The taste of simply spiced meats and boiled vegetables still lingered in Malt’s mouth. Whether it be the tender meat hunted only a few hours prior, or the herbs picked right outside the village, every component of the meal was fresh and locally sourced.

It was a hearty meal that he wouldn’t have dreamt of being able to enjoy whilst he was trudging his way through the forest just a week prior. He stood up from the dinner table and wiped the grease of his lips, bringing the wooden plate to the sink.

Nadia, the second eldest sibling amongst the family, grabbed the plate and added it to the pile.

“Do you mind wiping down the table, Malt?”

“No problem.”

He dampened a rag and began his work, cleaning off any splatters or crumbs that remained on the lacquered tabletop.

Despite her being a few years younger than himself, he didn’t feel at all adverse to complying with her orders. She was after all the main person responsible for taking care of the two younger siblings whilst their mother did apothecary work.

She was capable and honest, if not a little mean to her brother.

Niko, who was rinsing and racking the dishes after his sister had lathered them with soap, frowned.

“Say, why d’you talk to Malt so politely compared to when you talk to me? Aren’t we the same age?”

“Do I even need to say?”

“...what’s that supposed to mean?”

Her eyes remained on the dishes, “I only give respect to the people who deserve it.”

Niko twitched, obviously irked.

“Whad’ya mean? I was out all morning to help hunt the meat you just ate y’know?”

She rolled her eyes, “Like we need more muscle-headed hunters in this place. You should’ve taken up pottery or sewing, something actually useful like Malt did.”

“Oi oi, what man sits down and sews all day?”

“Okay big man, how about you use all those muscles of yours to finish rinsing the dishes? They’re starting to pile up.”

They continued going back and forth in the same manner, not that this was a rare occurrence. Their mother stood just behind them, obviously used to this spectacle.

Misha was keeping watch over Kirk, who was admiring the axe that Malt had made.

He walked over, squatting as to be eye level with the young boy.

“Be careful there, it’s pretty sharp y’know?”

His eyes were sparkling in the way that only a young boy’s could. He clumsily handled the tool, still careful as to keep the sharp end away from his own body.

“Did you make this?”

He nodded in response, shifting the boy’s little hands so that they held the axe properly.

“Want to give it a swing later? I’ll help you out if you want.”

His eyes lit up even more, and with an embarrassing amount of admiration.

“Really?”

“Yeah no problem, it’ll be thanks for you showing me how to pick herbs a few days ago.”

His face stretched into an open mouthed smile.

“That’s a promise then okay?”

He placed his hand on the boy’s messy hair, ruffling it.

“Yeah, promise.”

As he continued admiring the tool, Malt looked up to Misha, who was looking at him gratefully.

It was strange, when she was being taken care of by her mother or older siblings, she acted more to her age: carefree, expressive, and a little clumsy.

Yet when she was taking care of Kirk it felt like she was someone several years older than she actually was. She was more subdued and more attentive, although the look of caring in her eyes didn’t falter.

They nodded at one another in silent thanks.

The m’am, who he had just gotten used to calling her because strangely, everyone in the village seemed to refer to her in the same way, turned to address everyone.

“So, what is everyone up to after lunch?”

Nadia was the first to chime in, “Do you need any help at work, mother?”

“There’s only a few deliveries left, but don’t you want to have fun with the other girls? I hear they’re going to watch the boys hunt today as well.”

She puffed her cheeks, “I don’t have time to be doing useless things like that. Besides, what’s the fun in watching a bunch of sweaty boys trying to show off?”

A hearty chuckle left the m’am’s lips, “Seems like I raised you right! Then I’d appreciate some help, honey.”

Her eyes lit up, she was obviously happy that she was being relied on.

“Of course!”

She then turned to Misha, “Then can I have you take care of Kirk today, honey? You’re fine to go anywhere as long as it’s inside the village.”

Misha nodded, eyes lit with determination.

“Niko, dear, are you going to continue hunting with the boys?”

He shook his head, “Malt and I are gonna go somewhere after this.”

Malt’s lips curled into a smirk, “Not just anywhere, right Niko?”

His hands immediately stopped as the color drained from his face.

“W-what are yo-”

“Oohh, you might hurt Anna’s feelings if you keep your little meetings a secret. Or does that kind of scenario excite you?”

His face was flush with embarrassment now. He opened his mouth, ready to desperately defend himself, but his mother beat him to the chase.

“Oh my, seems like my son has become quite bold.”

“W-wait what?! No that’s-”

“Alright, that’s enough fumbling around for now. The tea’ll be cold by the time we get to Anna’s house if we take any longer.”

He made his way to the stairs, beckoning to him.

