"Fine, I’ll ask a gatherer to accompany me then, but can Rick stay here with you while I’m out hunting?" Gwen asked and Ophelia stayed silent as she pondered on what Gwen had asked her.

Ophelia could easily understand the reason why Gwen was worried about leaving Rick alone in the cave.

She feared something might happen to him again if no one she trusted was watching over him, so it made sense for her to request her grandmother’s assistance in watching over Rick.

"Okay, he’ll stay with me in my cave, but I expect you to be back before your mother returns, okay?"

"Okay, Grandmother, and thank you."

"You’re welcome."

Feeling pleased and satisfied that Ophelia would be watching over Rick, Gwen swiftly turned toward her little brother once again before pulling him closer for a hug. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Since Gwen was a little taller than Rick, whenever she pulled him closer for a hug, Rick’s face would always be squashed by her bountiful marshmallows, so it felt really good and exciting to have someone like Gwen hugging him.

He instinctively buried his face deeper into her chest whilst inhaling her scent, and to his surprise, Rick couldn’t deny how soothing it felt to him.

Maybe it was because he knew his sister could smash walls to smithereens, so he felt like the most secured and protected little brother in the world.

But then again, he couldn’t deny the effect of what this was doing to him as well.

Since he had arrived here last night, Gwen had been the only one he had spent the most time with, so it felt weird and a little bit scary to know that he might not be seeing her for a while.

Realising this, Rick’s arms tightened even more around his sister’s body, causing Gwen to smile as she reciprocated the gesture.

"I’m really going to miss you, Rick." Gwen hummed as she smiled while hugging him even more, but Rick slowly pulled back before asking.

"When will you be back?" Rick asked softly as he stared into his big sister’s eyes, but Gwen couldn’t deny how cute he looked right now.

Her lips widened into a huge smile because she could feel the emotions within his words.

He clearly seemed like he didn’t want her to leave.

In other words, Rick wanted to depend on her even more as he tried to learn more about himself and his clan.

"I don’t know when I’ll be back, Rick, but I hope you remember what I told you, right?" She asked while placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Yes, I do." Rick replied with a nod.

"So, if any elder stares, what do you do?"

"I growl."

"I don’t see you growling."

"Grr?" He growled in a questioning tone.

"Grrrr!!" Gwen replied with a growl of her own.

"Grrrrrr!!!!" They both growled at the same time before chuckling in amusement.

Ophelia watched this and couldn’t help but smile behind them.

It was the first time she had seen these two so close to each other, but she couldn’t deny how warm and pleasing it was to see the two of them bonding so much, and it was all thanks to the fact that Rick had lost his memories yesterday.

But speaking of that, if Rick hadn’t stepped out of the settlement and into the forest, Zok probably wouldn’t have been killed and neither would Grog and Zok’s friends have been punished the way they were right now.

In other words, Gwen wouldn’t have been forced to return to the woods so soon.

Since she and a hunting group had returned yesterday, Gwen was supposed to remain in the clan today while a few other elves, along with Grog and Zok’s friends, would have been tasked with carrying out today’s hunting.

But since these elves were currently being punished, Gwen had volunteered herself to return to the dangerous forest.

It wasn’t because she wanted to feed the entire clan. It was simply because she believed in Rick awakening his talent, so she wanted to return home with a huge kill that would be used to celebrate Rick’s awakening.

Knowing this, Gwen pulled her little brother into her embrace one last time and hugged him as though she wouldn’t be seeing him for a very long time.

She didn’t want to part ways with Rick either, but she knew she had to.

She wanted to trust her gut and she wanted to return with the belief that her gut was right to trust and believe in her little brother.

Moreover, once she returned, the two of them would definitely be forming a hunting group of their own and they would spend the rest of their lives together, hunting as a pair.

And who knows, maybe they might even become the strongest pair the Wood Clan had ever seen or heard of.

"I have to go now." Gwen muttered softly before turning around to grab her hunting weapon.

Gwen’s weapons were a primitive-looking spear and a dagger.

Last night, Rick had seen this dagger, but at the time he thought it was a stone knife of some sort. Looking at it closely now, Rick could see that it was definitely a bone that had been curved and structured in a way that seemed similar to a dagger.

Gwen grabbed both weapons before leaving.

However, before she could leap away, Ophelia grabbed Gwen’s arm and dropped a couple of fruits for her to eat during her hunt.

Although Gwen might have seemed like she wasn’t hungry, Ophelia was wise enough to know that the young lady definitely was, so she left something for Gwen to eat and to have enough strength to hunt something down.

This was why she had visited them this morning.

It was to check up on Rick’s health and to offer them some fruit to eat, despite having very little to satisfy herself.

Anyway, the moment Gwen vanished into the distance, Ophelia turned toward Rick and said. "Come, little one. You must be hungry too."

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A/N: Since we’re approaching a new month, three new Chapters will be uploaded shortly.

Also, here is the image of the bone dagger for anyone interested in knowing how it looked.