I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 36

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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 36

 

What am I looking at.

 

Sionel looked at us without even thinking to cover his body. Among us, he seemed to be carefully observing Ponia’s reaction in particular.

 

My gaze was drawn to his distinct flesh-toned skin. Even excluding his bandaged abdomen, his well-balanced muscles were impressive.

 

If it were a typical unmarried woman, she would have blushed in surprise or fled the scene, but Ponia was not like that.

 

She had already seen his body several times, and had even touched it directly for treatment.

 

‘If he thought I’d be surprised by something like this, he’s mistaken.’

 

After Sionel became able to move his body to some extent, he had wrapped the bandages himself, so while it had been a while since I’d seen it, I could look at this much without any particular feeling.

 

Huh. But why is my face getting hot. Did I catch a cold.

 

As I placed my hand on my heated cheek, a large hand covered my eyes. When I turned my head, the hand followed along.

 

When I looked up, Chad smiled at her with an unusually kind expression.

 

“You shouldn’t look at things like that.”

 

“Things like that?”

 

“Things that make you have unnecessary thoughts.”

 

“….”

 

“Even though you’re cousins, you should maintain proper boundaries.”

 

Again, the hand was removed. Sionel had already changed his shirt and was shaking the moisture from his hair.

 

“Sio, isn’t it a bit too careless to change clothes so defensively?”

 

“I just changed out of wet clothes, you’re making a fuss.”

 

And when his eyes met hers as she stood there blankly, he slowly moved his lips with an expressionless face. No sound could be heard.

 

She focused on the shape of his mouth and tried to read what he was saying.

 

What… what… are you… look… per… vert?

 

‘He’s calling me a pervert?’

 

When she pointed at herself with her finger to confirm again, he lightly nodded his head. It was the correct answer.

 

Just as she was about to retort indignantly, Chad interrupted.

 

“Should we start a fire first? We need to dry the wet clothes.”

 

“…Let’s do that.”

 

“Then I’ll check the food.”

 

The division of work proceeded smoothly.

 

Chad gathered dry wood in the spacious area to start a fire, and Sionel left to check the condition of the bread and soup remaining in the cabin.

 

He had stepped forward because he didn’t trust what Chad might do to the food.

 

Ponia organized her bag in the corner.

 

Fortunately, most of the items were intact. Even the most important medicine map was only wet at the edges and would dry quickly if left as is.

 

“Hmm?”

 

When patrolling, she set aside the main bag and examined the bag containing essential medicines, but noticed several things were missing.

 

Painkillers, fever reducers, antidotes.

 

They weren’t in either of the two bags Jerome had supplied, nor in the bag she had brought separately.

 

Fortunately, they weren’t medicines needed to treat Sionel, but it was disappointing that things that had been perfectly fine were now missing.

 

“Maybe I put them somewhere else.”

 

Come to think of it, Chad had also brought a bag this morning, so they might have been mistakenly put there.

 

Ponia spotted Chad’s belongings gathered in the corner of the warehouse and briefly glanced at Chad sideways.

 

He was focused on starting the fire and didn’t turn around. She considered asking but just touched his luggage instead.

 

‘I’ll just find them quickly and close it.’

 

“It’s all tools.”

 

Hammers, saws, and even long rope. Just looking at the bag, it seemed like a tool bag bundle that a rough-looking thug would carry around.

 

“Let’s see, where are the medicines….”

 

As she rummaged deeper, her hand caught a crumpled piece of paper.

 

‘He should store things better, when they get crumpled like this they’re hard to read….’

 

She carelessly took it out and unfolded the paper, discovering something written on the back.

 

Applicant

 

Name: Nia

 

Gender: Female

 

Age: 20 years old

 

Origin: Harbel Estate

 

Physical…

 

“…What is this?”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Ponia trembled at the voice falling from directly above her.

 

“I have privacy too, you know. Going through my luggage is too much.”

 

“…I thought I had lost something.”

 

Chad gently took the paper from her hands.

 

“Did you see this?”

 

Ponia looked past him, but Sionel was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Looking for Sio? Sio went out for a moment to see if there was anything more to bring from the cabin.”

