I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 16

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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 16

“Sionel?”

“….”

There was no response.

Sionel only breathed heavily with his forehead resting against Ponia’s shoulder. His hands gripping her shoulders were filled with tension.

Thanks to this, Ponia’s mind was filled with question marks.

What was this bewildering development?

So flustered was she that she couldn’t say a word, only slowly rolling her eyes.

“Excuse me?”

“….”

His hands tightened around her more and more, as if he wouldn’t let her move even slightly. Ponia had to stay completely still, unable to budge.

‘I feel like I’ve become a pillow.’

No matter how much she had resolved to start fresh with Sionel, he was still the object of her long-held unrequited love. She couldn’t help but be shaken.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Her heart beat rapidly without any consideration. Her heart, which had been quiet ever since making the deal with Sionel, was suddenly under severe strain.

‘No. He might hear it.’

“Why are you suddenly acting like this? Is this some new form of bullying… Ah! Ahhh!”

When Ponia tried to remove his hands, his grip on her shoulders only grew stronger, as if he would crush them.

“It hurts! I said it hurts!”

Ponia pushed his body away with all her strength.

Only after finally breaking free could Ponia properly see Sionel’s face.

“What’s with the cold sweat… Are you okay? Are you feeling unwell? Did your wounds get worse?”

His pale complexion was similar to when she first saw him in the forest, and his lips were bleeding as if he had bitten them.

He didn’t look well at all. Ponia reached toward his forehead, but her wrist was immediately grabbed.

“Never again…”

“….”

“Never again lock me away in a place like that.”

His voice trembled as he spoke in low tones.

Looking at his bloodshot eyes that seemed ready to shed tears at any moment, those clear blue eyes that shone brightly even in this moment, Ponia thought.

Perhaps she had held some vague hope that everything would get better someday. Without knowing what kind of hell he was currently living in.

“I’m sorry.”

“….”

“This will never happen again. I mean it.”

“…Fine.”

The grip on her wrist loosened. He stood up as if nothing had happened and sat in the chair.

“More importantly, what did you decide to do about that man? It seemed like you were having some kind of conversation.”

Here it comes.

Ponia quietly glared at the closet.

‘Should I go hide in there for a moment?’

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“You must have felt very stuffy in there. I should check if there’s any medicine in the bag.”

“Don’t change the subject and tell me properly.”

Her hands rummaging through the bag stopped. Ponia turned toward him with a noticeably bright expression.

“I’ve been thinking about it.”

“….”

“Honestly, we can’t keep living in a house with a hole in the roof forever, right? It’ll break down quickly when it rains.”

“So?”

“I think we need to do repair work.”

“How long will it take?”

“Originally, he said the cabin is too old and needs to be completely replaced, right? But, oh my. That repairman is apparently very skilled in the village.”

“The duration.”

“Three months.”

“…Are you joking?”

His expression hardened instantly.

“Listen. Three months will pass quickly, right? There’s not much to do in the forest anyway, and if we have more people around, it won’t be lonely…”

Ponia, who had been quickly adding explanations, stopped her constantly moving mouth. She had suddenly discovered something strange about this conversation.

‘Why do I have to read Sionel’s mood?’

This cabin belonged to her as the forest keeper for six months. He was just a sudden freeloader, and the decision-making authority over the cabin belonged solely to Ponia.

If she didn’t make this clear now, she might be the one sleeping on the floor later.

Ponia took a deep breath and looked straight at Sionel.

“Why do I need to get your permission for every little thing?”

“….”

“I’m the forest keeper, you know? If there’s something I think needs to be done, I’ll do it.”

‘I’m the homeowner, you’re just a freeloader living in this house without paying rent!’

Ponia glared at him with her eyes narrowed like a cat.

Go ahead and try to argue. Let’s see if I’ll back down.

However, Sionel flustered her with just one phrase.

“Take responsibility.”

“Yes, I’ll take responsibility for… What did you say?”

“You pulled me up from that cliff. If you saved me, you should take responsibility too.”

Sionel crossed his legs and looked up at Ponia.

