"Alright, let's go to happiness village! There might be some big event happening there..." Luka declared, as we left the tone.

"You're right, we should take a look, if there's something going on, they won't be able to make their honey" Alice said in agreement

Luka just stared at her in silence, amazed by her gluttony.

(Time Skip)

Along the way, Luka suddenly spoke up

"It's kinda boring to keep walking in silence, isn't it?" He commented

"I enjoy the silence, it gives me time to think" I answer

"I guess, but you haven't told us anything about were you're from" Luka comment, catching Alice's attention

"Yes, I don't recognize your customs, swordsmanship, or anything really about you" Alice adds

'shit, I have to come up with something'

"Well, I remember it being a very small village, it was also extremely isolated since I had never seen a monster girl until I ventured out" I say with a melancholy look

'i mean that was what my old village was like before it happened'

"Why did you leave?" Luka asks

I sigh

"I guess, the domestic village life wasn't for me" I answer

"Where is this village?" Alice asks clearly intrigued

"I can't remember, I had grown up extremely sheltered so the moment I ventured out, I was overwhelmed, I wanted to explore everything that I completely forgot about my old home." I answer till I feel another presence

"Heads up" I say before hiding, soon Alice disappears as well.

A bee like monster girl shows itself Infront of Luka as he takes his stance. He makes quick work of the monster and defeats it

"You're getting better" I say as I walk out

"Really!" He exclaims

"Don't get to excited, you're still very weak" I say keeping him from getting a big head

"She's right, you wouldn't have a prayer if you fought against the heavenly knights" Alice added to which Luka deflated but then shot up

"Then I'll just have to work harder, come on!" Luka yells going down the path, me and Alice sigh and follow him. As we near the village Alice asks

"Do you know why it's called happiness village?"

"Um... because everyone is happy..." Luka hesitantly answers

"No you idiot, it's because of the harpy village near there" Alice says matter-of-factly

'that makes no sense' I think as we finally reach our destination.

"So this is happiness village...?" Luka says as we enter a peaceful looking village

Women were attending to the crops and beehives in the fields

'wait a minute...' I think as I look around

"Where are all the men?" I ask outloud

"So you noticed..." Alice said

"Eh... you're right...I can only see women" Luka voiced

"Oh, travelers? And young ones at that. You come all the way here, but we don't have anything to entertain a traveler with. Due to a shortage of manpower, we have a shortage of our specialty happiness honey too..." A women who was working at a nearby beehive spoke up, noticing our presence

Suddenly, I feel a huge disturbance above me

"Why do you have a shortage of manpo-" Luka started before a child's scream echoed out.

I ran towards the sound to see a boy being grabbed by a winged monster girl

"Uwaa! Help me!" The boy yelled fearfully, I ran towards the monster and punched her square in the chest causing her to let go of the boy and tumble back

"Run, go!" I yell to the boy

"O...ok!" The boy yelled as he ran into a house

"L/N!" Luka yelled taking his sword out.

"No. I started this, I'll finish it" I say as I take up a martial arts stance

'i can't kill her, guess we're doing this old school' I think as Luka backs down

"Ow... Hey! What do you think you're doing!" The harpy I guess yelled

"What were you going to do to tht boy!" I yelled ignoring her previous question

She gets up

"I was going to take him to my village to be my mate" she says as she flies up

"Hmm...I could just take that boy behind you" she says before she makes a dive for Luka

I intercept her and grab her wing, throwing her down

"Kidnapping a child just to violate him..." I trail off with a shadow covering my face. I grab her again and bash her head into the ground

"You disgust me" I say as I throw her Infront of me

"Get out of here before I change my mind..." I say ominously. She quickly gets up and flies away at her fastest speed.

Once she's gone, I relax and exhale

"What happened!?" A women yelled

"The traveler drove the harpy away? Amazing!" A girl praised as the rest of the villagers come out of their houses, surrounding me

"Driving off the harpy... You must be very skilled" an old women says, coming up to me

"And you are...?" I ask

"I'm the village chief's wife... since he has been kidnapped, I am the acting village chief." The old women explained

"Barricading yourself in a house even as a child is being abducted? Can you really call yourself a chief? In fact, not a single person tried to help..." Alice rebuked

"Oi oi Alice" Luka reprimanded

The women went silent

"What can weak people like us do? Now traveler, we hate to impose, but we have a favor to ask of you..." The chief started

"Here it comes, they're going to try to force their problems on you" Alice laughed

"What's the favor" I ask ignoring Alice

"I'm sure you are aware but their are no men in this village. The harpies are kidnapping all of our men." She lamented

"I see... do you know why?" I inquire

"We don't know... None of them ever return. Are they working as slaves? Eaten for food? We have no idea." She replied

"With no men, this village is doomed to fade away. Please traveler. Can you root out the harpies and return peace to our village?" She pleaded

