My villain wants to save himself, but the yandere heroine disagrees

"Stranger?" asked an old man with a white beard.

Although the old man is old, his figure is still upright and he looks like he is still strong.

Judging from the young and middle-aged men surrounding him, their status should be quite high.

"Yes." Orson nodded, and then continued, "Wise and brave Laplanders, please allow me to pay my highest respects to you here. We are folklorists from the south. We come here to compile your stories into a book. We are very interested in your way of life, your heroes, and your gods.

After you come, your story will be told all over the continent."

Seeing that Orson had stated his purpose, the old man narrowed his eyes, as if thinking about something, and then he nodded.

"So, tell me, what do you need?" he asked.

"We don't need supplies, food, or shelter. Of course, if you can provide them, we would be grateful to you. But as I said before, we only need stories. I believe that in the vast Lapland, you must have many stories that have been passed down from ancient times to the present. These are all we want to know."

"Okay." The old man nodded, then signaled the young men behind him to lay down their weapons.

Orson gave him a very good feeling. Although there was no real sense of closeness, this polite attitude did make people feel comfortable during communication.

"There is an vacant house in the village. The owner passed away last month. If you don't mind, you can live there." The old man said and pointed in a direction.

There are less than twenty houses in this village, most of which are made of earth or wood. Although they are not very effective in keeping out the cold, they are enough to light a fire inside.

"Thank you, generous old man." Orson hurriedly thanked the other party when he heard him say this.

"But these are not without cost," the other party added.

"When you stay in the village temporarily, you must not disturb other people. I don't care whether you are here to take notes or for any other purpose. Once you disturb our normal life, you must leave here immediately. Do you understand?"

"Of course we know this." Orson nodded, then took Olivia and Elsa with him, and followed their instructions to the abandoned house.

Because it was in the snowy field, even though the house had been abandoned for a long time, there were no insects and not much dust. After a simple cleaning, there was enough space for three people to live in.

"Orson, are you so good at chatting?" Elsa sat on a wooden chair, looking at Orson who was picking out ashes from the stove, and said with emotion.

"It felt like those people wanted to chase us away just now, but after hearing what you said, they were happy to keep you here."

"Yeah, if it were me who negotiated, the result might be different." Olivia also echoed.

"That's the charm of language," Orson said with a smile.

"We all look respectable and don't fit in with the people here. They will definitely have a preconceived idea that we will speak to them in a haughty and condescending manner. But in fact, when I lower my attitude, the contrast will make them think we are kind. Of course, this is indeed the case." Orson explained, and after cleaning out the ash, he put it into a wooden basin and then buried it in the snow outside.

If you want to save trouble, of course pouring it outside is the most convenient way, but this will not have a good impact on others.

When Orson came back from the door, he pointed to the stove.

"Next time when we light a fire and cook, the house will be much warmer."

"I know, we need a stove in Prussia's winter, too."

Although the nobles had magical facilities that could ensure a constant and comfortable temperature, ordinary people had stoves in their homes. Olivia had seen this during her inspection, so it was not new.

"Should we go and question them now?" Elsa asked at this time.

"No need." Orson shook his head.

"When we came in just now, I looked around and saw that most people in the village looked at us with a wary look. They were probably afraid that we might do something bad to them."

Orson explained.

There is no way. After all, on the snowfield, even within the village, internal strife may occur due to competition for some key resources, not to mention the conflict between outsiders and locals.

In this case, knocking on their door rashly will only be considered harassment and no useful intelligence will be obtained.

"Then what are we going to do now?"

"Just live here quietly."

As Orson said this, he took out a bundle of firewood from his backpack, placed it at the bottom of the stove, and lit it with a fire starter.

"Your Highness Elsa, you probably haven't experienced living in a house like this before, right? Just treat it as a novel experience."

When Elsa heard Orson say this, she felt a little anxious, but she still nodded obediently.

Then, Orson started to stew broth on the stove. For a moment, the whole house was filled with the aroma of meat, and the temperature gradually became warmer as the fire burned.

Orson's plan is

simple.

When he first entered the village, he observed that there was no smoke coming out of many chimneys.

The situation meant that the village was running low on firewood and many people were unable to heat their houses.

If they see smoke coming out of their chimneys, they will naturally want to come here to keep warm.

And what kind of person can't resist temptation?

The first to be affected are of course the children.

Chapter 10: Hunting Party

Although Orson's plan was a good one, the children were still being watched by adults, so it was not until two hours later, when the house had been warm for a long time, that Orson heard footsteps on the snow around him.

However, the other party did not come in directly, but lingered at the door, seeming to be hesitant.

Orson opened the door, and at this time, several children appeared at the door.

In terms of age, they range from five to twelve years old.

When the oldest boy saw Orson open the door, he quickly protected several younger children behind him.

Orson looked at the other party's subconscious reaction, smiled, and then asked: "What are you doing here?"

"..."

The boy was silent for a moment, then pointed to the chimney.

"I see you guys are making a fire here."

"Um, so what?"

"It should be warmer in the house. We want to sit here."

The boy directly stated his purpose.

Afterwards, he thought he would be rejected by Orson, but unexpectedly, Orson nodded directly.

