To My Beloved, I Present My Exquisite Nightmare - Chapter 63

“……That’s right.”

Eustar looked around with a somewhat dejected smile.

White objects were piled up at the edge of the mist-cleared path.

Some had black spots embedded, while others had turned yellow, becoming one with the soil. But there was one common feature. They were all human bones.

Like a sheriff discovering a troublesome scene, Eustar picked up a skull at his feet and examined it, hands on his hips, blowing his bangs upward.

“There are no signs of major impact.”

Eustar said. Laila quietly watched what he was doing.

He turned the long-hardened and cold skull this way and that, half with an interested gaze and half with a contemplative look, as doctors do.

“It seems they lost their way around here and died naturally.”

Laila looked around from left to right and let out a small sigh.

“At least dozens of people. That’s just what we can see, there are likely more victims.”

Laila added in a whisper.

“I now understand what you meant by curse rather than hallucination.”

“That’s right. It’s not common, but sometimes curses that haven’t disappeared remain and cover the sync. Or maybe the sync intentionally uses that energy to hide……”

Eustar trailed off as he began to walk.

Laila followed behind him, carefully observing the dried vines and bushes.

Once filled with camellia flowers, cherry fruits, eastern double roses, and felan flowers, fragrant all year round, now everything remaining was cold and twisted like dried bones.

It was quite difficult to avoid stepping on bones. They were scattered not just at the edges of the path, but also in the middle.

Occasionally, there were traces that seemed to have been dug up by wild dogs. Laila suddenly wondered. Don’t animals get lost here?

Meanwhile, Eustar continued speaking.

“Research on syncs has been ongoing, but not much has been discovered yet. It hasn’t been long since we found out that syncs have will, that they’re closer to living things than just ‘phenomena’. But we can’t define them as complete living beings either…… Although they do have desires.”

Laila replied.

“If they have desires, I think they should be considered living beings.”

Eustar glanced back and grinned.

“Of course, if you think about it simply, that’s true. But syncs don’t just appear anywhere, anyhow. In a way, they’re extremely contradictory. How should I put it….. It’s energy that was merely a concept creating something that actually exists.”

So it’s like a natural disaster, Laila thought. Something invisible, unknown until experienced, manifesting in reality…

It was just as the two were about to enter the entrance of Vintoshos.

Laila’s gaze was fixed on the embossed pillars of the distant Vintoshos mansion, which is why she didn’t notice Eustar extending his arm to block her path.

“Ah!”

Laila let out a small gasp, startled by Eustar’s sudden block. At that moment, Eustar turned his head with a stern face and put his index finger to his lips.

“Shh, Laila. Listen.”

Laila obediently closed her mouth and strained her ears, holding her breath. There was a rustling sound. At first, she thought it was the wind, but as she listened carefully, she realized it wasn’t.

Something was moving near them.

Eustar gestured towards Laila as if asking if she could hear it. When Laila nodded, he moved his hand to the scabbard at his waist with an even more tense expression.

Laila watched his hand carefully gripping the handle, then rummaged through her leather bag to find a usable magic tool.

“Eustar, I……”

“Shh.”

Eustar said again. Laila stuck close to his back and looked around.

The rustling sound grew louder. Something was close to the two of them. It seemed to be getting even closer. It was spinning around and around. The intention to confuse them was clear.

Is it the sound of an animal running? No. Laila shook her head to herself as if that couldn’t be. No animal makes such a sound…

“Could it be a magical beast?”

Laila whispered. Eustar felt the stone-cold tension in her body against his back. He suddenly felt regretful that there hadn’t been enough time to train Laila properly. If he had known such a physical attack would come…

But Eustar soon shook his head. There was no use in such regrets now.

He quickly and silently drew his sword and took a stance. Then, without looking back, he said:

“There’s a high possibility. It doesn’t sound like a stray wolf or wild dog.”

Then he suddenly chuckled and joked:

“Maybe it’s a mad leopard.”

There was a brushing sound against the bushes. Its speed and weight were certainly not that of a leopard.

Laila had actually seen a leopard before. It was on the hillside not far from the village.

It was an old female, and although aged, it was incredibly fast. But the weight with which it cut through the air was never negligible.

Laila said:

“If it were really a leopard, it would be a starving mad one.”

“It’s too light for that, isn’t it?”

Laila’s head nodded up and down.

Knowing that Eustar couldn’t see it anyway, she needed to feel the reality of conversing with him. The sound of branches snapping continued. Snap, snap, snap. It was close. Beyond the mist.

