I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 18

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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 18

“Hey there!”

Ponia ran after the man, calling out to him continuously. But the man didn’t look back.

As she called out to him, she belatedly realized that they hadn’t even introduced themselves to each other.

The man kept disappearing and reappearing in her field of vision repeatedly.

Ponia gritted her teeth.

Even without looking at the map, they had probably already completely left the safe zone.

They say ignorant people have no fear, and it perfectly fit the current situation.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they caught the attention of monsters and both lost their lives.

Ponia shouted with all her might.

“Stop right there!”

Then, the man who had only been moving away suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Ponia didn’t miss the opportunity and closed the distance. Fortunately, the man didn’t move any further, and Ponia was able to catch up to him.

“Hey! Huff… Are you… crazy?!”

“Ah, sorry. I got distracted.”

“I told you… it was dangerous! Huff! Like that…!”

She had barely caught up and was busy bending over and gasping for breath, while he looked calmly at the base of a tree without breaking a single sweat.

“Still, I found a good tree.”

Are all repairmen like this, or is this person just obsessed with trees?

Ponia caught her breath and took out the map to estimate where they were. As expected, it was a place not marked on the map at all.

Ponia grabbed him and pulled.

“It’s dangerous here, we can’t stay. Let’s go back.”

“But nothing happened on our way here.”

“…”

“You said you had to patrol. Isn’t this patrolling too?”

‘Should I hit him?’

It doesn’t seem like anyone would see.

Ponia looked around. For now, she didn’t sense any other presence.

Looking at the repairman again, he couldn’t take his eyes off the tree. Ponia eventually sighed and gave permission.

“You really have to stay right here and only work on the tree.”

“Of course! Thank you for understanding!”

The repairman smiled brightly and began checking the condition of the tree.

He dug into the ground a little, plucked some grass and let it blow in the wind, then gestured to Ponia.

“Just sit over there for a moment! The tree will fall in the opposite direction.”

Ponia sat down under the tree he had indicated. She had no intention of leaving him alone anyway since she was anxious.

Thanks to the man moving around on his own, they had essentially done three days’ worth of patrolling.

Soon the man began chopping at the tree with his axe.

The steady sound of the axe going thunk, thunk somehow made her feel like she was in an ordinary forest.

She naturally closed her eyes and spent about 30 minutes like that when the repairman suddenly spoke to her.

“Did you know? Trees can still move even after they’re cut?”

“…I don’t know about that.”

“What happens after cutting the tree is more important. It expands as moisture evaporates.”

“…”

“So I pay more attention to the post-processing than the cutting process. I think about how to handle it perfectly.”

“I see.”

The brief conversation ended again. Ponia closed her eyes once more.

“…”

Strangely, her mind wasn’t at ease. She eventually opened her eyes again.

The tree looked like it would fall at any moment.

Ponia opened her mouth.

“What’s your name?”

The steady chopping stopped.

Ponia awkwardly touched her hair.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t think I ever asked.”

Actually, she hadn’t asked his name because she had planned to kick him out of the forest right away.

“My name is Nia.”

She was about to give her real name, but held back since he knew Jerome.

The repairman, who had been staring intently at Ponia after turning around briefly, curled up the corners of his mouth into a grin.

“Hmm… I won’t tell you.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m quite shy around strangers. I’ll tell you later.”

The repairman, who had been friendly with her all along, was distancing himself from her for the first time.

“If there’s a chance later, that is.”

It was a meaningful statement.

Was he saying there wouldn’t be time to share names because he’d be busy with repair work, or was it something else…?

Just then, the sound of wood splitting could be heard.

The tree fell in the exact opposite direction from where Ponia was standing. The ground shook.

The repairman approached her with admiration.

“Wow, the lavender scent really works well. Even with such a loud noise, nothing happened.”

“It’s fine as long as you don’t do anything reckless.”

Like getting drenched while drawing water, or throwing daggers to provoke magical beasts.

“And you’d better hope we don’t encounter any wild animals. If we do, you won’t be saying things like that.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, yes.”

Ponia was now openly giving half-hearted responses. The repairman was quite curious by nature. Thanks to that, Ponia was already drained by him before even starting her proper patrol.

