Chapter 28: Thief (2)

Sloth.

An animal whose name combines tree and sloth.

As its name indicates, it is famous for how incredibly slow it is in each of its movements.

So slow that there is even a story that zoologists who studied it for two years ended up frustrated and abandoned the research.

At first glance it would seem that an animal like that would have many disadvantages in nature, but in reality it is quite rational.

The aesthetics of slowness.

Being slow means spending less energy.

‘But this is the Forest of the Four Seasons.’

I do not know if that philosophy of slowness also works here.

Even now it is face to face with me and still continues moving slowly.

Clearly its target was the fish inside the container.

But I have no idea if sloths eat meat.

At times like this what is needed is the gallery.

Title) What the hell is this guy?

WildGrills

(photo of the sloth caught trying to steal the fish)

I went up to the river and when I came back this guy was here.

It looks like it was trying to steal the fish.

Do sloths eat meat?

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) From its expression you can see that it has a lot of calm. Be careful.

ㄴ??? Do you not know what a sloth is?

ㄴTelling him to be careful of a sloth hahaha

ㄴThis is ridiculous hahaha

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) You will regret it when those savage claws pierce you.

ㄴAllFather) I did not know there were also sloths in the Forest of the Four Seasons. They normally live in the jungle.

ㄴWildGrills) Sloths do not eat fish, right?

ㄴAllFather) Their main food is leaves. Also, sloths normally do not walk, they crawl. But this individual supports itself with its arms like a gorilla. Perhaps it is not really a sloth.

ㄴWildGrills) (video of a sloth moving extremely slowly)

ㄴAllFather) It is a sloth… then what the hell is that?

ㄴWildGrills) I do not know either

ㄴThat video gave me cognitive dissonance hahaha

ㄴEven the professor is seeing a specimen for the first time

ㄴBasically research material, right?

ㄴAllFather) Even if it is research material, be careful. The plants and animals of the Forest of the Four Seasons usually have some kind of weapon.

Both HeavenlyDemon and AllFather reacted by warning me to be careful.

The difference is that AllFather is cautious because of the unknown, while HeavenlyDemon seems to trust more in her intuition.

Even so, being told to be careful of such a slow sloth did not convince me.

‘If I wanted to, I could catch it easily.’

I could grab it with my hand without any problem.

But I have no intention of doing that.

If I catch it I could get infected with some disease or fill myself with parasites.

Wonmo is clean because I bathed him well, but this one is not.

‘First I have to drive it away.’

After trying to steal my fish I am not going to let it pass.

But I do not want to kill it either, so I will just intimidate it.

“Hey! Out! Get lost!”

“……”

I pushed it gently with the back of the sword instead of the blade.

The sloth began to move backward slowly.

Even its way of retreating was desperately slow, to the point that it frustrated me to watch it.

But that fish is my lunch.

Even if it is a sloth, I cannot give it to it.

“You eat leaves. That is your food.”

“……”

“Does that face mean you do not want to? Why not? Climb a tree. There is plenty of food.”

“……”

The sloth’s relaxed expression changed slightly.

It was a very subtle difference, as if it were annoyed.

It seemed to say with its expression.

You were the one who destroyed that tree.

If it really was that, I am sorry.

But I am not going to give you the fish.

“It is no use making that face. Get lost.”

“……”

“Hmm. This is not going to work.”

Now it did not even move back when I pushed it with the sword.

I looked around and picked up a suitable branch.

Tap— Tap—

I started poking it with the branch to make it move back.

Finally it began to move away.

If I push it to the tree it will probably leave.

Tap—

“Hm?”

But things do not always go as one wants.

The sloth grabbed the tip of the branch with its hand.

I was surprised for a moment and pulled the branch back.

Grip!

“What strength is this…?”

It did not let go.

The sloth was stronger than it looked.

Of course, it is an animal that lives climbing trees, so it has strong arms.

In a situation like this it is better not to compete in strength.

‘Maybe I should put on the gloves and lift it.’

Yes, that would be better.

The gloves are in my pocket.

I put them on and approached behind the sloth.

It was so slow that it barely moved while I positioned myself behind it.

Even when I grabbed it from behind it was the same.

“Hop.”

“……?”

I lifted it.

The sloth’s expression changed to surprise.

Even that change of expression was slow.

It is curious that with that relaxed face it can show a reaction like that.

Then I carried it to a tree and left it there.

Finally the problem was resolved.

Now I only had to collect the antidote and go hunt the Golden Frog.

‘I do not think it will come back here… right?’

I looked back just in case.

And as expected…

It was coming toward me again.

I even felt sorry seeing it.

Is it really that obsessed with that fish?

I sighed.

‘…There is no other choice.’

Just with words it does not work.

I need a clearer threat.

After all that sloth is a thief that wants to steal my food.

I aimed the crossbow at the sloth that was slowly approaching.

I do not want to kill it.

I will just shoot at the ground to scare it.

Click—

‘…Seriously how frustrating.’

Wasting so much time because of a sloth.

If I had a crueler personality I would have already made a hole in its head.

But the sloth has never attacked me.

All the animals I have killed so far had threatened my life.

I aimed the crossbow at the ground and fired without the arrow hitting it.

Fwoosh—

Thud!

The arrow shot out and stuck into the ground.

The sloth slowly lowered its head.

It stared fixedly at the arrow embedded in the soil.

Then it raised its head again.

Slow… slow…

“This is driving me crazy.”

What the hell is going on in that guy’s head?

Even after all this, it had no intention of retreating.

In the end, frustrated, I asked for help in the gallery.

Title) Any way to drive this guy away?

WildGrills

(video of the sloth approaching)

It keeps trying to steal my fish.

I lifted it and carried it to a tree, but it keeps doing the same thing.

