"It appeared!?"
The woodcutter immediately looked around.
The Black Monster had appeared!?
Only the Black Monster could make the Young Scholar this excited, right?
Where?
The woodcutter's heart leaped into his throat.
"...Little brother?"
The woman spoke softly.
This was the first time she had seen the Young Scholar act like this. To be honest, he had scared her.
She even wondered...
Was this really the gentle, bookish younger brother she remembered, so refined and mild-mannered?
The woman hid behind the woodcutter.
She watched the Young Scholar, startled, frightened, and a little worried.
Yesterday, when the woodcutter had told her about her younger brother's breakdown, it hadn't felt real to her.
She had thought, He's such a refined person. How bad could his breakdown really be?
But now, seeing it with her own eyes...
The woman realized her younger brother's behavior was completely beyond anything she had expected.
He had truly frightened her.
"Little brother?"
The woodcutter called to the Young Scholar again and again.
"Little brother?"
"Can you hear me?"
"Little brother?"
"Did you hear me?"
"Little brother!"
The woodcutter gradually raised his voice.
"Little brother!"
The woodcutter shouted.
The Young Scholar jolted in fright.
He whipped around.
His expression was panicked.
His face had gone a little pale.
When he saw it was the woodcutter, the Young Scholar froze for a moment.
"Did I scare you?"
The woodcutter sounded apologetic.
"Sorry."
"But I called you several times."
"You didn't answer me at all."
"I thought..."
The woodcutter trailed off.
He'd genuinely thought the Young Scholar might have lost his mind...
In his panic...
He'd shouted right next to the Young Scholar's ear.
The Young Scholar paid no mind to the woodcutter's unfinished words.
He rubbed his ear, then patted his chest.