I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 20

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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 20

“No.”

“Then why are you praising him and telling me to meet him?”

“That’s because….”

Because this place might be where you first meet the loyal subordinate who will become your right-hand man in the future.

If I said that, I’d lose even the shallow trust I’ve built up, right? Pass.

Seeing Ponia unable to answer, Sionel became even more convinced.

“You’ve fallen for him.”

“I said no.”

“What peculiar taste.”

“I said no.”

“Fine, I’ll believe you.”

He clearly didn’t believe her at all.

As she pondered how to explain herself and convey her true intentions, Sionel patted the bed.

“Sit down.”

That action was so suspicious and awkward that Ponia didn’t approach carelessly.

“…Why?”

“…Do I still look like a madman who’s only looking for a chance to kill you?”

You know yourself well?

Of course, Ponia also knew what to say and what not to say.

When she obediently sat on the bed, he brought over a wet cloth and a bottle containing crushed dark green leaves.

“Show me your wound.”

“It’s nothing serious.”

At the forest keeper who always had to add one more word to his statements, Sionel made an annoyed expression, then silently rolled up her clothes.

Skillfully wiping the blood from her arm, he carefully applied the crushed leaves and sap from the medicine bottle to the wound.

Ponia flinched her arm.

“Stay still.”

She could feel the skill in his delicate touch as he spread the medicine thinly. Ponia looked at his face as he concentrated on the treatment.

Generally, a noble young master raised in comfort would neither get wounded nor have occasion to treat wounds directly.

After countless assassination attempts, Sionel must have eventually become so isolated that he couldn’t even trust the family members who treated his wounds.

His uncle had been slowly killing him within the manor.

“Psychopath bastard….”

A bastard who deserved to be torn apart and killed.

“…What did you say?”

The hand applying medicine stopped.

“What did I say?”

Ponia quickly stood up and changed the subject.

“By the way, what were you doing while I was gone?”

“….”

“The house is all messed up?”

Now that she mentioned it, it was even stranger. The furniture that had definitely been fine before she left was subtly out of place.

All the windows were open despite the still quite chilly weather.

As Ponia wondered about this, his neck came into her view.

Various spots on his neck were particularly red.

She had thought it was just unusually red from the sunset, but it wasn’t. Clear nail marks remained on his neck.

Ponia recalled him scratching at the door with his nails inside the closet.

Noticing where Ponia’s gaze was directed, Sionel pointed to the desk.

“You said you patrolled. Did you mark it?”

An intentional deflection.

Ponia couldn’t take her eyes off his neck but pretended not to notice and pulled out the map from her bag. Then she discovered another object in the bag as well.

“Right. I picked this up while patrolling.”

The dagger hadn’t been cleaned yet, so dark red blood was still on it. Taking the dagger, Sionel stared at it intently before asking.

“Where did this dagger come from?”

“It was just lying there at the place where you threw it at the monster last time.”

“No, not that. Where you first discovered this.”

Sionel held the dagger up high. The dagger reflected in the sunset light clearly revealed its curves and form.

He knows an assassin who carries a similar type of dagger.

‘Want to know something interesting?’

‘Your parents who supposedly died in a carriage accident. We actually killed them. On your uncle’s orders.’

That mouth that had laughed heartlessly while watching his eyes fill with despair and rage. Those snake-like eyes filled with ecstasy.

“I picked it up in the cave?”

Ponia pointed with her finger at the crude map she was holding. There was a circle drawn indicating the safe zone.

“Oh, I picked up that arrow too.”

“…Really?”

On the night they made their deal, Sionel had casually asked Ponia about it. But Ponia had shaken her head.

‘Other people? When I found you, you were alone though?’

The assassins who had been chasing him in the forest had disappeared without a trace.

Given the nature of this forest teeming with magical beasts, the assassins had likely become food for the creatures.

They probably met their end without even a scream, unable to fight back even once.

