Autumn is the time of year when an increase in activity in the Kobold’s settlement and the nearby Human settlement, Viel village, is observed as hunters go out to hunt for food in preparation for the coming winter.

During this time, the rest of the villagers in Viel village are busy sowing rye, barley, or wheat which will be ready to harvest next year. In the Ferias territory where Viel village is located, rye, which is resistant to cold, is mainly cultivated and wheat is only grown as a supplement.

The rye is enclosed in husks that are attached to grass stalks. So after the stems are cut from the base, it is necessary to pile them into a heap and single-mindedly beat them with paddles. After this coarse threshing process, the remaining husks must be peeled off by hand to make unpolished grains.

“Fufu… this is tiring, isn’t it~?”

“Yes, it sure is…”

Even though they were tired, Maril, the Village Chief’s daughter, and the other girls from the village praised each other’s efforts as their task for the day ended. Even though it takes so much time and effort to hand-harvest the rye, it pays off in the end because they could easily store them for over a year. 

After all, since there is a possibility that a disaster or a drought might unexpectedly hit, being able to store food supplies is a big advantage.

Because of that, primitive societies would store and barter grains such as wheat, and it became the prototype of today’s monetary economy where part of the tax is still paid in a form of annual tribute.

Anyway, the two types of grain they produced after a hard day’s work is mixed and milled as necessary in the watermill which is a bit far from the village as it was built along a tributary of the Steele river. The resulting product is then used to make rye bread, which is the staple food of the people in the village…

“Arrrgh, why does this gotta be so damn heavy anyway?”

“Maril, language…

The red-haired mage who was sitting on a tree stump and was reading the page about Kobold Marines from the book, Illustrated Guide to the Kobolds of the World by a renowned scientist called Cedie Hartland, looked up from her book and cautioned Maril who was grumbling as she carried a 10kg bag of rye.

“Mages sure have it good, you’re already finished with work~”

“It’s not as easy as it looks to be; I did have to work hard, you know.”

“Without her, the job wouldn’t have gone easy this time.”

“Indeed, it was all thanks to her.”

Ares, who was practicing with his longsword nearby, praised Muriel, and Riberto, who was sharpening his beloved Saber, agreed. Meanwhile, Mirea, another member of their party, was nowhere to be found as she was sulking somewhere after she was subsequently kicked out when she joined the village hunters and tried to enter the forest with her bow in hand as the newly established sanctuary was off-limits to outsiders.

The job they took on this time was a “rat extermination” request which included the extermination of the monster-type “Fanged Rat” and to prevent the rodents from eating the village’s store of rye, walnuts, and dried meat.

“Heheh, well, I am a biologist after all ♪”

To accomplish this, Muriel used a pesticide concoction that contained scilliroside, a toxic compound derived from the bulb of a type of lily called the sea onion, as an active ingredient.

This was a rodenticide from the time of the Ancient Kingdom which did not affect anything but rodents, but through Muriel’s ingenuity and hard work, the highly cautious rats took the bait and ate the poison without any problems.

(I feel sorry for the mice, but this is also how humans fight for survival against other species…)

As an academic majoring in biology, she understood the law of survival of the fittest, and is aware that humans are no exception to this rule either… So for a while, she prayed for the lives they took that day.

Even though the action was a bit hypocritical…

As a result of her efforts, their quest of exterminating the rats went on smoothly, and the Fanged Rats, who had sharp fangs and whose bodies were more resistant to the rodenticide, were easily killed by her party members when their movements slowed down.

After quickly completing the extermination request, Muriel and her party had the necessary documents stamped by Maril’s father and have been staying at the village chief’s house for the past 2 days.

“Anyway, we have been imposing your hospitality, so… Ms. Maril, I’ll carry that for you.”

“Eh? Are you sure? You’re so reliable, Mr. Ares♪”

As he became flustered with the village girl’s flirtatious smile, the red-haired mage muttered under her breath as she watched Ares receive the large sack of rye from the girl.

“… Ares, you’re so obvious.”

“Well, it’s not like she’s a stranger to us anyway…”

Ares, who had heard Muriel’s comment, cringed as they watched the two head further in the direction of the watermill…

After that, the villagers vigorously worked on the fields, while the women patched up the sheets and beddings in preparation for winter. Meanwhile, beer was being brewed from malt and hops in the local monastery.

And so, the adults were unaware that a rumor about fairy sightings had become widespread among the children of the village as everyone had become busier than usual in the bustling Viel village.

“It’s true, I saw it with my own eyes! I saw a small fairy with wings!”

“I-I saw it too, it was so cute~”

“Ehh, I haven’t seen it, so I don’t believe you.”

“I wanna see it too… They show up in the village outskirts, right?”

The children seemed to be excitedly talking about it, but… unbeknownst to them, ancient fairies are extremely dangerous. 

Lore has it that they have the power to distort space due to their tendency to appear in unexpected places and are considered as nuisances because they would sometimes switch with Goblin or Human babies and spirit the infants away.

However, the Ancient Faeries’ mental makeup is most terrifying, as it is completely different from Humans or demi-humans. But according to one theory, these numerous malicious acts are all carried out with good intentions.

Well, no one could understand how these beings think, and it’s not confirmed that what the village children saw were indeed the fairies of old, but….

“Waah, so pretty… Eh!?”

At dusk, a little girl headed into the outskirts of the village after she saw a glowing being with wings while the landscape around her changed into that of a dimly lit forest.