Franco's Territory, Greenfield Town.
"Lord Dadd!"
The militia captain burst into the Mayor's Manor in a panic.
"What's the rush? Don't tell me Free City has attacked," Town Chief Dadd joked.
"No. The town's woodcutters fled back. They said they might have run into Druids..."
"Druids?"
An unpleasant memory surfaced in Dadd's mind. His smile vanished, and he sprang to his feet. "Notify the Knights' Order. Catch those green bastards who dare trespass on our territory!"
Any power bordering woodland was bound to deal with Elves, and then Druids.
If a lord had Elves for neighbors, he would wake up smiling. They were his chance to make his first fortune.
An Elf fetched no less than fifty gold coins on the Black Market. Even a male Elf could sell for thirty... Which meant wiping out an Elf community could earn at least a thousand gold coins, provided you got to them before the mercenaries heard the news.
Druids were far more troublesome. No one would buy them, they owned nothing valuable, and they were nowhere near as easy to prey on as Elves.
As long as they remained in a Forest, that woodland became a fortress.
Trees swayed to guide intruders toward their deaths. Bushes sprouted poisonous thorns that no one could touch. Vines came alive like snakes, and even small animals turned vicious.
Worse, even if driven away, they would return. They might even bring the Druid Avengers with them—monsters who would slaughter a town for the sake of a tree.
So there were only two ways to deal with Druids: move out of the territory, or let none escape...
"Town Chief, they appeared in the Forest Mountains. Why not notify Free City and let them handle the problem?" the butler suggested.
"Free City?" Dadd shook his head. "I