Three months had passed since Archibald’s death. On this fine day, a certain deer was very unlucky. It was spotted by Wolf right when the boy wanted to have a lunch break.

By the time Wolf had finished butchering the animal, it was already afternoon, so he decided to move away from the gory site and set up camp. Preparing a decent roast took time, as did making provisions for the next couple of days.

A while after Wolf had settled for the day, an alluring aroma started spreading. Wolf was busy with the roast, when he heard the rustling of uninvited guests approaching. For a moment he awakened his senses to a quarter, but felt no hostility. Since these people meant him no harm, he certainly wouldn’t act against them first. For a moment Wolf’s nostrils flared. No blood, he thought before shutting out the flood of sensations and once again perceiving the world like a normal person.

Wolf didn’t catch a whiff of blood anywhere about these guests. That, along with the lack of the murderous aura, meant that these were probably some honest-working people out about their business.

Half a minute later three men with big, bushy beards appeared. They wore shoddy leather clothing and, based on how their jackets hung loose from their frames, these people were starving. The only respectable thing about the trio was their axes for chopping lumber. The axes were old, but well maintained.

The leader of the group waved his hand and smiled in a friendly manner.

“Hi there, young ‘un! You don’t need to be afraid, we mean you no harm,” the man started, oblivious of the fact that Wolf wasn’t one bit afraid. “We just caught the scent of your wonderful cooking while working, and we wondered if we could join in? We… we can pay,” the man hesitated while saying the last bit. Wolf could tell that he was lying, but those grumbling stomachs and pitiful frames made him feel sorry for the three of them.

The man was in his forties, but looked like he was in his sixties. The sunken eyes and missing teeth were proof of the hard times he had suffered. His two friends weren’t doing any better, they were just younger.

Wolf thought for a moment, then nodded. These men really appeared to be hungry woodcutters, rather than bandits.

“I’d love to share a meal with you,” he said. “There’s no need for you to pay me anything. It was my luck that a startled deer jumped right in front of me, and it’s your luck that you were in the right place at the right time.

Wolf tried to smile, but the wretched expression he made was enough for these men to realize that this wasn’t a child that had led a happy life. Still, the woodcutters grinned happily, the boy saved them the embarrassment that could’ve happened after the meal. They actually bowed gratefully before sitting down. Wolf noted that they’ve moved to sit across the fire from him. He couldn’t tell whether they were cautious of him, or just considerate.

At a second glance, Wolf decided to believe it was the latter. They didn’t seem too timid and, based on the transfixed way in which they stared at the meat, they most likely didn’t have any ulterior motive. Well, except to pull a dine and dash.

“It’s not done yet, but should be ready soon enough. Are you from a nearby village?” Wolf tried sparking a conversation with the drooling men.

“Nah, our place is too small to be called a village,” a younger lumberjack answered. “This used to be a woodcutter settlement. A few years back we had sixteen farms with just as many families. But, as you already know, everything went to hell after that. Since we couldn’t feed ourselves, some people left. Mainly youths looking for a way to earn easy money after starving for a couple of months–”

The man seemed willing to speak more, but the leader of the trio interrupted him, “Dumb pieces of shit. Now we only have nine farms you see. Those folks never returned, and us that were left behind had to split their families amongst ourselves. Let me tell you, in times like these it’s tough feeding an extra mouth, let alone half a family. And, speaking of feeding… Is the meat done?” the lead woodcutter asked, saliva trickling down the corner of his mouth.

“It’s still slightly rare–” Wolf wanted to say that it would be best to leave it for about a quarter of an hour more, but the younger woodcutter interrupted him.

“We don’t really mind if it’s a bit raw,” the man blurted out, causing Wolf to falter.

“In that case, help yourselves. Just leave the head for me,” Wolf said hesitantly.

He didn’t believe three men could devour a deer, but ears and the tongue were real delicacies. Wolf didn’t feel like sharing those.

Just like he’d expected the three men took a leg each and started eating them like starved animals.