"Okay, you can come in."

Orson said this and took the initiative to give up his seat to a few people.

The boy looked at Orson hesitantly, then came to the door of the room. After watching all the children go into the room, he turned around and looked at Orson.

"Um...thank you."

"It's okay." Orson shook his head.

The faces of several children were frozen red in the wind and snow. Although Orson was not a compassionate person, he didn't mind helping them in this situation.

What's more, it was his own purpose to contact them.

Orson and the boy also came into the room.

"What's your name, little guy?" Orson asked.

"Goodwin," the boy replied.

After entering the room, the sudden rise in temperature made the boy's nose feel a little sticky. After sucking his nose, he glanced around the room, looking a little nostalgic.

"Have you been in this room before?" Orson asked curiously.

"Yes." Goodwin nodded, and then explained: "My parents and I used to live here, but our tribe went out hunting and was targeted by wolves. My parents died in the invasion of the wolf pack."

"From then on, I lived with Natasha's sister and was adopted by her family." Goodwin said this, pointing to a brown-haired girl who was sitting by the fire with several other children not far away.

"Poor child." Orson sighed and patted Goodwin's shoulder gently.

In a village like this, every life is a precious resource, and the loss of two young and strong laborers can have a significant impact on the village.

"Nothing." Goodwin shook his head expressionlessly. "This is the fate of every Laplander. We devote our lives to the wind and snow, and our souls return to the wind and snow after death. This is what my parents taught me."

"Snow and wind..." Orson nodded and silently memorized the information in his heart. Then, he looked at Olivia and Elsa and winked at them.

Just now in the house, Orson discussed the next arrangements with the two of them.

Olivia and Elsa build relationships with the children, while Orson goes to try to join the village's hunt and help the villagers.

When the two saw Orson looking at them, they nodded in understanding and made a gesture.

"Goodwin, there's broth on the stove. If you're hungry later, share some." Orson patted Goodwin's shoulder. "I'm going to be out for a while. During this time, you can chat with the two sisters here, play games, etc. There's plenty of firewood."

Having said this, Orson turned around and walked out of the room.

When they arrived at the entrance of the village, they saw the villagers gathered at the door of a large house. The person leading them was the old man who had received Orson and his party before.

It has been daylight for four hours now, and the day is already halfway through.

After each family finishes their housework, it is time to organize hunting and gathering resources.

When Orson just entered the village, he knew that the supplies in the village were almost used up, so the adults must be organized to go out today. It was also because of this that the children were able to sneak out and sneak to the door of the temporary residence of Orson and others.

When the villagers saw Orson approaching, they all looked at him with confusion.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I have no hostility. I just want to join your hunt. Is that okay?"

"Didn't you say you were a folklorist? A man who wields a pen goes hunting?" The old village chief frowned when he heard Orson's words.

"Or is it that everything you told me before was a lie, and you are not a folklorist at all? Are you a mercenary? Or a fugitive?"

Hearing what the old village chief said, the other villagers immediately put their hands on their weapons. Although their weapons were crudely made and worn out, there was no sign of retreat on their faces.

"No, no, no." Orson shook his head.

"Of course I am a folklorist, but at the same time, if I were not in good health, how could I have traveled through mountains and rivers and overcome all obstacles to get here?" Orson patted his body.

"I'm pretty strong. Although I'm not very good at fighting, I can still knock down one or two adults. Give me a weapon and I can help the village. At the very least, I can help you carry things, right?"

"...But we didn't give you any benefits." The village chief said hesitantly.

"Your willingness to take us in is the greatest help," Orson said with a smile. "And we will be staying here for a few more days. During this time, I hope to have a good relationship with you."

As Orson said this, he took out another book from his arms.

"Besides, as I said, I am a folklorist, so I need to understand your way of life. Being able to survive in such a harsh environment is a great thing, isn't it?"

"..."

Hearing what Orson said, the old village chief nodded, then took the bow and arrow from his waist and handed it to Orson.

"Can you shoot arrows?"

"I know a little."

"Well, then just follow us." The village chief said this and returned to the front of the team.

Afterwards, without any eloquent speeches or inspiring slogans, this team of more than a dozen young men and women walked out of the village, looking for life in the white snowfield with the hopes of the entire village.

Orson was carrying a bow and arrow and walking at the end of the team. Looking at the man in front of him, he began to chat with him.

"Big brother, how old are you this year?"

"..." The man tilted his head to look at Orson, then turned away again.

"Try not to talk while hunting." He left this advice and then ignored Orson.

Looking at the other party's reaction, Orson sighed helplessly.

There's nothing I can do, maybe that's just the other person's lifestyle.

Chapter 11: Tensions

On the snowfield, a place where a village can temporarily settle down must have its own specific advantages.

For example, here, because of the wind shelter, sunshine and low terrain, the natural conditions are relatively good in the snowfield.

However, even humans know that the conditions here are good, so various animals naturally come here to move around.

In addition to non-aggressive creatures such as snow hares and fish, wolves, eagles, bears and other creatures are also active here. They are both prey and competitors of humans.

The reason they came in a large group to collect firewood and food this time was to guard against wolves or strong bears that might also go out hunting together.