Chapter 6: The Wall

On the third day after regaining consciousness, Nagu could freely move her injured arm and sit in bed for a while, avoiding dizziness from lying down too long.

Hamoyin, as usual, had gone hunting before she woke up, but he always left a bowl of sweet-smelling fruit paste by the bed, taking meticulous care of her. Was the leopard’s fur really that valuable?

While devouring the fruit paste, Nagu pondered her “rent payment” plan. Despite learning some jungle survival basics from Hamoyin, she knew theory and practice were vastly different.

Surviving a leopard attack made Nagu realize she could barely handle daily food, let alone wild beasts, tribespeople, or rumored monsters. She didn’t want to be injured again and was lucky Hamoyin saved her this time. What about next time?

Nagu sighed, setting down the empty bowl. She resolved to discuss her plan with Hamoyin when he returned, despite his usual brief and cold responses. His care was thorough, but his attitude was distant, making her hesitant to bring up the “rent payment” plan.

Nagu didn’t want to be abandoned by Hamoyin, her only support. She wondered what she could offer in exchange, as he only needed furs and bones. She vaguely remembered knowing how to knit scarves, but that seemed useless.

“Gaah!”

A sharp bird call from the roof startled Nagu. She looked up to see a beautiful bird with bright feathers leisurely eating yellow berries from a branch outside the skylight.

The weather was nice; Nagu stared blankly at the sunlight filtering through the green leaves, falling in small patches on the bird’s feathers. She wondered how she ended up in such a backward place, but now it seemed she was the most backward one. Even the bird could find its own food and protect itself, but what about her?

She couldn’t even walk or find food on her own. She needed Hamoyin to help her with everything, even going to the bathroom. The more she thought about how Hamoyin had been taking care of her these past few days, the more embarrassed and hopeless she felt. Eventually, she couldn’t hold it in any longer and started crying softly while leaning against the bed.

The giant bird, enjoying its lunch outside the skylight, was startled by the noise and flew away with a few flaps of its wings.

Nagu, lost in her sadness, didn’t know how long she had been crying until she heard Hamoyin’s puzzled voice beside her. She hiccuped and stopped crying abruptly.

“Why are you crying?” Hamoyin asked, frowning as he stood by the bed, looking down at Nagu. His clothes were stained with large patches of blood on his chest and left arm, and he held a long bone knife in his hand, looking quite intimidating. “Is your wound hurting?”

“Are you hurt?” Nagu snapped out of her daze when she saw the blood on Hamoyin. “Are you okay?”

“I’m the one asking you,” Hamoyin replied, frowning even more. “And I’m not hurt. This is animal blood.”

“Oh, oh… that’s good.”

“So why were you crying? Did you move around and tear your wound open?” As he spoke, Hamoyin reached out to lift the animal skin covering Nagu.

“No, hic… it’s not the wound.” This was even more embarrassing. Had she been crying from noon until evening in a daze?

Nagu nervously clutched the animal skin, preventing Hamoyin from pulling it away, and then looked past his shoulder at the skylight.

No, it was still broad daylight. So why had Hamoyin returned while it was still light?

Taking advantage of Nagu’s distraction, Hamoyin swiftly pulled away the animal skin she was gripping, revealing her leg covered in ointment.

“Which wound tore open?”

“I said it didn’t tear open.” Nagu raised her hand to futilely cover her upper body. “I was just… just crying for no reason.”

Despite Nagu’s protests, Hamoyin roughly checked the wounds on her thigh and ankle, confirming they hadn’t torn open. “…”

He covered her back up with the animal skin and warned her again, “Don’t move around unnecessarily.” Then he turned and walked towards the wall covered with various knives and tools, selecting a few large, sturdy stone blades and tying them to his back with a rope.

“Are you going hunting again?” Nagu asked, still trying to make conversation as she watched Hamoyin prepare.

“No.”

“Then where are you going?”

Hamoyin, with the clinking tools on his back, walked to the stone table and took a sip of water. “Downstairs.”

“Downstairs?”

“Yes.”

Talking to Hamoyin was really difficult. Nagu didn’t know how to continue the conversation, so she closed her mouth and quietly watched the tall man leave the cabin with his things.

But what did he mean by “downstairs”? Was there a basement under the cabin? That seemed quite advanced.

Nagu had somewhat recovered from her earlier melancholy. She strained her ears to hear any sounds from outside, but apart from the initial creaking of branches, she heard nothing else.

However, it wasn’t long before she heard a faint knocking sound coming from below the cabin. It felt like she was in a high place.

Lying in bed, listening to the thudding sounds, Nagu suddenly had a thought. Could it be…?

She focused her gaze on the small, always-closed window above her bed. Like a caterpillar, she inched herself up against the wall and pushed the small window open a crack to peek outside.

“!”

Previously, her activity was limited to the area around the bed. Apart from the skylight at the top of the room, she had no other way to confirm the outside scenery. She had always assumed Hamoyin’s cabin was built at the base of a large tree. Now, looking out the window, she realized…

Hamoyin’s cabin was built in the tree!

It was a treehouse!

Nagu couldn’t help but push the window open wider and leaned out to look around in amazement. The tree supporting the cabin was enormous, and the surrounding trees were of the same kind. Their branches intertwined densely, creating what looked like countless bridges without railings outside the treehouse. This structure was indeed perfect for building a treehouse, as there were plenty of footholds.

Nagu also noticed many small animal skin pouches tied to the nearby branches with ropes. There were so many of them, but she had no idea what they were for. The person who knew was currently below the tree, swinging a stone blade to cut several thick logs.