Chapter 13 Rescue "In fact, I can barely protect myself."...

"You want to save him?"

Xavier sensed Catherine's change in mood the instant she did.

“I…want to save him?” Catherine’s voice was soft, but one could still hear the shock in it.

Xavier chuckled: "You're unaware of the emotions that's ariseing in your own mind?"

Catherine pursed her lips. She looked up at the boy, who had been thrown by the giant snake towards a hill piled with food. The sudden weightlessness and the strange meat scattered beneath him made him scream instinctively.

He jumped up in alarm, wanting to get away, but the sheer height of this "mountain of food" filled him with dread. He paced back and forth on the summit for a while, observing the scene, before finally hesitatingly sitting back down.

His reaction amused the giant snakes in the cave, filling the cave with a joyful atmosphere.

Catherine turned her head to look at Xavier, who was not far away.

He wasn't smiling; his eyes were fixed somewhere in the distance, as if he were lost in thought. His entire face screamed "boredom."

He seemed indifferent to everything except for beautiful things that piqued his interest. Unlike the other giant snakes in the snake pit.

Catherine raised an eyebrow, but before she could speak, Xavier spoke first.

"Don't even think about begging me to save him." He grinned, a wicked smile spreading across his face. "You should know I'm not going to agree."

Catherine's thoughts were interrupted, and she seemed somewhat at a loss for words for a moment.

However, that's only what it seems.

She quickly smiled and said gently, "I didn't mean to ask anything of you."

Although they hadn't known each other for long, Catherine knew that if she asked Xavier for help, she would definitely get a rejection and ridicule in return.

Therefore, she never had this delusion.

Catherine looked around, observing the situation inside the snake pit. The giant snakes seemed to be scattered randomly, but upon closer inspection, it could be seen that a giant snake guarded each entrance.

Just then, a slight disturbance came from the direction of Food Mountain. Catherine turned around and saw that the boy was tentatively sliding down, but he tripped over the corpse of a strange beast below and tumbled down at high speed.

Fortunately, Arnold, who was standing nearby, caught him with his snake tail, preventing him from suffering a serious fall.

Humans are a rare and precious food source. The giant snakes certainly didn't want the boy to suffer any mishaps before they could enjoy such a delicate "snack."

Although this won't affect the taste, it just doesn't look as exquisite as when it was intact.

Arnold scanned the inside of the cave, his snake eyes finally locking onto Catherine's direction. With a flick of his tail, he tossed the boy high into the air, who screamed as he was thrown over.

Xavier's snake eyes narrowed for a moment as he watched the little creature suddenly tossed to him. He raised his tail slightly, caught the boy, and handed him to Catherine.

Catherine: ...?

Boy: Waaah...

Xavier looked at Arnold, his eyes narrowing: "Arnold, what do you mean by this?"

“Don’t get agitated, Xavier,” Arno said with amusement. “It just so happens that your ‘collection’ is also a human. This kid doesn’t seem very well-behaved. In order to keep him in perfect condition before he is eaten, let your ‘collection’ look after him for a while.”

Catherine didn't understand how she had suddenly become the child's short-term caregiver.

She lowered her head. The boy in her arms was initially still shaken, but after realizing that he was temporarily safe, his emotions gradually calmed down.

However, tears still clung to his face from fear, making him look quite pitiful.

Catherine raised her hand to wipe away the tears on his face, but before she could lower her hand, it was grasped by him.

“Sister… Sister…” the boy sobbed, realizing that Catherine might be the only one who could save him.

Even if he were stupid, after spending some time in this cave, he would realize that he was most likely brought here as a reserve food supply.

Because every snake in that cave looked at him with the burning desire of someone eyeing a delicious meal.

"I'm scared."

But to his surprise, Catherine didn't comfort him like the other adults had done before. Instead, her tone was extremely calm, to the point of being cold.

“I can’t protect you,” she said. “In fact, I can barely protect myself.”

Upon hearing this, Xavier chuckled and turned to look at the two of them.

Of course, it mainly depends on Catherine.

Catherine feigned innocence and sincerely invited, "It's just a normal conversation between children, would you like to listen in?"

Upon hearing this, Xavier immediately lost interest and glided to the side.

Catherine had already labeled herself as Xavier's right from the very beginning. Even if he wasn't by her side, the other giant snakes wouldn't be so tactless as to devour her.

Besides, isn't there another human species that we can eat at the banquet later?

Catherine watched Xavier leave before turning back. As she looked down, she met the boy's renewed look of terror.

Catherine laughed out loud: "How did you end up in Devil's Forest?"

Tarasco had previously discovered a human in the wolf den. Judging from the size of the backpack, its owner was most likely not a child. This means that besides himself, there are two other humans in the Devil's Forest.

She was genuinely curious about why they had risked coming in.

The extreme danger and terrifying legends of the Devil's Forest have long deterred the human races living outside it. So what is it that lures them into exploring the Devil's Forest, disregarding its perils?

That must be an extremely tempting treasure.

The boy glanced at Catherine's expression. His eyes flickered, as if he was hesitating about something, but in the end he raised his hand to cover his mouth and shook his head firmly.

Catherine was taken aback. Judging from the boy's behavior just now, she thought he was already terrified and would answer any question he was asked.

However, she also understood the child's thoughts.

After all, aside from this problem, there was nothing about him that could attract her attention. Even if she said she was in dire straits herself, her situation was still better than his.

He's not answering now because he's thinking that if possible later, when he runs away, he can take him with him to get the answer to this question.

“Not too stupid.” Catherine raised an eyebrow and poked the boy’s forehead with her fingertip.

Seeing that Catherine didn't seem angry, the boy secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She was the only person in this cave who could possibly save him; she was his last hope. If possible, he hoped to maintain her good impression of him forever, until he was safe.

A note from the author:

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