Leciel, who had momentarily forgotten about Kael’s presence, turned her head towards the bed where he lay down.

And there she saw Kael, who was quietly sitting up, watching her.

“You’re already awake.”

After living here and having adopted a decent lifestyle herself, it was surprising that he was up even earlier than her.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Kael casually replied, leaning back against the chair as he looked at Leciel.

“I understand. They say sleep disappears as you age.”

“…It seems like you’ve already decided to treat me like an old man.”

Although he was older than a child, he hadn’t reached the age where he didn’t need to sleep.

“Well, you seem to have enough to live. Even when you’re sick, you always seem to have no need sleeping.”

“At least it seems better than yesterday.”

Even though there were still limitations in movement, Kael could feel that the extent of the injury had improved.

“Are you going hunting today?”

“I suppose so. With more people around, there’s a greater need for supplies.”

“I feel sorry for making your work increase.”

“Not really. I’d still go out every day even if I wasn’t hunting.”

“You’re diligent.”

It wasn’t easy to do this every single day without fail.

Kael sighed softly.

“What can I do? There’s no one else to take my place.”

Sometimes monsters helped her, but they only assisted in hunting, nothing more.

Everything else fell to Leciel.

“…Right.”

At Leciel’s response, Kael’s expression became complicated as he thought about her situation again.

Working to survive was natural for everyone.

Whether commoners or nobles, everyone had their roles to play and had to perform their duties every day.

However, Leciel was still young.

Thinking about how she struggled alone with that small body, he felt sorry for her again.

Of course, he had encountered children who had lost their parents and lived alone before.

But whether it was because of the difference between them and Leciel’s situation, Kael empathized more with her circumstances.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Patients should rest quietly. What can someone who’s barely recovering help with?”

“But that doesn’t mean I can just rest and do nothing.”

Even though moving still hurt for him, he wasn’t completely immobile.

“No, you should just rest without doing anything. Even sitting like this is painful; imagine if you try to help.”

Still, seeing that the degree of his grimace was less than yesterday, it seemed like there was some improvement, but he couldn’t casually overexert himself.

“…I don’t recall groaning.”

“Every time you speak, you frown because it hurts.”

That was what a groan was, did it have to have noises to be counted as groaning?

At Leciel’s words, Kael made a strange expression.

He thought he was being discreet, but apparently, she could tell his condition.

He had thought she was quick-witted, but she seemed to have good observational skills as well.

Although he was quick to pick up on things, he seemed to have good observational skills beyond that.

Since he rarely expressed emotions, except for his son or aide, nobody else could discern his feelings.

“Anyway, if you really want to help, you could just keep me company in conversation.”

“…I didn’t think someone would use me as a conversation partner.”

He was too capable and difficult to approach.

“What other purpose could you serve? I saved you for that reason in the first place.”

“I never thought of that reason.”

“Well, if you were in my situation, wouldn’t you have done the same?”

“How can you be so sure?”

Kael disagreed with Leciel’s words.

If it was him, he wouldn’t have taken such a bothersome task even if he needed a conversation partner.

Whether it’s a conversation partner or directly bringing someone to treat and care for you.

That was quite inefficient and unproductive.

“If you spent two years alone, only meeting monsters every day, wouldn’t you start to wonder whether you were a monster or a human?”

“Could be.”

“It’s possible. Waking up with no memories and seeing only monsters, you might start to doubt whether you’re  human or not.”

“…Come to think of it, you did say you had no memories.”

Kael remembered the fact he had forgotten.

At first, he thought it was impossible, but when he heard the child’s words and thought about the child’s situation, it seemed plausible.

In the child’s memories, there were no humans.

He was the only human the child had spent time with here.

A human like herself.

“Besides, I had no one to talk to. So, after days of practicing silence, I finally sought for someone to talk to, even if it was a monster.”

“Really?”

“I feel like I have to talk so that I won’t forget how to speak, that’s why I try to talk to the monsters. Although sometimes I also wonder, why am I here talking to a monster I can’t even communicate with?”

Now that she’d gotten used to it, that thought rarely came across her mind, but that didn’t mean she was completely okay.

Sometimes, when she realized that she was the only human here, she would be depressed.

“I’m sure it has been very difficult to endure those two years.”

Thinking about it that way, Leciel’s words about needing a conversation partner made some sense to him.

Even for someone who didn’t feel loneliness and enjoyed being alone, spending two years alone in a place with no one around was not an easy task.

Especially since it wasn’t a life she chose.

She simply woke up one day and found herself in the monster forest.

With no memory, she couldn’t know the detailed circumstances or the exact reason, but she was certain that she hadn’t come here of her own will.

