Novel Bin
Chapter 6: I Tried to Take a Day Off… Now I’m Leading a Field Trip Through a Death Forest
Zephyr had one wish:
“Please. Just one normal day.”
He packed his lunch. Wore a simple tunic. Left the mop behind.
He even made it to the forest edge before anyone noticed him.
Then a panicked professor ran past him screaming:
“THE STUDENTS ARE TRAPPED IN THE CURSED WOODS! MONSTERS! SKELETONS! SPOOKY MOSS!”
Zephyr blinked. Took a bite of his sandwich.
“…Not my problem.”
Then he saw the names on the field trip list.
Arwen. Drakynia. Selena. Rosalia.
And… one first-year who snuck along to get Zephyr’s autograph.
He sighed.
Folded up his sandwich.
And walked straight into the death forest.
Meanwhile, in the Forest…
The students were surrounded.
Skeleton wolves. Floating pumpkins. Screaming trees.
Selena had frost-barriered half the group. Arwen was shielding the rest. Rosalia’s spear was glowing bright — but they were running low on mana.
“There’s too many,” Drakynia growled. “I say we go down fighting.”
“No,” Selena said through gritted teeth. “We go down calculating.”
“We go down together!” Rosalia beamed, completely missing the point.
“You’re all crazy,” Arwen muttered. “But fine.”
Suddenly—
“HEY.”
They turned.
Zephyr stood at the edge of the clearing.
Unarmed. Calm. Holding nothing but a small bottle of lemongrass oil spray.
The monsters paused.
Sniffed.
Froze.
And started backing away.
What Actually Happened:
Zephyr had used the lemongrass oil as natural pest repellent on the way in. Turns out, cursed creatures hate it.
But from the girls’ perspective… he had just walked in alone and intimidated the entire forest into submission.
“He repels evil,” Rosalia whispered reverently.
“He smells like heaven,” Drakynia muttered, blushing.
“Unbelievable,” Selena said. “Weakened monsters flee his presence?”
“I… want to dissect him,” Arwen mumbled.
Later That Night…
They were back at camp.
Zephyr had cooked stew.
Selena secretly wrote notes about “Zephyr’s Tactical Aroma Deployment.”
Rosalia was polishing his wooden bowl.
Arwen was muttering "he hums in B-flat even when chopping onions."
Drakynia lay near the fire, tail flicking anxiously.
“...I thought we were going to die,” she said.
“Same,” Zephyr admitted. “I came here to nap under a tree.”
Silence.
She glanced at him shyly. “Then… why did you come?”
He looked up.
Soft smile.
“You were in there.”
Her heart made an awkward flip. She growled at it.
Don’t do that. He just saved you with deodorant.
Meanwhile, in the Shadows…
A cloaked figure watched from a crystal orb.
“So… the Chosen Janitor begins to awaken.”
He sipped black tea ominously.
“Operation: Mopnado is nearly ready.”
End of Chapter 6.
Coming up in Chapter 7:
Zephyr is nominated for “Bachelor of the Season” against his will.
A noble rival (with big sparkly teeth) appears.
And our MC is forced to attend a school ball… in disguise. As a butler.
What do you think?
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