I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 13

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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 13

“It’s a bit crude, but it should be enough for one night.”

“Oh my! It’s more than enough. Thank you.”

It was barely a makeshift space in a warehouse full of miscellaneous items, but whether it was his naturally bright disposition, the repairman seemed genuinely satisfied.

He even smiled while shaking out a blanket covered in dust. Even when the pillow tore while being dusted, spilling cotton everywhere.

‘What kind of life has this person lived?’

“I’ll head back up now.”

As Ponia was about to leave the warehouse, she noticed something on the floor.

It was hard to see clearly in the night, but it was definitely a stain that looked out of place against the ground’s color.

Ponia knelt down and rubbed the stain with her finger.

“…Blood?”

“What’s wrong?”

The man appeared behind her without any sound.

From him came the scent of moist earth like a forest path after rain, and the smell of herbs. And mixed between them was the distinctive fishy smell of metal.

“Are you injured somewhere? There’s blood on the floor.”

Ponia stood up and looked over his body. There were no visible wounds. Instead, a saw placed in one corner of the warehouse caught her eye.

The gray saw blade was quite worn, showing signs of age, but its well-sharpened edge still boasted its sharpness.

An unidentifiable liquid was dripping from the wooden handle. If that happened to be blood…

‘Where did that blood come from?’

“A wound? I don’t have any… Ah, it stings.”

Just then, as the man examined his body and opened his hand, blood dripped steadily from his index finger.

The wound seemed quite deep despite appearances, as blood continued to flow without clotting. The man’s palm was already red.

“I tied a leather strap to the saw handle, but it’s a bit rough. I tried to be careful but got scratched again.”

“…”

“It’s embarrassing to say about myself, but I’m a bit… clumsy.”

“…”

“Ah! But don’t worry! There’s absolutely no problem with the repairs!”

Seeing Ponia’s hardened expression, he hastily made excuses. Ponia pushed her imagination out of her mind.

She seemed to have overthought things due to being too suspicious from the start. Seeing the man frantically looking for something to wipe with made her feel even more so.

“There are bandages in the cabin. I’ll bring some for you.”

“No! I’m used to this happening often, so it’s fine. The bleeding will stop soon too.”

“But…”

“It’s really okay. You should go up and rest now.”

She couldn’t force herself on someone who was firmly refusing, so Ponia was pushed out of the warehouse.

“I’ll properly introduce myself tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, well…”

“Oh, and.”

Similar to the smile he’d been wearing all along, but somehow meaningfully suggestive, a smile spread across the man’s lips.

“Take good care of catching the bugs that snuck into the cabin too.”

“…”

“Well then, have a good night.”

Putting aside her uncomfortable feelings, Ponia returned to the cabin.

“Ugh!”

And she screamed upon discovering a man sitting by the long bedside, gripping an iron rod.

Where did he find something like that again?

“What are you doing? And where did that come from?”

“From the shelf. You locked that bastard in the warehouse? I’ll go deal with him.”

What kind of crazy talk is that now?

“I didn’t lock him up, I gave him a room.”

“Don’t tell me you’re saying something stupid like you dropped your suspicions after that conversation?”

“That’s right.”

“Damn.”

Your mouth! That damn mouth! Watch your language!

“Please speak more nicely…”

“If an assassin sent to kill me was right downstairs, do you think nice words would come out if you were me?”

“…He’s not an assassin, he’s a repairman who’ll fix the cabin. I understand your feelings, but since he knows the person who hired me, it’s probably not a lie…”

“And regret comes after you’re dead.”

“…”

Stop interrupting me.

Trying to calm her boiling heart, Ponia continued speaking.

“Even so, you can’t just strangle everyone who comes by to determine if they’re an assassin or not, right? It’s not like you’re some psychopath.”

“….”

While speaking, she didn’t forget to touch her still-bruised neck. Her calm blue eyes wavered slightly.

“You yourself had your life saved by a stranger, so surely not.”

Sionel frowned at the words that blatantly referred to him. However, he soon threw the iron rod he was holding onto the floor and lay down in his spot.

She had expected him to throw a fit saying he’d go kill them right away, but he gave up more easily than expected.

Worried that Sionel might quickly change his mind, Ponia picked up the rod rolling on the floor and brought it to her bed.

“You’re taking responsibility for this.”

“Of course. Thank you for understanding.”

“Whatever. At least there are two people, so even if we die, we won’t die alone.”