“Chew chew myou knof, your’rem lucky. Bandits humted dwown most game nearby. We used to chew chew chew vive off of humting mour selves. But mnow there’s malmost mno wild animals around. It’s especially harsh at winter. Chew chew mm thish ish good,” the leader spoke and chewed, while Wolf looked at him eating the slightly raw meat with juices running down his chin.

“So what do you eat now?” Wolf asked.

Hearing the question the man stopped chewing and swallowed the meat. “Tree bark, leaves, grass, bugs, eggs if we’re lucky. We make porridge from whatever scraps we find. We trade herbs and timber for flour, salt and meat when merchants pass us by. But we have too many mouths to feed now and not enough men to work, so these days have been really tough on us.”

Wolf looked at him for a moment before asking the obvious question. “Why are you feeding those people?”

“How can I not feed them? I took in my sister and her three wee ones! Kit…” He pointed at the youngest of the three. “… his piece of shit younger brother picked up and left, leaving behind a wife and a baby boy…” The man gnashed his teeth in anger.

“Those we took in are all our kin,” he continued. “We couldn’t leave them to starve. To make matters worse two months ago three more men left to try their luck, Tom included. They came back a month ago with some supplies before they headed out again, but it’s only a matter of time before they get themselves killed–” the man abruptly stopped talking and looked at the meat in his hands helplessly. It was obvious he was angry at the deserters, but that there was nothing he could do about this desperate situation.

“I’m sorry,” he started again, but spoke very quietly. “We used to be simple folk that lived in the forest near the main road. Nobody bothered us, and we lived from hunting, cattle and selling herbs and timber. Now we don’t know what to do, we’re lost. You, you aren’t a wee one either, right?”

The man said with unshed tears in his eyes as he looked at Wolf. Wolf was confused for a moment, not knowing what the man wanted to say, but the man continued talking.

“Where are your parents young ‘un? These cursed times took them from you, didn’t they?” the man explained what he meant to say.

Hearing those words, Wolf’s throat tightened and he clenched his teeth, while the man solemnly nodded. He looked Wolf straight in the eye for a while before clearing his throat.

“You know… If you don’t have anyone you can come over to our place. It’s not much, but at least you’ll have somewhere warm and dry to spend the night. Plus, you won’t be all alone out in the wilderness.”

It was obvious that saying these words didn’t come easy. Especially considering that this man still thought Wolf was a wee one, a mouth to feed.

Wolf felt stifled by this conversation, but his father insisted on treating decent folk decently.

“Thank you for your offer, kind sir, but I’m going to Silver City,” Wolf said flatly. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to see where you live. You see, I can’t eat all that much, nor can I carry around this much roast, sooo...”

Now it was the three men stuffing their faces with meat who didn't seem to understand what Wolf was trying to say. “How about you three bring the leftovers back to your village once we’re done eating?”

The leader stopped eating and quickly swallowed, almost choking on meat. “Thank you. What’s your name, wee one?”

“Wolf. What about yours old sir?”

“Who’s old!?” the leader protested with a laugh, but introduced himself and his companions. “I’m Sean. This is Peter and that’s Kit.”

“Would you mind taking me to see your village sir Sean?” Wolf asked again.

“Just Sean is fine wee Wolf. I’ll take you to the village. You two oafs, once you’re done eating go back to woodchopping. While it’s not even proper spring yet, don’t forget that winter is always around the corner.”

Wolf frowned. This place didn’t even have proper winter when compared with Northshield…

“He keeps yapping about winter even at the beginning of spring,” Kit grumbled, but continued eating when Sean shot him a dark look.

Before Wolf could even begin eating the trio had eaten their fill. Wolf was shocked as he watched them gorge themselves with almost a full kilo of meat each. He didn’t think about the consequences of such unhealthy eating and instead focused on his own meal.

After a while Peter and Kit got up, gave the roast one last look full of yearning and then set off into the forest. For the first time in what seemed like ages Wolf was forced to stifle a laugh. He could see it in their eyes that they wanted to eat more. Yet at the same time those two held their stomachs with pained expressions.

