The elks' village

"It's time."

"Yes."

Livia and Arthur were getting ready to leave again; after completing their work at the tailor's shop and delivering the orders placed for them, they finally had free time to go meet with the Elchvolk.

"Running a business is harder than I thought; shouldn't we hire more people? If things keep going like this, we won't have time to put our plans into action."

Livia complained as she climbed on her horse.

"Well, that's not easy either; you have to find the people with the right skills, and even personality is important, and I already have a certain fondness for our tailoring, so when we leave I'll most likely give it to someone else, and I can't pick someone on the spot."

"Well, I admit I got attached too. Doing the costume designs is a lot of fun."

During the time they were acting as the Schneider couple, Livia and Arthur gained a sense of ownership toward their tailoring. Their customers were always satisfied with the clothes they made for them, and they gradually gained notoriety; they even gained some occasional customers like Laura and Sophie, the women who came in last time and whom Livia had befriended. They were both a bit silly and obsessed with getting husbands, but they weren't bad girls at all.

"Let's think about that another time; we have other business to take care of."

At this point they were heading towards the Elchvolk village, which was deeper into the forest, where the vegetation and fruit trees were more abundant.

"The Elchvolk, being beastmen of the elk type, are naturally herbivorous."

Since they required a large amount of fruits and plants to sustain their diet, their village was located in the deeper parts of the forest.

"How they managed to maintain their warrior lifestyle by eating only plants and fruits is fascinating."

But because the Elchvolk were not humans, their physiognomy was completely different.

We were also going by day. Since Elchvolk tribesmen usually gather fruits during this time.

Although the distance they had to cut was quite large, with Ebony and Ivory, they were not going to have any problems.

As the horses galloped along at their leisure, the wind hit their faces and the trees were a blur, evidence of the high speed at which they were traveling.

"I never tire of saying it; these horses are spectacular."

The only flaw they might have were their finicky tastes with their food and that they had to bathe them several times a day because they couldn't stand dirt at all. But in reality, they deserved at least that much for how good they were.

The trip continued at that pace until they were sure they were close to arriving, so they decided to slow down.

"Pay attention to your surroundings, Livia; unlike the Fuchsvolk, the Elchvolk can be quite a lot-."

Swoosh-

Clank-!

Arthur's words were interrupted by a huge spear flying in his direction at incredible speed. Arthur with his enhanced senses unsheathed his sword and cut the spear in half with precision.

"Aggressive..."

In the distance, two persons could be seen who, if they looked from afar, could look like normal humans; however, if they got closer, they could notice the antlers on their heads and the most striking part, which was their body full of hair and their four hooves.

"Wow, did you block that? You're pretty strong for such a little guy."

One of them, specifically the one who had thrown the spear, spoke in a sincerely surprised tone with a hint of amusement.

"Well, well, it's been a while since I've had a good fight."

"Hey, this is no time for this; we need to get the fruits back to camp."

He was reprimanded by his companion, who was carrying a bag full of what appeared to be fruits.

"Oh, come on, it's been a long time since we've had anything exciting to do; don't tell me you're not curious either."

"Well... maybe trading a few hits wouldn't take us so long."

The two began to have normal talk, but one that seemed to have taken a somewhat strange turn.

"What's wrong with those guys?"

Livia asked a bit puzzled. They had first attacked them without any warning, but now they just started talking, plus they didn't seem at all concerned that two strange humans had entered their territory.

"Well, that's how the Elchvolk are; due to their lifestyle, they became such battle fanatics; it suits their expression to hit and then ask."

"In short, they are muscle brains."

"That's not a very friendly way of putting it, but yes, they are muscle brains."

Arthur got off his horse along with Livia, and they approached the two who were still talking.

"Excuse me"

When Arthur called out to them, they stopped talking and stared at them.

"I'll get straight to the point; do you want to have a duel with me?"

Arthur said directly, and the beastman who had thrown the spear at him looked like he was about to agree but was stopped by his companion.

"Wait, we're skipping a few things here. First of all, who are you, and what are you doing here?"

He asked cautiously

"My name is Arthur, and I'll tell you my intentions if you manage to defeat me in the duel; how about it?"

"..."

He stared at him silently for a while until his companion, who tried to speak earlier, brought him out of his thoughts.

"Come on, just accept; we can't escape if we're being challenged like this!"

