I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 81

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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 81

Swish!

An arrow grazed Sionel’s arm and embedded itself in a tree trunk.

“We absolutely cannot let him escape!”

The assassins who spotted Sionel shouted as they fiercely pursued him.

Sionel didn’t look back and continued running.

This situation was familiar to the point of being tiresome.

Every time he was chased by assassins, he had countless thoughts of simply stopping and accepting his end.

The threats against him seemed endless, and the situation of having to preserve his life while facing faceless enemies was enough to make him despair.

At some point, Sionel had been fighting not the assassins, but himself. He had been battling his own heart that wanted to give up and rest.

Even when entering this forest, he had made up his mind and given up on everything.

But this time was different.

Sionel ran more desperately than ever before. Even when his breath reached his throat, he didn’t stop.

He knew he would be caught. He also knew he couldn’t handle the assassins.

But his goal wasn’t survival.

It was to run as far away as possible.

The assassins had to be so focused on chasing him that they couldn’t pay attention to anything else.

So that Ponia could escape as far as possible from the assassins, and from himself.

With that single goal, Sionel felt that he was truly alive.

The assassins couldn’t easily catch Sionel.

Ordinary targets try to shake off assassins while fleeing, and then they strategize to capture them.

But Sionel never left their sight. Rather, he stayed close enough that he seemed within reach at any moment.

So the assassins couldn’t think of anything else and just chased after him.

Who would try to flee while planning to be caught by assassins?

After a long chase, Sionel saw light ahead.

It was the forest entrance.

Sionel slowed his pace.

As soon as he emerged from the forest entrance, the assassins grabbed his neck and knocked him down. The assassins who had been waiting at the entrance also approached.

“Ugh!”

The assassins didn’t let their guard down. Sionel had already survived various assassination attempts. They immediately bound Sionel.

Sionel asked leisurely.

“Uncle told you to bring me back alive, I suppose?”

“…”

“He wants to kill me himself.”

Countless assassination attempts had already ended in failure. Even Chad Moreau’s betrayal at the end.

Given Gideon’s personality, he would want to confirm the death with his own eyes.

Having thought that far, Sionel’s mind became calm.

As much as he had trusted and respected Gideon, his betrayal was devastating. While trembling with anger, he had also feared him.

But Sionel was no longer afraid of Gideon. There was something else he feared.

Losing the person most precious to him.

Sionel briefly looked toward the forest.

Would Ponia be safe?

The assassins were with him, but there were still people remaining in the forest.

His leaving the forest now would be more helpful to Ponia.

Sionel relaxed his body and didn’t resist.

He simply quietly memorized the faces of those leading him away.

One with a long scar beside his eye, one with eyes that were long and narrow, one with an unusually thin voice.

The assassins found Sionel’s compliance puzzling but led him to the carriage.

That’s when it happened.

An assassin came out from the entrance area, touching the back of his head. Sionel’s eyes widened.

It was the assassin who had held Ponia hostage and threatened him.

“Damn it….”

The irritated assassin spotted Sionel and approached with a sinister grin.

“You used every trick to run away, but you got caught in the end?”

“….”

A slender figure who was rude yet strangely maintained a certain politeness, with a high-pitched voice.

The assassin met Sionel’s stare for a moment, then looked away. And asked another assassin.

“Hey, where did the woman go?”

“She was with him when we first found them, but she disappeared.”

Listening to their conversation, Sionel had only one thought.

He had to kill this bastard here. He had to eliminate him before he could find Ponia.

Sionel tensed his bound hands.

The assassin immediately pointed toward the forest.

“Go find the woman right now. She’s a witness. We’ll kill her here before we leave.”

With his hands still bound, Sionel charged at the assassin again. However, Sionel’s attack without any weapons was ineffective.

The assassin easily subdued him, grabbing his head and turning it. The assassin laughed.

“Young master should wait with me for the forest keeper.”

As five assassins entered the forest, one of them suddenly collapsed. An arrow was embedded in his back.

“What!”

The assassins frantically looked around, but it was already too late to assess the situation. More arrows flew toward them in succession.

One by one they fell, and finally the enemies appeared. Sionel recognized the faces of those rapidly approaching from the forest.

“Roen.”

It was Roen, the advisor of House of Devonham. Roen also spotted Sionel and shouted.

“Young master!”

Dismounting from their horses and quickly dispatching the assassins, Roen and his subordinates tried to reach Sionel. They outnumbered the assassins by double.

The assassins fell to their knees before them.

Thud.

“Ah!”

While Sionel was momentarily off guard, intense pain struck him.

The assassin stabbed a blade into Sionel’s chest and said.

“Even if I can’t bring you to the duke, I must complete the original mission.”

The assassin looked back and forth between the bleeding Sionel and Roen’s subordinates approaching him, then cast a regretful glance.

And immediately moved away from him, mounting a horse.

The situation was quickly resolved.

Roen urgently knelt in front of Sionel.

“We’re going to the village immediately! Move the young master!”

“Yes!”

People moved busily, and Roen examined Sionel’s condition.

“It’s alright now. We’ve uncovered the duke’s conspiracy. Please endure a little longer. We’ll somehow….”

Sionel grabbed Roen’s arm tightly.

“…Ponia.”

“Yes?”

“Ponia is still in… the forest….”

“Who are you referring to….”

“You have to find her…. Find… her and bring her to me. Right now.”

“But, young master. We cannot delay here any longer. Your condition is serious.”

I don’t care about that. Bring Ponia to me right now.

But his lips wouldn’t move anymore. His consciousness drifted far away.

“…master!”

With Roen’s face shouting at him as the last thing he saw, Sionel lost consciousness.

After carefully placing Sionel in the carriage, a subordinate approached Roen.

“What should we do about what the young master mentioned?”

Roen looked toward the forest with a troubled expression for a moment.

Before losing consciousness, Sionel had given what amounted to a pleading command. Roen needed to obey his master’s orders.

But if he followed those words, his master would die.

Sending other subordinates to the forest in the current situation was also dangerous. There might be an ambush.

After much deliberation, Roen finally got into the carriage.

“Depart. Following orders comes after saving the young master.”

“Yes!”

And so they left the forest.

Right after Sionel pushed her away.

Ponia immediately got up and tried to get out of the pit.

“We absolutely can’t miss this!”

However, he stopped his actions at the assassin’s cry that followed.

Would her leaving here be helpful to Sionel?

Sionel volunteered to act as bait to save her. He fought against the enemy to save her after she was captured by an assassin and knocked unconscious.

If she catches the assassins’ attention now, he will come back and be captured.

To protect Ponia.

If only she hadn’t been there, Sionel wouldn’t have acted so recklessly.

The current Ponia was of no help to him whatsoever.

Ponia stood perfectly still.

He had always thought that he was the one who saved Sionel.

But now, her very existence was putting him in danger.

It was just as he had worried before becoming lovers with Sionel.

However, there was no more time to think.

Someone was approaching the pit with light, careful steps.

Ponia clutched a handful of dirt and a stone in her hands.

‘I absolutely cannot get caught.’

And as soon as the brown hair appeared above the pit, Ponia threw dirt on it.

“Gah! Cough cough!”

I was about to throw a stone at his head, but stopped.

Because the face of the suspicious figure visible through the dust was all too familiar.

The man who had been waving his hands and coughing for a while opened his eyes with difficulty. Then, he made eye contact with Ponia and smiled.

“I’m not too late, am I?”

It was Chad Morrow.

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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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