I am Just an Average Tamer

'Huh? Where am I?' Kai thought, glancing around to familiarize himself with his surroundings.

'Am I in a forest?'

Sniff! Sniff!

Suddenly, he started hearing muffled cries.

"What the—!" His eyes widened in shock, a chill running down his spine as he glanced around, trying to locate the source of the sound.

"It's you," he said, his heart pounding faster, his breaths growing uneven as he saw the figure of a little girl with platinum hair, crouched and sobbing, tears streaming down her bright green eyes.

"Forest Witch!"

She stood up, seeming to react to Kai's voice.

"HahahAHAAAAAAAHAAA!"

Her cry turned into menacing laughter as sharp fangs emerged from her mouth, a pair of horns sprouted from her head, and her nails grew longer and sharper.

Her gaze met Kai's, freezing him in place. She slowly lifted her foot, taking one step forward, then another, steadily approaching Kai while laughing like a madwoman—or rather, a mad girl.

"H-Hey... please stop...g-go away." Kai pleaded, but he couldn't move his limbs which seemed frozen in fear.

"Don't tell me you didn't see this coming," the girl said, opening her mouth for the first time.

"You are the who brought me here, what did you expect from me? I'm going to eat you now, just like I did with those five. You will my sixth pray, Haaaa!" She lunged at him, aiming to finish it quickly.

Kai's heart skipped a beat as she launched herself at him.

"Nooo!"

"Haaa! Haaa!"

Kai jolted awake, drenched in sweat and gasping for air, "Just a nightmare," he muttered.

But then a chill ran down his spine as he began to hear those same muffled cries.

Sniff! Sniff!

'Great, now what?' Kai thought as his eyes fell on the little girl he had saved yesterday.

She was awake and sitting in one of the corners of the room, her knees pulled tightly to her chest as she clutched them, crying softly.

Kai's mind raced with thoughts as he watched her.

"You're not eating me," he muttered, recalling his recent nightmare.

He stood up. At first, he hesitated but then moved toward the little girl, recalling the stories he had heard from the old-timer.

--

"Yeah, son, and do you know that I even scared one?" an old man in his 60's had said, his voice brimming with pride.

"Yeah? Yeah! Tell us!" a group of kids replied in excitement.

"Alright then, listen carefully. When I first met the wicked Forest Witch, I was a little scared—a very little, though," the old man babbled with a low tone.

The kids' expressions shifted from bright excitement to nervous worry.

"But then, I met her gaze, looking directly into her eyes. I said, 'I am not scared of you, you dirty old witch.' Then, she bent down on her knees, begging me to forgive her and promising never to do any evil deeds again," the old man declared, with puffed out chest, his voice triumphant.

The kids' faces lit up again, jumping in excitement. Some even congratulated him and thanked him for his bravery.

--

"Alright, so what I have to do now is look into her eyes and say I'm not scared of her," Kai said with a determined expression, slowly approaching the little girl, he started trembling.

"Haa!"

He took a deep breath and exhaled to calm himself down a little.

But just as he got closer to the girl, she flinched, causing Kai to step back.

His mind raced, breaths becoming faster, 'T-That's a sign... she hates me! Maybe this is a warning not to come closer?' His eyes widened in panic.

Without giving it a second thought, he quickly turned around and bolted out of the house.

"Haa! Haa!"

Kai gasped for breath, clutching his chest as he bent over, his hand pressed against the wall to steady himself.

'That was a close call,' Kai thought to himself. 'I barely escaped death.'

Before he could think of anything else, a familiar sound broke his concentration.

Garrrr!

"Yeah, yesterday was so busy and tiring, I haven't eaten anything yet," he said, rubbing his growling belly as he strolled through the alley.

He came across a food vendor, handed over two copper coins to him, and said, "Two slices of bread, please."

The vendor handed him the bread slices, and Kai moved on, munching on one.

"So, what should I buy with the rest of my money?" Kai muttered as he strolled through the market square, munching on his bread.

"I couldn't pocket much because of that asshole," he said through gritted teeth, clenching his fist as the memory of the other day resurfaced.

He had been caught by a rich man while trying to pickpocket him, failing miserably.

"I might've gotten my hands on gold for the first time, but..."

Sigh!

He sighed, knowing nothing was going to change as he replayed the events in his mind.

After finishing his first slice of bread, he moved to take a bite of the second one but for some reason, he hesitated. Instead, he tucked it under his patched tunic.

"And what should I do about that witch?" Kai pondered, pinching his chin as he sat on a big rock at the town's outskirts, where he usually go.

"I can't just ask her to leave... what if she gets mad and..." A chill ran down through Kai's spine at the mere thought of what she might do to him if she got angry.

"I can't let her stay with me, either. Hmph!... I'm such an idiot."

He started brainstorming countless possibilities to get rid of her but eventually gave up as he deemed each one a failure.

Sigh!

He sighed. "I guess there's nothing I can do now, is there?"

Jumping off the big rock, he began walking back toward his home.

"Hmm, that's odd. The market is pretty quiet today," he said, glancing around and noticing the streets were far less crowded than usual.

Without stopping, Kai made his way back home. When he entered, his gaze landed on the little girl still sitting in the same corner.

She had stopped crying and was now staring blankly at the floor.

As Kai approached her, she flinched again, but this time, he didn't back away—either he didn't notice or chose to ignore her reaction.

"Here, eat this," he said, offering her the slice of bread he had bought from the vendor.

The girl shook her head, refusing to even look at him or the bread he was holding.

"Okay if you don't want it then...."

Kai didn't say anything else and opened his mouth to eat the bread he had been holding.

Garr!

The girl's stomach growled with hunger, causing her to steal a slow glance at the bread, her cheeks flushing with a little embarrassment.

Kai smiled, but the smile quickly faded, replaced with serious and doubting look. He offered her the bread again, she hesitated first, stealing few glances but then grabbed it, began munching on it.

"Huh...wait...This is great," Kai eyes widened, he punched his palm with a firm smack.

'I've got an idea,' he thought, his lips curled up in smile as he watched the little girl munching on the bread.