"Wait, you idiot! First of all, what do you want if you manage to win?"

"Ha?! Do you think I'm going to lose!?"

"Shut up, asshole!"

The two started arguing again, but Arthur, keeping his calm, spoke up.

"If I win, they'll take me to their leader."

The two stopped arguing immediately and, with a more serious expression, looked at Arthur.

"Why?"

"If you manage to win, I will tell you."

"...Fine."

The one holding the bag full of fruit handed it to his partner and slowly walked over.

'It looks like he's stronger between the two of us.'

Seeing that the topic was more serious than they thought, they didn't want to take any risks

"My name is Kaidor; what's yours?"

"Arthur."

The two got into position, with Kaidor lowering his body and bracing his fists against the ground, like a bull ready to charge. Arthur, for his part, adopted a simple martial arts pose.

They stared at each other for a few seconds until Kaidor decided to move.

Woosh-!

The muscles of his entire body tensed in seconds, and with great momentum, he shot out with his antlers pointed towards Arthur. His speed was fast even for warriors who had their senses enhanced by mana, and that coupled with the short distance between them made it impossible to dodge or block.

Boom-!

However, there was no need to dodge it.

"Eh?"

Kaidor was stunned. His attack had hit. He was absolutely sure that he hadn't missed, but nevertheless.

Arthur, who had received the attack, hadn't moved an inch.

"That was a good hit."

He said it with a smile.

"Now it's my turn."

Raising one of his arms and then bringing it down swiftly, Arthur delivered a devastating hit to Kaidor's head.

Boom-!

His face smashed into the ground, dislodging it and creating several cracks that spread out in several directions, knocking him unconscious.

"Well, I guess I win."

Arthur said, looking at the one who had thrown the spear at him earlier; this one didn't seem at all angry at what was done to his friend and instead let out a sigh and walked over to him.

"Fine, you win; I'll take you to the leader."

"You're not angry?"

"Of what, Kaidor gave his best and lost; that just means he was weak and you were stronger; there's no shame with losing to someone strong."

He said it as if it were the most normal thing in the world as he lifted his unconscious friend.

"Follow me; I will guide you to our village; by the way, my name is Tormak."

He said and started walking.

Livia, along with Ebony and Ivory, approached and looked at Tormak's back as he walked away.

"Well, that was easier than I thought."

"Don't be confident; the challenge comes now."

Following Tormak's footsteps, they walked deeper and deeper into the forest until, at last, they could see the gate that led into the Elchvolk village.

As they approached the gate, two guards with spears blocked their way.

"Wait, Tormak, who are those?"

"Well, as you might appreciate, Kaidor lost in a duel, and the deal was that he would take them to the leader if they won."

"And you accepted that; what if it's a trap?

"Well, we walked all the way out here, and I didn't notice anything unusual, and if they brought a group, then it must not be that big."

Tormak said in a nonchalant tone, causing the guard to sigh.

"Seriously, you're carefree; the boss will beat you again."

"Hahaha, you're overreacting!"

"Well, if you say so..."

In the end, the guard seemed resigned and led the way for them.

And that's how we managed to get into the Elchvolk village.

***

" DUMBASS!!!"

BOOM-!

A loud boom was heard in the village leader's house, but no one paid much attention to it. It was something they were used to by now.

"Surely that Tormak did something again."

"I'm sure he did."

In the leader's house stood Livia and Arthur watching as Tormak had his face embedded in a wall.

The man responsible for this was an imposing old man, half moose, with a thick white beard and a burly body full of scars.

"How the hell did you accept something like that?"

He shouted with an intensity that didn't seem fit for someone his age.

"Uagh!"

And indeed, it was; the old man groaned and hunched over with his hand clutching his back.

"Honey, remember the doctor said you didn't have to overexert yourself."

An old woman approached the old man and helped him sit on a large cushion that was on the floor.

"Ha~, I swear these brats are going to kill me before age."

He let out a big sigh and finally focused his attention on the two humans who had been standing silently observing the situation.

"I guess there's nothing I can do; well, what do you two want?"

"Hey, try to be nicer; they are invited guests after all."

Scolds the old woman sitting next to him.

"Hmp, I didn't invite them!"