He always says something chilling at least once.

When she lay back down on the bed, the surroundings became quiet.

“….”

Perhaps because she had woken up once in the middle, sleep wouldn’t come.

She closed her eyes and tried counting numbers in order, but the surroundings were too quiet, which only made her more alert.

As she was tossing and turning, unexpectedly, Sionel spoke first.

“I have something I’m curious about.”

“You’re still not asleep?”

“It’s too noisy next to me.”

“…What are you curious about.”

I can’t even sleep comfortably next to this young master with such sharp hearing.

“Why did you make that hammer excuse earlier?”

“Hammer?”

“When I asked why you were holding a hammer, you said it was to catch bugs.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

“You could have just told the truth. That you thought I was a suspicious person and held it just in case.”

“….”

“Why did you bother making such a ridiculous excuse? Were you testing my intelligence or something?”

“….”

“Or are you an idiot?”

Sionel looked up at the stars through the gaping ceiling and pondered.

Certainly, if someone believed such an excuse, there would be no need to worry about assassins or anything.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“….”

“Ponia?”

Sionel turned to lie facing the bed, but all he could see was Ponia’s back rising and falling regularly.

“Asleep?”

“….”

Her shoulders rose and fell regularly along with her breathing sounds.

‘Did she fall asleep already?’

What a carefree forest keeper, staying awake and falling asleep entirely at her own whim.

“How carefree.”

He looked up at the empty space again and closed his eyes.

“….”

Meanwhile, Ponia, who had her back turned, naturally hadn’t fallen asleep.

She was just pretending to sleep in case he might nag about something.

‘There was that method, wasn’t there?’

Since she had been thinking only violent thoughts, she had been busy desperately searching for other excuses.

Seeing how he picks at even trivial matters, he really has a tiresome personality.

Skipping over the occasional natural complaints, she recalled what to do tomorrow.

‘To repair the cabin, I’ll have to let them in here, so let’s wake up early tomorrow morning.’

If she sends Sionel out briefly and does the repair work, there’s no way he’ll find out.

‘But how long will it take?’

She hoped it would be resolved within a week if possible. If it takes longer than that, her housemate might not be able to control his temper and won’t stay still.

Besides, Ponia wasn’t entirely comfortable either.

She hadn’t told Sionel, but there was one thing bothering her.

‘He seems so familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before.’

If she had seen someone with such curly hair wearing glasses, she would never be able to forget.

‘Maybe I’d remember more if I saw his eyes behind the glasses….’

Her slowly blinking eyes gradually closed.

* * *

At the moment Ponia fell asleep.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

The sound of something moving repeatedly came from the warehouse beneath the cabin.

In the warehouse where he had barely managed to set up a place to sleep, the repairman spread his tools on the floor and wiped them one by one with a cloth.

Though wiping them with a cloth wouldn’t make the already faded tools shine, he put care into it.

As if enjoying the series of processes, he hummed a tune.

Then, remembering something, he rummaged through the bag he had brought. Two sheets of paper came into his hands.

Applicant

Name: Nia

Gender: Female

Age: 20 years old

Origin: Harbel Estate

Physical condition: All normal.

Family: No dependents (appears to have lost family at a young age)

Knowledge level:

.

.

.

It was a document containing information about the forest keeper applicant.

The man had already stored all the basic information in his head.

Among them, there was information that particularly caught his interest.

*Special notes: Applied voluntarily despite hearing rumors about the forest. Presumed to have lost fear due to being blinded by compensation.

This kind of thing was definitely more interesting.

He thought about the situation from just before.

‘I was trying to catch a bug!’

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

He hadn’t expected such words to come out, and for a moment, he almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“This seems like it’ll be more fun than I thought.”

Since he always pursued enjoyment, he liked things that caught his interest.

Fortunately, the forest keeper he met this time was quirky. Observing such people was one of his hobbies.

He finished wiping all the tools and put them in the toolbox. Now only the last one remained.

The man picked up the saw.

The forest keeper was just entertainment that came along. Still, he hadn’t forgotten his main purpose.

The man brought the already blackened white cloth to the saw blade. As he slowly swept it from top to bottom, stains came off just like with the other tools.

However, it was different from the other stains. The blackened cloth had a strangely reddish tint. And when he wiped the handle part wrapped with leather cord.

Bright red fresh blood stained the black cloth.

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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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