As the atmosphere loosened up, Leciel sat facing the man in a comfortable spot to facilitate conversation.

‘But he’s really handsome.’

Leciel wondered how he would look when he opened his eyes, and his excellent looks seemed to overshadow others to the extent that they might seem like squids with their small minds and hearts compared to his striking appearance.

Just because I was a child didn’t mean I was insensitive to appearances.

‘And he has red eyes with black hair.’

Looking at the glowing red eyes even in the dim light of the darkness, the image of a northern duke from a novel came to mind.

Red eyes with black hair were typically a trademark of a duke, were they?

‘It would be great if he was really a northern duke.’

Perhaps feeling a bit less guarded, Leciel entertained a frivolous thought for a moment.

“First… um… I suppose Sir might be wondering why Sir was here, so I’ll explain that part first.”

Since Leciel couldn’t think of a suitable title to refer to the man, she naturally used the term ‘Sir’ to address him.

It was a kind of honorific in its own way.

Given that she had no idea what kind of world this was, choosing the right title for the situation was difficult.

However, the man’s expression upon hearing the repeated ‘Sir’ was peculiar.

“In fact, there’s not much explanation to give, I just happened to come across Sir lying outside and brought you here.”

The man’s expression became strange as he heard the title ‘Sir’ once again, but soon returned to being expressionless.

“You’re careless. Do you even know who you bring here so recklessly?”

Moreover, the child who brought him here seemed to be around 8 years old at most.

Seeing that she was the only one in this house, it seemed like she lived alone without any guardian.

But she picked him up without knowing who he was.

What if he was a bad guy and tried to harm her, not even knowing the favor of being rescued by her?

Actually, even if that were the case, there was no reason for the man to worry about it, but for some reason, he was concerned, perhaps because she was a child.

Perhaps it was also because she might be similar in age to his son at home.

“Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? Sir can’t touch me anyway. Besides, I brought Sir here with trustworthy Chacha and Mimi to protect me just in case.”

Actually, Mimi was called not to guard her, but to be used as a bed.

“…Were you not living together?”

“No way. I’ve seen so many monsters that I’m used to them now, but I’m not so fond of living with them.”

In that sense, if it wasn’t for the man, there was no need to bring monsters into her house.

“You have a big gut.”

Even if it was okay to see monsters, most people wouldn’t even think about training them. Even more so to the extent of being accustomed to handling monsters.

It was something that only those with strong courage could dare to do.

“And do you think you can subdue me with just two monsters?”

“What kind of trivial words is Sir saying? There are not just the two of them.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are many monsters I like, so if I call for help, a truckload of monsters will come to help me.”

Therefore, Leciel wasn’t particularly afraid of the man.

No matter how skilled the man was, he couldn’t win against all the monsters here.

‘Could it be that she just picked me up without thinking, even though she missed seeing people …’

“What is your true identity?”

Even though he didn’t know what the expression ‘a truckload’ meant exactly, he could sense that it meant a large number.

So, a question arose.

That was a question he had even before he knew that the girl had rescued him.

“I’m just Leciel.”

“Do you think I’m simply asking about that?”

Seeing Leciel revealing her name innocently, the man looked somewhat bewildered.

“No… I just answered because I’m ‘Leciel’, but… if you say it like that… I also have something to say…”

Unlike her casual tone, Leciel’s words were sincere.

Just like the man who had doubts about her, Leciel was also feeling uncertain about her own existence.

But all she knew was her name.

So, whatever the man wanted to know, Leciel couldn’t answer.

Because she also wanted to know the same thing.

At Leciel’s somewhat joking words, the man looked at her with a sharp eye as if gauging her sincerity.

But he didn’t feel anything in particular.

Only her unusually clear and sharp eyes that seemed to be piercing through his head, but nothing else could be felt.

The man decided to change his approach.

Since he probably couldn’t get the direct answer he wanted from her, he decided to ask other questions to find out about her.

“…Is this the monster forest?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Leciel nodded confidently.

“Then, are you living here?”

“That’s also true.”

“Since when, and how did you end up living here?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

The man looked somewhat puzzled.

If she didn’t know, then who else would know.

But he didn’t feel like the girl was lying. She sent him a pure and clear look that seemed to say she really didn’t know, and he felt some confusion in her gaze.

“Believe it or not, but what I remember is from the moment I opened my eyes here two years ago. I don’t remember anything before that.”

‘No memories, huh…’

The man pondered over Leciel’s answer.

In that case, she might truly not know her own identity.

“I’ll believe you for now.”

“I’m glad that’s the case. Honestly, I was wondering what I should do if Sir didn’t believe me.”

Although he seemed to have many questions for her, Leciel was under no obligation to answer.

It was just a consideration for the bewildered man.

