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Chapter 13
“This is a bit rough, but it’s enough for a night’s stay.”
“Ah! That’s more than enough. Thank you.”
Although he had barely made a space in a storage room filled with miscellaneous junk, the repairman seemed genuinely satisfied, whether by nature or personality.
He even smiled while shaking off the dust from the blankets. Even when the pillow tore, spilling the stuffing.
‘What kind of life has this person lived?’
“I’ll head back upstairs now.”
As Ponia was about to leave the storage, she noticed something on the floor.
It was hard to see in the night, but it was definitely a stain that looked out of place against the ground.
Ponia knelt and brushed at the stain with her fingers.
“…Blood?”
“Why?”
Without a sound, a man suddenly appeared behind her.
He carried the earthy scent of a forest path after rain, mixed with the smell of herbs. And within that, there was the distinct metallic tang of iron.
“Are you hurt? There’s blood on the floor.”
Ponia stood and scanned his body. There were no obvious injuries. Instead, her eyes fell on a saw lying in the corner of the storage.
The gray saw blade was worn with age but still sharp. A mysterious liquid dripped from the wooden handle. If that was blood…
‘Where did this blood come from?’
“An injury? There isn’t one… ah, it stings.”
At that moment, the man, checking his own hand, opened his palm, and blood dripped from his index finger.
The wound was deep enough that the blood kept flowing without time to clot. His palm was already red.
“I tied a leather strap around the saw handle. It’s a bit rough. I thought I was being careful, but it scratched me again.”
“…”
“I don’t like admitting it, but I… can be a bit careless.”
“…”
“Ah! But don’t worry! It won’t affect my repairs at all!”
Seeing Ponia’s expression stiffen, he hastily defended himself. Ponia pushed her imagination aside.
She realized she had overthought things because she had been too suspicious from the start. Seeing the man flustered and searching for something to clean himself with reinforced that thought.
“There’s a bandage in the cabin. I’ll bring it to you.”
“No! It happens all the time, it’s fine. The bleeding will stop soon.”
“But…”
“Really, it’s fine. You need to go upstairs and rest.”
There was no forcing someone who was adamant, so Ponia left the storage as if pushed out.
“I’ll properly greet you tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah, well…”
“Oh, and…”
A smile spread across the man’s lips. It was similar to the one he had been wearing all along but somehow carried a subtle, meaningful undertone.
“Also, make sure to catch any bugs hiding in the cabin.”
“…”
“Then, have a good night.”
Putting her uneasy feelings aside, Ponia returned to the cabin.
“Ugh!”
She screamed when she spotted the man sitting by the long bed, holding an iron rod.
Where did he even get that?
“What are you doing? Where did you get that?”
“From the shelf. That guy you locked in the storage? I’m going to deal with him.”
What kind of crazy talk was that?
“I didn’t lock him up; I just gave him a room.”
“You’re not seriously going to say that you stopped being suspicious because of that conversation, are you?”
“Yes, actually.”
“Damn it.”
Her mouth! That mouth! Watch what you say!
“Speak nicely…”
“You think I could say something nice when there’s an assassin right under me?”
“…He’s not an assassin, he’s the repairman fixing the cabin. I understand your feelings, but it’s not a lie, considering he’s the one you hired…”
“And regret is for after you’re dead.”
“…”
Stop interrupting me.
Suppressing her boiling anger, Ponia continued.
“You can’t just strangle everyone who comes by to see if they’re an assassin or not. You’re not a psychopath.”
“…”
She didn’t forget to touch her still-bruised neck as she spoke. The usually calm Cheongan trembled just a little.
“You already had your life saved by a stranger, so I guess…”
Hearing a direct reference to herself, Sionel frowned. But he quickly threw the iron rod to the floor and lay down.
She expected him to go ballistic and attack immediately, but he gave up surprisingly easily.
Wondering if Sionel would change his mind, Ponia picked up the rod from the floor and placed it on her bed.
“You’re responsible for this.”