I even threatened it with the crossbow and it still keeps coming.

Does anyone have any advice?

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) It is an individual with impressive perseverance. Learn from it.

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) What if you just give it the fish? It looks like it will keep bothering you.

ㄴWildGrills) Masters, I also want to eat a decent meal. Wonmo eats better than me.

ㄴHahahaha

ㄴHahahaha

ㄴIt really is pitiful hahaha

ㄴWhy the hell is that guy like that? Does the fish have something?

ㄴWildGrills) I think it is like that because I destroyed its home.

ㄴAnd why did you destroy its home?

ㄴWildGrills) I cut down a tree and apparently that was its home.

ㄴDoes that sloth talk or what?

ㄴWildGrills) No no, it is just intuition hahaha

ㄴSo it was pure nonsense hahaha

ㄴGrills, are you going to end up losing to a sloth?

ㄴWildGrills) It is not that, but I also do not want to kill it.

ㄴJust kill it and eat it or give it to Wonmo.

ㄴWildGrills) Is that even edible?

ㄴNo no no, they say it tastes horrible. That is why they survived against humans.

ㄴAllFather) It is the first time I see a sloth behave like this, interesting.

ㄴEven you are seeing it for the first time, professor?

ㄴAllFather) I also do not know the Forest of the Four Seasons well. I do not even like getting close.

There was no really useful advice.

Most suggested simply killing the sloth.

But sloths do not taste good and their skin is not useful either, so it would not even sell.

Maybe it would be fine if Wonmo devoured it, but then there would be the problem of cleaning everything afterward.

‘But I also cannot give it the fish.’

With that absurd stubbornness, sooner or later it will end up stealing it.

It has been a long time since I had a decent meal.

And I am going to give it up?

No way.

I loaded another arrow into the crossbow and aimed at the sloth.

This time I would not aim at the ground.

I want it to be a real threat.

Even if it is slow, if an arrow passes near its head it will understand the danger.

‘If it dies by accident…’

Maybe I would feel a little guilty.

I aimed right next to its head as it slowly approached.

The moment it took another step, I pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Ping!

The arrow passed brushing past the sloth’s head.

It almost died, but its expression was still completely relaxed.

Did it really not realize it almost died?

Or is it simply too slow?

It even made me laugh how shameless it looked.

‘This is not working.’

I abandoned the idea of intimidating it.

It seems it will only react when it has a hole in its body.

I have to go hunt the Golden Frog and I have already wasted too much time.

I focused and aimed at the sloth’s shoulder.

The arrow was already loaded.

All that remained was to shoot.

‘Do not ever come back.’

I muttered that to myself and pulled the trigger.

I did not hesitate.

I had already given it many chances.

Fiuu—

The arrow shot straight toward the sloth’s shoulder.

Even the owlbear went crazy after receiving a single shot.

If this one’s skin is weaker than an owlbear’s, it should pierce it.

Yes.

According to my calculations, that should have happened.

Swish!

If the sloth had not slightly turned its body at the last moment.

It dodged the arrow just before it struck.

Its movement was not slow.

It was incredibly agile.

“Huh?”

Seeing that in real time, I could only let out a stupid sound.

What did I just see?

A sloth dodging an arrow?

I barely had time to process it before quickly loading another arrow.

It must have been a coincidence.

Maybe it is so slow that I could not predict its movement.

I tried to convince myself as I aimed again.

The sloth continued moving slowly.

Fwoosh—

The arrow shot out again.

Slash!

As if proving it was not a coincidence, the sloth dodged the arrow with a fast movement.

But the most absurd thing was what it did next.

As if nothing had happened, it went back to walking slowly toward me.

‘…This is dangerous.’

I narrowed my eyes cautiously.

This guy is not something I can take lightly.

It just dodged an arrow.

And it did it easily.

An arrow once fired has extremely high speed.

Even seeing it and reacting is already difficult.

Title) Can anyone dodge arrows by seeing them coming?

WildGrills

That is not difficult, right?

Except HeavenlyDemon and SwordTasteMaster, please answer.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) Why do you exclude me?

ㄴWildGrills) Because if I ask you, you will say it is easy.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) You already know me well. I feel proud.

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) Actually it is quite easy. You just have to see it and dodge it.

ㄴWildGrills) Sigh…

ㄴMore than seeing it, you have to predict the trajectory.

ㄴYes, and watch the archer’s hand carefully. Then it is easier.

ㄴEasy? No way hahaha. The moment the archer releases the string you are already dead.

ㄴThose who say it is easy definitely use a shield hahaha

ㄴYou got me.

ㄴBut why are you asking that?

ㄴWildGrills) Because a sloth dodged an arrow.

ㄴ???

ㄴ????

ㄴWhat kind of nonsense is that?

ㄴWildGrills) I wish it were nonsense.

Even when I asked in the gallery, they said it was difficult.

An arrow once fired is too fast to follow with human eyes.

When I said a sloth did that, no one believed it.

‘Even I would not believe it if I were not seeing it.’

Meanwhile, the sloth got even closer.

Judging the distance, it was about ten meters away.

At this distance, dodging an arrow just by seeing it should be impossible.

I aimed the crossbow directly at the sloth.

Now that I know it is a dangerous creature, there will be no more mercy.

‘This time I will aim at the head.’

Without the slightest hesitation I pulled the trigger.

The arrow shot straight toward its head.

If this continues, the arrow will pierce its skull.

But this is the Forest of the Four Seasons.

A place where absurd and inexplicable creatures live.

Tap!

“…My God. This is insane.”

The sloth caught the arrow with its hand.

Then it slowly lowered the hand that covered its face and stared straight at me.

Its relaxed expression seemed to say only one thing.

— Slow.