"What...?"
I could feel the doubt in everyone's voice as I said my piece. Massaging my face, I looked at the post-leader of the Black Hound Guild. His red eyes coldly stared in my direction as he stood motionless on the spot.
There was something unsettling about his gaze.
I couldn't quite place it into words.
However, for some reason, I felt my chest grow heavy.
'He doesn't look at all worried.'
.....Was it just a bluff, or was it perhaps that I had guessed wrong?
In hindsight, I wasn't entirely confident about my hypothesis. There were clues here and there, and if he truly was the possessor of the missing page, then there was also a chance that the monsters might not attack him.
Why...?
'Because the tree is the one controlling the monsters.'
Or at least, that was what I assumed to be the case.
The timing was all too perfect.