In the morning light, with the sun high in the sky, the knight I had just met and I climbed out of the tree. Although being still for a while made my joints ache, we had managed to survive and that was a relief. The creatures were nowhere to be seen because of the sunlight and the smell of rain was now permeating the ground. With the slight warmth of the sun, a light fell on our legs. But as much as this relaxed my body, my soul was very anxious.

I had to hurry and get to the nearest town as soon as possible. I didn't want to worry the others, and since I didn't know how far away the town was, I tried to find the shortest possible path with my eyes. I looked around quickly, and felt a little pressure in my heart because of how late I could be.

I glanced a little deeper into the forest to make sure we were safe. There were no creatures in sight, so the anxious breath that had been building up in my chest came out and gave me some relief. And when I turned to tell Rose that everything was okay, she had already turned around and was walking away.

She was walking slowly, as if she knew the way we were looking for.

But there wasn't much distance between us, so I called after her in a low tone;

"Rose, I have to go into town for something, can you?...."

I was trying to talk to her, but she wouldn't give herself up. It was as if her ears were plugged up all the way, she didn't react to any of my shouting, nor did she turn her head, nor did she look worried that something might happen around her. She kept walking without slowing down, even though she could hear me. She slowed down and took big steps. One step followed the other, while her hand on the hilt of her sword, her hair falling down on her back, as the wet cloak on her back fell slightly to reveal her golden hair.

It was as if she was forcing a gait on herself.

But that wasn't the main problem either.

Without her, it wouldn't have taken me long to get lost. Because I hadn't explored the forest before and I didn't know what dangers it held. It was huge, full of creatures, which we had just been through together, and lots of potentially magical creatures. And I couldn't turn back because I had lost my way.

I hadn't had a chance or a way to follow the path since I'd left the others. I couldn't backtrack at all because I had to run without looking back. And I couldn't just step back because of the risk of the creature, so all my hopes relied on Rose at the moment.

We were in the middle of the forest, literally in the middle of nowhere.

But unlike me, Rose seemed like she knew the path and kept going. It was as if she had been here before.

I called out to her once more;

"Rose!"

After I called out again, Rose once again didn't break down and didn't answer me.

No matter how much I called out to her, it was futile. She didn't respond to my shouting, nor to my fluttering behind her. I didn't want to follow her behind her without her permission either. That way I would be acting as if she had to protect me and I might be putting pressure on her that she was obligated to do so, even though I was the one who got lost in a forest like this. It was probably her job, or at least some of her duty to protect people, so at least some people like me wouldn't risk their lives.

It was a thing to be grateful for, but I was also stunned about it and wanted to know more.

Besides, there were some things I wanted to talk about, some things I wanted to ask her. I wanted to know why such a forest would carry so many dangers, so that people would still live in it but has to face so many dangers in a day.

How come they would find many creatures that would like to kill them, but still live in a place like this? Why would someone do such a thing for no reason at all?

Understanding what exactly was happening here was almost the same as understanding why she was here in the first place.

So I approached her quickly, and without thinking, I grabbed her by the right arm and pulled her towards me so that she turned around. Her cloak flew right past my face and nose, hitting it gently as my eyes once met hers.

With that I saw her red eyes again, bright and saturated in color. Her red eyes were like a lake full of blood, like rose petals in bloom. It was like a seed in the center, that red hue thundering and roaring behind it. She was angry, but perhaps it was justice that was beating in her heart.

Within seconds, Rose responded to my gesture by pulling out her sword and holding it to my throat. Her sharp blade hit the bottom of my chin and slightly pushed under my throat. The pressure was hitting me like she was going to push it deeper at any moment.

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And while I couldn't breath, I looked at her with nervous eyes.

Why she was doing that out of nowhere? Did I say something bad? Did I open something to talk about, that shouldn't even be talked about?

How was I even going to understand if she kept me hostage like this?

I could not say anything.

And when she looked at me with those eyes, she continued to point it at me, quite furiously, without moving it. Then she pressed the blade lightly against my throat, and said emphasizing every word slowly,

"If you touch me again, I'll kill you. And don't you ever call me by my name."

I let go of her hand, since I did not think she would be this angry.

I just hoped that she wouldn't be triggered by all of these situations,

"Okay, calm down. I'm not your enemy."

She then slowly pulled back her hand and put back her sword,

She could have slit my throat there if she wanted to. But neither she nor I wanted to see each other as enemies. We both had cold sweat running down our spine, as we both didn't know where it would be possible to face those monsters once again.