In the next moment, if he hadn’t said something strange, she would have surely reached the stage of completely ignoring his words.

“But it looks like we’ve already encountered one?”

“What?”

He pointed to Ponia’s side. Ponia got up and headed in that direction.

His words were true.

Inside the thicket, so obvious she wondered how she’d missed it, lay a massive wild boar that appeared twice the size of a human figure.

It was a magical beast in the form of a wild boar. The magical beast showed no movement at all, as if it had been dead for quite some time.

As Ponia examined the magical beast’s corpse, she was soon horrified. Its entire belly had been torn apart.

Having such a large magical beast dead wasn’t particularly good news.

It meant there was an even stronger predator in the area.

‘But…’

Was this really the work of a magical beast?

Ponia took another step closer.

It looked like the belly had been torn apart not by a magical beast’s teeth, but by a long blade…

Ponia shook her head and stepped back. Now wasn’t the time to think about such things.

She grabbed the arm of the repairman who was cutting tree branches.

“Stop what you’re doing and follow me.”

“Huh? I’m almost finished though?”

“We need to get out of here quickly.”

Crack.

The moment she forcibly pulled him up, an unpleasant and chilling sound was heard.

“…”

Ponia slowly checked below.

Under the repairman’s feet were five or six eggs. And one small egg among them was cracked.

“What are these eggs?”

The innocent man’s question could be heard, but Ponia didn’t answer.

Whether beast or human, all possess the primal instincts of survival and reproduction.

The strong instinct to protect one’s eggs and offspring is the same. Would magical beasts be any different?

No.

Magical beasts also have the habit of protecting their eggs.

Hissssss.

A quiet but distinct sound of something moving began to be heard.

Soon, a snake coiling around trees came into view—no, a snake with three heads.

“Stop talking and run!”

Ponia pushed the man’s back and started running. The man also seemed to realize it was a serious situation and hurriedly began to run.

‘Damn, damn, damn!’

Why does it always turn out like this!

Was she crazy for thinking in the middle of all this that she needed to go back to the cabin and fix the circled part on the map?

Hissssssss.

‘What should I do?’

The sound was getting closer. A cold chill ran up her spine.

“Aah!”

A scream came from right nearby. When she turned her head, the repairman had fallen to the ground.

The monster’s tail was coiled around his leg.

It wouldn’t be strange if he was dragged away at any moment, but strangely the monster showed no other behavior. It didn’t even try to get closer to the repairman.

“…”

The snake extended its three heads as if luring Ponia to approach the man, watching only Ponia.

“P-please grab my hand!”

At the man’s cry, Ponia’s gaze turned toward him.

“It’s not as tight as I thought! M-my foot isn’t being sq-squeezed! If you grab me, I can get out quickly!”

It was a lie. The tail wrapped around the man’s ankle was tightening more and more. The man surely knew this fact well too.

‘Can I save that man right now?’

If she approached him, the snake would immediately attack Ponia, and she would be helplessly overwhelmed.

There was no chance of winning.

Ponia maintained silence for a moment, then soon spoke a word.

“I’m sorry.”

Ponia turned her back on the man and began to run.

* * *

He watched Ponia as she moved away.

Despite the desperate situation, his face actually brightened compared to before she left.

“So she’s leaving after all?”

She seemed like a forest keeper with a strong sense of duty, so he wondered what she’d do, but it seemed when it came to life-threatening matters, there was nothing that could be done.

Hissssss.

“Ow ow ow.”

The tail’s strength was so intense that if left like this for just a little longer, his ankle would be crushed.

Despite the desperate situation, he remained leisurely.

He had left the axe where he was chopping wood. First, he needed to get out of here and…

“Hyaaaah!”

Just as he was about to take action, someone rushed out from beside the thicket with a tremendous battle cry.

Ponia was clearly reflected in his large glasses, holding his axe high with both hands.

The sharp tip of the axe aimed at him.

It came down.

“W-wait!”

He spoke more urgently than ever, but what had already begun couldn’t be stopped.

Thunk.

Ponia’s axe dug deep into flesh.

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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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