"Iris behind you!", Hestia shouts as she sees a man about to knock Iris with a wooden stick. Iris manage to turn her body away the moment Hestia shouted. Unfortunately, the man already grabbed Oberon even before he tries to knock Iris down. "What the… So, you're a human? Well, more slaves for us to take home!", the man chuckles. "Where are you taking these elves and why are you hunting them?!", Iris yells. "Are you stupid? We are going to sell the female elves to the rich of course! Elves, especially female ones can get you rich! Bahahaha! Oh, and the male ones? Well, they don't really sell well, so we kill them! And hang their heads on the wall!", the man replies as he stills holding onto Oberon.
Another man's voice can be heard a few steps away, asking the man to catch more elves that are hiding in the woods. Iris saw this as an opportunity to do whatever it takes for him to release Oberon. She looks around her surroundings to see if there are any weapons that she could use. She sees a shovel that she could reach and grabs it. With all her strength, she strikes the shovel, hitting the man on his head. Iris planned to make him unconscious but fails. She is not as strong as she thinks. But still, he finally let go of Oberon while trying to get his sense back. Oberon runs towards Iris, grabbing her tightly. The man then turns to his back, facing them. "You fucker! I'm not letting both of you go!", with anger, he snatches the shovel that was in Iris hands.
Just then, Hestia yells and throws an object to Oberon. As Oberon catches it, the man swings the shovel at them. Iris hugs Oberon, protecting him, so the shovel wouldn't hit him but her instead. Somehow, the shovel did not hit them. Iris looks up to see a strange light, forcing the shovel to stops right above her head. "What, what the…", the man shocks at what is happening. Then, Hestia yells, "Now run! Run faraway where they can't find you! The object that I threw to you, is a special gift from me for you, my child. An amulet that will give you protection. So, run my child, run with Iris. Don't worry about mother. Iris, please, take him far away and protect him from dangers. Run, Iris!".
With hesitations, Iris carries Oberon in her arms, "Hestia! Oberon will be safe. So please, hold on for a moment. I will definitely come and save you. I promise!". Iris starts to shed a tears, she runs as fast as she could, away from the place. Away from the Elf Village, which she calls her home.
As she runs, the man tries to capture her. Iris runs around the trees hoping for the man to lose her from his sight. Fortunately, she manages to hides behind a big rock, leaving the man confused. "Come out! I know you're here somewhere…", the man shouted while looking around his surroundings. Iris looks at Oberon, mouthing to him not to make any sounds and not to move. The man begins to look behind every tree that he sees, thinking that he would then find Iris and Oberon. "Are you…. Here! Hmmm…. Maybe… Here!", his steps approaching closer every seconds. Soon after, another man yells at him, "What are you doing there? We are done here! Let's go before the leader gets mad!". The man then has no choice but to go back, "Tch! Just because I couldn't catch you now, doesn't mean you can survive, young lady! There is more dangerous creatures in the woods. So, beware…", he turns back towards the carriages.
When they couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, they finally able to relax more. Oberon then cry one's heart out, terrified of what had happened, "Iris, what about my mom… I'm scared, Iris…". Iris, who is baffled with the situation tries to calm him down, "Oberon, it's okay, we will save your mom, I promise. But first, let's wipe those tears. We can't save her while crying right? Don't worry I'm here with you. And you have the amulet from your mom. I'm sure we will be fine… So don't cry, and let's get out from this forest and seek for help, shall we?", Oberon wipes his tears and nods. Iris smiles, takes his amulet from his hand and put in on him.
The two of them starts to walk away from where they currently are. They are now far away from the Elf Village, deep in the forest. Each hour passed by; the sun is about to set now. They still haven't found anyone or even anything. All they see are trees, rocks and more trees. At this point, Iris decides to find shelter, so that they can rest. Iris know that it will be more dangerous if they move at night. Especially, when she's still don't know about this world in her second life. "We should find a place to rest. Let's try to find a lake or even pond. From that, we can at least drink the water. Can you still walk Oberon?", Iris asks Oberon. Oberon seems tired, that's understandable. After all, they both been walking for hours nonstop, without drinking or eating anything. Iris who is tired as well is trying to show that she is still can walk, she needs to be much stronger so she could protect Oberon. "Yes, I'm fine Iris. Let's try to find a lake just like you said.". They continue their journey to find any water body.
