Chapter 12: Tree Vines

Raindrops continuously fell from the leaves pressed by the branches outside the window. About twenty minutes ago, Nagu experienced a rainforest downpour for the first time…

It felt like a herd of mammoths was running wildly through the forest. During the brief downpour, Nagu even thought that Hamoyin’s pitiful little treehouse might not hold up, as it occasionally swayed slightly. However, it only swayed a bit with the branches, and as Hamoyin had said, the rainwater did not leak through the roof.

This was undoubtedly because a few days before the rainy season arrived, Hamoyin had climbed onto the roof with the large bird feather nets she had woven, many broad leaves, and a jar of mysterious substances. He spent about half a day knocking and tapping before coming down.

Hamoyin’s rain protection measures are quite trustworthy. And today, after the rain stopped, Hamoyin went out with his tools without saying exactly what he was going to do, even though it should still be wet outside.

Nagu lay bored on the edge of the bed, looking out.

It had been fifteen days since Hamoyin told her about the sea people and monsters. Her leg wound had healed to the point where she could barely walk, although each step felt as painful as if her muscles were being torn, much like the little mermaid who had gained legs.

However, she was recovering well. Her body was gradually healing, and she no longer needed to rely on Hamoyin for daily tasks like cleaning herself and going to the bathroom. This should have been something to be happy about, but Nagu’s mood was becoming increasingly depressed, and she was talking to Hamoyin less and less.

She still didn’t know where to go or what to do after she recovered. If she really followed Hamoyin’s advice to find the sea people, would she have to keep having children just to survive? Just thinking about this made Nagu feel utterly useless.

So useless.

“Sigh…” Nagu sighed continuously as she looked at the bright green leaves outside, glistening with rainwater. She wanted to imitate the survival experts she remembered, living happily on a deserted island as if it were her own estate.

Nagu’s mind had stopped working due to sadness. She was simply staring out the window, thinking about nothing.

Green. All she saw was green, the sunlight after the rain, and the swaying and writhing tree vines…

Wait a minute.

Nagu blinked in a daze.

Writhing vines?

“What are you doing?”

Hamoyin looked at Nagu, who was standing stiffly by the window. He had gone out to tend to the traps after the rain stopped, and when he returned, he saw Nagu standing there motionless. She didn’t respond when he called her, and she had been talking to him less and less these past few days.

It should be a good sign, right?

“So you’re standing here…” Hamoyin said as he walked towards the window. When he could see the window sill, he understood why Nagu was standing there motionless.

A green snake was coiled on the window, its golden eyes staring at Nagu. When Hamoyin appeared, the snake turned its head towards him.

“Danger, danger,” Nagu mouthed to Hamoyin, her face pale. She had been standing there stiffly, staring at the persistent snake for over an hour. Despite the pain in her ankle, she didn’t dare move, fearing the snake would bite her nose if she did.

“Next time, don’t open the side window when I’m not around.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Hamoyin swiftly grabbed the snake’s head and clenched his fist. The snake writhed violently for a moment before going limp, like a rope losing its support.

Hamoyin had crushed the snake’s head with his bare hands. Nagu watched, her mouth half-open, as blood oozed from Hamoyin’s fist. The snake that had threatened her for over an hour was dealt with in seconds. The difference in their abilities was truly despairing.

“Th-thank you,” Nagu said, relaxing her ankle while holding onto the window sill. “I almost couldn’t hold on.”

Hamoyin looked at the snake’s corpse he was holding. “It’s not a venomous snake. Even if it bit you a few times, you wouldn’t die.”

The problem is, I don’t want to be bitten even once, Nagu thought, feeling deflated. “I won’t open the window randomly again.”

“Good.” Hamoyin wrapped the snake’s body around his hand twice, then grabbed a small bone knife and headed outside.

Nagu hobbled after Hamoyin, holding onto the tree trunk like a little follower. Outside the treehouse, there was a platform made of vines and wooden planks, about five square meters in size. It was surrounded by a railing made of slender branches and vines, with tattered animal skins and strings of animal teeth hanging from it.

Hamoyin usually processed animal hides and blood here. The platform was also piled with various plant roots and stems. Nagu had eaten one or two of them, while others seemed to be used to make poison to coat arrowheads.

On the wooden platform, Hamoyin pinned the snake to the plank and began skinning and gutting it. Finally, he cut the snake meat into several pieces and placed them on clean leaves.

Nagu quietly watched Hamoyin work. When she saw the small pieces of snake meat on the leaves, her mind started to wander.

Stir-fried eel segments.

“Are we having snake meat for dinner?” Nagu forced herself to swallow her saliva.

Hamoyin glanced at Nagu, whose eyes were glowing green. “You don’t eat snake meat?”

“I do. I’ll eat anything.”

“…”

Over time, Hamoyin had noticed that as Nagu’s body recovered, her appetite grew. She might have been mindful of the food supply at home, eating only half-full at each meal. But late at night, Hamoyin would be woken up by the loud growling of her hungry stomach.

It was just too loud!

However, there wasn’t enough food in the house for Nagu, so even during the rainy season, Hamoyin would go out hunting or gathering fruit every few days. He then forced Nagu to eat until she was full to prevent her from making noise at night.

Hamoyin picked up the leaves with the snake meat and walked inside. “The snake meat is all yours. I won’t eat it.”

“Is it because you’re also a snake that you don’t eat it?” Nagu followed Hamoyin eagerly, still thinking about the eel segments.

“…I’m not a snake.”

“Eh? Then why don’t you eat it?”

“Because you need to eat a lot.”

Hearing this, Nagu instantly understood. Hamoyin had been forcing her to eat because he knew she was hungry.

No wonder he sometimes went out even during the rainy season. Thinking of this, Nagu’s cheeks turned red with shame and embarrassment. “I’m sorry… for troubling you again.”

Oh my god, how useless can I be?

Hamoyin looked back at Nagu, who was slowly following him, holding onto the vines. “No need to apologize to me…”

But before he could finish his sentence, “Hey! Hamoyin!!”

A shout from below the tree interrupted him. Nagu quickly pressed herself against the inside of the platform, making sure she couldn’t be seen from below.

Hamoyin leaned over to look at the person calling him from below, then turned to Nagu. “Hide inside the house.”