Chapter 11

In an instant, one of the forest goblins leapt at him, slicing his cheek.

"Ah!!" Tom screamed in pain as the goblin's nails slashed at Tom's cheek. He held Tom's cheek, which hurt. Blood oozed from his gaping wound from the goblin's slashed fingernails.

Forest goblins may be thin in stature but they have sharp claws and fangs. More and more forest goblins jumped down. They had been starving for a very long time, with such delicious food as humans, of course they wouldn't let it go.

The forest goblin rushed to attack.

Tom was bitten in several places on her body, barely able to protect her head. His consciousness began to fade as he lost his ability to resist, his body slumped from the trunk of the tree he was sheltering from.

In an instant, a roar sounded through the forest. The herd of forest goblins stopped as they started to feel something. They began to communicate by crackling each other with fear in their voices. Then suddenly, something came out of the forest, forcing the goblins to scatter, leaving behind their food which of course was Tom.

Tom could feel that the creature was in front of her, its shadow obscuring the sunlight.

Because Tom's body was too weak to even lift her head, she finally couldn't stand it and passed out.

~~~~

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep for, but when he regained consciousness again, he could feel someone giving him water. Surprisingly, there was something soft apart from the water. Something swirled around his mouth, passing along his teeth, sucking his tongue.

"Mnn..." Tom's eyes widen in fear.

After that series of stimuli, he was sure that he would next encounter something even more terrifying. But something he didn't expect was a very handsome young man standing in front of him.

Especially if the young man kissed him.

"MNN?!" Tom groaned giving a signal to the young man that he had realized and knew the actions of the impudent youth.

When he realized that Tom was awake, the young man let go of his lips. A pair of clear yellow eyes calmly looked back at him as the teenager smiled gently.

Tom felt even more confused at the situation as she was stunned by the teenager's warm smile.

"Who are you?" Tom asked in confusion. This handsome young man suddenly appeared in front of him and kissed him until he woke up as if he was Snow White from a fairy tale character that his mother often read to him when Tom was a child and it was time for bed.

The teenager smiled brighter as he drew closer to Tom. He pecked lightly on the injured cheek, then spoke into Tom's ear:

"I... got lost..." The young man said in a low voice.

"Hey... Can you... Not get too close to me?" Tom said pushing the boy's big body away from him.

The young man held Tom's hand that was on his chest and lifted his face showing his teeth with a smirk.

Tom was completely unmoved when it came to dealing with someone of this kind of approachable personality. In the world where Tom came from, everyone was polite while keeping their distance from each other.

There has never been a person who was so impossible, despite being rejected so many times, would still hold hands affectionately and laugh together.

"Do you know the way out of this labyrinth-like place?" he asked the young man, for Tom had given up on not being able to pull his hand back.

The young man did not answer, acting like a child he waved Tom's hand, "Wolfie, my name is Wolfie, what's your name?"

Tom remained silent, warring to herself in her thoughts as she wondered if she could really leave this labyrinth alive.

The young man noticed Tom's gloomy expression, he faked a cough and added, "I... I've met this maze guard officer before, I can take you to him. When we find him, maybe we can find our way out."

"Oh? What kind of person is he?" Tom said. The words of the young man named Wolfie seemed to give Tom hope of getting out of this maze-like forest.

"Officer... Oh, don't worry, that officer is from the lowest level among the Twelve Palaces where the Beasts live, he's basically no different from a guard dog." Wolfie replied in a relaxed tone.

Even though the boy sounded like he was joking, Tom could feel the desperation in Wolfie's voice.

"This labyrinth is connected to the outside world, so very often beasts or humans will accidentally wander around when they get lost. Sometimes the attendants can't even keep out the disturbing beasts. What a failure for him-" the young man then chuckled.

"Wolf." Tom interrupts.

"Hmm?" Wolfie replied unenthusiastically.

"Can you find me something to eat?" Tom asked pleadingly.

The young man's gloomy face instantly became excited.

"You, you wait here okay? I'll be right back, don't go anywhere!!" Said Wolfie who stood up excitedly.

Tom's gaze followed the young man as he hopped away. Tom stretched the hand previously held tightly by the young man.

It was strange, because he could clearly feel the young man's sadness—a feeling of need with a feeling of desperation to be wanted by someone.

When the two had finished the wild berries that Wolfie had found earlier, they made their way back into the forest.

Wolfie seemed to know this forest very well. Under his direction, Tom never once again saw the clues that Tom had left behind.

"We are now heading towards the heart of the forest, but you must be careful. Apart from the low-level forest goblins you encountered earlier, this forest is still filled with traps and beasts of unknown type, so you must follow me closely." Wolfie said.

"Does 'follow you closely' include holding hands?" Tom asked looking at the big hand that was holding hers.

"Ah... Of course!" Wolfie showed his usual innocent smile. He took the opportunity to cling even closer to Tom.

To be continued