Thankfully, they heard a waterfall not too far from where they currently are. They follow the waterfall sounds and after some time, they finally found the waterfall. Iris who was thirsty the whole day runs to the waterfall and drinks from it. "Come, Oberon! Drink, you will get dehydrated if you don't.", Iris signaled Oberon to drink as well. While Oberon drinks, Iris gets up, "Stay here. I'm going to collect some woods, so we can make fire from it. Don't go anywhere. If you hear someone other than me, hide behind that tree.", She points out to one of the trees then Oberon nods while drinking.
Iris walks into the forest, not far from the waterfall, collecting some branches and woods. When she is done collecting, she strolls back to Oberon. "You see anyone?", Iris proceed to make a fire. "Nope.", Oberon shakes his head. After lighting the woods, she then grabs a long skinny wooden stick and different shapes of rocks that she saved, to make weapons. "Hmmm… How do you make a weapon from woods and rocks? I'm sure I have seen multiple survival videos back then. Though, I didn't think I would actually need to use it. I must remember.", Iris thinks to herself. She split the long skinny wood into three parts. With the fire she lights up earlier, she burns the tip of the wood for a little bit. Then she grinds down the tip with a rock to make it sharp. She does the same with the other two woods. After she complete the process, she ends up with three stakes that are very sharp. Sharp enough to penetrate a person. "With these, we can protect ourselves. I will give one to you. Along the way, I will try to make more weapons.", Iris handed one of the stakes to Oberon.
"I'm sorry, we might not get to eat anything yet since I'm not good at fishing. In the morning, we can try to hunt some animals like deer or something... Is that alright for you?", Iris said to Oberon with a dejected face while looking down. Oberon suddenly gets up and walks to the waterfall. Iris who is concerned, follows him, "Where are you going, Oberon?". Oberon then holds out both of his hands towards the water while closing his eyes. His face seems focus. It seems like he's trying to do something, so Iris just let him be. Out of the blue, a light appears in the water. The light slowly comes out of the water, moving to the grass in front of her. The light then goes out, which reveals a fish. Puzzled, Iris asks, "Did you do that? Using your mana to catch a fish?". Oberon replied, "Well... I've been practicing my mana. I'm still not as strong, but I will practice more. For now, all I could do is this.", Oberon looks down. Amazed with Oberon's strength, Iris excitedly said, "What do you mean? This is amazing! I can't believe you can do this!". "What… Thank, thank you… You are amaze me as well! I didn't know you can make weapons out of woods and rocks!", Oberon blushes from the complements. "Hahaha, actually me too. Anyways, let's cook this fish, eat and get some rest. We will continue moving, early in the morning tomorrow, alright?", Iris took the fish and put it on the fire to cook.
Afterwards, Iris and Oberon lay down, getting ready to sleep. Despite the fact that there is a fire, Iris still feels cold. For the reason being, she is only wearing a nightgown as she did not think to change her clothes during all the thing that was happening in the moment. Even so, she did not express how cold she feels, she doesn't want to appear weak in front of Oberon. Rather, she wants to be strong so she could protect Oberon from any danger. Too bad, she is not as strong as she wants to be. In her first life, she didn't join any sports in school since her stamina is not great. It was not that she has a disease or anything, she was just too lazy to exercise and always in her home not going outside. Therefore, her stamina went down drastically.
"Umm… Iris? Can I sleep besides you? I miss my mom…", Oberon speaks, looking a bit down. "Of course! You don't need to ask. Come here.", Iris patting the ground, signaling him to lay down beside her. Oberon gets up and lays beside her. Iris slowly patting his back in hopes that he will fall asleep soon. "Sigh… Poor Oberon, he has experienced a lot and is only four now... I need to become stronger…", with those thoughts inside her head, she then falls asleep.