CH 57

When he tapped me on the shoulder and stepped forward, I pushed him away and slammed my shoulder against the wall.

“You’ll fall,” Carje said, wrapping his arms around my shoulder with no sign of displeasure and giving me a gloomy smile. “Hey, I apologize if I offended you. By the way.”

I stopped walking at Carje’s meaningful words and looked back. As if he remembered what he had forgotten, he arrogantly clapped his hand holding the lantern.

“I need something in kind to give to Quetray.”

His greedy eyes slid right to the pocket of my pants that contained the necklace. I was so shocked that I couldn’t even laugh. What a shameless act of extorting money to the end.

I coldly watched this arrogant man act as if he had become an omnipotent god. A moment later, I smiled and rummaged through my pockets, feigning excitement.

“Alas, I was so excited about going to the forest, I almost forgot about it.”

Feeling the cool touch of the metal on my fingertips, I pulled out the necklace and waved it in front of him. The necklace shimmered thanks to the lantern.

“Here you go.”

Carje held out his hand with a lustful smile. “Now, give it to me.”

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I stretched out my hand with the necklace as if I was about to give it to him, but as his hand approached, I hid it behind my back.

Carje’s eyes widened as he stared at his hand in the air. The smile on his face slowly disappeared, and anger creeped in.

“What are you doing?”

I shrugged and avoided his gaze. “Shouldn’t I have insurance too? No matter how much I give to the god, I’m anxious because none of my wishes have been fulfilled.”

Carje gritted his teeth and narrowed one of his eyes. It’s inevitable because he didn’t trust me, so unsurprisingly, he looked displeased.

“Oh, is that so?” However, what followed was a voice with a strange grin. As if to hide his expression, he placed a hand on his chest and lowered his head. His disturbing eyes gleamed between his flowing hair. “Do not worry. God will always be with you.”

An ignorant person would think it was a kind and reassuring gesture toward an anxious person, but for me, he spoke as if I doubted the existence of his god. It also sounded like a reprimand that my faith was only that small.

“Thank you for your understanding.” I put the necklace back and, like an impatient person, took the lantern from his hand. “Then let’s go.”

Did emotions move like fire? After realizing I had made a mistake, my attention was solely focused on Takan’s safety, and I was nervous.

Carje and I walked non-stop along the long passageway lit by the lanterns, and soon enough, we reached the stairs.

“You don’t have to be in such a hurry. The forest won’t run away.”

Ignoring Carje’s words, I continued rushing upstairs. When I climbed the last step and looked up, I saw a quiet first floor. Until a few hours ago, this was a crowded restaurant. Now, there wasn’t a person in sight.

Even the manager who guarded the entrance of the inn like a gatekeeper had disappeared. He was going to bring Takan.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, the smell of oil overwhelmed me. The smell of oil, heavy enough to give me a headache, made my brain pound and my stomach churn. I covered my nose with my sleeve and breathed in while filtering the air.

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Upon careful examination, things were different from what they had been a few hours before, as if the thick fog had receded. The red thread hanging on the wall was randomly cut and scattered on the hardwood floor, and the wooden table and the hardwood floor were stained with an unknown liquid.

As I looked down, I noticed a stain that I had stepped on.

I lifted my feet, crouched down, rubbed the damp floor with my fingertips, and brought it to my nose.

“Ugh.”

Again, there was a heavy smell of oil. It could only be interpreted as someone deliberately pouring oil on it. Who would do it and why?

At that moment, a voice that had been deeply entrenched in my thoughts suddenly came to mind.

‘I’ll let you hear a desperate cry in the fire.’

No way. My eyes widened. I looked back at Carje, who had just reached the first floor.

“Where if Rafnel?”

He stopped, staying in one step, and stroked his chin. His raise lips made it obvious that he was enjoying my distress.

“I don’t know why you’re looking for her, but you don’t have to rush like this–”

“Answer me!” I screamed, and Carje frowned.

“Rafnel? What about her?”

He refused to answer my question. Although my efforts were in vain, the situation was too urgent.

At least, finding Takan would be a relief. I turned around, leaving the lamp on the ground. On the first floor, I looked around the entire inn, looking for doors or gaps people could enter other than the stairs.

Thud–.

At that moment, a loud sound echoed from the wall—the same wall with an iron hook hanging Rafnel’s thread.

“The wall?”

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When I looked closely, my eyes narrowed, I saw a door disguised as a protective color hidden in the wood grain. There was no doorknob, and there was no boundary line, so it was almost unrecognizable. The hook was a kind of mark.

Instinctively, I moved, but a moment later, Carje blocked it like a barrier. He raised both hands as if to calm down.

“If you move beyond this, the proposal is broken. The manager will appear soon-.”

Bang–!

In an instant, the wall vibrated and shook, and the remaining thread hanging from the ring fell. Then, while I froze, the wall shook more violently than before.

“Eat! Eat it!” The manager’s loud and angry voice rang out. It was a firm voice that could not be defied.

Bang, bang, bang-!

“Sh*t!”

After three violent thuds, the door opened, and a man in a suit jumped out, swearing and falling. I watched his cool blue hair curl like a wave and fall.

“Takan!”

I pushed Carje and ran to him. I sat beside him and brushed the light blue hair away from his face to check his complexion. His face was drenched in cold sweat.

“Takan, are you okay? What the heck is this…”

When I turned my gaze to the door, Carje took a hasty breath and closed it. There was the manager who fell like a broken stem.

“Maybe that…”

Takan lay face down as he tried to raise his upper body, supported by his elbows. He panted and seemingly struggled even to get his body up. I grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him to rest his head on my thighs.

“Takan, come to your senses–” I stopped when I felt something wet on the back of his head. When I removed my hand, blood was dripping like paint.

“Oh my gosh.”

“Ugh.” He buried his face in my leg and moaned as he wrinkled his nose in discomfort. 

Soon after, he spit something out, and something white came out, bounced to the ground, and rolled to a corner. I followed its movement and slowly opened my mouth.

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Takan had spat a round, white pill the size of a fingernail. Even if no one told me what it was for, I immediately knew.

“A hallucinogenic drug,” I whispered to myself and looked back at Takan. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and stared at the pill with glazed eyes.

“I still have a weak stomach, but I’m sick of eating these things,” he managed to croak out. He shook his head and moaned as he covered his eyes with a large hand. “No, d*mn it.”

His low voice choked. He clasped his face as if he were going to rip it off.

I didn’t expect him to be in jail. Even if he didn’t swallow the hallucinogen, it would have taken effect if they had put it in his mouth. It was enough to go through a battle with the manager and endure it. I gritted my teeth and angrily raised my gaze.

“Carje.”

“T-this is.” Carje retreated and stared at the manager. The man who acted like a good person and arrogantly looked down on people was nowhere to be found.

“Aack!”

Then, I heard a scream that seemed to pierce my eardrums, and my whole body shivered. I reflexively tilted my head and stared into the moonlit window. I saw the shadow of crows flying across the moonlight and entangled leaves.

The silence that followed for a few seconds brought a chill down my spine.

“W-what! What’s that noise!”

Carje, who knew all about the inn, looked at the second floor in bewilderment. Somehow, I felt like I saw his real face in the way he shouted in fear.

Crackle–![1]

At that moment, a red light flashed from the mouth of the second-floor railing, and fire wrapped around the second-floor hallway instantly.

[1] 화륵 is the sound of lighting a fire, but I couldn’t think of a more appropriate translation in English.