I had saved her life and she had shown me the way to at least escape them.

To do such a ridiculous thing out of the blue would have been an insult to the trust and respect we both had for each other. So we needed each other, and had to continue even for at least we both found our ways.

"I will follow your lead. I have no intention to harm. I just want to see my friends again. That is all."

I knew her intentions weren't bad, but I couldn't help thinking that anyone would still be nervous about something like that when a sword was tilted under their throat. I became very nervous that she would snap from her anger and do something about it, but she put her faith in the situation.

So, thinking that we had found a time to talk, I thought that I had to talk to her and convince her to let me go. It was a sensible thing to do against someone she didn't know, but I could also show her that I wasn't that dangerous either.

Rose understood what I wanted. But there was a kind of emptiness in her expression after she put her sword to the hilt.

Even her gestures slowed down, as if she doubted that even if the anger inside her had died down.

"Why should I help you? Do I have any reason for it?" She acted as if she knew nothing about the previous things that happened,

"What do you mean? You just led me this way and got unconscious on the floor. Don't you remember it?"

"Right after you ran away from all those creatures and got yourself chased like bait. There was no other option for me to talk to you about why you were so nervous about it. And I do not have anything to say about falling down. It was something I could not do anything about it."

It shocked me so bad that she would not remember anything.

We have just met somewhere at a point that we both could have died and lost our arms and legs, but she still yet saw it as my fault. She was clueless like neither I was, but had no hesitation to investigate any further or see if there was any reason for this happening.

She was dull and calm, just like the second she didn't hesitate to point her sword at me.

"You need a clear explanation, right? So do I. I really do not understand why you are doing this or why this is happening. So if you would, whether you please it or not, I think your debt as a knight would be the thing that can slow you down. After all, calling yourself a person of honor without returning a favor can be really bad for you."

She didn't seem to like my words. Her sword gently went down and left my throat for a second. But even though her eyes closed as she sighed, her deep breath gave out how angry she became about this unexplained situation.

She rolled her eyes back to me, opening them a little bit more with a very cold look in them,

"You're not the only cunning man here. Besides, what do you know about being a knight? That I have a reason to help you? My modus operandi? You have no idea what you are dealing with, nor who I am. Why should you trust me, even if I accept your request?"

"You shouldn't have hesitated to kill me then. If you are so convinced that you are somehow going to do something bad to me, then you should have made the easiest choice you could. The first moment you put the sharp sword to my throat, you could have put me down without a second's hesitation to keep me away from whatever it is in your heart that you want and desire to protect. So why didn't you do it in such a situation? With so many epics and their "knights" taking people's heads, with another desire that could be the same, why didn't you take that chance in such an easy situation? Don't you think it's strange?"

Looking back into her eyes I added,

"I think there is something that is stopping you, and it will go like this."

"You don't know me."

"Then why did you try to save me last night? Why did you get me in those vines, to help me escape from those monsters? I could have just fought them myself, and maybe got injured worse. But you decided to help me, even though it was somewhat of a choice that would be dangerous and scary for you."

Rose was silent after my words. The thing inside her that was holding her back had, perhaps for a moment, pulled back and allowed my words to reach her. Her eyes shifted back and forth with hesitation. And yet, knowing that I could never harm her in any way, she knew that there was no reason for her to be nervous. She was trying to listen to her thoughts, keeping things as quiet as possible.

I was hoping, too, that maybe when she actually let me go, she would try to understand a little bit. Leaving me there upside down, I thought maybe we could see a way out after all these tiring things. So when she put her sword to the hilt, the vines dropped me hard to the ground.

And on top of my hard fall, I felt my bones crunch a little,

"Ow! That hurt!" I held my arm, since it was aching and was so tired of pushing and holding. "Couldn't they drop me off a little slower?"

But not to me nagging about anything, she got very close to me and repeated her words with certainty once more,

"Listen well, Ryuu. I have no problem taking you to any town you want. I will take you there and we will do what we need to. But if you make it difficult for me, or if I see that you've done something wrong to take advantage of this in any way, then I'll explain what I mean to you in detail one more time. But this time I will not do it in words, but in something more different. Do you understand?"

I didn't have much to say. She left me no choice but to say yes. Or either it was going to be a tough situation between me and her. My body was in pain and I didn't want to stand there writhing in pain any longer either.

I lifted my head and slowly stood up. I shook the dust off and looked at her,

"I understand what you're saying. I'm fine with it. As long as we get to town before noon."