The pouring rain came to a stop. However, due to the thick clouds, no stars were visible. Nonetheless, Ente sat alone in the desolate ruins, gazing endlessly at the rippling sky.

“What… are you doing?”

“Ugh! Ugh!”

A muffled voice and a choked plea echoed from behind the mask. It was the Night Tribe member and Viscount Brick, who had been dragged along.

Ente continued to gaze at the sky, questioning, “Why did you bring that?”

“I… I will confine… him…”

Kihik. The mask emitted a chilling laugh.

Terrified, Viscount Brick struggled to remove the cloth covering his mouth and finally spat out, “Sa, save me. Please spare my life, and I will treat you as I did before…!”

Viscount Brick couldn’t continue his plea. The mask gripped a handful of gravel and jammed it into his mouth.

As Viscount Brick, bleeding and whimpering, recoiled, the mask laughed heartily. Then, it picked up a large stone again.

Brick retreated in horror, but the mask didn’t strike the viscount; it struck the mask that covered my face.

Thud! Thud! Thud! The mask ruthlessly struck itself with the stone, and with each impact, blood seeped through the mask’s crevices. Yet, undeterred, it methodically broke the padlocked mask with determination.

“Ah… Finally, removed…”

The Night Tribe, now unrecognizable with the mask gone, exhaled in relief. His appearance, hidden under the mask for a long time, was a mess. His hair and beard were tangled and unkempt, and his unwashed face was covered in flakes. Despite looking like an old man at a glance, he was still a young man under thirty. His name was Payasol.

“You know… how tormenting the mask is…”

“P-please spare me! Aaah!”

Payasol kicked the pleading Viscount Brick with his foot, not enough to kill him, contrary to Brick’s fears. Payasol had no intention of killing him, even if he begged for death.

In the desolate ruins, screams and laughter intertwined. The noise was an obvious disturbance to the contemplative individual. Eventually, Ente uttered tiredly in a hoarse voice.

“Give him a break; he used to be your colleague.”

“You… know a lot…”

Payasol chuckled.

As Ente mentioned, Payasol and Viscount Brick were originally colleagues. To be more precise, Payasol was the one who instigated the idea of utilizing the Night Tribe by Viscount Brick.

Their ill-fated connection began two years ago.

Two years ago, one day, Orky Brick, the head of the investigation team in the southern part of Baven Province, was assigned to investigate some Night Tribe activity.

The one they captured just two months after becoming a Night Tribe member was an insignificant ruffian, and the problem was that the reason for him becoming a Night Tribe member was entirely unclear.

If it were any other matter, he would delegate it to his subordinates, but information about the Night Tribe and their grievances was a high-ranking secret even within the Baven military. Therefore, Orky Brick had to grit his teeth and personally investigate the man.

What he faced was Payasol, a young man with a messy appearance.
He was originally a wanderer, but fortunately, he flowed into a kind-hearted village where he received various help and settled down. After settling, he lived modestly, assisting with the village’s tasks, and for three years, he hadn’t caused any trouble. However, everything changed when a curse of the New Moon enveloped the village. The quiet young man became a member of the Night Tribe, massacring seventeen villagers who had supported him and an innocent boy before fleeing.

The villagers were plunged into despair. They cried out, questioning how the heavens could turn such a kind person into a devil, harming those who had helped him. However, the views from the upper echelons of the Bayen military were somewhat different.

To become a member of the Night Tribe, one first needed a soul to devour. And once they became a member, they fulfilled their revenge by killing their first target. This meant that Payaso, behind his reputation as a kind and quiet person, harbored intense resentment towards the neighbors who had helped him.

The Bayen military wanted to know the details, and Orky Brick mercilessly tortured him. The entire story he uncovered was mind-boggling. Firstly, Payaso had no intention of killing even the kind villagers; they were merely unfortunate bystanders. The only person he truly wanted to kill was a troublemaker in the village.

The boy was fourteen years old. However, for some reason, he could only behave like an eight-year-old. Kind villagers took turns feeding and caring for the boy, but Payaso grew resentful. He couldn’t stand the fact that the boy, who contributed nothing, was better off than himself, struggling to make a living.

So, he daydreamed about killing him every day, and eventually, he became a member of the Night Tribe and killed him. When the whipped Payaso wailed and confessed, Orky Brick didn’t believe it. So, he interrogated more harshly, and only after Payaso repeated the same story multiple times did he laugh incredulously.