After a belated introduction as “Selene,” the female knight shared many stories with Rena.
“Where are we? Is this the Great Forest?”
“Great Forest?”
“…Could you not know?”
“I don’t.”
“How could you not know that…?”
“Anyway, this place is where you collapsed.”
“Did we not leave the forest?”
“Nope.”
“Then it must be the Great Forest.”
First, there was an explanation of the place.
The Great Forest—teeming with monsters, mana-concentrated to cause strange phenomena—it’s an infamous location, or something like that.
Rena listened quietly but couldn’t agree inwardly.
Is this place really that dangerous? Here?
True, the first day and the period of adaptation were tough, but it wasn’t that bad.
The fuss was overexaggerated.
Well, Selene had struggled against a Lizardman Tribe Chief or something.
She claimed to be a newcomer knight, and from the perspective of someone inexperienced with camping, her reaction made sense.
Why is it that everyone claims their military experience was the toughest?
Much like that, people tend to exaggerate their stories based on their own experiences.
That probably explains it.
Rena simply nodded and said, “Ah, I see.”
“How about your injuries?”
“Hmm? What injuries?”
“When I checked, they were clearly severe. Your upper body had wounds that shouldn’t heal in a day, so how did you recover so fast?”
“I just slept well, and I woke up healed.”
“?”
“Really. It’s always been like that.”
(Though the impact of transmigration supposedly raises physical stats.)
She did bleed a bit, but it wasn’t severe enough to be called critical.
The ointment only promoted skin regeneration; the wound would’ve healed on its own.
“The mana here in the Great Forest is dense. It could have been its effect. Someone sensitive to mana might recover like this.”
Selene muttered to herself and then seemed satisfied.
It was fortunate for Rena, who had a difficult truth to hide.
“But even so, I can’t take lightly the dedication it took for you to save me, even if it meant soaking in blood.”
Even though their conversation was brief, Rena managed to grasp Selene’s character.
She was quite serious.
A knight befitting the title.
“It’s mutual. We both recently met with trouble in this Great Forest and were struggling just to take care of ourselves.”
“Hmm? That’s not true?”
Since it seemed like Selene was mumbling to herself, Rena ignored it until she began to say false things.
“I’ve lived here for a long time.”
“Even though I’ve been surviving in the Great Forest for about half a month, which is close to a record. As a senior, you have something to boast about. Usually, ordinary people become lost travelers within a day.”
“Half a month? Not that short. Though I haven’t kept a precise account, it’s been a few years at least.”
It had been a while since Rena had given up tracking the days, but she knew that a few years must have passed.
Selene gently smiled.
She didn’t believe Rena.
She had the attitude of someone humoring an exaggerated tale told by a child.
“That may feel true, as a single day might feel like several months, so it makes sense on a feeling basis.”
“It’s not a feeling; it’s real.”
“?”
“?”
Only now realizing the straightforward tone in Rena’s response, Selene’s expression hardened.
“…That’s absurd. There must be some misunderstanding.”
“I built this house. It’s old and worn, but still.”
“Is that true? I thought for sure it was a temporary shelter left behind by an expedition team or adventure group exploring the Great Forest.”
“And how many of these are there in this forest? It takes months to build just one, so isn’t that enough proof that I’ve lived here long?”
Nowadays, if you patch things up quickly, you can finish building a house in less than ten days.
Building used to take much longer.
Despite excellent craftsmanship, becoming familiar and mastering the skill took separate processes.
Anyway, with that point, Selene’s argument was debunked.
“…”
Selene’s expression hardened even more.
When someone tries to teach the truth, others don’t instantly believe them.
Generally, half of the reason is because it seems impossible to them, and half is due to their pride being hurt.
Selene was likely the latter.
It had been less than five minutes since she warned Rena about the dangers of the Great Forest.
Rena had directly refuted it.
As a knight, she had been severely damaged after only a few days, but as a civilian, Rena had lived comfortably in the Great Forest for a long time.
It was hard to accept.
From Rena’s perspective, it didn’t seem worth getting so offended about.
Rena was a survival expert, a natural wild person officially recognized by the status window.
On the other hand, Selene, the knight, was essentially still an amateur.
Rena’s words were completely correct.
“…”
After a long silence, Selene finally spoke.
“Since when have you been living in the Great Forest?”
Fortunately, she wasn’t entirely stubborn.