Said the old man as he folded his arms and turned his head away. The old woman next to him simply sighed and gave us a kind smile

"Forgive my husband; he can be a bit cantankerous at times. Let me introduce myself first, My name is Nimara and this is my husband, Varek.

"It's a pleasure, miss; my name is Arthur, and this is my escort, Livia."

Arthur politely introduced himself, making Nimara smile.

"Haha, to call a grandma like me, miss, what a sweet young man. Would you like me to bake you some cookies to eat while you talk?"

Arthur was about to reply but was interrupted by Varek's exasperated voice.

"Well, enough of this nonsense; just say what you came here to do!"

Nimara didn't seem too pleased with his interruption, but she no longer meddled with her husband's business.

"We would like to ask for your help in taking care of the Schmetterling family."

"I refuse."

The old man declined almost instantly, but he didn't stop there.

"Our village is deep in the forest, and those cowards only know how to attack when it is dark, so on the way here they have to go through the various beasts that come out to hunt, and by the time they get here they are tired, and dealing with them is easy, so we have no problem defending ourselves. And if you think that with a duel I'm going to accept, you're wrong. My people might be battle-loving, but we're not stupid; I'm not going to endanger the lives of my people in a battle that has nothing to do with us."

He said firmly as his piercing gaze fell on Arthur and Livia.

"If that's all you had to say, you're free to go."

He waved his hand, and several guards moved in to chase them away, but before they could do so, Arthur spoke up.

"You're running out of food, aren't you?"

Varek hearing this narrowed his eyes.

"Being in the deepest part of the forest can bring them advantages, but also problems. As the human presence is much less, the number of species inhabiting here consequently is also more varied, but that makes the competition for food much greater."

This may not be a problem at first glance; the resources are many and so are the diverse food sources, but the problem is that the Elchvolk only eat plants and fruits, and not all plants and fruits are edible. Many can be poisonous and even deadly.

"And because of their metabolism, they are not able to eat meat; their digestive system simply can't tolerate it."

But aside from those points, there is one that is far more critical and is the source of the problem.

"You're facing a drought, aren't you? Finding fruit and plants in good condition is getting harder and harder."

But this is not something that is happening naturally.

"What if I told you that the Schmetterlings had something to do with it?"

Finally, the old man's expression changed to one of surprise, but he quickly changed to one of deep anger and asked in a heavy tone.

"What do you mean?"

"The Schmetterling, realizing that they would not be able to get rid of you if you remained sheltered in the depths of the forest, decided to force you out."

As he spoke, Arthur walked over and sat down in front of Varek.

"To do this, they took an extreme measure to leave you without food; they were discarding monster corpses unnoticed to pollute the land."

"!!!"

Varek this time showed a great expression of surprise, and Nimara beside him covered her mouth with her hands.

Monsters when they die expel the mana that was in their bodies; this in itself would not cause any harm, but when a large number of monsters die in one place, the so-called mana contamination occurs.

This occurs because the mana expelled by the monsters has more impurities than natural mana. It does not cause problems when a small amount is released, since over time this is coupled to the mana in the environment.

But if a large amount of this mana is released, then the ambient mana itself becomes toxic, causing the vegetation in the area to die and become deserted. And in the worst cases, the animals and vegetation in the area could mutate, turning it into a dungeon.

This is why in raids or on extermination missions, light magic users are always taken along to purify the bodies after the battle; this way, the monsters don't release as much contaminated mana.

"Phew..."

Varek let out a big sigh; his anger was clearly visible, but he did his best to remain calm and ask.

"Do you have a way to confirm that what you say is true?"

"I know more or less the locations where the Schmetterling have dumped their waste."

"Good."

With that, he stood up, but Nimara, with a worried expression, held his arm.

"Wait, why don't you send the guards to check? Remember, you don't have to overdo it."

Varek gently took her hand, and her previously angry look softened.

"I have to go see him personally, my dear; don't worry, I'm not too bad off for this to affect me."

Nimara finally, with a sigh, allowed him to go, but reminded him once again not to overdo it and asked the guards to take care of him if anything bad happened.

"Hah~, seriously, sometimes he worries too much."

He said seemingly annoyed, but the fondness in his tone couldn't be hidden. But he quickly turned serious and his gaze returned to fierce and intimidating.

"Guide us."

He said in a firm tone

"This way."

And so they began to walk in search of the thing that had caused them so much trouble