I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 39

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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 39

 

She lifted his clothes and touched his arms, legs, and stomach, but there wasn’t a single place that wasn’t burning with fever.

 

As a result of getting caught in the rain yesterday, he had finally caught a cold.

 

‘I shouldn’t have just let it slide.’

 

She knew his physical condition wasn’t normal yet, but she had acted carelessly. The consequences came back to bite her painfully.

 

Regret came too late. She had to make him regain consciousness somehow.

 

“Sio.”

 

“….”

 

“Sio. Please wake up.”

 

Sionel didn’t make a single groaning sound. However, his breathing was faster than usual, and that breath was hot.

 

His sleeping face was peaceful except for the cold sweat he was breaking out in.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Chad, who also sensed something was amiss, sat down beside Ponia.

 

“He has a fever. I think it’s because he got caught in the rain yesterday.”

 

Chad touched Sionel’s neck, then his face hardened.

 

“We need to bring down his fever. Do you have any medicine on hand?”

 

“I had some, but I don’t know where it went. I looked for it yesterday too….”

 

Then, Ponia suddenly stood up.

 

“I’ll go back to the cabin and look.”

 

“What? It’s raining too heavily. The cabin’s condition won’t be good either.”

 

“It’s fine. I’ll be back quickly.”

 

“Then I’ll come with you.”

 

“No. Chad, you stay here. Someone needs to watch over his condition.”

 

“Nia!”

 

Ponia immediately rushed out the door and climbed the stairs.

 

Whoooooosh.

 

As soon as she went outside, not only did her entire body get soaked from how heavily it was raining, but she felt a stinging sensation the moment the rain touched her.

 

When Ponia reached the cabin, the interior was already different from the cabin she had known.

 

The kitchen shelves had collapsed, the windows were broken with glass shards scattered all over the floor. Even the walls that had been holding up were swaying as if they might fall.

 

Ponia stepped inside without hesitation.

 

The missing medicines were mostly ones that had been used once each when treating Sionel. Since they were frequently used medicines, she had kept them on the shelf.

 

Ponia approached the collapsed shelf. Every time she stepped into the water pooled on the floor, she heard splashing sounds.

 

She tried hard to lift up the shelf that had fallen forward, but the wooden shelf soaked with water was heavy, and her hands slipped because of the rain.

 

“Please just….”

 

After several failures, Ponia managed to lift the shelf.

 

Underneath it were several bottles. Only a few bottles were intact, and most had shattered into pieces with only glass fragments and caps rolling around.

 

Ponia cleared away the glass shards with her hands. Blood droplets formed at her fingertips, but they were quickly washed away by the rain.

 

In this remote forest, if medicine ran out, there was no other way to obtain it.

 

The merciless rainwater made her eyelids close, but she wiped her face with her arm. Ponia persistently picked up the glass bottles.

 

And then, she found what she was looking for.

 

“….”

 

However, the bottom of the bottle that had contained the fever reducer was cracked, and when she picked up the bottle, the water that had filled it leaked out.

 

Strength entered her hand. She heard the sound of the bottle breaking in her hand, but she couldn’t feel the sensation.

 

‘What should I do, how can I help Sionel….’

 

The image of collapsed Sionel wouldn’t leave her mind.

 

Rather, her mind accepted it familiarly as if she had thought about it dozens of times before.

 

Shouldn’t I have stepped forward? Shouldn’t I have even tried to save him? Where did it go wrong? I really shouldn’t have met him.

 

She told herself not to be buried in negative thoughts, but the more she did, the deeper into the quagmire she fell.

 

This was abnormal thinking. It felt as if someone in her head was intentionally stirring up her guilt and forcibly drawing it out.

 

Just like how the deer monster had shown her the scene she desired.

 

Ponia accurately diagnosed her condition and raised her head. But her judgment became clouded again.

 

The image of collapsed Sionel flickered before her eyes again….

 

“Nia!”

 

Her shoulder was spun around. Chad looked at her with a surprised expression.

 

“What are you doing here!”

 

“I was looking for fever medicine… the bottle was broken…”

 

Ponia held out her hand. Glass shards were embedded in her palm.

 

Chad grimaced and swallowed hard. Instead of scolding her, he spoke calmly.

 

“What are you doing to yourself.”

 

“…”

 

“Come down right now.”

 

Chad forcibly helped her up and wrapped his arm around her shoulder to support her so she wouldn’t fall.

