After waiting almost until noon, North finally relaxed as the surroundings quieted down. Now it was time to step out from the tree hollow.
From the sounds he had listened to, he realized that the two-legged person had won, although he wasn't aware of it, he was pleased.
In the end, in this world where the weak were the prey of the strong, the two-legged person triumphed over the other four-legged predator.
In this wild and cruel world, it meant that a human or human-like species would survive another day.
As the footsteps of this two-legged person approached the tree where he was hiding, he couldn't make sense of it. 'Why is this person coming here?' he thought. Despite his fear, the person slowly passed by the tree.
THUD!
In that moment, North, encountering yet another unexpected situation, thought with a bewildered expression, 'Again? There have been constant unexpected events since dawn.' He wondered why he was so unlucky.
First, he found a place to stay, but someone came and chose it as a hunting ground. Then what he thought was prey turned out to be a hunter. Finally, just as he was relieved, thinking that he could escape from this damned place, the two-legged person who won the battle collapsed right next to the tree.
SIGHING...
North, silently sighing, hesitated about whether to come out or not. He considered it might be a trap, yet also thought it logical that the two-legged person, whom he believed injured after such a prolonged struggle, would collapse to the ground.
Considering that this blood-scented place could attract other predators, he didn't have much time to decide.
After a short while, he continued to wait, thinking, 'Whatever, I've had enough. I'll wait a bit and get out.'
Once about one-tenth of a span of an incense stick passed without any movement outside, he started to stir in the tree hollow.
Upon gripping his dagger tightly in one hand, he used his other hand, which had been holding the lid tightly shut, to throw the lid outward from the tree hollow.
Although momentarily dazzled by the light, he quickly regained his composure and rushed outside.
As soon as he stepped outside, he assumed a defensive stance, observing his surroundings attentively with narrowed eyes due to the light.
On one hand, he stood with his back against the tree. On the other hand, he carefully observed the person slumped face down on the ground ten paces to his left, as well as the carcass of a four-legged animal slumped on the ground ahead of him.
After observing the prey and the hunter for a short while and seeing that both were lying motionless on the ground, he cautiously approached the two-legged figure.
As he approached, unintentionally tightening his grip on the dagger, he thought to himself, 'Strange... why is this person's body so small?' At the same time, he couldn't help but notice the torn, blood-stained clothes and the burn mark on the left side of the person's waist, leading him to wonder, 'Could this person be dead?'
When he approached the person lying on the ground enough to see this person's ears clearly, his suspicions were confirmed. This person was a pointy-eared forest person.
Although it seemed unlikely to fall into a trap, North, remaining vigilant, kept his eyes fixed on the hands and feet of the person lying on the ground, and slowly nudged the person's foot with his own.
THUNK..THUNK..!
THUNK..!
Upon receiving no response, he decided to turn the person lying on the ground face-up to determine if this person was alive.
He moved from the feet to the waist of the person lying on the ground, grabbed the person's left shoulder, and swiftly turned the body around.
As he leaped backward to protect himself from a possible dagger or sword attack that could come while turning the body, he suddenly froze upon seeing the person he had turned onto their back.
"T-This is a woman!"
Suddenly speaking, he realized that the silence around him had been disrupted by his own voice. He was so surprised that he unintentionally spoke out loud.
The figure lying in tattered, blood-stained clothes in front of him revealed her femininity through the visible bumps in the chest area despite being tightly wrapped, and her slender and delicate physique.
Noticing that despite moving her body and speaking, the pointy-eared woman lying on the ground continued to remain motionless, North approached her face to check if she was breathing.
When he got close enough, he lowered his guard, bent towards the woman's face, and brought the inside of his fingers close to the fabric covering her nose to check if she was breathing.
Meanwhile, as he examined the woman's face, although only her eyes and ears were visible, he thought she was a beautiful woman with thin, elongated eyebrows, long eyelashes, and eyes that, despite being closed, somehow looked impressive.
When he realized that the woman was still breathing and understood that she had fainted from exhaustion, he left her where she was and, afraid of waking her, slowly got up and walked towards the carcass of the animal ahead.
He calmly approached the carcass of the animal with his dagger in hand, which he had been observing throughout the entire process after getting out of the tree hollow and realized it wasn't moving.
Upon approaching the animal, he saw that it was lying on its left side with three arrows sticking out of its right side. As expected, the animal was dead.
This animal, belonging to a species he had seen for the first time, had short black fur and appeared to be as tall as an adult human male when it was standing on all four legs.
North, who closely observed this animal that appeared quite large and strong, believed it had died from the blood loss caused by the arrows stuck in its body, but he couldn't determine whether his current situation was good or bad.
If he hadn't found this clearing, he would have been searching for medicinal plants and mushrooms around, but he had found this place and stumbled upon trouble.
As he pondered whether he was lucky or unlucky, he stood before the carcass of a large and meaty animal.
Turning his head to look at the pointy-eared woman, he noticed that she had walked away towards the inner parts of the forest without caring about the animal carcass, passing by the tree.
He wondered, 'she never touched the animal's fur, why didn't she?' However, he didn't dwell on it much and refocused his attention back to the animal carcass in front of him.
'Yesss...! If I manage to return to the village with a few kilos of this animal's meat, I can obtain medicinal herbs to cure my sister, and even more.'
North, inwardly pleased, took his dagger and carefully checked around one last time before attempting to make a cut on the animal's right hind leg, and proceeded when he realized there were no issues.
Although he tried with all his strength, he couldn't cut the animal's skin, which greatly surprised him.
With a furrowed brow, he looked at where the pointy-eared woman was lying, thinking, 'How can this fragile-looking woman be so strong?'
Thinking that if this woman woke up and attacked him, he swallowed nervously and decided to act quickly.
Unable to cut through the skin, he started cutting from where the arrow was stuck in the hind leg of the animal.
He rejoiced when he managed to cut through the skin and the animal's muscular meat with all his strength, continuing the meat-cutting process for about a span of a tenth of an incense stick.
After a short while, despite being tired from cutting the meat, he carefully placed the few kilos of meat he had cut into the bag with a slight smile on his face.
Then he slowly stood up and looked around carefully once more.
Seeing that there were no issues, he thought to himself, 'I've stayed here long enough, other predators will be attracted by the scent of blood.'
With one last glance at the pointy-eared woman, he began to walk towards the outer edges of the forest.
After walking about ten steps in the opposite direction of where the pointy-eared woman had walked before fainting, he stopped and turned back, looking at the woman lying on the ground just as he had left her, with an upset expression on his face.
He briefly contemplated many things without knowing what to do. Leaving this woman vulnerable in a place where predators were approaching wasn't humane at all, especially considering he wouldn't have obtained the meat without her.
On the other hand, this seemingly delicate woman, who had managed to kill the animal he was struggling to cut with a knife, was much stronger than himself.
If the woman woke up while he was around her, it meant his life would entirely be at the mercy of the woman.
He looked gloomy as he gazed at the woman lying on the ground, somehow reminded of his sister and Laya.
With a sigh, he approached the woman and, after checking again if she was breathing, bent down to lift her onto his shoulder.
Taking the woman's bag and staff as well, North quickly glanced around before departing from the clearing with the pointy-eared woman on his shoulder.