The moment she placed her hand on his shoulder, Laila felt a strange heat burrowing under her fingernails. It was too light to be real pain, but too vivid to be an illusion, as it remained clear even after she removed her hand.

What’s been going on since earlier?

Laila stared at her fingertips, furrowing her brow. There was something strange about this man. Something intangible, yet clearly present…

“This is indeed the way to the village. Why do you ask?”

Laila, who had been lost in thought, let out a wry laugh at Eustar’s nonchalant response.

“Why, you ask? Don’t you know? If I go to the village now, I’ll be caught by the angry villagers and hanged upside down from a tree. And that would be lucky. I might be stoned to death in that position or burned alive along with the tree.”

Though slightly exaggerated, it was a clear fact that the villagers had been itching to beat Laila since this strange disease started spreading.

Walking voluntarily into those enraged people – it was impossible unless one had lost their mind.

As she was about to shake her head, Eustar suddenly let out a soft laugh. It seemed somewhat amused, and also as if he was teasing her.

“I can roughly guess what you’re worried about. But, Laila. This isn’t the Dark Ages anymore.”

Laila’s expression grew even more furrowed. The Dark Ages referred to a past hundreds of years ago, now turned to dust. Disease and war, death and screams had been rampant, and people trembled in fear that the first demon would rot everything on earth.

Terror-stricken people hunted down witches living alone deep in the forests like lice, burning them in the name of God.

They tied stones all over their bodies and drowned them in the middle of rivers, or stabbed them under the armpits with heated iron. Bizarre and cruel executions and tortures that even real demons would be appalled by were employed.

—But that was really a stupid thing to do, dear.

Laila recalled her mother’s voice from long ago. Her mother would often comb Laila’s hair while sitting in a creaking rocking chair. And she would calmly tell these terrible stories to her daughter sitting on her lap.

—None of those poor women killed by those fools were real witches. Because we are the only ones with witch bloodlines here.

—What if people try to kill us again, Mom?

When young Laila asked fearfully, her mother would stroke Laila’s hair with thin, soft yet firm fingers.

—Don’t worry, Laila. Real witches never die at human hands. And that was just a delusion of the Dark Ages. Foolishness and darkness permeated the air, clouding human eyes and stirring up their minds. Now humans don’t know what real witches are. Of course…

What did Mom say next?

“Are you alright?”

Eustar’s voice pulled Laila out of her reverie.

She lifted her head abruptly as if waking from a trance, then recalled the last of their conversation and bit her lip.

“It may not be the Dark Ages, but the village of Lizicus is sufficiently shrouded in darkness.”

“That may be so. But you’ll be fine if you’re with me, Laila. The things you’re imagining won’t happen. I promise.”

Once again, Laila had no choice but to agree with Eustar’s words. For someone who had lived her whole life avoiding and distrusting people, it was an inexplicably strange attraction even to herself.

As they turned the mountain path and entered the outskirts of the village, Laila suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

The atmosphere of the village, enveloped in silence and darkness, was like a hungry beast. She could feel it lying in wait, jaws wide open to devour her.

The silence persisted even after the two entered the narrow village street. There were hardly any windows with light seeping through, and every house had its doors tightly shut.

Without exception, dried pomegranate flowers and camphor tree branches were densely attached to the outside of doors, and some houses even had dead lamb carcasses hanging upside down.

The few livestock in the barns were making drawn-out cries of distress, as if they hadn’t been cared for in a long time.

“They’re using very old warding methods, all of them.”

Eustar looked at the foul-smelling lamb carcass with interested eyes. Laila turned her gaze away to avoid looking at that horrific thing and replied gruffly.

“They’re all completely ineffective. It’s foolish to think ghosts can be blocked by such things.”

“From the way you speak, it seems you’ve tried them before?”

Laila’s lips pressed into a straight line again. After maintaining silence, she said,

“I’ve never killed a lamb. I don’t have money for lamb meat, anyway.”

“Dried pomegranate flowers and camphor branches do help. But only if they’re hung properly. Consecration would help even more, but come to think of it, I don’t see a church in this village.”

“It’s a very small village.”

And an isolated one. Laila thought.

The village of Lizicus was isolated from the outside world. Of course, as Eustar had done, people from outside could practically enter and leave the village, and vice versa, people from the village could freely go outside.

But no matter how much people came and went, the unique sense of isolation in Lizicus village never disappeared. It was like…

‘A stagnant pond cut off from the water flow.’

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Laila looked around with an increasingly anxious expression.