So even if he didn’t believe her words, Leciel didn’t feel the need to convince him.

The man chuckled as if finding Leciel’s boldness amusing.

‘She’s bold.’

Very much so.

But it wasn’t so much as to be irritating.

Rather, it was somewhat intriguing.

 

When she naturally commanded the monsters, she already seemed like a special child. Yet she also didn’t flinch at all even when facing him.

Considering that most people couldn’t even see his eyes properly, it was quite fascinating.

In the man’s lineage, a special power had been passed down for generations, and as a result, people mostly feared him. Just being around him was so frightening that they trembled.

Until now, the only humans who hadn’t been afraid of him since they first saw him were his son and his now-deceased wife.

And now, another one had been added.

Moreover, it was a young child who looked no more than 8 years old.

“Lastly, how did you manage to survive here?”

“Well, just fine?”

Leciel summarized it briefly because she felt it would be painful to talk about her journey over the past two years.

“….”

The man looked puzzled at Leciel’s somewhat insincere answer.

“So, I wonder how you managed to survive ‘well’?”

“That’s how I managed to survive well.”

“…That doesn’t seem like a sufficient answer.”

If someone else had answered like that to him, he would have been furious, accusing them of joking around.

And he would have thought that such a useless tongue was unnecessary and might have even cut it off or blocked it altogether.

However, the child in front of him was much younger than his son, and especially since she had saved his life, he showed rare patience.

“Why is that important?”

“Well, perhaps that information could help in leaving this place.”

“That’s unlikely, isn’t it? I survived because I’m me, not because of anyone else.”

“Why?”

“If Sir is asking how I survived in terms of surviving monster attacks, it’s because the monsters didn’t attack me in the first place.”

“Come to think of it, those monsters followed you unusually.”

As if following their master rather than just not attacking.

“It’s not just them, other monsters did the same. That’s how I was able to survive. If Sir asks why… I don’t know either.”

Leciel was also curious about the reason, but there was no one to tell her the reason.

“…It probably won’t help me. But… then why haven’t you left this place?”

If the monsters didn’t attack her, it wouldn’t be difficult to leave this place.

The reason this forest was dangerous was because of the presence of monsters.

“I wasn’t attacked outright. But for some reason, whenever I tried to leave, they rushed at me as if to prevent me from leaving.”

“…So have you been living here alone continuously for the past two years?”

“Yes. I haven’t seen anyone else, and even if there were, would they still be alive? So please be thankful to me. Sir survived because I happened to discover Sir quickly. Otherwise, Sir would have died too.”

If she had discovered him just five minutes later, the man would have been inside Chacha’s belly and become nourishment for the monsters.

Fortunately, just before Chacha discovered the man, she found him first and thus was able to stop it.

“Come to think of it, I forgot the most important thing. Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to save my life.”

Contrary to the slightly guarded attitude he had shown just a while ago, the man expressed his gratitude with a serious expression.

As the child said, she was his savior. And what he had felt during their conversation was that the child wasn’t his enemy.

It didn’t seem like she had approached him intentionally, nor did it seem like she was allied with those who trapped him.

However, regardless of that, the child’s existence still seemed suspicious.

Because there were parts of her that couldn’t be understood with common sense.

But if the child wasn’t an enemy aiming for his life, it wasn’t a hugely important issue.

Everyone had their own secrets.

Of course, it didn’t seem like something to just overlook, so he would have to keep an eye on her.

“Well, if Sir really thankful, how about giving me that dagger?”

“…When it’s no longer needed.”

It was only because there was no other weapon available right now, otherwise, there was no reason not to give it to his savior.

Even though it was an expensive dagger with his family crest engraved on it, it was just an item with no special value to him.

“I hope that day comes soon.”

“Me too.”

The day the dagger was no longer needed would probably be the day he left this forest.

“So, how are Sir’s injuries? I’ve treated them to some extent, but all I had was ointment, so I only applied that.”

“Come to think of it, I seem to be in better condition than I thought.”

Although it seemed like the injured area was throbbing and wasn’t getting any better soon, it felt somewhat okay.

There was still some pain, but he could still move and walk without any problems.

Especially since he was poisoned by monster venom.

The internal injuries he suffered weren’t as serious as those of an ordinary person, but he still wouldn’t be able to move his body for at least three days.

Also, if one didn’t receive proper treatment within a few hours of being poisoned, the injured areas would rot quickly.

However, there didn’t seem to be an antidote that could cure the monster’s poison here.

The antidote to the monster’s poison was something that not even a seasoned doctor could easily create.

Especially since it would not be possible to even get the ingredients here.

‘I think I need to check.’

Even though it looked fine, if the poison has spread, some kind of action will have to be taken immediately.

With that thought in mind, the man unbuttoned the shirt he was wearing without hesitation.