Chapter 3

The man, who hadn’t yet grasped the situation, blinked several times, and looked around.

The first thing that caught his eye was the eyes of the monster staring intently at him with various expressions.

Startled, the man hurriedly tried to get up to take a defensive stance, but due to his injuries, he could only flinch.

The moment he moved; intense pain surged through his entire body as if he was engulfed in flames.

” … Come to think of it … ”

Certainly, before losing consciousness, he had fallen into the monster forest after getting trapped in someone’s scheme while subduing the monsters that attacked the village.

And the moment he stepped into the forest, he was indiscriminately attacked by the monsters, eventually losing consciousness, and collapsing.

The injury itself was serious, but the problem was the monster’s venom.

While he was inherently immune to the venom of regular monsters, the monsters living in this forest were different from typical monsters. Therefore, the venom of the monsters here was somewhat dangerous to him as well.

“And yet, this place….”

Distracted by the monster in front of him, he hadn’t noticed, but despite being shabby, this place seemed like a house where someone lived.

From the fireplace to the furniture resembling the  bed where he had been lying down, and even a space that looked like a kitchen.

Things that were unnecessary for monsters.

And somehow, even though it seemed crude, it was unreasonable for monsters to build a house like this.

Moreover, for some reason, despite the gaze fixed on him being distinctly different from hostility, he didn’t see any sign of the monster intending to attack him.

That was strange.

Monsters instinctively attacked whenever they saw a person in front of them.

Wasn’t that the nature of monsters?

Yet, even after seeing him, the monster didn’t attack.

Especially, the monster seemed to be glancing at someone.

Who on earth was it that the monster was so obediently quiet in front of, suppressing even its nature?

Inadvertently, the man’s gaze turned towards where the observer might be.

“Huh, am I going crazy at this point?”

The man murmured to himself, momentarily stunned, unable to believe what he had just seen.

Was that even possible?

Although it looked no different from a rabbit on the surface, the aura he felt from it was undoubtedly that of a monster.

However, that monster was currently serving as a child’s  bed.

Both the monster quietly lying under her and the human sleeping comfortably on the monster were incomprehensible.

“She looks like an ordinary child on the outside.”

Briefly, he wondered if she might be a humanoid monster, but considering that he didn’t feel the typical aura of a monster from the child, she was undoubtedly a human.

“Is this even possible?”

It was bewildering, something that defied common sense.@@novelbin@@

However, if that child was human, then it must have been the child who brought him here, as well as the one who, albeit clumsily, treated his injuries. It was hard to imagine that a monster would bring him here, treat him, and even provide a  bed for him to rest.

But the man couldn’t figure out how to accept this situation.

Though it seemed like the child had been kind to him, considering she had saved him, the child’s identity was dubious.

Especially the sight of the monsters following her as if they were her guardians, and the fact that the child naturally lived and built a house here was perplexing.

Moreover, the child seemed much younger than his own son.

Was the monster forest even a place where humans could live?

Stepping into the monster forest meant certain death; it was a place from which one could never  return alive, not even as a corpse.

It was teeming with monsters hunting humans, and they were considerably more skilled compared to the monsters outside the forest.

Even he, who was known as the strongest in the empire, couldn’t do anything in the monster forest.

In fact, hadn’t he entered this forest and collapsed after being injured?

“What should I do?”

The man was lost in thought for a moment.

If this place was still the monster forest, it would be dangerous to venture outside rashly.

So, even if just to understand the situation accurately, he needed to hear a proper explanation from the child.

Although he felt a bit sorry for waking the sleeping child, he couldn’t just wait idly until the child woke up.

He couldn’t rashly decide whether to trust the child or not.

The man slowly got up.

At his movement, the monster that had been watching him tensed up. However, it didn’t rush at him.

It seemed as if it would decide what to do after observing his actions.

Despite realizing the monster’s caution, the man approached the child dumbly.

Upon this, Mimi, who had been the child’s bed, also raised its head to look at the man.

Mimi showed a clear threat with its teeth, as if to warn him not to come closer. Despite its cute appearance, its sharp and fierce teeth were exposed.

“Grrrr!”

Mimi looked straight into the man’s eyes and let out a threatening growl.

The other monster, which had been quiet until now, also stood up to be on guard.

“How interesting.”

It seemed as if they were protecting the child.

Despite the vigilance of the two monsters, the man didn’t show much fear.

He had faced many more monsters than just these two. He wasn’t afraid of just two monsters.

At the man’s attitude, the monsters tensed up even more, and a fierce aura naturally flowed between the man and the two monsters.

A moment of tension.

The child, who had been sound asleep, tossed and turned. Then, she hugged Mimi, who had been lying beside her, tightly as if embracing a doll.

Startled by her action, Mimi cautiously watched whether she would wake up.

“Huh.”

The man’s expression showed some surprise.

It was an unexpected consideration from the monster, not typical of it.

Moreover, due to the excessively large size of the monster compared to the child’s body, the child appeared particularly small.