After a bit, Niko realized that there was no winning in this situation, so simply dried his hands off and followed Malt, utterly defeated.

Before they made their way down, the m’am raised her voice as to address everyone in the room.

“I want everyone back home before sunset, y’hear?”

Various yes’s and sure’s resonated throughout the room before everyone went off to go about the rest of their day.

***

Anna proved to be both knowledgeable and a good teacher. Whereas the m’am was experienced with herbs and their medicinal properties, Anna’s expertise was in the aesthetics and arrangement of flowers.

The bouquets and arrangements that she created were simply breathtaking, with colors more vibrant than anything he’d ever seen. Each color complimented another and blended into a cohesive, natural looking whole.

That wasn’t all though.

Apparently in this world, the more colorful and vibrant plants had a tendency to harbour a poison of some kind, and so most of the plants inside Anna’s garden were once of the dangerous variety.

She was exceedingly brave in that regard, gathering poisonous plants and ascertaining their effects, using herself as a test subject in order to eliminate their poisonous insides.

Through months or even years, she would plant these hazardous plants and selectively breed them so that the specimens with less potent poisons would remain, whilst the dangerous one’s slowly died out.

Through this laborious process, she essentially neutered their poisonous attributes, leaving only an exceedingly beautiful flower to be used safely in a variety of applications

He’d been told that she’d memorized everyone’s birthdays and gave them a flower in their favorite color every year. Although rare, newlyweds and aspiring lovers would also come to her to attain one of these flowers, which would likely more than suffice as decorations at a wedding, or as a gift when expressing one’s love.

More importantly though, this meant that despite her looking like a protected noble’s daughter, she was actually an integral and capable member of the village (and a quite popular one at that, much to Niko’s disdain).

Beyond all of this, she was also important because she held one skill that no one else in the village possessed.

The three of them sat hunched over a patch of soil peppered with little green sprouts.

Anna reached out her hand and placed it gently on the soil, closing her eyes.

After a few moments, the little buddlings began twitching. Then, seconds later, they began rising from the soil, shaking as they struggled against gravity.

They grew thicker as the stems branched out, eventually flattening into sharp, grass like leaves. The little buds eventually swelled larger and larger, until they bursted open, allowing the pure white petals within to splay out.

Malt’s jaw hung slack, this was the first time that he’d gotten to see magic up close, and it was...well, magical. The power to boost growth was simply astonishing, if they’d been an agricultural village, this power would be heavily vied for.

Seeing this, it was pretty evident why they needed the sturdy walls they had.

Anna was attractive, noble looking, knowledgeable, and could use magic.

With the whole scare of kidnappers- no, even considering the more unsavory boys in the village, there was a need for her to be protected, whether she wanted to or not.

Unluckily (or maybe luckily) for her, she didn’t have an overly impressive mana pool.

She wobbled a bit, threatening to topple over.

Almost immediately, Niko grabbed both her shoulders to steady her. His brows were furrowed in worry.

“Are you okay?”

Ooh, smooth one there.

She nodded, rubbing her temples.

“Yes, looks like I overexerted myself a bit. Sorry about that.”

Malt shook his head, “Nah that was my fault, sorry for making you show me your magic so suddenly.”

Her lips curved into a little smile, “No it’s fine really, I’m glad that I could show off my magic to you.”

“No kidding, that was amazing! Though I think we should end today’s lessons here.”

“I suppose you’re right, it’s nearly dusk anyway.”

Malt eyed the plant for a while. Seemingly coming to a decision, he turned to her again.

“Say, do you mind if I take one of these?”

She looked a little confused, “Huh? Well I’d be fine with it but...well I suppose I can trust you with it. Make sure not to touch it directly okay? You'll start feeling really sick if you ingest even trace amounts of it.”

“Yeah for sure, thanks again.”

He plucked out one of the flowers with a piece of cloth, carefully wrapping it up.

“Alright, I’m going to do a little self study now.”

“Go ahead, feel free to use anything at the table.”

He turned to Niko, who had unconsciously forgotten to let go of Anna’s shoulders. A smirk formed on his face.

“Well don’t have too much fun now, y’hear Niko?”

His face morphed from worry to embarrassment in a manner of moments. He quickly let go of her, leaning away.

Anna simply sat there softly chuckled at his antics. If anything, she was enjoying this more than anyone else was.

As he approached the table, the smirk was washed from his face and his eyes narrowed.

It was time to work.

From a little leather rucksack, he brought out several packets of parchment, each bulging with unknown components.

He unwrapped the little packets, all of which were covered in beeswax in order to make them waterproof.

Inside the first was a few pinches of some pinkish powder that vaguely resembled rock salt, only vibrantly pink.

