I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 12

“…So, you’re a repairman?”

At most, he’s maybe one or two years older than Ponia?

For a repairman, he’s just tall but has an ordinary build and doesn’t look particularly strong.

“Yes, I don’t really look like one, do I…?”

The man also seemed to know how he appeared, fidgeting with his curly hair for no reason.

Does he think he doesn’t look like a repairman because of his curly hair?

As she stared intently at the man’s hair, he fidgeted and pointed at Ponia’s left hand.

“Um, but why are you holding a hammer…?”

When Ponia unconsciously looked down at her left hand, the hammer was clearly visible to the man.

“Ah! Damn!”

She was so startled that she cursed first, then covered her mouth again.

Thanks to that, the man’s eyes, which had only held simple curiosity, changed to bewilderment and suspicion.

This is all because of that foul-mouthed person next to her who curses constantly.

“This is… well…”

“…”

The longer the silence dragged on, the more unnecessary suspicion it would raise. As she quickly racked her brain, she suddenly noticed a ladybug sitting on the man’s shoulder.

“To catch bugs!”

“…”

“A really big cockroach appeared out of nowhere! I was so startled when I saw it, really…”

“…”

Even she thought it was a really terrible lie.

Sure enough, she could feel someone’s piercing gaze from inside the cabin, staring at the back of Ponia’s head.

‘Should I act crazy and pretend to catch cockroaches?’

As she glanced around nervously, the man’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“A hammer is definitely effective for killing bugs!”

Huh?

“I’ve killed them with a hammer several times while working too.”

“…”

“Of course, each time I ended up breaking whatever I was repairing along with it, so the work doubled. Haha.”

Surprisingly, the man dismissed his suspicions at this pathetic lie.

‘Is this person an idiot?’

Whether he was pure or naive, he believed her words at face value and responded enthusiastically.

She suddenly thought of the viscount at House of Harbel who didn’t know how to be suspicious.

“What’s wrong?”

Oops.

Ponia belatedly came to her senses.

She had almost let her guard down after overlapping her father’s face with the man’s.

Ponia confidently stepped one foot outside the door.

Her upturned eyes showed her determination not to let her guard down.

“But you came to the forest in the middle of the night?”

“Ah, I started my journey three days ago. I entered the forest this morning, but I got lost because I’m bad with directions.”

“You didn’t see anything else in the forest…?”

“In the forest?”

The man, who seemed to think for a moment, soon gave his answer.

“The forest was really beautiful! There were so many fireflies that it felt like being in a fairy tale world.”

He wandered around the forest alone and unharmed even after it got dark, well into dawn?

Sionel’s near-death experience while wandering the forest at night without knowing anything wasn’t just bad luck.

Magical beasts fundamentally had far superior senses than humans. They never missed intruders who entered their territory.

Moreover, walking through a forest where the number of magical beast individuals hadn’t been properly identified was suicidal. There’s a reason people only travel on secured roads.

Her suspicion of the man grew even stronger.

“Fortunately, I found the path marked on the map at the end. I almost had to walk until tomorrow.”

The man pulled out a piece of paper from his chest and showed it to her.

A paper with nothing marked on it except for directions explaining the path from the forest entrance to the cabin.

It was definitely different from hers, but it was a map of the forest.

“Where did you get this?”

“Jerome gave it to me before I left.”

Ponia’s eyebrows twitched at the familiar name.

“He specifically told me to only travel along the paths shown on the map.”

“….”

“Come to think of it, he also said I must leave the forest before nightfall, but you haven’t kept a single promise.”

He knew Jerome’s name, and all the warnings he just mentioned were exactly the kind of things Jerome, the forest guide, would say.

However, there were still quite a few things that seemed suspicious.

“But he didn’t come with you?”

“Ah, no. He said something urgent came up and he had to go to the Capital. He said it was against protocol to send someone alone, but it couldn’t be helped….”

“You don’t know what business took him to the Capital?”

“He just said it was something important…. Is there a problem?”

“No, not really.”

There was nothing wrong with his words. But rather, everything fit together too perfectly, which made her suspicious.

He answered her questions so smoothly, as if he had prepared the responses beforehand. Wasn’t it a bit too fluent?

If this man really was a repairman, she was sorry, but after Count Harbel had been scammed countless times, Ponia was suspicious of all strangers without exception.

What she was most wary of were people who had ‘good person’ written all over their faces like this.

‘They’re the ones who always stab you in the back.’

A prime example was Gordon Rambo, who had recently pulled an investment scam on her father.

As she ground her teeth thinking about Gordon, the man spoke again.

“Ah! Jerome told me to pass along a message if I met the forest keeper!”

“….”

“He asked if you’re doing daily patrols? He said he’d check the map as soon as he gets to the forest….”

A chill ran down her spine.

Ponia flinched and stepped back.

It was Jerome. It was definitely something Jerome had said. No one but Jerome, the forest guide, would say such things.

“He also said there’s a high chance I won’t meet the forest keeper at all. In that case, he told me not to bother looking and just fix the cabin, but what does that mean? It’s not like the forest keeper would suddenly disappear.”

She could very well disappear.

In fact, there had been countless predecessors who died in this forest at the hands of monsters, their bones never even recovered.

It was probably said with the possibility in mind that Ponia might die before the cabin could even be repaired.

‘Heartless bastard.’

Ponia took a fresh look at the man who still seemed nothing but bewildered.

‘That means this man really is a repairman who came to fix the cabin.’

“Even so, isn’t it bad manners to come visiting at this hour of dawn?”

Ponia deliberately spoke curtly, as if picking a fight to provoke him.

However, the man bowed his head without showing any sign of offense.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Jerome told me to go to the cabin as soon as I arrived.”

“And you just knocked without saying anything.”

“I did come, but I felt bad about waking someone who was sleeping. If you were in deep sleep, I was going to come back tomorrow morning….”

“And why are you carrying a saw?”

“My profession being what it is, I feel more comfortable carrying it…. I’m sorry.”

Unlike his cheerful greeting from earlier, he now looked deflated, making her feel unnecessarily guilty.

A homeowner who immediately started interrogating someone who was just faithfully carrying out their employer’s instructions.

Even she thought she looked like a difficult customer.

The repairman’s clothes were stained with grass and soaked with sweat from wandering through the forest.

“This forest has many dangerous wild animals, so you shouldn’t wander around at night. You probably don’t have a place to spend the night….”

“….”

“Of course you don’t, so I’ll open the storage room under the cabin for you.”

“Thank you! You’re so kind!”

The hand holding the hammer twinged with guilt.

“Well, let’s go down first….”

As Ponia completely exited the cabin and closed the door, the man’s hand grabbed the door.

“But you know.”

“….”

“I think I heard a sound from inside earlier.”

“….”

“Is there someone else inside by any chance?”

The man’s round glasses glinted unusually as he seemed to peer intently through the narrow gap.

Just as he could see the small kitchen and green carpet through the gap, a small figure blocked his view.

“There’s no one.”

“….”

“I’m alone.”

“….”

“Let’s go downstairs now.”

Despite her dry response tinged with slight annoyance and her composed expression, Ponia’s heart was beating faster than ever.

‘He didn’t see anything, did he?’

She carefully observed the Unnamed Man’s expression while pretending nothing happened, and contrary to her worries, he easily relaxed his face.

“I see? I must have misheard the sound of catching bugs.”

Then, he went down the stairs without any lingering attachment. Ponia watched his retreating figure for a moment, confirmed the door was tightly closed, and followed him down.

It must have been because she felt relieved. Ponia failed to notice the foreign substance on the saw handle.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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