Once Wolf was done eating Sean picked up the remaining roast, while beckoning the boy to follow. Wolf went after the man, going further off road and deep into the forest. After walking leisurely for about half an hour, they reached a manmade clearing in the middle of the woods.

The clearing was around a thousand meters in diameter, with two dozen buildings scattered about in a haphazard manner. The outer buildings were wooden homes, while the central ones seemed to be for cattle and storing food.

Women were still working in the vegetable gardens, preparing for planting. A couple of children around Wolf’s age were playing with an elderly couple overseeing them.

Every single manling Wolf could see was skinny and wore old clothing made out of animal skins. The scene was so pitiful that Wolf understood for the first time what it meant to be destitute. It was like the origins of those world shaking heroes he read about in the history books.

Seeing these people toil and struggle despite their dire straits moved something in Wolf’s heart. The fact that Sean, Peter and Kit hadn’t resorted to banditry and even hated brigands despite their bleak lives made Wolf feel like there was some hope for humans.

The old man suddenly noticed Sean bringing over a child and carrying a roasted buck. After taking a moment to process the sight, the man frowned and started walking towards them with rickety gait.

“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you chopping wood?” the old man complained loudly. “Don’t you know that we can get some food and seeds in exchange for timber?”

His voice was shaky and his jaw toothless, yet despite all that he seemed full of energy.

“Calm down father-in-law. I met this young man in the forest. After we shared a meal he wanted to see where I live and give us some food.” Sean acted very deferential towards this old man that was apparently his father-in-law.

The old man on the other hand completely disregarded his son-in-law and harrumphed. He very rudely moved his face barely a couple of centimeters away from Wolf’s and gave him a close inspection. The father-in-law examined Wolf from head to toe, completely disregarding the fact that Wolf had brought food for them.

*Tsk*

“Don’t you father-in-law me you oaf! How do you know that this young ‘un isn’t a scout for some bandits? How can a child catch a deer all by himself? Especially in these parts! You haven’t even seen a deer in a year, you daft lug. I can bet you haven’t even seen a rabbit. We probably ate the last one two years ago!” the old man fired a barrage at his son-in-law. Apparently he didn’t like him one bit.

“But father-in-law, we found him!” Sean explained. “And, even if he is a bandit scout, there is nothing here they can steal!”

The old father-in law-opened his toothless mouth as if to argue, but after opening and closing it several times he just kept his mouth shut. There was no arguing the fact that they had nothing worth stealing. Heck, they had nothing period.

“And we think he is a Mage. The roast was spinning itself on a stick when we got there,” Sean whispered into the old man’s ear, while Wolf barely held back a sigh. Hubris and convenience were really troublesome. Regardless, Wolf’s impression of those three lumberjacks was good and these people seemed to be decent.

“Old sir, I just wanted to share this meat with all of you. Then I’ll be taking my leave.” As soon as those words left Wolf’s mouth everyone within earshot dropped whatever they were doing and rushed towards the three of them. The children were screaming happily, the women were crying. This was the first decent meal they would have in a long while.

“Stop it! Stop it,” the toothless father-in-law yelled. “We can’t accept such a gift!”

Everyone stopped and looked at the old man like he was crazy. At this moment the grandmother that watched over the village youths walked over.

“Now, now dear. This young man wishes to share with us. And we all know we need it. You shouldn’t put up an act. Instead you should thank him properly.” After saying that she turned towards Wolf and went down on her knees and touched the ground with her forehead, kowtowing.

“What are you doing dear?” the old man exclaimed in shock.

“The same thing you ought to be doing,” the old woman said and then touched her forehead to the ground one more time.

“Thank you for the food, young man. That is the most beautiful gift that someone from the outside brought us in a long time,” the granny said earnestly.

The children mimicked the old woman, happily laughing as they hit their foreheads on the soft grass. After a brief moment the women of the village also went down on their knees and kowtowed. Wolf stared at them in shock. All he did was bring a couple dozen kilos of meat. Was such an insignificant act really worth all this?