 

‘Then that means there are only the two of us in this warehouse.’

 

Ponia swallowed dryly.

 

Ponia, who had been fidgeting in her seat, hesitated with an expression filled with uncertainty, then slowly stood up.

 

Chad didn’t miss her awkward behavior in that moment.

 

His orange eyes behind his glasses gleamed with an unusual light.

 

“What is that? Why do you have a paper with my information on it?”

 

Ponia asked lightly, trying not to show how nervous she was. However, complex thoughts continued endlessly in her mind.

 

‘Is Chad already working as an informant?’

 

He had received a commission to investigate the whereabouts of the Devonham prince and the family’s movements, which led him to learn about Mirban Forest and infiltrate it.

 

In that process, it would have been easy for him to find out information about her as the forest keeper.

 

It made more sense that the capable Chad was more than just an ordinary repairman.

 

‘What should I do.’

 

If her speculation was correct, it meant Chad was extracting information from this place and delivering it to others.

 

If it were an ordinary noble family, there would be no problem, but the more influential and high-ranking the family in the Empire, the greater the danger became.

 

If the news reached House of Devonham, Sionel’s life would be in immediate danger.

 

‘What should I do.’

 

Stopping Chad like this would be the standard course of action, but Ponia couldn’t easily reach a conclusion.

 

The image of Chad she had seen in the original story kept restricting her actions. She didn’t know how much her single action now would affect the original story.

 

‘I’ve already experienced it once.’

 

Just by interfering with a major character from the original story, the situation had deteriorated beyond control.

 

In her imagination, Sionel died in various ways due to her hasty words and well-intentioned actions.

 

After intense deliberation during the brief silence, Ponia reached a conclusion.

 

If Chad was an informant, and this was merely one of the past events before he became Sionel’s ally.

 

‘I won’t do anything.’

 

She relaxed the strength in her hands.

 

Once was enough for endangering Sionel with her own hands.

 

Ponia quietly waited for Chad’s answer.

 

Chad slowly raised his hand.

 

Then he placed it on the back of his head and showed an awkward smile.

 

“Ah, Jerome gave me that.”

 

“…”

 

“I put it away saying I’d look at it later, but completely forgot about it. How silly of me.”

 

Chad turned the paper so Ponia could see it, then pointed to one spot.

 

“When hiring Nia, he said he got this from the employment office. Is that right?”

 

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

 

“…That’s right.”

 

Those sentimental employment office workers would have written this and more.

 

‘Then this information was really passed on by Jerome?’

 

Though some doubts remained, judging by the quality of the information, it wasn’t particularly valuable. It wasn’t as if he had discovered Ponia’s true identity either.

 

‘I guess I was overthinking it.’

 

Before long, Sionel returned. Ponia, who had been awkwardly facing Chad, quickly turned toward Sionel.

 

Chad looked curiously at Ponia, whose expression softened upon seeing Sionel, then looked down at his bag.

 

Just now, when Nia had stood up from her seat, she had put her hand in her bag, gripped a tool that could serve as a weapon, then let it go before standing up.

 

Even in a situation where she suspected him, it would have taken great resolve to stand up without a single weapon.

 

She abandoned her intent to attack and stood defenseless before him.

 

Her actions just now had confirmed it.

 

Nia couldn’t fully trust him, yet she could never distance herself from him either.

 

Instead of choosing self-defense driven by suspicion, she offered her own flesh and put him to the test.

 

Watching Ponia ultimately choose to trust him, he even felt a thrill.

 

That’s why he had stepped back.

 

Because he could see her life—too naive and foolish to be cunning, always ending up at a loss.

 

He wanted to show her that someone would respond to reckless faith.

 

He hummed while organizing the scattered tools. Then he pulled out another crumpled paper from deep inside his bag.

 

I’m really quite lucky.

 

That naive forest keeper only discovered information about himself.

 

Sionel Devonham

 

Or perhaps it’s Nia who’s the lucky one.

 

* * *

 

After a hearty meal, it was already time to sleep.

 

Though smaller than the cabin, there was still space for three people to lie down.

 

However, an unexpected problem arose.

 

“Who’s going to sleep next to Nia?”

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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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