Ponia looked at Sionel, who was unusually quiet, with puzzlement.

“Why?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing.”

The cool sensation of the dagger traveled up through his hand.

But that’s not enough.

The pain I want to give you bastards—that’s not enough.

* * *

“By any chance, are you thinking of getting a job somewhere?”

Chad looked up from trimming the small branches of the tree.

Ponia was crouched right beside him, her eyes sparkling. Chad shrugged his shoulders.

“I already have a job. I’m doing cabin repair work as a repairman.”

“That’s just a short-term contract. How about something more long-term? For example, entering some noble house?”

“….”

“You know, historically prestigious, renowned, still maintaining power—that kind of family.”

Like the Devonham Duchy, or the family where Sionel Devonham belongs, or the place with the psychopath uncle.

Ponia moved a couple steps closer to him and stared persistently beyond his thick glasses.

“Actually, I can read faces a bit? I think there might be work that suits you better than what you’re doing now.”

‘As an informant, that is.’

She didn’t know why Chad was working as a repairman. But one thing was certain—even now, he was far from ordinary.

‘An ordinary repairman couldn’t kill a magical beast in one strike.’

“I didn’t know Nia had so many interesting things to say.”

Chad stood up, dusting off his hands after finishing trimming all the small branches.

“Somehow your attitude seems to have changed since you went home yesterday too.”

“….”

He hit the nail on the head.

Ponia belatedly rolled her eyes, and Chad observed her with keen interest.

“How did you end up doing this work, Nia?”

“…I’m doing it to make money.”

Though whatever money she managed to earn would go toward preventing bankruptcy before it even reached her hands.

“Then why did you come here? You must have heard the rumors about the forest.”

Ponia naturally asked about him.

If she could learn even a little about Chad, she might find the reason he came to follow Sionel.

Chad readily provided an answer.

“I’m also here to make money. The pay was much better than other jobs. And the work is simple?”

“….”

“Most importantly, I’m confident.”

A pleasant smile spread across Chad’s lips. Ponia felt uneasy looking at him.

He was clearly talking about his work as a repairman, but why did it feel so unsettling?

“There, finished! Now we just need to move it.”

With a cheerful voice, Chad shouldered the wood he had cut to the right length and stood up.

Ponia started to follow him up, but seeing the remaining lumber, she hurriedly grabbed him.

“Wait a minute. As a repairman, can you make anything out of wood?”

“Of course! Why?”

“Could you make something for me?”

* * *

The sunset began to shine directly into the cabin. The inside of the cabin was dyed red.

Even by then, Ponia had not returned.

Tap tap tap.

The speed of the finger tapping the window frame gradually grew faster.

It had been like this ever since Chad Moreau came to this place.

He was trapped in this tiny cabin, while that fool was patrolling the forest with someone who might be an assassin.

He habitually brought his hand to his neck, then stopped. Then, irritably running his fingers through his hair, he paced around the cramped room.

Was it since being trapped in the closet, or since he started staying only inside the cabin?

He occasionally felt a suffocating sensation of unknown origin.

First, he would become aware of the space surrounding him, then naturally notice his breathing. Next, he would feel the air becoming insufficient.

He knew it all stemmed from his excessive imagination. But he simply couldn’t bear it.

Eventually, he began scratching his neck. If he scratched just a little more, blood would surely come out, but he couldn’t help it…

“Ta-da! I brought a present!”

Along with the door bursting open, a booming voice echoed through the cabin.

He momentarily forgot his suffocating feeling and looked toward the door.

Unlike the booming voice, the owner of that voice had not yet appeared.

“Oh, wait a moment.”

The sound of something bumping was heard, and a long shape struggled beyond the door.

Eventually, a long piece of wood of unknown purpose entered the cabin first. Soon after, Ponia also revealed herself.

Upon spotting Sionel, she shouted proudly.

“Here, a present!”

Sionel cast his gaze upon the large object.

This ladder?

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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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