“Of course. Thanks for understanding.”
“Fine. Anyway, there are two of us, so if one dies, it won’t be alone.”
He always said something chilling at least once.
Lying back on the bed, the atmosphere calmed.
“…”
She couldn’t sleep, probably because she had woken up earlier.
She closed her eyes and counted numbers in order, but the silence only made her more alert.
While tossing and turning, unexpectedly, Sionel spoke first.
“I’m curious about something.”
“You’re not asleep yet?”
“It’s too noisy beside me.”
“…What are you curious about?”
She couldn’t even sleep properly next to a light sleeper like him.
“Why did you make that excuse about the hammer earlier?”
“The hammer?”
“When I asked why you were holding a hammer, you said it was to catch bugs.”
“Did I?”
“You could’ve just told the truth. You thought it was a threat and held it just in case.”
“…”
“Why make such a ridiculous excuse? Were you testing my intelligence?”
“…Or are you just an idiot?”
Sionel stared at the empty ceiling, deep in thought.
If someone actually believed that ridiculous excuse, he wouldn’t need to worry about assassins at all.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“…”
“Ponia?”
Sionel turned toward the bed but only saw her back moving rhythmically.
“Sleeping?”
“…”
Her shoulders rose and fell steadily with each breath.
‘She fell asleep already.’
The forest guardian was unpredictable, whether awake or asleep.
‘So carefree.’
He closed his eyes again, staring into the void.
“….”
Meanwhile, Ponia, lying on her back, hadn’t fallen asleep at all.
She was pretending to sleep, worried he might nag.
‘That’s a method I could use.’
Having been thinking too intensely, she was busy coming up with other excuses.
She always pinpointed even trivial things, truly a tiring personality.
She ignored the occasional natural insults and thought about what to do tomorrow.
‘To repair the cabin, I’ll need to get him inside. I should wake up early tomorrow.’
If she let Sionel out for a short time to work on the repairs, no one would notice.
‘But how long will it take?’
She hoped to finish within a week. If it took longer, her cohabitant might lose patience.
Besides, Ponia wasn’t feeling completely at ease either.
She hadn’t mentioned it to Sionel, but something bothered her.
‘He looks so familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before.’
If she had ever seen a curly-haired person with glasses like him, she could never forget.
‘If I see his eyes behind the glasses, I might remember even more…’
Her eyelids slowly closed.
At the same time Ponia fell asleep,
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.
From the storage under the cabin, something moved repeatedly.
In the storage where he had barely set up a place to sleep, the repairman spread out his tools on the floor and wiped each one with a towel.
Wiping them didn’t make the faded tools shine, but he did it with care.
He hummed to himself, seemingly enjoying the process.
Then he remembered something and rummaged through a bag. Two sheets of paper caught his hand.
Applicant
Name: Nia
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Origin: Harbel Territory
Physical Condition: Normal
Family: None (appears to have lost family as a child)
Knowledge Level: …
It was a document containing information about a forest guardian applicant.
The man had already memorized all the basic details.
But what caught his interest was something else.
Special Note: Despite hearing rumors about the forest, applied voluntarily. Presumably fearless due to being blinded by the reward.
This kind of thing piqued his interest more.
He reflected on the previous situation in his mind.
‘I was trying to catch a bug!’
‘Where did a giant cockroach come from? I was so shocked…’
He hadn’t expected such words and almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“This is going to be more fun than I thought.”
He always sought enjoyment and liked things that piqued his interest.
Fortunately, the forest guardian he met this time was eccentric. Observing such people was one of his hobbies.
He finished wiping the tools and put them away, leaving only the last task.
He picked up the saw.
The forest guardian was just an added amusement. He hadn’t forgotten his main purpose.
The man brought the saw to a black-stained white towel. Slowly brushing from top to bottom, just like the other tools, stains appeared.
But unlike the others, this one was different. The blackened towel had a strange reddish tint. And when he wiped the handle wrapped in the leather strap,
Bright red blood dyed the black towel.