“It’s on your left, Eustar.”

Eustar replied in a low voice.

“I know. I’ll cut it down when I see its form.”

His stance with the sword lowered even more. He was ready to rush forward and cut whatever was in front of him in half if necessary.

It was at that moment.

“Good heavens!”

The two nearly cried out in surprise at the sudden shrill voice. A silhouette swaying beyond the mist, which had once again blurred their vision, became visible.

“Don’t come any closer.”

Eustar warned, pointing his sword forward. However, the dark figure came closer, and eventually, a woman slightly shorter than Laila appeared.

Eustar’s lips parted slightly upon seeing the woman’s face. Laila, who had come out from behind him, was the same. They both simultaneously thought of Donovan. It was as if they could hear his bitter muttering voice piercing through the mist.

—That child was different from ordinary people from birth…

Half of the woman’s face was grotesquely distorted, like lava that had melted and hardened. The two couldn’t help but be even more surprised because the other half of her face was unbelievably clean, too clean to be an injury acquired later in life.

It feels like meeting that person was a hundred years ago. Laila thought. She suddenly remembered what Donovan had asked of her.

The daughter who behaved strangely every night. Laila could immediately tell that the woman in front of her was that very daughter Donovan had spoken of.

She said:

“What are you doing here? This is a dangerous place. Both of you…”

The woman paused for a moment, looked the two up and down, then slightly bit her toe.

“Though you don’t seem to be ordinary people.”

Eustar hesitated for a moment, still holding his sword that gleamed white even in the mist, then pushed it back into its scabbard and gazed intently at her.

“Are you alright? What were you doing here?”

The woman said:

“I’m Alice. I live in the village below. I sometimes come around here to gather branches. For firewood. I heard voices talking while I was wandering around and found two people. Were you perhaps lost?”

Eustar suddenly felt a chill. He couldn’t understand why. The name Alice sounded strangely unfamiliar. Even knowing she was Donovan’s daughter, he felt that way. He couldn’t shake off his wariness even though he knew the person standing before him was human.

“Miss Alice… Are you Miss Alice, Donovan’s daughter?”

“Do you know me?”

Eustar nodded.

“I heard about you from your father. Actually, the two of us were supposed to stay at your house today.”

The distorted half of Alice’s face twitched. Her almost invisible lips quivered as if having a seizure, then the clean side of her lips curved into a smile.

“Ah, I see. So you’re those people! The ones who came from Tentinella, right? Father mentioned it. I was just gathering branches to prepare dinner for you two. I’ve cleaned a very large pot. It’s big enough to boil anything.”

Eustar repeated her words meaningfully.

“Anything, you say.”

Alice smiled even more broadly.

“That’s right. I can boil anything. Chicken, pheasant, or even duck or pork. Maybe even beef! And I can even boil witches. Have you heard that old tale?”

At her last words, Eustar immediately drew his sword. It was so fast his hand was almost invisible.

But Alice’s movement was even faster. With a cracking sound, her body bent backwards unnaturally, then flattened like a spider and slithered as if gliding on water.

“Eustar!”

As Laila’s scream was heard, Eustar swung his sword downward, but it only barely grazed Alice’s hair. Teeth densely sprouted were biting the tip of Laila’s boot.

It dragged Laila away, disappearing into the mist of Vintoshis. A scream like a hoarse crow’s cry shook the valley and forest path.

—I am the one who hates!

—I am the one who ignites flames!

—I am the one who dies and kills!

It was Alice’s voice. Eustar had no time to follow the sound with his ears, he ran through the mist trying not to lose sight of Alice, or more precisely, Laila being dragged by it.

But the more he ran, the faster Alice and Laila moved away.

“Laila!”

Eustar shouted. At that moment, the mist thickened like dark clouds, completely trapping him. And a voice was heard.

—I am the one who died betrayed.

It was a close sound, as if someone was whispering with their lips against his ear.

Eustar swung his sword towards the direction of the sound without even turning his gaze, but there was nothing. Laila’s screams could no longer be heard. Everything was silent.

The mist began to clear. Eustar realized he was back outside the fork in the road, with his back to Vintoshis and Hoierhis.

Turning his head, he saw that Vintoshis was still shrouded in mist, revealing only the ash-gray roof of its highest mansion.

“Damn it!”

A string of curses burst from Eustar’s mouth. He looked at the signpost at the fork in the road and ran towards the village.