Chapter – 04
“So then… what about the people who were chasing us earlier?”
“The police of Rachazert.”
“Huh?”
“The police? Real police?”
“Yes.”
What the heck? I thought they were fake police! Wasn’t that why I ran away?
“Then why did you say I shouldn’t let them catch me?”
“I believe I mentioned it before, but Rachazert welcomes souls.”
He patiently answered my endless questions. Though he did seem a little annoyed by them.
“And those police officers belong to Rachazert.”
Ah.
Only then did I realize what he was trying to say.
If I had gone to those police officers earlier, they probably would have helped me.
Just not in the way I wanted.
Instead of helping me return home, they would have helped me settle down in the city.
<If those people catch you, you really won’t be able to go home after that.>
So that was why he had said that.
“Do you understand now?”
I slowly nodded.
“Anyway, I can go back home, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m a soul right now, but I’m not completely dead?”
“Yes.”
“…You can answer with something other than ‘yes,’ right?”
“Yes.”
“……”
Never mind.
Well, at least I felt a little more relieved than before. Maybe because things were better now that I knew what was going on, compared to when I knew absolutely nothing.
……Wait.
No, no. Should I really let my guard down? Can I trust what he’s saying?
Who even knows what that skeleton is? I don’t even know whether he’s a human or a soul.
“…Mr. Skeleton.”
He stopped short.
At my call, the man staggered slightly before coming to a stop. His face was still hidden behind the mask, but he seemed somewhat bewildered.
Why was he so surprised? What else was I supposed to call someone whose name I didn’t even know?
Of course, I could only say that in my head. He was scary, after all……
I asked what I wanted to know as politely as I could.
“But how do I get back home?”
“……”
The man had been answering my questions fairly well until now. Strangely, however, no answer came immediately this time.
What was wrong with him? Why was he acting so frighteningly?
The longer the silence lasted, the more anxious I became. Just as I was fidgeting impatiently, waiting for his answer……
“Before I tell you.”
The man finally spoke.
“There’s one thing I’d like to ask of you.”
Ask me?
“What is it?”
“I’ll explain it simply. It’s……”
The man suddenly turned his head to the side.
Even though the eye sockets of his mask were hollow and pitch-black, I could somehow feel his gaze becoming fierce.
Why was he acting like that? Was there something there?
Just as I was about to turn my head in the same direction……
“Ms. Myung Sena.”
The man abruptly held out his hand.
“Come behind me.”
“Ah… Is that the favor you wanted to ask?”
“No.”
What? No?
“Then why……”
“Come within five seconds. Quickly.”
I looked down at his gloved hand.
Then, cautiously, I placed my hand on top of it.
The moment my fingertips touched his palm, he suddenly pulled me toward him.
After moving me behind his back, the man pulled something from his waist.
Its surface gleamed silver in the darkness of night.
It was a handgun.
The man aimed the gun to his left. The silver muzzle pointed toward the darkness between the trees.
Thud.
At the same time, an unfamiliar sound came from within the darkness.
The footsteps of someone leisurely walking across the ground.
“Oh. Why did you come all the way out here?”
A gentle male voice followed.
“It’s such a pain having to follow you this far.”
I stared at the tall silhouette emerging from the darkness.
He was wearing a white dress shirt with sky-blue suit pants. His shoes were dress shoes, their polished surfaces gleaming as though he had never worn them before.
In every respect, his outfit prioritized aesthetics over practicality.
And his face……
I couldn’t tell what it looked like.
Because he was wearing a helmet. One of those helmets people wear when riding motorcycles.
Instead of glass, the front of the white helmet displayed a smiling emoticon as a hologram.
The emoticon changed expressions whenever the man spoke. At first, it stuck its tongue out at us, and now it was winking with its right eye.
“Come on. You shouldn’t lure a civilian away like this.”
The man stopped in front of us and spoke in a teasing tone.
The man with the gun replied without lowering his weapon.
“That’s not something you’re in a position to say, is it?”
