After consuming the fruit, Victor coughed.
The girl stood up and handed him the water.
"I simply collected swater from the river.Filtration has been done with small stones.It’s clean.Drink it."
Victor stopped momentarily as he inspected the water as if suspecting it was poisoned.
The girl didn’t seem to grasp Victor’s thinking.She persuaded Victor to drink the water.
"Quick.There is no need to be worried.For the past few days, I’ve been drinking the water.My bowel movements are normal."
"Thanks,"
Victor mumbled as he took the water.
"We’re in the sboat.We both got lost in the forest.Humans have a built-in tendency to give a hand to each other."
She nonchalantly waved her hand.
The sun was blazing.
"Then again, we can’t stay here for long.There has to be a way out."
Rather than drinking it, Victor quietly set the water down.
He was extremely thirsty, and he had been injured.
However, he was skeptical of the person in front of him despite the fact that his body needed water very badly at that moment.
"Hey! What’s your name?"
The girl shifted her attention to Victor.
For a fleeting moment, she caught a glimpse of the water jug.She could tell he hadn’t drunk the water.
Pretending not to see it, she shifted her attention elsewhere.
"Vic."
"Van?" she asked since she didn’t heart it clearly"
Observing her, Victor paused before nodding in agreement.
"What about you, then? What is your name?"
"My name? Shelia Davis."
Shelia’s two deep dimples were clearly visible as she smiled.
"You can callShelia."
"Shelia.."
Softly, Victor whispered the name.
"That’s a pretty name."
"You mean? I chose the nfor myself."
As Shelia leaned against Victor, she crossed her legs.
"Did you say the nyou chose for yourself?"
Shelia wrote the nwith a branch that she found on the ground while she was speaking.
Victor hadn’t figured out how to spell Shelia’s nuntil that point.
nShelia... Nothing about it sounded boyish to him.
The only thing that set Shelia apart from other girls was her short hair and carefree demeanor.
In that regard, she was like a boy Shelia added the word "Van" to the end of her nafter she was done writing hers.
"This is your name, correct?"
Victor was his name.
But for sreason, he didn’t correct her and just nodded.
"Since we now know each other’s names, we can call each other friends."
In a gesture of friendship, Shelia extended her hand.
"Let’s do this once again! Hi, my nis Shelia."
"Pleasure. I’m Van."
Victor extended his hand to Shelia and they exchanged a handshake.
Shelia stood up and patted the soil on her body after she had thrown away the branch she was holding.
"Is it possible for you to stand? To avoid being stalked again by wolves at night, we must find a way out."
Victor was also aware that they wouldn’t be here for long.
He nodded and stood slowly with his hand on the stone.
"Let’s get going!"
As soon as she had the darts in a cloth bag, Shelia returned to Victor with the bag tied to her waist.
She took the jar of water that he hadn’t consumed, surveyed the area, and indicated in the direction of a nearby road that was
reasonably smooth.
"Let’s take this route."
Victor’s gaze remained fixed on Shelia.
His eyes becdark as he watched Shelia deftly stow the darts.He gave her a thoughtful look.
Shelia claimed to have lost her way.
However, she was able to save him from the wolves.
In addition, she had a strong ability to survive in the wild it was apparent that she wasn’t lost or in need of help at the very least.
Victor was on guard against the girl.
Shelia led the way.
Since Victor was injured, she didn’t move as quickly as she perhaps could if he was in perfect condition.
They strolled the forest for about forty minutes, and they still hadn’t cout.
The temperature was surging upwards into the triple-digit range.
Shelia used her hand to block out the sun as she wiped away the sweat from her.
Victor, too, cto a halt.
"This is the third twe’ve cacross this tree," he said, looking at the trunk near him.
Shelia’s eyes widened in amazement.
"Really? How did I not notice it?"
She walked rapidly over to the tree and scowled.
"Are you sure? Here, every tree has the sappearance.Could you be wrong? So much thas passed.We’ve possibly been
going round and round in circles, which is really absurd."
"This tree has a slight fracture," Victor said.
Shelia followed Victor’s lead and discovered the fracture he had indicated.
"Wow! How every observant of you!" Victor remained silent.
He wondered whether Shelia was genuinely pretending or she honestly didn’t know.
Shelia’s response revealed that she was completely unaware of the fact that they were circling.
But could someone have traveled the sroute three times in a row without question? Was Shelia stalling for time? Shelia had
no idea what Victor was thinking at the time.
Her gaze remained fixed on the crack, and she couldn’t help but sigh.
"Van, you are quite sharp."
"I was under the impression that you were already aware of this."
Shelia blushed and said, "I’m sorry.I had no idea where I was going.It’s as though everything here is the same.I wouldn’t have
been stranded here for so long if that wasn’t the case."
"Right."
Victor’s response was unemotional.
Signing, Shelia said, "If so, what should we do next, then? We can’t just keep going forward and back all the time.What do you
think?"
Victor remained quiet for a few moments as he studied Shelia’s concerned expression.
"Since we’ve walked so much, you’re worn out.Let’s take a rest.We’ll find a way out, I assure you."
"There’s no other way," Shelia answered, nodding her head.
She raised the water in her hand and said, "We’ve been walking for a long time.Would you want swater now? I haven’t had
a sip of the water yet.After a lengthy stroll, I’m concerned you’ll get dehydrated.You don’t seem to be in the right shape."
Victor hobbled up to the shady spot next to the tree trunk and sat.
He gave Shelia a sideways look when he heard her.
Shelia had urged him to drink water for the second time.
"Here you go.After walking for so long, I’m starting to feel a bit hungry.I’ll be right back.You know, I’ll check if there’s any fruit
around here."
Shelia didn’t even wait for Victor to respond.
She tossed the water at him, removed the dart from the cloth bag, and began walking away.
"Victor narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the water in his arms.He then turned to watch Shelia’s back as she walks far away.If
shelia was indeed sent by Norton, this was his greatest opportunity to escape!