I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 33

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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 33

 

“Sionel?”

 

Ponia waved her hand in front of his eyes.

 

“Should I say it one more time…?”

 

“What did you say?”

 

Sionel, who hadn’t moved even when she waved her hand, instantly grabbed her hand.

 

“Huh? Are you coming to your senses?”

 

“Yeah. But what did you say?”

 

“What?”

 

“You just said that. Should I say it one more time.”

 

‘Why is he suddenly acting like this?’

 

It could have been treated as a passing remark, but Sionel persistently questioned her.

 

And the way he’d been looking closely at her face since earlier too.

 

“I just kept calling your name.”

 

“…”

 

“Why?”

 

Even looking at Ponia’s innocent face that knew nothing, Sionel quietly gazed into her green eyes.

 

‘I wonder what color that young lady’s eyes were.’

 

They seemed like they might have been a greenish leaf color like Ponia’s, or perhaps a darker deep green, or maybe even brown.

 

His memory had been a bit clearer in that ballroom the monster had shown him, but now it had grown dim again.

 

Soon he could see pain seeping into those green eyes.

 

“Could you let go of my hand? It hurts.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

For someone who had been persistently holding onto her, Sionel obediently let go of her hand.

 

“Let’s get out of here first.”

 

Following Sionel as he stepped outside the petals, Ponia secretly took a breath.

 

Had he seen something in the world the monster had shown him?

 

‘Should I have told him?’

 

‘Don’t eat the lemon tart.’

 

She had considered bringing up the warning she’d given him three years ago to him as he couldn’t regain his senses.

 

In the vision he was seeing, his relationship with his family wouldn’t have soured and he wouldn’t have received assassination threats, so to create a discrepancy, a reference point was needed to make him realize reality.

 

The lemon tart was the food that had been on the table when he first received an assassination threat, so it would have been perfect for making him realize that place wasn’t real.

 

‘But then I’d have to tell him the truth about how we met three years ago.’

 

She would have to explain that she wasn’t actually a commoner but a noble young lady, that she had become a forest keeper while hiding her identity, and also the lies she had told to save him.

 

She had made such a mess of things that cleaning it up was beyond manageable.

 

And most importantly.

 

‘I don’t want to.’

 

She didn’t want to confess the truth to him. Before even speaking, reluctance came first and her mouth naturally closed.

 

‘Why?’

 

Her mindset had clearly changed from right after reuniting with him, when she had hoped Sionel would remember her.

 

Ponia buried the inexplicable frustration. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things.

 

“It seems like it was that deer monster’s doing.”

 

The color and shape of the large flower surrounding them resembled white lilies. The same ones that had been on the deer’s antlers.

 

“Right, it cleverly made it indistinguishable from reality while showing what the target most desired.”

 

Sionel also offered a similar speculation to hers.

 

“Were you also affected by the monster?”

 

“I was probably affected before you were.”

 

“What did you see there?”

 

Again, that look of trying to confirm something.

 

“Me living in a rich house with more than enough money to last a lifetime even after paying off debts?”

 

Ponia’s expression didn’t change at all, leaving out only the story about her family.

 

“How wonderful it would have been if that were reality.”

 

This was sincere.

 

“…You managed to come back well.”

 

At her utterly carefree words, Sionel looked at her reproachfully as if viewing a thoughtless child. Ponia naturally deflected that gaze.

 

“But Chad is nowhere to be seen. Don’t tell me he was taken by that deer monster…”

 

“Found him.”

 

As soon as they found him, Chad appeared in the distance.

 

Chad was waving at them with one hand, while his other hand held something. Even looking closely, it was hard to tell what it was. A tree?

 

“Are you both safe?”

 

Despite Chad’s cheerful question as he approached them, both Sionel and Ponia only stared at the object he was holding.

 

“That… isn’t that the deer from earlier?”

 

The antlers, larger and more widely spread than the head that remained, caught their eye. Most of the lilies on the antlers had fallen off, but a few small buds remained.

 

“Ah, I thought this might be the cause, so I dealt with it. Both Nia and Sio became strange as soon as they saw the deer.”

 

To decide to deal with it and immediately put it into action and succeed – he really wasn’t an ordinary person.