That meant someone deliberately abandoned her here.

‘…Quite the trashy move.’

To abandon a child in a place like this two years ago, when she was even younger than now.

Truly despicable.

“Indeed, you seem to enjoy people’s company.”

In response to Kael’s words, Lecier looked at him with a wry expression and spoke.

Even if it was cheap sympathy, even if it was just passing empathy, it was still good.

To be empathized with and understood by someone brought great joy to Leciel.

There was no one to express hardships to, no one to admit feeling lonely to.

Even though she had monsters around, they couldn’t understand her situation because they couldn’t communicate with her.

“At least while we’re together, I’ll try to be the conversation partner you desire.”

Being someone’s conversation partner constantly was quite bothersome for Kael, but for the lonely child, he could endure that much.

Even though he was only going to stay for a while, he still wanted to offer some comfort to the child, even if just for a moment.

“What? After owing me your life and me working so hard to take care of you, you aren’t going to offer me conversation?”

“….”

At the unexpected response from the child, Kael was momentarily speechless.

“They say even cats repay kindness, but you seem truly heartless.”

Leciel looked deeply disappointed.

“Have I also become worse than cats after magpies?”

Kael looked somewhat puzzled.

“Well, anyway, there’s no need to look so serious. It’s not because of you that I ended up staying here, and I’m glad that I met someone else.”

Although she felt relieved that someone sympathized and understood her situation, she didn’t want him to sympathize too much to the point of making the person’s heart heavier.

That was not what she wanted.

“You’re positive.”

“Rather than being positive, I’m just stating the truth?”

“Right.”

Whether it was positive or negative depended on how one accepted the fact as it was.

Taking that into account, Leciel’s attitude was positive enough. She wasn’t pessimistic about her situation, and her perspective wasn’t crooked as well.

She was a great kid.

If it had been anyone else, he would never have been able to survive here as well as she was.

Aside from the difficulty of surviving, it wasn’t easy to live upright like the child.

When people faced seemingly insurmountable trials they couldn’t escape from, didn’t they easily give up on everything and become infinitely negative?

In that sense, the child was very strong.

She had a strong and clear spirit that didn’t waver in any situation.

Although he had met quite a few like her, she wasn’t the kind of person he saw often.

“Your concern is for nothing; you don’t have to feel sorry for leaving this place alone.”

Leciel didn’t rescue Kael out of pure intention to help him.

If Leciel’s situation had been different, and if she hadn’t missed people, she might not have bothered to rescue Kael.

She was already struggling to survive alone, why should she be responsible to save others?

It wasn’t like she owed anyone anything.

Just feeling the warmth of another person’s presence and having someone to be with was rewarding enough.

Therefore, she didn’t feel disappointed or think it was too much for Kael to leave the monster forest alone, leaving her behind.

It was just natural.

It was up to the person to choose whether to help others or not, and help couldn’t be forced onto the others.

Moreover, leaving this place with him was very dangerous.

So much so that he had to put his own life at risk again.

“Unnecessary worry. Do you think I’m so affectionate that I feel sorry for a passing child?”

“No. That’s why I said it’s an unnecessary worry.”

Leciel firmly denied Kael’s words without hesitation.

“You’re truly honest.”

“I’ve never been one to speak empty words.”

Leciel shrugged lightly and then began to move to prepare dinner.

Kael quietly watched her.

He knew why Leciel said he didn’t need to feel sorry for leaving her. She must have felt his concern and pity for her being left alone here.

So, she deliberately spoke coldly.

Seeing a child, who should naturally receive adults’ protection and concern, trying to be considerate of him instead was somewhat heartbreaking.

 

* * *

 

Today marked the fourth day since Kael had been with Leciel.

During that time, Kael had become quite friendly with her. And he really worked hard to be a good conversation partner.

Leciel was so talkative and continued speaking so tirelessly that one might mistake her for a lark.

It was the first time for Kael to talk to someone this much in all his life. But he didn’t show any signs of annoyance.

He understood the situation of the child who must have missed people and craved conversation.

In this way, he became Leciel’s conversation partner and moved around discreetly whenever she was away from home.

Each passing day, his wounds were visibly healing, and staying still was getting uncomfortable.

Although he wasn’t completely free to move, he was in a much better condition compared to before. At this rate, he felt he could leave the monster forest without any trouble in a day or two.

So today, as usual, after loosening his body lightly, Kael noticed Leciel returning and went out to greet her.

Even if she pretended otherwise, he knew she was very happy whenever he welcomed her.

Opening the door and stepping out, Kael was momentarily speechless at the unexpected sight.