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

"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.

Previously, when they were out, they encountered a wolf pack of an extremely abnormal number, which led to the death of Goodwin's parents in the snow.

About an hour after leaving the village, everyone arrived at a coniferous forest.

In the cold snowfield, only this kind of cold-resistant tree can barely survive. A few people with axes came out and began to chop the trees in the coniferous forest and collect them back for daily use in making fire, cooking and heating.

The others were on guard around the coniferous forest, trying to see if they could hunt any prey.

This went on for three hours. The woodcutters changed groups after groups. Even Orson went up to chop wood for half an hour. In order to avoid being suspected by the villagers, he did not deliberately expose his strength in front of everyone. He was just a little more efficient than ordinary people.

Even so, he still received the approval of the old village chief.

The old village chief came to Orson and looked at him with slight sweat on his forehead, without hiding his admiration.

"Young man, you are quite skilled. Do you usually do a lot of work?"

"It's all brute force." Orson wiped the sweat off his forehead and said casually.

"By the way, old man, I haven't asked your name yet. My name is Orson, what's yours?"

"Me? You can call me Ilyich." The old man said this, took the axe from Orson's hand, handed it to another person who had rested, and then started chatting with him.

"You said earlier that you were a folklorist, right?"

"Yes." Orson nodded.

"It's not that I can't talk to you now. Tell me, what do you want to know?"

"Well... that might take quite a while." Orson said this, sorted out his thoughts, and then spoke:

"First of all, the climate in Lapland is really terrible. Even if you move 400 to 500 kilometers south, the climate will be much better. Haven't you villagers ever thought about moving south?"

"Migrate south?" Ilyich touched his beard and shook his head when he heard Orson say this.

"Of course there are people in our village who have had this thought, but most people don't think so."

"If we get used to warmth, then when we encounter severe cold or snow again, we will no longer be used to them. Instead, we will dislike and hate them. So of course we won't want to leave."

"Why? You don't have to do this." Orson asked in confusion. "Of course I admire and respect your hardworking character, but... you don't have to bear this kind of hardship."

"Really?" Ilyich said this and shook his head.

"I do not think so."

"why?"

"My elder generation and the generation before them have been instilling a truth in us since we were young, and they have been passing it on to us."

"The environment of this world will never remain unchanged. When the environment becomes harsh, only those who have adapted to the harsh environment in advance can withstand the difficulties and survive."

Having said this, Ilyich looked at Orson and pointed at the coniferous forest.

"Take this forest for example. During the two warmest months of the year, when the snow melts, they will take advantage of this limited time to take root and sprout, and continue to grow. This way they can withstand the coming severe cold and snow. If it were your southern trees, they wouldn't be able to withstand it at all, right?"

"This kind of tree can still survive in the south, but what about the trees in the south when they go north?"

Orson certainly understood this simple truth, but he still asked in confusion:

"Of course I understand what you said, but there is one thing I don't understand. Are you so sure that in the future, the environment will be so bad that humans can't survive?"

"Yeah." Ilich nodded. "Prepare for a rainy day, that's what you southerners say, even though it never rains in the snow. We are not like you who can train so many powerful magicians and warriors. They have good physiques and may be able to survive in the future when the environment deteriorates, and even live better than us. But there are also a lot of ordinary people in the south, right?"

“We don’t want to be like them, so we just have to survive here.”

"..." Upon hearing this, Orson fell silent.

He already had a certain understanding in his heart.

The idea rooted in Ilyich's heart, and even in the hearts of all local Laplanders, is probably related to their beliefs.

Perhaps the gods they believe in have once issued an oracle stating that the world will end in the future and the environment of the entire continent will deteriorate. In this case, only by adapting to the changing climate in advance can one survive in the future. This is why most Laplanders are unwilling to move south.

But there may also be a human factor involved.

That is the political factor in the South.

When you go to the south, you are not only controlled but also discriminated against.

Orson was well-versed in history books, and naturally knew the past of the Dukedom of Lucia.

In order to launch his war of conquest, their ambitious duke imposed numerous taxes on the country to support his army.

A harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger. Perhaps compared to being oppressed to death in the south, the reason many outsiders come here is actually because of policy factors.

Afterwards, in order to prevent their descendants from going south and suffering, they weaved this white lie.

I'm afraid I'll have to continue asking for the specific reasons.

As Orson was thinking this and was about to ask a question about religious beliefs, a wolf howl was heard from deep in the woods.

It was getting dark, and everyone was preparing to return to the village after collecting this batch. They had caught a lot of wood and prey, enough for the next week. However, at this time, the wolves set their sights on the villagers.

After the wolf howls, more than a dozen wolves rushed out of the woods at once, and behind them, there seemed to be countless companions.

Ilyich stood up instantly, holding the hunting knife at his waist, and stood at the front of the team, watching the movements of the wolves in front of him nervously.