 

Ponia looked back. Where Sionel’s figure had disappeared, a single white lily she’d never seen before lay fallen.

 

When they returned to the warehouse with Chad, Sionel was there with his shirt removed.

 

“I took his clothes off for now.”

 

“…”

 

“Nia?”

 

Ponia hesitated and stepped backward. Her hand caught the door handle.

 

Maybe Sionel’s fever wasn’t going down because she was there. Her existence, which wasn’t in the original story, was becoming a variable that moved Sionel’s fate in a bad direction.

 

At the same time, Ponia realized one fact.

 

For three years, while looking forward to reuniting with Sionel, she had never once thought of going to see him directly.

 

So she had satisfied herself by using cleaning up her family’s mess as an excuse for not being able to meet him.

 

Because when she met him again, this time she might really kill Sionel.

 

She was afraid she might kill him.

 

So it would be more helpful to stay away from him, even just a little…

 

“Nia, what are you doing.”

 

The door that had briefly opened was closed by Chad. Chad trapped Ponia in his arms.

 

“You need to do what needs to be done.”

 

“…It would be better if I wasn’t here.”

 

Chad Moreau didn’t know anything. What Sionel needed now wasn’t her, but…

 

“What Sio needs right now is Nia.”

 

Ponia looked at Chad for a moment.

 

“What I’m good at is using my body, not nursing someone. The person who knows how to do this kind of thing is you, Nia.”

 

Her green eyes gradually widened. Instead of the hazy sensation that had been dominating her body and mind, a sense of reality returned.

 

Ponia looked at Sionel again.

 

His condition was still poor, but he was still alive.

 

‘What was I thinking.’

 

She had almost lost sight of Sionel right in front of her while fearing something that hadn’t even happened yet.

 

“I need to wet a cloth with water.”

 

At those words, Chad felt relieved and withdrew the arms that had trapped her.

 

Ponia wiped his body with a water-soaked cloth. The cloth quickly became lukewarm due to his body heat, but Chad kept bringing water so she could repeat the process.

 

Even so, there was no sign of improvement.

 

As expected, there was only one way.

 

“I’ll go to the forest.”

 

“The forest?”

 

“Willow bark can be used as fever medicine. I’ve seen it in the forest.”

 

Sure enough, as soon as she spoke, Chad blocked her way.

 

“No. It’s raining too hard.”

 

“It’s okay.”

 

“What will you do if you encounter a monster in the forest.”

 

“I’ll be careful not to run into…”

 

“Don’t be stubborn.”

 

“But there’s no other way. The fever not going down is probably because of his wound. If we leave it like this, it could get worse.”

 

Even if she left now, she didn’t know if she could find it.

 

Chad, who had been blocking Ponia from going out recklessly, grabbed her shoulders.

 

“Fine, then I’ll go.”

 

“What?”

 

“Physical work is my job, isn’t it?”

 

“…”

 

“I’m stronger than you, Nia, and I have a higher chance of surviving even if I encounter a monster. Right?”

 

Ponia didn’t answer.

 

“Just tell me what I need to get.”

 

Chad gathered his axe and tools from his bag and approached the door. But Ponia shook her head.

 

“I want to go after all.”

 

“Nia.”

 

“Even if I explained the location to you, it would be impossible to find the way using a map in this situation. The roads will be ruined because of the rain.”

 

Ponia opened the door.

 

“I’m the person who knows this forest best here. I have to go.”

 

Even Chad, who had been unconditionally opposed, closed his mouth. He recognized Ponia had already made up her mind.

 

“I’ll be back before nightfall.”

 

Leaving only those words, she rushed out.

 

That entire day, the rain that poured down as if the sky had been punctured showed no signs of stopping, and continued into the night.

 

And Ponia did not return even when night fell.

 

* * *

 

His body felt heavy.

 

He vaguely sensed his condition.

 

It seemed he had finally caught a cold. His bold words to Ponia had become useless.

 

It felt like a large boulder was pressing down on his body, but all he could do was endure it.

 

He knew this sensation of unconsciousness well.

 

Soon, a dream would overtake him.

 

The content of the dream was always the same.

 

Uncle and Aren would appear and betray him over and over again.

 

But at some point, the dream began to change.

 

And within it, I.

 

“Haven’t you seen me somewhere before?”

 

I saw you.

 

There was a second meeting between us that neither I nor you remembered.

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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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