Turns out, ‘Webcap’ was known as ‘Deadly Webcap’ by the locals. Good thing she noticed me filling my backpack with them -- that would have been embarrassing to bring back to the village.

She had returned much sooner than I’d expected, and she didn’t come alone. The village butcher and leatherworker arrived as well, plus another four. They brought baskets and got to work. I watched in awe as they made fast work of the bear. In minutes, it was completely taken apart.

I helped to carry the loaded baskets to a cart with a couple of mules at the edge of the forest. It took a few trips, but nothing of the bear was left behind. The cart creaked and groaned under all the weight.

All along, I felt a familiar camaraderie while working as a team. I was physically fit my whole life, and firefighting was something I had yearned to do. Working as a firefighter made me feel like I was part of a team and a community. Also, I thought it would get me noticed by the ladies because otherwise I wasn’t all that good looking. Still, I didn’t get a girlfriend then, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to get one here by looking like a monster.

At the village, we were welcomed like heroes bringing back plunder. Lacking refrigeration, large portions of meat were distributed to everyone in the village to be cooked the same day. The remaining meat went off to the butcher to be preserved by salting, smoking, drying, or pickling. The giant pelt was hung up to be processed at the leatherworker’s workshop. In return, I was promised free food and beer at the inn for a month. I was thrilled about that deal as it took a huge burden off my mind.

While Frank focused on preparing the meat at the inn, I had a chore to run. It wasn’t winter outside, but the sleep at night was chilly -- wool blanket or not. There were no fireplaces in the nave itself, only in the kitchen and a smaller one in my room. I had noticed kids running into the kitchen to warm up on occasion. Mine wasn’t lit, perhaps as they might have run low on firewood after the winter, keeping just enough to cook in the kitchen.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and fix that. I went back to the forest after borrowing the cart without the mules, and a big ax from the blacksmith. I knew enough not to start cutting down fresh, wet wood for the fire. Instead I searched out dead trees that didn’t survive the winter and weren’t rotten to take back to the cart. Compared to the strength I was used to back on Earth, now I felt as strong as three men. I could drag around tree trunks, and the big ax I had borrowed felt light in my hands.

I carted the timber back to the village, and chopped it down into firewood at the side of the abbey. It took an hour to do, but it got my blood flowing, and I worked up quite the appetite. The day was productive, I leveled three times, collected firewood, and ensured food for a month. After stacking up all the firewood, it was time to get some grub, so I walked to the village square.

The inn was abuzz with villagers, and flooded with the scents of meat, bread and ale. This time, the music and laughter didn’t die when I walked in through the door. The villagers had warmed up to me a little, but still kept a safe distance.

Amelia wasn’t around, as she was probably busy cooking lunch for the kids. However, the cute huntress was, but I still didn’t know her name, and by this point I was too embarrassed to ask. I hoped that someone would call her by name, so that I would at least know.

She sat at the same table by the window that I used before, and she wasn’t alone. An old man wearing a funny hat was with her. He didn’t look so well, maybe he was ill.

I took a seat, and the innkeeper eagerly brought out a meal for me with a satisfied smile on his face. It was an entire roasted bear heart the size of a chicken, plus a side of potatoes. That took the wind right out of my appetite in an instant. He must have thought they were doing me great honor by serving up the best part of the bear. Everyone was eating bear meat cooked into pies, and I would have much rather preferred that, but didn’t want to make a scene about it.

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The huntress was munching down on meat pies like she was starved for a week. I envied her meal over mine. I nibbled at the potatoes while slowly coming to terms with my unfortunate fate -- I was starving, organ meat was nutritious, and I wasn’t going to ask Frank to bring me something else instead. So, I had to find some courage and get to it.

My stomach growled, and I sliced off a piece of the pink meat to find that it was stuffed with greens, mushrooms and chopped up bacon. I don't like admitting it, but it tasted great—just as long as I didn't think too much about what I was eating. They probably expected me to eat the whole damn thing, or it would seem disrespectful. I didn’t know if I could eat that much alone, but I had to persevere as I didn’t want the villagers to hate me.

“Are you going to be staying here for a while?” the old man asked me with a weak voice.

I didn’t have any other place that I knew about. Would a big city be safer? Maybe in some regards, but more dangerous in others. Eventually, I wanted to explore the world, but right now I needed to learn the basics.

I smiled. “At least for a month. Frank promised me free food.”

“And where are you from, if you don’t mind me prying?”

“Far away, but I don’t think I’ll be returning there anytime soon.”

“Trouble?”

“No, no trouble at all -- not any longer.”

After some time and a great deal of effort, I managed to stuff down the entire heart. I felt like I’d burst at the seams if I made any sudden movement.

While conversing, I found out that the huntress was Darya, and she was the daughter of the village chief -- the old, sick looking man sitting across from me.

Aside from her striking appearance, she had larger horns. It felt like it might mean something, but I didn’t want to pry. In hindsight, I might have been too quick to judge her harshly. She turned out to be genuinely pleasant, and I found myself wanting to get to know her better. Then again, there was no way she’d be interested in someone who looked like me. A monster.

***

“That bastard meant to poison us all,” Darya told Amelia.

“What? That’s ridiculous!”

“Is it though? He pretended like he had no idea what a deadly webcap was. Can you believe it? He had a whole bag of 'em!”

“I’m most certain it was an honest mistake. He’s new to these woods and our mushrooms.”

“He sounded so convincing, and I almost bought into the whole honest mistake act. I'm staying up all night to keep an eye on him.”

Amelia shook her head, sighing. “There’s really no need for that.”

“Do you want to risk dying in your sleep? What if he kept a single webcap and sneaked it into the stewpot? Huh?”

Amelia massaged her temples. “Just don’t do anything rash to scare him off, alright? Please?”

Darya scoffed. “When was the last time I- .. Okay, don’t answer that.”

“I should remind you. I have won the wager.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll- … what did you want me to do again?”

Amelia shrugged. “Show him our defenses for the Dark Night, take him on one of your hunts, or-”

“Into the Void?”

“Where else? We are running low on crystals.”

Darya considered it for a moment, then smiled. “I have just the thing in mind.”

“Good. How were the meat pies?”

Darya pursed her lips. “I don't even want to talk about it. The glutton devoured the entire heart without sharing with anyone, not even the chief sitting across from him. Can you believe it?”

“To be fair, he killed it, it’s his.”

“I know, I know. And despite all that, our father was quite impressed with him.”

Amelia raised her eyebrows, gave Darya a knowing smile.

Darya’s jaw fell open. “Hell no.”