"Why don't you do it yourselves?" Alice bluntly asked

I glare at her then turn my attention back to the chief

"I'll do it" I declare

"Seriously... Alright, how many travelers have you sent before us?" Alice exclaims

The old women hesitated before another spoke up

"So far seven people...none have returned." She confessed

"That many!?" Luka barked

"I don't care, where do the harpies take the men?" I ask

"It seems like there is a settlement to the east of this village, in the forest." The old women replied

"Are you serious L/N, I would think Luka would do something like this but you!?" Alice exclaims

"Yes I am serious" I answer simply

"Why this doesn't even convenience you in the slightest" she continues

"I'm not doing this because it conveniences me, Im doing this because these people are clearly distressed by their situation" I answer showing her I won't be swayed

"Ya, it's what a true hero would do!" Luka adds

I groan

"Luka, I'm not doing this to be a hero, I'm doing this because if things continue as they are, this village will die out" I explain

"I'll go too!" A woman suddenly shouts

"No!" I yell quickly before anyone else joins her

"Only me and Luka will go, trust me I Know how it feels to want revenge on those who took someone precious away from you but if you all go they may take it as a sign of war" I quickly explain

"We will bring your men back I promise" I declare

".. Alright then we'll leave it to you, it would be best to attack at night when they're all asleep" the chief says

"I see...Thank you" I say and walk to my traveling partners

"You're an idiot" Alice deadpans

"Say what you want I don't care" I replay shocking Alice for a moment

"Luka when we go into the village, you will stay beside me and don't fight any harpies unless I say so ok?" I ask

"Um...ok, but why?" Luka asks confused

"Because I have a plan" I reply

"Ok..." luka trails off

"Ok then, I guess we have some time before we attack, Im going to go scout, you guys can walk around if you like" I say

"Ok be careful" Luka says

"... don't get caught" Alice adds

I nod and walk east toward the forest while they go into the village. Once I made it inside the forest I make a high pitched whistle and soon Freya lands on my shoulder with a small feather in her beak

"I see you've been keeping yourself well fed" I say petting her head

"I have a mission for you" I say causing her to stare at me

"I need you to scout a village east from here, see if they have a leader and if so, where she resides ok" I ask

She cries out and flies off

I stand there and wait

'i wonder if I can get my hands on a guitar...'

Soon Freya comes back and lands Infront of me, I kneel down

"Did you find her?" I ask

She flaps once

"Where?"

Freya grabs a stick with her beak and makes a circle then she marks a spot in the middle to the left

"So she lives to the left of the middle of the village?"

She flaps again

"Thank you, you may go" I say and she flies off to wherever

I look up to see it's almost night, I walk to the village and find Luka and Alice at the edge of the village

"Ready?" I ask

"Yup, let's go" he answers, I nod

"... Hey" Alice says causing us to turn to her

"Come back ok" she says

Luka and I nod as we venture into the forest. A little while later, we arrive at the entrance of the village

"So this is it..." Luka says

"Stay beside me" I whisper and walk into the village.

I look around and see that all of the houses are in the trees. I spot the largest tree right where Freya had 'said' and a huge house was built on it. I see a ladder that connects to a bridge that leads to the house. I gesture to the house and Luka nods.

We make our way up the ladder and half way across the bridge before I feel two people coming towards us

'shit'

I pick Luka up and ran across the bridge, my steps completely silent. I hid against a wall and wait, I feel them stop for a moment above where we just were before moving on. I sigh in relief and put down Luka who was still in shock. I put my finger to my lips and pointed to the door. He nodded and we moved inside.

As soon as I stepped in, I got the sense of royalty. A throne fit for a queen stood in the middle of the room, two couches stood opposite of each other with a coffee table in between and a flight of stairs went up to what I assume to be the bedroom

While I was observing the house, I felt a commanding presence appear behind me. Luka and I whip around to see a regal looking harpy Infront of us. She had lilac wings and a feather crown atop her head. Her gaze reminded me slightly of master Ubuyashika, it was kind yet it demanded respect

I pulled Luka down and knelt Infront of her

"I've never seen you both before, who are you?" She asked, her voice firm yet kind

"My name is Y/N L/N and this is Luka" I say with my eyes still looking down

"Are you heroes?" She continues

"Luka is the hero, I am simply a warrior traveling with him" I answer

"I see... For a human warrior, you seem very well mannered, you may stand" she says as Luka and I get up

"Why are you here, though I have a pretty good guess why." She asks looking at me

"I want to understand what's really happening. When I first came here, a harpy was kidnapping a little boy though she didn't attack him with the intent to harm him, the villagers believe other wise." I explain

The queen sighs

"I thought I said not to take any children" she mumbles to herself

" you want to know why we kidnap the men correct?"

