"Me…? I am Lina. Nice to meet you. And, thank you for saving me…" the young human lady said.

Victor stared at her for a few minutes, thinking of possible things that she was doing in a dangerous place at a dangerous time. And, thinking that only fools risk their lives when they don't have any ability to fight, Victor scoffed and ridiculed her.

"What are you doing here? You’re a stupid person, right?"

Lina’s eyebrow furrowed, and she pouted. "What did you just call me? I am no fool. Rather, I am the smartest in our village."

Victor leaned against a tree and then looked at her with an intrigued gaze.

"Hmm? How old are you?"

"I am sixteen."

"So… just the same age as me. But, you don’t have any ability to fight yet you are here. As I expected, you are a fool." Victor continued to say with his arms crossed.

"I said, I am not a fool! You are the one who's a fool. Look at your clothes." Victor then looked at his clothes, seeing nothing in particular about his garments. "You are wearing a lab gown. Why? Are you from some kind of laboratory?"

‘Now that I think about it, my clothes are not that good. To her, who came from a settlement, this outfit is strange. Hmm… I have no interest in changing. Just staying hygienic would be okay and other things about styles don’t make me interested.’ Victor thought and tilted his head out of habit.

"Yeah… I get your point about that, but at least I am not such a weakling like you who stupidly went to a forest this time." Victor uttered.

Lina sighed in frustration. She was just about to complain about it again but remembered her goal. She still lacked ingredients.

She stood up from her position and then cleaned herself off the dirt that was stuck on her thighs.

"I need to go…"

"Hey, you still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?" Victor insisted, hating that his question was being ignored.

"I am looking for herbs. That’s why I am here."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Are you a herbalist? Collecting herbs at a dangerous time and place. What’s pushed you that far?"

Lina sighed, then shook her head. "I am not allowed to go out, so I went by night. My father doesn’t like me going out."

Victor didn’t think about it any further and just turned his back. ‘Not my business anymore…’ Victor was just curious a while ago, but after that, he lost his interest and wanted to rest for the day.

"Alright, then, go back home. Just leave that at some good herbalist. You are too weak to do it alone. That’s advice."

"No… I don’t want to return. But, I have something in mind. I will hire you as my escort. Since you are strong, you must be some awaken, right? I am not an awaken, so I will hire you." Lina confidently said, as if the deal she was giving would pique his interest.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Nah… I don’t want to. Just get lost."

"Please… just escort me for this night. I will pay you greatly."

"If you have that money, you should better hire someone other than me. I am not interested."

"Please… escort me! Escort me!"

Lina continued to be persistent and followed Victor as he went in the direction where his tree house was. But, he just ignored her and then climbed into his tree house.

"You live here? What a weirdo… Anyways, please, since you are strong, escort me for tonight."

Victor just continued to ignore her, then lay down on the floor. Lina continued shouting for a few seconds, and after another few of Victor’s silence, she left disheartened.

Victor sighed in relief and thought about how he could get some sleep. He was tired of this day since it had taken him a few talents to create this scrap-like tree house. He wasn't thinking about it any differently. He just wanted to have a place to stay for a few days before returning to the Rotting Land. He was already level 10, and his stats were capable of handling three goblins at the same time.

‘That girl… I wonder why she needs some herbs. Herbs are not that important these days. Doctors and researchers had already reached a point where they were capable of creating medicines for different diseases. But that fool…’ Victor sighed in frustration. ‘That’s not my problem anymore. And I should focus my mind on…’

Thinking deeply made Victor realize something new: his weak mind. He couldn't easily concentrate on one thing, which made him think of himself as miserable.

Victor grumbled and went out of his tree house. He hopped to another branch and then looked where Lina was going. He observed her then and noticed that she was searching for a specific herb with a sketch on her hand as her reference.

He just thoroughly observed her, then saw how stupid she was.

‘What is she even doing? Is she searching without any flashlight? That’s some stupid thing to do.’

Lina tripped, which made Victor almost scoff. But, he suppressed it and just hopped to another branch.

‘What is she doing?’ he thought and looked at what she was doing.

And as Victor noticed what she was doing, he couldn’t help but scoff that she couldn’t see any difference between the grass and an herb. What kind of herbalist is she?

Victor then noticed a goblin arriving, cunningly observing Lina. And as he got interested in what she’d do if she learned that goblins were eyeing her, he stayed on the branch and comfortably watched her.

‘Herbalists when they collect herbs should know the danger. Leaving your back unprotected is a stupid thing to do. Furthermore, she doesn’t know how to fight, so she just hoping to die.’

Victor just grumbled and shook his head. ‘Let her die if she wanted to.’ That was what Victor was thinking as he watched how Lina got attacked by three goblins that appeared out of nowhere in her range.