[Gwen's POV]
When was it?
The day everything was ruined.
The day my world changed.
I was just an ordinary village girl.
My parents got along very well.
We weren't rich, but we were a happy family.
Every morning, I would wake up with my brother and help my mother prepare for the day.
We would see my father off as he left for his job as a village guard.
Then the three of us would head to our small farm, where Mother grew whatever crops she could manage.
It was barely enough to sustain us.
Because of our appearance, many people in the village looked down on us.
Kids my age often bullied me.
My brother Lance, however, was fierce.
He always fought back.
Some even called him a monster because of his temper and looks.
But I knew better. To me, he was the kindest brother anyone could ask for.
One day, after helping Mother tend the farm, we returned home… but Father didn't come back until late at night.
He was covered in injuries.
His head was bleeding, and one of his arms hung limply at his side, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
Everyone grew panicked.
We hurriedly helped him onto the makeshift bed Mother had made from straw sewn together and placed on a simple wooden frame.
Tears welled up in Mother's eyes as she looked at his condition, but Father simply smiled and tried to reassure her.
"Don't worry, dear. This kind of injury isn't enough to take my life. Just let me rest for a while."
"J-Just what happened?" Mother asked, her voice trembling.
Father began to explain.
The village chief had suddenly ordered the hunters and guards, including him to go into the nearby forest and hunt dire wolves for their fur.
Winter was approaching, after all.
"But it's strange," Father muttered. "Hunting is usually the hunter's job. Why did the village guards have to go as well?"
It seemed the village chief had developed an unusually high demand for dire wolf fur, though no one knew the real reason.
"But dear, we don't really lack fur for the winter," Mother said. "A single dire wolf's pelt is more than enough to keep an entire family warm."
"I thought the same thing," Father replied with a dejected tone. "But everyone else seemed to know something they weren't telling me."
After talking for a while, Mother cleaned his wounds and let him rest.
My brother and I tidied up the dishes, then lay down on our own straw beds in the corner.
_
_
_
Morning came.
The entire family was woken by a sudden knock on the door.
Knock.
Knock.
"Oi!! The village chief has ordered every guard to get ready for another hunt! Get your lazy ass up!"
Mother hurriedly opened the door and greeted the two men standing outside.
Their faces immediately twisted with open disgust.
"Where's your husband?" one of them said in an annoying tone. "If we make the village chief wait too long, you can forget about your pay."
When Mother explained that Father was injured and that it didn't seem minor, their expressions darkened.
Without waiting for permission, they shoved her aside and entered the house.
Upon seeing Father lying injured on the bed, they frowned, clearly thinking about something.
Just as one of them was about to speak, the other stopped him with a look and gestured for them to step outside.
They left without another word.
Once outside, the younger-looking one spoke in frustration.
"Big bro, why did you stop me? Without that guy, who's going to be on the front line?"
The older man chuckled.
"Haha. You might not know this, but dire wolf fur is currently in high demand. A merchant group is arriving in a week."
That explained why the village chief was pushing the hunts so hard.
"No wonder the chief is hunting them more than usual… but what does that have to do with us?" the younger man still asked, confused.
"You also might not know this," the older brother continued, "but the village chief plans to hoard most of the profits from selling the fur. He intends to leave this village with his newfound fortune and move to the nearby city."
"Eh? How do you know that? Didn't he promise to share the profits with us?"
"Haha... I sneaked around last night and happened to overhear him talking to his son. Turns out he struck a deal with that merchant. They're willing to pay ten times the regular price for the fur."
"Ten times?! Damn that greedy old man! He never mentioned that! So he planned to share only the normal price with us while pretending to be generous."
The younger man suddenly froze as a realization hit him.
He looked at his older brother.
"…Don't tell me you want to…"
"Haha. It seems you understand me quite well. Yes, I plan to steal some of that fur and secretly sell it to the merchant after they leave. We'll frame that worthless trash for it. There won't be any other suspects... since every capable man will be out on the hunt."
"But won't we have to leave as well? There's no way we can steal it once we're back."
"Don't worry. I'll cover for you. While you're sneaking back into the village, you can create fake tracks leading straight to that trash's house."