“I haven’t done anything yet.”
The helmeted man shrugged.
I alternated my gaze between the broad back in front of me and the smile displayed on the helmet.
What was going on? Did these two know each other?
Judging by the hostile atmosphere……
They didn’t seem to be on very good terms.
“Hmmm.”
The helmeted man tilted his head slightly.
He seemed to be looking at me behind the other man.
Even though I couldn’t see his face, I could feel his persistent gaze.
What the heck? Don’t look at me!
I flinched and pressed myself even closer against the broad back.
“I think I can roughly figure out what’s going on……”
The man then took his eyes off me.
He looked toward the man standing in front of me and said,
“Wouldn’t it be better to send her to me than let those cultists take her?”
“……”
“At least I don’t have some crazy cult leader. And I pay pretty well.”
What was this nonsense about cultists?
Aren’t you guys the cultists? I’ve never seen a cultist admit they’re a cultist themselves.
The man in front of me didn’t even bother answering anymore.
He was treating the helmeted man as though he wasn’t worth responding to.
Despite being blatantly ignored, the helmeted man casually shrugged.
Then he leaned slightly to the side and asked me,
“Excuse me.”
“Ignore him.”
The man’s command immediately followed.
But the helmeted man didn’t care.
“Have you heard anything from this guy?”
“Keep ignoring him.”
“Don’t be scared. Just answer me. I’m not a bad person.”
“I said ignore him.”
“How much did he tell you? Hmm?”
“If possible, don’t even look at him.”
This was driving me crazy! What did he expect me to do?!
I was rolling my eyes back and forth, unable to do anything, when—
“Excuse me.”
The helmeted man asked me,
“He hasn’t told you how to get back yet, has he?”
……What?
Without realizing it, I stuck my head out from beside the man and looked at him.
The smile on the helmet spun around and around.
It was almost as if he was delighted by my reaction.
“Getting back is simple. You could do it right now.”
“Ignore that, too.”
“But why do you think he still hasn’t told you?”
Then he spoke in a secretive tone.
“That means there’s a condition. For you.”
A condition?
I stared at the back directly in front of me.
The man wearing the skull mask didn’t tell me not to answer. He simply remained silent, still holding the gun in his ready position.
……It was certainly something to wonder about.
Who exactly was this man? And how much of what he said could I trust?
No. Before that, was he even human?
But the helmeted man who had suddenly appeared and started saying things like that was just as suspicious.
Honestly, was there anyone I could trust?
In a situation like this, could I really trust anyone?
“……”
This wasn’t going to work.
If both of them were suspicious, I had no choice but to hear what both sides had to say.
“Then……”
After steeling myself, I asked the helmeted man my first question.
“Do you know? ……How to get back?”
“Oh, of course I do!”
He clapped his hands.
The smile on his helmet spun around in place.
“You’re curious, right? Want me to tell you?”
“Stop.”
The man wearing the skull mask cut him off.
At this point, I had no idea who I was supposed to consider the troublemaker.
After hesitating, I quietly asked the man right in front of me, softly enough that only he could hear.
“What that helmeted man said… is it true?”
“……”
“Does he really know how to get back?”
The reason I was asking him despite suspecting him was because, at least, he had been sincere about answering my questions.
As far as I knew, he hadn’t lied to me about anything he had told me so far.
That didn’t mean I could trust the helmeted man’s words, though.
The man answered a moment later.
“Yes.”
“Mr. Skeleton, you really know too?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me? ……Were you really planning to make me meet some kind of condition instead of simply telling me?”
“Yes.”
Ah, that stupid “yes”!
“Fine. I understand, so just tell me now. What do you want?”
At this point, I was so fed up that I wasn’t even scared anymore.
He said he knew how to get home, didn’t he?
Then why should they be the only ones who knew? I wanted to know too!
But before I could get an answer—
Bang!
A single gunshot suddenly rang out without warning.
“……”
It had come from the helmeted man’s side.
Not the skeleton’s.
