The Childhood Friend of the Villainess in a Romance Fantasy

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: TempWane

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It’s nice that you are excited, but—Father, aren’t you going a bit too fast?

At seven years old and 140 centimeters tall, my height wasn’t exactly normal, but Father’s was even more extreme. Even without the joint issues that often troubled tall, heavy people in the world I used to live in, Father was able to fully utilize the powerful muscles of his large body.

Charging forward in a straight line, Father hurtled towards the male moose, looking every bit like a fierce warrior.

To be honest, he looked less like a medieval warrior and more like a barbarian straight out of the Conan Saga. At least he wasn’t shirtless—that was a small comfort.

Even if I was smaller than kids my age, I still had some of the Delkis blood in me. I couldn’t dash forward like a bullet the way Father did, but I could keep up a steady pace without getting tired.

Even an herbivore could be intimidating if it was large. You didn’t need something on the level of an elephant or a rhino to feel that.

I carefully circled around the area where Father was wrestling with the male moose and crept over to where the female moose lay collapsed.

Up close, the moose looked even bigger. I wasn’t sure how large real moose were, but this moose was likely much larger, as if it had been influenced by the ‘fantasy world’ itself.

Yet, this large mother moose lay fallen on the ground, barely able to stand.

The red blood spilled on the white snow gave off faint wisps of steam. Part of the snow was melting from the blood spreading out.

And nestled in her embrace were her fawns.

An arrow longer than my arm was embedded in her leg, blood gushing from the wound. It looked like it might have hit an artery.

“Mmmmooooo!”

The mother moose bellowed as she caught sight of me emerging from behind a tree. Even while unable to use her leg, her head shot up as she cried out, making for an intimidating sight.

The male moose, locked in combat with Father, twisted his head around at the sound.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

But Father wasn’t one to back down so easily.

Father held the antlered moose’s head wedged under his arm, standing his ground, looking like something straight out of a Greek or Roman myth.

Thwack!

I watched, speechless, as Father delivered a knee strike to the moose’s neck.

“……”

I turned my gaze away from Father, who seemed to be having far too much fun wrestling the moose.

The mother moose lay on the ground with her fawns burrowing into her side. Even though the fawns were actually larger than me, weren’t all baby animals inherently cute?

If they used all their strength, they might be able to fight me off, but they didn’t seem to consider it, perhaps too young to grasp the concept.

Could this really count as a ‘proper negotiation’?

Father probably wanted to set things up so I would have a 100% chance of success, but I couldn’t see how bullying a scared fawn huddling against its mother could really be counted as a real achievement.

“Well, then…”

Despite myself, I felt tense.

What if I got too close and the mother kicked me with her good leg?

What if the fawns instinctively tried to headbutt me? Or kicked my chest with their hind legs?

…But bringing me here meant that people in our family usually handled situations like this.

In that case, I could do it, too. It would hurt if I got hit, but I could manage.

With that thought, I convinced myself, glancing over at Father again.

Father still held the moose’s head firmly under his arm. Human endurance was said to be among the best in the animal kingdom, wasn’t it? He gripped one of the moose’s antlers with his free hand. Judging by appearances, it seemed like he could snap it with that grip alone, even if he probably couldn’t.

The moose, foam at its mouth, was gasping for breath.

With sweat dripping down Father’s face, he nodded at me with a smile.

“……”

With that reassuring smile, I turned back to once again faced the mother moose, who lay on the ground covered in blood, staring at me.

Nature doesn’t lie. There are simply those who eat and those who are eaten.

Ironically, here in this world, places that don’t operate this way usually end up dead. So this was right.

This was right, but still…

“Mmmmoooo…”

Ah, I think I understand why people become vegetarians. I could see how if you’re even a little sensitive, you might feel this way.

…But I had no intention of becoming one of those people.

Step by step, I moved slowly toward the moose, my body tense as I crouched slightly, ready to spring back at any moment. Just as my father and older brothers had taught me, I kept my body prepared, positioned to ram my shoulder forward if needed.

The fawns, huddling closer to their mother, noticed me and looked at me with fearful eyes. I tried not to pay attention. If I failed to do my job here, I probably wouldn’t manage it later either.

Even if I failed, I had to try. I was a Delkis, after all.

“Mmmmooo!”

The mother moose let out another loud cry.

Moose are independent creatures. No matter how strong and dangerous a predator is, they were still herbivores. They have plenty of food to eat compare to carnivores, so there’s no need to gather in groups. They only form family units for mating and raising their fawns until they’re old enough to be independent.

So, no matter how desperately she called, no companions would come.

I knew this already, so I stayed calm and kept moving forward. The bloodstains had been unsettling at first, but after staring at them for so long, they didn’t bother me as much.

“Mmmmooooo!”

Even as she cried, the male moose was caught by Father, and no help was coming.

“Mmmmoooo…”

That’s right. There would be no ‘companion’ to come.

But—

“Grrrrr…”

“…What?”

“…Hmm?”

“…Moo?”

That’s right. The forest wasn’t home to just moose and humans.

*

Of course, that didn’t mean wolves were constantly popping up either. There were wolves and bears here, but encounters with people weren’t frequent.

Moose were hunted for meat, hides, and sometimes even for riding, but they weren’t dangerous to humans. Fierce, yes, but they preferred fleeing over fighting if they saw people. There was almost no risk of attack unless we provoked them first.

But carnivores would often attack people first if they came across them. This harsh land endured winter all year round, so it was best to eat whatever food they could find.

And because the people of the Barony knew this, they actively hunted any wolves or bears they saw around here.

This way, they sent a clear message to the predators: This is a dangerous place, and if you come down here for food, you’ll die, so stay away.

It was similar to how moose would charge at predators with their antlers instead of running away when attacked.

In the wild, the distinction between humans and beasts didn’t matter much.

Everyone was just struggling to avoid becoming food for the stronger ones.

“Elsie, come here.”

Father muttered softly.

Wolves rarely came this close to the manor’s territory. If they had, it was likely because the pack’s leader had recently changed. A young alpha wouldn’t know enough to realize how dangerous humans could be.

To them, humans were just smaller than the deer they were used to eating.

The moose here were larger than the people of the Barony, and the wolves here were larger than ordinary ones too. They were almost worthy of the name Fenrir.

They were slightly smaller than the moose, but honestly, I doubted they could fill their bellies with just this moose family alone.

I stood behind Father, as he told me to.

The moment he heard the wolves, Father let the moose go. The moose must have heard it too, as it ran right past me towards the female.

And before it could put up any real resistance, it was caught and hunted.

The wounded mother moose, along with her fawns who had nestled close to her, all screamed as they became the wolves’ next meal.

Thanks to the sacrifice of the moose family, we had gained some time. I shot a flare into the sky with the magic tool I always carried, so people from the Barony would be coming soon.

The wolf pack didn’t seem to know that. Normally, they would be startled by the flare and run, but these wolves, bold as they were, continued their feast right in front of them.

A few young wolves, unable to join the pack in eating, turned their heads towards us.

I looked up at Father. He stared steadily at the wolves, holding his favorite bow.

One of the wolves was staring right at me.

Maybe it was its first time seeing a human child.

Did it wonder how I might taste?

My heart raced wildly.

I told myself I’d be fine if I just trusted Father, but I couldn’t help thinking of the moose who had just died. Maybe those fawns had felt the same way I did now?

And then, suddenly, my hand began to glow with a faint green light.

As if responding to the pounding beat of my heart.