Chapter 61: Pervert
"So, you’re saying you’ve been here since you were fourteen?" Jacob asked Light, who sat on a log now, he had told them the story of how he ran from the Wutherhorn estate and got lost in the forest.
"Yes, I never imagined that I would meet other humans here, what are you even doing here?" Light inquired, Jacob sat on the left of him and Xenia on the right, Xenia had barely said a word, being Jacob’s servant meant that she couldn’t interrupt or join his conversations unless she was allowed to.
Light looked up at Xenia sheepishly, averting his gaze from her eyes, his whole demeanor had changed the second he laid eyes on Xenia and Jacob understood why, he only just smiled mischievously, knowing he could use that to his advantage.
’She’s so perfect, look at her lips. I want to smell her hair—I want to squeeze those huge, round boobs, I want to hug her...’ The dialogue raged on in Light’s mind, his face bright red as he had all sorts of lewd thoughts.
Xenia couldn’t understand why the man was shy all of a sudden, she had spent most of her adult years in the Ironfell castle so she wasn’t used to men acting this way around her. She didn’t have the faintest idea what to make of the situation.
"Well I came here because I wanted to challenge myself. Everyone kept saying it’s some place you can never come back from, that it’s so dangerous. I just wanted to see for myself." Jacob responded to Light’s question.
Light looked at him with a confused expression plastered on his face, then he got up and started laughing.
"I thought I was insane, you’re just like me Jacob, I came here to prove to my family that I’m just as powerful as the rest of them, and that I’m not a failure." Light closed his fist, a glint of eco Yemeni sparkled in his eyes.
"You might be right," Jacob said with his eyes closed, "I’m not a pervert though."
"WHAT!?" Light screamed, "I’m not a pervert!"
"But you are, I see how you’ve been looking at Xenia."
Xenia’s face lit up with surprise after hearing Jacob’s words, she turned her gaze to Light, who had turned bright red.
’So that’s what it was, no wonder he can’t even keep eye contact.’ Xenia thought.
"I just—I had something in my eye." Light responded, his voice quieter than before.
Jacob stood up slowly, he was taller than Light, but not by much. He leaned closer to Light and whispered in his ear.
"I can see it all over your face, you want to taste her forbidden fruit don’t you."
Light’s face burned with embarrassment, he was redder than he had ever been, he quickly leaped backwards, creating distance between him and Jacob.
"Shut up! You shut the hell up!" He yelled again.
Jacob raised his hands and laughed, sitting back down on the log again.
Xenia placed her fingers over her mouth, chuckling. She found the young man’s gestures and his unwillingness to admit his true feelings a little amusing.
’A male tsundere. How comical.’ Jacob said in his mind.
"So how do you plan to get out of here?" Jacob asked Light with seriousness.
"I don’t know, I was hoping the light I saw would give me some kind of hint or explanation." Light responded.
"Oh yeah—about the light, that was coming from..." Jacob started, just as he was speaking there was a loud bellow, coming from the rock that stood in the middle of the clearing.
The earth shook, tiny pebbles dancing atop the soil, the leaves of the surrounding trees rustled as the rock started to spin, a voice escaping it.
"Who dares wake the Great Sage Shinzo!" The huge tortoise yelled.
Light immediately unsheathed his sword and leaped back another three feet, his blade hummed in his grasp. He stood in awe of the magnificent beast that had just awoken from a slumber, but still he was prepared for anything.
Jacob and Xenia remained unfazed, infact, Light looked closely at Xenia’s face and he could see a faint hint of annoyance.
"Get behind me Xenia! I’ll kill this beast and serve its head to you." Light shouted, imbuing his full sword with black and white energy, giving it a grey hue.
The three other parties stood silent for about five seconds, then they all burst into uncontrollable laughter.
The Great Sage stomped his foot on the ground, making the earth and trees shake even more as his laughter echoed through the forest.
Jacob and Xenia laughed in a more controlled manner as they looked at Light, who looked embarrassed again.
"What’s so funny?!" Light dropped his sword.
’What a pervert.’ Jacob mused.
"That’s the Great Sage, Master Shinzo, he’s not a beast, he’s the protector of the forest." Xenia replied.
"That’s right, Light Wutherhorn, I’ve been around this forest for two hundred thousand years." Shinzo said, his deep voice resounding though the trees.
Light had dropped his guard now, he returned his sword to its resting place and spoke up, "How do you know my name?" He asked.
"Like Xenia said, I am the overseer and protector of this forest, I know everything and every being in this forest. I’ve known you since you stepped foot in here, but it only took the arrival of Jacob and Xenia for you to find me." Shinzo explained.
Light lowered his gaze.
"How did they find you?" The young man asked again.
"I cannot explain the intricacies of fate and destiny, all I will say is whoever finds me, always finds me at the right time." Shinzo responded.
"You’re a strange being."
"So I have been told."
Light turned around and walked towards the tree that he leaned on earlier, he ran his hand over the tree bark and breathed in slowly.
"You say you are the protector of the forest, even with all the vile things that live here, why do you still protect it. What is there to protect?" Light inquired without turning back.
"That is like asking a law enforcer why they protect certain areas, even though they’re are plenty of criminals. I do so because it is my purpose, it is what I’ve been placed here for, and until I ascend to the heavens, I will continue to fulfil my purpose."
"I don’t wish to be here any longer, how do I leave this forest?"