 

“As expected, this deer was indeed the cause. The fog has lifted.”

 

Only then did Ponia notice that the surrounding view had opened up completely. And also where their current location was.

 

“…This is the entrance from the cabin into the forest.”

 

They had nearly died with the cabin right in front of them. Goosebumps rose on her arms.

 

“Were you unaffected?”

 

Then, Sionel asked Chad a question.

 

“As soon as I and Nia saw that monster, we experienced hallucinations.”

 

“What kind of hallucinations?”

 

“The ideal world that the subject most desires. But why were you unaffected even after seeing the deer?”

 

Come to think of it, that was true.

 

To chase and deal with the deer, he would naturally have had to look at it, yet he alone was completely unaffected.

 

Chad pondered the question thoughtfully before giving a simple answer.

 

“Maybe because I don’t want anything?”

 

“…”

 

“I don’t have any ideals I’ve been hoping for, so maybe that’s why I was unaffected even when I saw the monster?”

 

Did Chad know what was problematic about what he was saying right now?

 

‘Then what is Chad doing here for?’

 

People move with their own motivations. Moreover, Sionel had shown the will to survive through revenge as a medium.

 

Perhaps the one in the most dangerous state wasn’t Sionel, but…

 

“Haha, just kidding!”

 

Before she could finish her thought, Chad spoke in his characteristic cheerful voice.

 

“I was just lucky. So please relax your expression, Nia. You’re scary.”

 

“…”

 

Then he changed the atmosphere.

 

“What should we do with this monster?”

 

Ponia looked at the deer’s head rolling on the ground and quickly turned her eyes away. For a moment, her family members flickered before her eyes.

 

“Let’s bury it.”

 

“Sounds good.”

 

After burying the monster’s head deep in the ground, they returned to the cabin. Chad, who had been following behind Ponia and Sionel as they walked ahead, turned around.

 

His gaze stopped at a tree. He stared at someone who had been secretly watching them and opened his mouth.

 

“You managed to survive.”

 

His interest went only that far.

 

He turned around immediately, so he didn’t see a single lily bloom from the antlers buried in the ground.

 

* * *

 

“Huff… huff…”

 

Ron frantically escaped from the forest. His whole body was drenched in sweat, his strength had left him, and saliva dripped down, but his eyes gleamed clearly.

 

‘Billy’s words were true!’

 

‘There was a rumor once… that there’s an incredible treasure in the forest, and everyone takes it all and leaves, never to return.’

 

He had seen it clearly!

 

Just now, one woman and two men burying gold and silver treasures in the ground.

 

They had buried it in the ground for now, planning to dig up the treasures and disappear away from other people’s eyes once their forest keeper work was finished.

 

“Haha! They spread those rumors to monopolize it all!”

 

With just that, he wouldn’t need to become a knight and could live a life of leisure forever.

 

Ron ran diligently to escape the forest.

 

He couldn’t handle those people alone.

 

Moreover, the man with glasses among them seemed to have made eye contact with him, but just turned away.

 

Though he had trained lazily, Ron had also trained in preparation to become a knight. So he could feel that the man had sent him a warning killing intent.

 

He had memorized the location of the gold and silver treasures. Once he returned to the village, he could hire mercenaries and come back to the forest.

 

“Aaaahhh! Monster!”

 

Of course, only if he could escape from the forest monsters first.

 

* * *

 

What a tiring day.

 

Ponia and Sionel entered the cabin, ate dinner, and finished preparing for bed.

 

They left both an X mark and a circle on the map. Because Chad had dealt with the deer monster, removing the danger.

 

“The day really was long.”

 

Especially since she had been directly attacked by a monster, she was tired enough to fall asleep immediately.

 

“I should be able to sleep deeply tonight.”

 

“….”

 

She expected a retort like “When have you ever not slept deeply?” but heard nothing.

 

‘Is he already asleep?’

 

She turned her body toward the floor where Sionel would be lying. And witnessed an unexpected scene.

 

“You’re not sleeping, so why aren’t you talking?”

 

He was secretly staring at her.

 

Sionel sat up after observing her like he was studying her.

 

And.

 

“Have we met somewhere before?”

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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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