Oscar increasingly felt that his guess made sense. If she really had enemies, this wasn't a place to linger...
At the thought, Oscar quickly pulled the Grace Hymn Emerald Sausage he'd prepared earlier for emergencies from his storage pouch. He pried open the girl's mouth and pushed it inside. No longer worrying about the difference between men and women, he wrapped her snugly in his clothes, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and hurried away.
By the time Oscar found a place to rest, he was already far from where the incident had occurred. Even if the girl had enemies, they'd have a hard time finding him in the Star Dou Great Forest.
The cave he was in now had a story of its own. It was the snake den that Dragon Duke Meng Shu had stumbled into more than two years ago.
After catching his breath, Oscar lifted a corner of the clothes wrapped around the girl and checked her injuries.
He had to admit, the Grace Hymn Emerald Sausage worked wonders. Her hideous wound had completely disappeared, without even leaving a scar.
If she hadn't lost so much blood earlier, she might have woken up on the way here.
"Ugh, what a hassle. I lost the grilled fish, too. What am I supposed to eat later? Snake soup? I don't know how to make that... I hope she's the grateful sort.
But people on the Douluo Continent seem to care a lot about chastity. I only took one look. She's not going to kill herself over it, is she..."
At the thought, Oscar wrapped the girl up tight again, tied several loops of rope around her, and finally stuffed a wad of cloth into her mouth. That did the trick.
That way, if she woke up later, she wouldn't do anything irrational.
Sure enough, the girl woke up before long. Oscar lifted his head slightly and said:
"Oh, you're awake? Don't worry, I'm not a bad person."
Oscar spread his hands. A freshly gutted snake lay on the ground.
The girl looked panicked and tried to struggle, but she was tied up too tightly.
"Don't move around. Hear me out first."
Oscar could guess what the girl was thinking. If someone had seen him naked while he was bathing, and he'd woken up to find himself tied up like a dumpling, he'd be panicked too.
So, while using the Soul Skill from his left leg bone, Mirror Flower Water Moon, to calm her, Oscar explained:
"Your injuries were too severe, and you'd lost too much blood. If I hadn't brought you here, you'd either have been caught and killed by your enemies or eaten by a Soul Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest.
I had no other motive. I just wanted to save your life. Since you were caught off guard, I'm also responsible for you getting hurt a second time.
I had no choice but to tie you up like this. This may be the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, but there are still plenty of Soul Beasts nearby. If you make a commotion, it'll cause a lot of trouble."
The girl blinked. She realized that the injured area really didn't hurt anymore.
The boy in front of her had seen her entire body, and what he'd done didn't seem like something a good person would do.
But he'd done it to help her, and now he was patiently explaining himself. His story even made sense.
Maybe... he really was a good person?
The thought helped the girl calm down, at least for the moment. She nodded at Oscar, and the wariness in her eyes softened a little.
"Then let's settle it like this. I saw your body and ruined your chastity; that was wrong of me. But my life is still useful, so I can't give it to you.
"I can offer you just two choices. I can pretend nothing happened, and we can put this behind us. But I'll find a way to make it up to you—for example, I can try to find you a Spirit Bone here.
"Or you can marry me. Of course, I should tell you up front that I have a fiancée. She's a good person.
"But I'll find a way to talk things through with her, so you don't need to worry about that.
"I'll treat both of you well, and I'm capable of taking care of you both.
"Which will you choose?"
Oscar removed the cloth from the girl's mouth, then crouched beside her and asked gently.
When it came down to it, he was just an ordinary man. These were the only two solutions he could think of.
Besides, the rule had already been broken. He wasn't a stubborn traditionalist, and if the girl came to be with him, he was confident he could give her a good life.
Watching the girl's expression, Oscar asked with a bitter smile:
"I did save your life, after all. You're not really going to want me dead, are you?"
"N-no, that's not what I mean. But I have... I have a fiancé."
The girl tried to keep her expression calm and strong, but the sob caught in her throat gave her away. Tears began to fall despite her efforts.
"Mm... hmm?"
Oscar froze for a moment. This was awkward. What if she and her fiancé were in love, and he'd seen her naked from head to toe?
He hadn't done it on purpose; it had just been an accident. But that didn't make it okay!
Oscar reacted quickly and continued:
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. We can both pretend it never happened. Once we leave the Star Dou Great Forest, we might not even see each other again."
Seeing that the girl was about to cry again, Oscar hurriedly added:
"Even though it was an accident, I'll make it up to you."
The girl was still sobbing, but she answered earnestly:
"I... I know it was an accident... You don't have to make it up to me."
Seeing that the girl wasn't unreasonable, but was instead exceptionally strong and considerate of others, Oscar felt even more sympathy for her. He sighed, rummaged in his storage pouch, and pulled out a set of his own clothes. He put them on an empty patch of ground beside her and said:
"Forget about whether it was an accident or not. If you know how to cook, make some snake soup. I've got a few clean sets of clothes here. If you don't have any, wear these for now."
Once he'd finished, he untied the girl and walked straight out of the cave. He went down to the river himself and brought back two plump fish.
By the time he returned to the cave, the girl had changed clothes and tied her hair up. She was beside the stone pot, cooking snake soup.
"That smells pretty good. You're a good cook!"
Oscar smiled and set the two fish down nearby. When he turned around, he noticed the girl looked a little dazed, so he said:
"Don't dwell on what happened. Tell me where you're going. If it's on my way, I'll take you there. With your Soul Power, the Star Dou Great Forest isn't safe for you."
The girl furrowed her brow slightly and pressed her lips together. After hesitating, she finally said:
"N-no need. I can manage on my own."
"Come on, no need to be polite. Tell me where you're going. It might be on my way."
Though Oscar said that, he'd take her there even if it wasn't. After all, he'd seen her naked, so he was in the wrong. He could at least offer this small compensation.
"Suotuo City."
"Suotuo City?"
Oscar looked her up and down a few times, then asked with a smile:
"You're around the right age to be going to Suotuo City. Are you planning to study at Shrek Academy?"
"Mm..."
"My name's Oscar. I study at Shrek. You're going there to study, but your fiancé didn't come with you?"
Oscar asked with a smile, but quickly sensed something was off.