Chapter Twenty One: Fight with the fire family

I wanted to meet Leila to hear the full story from her. But first, I had to check my home to see just how much it had been tampered with.
The ladder was broken, and the woods were in shambles—most of the trees cut down by the adventurers who hadn’t wanted to waste time going around them.
Once they had all returned to the town, I left the place as it was and headed toward the city. If only I could see Leila today, I thought, then I’d know what really happened.
I walked slowly. The ground was covered with countless footprints—animals and people alike. For some reason, I felt no motivation to go see her. Now that the stones were gone, I had nothing to help Leila with. I should have removed them all when I had the chance.
It was silent compared to just minutes ago. I made my way back to the city where my basket was waiting by the rock. I was sure it had been stolen by now. Those selfish bastards didn’t have a shred of decency—they had run away after losing so many of their own in the Nightmare Forest.
“Don’t they have any chivalry?” I muttered. Avenging comrades is part of every living code, isn’t it? How could they just run, as if the monsters were right behind them? Pathetic. Truly pathetic.
Even as a level-zero human, I’d been despised before harming a single hair on anyone’s head. Maybe they were scared—that would be understandable—but why send people to kill me when I’d been cast out of the city?
It took longer than usual to reach the rock.
I was surprised to see a girl in long brown boots and clothes sitting there with her head between her knees.
“Leila……” I called from fifty meters away. She turned, her eyes red from crying. Her cries grew louder when we made eye contact, and she returned to her initial position, sobbing, “It’s all my fault!!”
She believed it was her fault that adventurers had discovered what we had talked about.
The friend she trusted, the man who had been her boss’s underling, had gone to the noble’s mansion with the items she had delivered. She had followed him out of curiosity, thinking he was coming for her, but he went straight to the fat noble instead.
There, he showed the items to the noble—stones and herbs. The noble examined them thoroughly, then opened a Kofa, a magical door that allows instant teleportation. Only two people could fit inside at a time. The two men entered, disappearing into the purple fog of the Kofa.
Leila assumed they were selling the items together and finished her work, going to sleep early to wait for her share of the money. But in the middle of the night, the fat noble and the man woke her and had her follow them out. Only the cook and she were in the room.
“You are no more than a slave,” the noble began, sitting in a chair. “Don’t you remember our agreement when I overlooked the vase you destroyed? You were supposed to work for me all your life. That banned you from adventuring, fleeing, or working for anyone else. Yet you went and collected the fairy’s herbs without informing your owner…”
He continued degrading her until finally asking, “Tell me where you found them.”Her life was in danger. She didn’t want to speak, but the man next to him explained everything again. When the noble finally asked her to confirm, she nodded, collapsing to her knees. Even then, he didn’t believe her—she couldn’t have reached the forest alone. But no matter what he said, Leila didn’t reveal my involvement.
“Please believe me!” she begged.
After some violence and hesitation, he believed part of the story and ordered the shop owner to call adventurers for the task. “I’ll tell you the location. In return, I get 20 percent of what you earn.”
Even though the percentage seemed insane, it was an opportunity few would refuse. Many adventurers feared the forest, but with the promise of wealth, they risked it anyway.
The next morning, at 8 a.m., they left, unaware that Leila had fled the diner and was waiting for me by the rock.
When I learned she had run away, I told her to follow me. I picked up the basket and led the way to the mountains. Her body was red and bruised from the previous night, but she had healed herself with magic.
With me in the lead, she followed silently as we walked home.
Finally, I pointed at the mountains. “That’s my home…… though it’s a mess right now.”
She didn’t respond.
At the rock I used as a podium, I stopped. “You seem tired. You should go in and rest.” But then I remembered—the ladder was broken. I hesitated. How could I expect her to rest in a cave with no bed?
Leila circled me without a word. Then, with a single gesture, the ladder restored itself. She climbed into the cave but came out seconds later. Inside, she had magically woven the fallen trees into threads, crafting furniture and restoring the space. A curtain blocked the sun, and thin blankets of leaves created a cozy shelter. I watched in astonishment.
Later, rain fell heavily, but it bounced off my gear. Exhausted, I climbed a tree to sleep.
A fire woke me. Leila stood far away, holding a stick lit with flame, buckets of water at her feet.
“You are not mad at me……?” she asked.
“Huh!? Why would I be mad at you?” I shouted.
She nodded, still looking guilty. I reassured her, “It’s not like they found anything here. Don’t blame yourself for what has already happened.”
She held fire in her left hand and the basket in her right. I told her to eat, and we shared what food we had, talking until midnight.
The next morning, I woke hungry. The woods held no fruit, but then—miraculously—ten huge red-and-black roosters appeared in the open field, along with a banana tree heavy with fruit. I quickly caught the roosters and plucked the bananas, taking care to keep them safe.
Returning to Leila, we roasted the meat and ate. The roosters and bananas vanished afterward, just as mysteriously as they had appeared.
We finished, leaving some for later. Then, from afar, two men appeared—the mischievous noble and the traitorous shop owner.
“So this is where you were…… My lamb,” the noble said, smirking.
I quickly positioned myself between them and Leila. She moved behind me.“Know your place, human! How dare you order me? My little lamb is not the type to disobey unless led astray by monsters. Return her, and I shall overlook this,” he threatened.
Keeping up my act, I handed Leila over. She cried and struggled, looking at me in panic. I couldn’t risk letting them harm her.
“Just so you know, I tend to be possessive. I don’t want to see something I once had interest in get harmed,” the noble said as the man carried her off.
The gate opened, and they disappeared into the night.