Rena answered plainly.
“Ever since I woke up?”
That was true.
Since becoming Rena and waking up, she had been here all along.
“Well, from birth, or rather, since early childhood memories are rare anyway, but regardless, you were abandoned here as a child?”
At this, Selene’s gaze grew strange as she muttered to herself.
It was the look of someone pitying an abandoned child or feeling sympathy for a deserted animal. Hmm, objectively speaking, it’s understandable to feel sorry for my situation.
“Since you’ve been asking questions the whole time, now it’s my turn.”
Rena felt awkward and changed the subject.
“Is there a village outside of the Great Forest?”
“Of course.”
“If there is, what is it like? It can’t be concrete, right? Brick houses? Is there a smell of baking bread as you walk down the path?”
Civilization exists!
Rena’s face lit up after confirming with the local.
Unable to contain herself, she bombarded Selene with questions.
After all, she had long awaited the existence of people, of a village.
Selene also had a lot of curiosity, but while hers was a mere half-month’s worth of questions, Rena had accumulated years’ worth of curiosity.
As Rena continued her barrage of questions without giving Selene a chance to respond, Selene’s expression remained completely rigid and unmoving.
*
Selene went over the many questions that had arisen from her conversation with Rena.
First, she refers to her name as if it’s someone else’s.
It made sense.
If she was abandoned at a young age in the Great Forest, she wouldn’t be familiar with her own name.
Monsters wouldn’t teach someone how to say human names.
When you think about it, it’s already remarkable that she remembered her name so clearly.
Second, she doesn’t know much about the Great Forest.
More specifically, while she was well-versed in the internal geography of the Great Forest, she lacked knowledge about the common knowledge regarding it or its reputation, and that only made sense.
No one would have taught her.
Instead, the Great Forest was her home.
No matter how great an imperial official might be, how can they know the local terrain better than a village chief?
It was normal that someone who had settled down in the Great Forest knew the area thoroughly.
Third, she is very curious about the outside world and eager to converse, speaking without rest.
She was like a bird trapped in a cage, yearning for the vast sky and friends to share warmth with.
After reflecting on the many unique aspects of Rena, Selene came to a conclusion:
Rena was a wild girl.
There was a common legend that was passed down in every village.
There was an abandoned child.
This child was coincidentally taken in by wolves, growing up like an animal in the cruel wilderness alongside the wolf pack.
Thus, when the child was discovered by villagers, they were closer to wolves than humans.
The essence of this folklore was a story like that.
Details varied from place to place: instead of wolves, sometimes bears or tigers were mentioned.
Selene judged that Rena fell into this category.
The difference from the folklore was that Rena had learned to speak and established her identity as a human after being abandoned, making her closer to humans than animals, though she would occasionally ask common-sense questions, lacking practical knowledge.
Her time had stopped when she was abandoned in the Great Forest as a child.
However, despite this, there was still an unanswered question.
The Great Forest was a demonic realm where even a knight like her couldn’t confidently survive.
How had this girl lived through more than ten years there unscathed?
Had she really been taken in by a monster like the story goes?
“Ah.”
Indeed.
There they were — wolves.
“Introducing you, Baduki, our house guardian.”
Rena introduced the monster, the wolf.
A creature that didn’t act monster-like, treating Rena’s wounds and guarding her instead of eating her.
Could this wolf have taken her in and raised her as a child?
A monster raising a human!
It was an incredible true story that would overturn academic circles.
For the fierce monsters of the Great Forest to suppress their instincts for such an event!
Selene was confident no one would believe it, even though she herself only half-believed it despite witnessing it with her own eyes.
…Besides, “Baduki” as a name for such a monster sounded strange, somewhat familiar, and a bit rustic.
Grr!
The wolf called Baduki tilted its head, glanced at Selene with an interesting look, and then melted into the shadows, slipping away.
“Hmm, he’s still upset. I’ll apologize later. Apparently, Baduki thought you started trouble unnecessarily. Even if the opponent is an animal, you should know how to admit and apologize for your mistakes.”
“Ah, um, understood, but… sister?”
At the unexpected honorific, Selene was dazed, but Rena paid no mind and hurried her on.
“If you’ve packed everything, let’s go. Hurry.”
“Where are we going?”
“Where else?”
Rena spoke with excitement, like a student on the verge of a school trip.
“We’re going to the village, of course.”