“I help with your work, and you take responsibility for my safety. That was our deal. And this current matter concerns not just my safety, but both of ours.”

“….”

“Until I leave this forest, I’m only going to worry about you. That’s what I consider responsibility. Don’t you feel the same?”

That’s ridiculous.

It’s an excessive leap and overinterpretation of the deal we made.

But as Ponia stared blankly at Sionel, who kept emphasizing “us” and saying she was the only one, she suddenly realized something.

She thought she had been liking Sionel’s kindness all this time.

‘My face is absolutely beaming.’

Ponia ended up nodding her head.

* * *

“Haah….”

Having finished all her patrol preparations, Ponia let out a sigh.

‘What am I going to do about this.’

She had deliberately ignored the silent pressure she felt from Sionel’s persistent gaze as she left the cabin.

Sionel had decided to stay in the cabin because of the repairman outside.

Still, she couldn’t keep Sionel from going outside at all for three whole months.

“Haah….”

“Is something troubling you?”

“Eek!”

At the voice from behind her, Ponia jumped back in surprise. The repairman was standing there holding an axe.

“Sorry, did I startle you badly?”

“…You appeared without any sound.”

Just like at the cabin, Ponia hadn’t noticed him approaching until he spoke.

“Ah, I thought I was being careful about it. It’s a habit from my profession to move quietly. I’ll be more mindful.”

‘What would a repairman need to move quietly for?’

That sounded strange. Wasn’t it a profession that inevitably made noise?

Before she could resolve her curiosity, the man’s question continued.

“Where are you going?”

“I was thinking of doing some patrol rounds.”

The man’s face immediately brightened as he approached her. The axe he held passed threateningly near her legs.

“Oh my, I’m sorry.”

“….”

‘Is this person really a repairman.’

Seeing him hold the axe against his chest and look terrified at the blade pointing toward his own face made her even more doubtful.

“If it’s alright, could I come along? I wanted to look around the forest, but I really don’t know the way.”

“No. As I said before, the wild animals in the forest are dangerous.”

“Come on, what’s there to worry about? It should be fine if I go with the forest keeper, right? Besides, I need to find good wood for the cabin repairs.”

‘That’s not the problem here.’

If they unluckily encountered a demon beast, not only the repairman’s life but her life would be as good as gone too.

“Absolutely not.”

The man looked dejected as he watched Ponia shake her head while making an X with her fingers. No matter how pitiful he looked, what couldn’t be done couldn’t be done.

“I need to get the wood quickly so I can start construction soon….”

“Just trust me and follow along.”

Her change of stance was quick. The man immediately stuck close to her.

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“Let’s find some good wood or whatever and get construction started quickly.”

“Good idea!”

“Come on, let’s hurry!”

Ponia immediately took the lead and entered the forest with him.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the cabin that had a clear view overlooking the forest.

Sionel watched from the window as two figures led the way into the deep forest.

“That fool…”

What was she trusting to enter that dangerous forest alone with a strange man?

Sionel reflexively started walking toward the door to follow them, then stopped.

“What do I care…”

He had given her enough warnings, but the one not listening was that forest keeper. Whatever happened, it wasn’t his concern.

He headed back to the window. However, the discomfort rising from deep within his body didn’t disappear.

Sionel stared at the man’s back, now barely visible.

If there was one thing he had gained after experiencing countless assassination attempts over the past three years, it was his powers of observation.

The assassins who had come for him each had different assassination methods, but they showed similar characteristics.

Sionel turned around to check the inside of the cabin.

When the man had just entered the cabin, Ponia, who was talking to the man face-to-face, wouldn’t have noticed, but he who was inside the closet knew.

The first thing the man’s thick glasses looked at when he entered the cabin wasn’t the hole in the roof, but the two windows in the cabin.

The old habit peculiar to assassins of checking the target’s escape route, or their own escape route.

And the natural way his gaze shifted to Ponia.

It was just a moment, but clearly that man had finished making some calculation regarding Ponia.

And when Sionel turned around again, his body immediately stiffened.

“…”

The man who had walked into the forest following Ponia had somehow come back out and was looking at the cabin.

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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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