I nod

"We need them to reproduce, without them my subjects will die out" she answers

"I see, but those men have families back in the village" I counter

"What do you want us to do, because of ilias the men won't come willingly" the queen sighs, clearly not proud of her actions

I close my eyes and hold my chin

'both villages need the men, if I force the harpies to give the men back, they'll die out but if I don't the human village will perish. What to do...wait what if...'

I open my eyes and look at the queen

"What if...we merge the two villages" I say

"I don't think so, the human village hates us" the queen disclaimed

"Then negotiate" I answer

"What"

"Negotiate, for example the village could supply your subjects with men and in return the harpies could help with field work and the men would be allowed to move in-between both villages...the men are unharmed right" I explain before realizing something important

"Of course, we practically pamper them...as for negotiations, do you really think it will work?" The queen asks

"Im sure if you explain the situation, they will listen" I reassure

The queen stands there for a minute before she answers

"Ok then, I will try to talk to the village" she complies

I smile

"Thank you, would you like me to take you to the village" I offer

She also smiles

"I would appreciate that"

(Time Skip)

I

take the queen back to the village with Luka behind me with a silent expression. I smile to myself

'he realized his mistake' I think as we stop at the entrance of the village

The queen lands and the villagers immediately go into a panic. I whistle loudly and all the women turn to me

"It's alright I promise just please listen to what she has to say" I say and back up

The queen steps Infront of the crowd

"I would first like to say I'm sorry, what we did was wrong but I had to keep my subjects alive" she starts

"We need the men to reproduce, we had to kidnap the m since they wouldn't have come willingly which I am not proud of but I promise that all the men are happy and unharmed" she explains

"Is this true?", "Ya how do we know your not lieing!" The women shout out

"I can vouch for her that the men are unharmed" I yell back, the queen nods in thanks before facing the crowd

" I would like to propose a deal" she says

"And what is this deal" the old chief's wife asks

"I would like to merge our villages, the men would be allowed to travel in between the two, I am also willing to consider any requests you have within reason of course" she explains

"I see...let us talk in my house" the chief said to which the queen nods and both of them go into the house

I sigh in relief

"Hey...L/N" Luka said

I look at him

"Yes"

"Why did you ask me to follow you, you had everything under control?"

Luka asks

"Luka, when you heard the villagers side of the story, you wanted to go to harpy village and ask the queen to return the men and if she didn't you would have made her by force correct?" I ask

"...yes" Luka said with his head down

"Exactly, I wanted to show you that you shouldn't just listen to one side of the story, you should listen to both sides and decide how you should go about it" I explain

"I see..."

"I also wanted to demonstrate that sometimes words can be enough to solve a problem. Use your words before your sword" I add

At this Luka's eyes widen

"I understand now" he says

"Impressive" I hear a familiar voice say

"Not only did you solve the situation peacefully but you also taught Luka two very important lessons" Alice says as she walks toward us

"How did you know that the harpies weren't killing the men?" She asks

"Luck"

"What" Alice deadpans

"Sometimes it all comes down to luck, I was lucky that the queen chose to hear me out, I was lucky that the villagers didn't instantly try to kill her and I was lucky since the chief decided to talk out a solution with the queen" I explain

Both Luka and Alice's eyes become as wide as saucers

I chuckle

Sometime later, both the chief and the harpy queen come out

"We have come to an agreement" the chief announces

"We won't forcibly kidnap men from happiness village anymore" the harpy queen declares

"We will send men to marry the harpies and in return, the harpies will help with the farming and beekeeping" the chief announces, sealing the agreement

I smile

"Now I'm sure you all want to see the men" the queen starts

"Follow me" she says as everyone follows her to harpy village. Once we arrive she stands in the middle of the village

"Come out everyone"the harpy queen yells

Soon harpies and men come out to see what going on

"We have come to an agreement with happiness village, merging both together" the queen explains.

Soon we start to see reunions happen all around us, starting with confusion and shock but ending in happiness. Soon a huge festival began with harpies and humans alike dancing drunkenly and festival music echoing throughout the forest. As I sit by the bonfire, the harpy queen, chief and his wife approach me

I stand up out of respect

"Um...is something wrong?" I ask

They all chuckle

"No, the farthest thing from it actually..." The harpy queen starts

"Thanks to you both of our villages can flourish and thrive" the chief's wife continued

"You helped us merge both of our families together without any conflict" the chief added

"You saved both of our villages from doom and for that we thank you" the harpy queen concluded

"If there's anything you desire please tell us" the chief's wife offered

I blush at the onslaught of compliments before turning my head down. I glanced at a man strumming a guitar, looking at the instrument before quickly turning my head to them

"I only did what was right but if you insist I'm sure Alice would love a jar of happiness honey" I say

"Of course, it will be ready in the morning" the chief said before they all left.

I didn't realize that the harpy queen saw my gaze at the instrument

A.N. god I'm finally done anyways expect updates to be slower since the next chapters will be pretty long