He estimated that the child was probably not more than 6 or 7 years old, even smaller than his own son when he was 8 years old.

But the man’s thoughts couldn’t linger on this for long.

Suddenly, one of the monsters openly stared at him, assuming a combat stance.

At that moment, Leciel, who had been sound asleep, woke up.

Still blinking from the lingering drowsiness, Leciel widened her eyes upon seeing the awakened man.

“Whoa, my eyes.”

Seeing the remarkably handsome man as soon as she opened her eyes was almost blinding for eyes accustomed to darkness.

For a moment, Leciel, who had sensed something, opened her mouth with a slightly disgruntled expression.

“Whoa, you’re worse than a magpie.”

Those were the words that slowly came out of Leciel’s mouth.

And it was no wonder as the man had a dagger in his hand.

The man, reacting to the monster’s hostility, had drawn the dagger hidden at his waist.

Moreover, even though she had clearly told the monster not to attack, if it was now assuming such a threatening stance upon waking up, there was no doubt that the man had intended to do something wrong.

” … That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

The man, who had been naturally cautious upon the child waking up, furrowed his brow at Leciel’s incomprehensible words.

“Don’t you know that a magpie always repays kindness? It’s a very famous saying.”

“Not at all.”

“Anyway, even if a magpie repays kindness, it wouldn’t point a dagger at a fragile child like me after being rescued! It’s not that you’re worse than a magpie, you’re just a bad person.”

“Ah … ”

Only then did the man realize that the child’s gaze was directed at the dagger in his hand, and he felt somewhat embarrassed.

He had drawn the dagger in response to the monster’s aggression, not intending to attack the child.

But from the child’s perspective, it was easy to misunderstand.

“I find your identity suspicious, but I wouldn’t be pointing a dagger at someone who clearly saved me.”

“So, what’s with the dagger then?”

Lesciel looked at the man with a skeptical expression.

“To respond to attacks from monsters.”

“What? Our kids are kind and don’t attack peaceful people, so there must be a reason why they’re acting like that, right?”

“Are they, by any chance, not monsters?”

Monsters which were not attacking peaceful people. There was nothing more absurd than that.

“Of course … not all of them are like that. But still, they usually listen to me, and considering that it made a promise with me and is now acting like that, there must be a reason, right?”

” … A promise with a monster. Do you think that makes sense?”

” … It doesn’t, but it does this time.”

A monster that listened to my words really well.

The man looked incredulous at that statement.

“I just wanted to wake you up, that’s all.”

The man, who decided to postpone unnecessary discussions, spoke to dispel the child’s misunderstanding.

“Ah. Well, then it might have a reason to do that.”

From the monster’s perspective, it might misunderstand the man’s actions as an attack.

In that case, the dagger in the man’s hand wasn’t for attacking him but for defending against monster attacks.

“Why did you want to wake me up?”

“Um, what would happen if we put that off until later? I could wake up when the time comes.”

Leciel, whose temper became sensitive when awakened from sleep, said with a blunt expression.

“I’m not someone who can afford to do that.”

Considering the others waiting for him at the mansion, he needed to return as soon as possible.

To do that, he needed to understand the current situation, and the only one who could explain it to him right now was the child in front of him.

“Well, anyway, now that you’re awake, if you have any questions, I’ll answer them. But before that, would you give me that dagger?”

“How can I trust you if I give you this?”

“I’m not trying to attack you; I just need it for something.”

She was fortunate that she had managed to find a tool to use instead of a knife, but there was still some discomfort in using it as a substitute for a proper knife.

However, since there was a dagger over there that looked very sturdy, she was very tempted.

With that, she could handle meat or vegetables more easily, and even if not, it would be useful in many ways.

“Why do you need that?”

“There are many reasons. There’s hardly anything decent here, so there are a lot of inconveniences.”

The man seemed to somewhat understand Leciel’s words.

However, regardless of that, he couldn’t give the dagger to the child. In a situation where he had lost his original weapon, this dagger was his only weapon.

“That seems difficult. I also need it to survive here.”

“In that case, could you at least put it away for now?”

If the man kept holding the dagger, the monsters might get excited and rush at him.

“Especially since the monsters are showing such hostile behavior.”

Especially after Leciel woke up, even Mimi, who had been quieter than other monsters, was now fully alert and emanating a sharp aura.

“Alright. Mimi, and you … let’s temporarily call you Chacha. Both of you sit down. Be quiet.”

Of course, gestures to relax and gestures to ‘shush’ were included as bonuses.

With that, Mimi and Chacha, who became obedient monsters, sat down with a blank expression.

At that sight, the man’s expression became mysterious once again.

Even though the monsters were trying to protect her, it was still an incomprehensible act, yet they were obediently following the commands of a human girl.

Considering the situation, it seemed as if they were well-trained dogs rather than monsters.

Anyway, now that the monsters had calmed down, the man put away the dagger, thinking that holding it would only give the child unnecessary vigilance.

Finally, the tense atmosphere loosened, and the situation became one where they could continue the conversation.