Chapter 12: Three Wings

The wolves and the villagers confronted each other, and neither side chose to take the first move.

The two sides confronted each other for several minutes, and neither dared to let down their guard.

Just at this moment, another burst of wolf howls came from behind the wolf pack, and then the wolves in front of the villagers turned around and retreated back into the woods.

It was at this time that the people in the village breathed a sigh of relief.

Although humans are much larger than wolves, in such harsh areas, even a simple wound infection could take a person's life. Therefore, everyone tried not to fight if possible and just confronted the wolves, keeping out of each other's way.

At this time, the pack animals that had set out from the village also came over, pulling a wooden cart. Everyone put the supplies on the cart and then walked back.

Orson also rushed to Ilyich at this time.

"Village Chief Ilich, what happened just now? Why did the wolves retreat?"

"It happens sometimes. If we had fewer people, the wolves might attack. But with our numbers, the wolf king has to consider whether other wolf packs around us will take the opportunity to annex us."

Ilyich walked on the snow and answered with a smile.

"Don't think wolves are beasts. They are no dumber than humans. Like humans, they like to stick together and have their own tribe and territory. They don't recognize other wolf packs."

"Of course I know that."

Orson nodded in understanding.

If there had been a fight just now, it would have been normal for the villagers to suffer losses if Orson had not used some strength. It was also a good thing for Orson to avoid fighting as much as possible.

Next, Orson followed the team back to the village in silence. At the entrance of the village, people unloaded the supplies from the carts pulled by pack animals.

The firewood on this large cart weighs at least a thousand pounds, which is quite a burden for the beasts of burden. When it is transported to the homes, each household can only get about fifty pounds of firewood. Therefore, most people spend most of the daytime eating and heating in the big room in the village except for going home to sleep at night, which can save firewood.

As for the food that the villagers carried on their return journey, for a village of forty or fifty people, they would not be able to eat it for long even if they were frugal.

Therefore, frequent hunting and gathering is a daily life here.

The collectivist system is also the optimal institutional solution here.

When Orson saw that every household only left a little firewood in their own room and moved the rest of the firewood to a large house in the center, he roughly understood the living conditions in the village.

This is the best solution under the current circumstances. If they are determined to continue living here, then this is the only option.

Of course, when everyone returned to the village, it was already dark. Orson saw that the only place with lights on in the village was the house where he was staying temporarily. After saying hello to the village chief Ilyich, he returned to his temporary residence.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw that there were a lot more people in the room than during the day.

In addition to children, many elderly people also gathered here. Orson was not unhappy about this. Instead, it just achieved his goal.

It was also the right decision to leave Elsa and Olivia here. The two of them used their social skills and were chatting with an old lady here. The children also gathered around them.

After seeing Orson open the door and come in, some people obviously felt a little embarrassed and avoided their gazes.

Orson didn't say anything. He stood at the door. Seeing this, Olivia also stood up and walked to him.

"Are you back?" She said this, walked forward and gently brushed the snow off Orson's clothes.

"Yeah." Orson nodded.

"Hunting outside, did you get any useful information?"

"A little bit, but I didn't ask in detail. I'll tell you in detail after dark."

"Okay." Olivia nodded. After checking that Orson's clothes were wrinkle-free, she looked up at Orson with satisfaction. "Nothing unexpected happened, right?"

"Yes, but it's not a big problem. We encountered a pack of wolves, but they didn't attack us. I guess they were afraid of us."

"Well, you've been out for so long, I guess you haven't eaten." Olivia said this, turned around, and handed a bowl of soup on the stove to Orson. "I left a bowl of broth for you. Sorry, the environment in the snowfield is like that, there are not many seasonings, just make do with it, I'll make it for you later, you can eat as much as you want."

"That's what you said." Orson took the bowl with a smile and drank the soup in it.

Olivia saw Orson's actions and showed a helpless look. Then she took out a handkerchief from her arms, handed it to Orson's mouth, and gently wiped the corners of his mouth.

At this moment in the room, except for Elsa who was staring at the two people's affectionate behavior, everyone else gathered around the old woman and listened to her tell stories.

This old woman seems to be a veteran in the village. The wrinkles on her face are like the growth rings of an old tree, indicating her longevity.

At this moment, she was telling the children the story of the snow monster. While listening to the story, Elsa watched the interaction between Olivia and Orson. For some reason, she felt a little dissatisfied.

Even at this time, the two were still flirting.

Humph, they are worthy of being an engaged couple, they are really a model couple.

It seemed that even Elsa herself did not realize that she had already felt a little jealous and envious. However, a term came to Elsa's ears at this time.

"Children, guess who drove the snow monster away in the end?"

"Grandma Sherni, you've told us this story ten thousand times. My ears are almost callused!" a little child complained.