about how they sound, ay? Eggbreaker?"

"...no…"

Effie scoffed and straightened her back, since she was slightly taller than Melinda, she was also taller than Bjorki, being also menacing enough to make the human girl lower her head and mumble while looking away.

As for her being called an eggbreaker, it was something she let slip out on the very first day of getting educated after she lost her patience.

It was… incredibly stupid, as the only Kobold who had had intuition strong enough to sense something was off about her was Irr, and she would have kept it to herself because of Melinda.

But then Bjoki blabbed it out all on her own in a fit of anger over not being treated like the royalty she was.

And despite Irr being the only adult Kobold with parental instinct, someone who admitted to cooking and eating Kobold eggs became an instant enemy of the species. Only because of her being part of Melinda's group spared the girl from facing serious consequences…

From that point, Irr was the one charged with educating Bjorki, and she made sure that the human girl would help with taking care of the hatchlings so that she would fully realize the severity of her sin.

"...in the first place, I…"

The human girl took a deep breath as if gathering her courage and started speaking up but then suddenly she froze up.

"In the first place you what, ay? Ay…?"

Expecting it to be her picking a fight, Effie scoffed, squirting her eyes, but she got no answer from Bjorki, she turned to Melinda.

"Hmm?"

The concerned gold-haired girl made eye contact with the white-and-blue-scaled Kobold before trying to figure out what got Bjorki's attention to such a degree…

"Lilaaaaaa…!"

"...?!"

Only for Bjorki to pick that exact moment to let out an exaggerated sigh and rush forth from her spot towards a tiny sandstone-scaled Kobold hatchling who appeared to be spinning in circles, chasing her own tail.

"Lila! Miss Irr told you to not go out alone!"

"Bjowi! Wat's dis?"

The disguised girl crouched down and spoke to the hatchling who was most likely not more than a week old, causing her to stop and look at her before pointing at her own tail and inquire with a childish lisp.

"Th-that's your tail, of course! And why aren't you wearing your clothes?!"

"Wat's tail?"

Taken by surprise over the question, Bjorki declared, causing the hatchling to tilt her head to the side and ask.

"...oh, for the love of…"

"...wawawaaah…?!"

Bjorki rolled her eyes and used the pillow to swipe Lila in her arms, causing the hatchling to let out an adorable cry of surprise.

"See? That's your tail, it's something like your arms and legs but you only got one! You're one of the guarding Kobolds, right? Thanks to it, you will be able to roll into a ball, and…"

Bjroki Lila in her arms so that her tail would end up between her legs for the hatchling to see and inspect.

"Loll… intwo a bawl…?"

"Yes. As I was saying…"

Lila lisped slowly as if realizing something, while the unsuspecting Bjorki let out a tired sigh and nodded…

"Loll!"

"Wh- EEEHH!?"

At that moment, the hatchling exclaimed vigorously and rolled into a bawl before spinning around and jumping out of the shocked human's arms and speeding up around the construction in the center of the town's square.

"LILA! MISS IRR SAID THAT YOUR SCALES ARE STILL TOO SOFT TO ROLL AROUND ALREADY!"

But Bjorki's bewilderment lasted only a second and the next moment she was already chasing after the hatchling, trying to scoop her up in the pillow before she could hurt herself.

"Hmph. Maybe there is a chance for her, ay?"

"Mhmm. I do believe she is just very spoiled but not all rotten. Admittedly, it is still way too early to say that for sure, though. Lots of work to be done on that one."

Effie crossed her arms and scoffed, watching the disguised human's efforts, to which Melinda nodded with a slight smile… although her smile disappeared soon after, replaced by a stern look.