She could see newly made wooden gravestones next to houses with lights out and doors locked. And there were quite a few of them… The marks where holes had been dug and then covered with soil were too small. They weren’t places where adults were buried.

Although Eustar could see everything Laila saw, he walked with large strides as if he had a set destination, showing no signs of fear or tension.

After walking for a while as if circling the village, Eustar stopped in the backyard of a house standing in a remote area.

A dim light flickered through a window so foggy that the inside couldn’t be seen. It seemed as if someone was walking around holding a candlestick.

As the light moved, Eustar and Laila could see a gravestone made in a corner of the backyard. It was also newly made, and the place where the soil had been covered was not even settled yet.

“This place will do.”

Eustar said. It was hard to tell if he was speaking to Laila or muttering to himself.

Laila stood a few steps away, just silently watching what he was doing. In fact, that was all she could do at the moment, and it was the best option.

He reached into his bag without regard for the darkness where one could hardly see a hand in front of their face, and pulled something out.

It sparkled briefly under the starlight, looking like a glass bottle, and when Eustar gripped it tightly in his palm, the contents inside glowed faintly.

“What is that?”

When Laila asked, Eustar slowly exhaled and relaxed his hand. Then, without answering her question, he opened the lid of the bottle and poured its contents over the gravestone.

What on earth is he doing?

Laila was watching him, and the unidentified liquid falling onto the gravestone, feeling like a clueless child. The blunt surface of the wooden gravestone turned black as if absorbing the darkness.

Suddenly, something appeared from the center of the gravestone.

Laila was too shocked to even scream. Tiny, incredibly small and white handprints were covering the gravestone. It happened at an unbelievably fast speed, and there was even a slapping and pattering sound as if living skin was hitting stone.

It filled up so densely that it seemed like it would crumble the gravestone and collapse the soil piled on top of the coffin in an instant.

“Good heavens.”

Laila’s foot caught on something as she inhaled sharply. With a loud clattering noise, a long stick was seen rolling on the ground.

Laila realized she had bumped into a stirring rod. Whatever was in it must have spilled out completely, but that wasn’t her concern.

Now her mind was solely focused on the handprints that had begun to appear beyond the gravestone, heading towards the dark forest.

“This, what.”

Eustar glanced briefly at Laila.

“What on earth is this?”

The question that had been stuck in her throat like a stone finally escaped her lips. It was a pitifully trembling voice.

Eustar said,

“It’s a trace left by the cause.”

“A trace…”

That’s when it happened.

—Clunk!

Laila let out a small scream at the sudden noise. She instinctively clutched her skirt and moved closer to Eustar.

“What bastard is this!”

Panting breaths could be heard, and the smell of strong alcohol wafted. The man, who seemed to be the house owner, thrust an oil-stained lamp towards Laila and Eustar.

At the same time, Laila saw what he was holding in his hand. It was a paddle large enough to knock down a bull with a single blow.

“You witch!”

The veins in the man’s neck bulged as if about to burst. He threw down the lamp and raised the paddle to smash Laila’s head. However, before he could even take a step, Eustar’s hand sliced through the air with a whoosh.

“Argh! What, what is this! You witch! What have you done!”

Black smoke dark enough to swallow even the night’s darkness obscured the man’s vision. While he was floundering, Eustar grabbed Laila’s hand and started running in the opposite direction.

No, it wasn’t running. It was almost as fast as flying. Laila realized her toes weren’t touching the ground.

“You witch! Where did you go! You think you can kill my daughter and get away with it! I’ll pluck out your eyes too! I’ll smash your head! Come out!”

The man’s bellowing voice shook the quiet village.

But neither his house, nor his figure, not even the light from the thrown lamp could be seen. It was as if a layer of darkness had been overlaid on the darkness, or as if that part had been slightly erased.

“What was that just now?”

Laila shouted. The speed was so fast that the sound of wind passing her ears was like the sound of arrows being shot. However, Eustar answered leisurely as if enjoying a stroll.

“That’s what we call ‘borrowed night’.”

“Is it a magical tool? You didn’t kill him, did you?”

“Of course not. It just blocks vision temporarily. It doesn’t last long either. It’s still in the testing phase.”

Eustar only slowed down after they had entered deep into the forest. It was a sudden and quiet change.

For a moment, Laila thought time had stopped, but when she looked back, that wasn’t the case. She was just walking slowly, almost cradled in his arms.

The same small handprints seen on the gravestone continued even deeper into the forest. Some were smeared as if bleeding. Eustar stood in front of the last handprint and made a “hmm” sound.

“The trace ends here.”

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.