This was created from that pinkish herb that he’d used so often during his time in the forest.

According to the m’am, it was an herb that actually suppressed mana, making it exceedingly dangerous to beings that held lots of mana within them. More importantly, it was still plenty dangerous to beings with less mana within them, causing dizziness and anemia like symptoms. It didn’t seem to affect him personally though, which although weird worked in his favor.

Thanks to Kirk he was able to find many places where the herb grew. But he wasn’t interested in the herb itself, he was interested in the little frilled lizards that lived near the herb, the kind that attacked Misha.

When he’d finally caught one, he killed it and harvested a little sack near its throat that he assumed was where it stored the suppressant. Sure enough, it was filled to the brim with an exceedingly potent solution, more concentrated than anything he would’ve been able to find himself.

He let the solution sit in a bowl until the solution separated, similarly to how cloudy water turns clear after a while of stillness.

He scooped out the water and let the gloppy pink stuff at the bottom dry in the sun, far from the village, where it crystallized to form this rough powder.

When he tested the stuff, sure enough, only a pinch of the stuff could contaminate a large tankard of water.

It was perfect for his use.

He unpacked a dozen more packets, each containing either more of the powder or small, tea like leaves.

The collection of dried herbs consisted of various poisonous flora such as Castor oil, Dieffenbachia, and Azalea, which had effects ranging from abdominal pain, to diarrhea, to slowed heart rate and dizziness.

Before he began he moistened a rag and placed it over his mouth and nose, covering his hands with elbow length beeswaxed gloves he’d borrowed.

Once everything was ready, he began his work.

The first thing he did was package the herbs and powder into small thin linen fabrics, which he tied at their tops with hemp string to make little things not too dissimilar to tea bags.

He then braided them all together to form a string of them, similarly to how strings of garlic are braided.

Next he produced a few flint arrowheads and a wooden container covered with a tied parchment lid.

The container held a salve-like mixture that he’d made by boiling and mashing poison parsnip and water. When it touched skin, it caused a monstrous rash that caused intense, burn like pains.

He could only imagine how it would feel in an open wound.

Being more careful than ever, he used a piece of linen to lather the arrowheads in the stuff. These arrowheads would eventually be fastened onto javelins, completing his arsenal.

Finally, he wrapped up all his finished products, making sure to cover them up completely so that the smell wouldn’t be all too obvious.

He peeled the gloves off and took off his mask, still not willing to touch his eyes before his hands were thoroughly washed.

He turned around and leaned against the table, wiping the sweat off his brow. A ragged sigh of relief left his mouth, but his grim complexion didn’t change.

The dirty work was just beginning, after all.

As he scanned the garden, a thoroughly flushed Niko, looking more embarrassed than he’d ever seen him (impossible as that sounds), caught his eye. At closer inspection, he could just spot a small flower in Anna’s hair, one that wasn’t there previously.

An amused smile crossed Malt’s face.

So he was a romantic after all huh?

Bagging all of his products, he made off to their direction.

***

The bright moon was nearly directly overhead now.

The forest was lit well enough to allow a human like him to traverse with relatively decent speed, but still dark enough to obscure his figure in the night.

He donned his ragged gambeson, finding it to be strangely nostalgic as he did so. It was also tighter than he’d remembered, which he didn’t know how to feel about.

He’d already recovered his gear and finished preparations before sundown, now all that was left was to carry out the actual plan.

He bundled up the four javelins that he’d made, making sure to cover the tips in a thick cloth. He slung the bundle over his shoulder and did the same to the rucksack containing his little teabags of poison.

Next he hung the axe onto a little leather loop near his waist. A slight tinge of guilt pricked at him. Even if the axe came back undamaged, having Kirk handle an axe that had been used to do such things would leave a bad taste in his mouth.

He continued, reasoning that he’d have to do with borrowing another axe from master.

Finally, he held up the little steel utility knife that Misha had given him, the same one they’d used throughout their trip. Being the only piece of steel kit he had, it would undoubtedly become an indispensable tool.

After looping it and its sheathe to his belt, he was now completely ready.

He turned to Niko, who was still heartily snoring in his bed. Hopefully, he would continue to do so until he came back.

As quietly as he could, he climbed onto the window frame, turning around so that he was fully hanging flush against the wall of the house. Then, as gently as he could, he let go. As he made impact with the ground he used his knees as much as possible as to muffle the sound.

For a few seconds, he only sat there, listening.

After he was completely sure no one had heard him, he set off into the woods.

One last time, he turned around to gaze at the house. Despite all the risk, a low whisper escaped from his lips.

“I’ll be back.”